RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Reaching articular limits can negatively impact embodiment in virtual reality
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.08.04.455114
DO 10.1101/2021.08.04.455114
A1 Thibault Porssut
A1 Olaf Blanke
A1 Bruno Herbelin
A1 Ronan Boulic
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/04/2021.08.04.455114.abstract
AB Providing Virtual Reality(VR) users with a 3D representation of their body complements the experience of immersion and presence in the virtual world with the experience of being physically located and more personally involved. A full-body avatar representation is known to induce a Sense of Embodiment (SoE) for this virtual body, which is associated with improvements in task performance, motivation and motor learning. Recent experimental research on embodiment provides useful guidelines, indicating the extent of discrepancy tolerated by users and, conversely, the limits and disruptive events that lead to a break in embodiment (BiE). Based on previous works on the limit of agency under movement distortion, this paper describes, studies and analyses the impact of a very common yet overlooked embodiment limitation linked to articular limits when performing a reaching movement. We demonstrate that perceiving the articular limit when fully extending the arm provides users with an additional internal proprioceptive feedback which, if not matched in the avatar’s movement, leads to the disruptive realization of an incorrect posture mapping. This study complements previous works on self-contact and visuo-haptic conflicts and emphasizes the risk of disrupting the SoE when distorting users’ movements or using a poorly-calibrated avatar.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.