Where am I in virtual reality?
Albert H Van der Veer, Adrian J T Alsmith, Matthew R Longo, Hong Yu Wong, Betty J Mohler
PLoS One 2018 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204358 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | People using a virtual reality headset |
| Key findings | When pointing at themselves with a virtual pointer in a VR headset, participants mainly located themselves in the upper face, whereas previous physical-pointer work found locations mainly in the upper face and upper torso. On a body outline, they pointed most often to the upper torso, then the upper or general face. The authors suggest head-mounted VR may shift self-location toward the head. |
Abstract
It is currently not well understood whether people experience themselves to be located in one or more specific part(s) of their body. Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used as a tool to study aspects of bodily perception and self-consciousness, due to its strong experimental control and ease in manipulating multi-sensory aspects of bodily experience. To investigate where people self-locate in their body within virtual reality, we asked participants to point directly at themselves with a virtual pointer, in a VR headset. In previous work employing a physical pointer, participants mainly located themselves in the upper face and upper torso. In this study, using a VR headset, participants mainly located themselves in the upper face. In an additional body template task where participants pointed at themselves on a picture of a simple body outline, participants pointed most often to the upper torso, followed by the (upper) face. These results raise the question as to whether head-mounted virtual reality might alter where people locate themselves making them more "head-centred".