Temporal visuomotor synchrony induces embodiment towards an avatar with biomechanically impossible arm movements
Visuomotor synchrony in time and space induces a sense of embodiment towards virtual bodies experienced in first-person view using Virtual Reality (VR). Here, we investigated whether temporal visuomotor synchrony affects avatar embodiment even when the movements of the virtual arms are spatially alt...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2023-11-01
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| Series: | i-Perception |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695231211699 |
| _version_ | 1797633830675283968 |
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| author | Harin Hapuarachchi Hiroki Ishimoto Michiteru Kitazaki Maki Sugimoto Masahiko Inami |
| author_facet | Harin Hapuarachchi Hiroki Ishimoto Michiteru Kitazaki Maki Sugimoto Masahiko Inami |
| author_sort | Harin Hapuarachchi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Visuomotor synchrony in time and space induces a sense of embodiment towards virtual bodies experienced in first-person view using Virtual Reality (VR). Here, we investigated whether temporal visuomotor synchrony affects avatar embodiment even when the movements of the virtual arms are spatially altered from those of the user in a non-human-like manner. In a within-subjects design VR experiment, participants performed a reaching task controlling an avatar whose lower arms bent in inversed and biomechanically impossible directions from the elbow joints. They performed the reaching task using this “unnatural avatar” as well as a “natural avatar,” whose arm movements and positions spatially matched the user. The reaching tasks were performed with and without a one second delay between the real and virtual movements. While the senses of body ownership and agency towards the unnatural avatar were significantly lower compared to those towards the natural avatar, temporal visuomotor synchrony did significantly increase the sense of embodiment towards the unnatural avatar as well as the natural avatar. These results suggest that temporal visuomotor synchrony is crucial for inducing embodiment even when the spatial match between the real and virtual limbs is disrupted with movements outside the pre-existing cognitive representations of the human body. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:59:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d2602ba533b947dcab4009a7db885537 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-6695 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:59:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | i-Perception |
| spelling | doaj.art-d2602ba533b947dcab4009a7db8855372023-11-08T10:04:18ZengSAGE Publishingi-Perception2041-66952023-11-011410.1177/20416695231211699Temporal visuomotor synchrony induces embodiment towards an avatar with biomechanically impossible arm movementsHarin HapuarachchiHiroki IshimotoMichiteru KitazakiMaki SugimotoMasahiko InamiVisuomotor synchrony in time and space induces a sense of embodiment towards virtual bodies experienced in first-person view using Virtual Reality (VR). Here, we investigated whether temporal visuomotor synchrony affects avatar embodiment even when the movements of the virtual arms are spatially altered from those of the user in a non-human-like manner. In a within-subjects design VR experiment, participants performed a reaching task controlling an avatar whose lower arms bent in inversed and biomechanically impossible directions from the elbow joints. They performed the reaching task using this “unnatural avatar” as well as a “natural avatar,” whose arm movements and positions spatially matched the user. The reaching tasks were performed with and without a one second delay between the real and virtual movements. While the senses of body ownership and agency towards the unnatural avatar were significantly lower compared to those towards the natural avatar, temporal visuomotor synchrony did significantly increase the sense of embodiment towards the unnatural avatar as well as the natural avatar. These results suggest that temporal visuomotor synchrony is crucial for inducing embodiment even when the spatial match between the real and virtual limbs is disrupted with movements outside the pre-existing cognitive representations of the human body.https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695231211699 |
| spellingShingle | Harin Hapuarachchi Hiroki Ishimoto Michiteru Kitazaki Maki Sugimoto Masahiko Inami Temporal visuomotor synchrony induces embodiment towards an avatar with biomechanically impossible arm movements i-Perception |
| title | Temporal visuomotor synchrony induces embodiment towards an avatar with biomechanically impossible arm movements |
| title_full | Temporal visuomotor synchrony induces embodiment towards an avatar with biomechanically impossible arm movements |
| title_fullStr | Temporal visuomotor synchrony induces embodiment towards an avatar with biomechanically impossible arm movements |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temporal visuomotor synchrony induces embodiment towards an avatar with biomechanically impossible arm movements |
| title_short | Temporal visuomotor synchrony induces embodiment towards an avatar with biomechanically impossible arm movements |
| title_sort | temporal visuomotor synchrony induces embodiment towards an avatar with biomechanically impossible arm movements |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695231211699 |
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