Virtual Vogue: The Psychology of AR Clothing
“Although the saying goes that clothes do not make the man, our results suggest that they do hold a strange power over their wearers.”
Overview
This research exploration asked a strange but compelling question:
If physical clothing can affect cognition, can virtual clothing do the same?
Inspired by research on enclothed cognition, we designed an AR experiment where participants saw themselves wearing a virtual coat. The coat was visually identical across conditions, but labeled differently: either as a doctor’s coat or a painter’s coat.
Role: User research, AR prototyping, experiment design
Team: Helen He, Hyunseok Hwang, Karson Lippert
When: March 2023
What: Class project for Stanford CS 347: Human-Computer Interaction: Foundations and Frontiers
Research question
Prior research suggests that clothing can influence behavior when it carries symbolic meaning. A doctor’s coat might cue attentiveness and care; a painter’s coat might cue creativity and expression.
We wanted to test whether that effect could extend into augmented reality. If a participant only sees themselves wearing a coat through AR, does the symbolic meaning still matter?
Experiment
We created an AR coat using Snapchat Lens Studio and tested it with 35 Stanford undergraduate students.
Participants were assigned to different conditions and completed a short embodiment activity, where they looked at themselves in the AR coat and moved around to make the outfit feel more present. They then completed cognitive tasks measuring attention, creativity, and memory.
The key manipulation was simple: the AR coat looked the same, but participants were told it was either a doctor’s coat or a painter’s coat.
The doctor’s coat (left) and painter’s coat (right) used in the experiment. Both coats are actually identical. The only difference is whether they’re labeled “doctor’s” or “painter’s,” thus influencing wearer’s symbolic perception of coat. We used Snapchat QR codes as labels.
Above, a diagram of the experiment room setup.
Participant procedure
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For participants wearing the AR coat, we did an embodiment activity was conducted to help them get a feel for the AR outfit.
Participants held up their phones while facing a mirror wall, observing themselves in the AR outfit. They were then guided through a series of action commands, such as raising their hands, turning around, jogging in place, and stretching. This activity helped them embody the virtual clothing before moving on to the cognitive tests.
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Assesses how well a person can manage cognitive interference and maintain focus. Participants are asked to quickly name the color of the ink in which a word is printed, even when the word itself is the name of a different color (e.g. the word RED printed in blue ink).
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A creativity test that evaluates a person's ability to generate diverse and original ideas. participants are asked to think of 10 unrelated words. Words with greater "distances" between them tend to reflect a higher degree of creativity and originality. Administered with this DAT test.
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Short-term memory assessment. Each participant was shown a number at the beginning of the session and then asked to recall it at the end after completing other tasks.
Embodiment activity with AR coat.
Phone faces participants, so they are aware that they’re wearing an AR coat throughout the whole experiment.
Participants do the Stroop test while wearing a coat in AR.
Findings
The doctor’s coat condition appeared to support stronger attention performance on the Stroop test, with participants making fewer errors and responding more quickly.
The painter’s coat condition was expected to support creativity, but the results were less straightforward. The doctor’s coat group also performed unexpectedly well on the creativity task, suggesting that AR clothing effects may be more complex than a one-to-one symbolic cue.
The memory task produced another surprise: the control group outperformed both AR coat groups, raising questions about distraction, session duration, or the cognitive load of wearing AR.
Conclusion & reflections
This project was an early exploration, not a definitive study. But it suggested that virtual clothing may be more than visual styling. Even when clothing is digital, symbolic meaning and self-perception may still shape how people behave.
The most interesting takeaway was not “AR coats boost cognition.” It was that virtual embodiment can create measurable psychological questions worth designing around.