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Changes in bodily awareness induced by immersive virtual reality.
1Department of Psychology, Liverpool Hope University College, Liverpool, United Kingdom. murrayc@hope.ac.uk
Summary
Virtual reality (VR) use impacts body awareness. Immersive VR users reported greater body boundary ambiguity and aural awareness, unlike desktop VR users who had heightened skin, muscular, and cardiovascular awareness.
Area of Science:
- Social science research
- Human-computer interaction
- Perceptual psychology
Background:
- Virtual reality (VR) technology offers novel environments for studying human behavior and perception.
- VR simulations can approximate or manipulate physical world properties.
- Understanding the impact of VR on perceptual experience is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how immersive virtual reality experiences influence body awareness.
- To compare body awareness between users of desktop and immersive virtual environments.
Main Methods:
- A body awareness questionnaire was administered to participants.
- Users interacted with a virtual environment (Cityscape) via desktop and immersive implementations.
- Data were analyzed for effects of presentation mode and gender.
Main Results:
- A significant main effect was found for the mode of presentation (desktop vs. immersive).
- No significant gender effects or interaction effects were observed.
- Immersive VR users reported higher body boundary ambiguity and aural awareness.
- Desktop VR users reported higher skin, muscular, and cardiovascular awareness.
Conclusions:
- The mode of virtual reality presentation significantly affects dimensions of body awareness.
- Immersive VR may alter the sense of self and sensory perception differently than desktop VR.
- Further research is needed to explore the nuances of VR's impact on embodied experience.