That’s my virtual hand!: The interplay of touch, vision, and proprioception in virtual reality
2024 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 15 credits / 22,5 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Our study investigates the rubber hand illusion (RHI), a perceptual phenomenon where individuals perceive a humanoid hand-shaped object as part of their own body. We explore this within virtual reality, focusing on how touch, vision, and proprioception interact to induce a sense of body ownership. Using a 2x2 factorial design, we manipulated visual and tactile stimuli to assess their individual and combined effects on the perception of RHI among 28 participants, ranging in age between 19-36. Each subject experienced four conditions: visual and tactile stimuli, only visual, only tactile, and neither, with responses measured through a 7-point Likert scale questionnaire. Tactile stimulation was provided in brush-like sensations through the STRATOS explore.
Our participants' average score in the questionnaire for all conditions was below +1, therefore they cannot be classified as illusion responders. This could be due to the limitations of this study including the experimental setup, statistical deviations, and technical difficulties. However, our findings reveal that the integration of both visual and tactile stimuli contributes more to the sense of ownership than each sensory modality alone. This study emphasizes the complexity of multisensory integration in virtual reality settings and suggests that effective simulation of body ownership requires carefully coordinated sensory inputs. Our results contribute to the understanding of body ownership.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. , p. 38
Keywords [en]
Body ownership, multisensory integration, rubber hand illusion, virtual reality
National Category
Neurosciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:his:diva-24325OAI: oai:DiVA.org:his-24325DiVA, id: diva2:1883410
Subject / course
Cognitive Neuroscience
Educational program
Cognitive Neuroscience - Neuropsychology and Consciousness Studies
Supervisors
Examiners
2024-07-102024-07-102024-07-10Bibliographically approved