Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 3, 2026

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Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation
Published on: March 1, 2017
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Am I Still Me? Visual Congruence Across Reality-Virtuality and Avatar Appearance in Shaping Self-Perception and
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
|April 1, 2026
Summary
Virtual reality (VR) with self-similar avatars enhances embodiment but doesn't match physical reality's congruence. Dissimilar avatars in VR drive behavioral changes, highlighting challenges in avatar realism and ecological validity.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Virtual Reality Research
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Visual self-representation congruence is crucial for self-perception and behavior.
- Virtual reality (VR) offers novel ways to explore self-representation through avatars.
- Existing research lacks systematic investigation into graded self-similarity in VR.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically investigate the influence of visual self-representation congruence on self-perception and behavior.
- To compare self-perception and behavior across physical reality and VR with varying avatar self-similarity.
- To identify the impact of avatar realism and gender cues on embodiment and behavioral changes in VR.
Main Methods:
- A within-user study comparing physical reality with VR environments.
- Participants embodied photorealistic self-similar, dissimilar same-gender, or dissimilar opposite-gender avatars.
- Measures included subjective presence, embodiment, self-identification, perceived change, and objective movement metrics.
Main Results:
- VR, even with self-similar avatars, showed lower presence, embodiment, and self-identification compared to physical reality.
- Self-similar avatars in VR improved body ownership, self-location, and self-identification over dissimilar avatars.
- Dissimilar avatars in VR led to significant behavioral changes, while gender had minimal impact on neutral tasks.
Conclusions:
- Photorealistic, self-similar avatars enhance embodiment and self-identification in VR.
- A persistent gap exists in VR's visual congruence compared to physical reality.
- Achieving full congruence and ecological validity in VR remains a key challenge for avatar design.
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