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Double body effect induced by integrating proprioceptive-vestibular and visual information
Caleb Liang1,2, Wen-Hsiang Lin3, Wei-Kai Liou4
1Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Iscience
|November 24, 2025
Summary
Healthy individuals can experience the Double Body Effect in virtual reality, combining ownership and location of two bodies. This challenges previous understandings of bodily self-consciousness and body perception.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Virtual Reality Studies
Background:
- Bodily self-consciousness research has primarily focused on single body experiences.
- Understanding the limits of body ownership and location perception is crucial for cognitive science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that healthy subjects can experience the Double Body Effect (simultaneous double body ownership and location).
- To investigate the flexibility of body ownership and location perception using virtual reality.
Main Methods:
- Virtual reality (VR) experiments were conducted with healthy participants.
- Proprioceptive-vestibular and visual manipulations were employed.
- Participants observed identical avatars in first-person (1PP) and third-person (3PP) perspectives while experiencing involuntary wobbling.
Main Results:
- Healthy subjects successfully experienced the Double Body Effect in both 1PP and 3PP conditions.
- The findings demonstrate greater flexibility in body ownership and location than previously assumed.
- Self-location and body-location were shown to be distinct experiences.
Conclusions:
- The Double Body Effect is achievable in healthy individuals, expanding the understanding of bodily self-consciousness.
- The results suggest a more complex relationship between self and body than traditional or reductionist views.
- This study provides a model for exploring phenomena like heautoscopy.
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