"If I Can See You": Understanding Spatially Situated Virtual Embodiment in Close Human-AI Relationships

Abstract

AI companions are increasingly used for emotional support, companionship, and intimate interaction. While prior work has examined text- and voice-based AI companionship and emerging XR companion designs, less is known about how users with existing close AI companion relationships expect those relationships to change when companions become virtually embodied and spatially situated in everyday environments. To address this gap, we conducted a qualitative study with 17 AI companion users recruited from Reddit AI companion communities. We frame spatially situated virtual embodiment as a form of relational escalation: embodiment can make AI companionship more present, socially legible, and risk-sensitive in everyday life. Our findings show that: (1) embodiment creates tensions between support and intrusion, concreteness and imaginative openness, and growth and consistency; (2) embodiment can turn private AI companionship into a socially legible relational arrangement, requiring visibility, form, interaction style, and mode of access to be negotiated across social contexts; and (3) embodiment can intensify risks of emotional dependence, sensitive disclosure, social judgment, and misguided spatial action by increasing the companion's perceived relational presence, intimacy, public legibility, and spatial authority. We argue that future system design should first consider when embodiment is warranted, how embodied presence should be staged, how visibility and role boundaries should be negotiated, and how embodied companionship can remain safe. This work contributes to HCI research on human-AI intimacy by showing how virtual embodiment can transform close AI companionship into a spatial, socially visible, and risk-sensitive relationship.