How would it be to have the body of a child again? A research on virtual reality proves changes in perception and behaviours when embodying a child avatar
A research, recently published on the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that a correlate of a body-ownership illusion is that the virtual type of body carries with it a set of temporary changes in perception and behaviours that are appropriate to that type of body. The research has been carried out by Domma Banakou, Raphaela Groten and Mel Slater, experts from the Experimental Virtual Environments Lab for Neuroscience and Technology (Event Lab) at the Faculty of Psychology of the UB.
A research, recently published on the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that a correlate of a body-ownership illusion is that the virtual type of body carries with it a set of temporary changes in perception and behaviours that are appropriate to that type of body. The research has been carried out by Domma Banakou, Raphaela Groten and Mel Slater, experts from the Experimental Virtual Environments Lab for Neuroscience and Technology (Event Lab) at the Faculty of Psychology of the UB.
An illusory sensation of ownership over a surrogate limb or whole body can be induced through specific forms of multisensory stimulation, such as synchronous visual-tactile tapping on the hidden real and visible rubber hand in the phenomenon so-called ʻrubber hand illusionʼ. Such methods have been used to induce ownership over a manikin and a virtual body that substitute the real body, as seen from first-person perspective, through a head-mounted display. However, the perceptual and behavioural consequences of such transformed body ownership have hardly been explored.