Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. In case of doubt, one follows one's self: the implicit guidance of the embodied self-avatar
 
research article

In case of doubt, one follows one's self: the implicit guidance of the embodied self-avatar

Boban, Loën  
•
Boulic, Ronan  
•
Herbelin, Bruno  
2024
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics

The sense of embodiment in virtual reality (VR) is commonly understood as the subjective experience that one's physical body is substituted by a virtual counterpart, and is typically achieved when the avatar's body, seen from a first-person view, moves like one's physical body. Embodiment can also be experienced in other circumstances (e.g., in third-person view) or with imprecise or distorted visuo-motor coupling. It was moreover observed, in various cases of small or progressive temporal and spatial manipulations of avatars' movements, that participants may spontaneously follow the movement shown by the avatar. The present work investigates whether, in some specific contexts, participants would follow what their avatar does even when large movement discrepancies occur, thereby extending the scope of understanding of the self-avatar follower effect beyond subtle changes of motion or speed manipulations. We conducted an experimental study in which we introduced uncertainty about which movement to perform at specific times and analyzed participants' movements and subjective feedback after their avatar showed them an incorrect movement. Results show that, when in doubt, participants were influenced by their avatar's movements, leading them to perform that particular error twice more often than normal. Importantly, results of the embodiment score indicate that participants experienced a dissociation with their avatar at those times. Overall, these observations not only demonstrate the possibility of provoking situations in which participants follow the guidance of their avatar for large motor distortions, despite their awareness about the avatar movement disruption and on the possible influence it had on their choice, and, importantly, exemplify how the cognitive mechanism of embodiment is deeply rooted in the necessity of having a body.

  • Files
  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
research article
DOI
10.1109/TVCG.2024.3372042
Author(s)
Boban, Loën  
Boulic, Ronan  
Herbelin, Bruno  
Date Issued

2024

Published in
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
Start page

1

End page

10

Subjects

Avatars

•

Distortion

•

Behavioral Sciences

•

Virtual Reality

•

Virtual Embodiment

•

Sense Of Body Ownership

•

Sense Of Agency

•

Self Avatar Follower Effect

Note

the dataset has been sent with the paper and both will be accessible on the publisher web site ; presently only the online preprint is visible.

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
SCI-IC-RB  
FunderGrant Number

FNS

200020_207424

Available on Infoscience
March 11, 2024
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/205952
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés