Högskolan i Skövde

Feeling ownership over the body of a virtual avatar is achievable by inducing a full-body ownership illusion in virtual reality. Previously, researchers have used the first-person perspective and synchronous tactile stimulation to elicit this illusion. The strength of the illusion can then be measured by averaging ownership and referral of touch scores from a questionnaire. In the present study, ownership and referral of touch scores were analyzed together and independently to determine the roles of perspective and timing of tactile stimulation on the full-body ownership illusion. To compare each factor, participants experienced four 90-second conditions in virtual reality combining the first- and third-person perspectives with synchronous and asynchronous tactile stimulation. Based on the average ownership and referral of touch scores together, the first-person synchronous condition elicited the highest overall illusion scores. However, separately analyzing these components revealed that the first-person perspective conditions elicited the highest ownership scores, regardless of visuotactile synchrony, whereas the synchronous stimulation conditions elicited the highest referral of touch scores, regardless of perspective. These findings suggest that ownership and referral of touch are separate components of the illusion which may be impacted by conditions differently.