Minimal Embodiment: Effects of a Portable Version of a Virtual Disembodiment Experience on Fear of Death
Carmen Chan, A. Hwang, Daphne Sun, B. Birckhead, A. S. Won
2020 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops March 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1109/vrw50115.2020.00224 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Exploratory experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | control condition (participants remained in control of the avatar body) disembodiment condition (participants drifted out of the avatar body and lost visuotactile contact with their avatar) |
| Key findings | The authors report an indirect effect in which perceived embodiment increased fear of death through a heightened degree of reported out-of-body experience in the disembodiment condition, compared with a control condition in which participants remained in control of the avatar body. They present this as an exploratory finding and discuss limitations and the use of simple VR tools in healthcare settings. |
Abstract
Body ownership illusions are the basis of various virtual reality (VR) applications. However, such illusions frequently require elaborate tracking systems, which make deployment in clinical settings challenging. Therefore, we build on Bourdin and colleagues’ former work [3] to trial a virtual out-of-body experience (OBE, individuals view themselves situating outside their physical bodies) with ”minimal embodiment.” We used a consumer system consisting of a 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) headset and its associated 3 DOF hand tracker. In an exploratory study, we compared participants’ fear-of-death (FOD) after undergoing either a control condition (participants remained in control of the avatar body) or a disembodiment condition (participants drifted out of the avatar body and lost visuotactile contact with their avatar). Results revealed an indirect effect of perceived embodiment increasing FOD through a heightened degree of reported OBE in the experimental condition. We discuss limitations and possible extensions of this study, and the future of using simple VR tools in healthcare settings.
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Influence of Virtual Out-of-Body Experiences on Fear of Death Cornell Undergraduate Research Journal May 8, 2023
- Out-Of-Virtual-Body Experiences: Virtual Disembodiment Effects on Time Perception in VR Virtual Reality Software and Technology October 9, 2024
- Evaluating the Sense of Embodiment through Out-of-Body Experience and Tactile Feedback International Conference on Virtual Reality Continuum and its Applications in Industry December 27, 2022