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Visual Self-Motion Feedback Affects the Sense of Self in Virtual Reality
Aubrieann Schettler1, Ian Holstead2, John Turri1,3
11Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1.
Multisensory Research
|February 3, 2021
Summary
Self-motion significantly influences our sense of self. Congruent visual feedback from avatar movement is crucial for self-representation, sometimes overriding factors like biological sex.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Virtual Reality Research
- Embodiment Studies
Background:
- Understanding the sense of self is crucial in cognitive neuroscience.
- The body schema and body image are fundamental to self-perception.
- Virtual reality (VR) offers novel methods for investigating self-representation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how self-motion impacts the visual representation of the self.
- To explore the interplay between avatar motion, biological sex, and self-identification.
- To determine the relative importance of congruent sensory feedback versus top-down factors in self-representation.
Main Methods:
- A novel virtual-reality experiment was designed.
- Participants interacted with avatars, with systematic variations in avatar motion and biological sex.
- Avatar motion was either congruent or incongruent with the participant's own motion.
Main Results:
- Participants showed a preference for self-avatars over opposite-avatars.
- Avatars moving congruently with self-motion were preferred over incongruent ones.
- Crucially, participants identified with an opposite-avatar if its motion was congruent with their own, overriding self-identification.
Conclusions:
- Both self-motion and biological sex are relevant to the body schema and body image.
- Congruent bottom-up visual feedback of self-motion is vital for the sense of self.
- This congruent sensory feedback can override top-down self-identification factors, such as biological sex.
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