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Related Experiment Videos

Tool Embodiment: The Tool's Output Must Match the User's Input.

Veronica Weser1, Dennis R Proffitt1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|January 29, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Tools can become part of our body image, similar to prosthetic limbs, when their function and how we use them align. This finding challenges previous ideas about tool embodiment and body representations.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Embodied Cognition

Background:

  • Body representations are typically divided into the body schema (action capabilities) and body image (perceptual self-representation).
  • Tools are often thought to extend the body schema, while prosthetics are incorporated into the body image.
  • Recent studies suggest tools can also influence the body image, challenging this dichotomy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if tool morpho-functional and sensorimotor properties influence body image.
  • To examine the role of tool-use dependent changes in the body image within the rubber hand illusion (RHI).

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted using a modified rubber hand illusion (RHI).
  • Participants held tools with a rubber hand and their own hand.
Keywords:
body representationembodimentexpertiserubber hand illusiontools

Related Experiment Videos

  • The study analyzed the match between the tool's output affordance (morpho-functional) and the user's input (sensorimotor).

    • Main Results:

    • Proprioceptive drift, an indicator of embodiment, occurred in the RHI when the tool's output and the user's input capabilities matched.
    • This embodiment effect was absent when the morpho-functional and sensorimotor match was not present.
    • The findings suggest a specific mechanism for tool embodiment within the body image.

    Conclusions:

    • The alignment of a tool's functional properties and how it's manipulated is crucial for its incorporation into the body image.
    • This research provides evidence that tools can be perceptually embodied, influencing the body image through specific matching mechanisms.
    • The study refines our understanding of how the brain integrates tools into the sense of self.