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Continuity of Self-Localization across Physical and Virtual Embodiments
T. Sakai, M. Minegishi, T. Yamashita
IEEE Virtual Reality 2001, Poster, Yokohama, 2001.
In immersive virtual environments, the user may be required to shift perceptual reference from a physically present body to a visually mediated or fully virtual body representation. Such transitions raise a fundamental question: under what conditions is self-localization experienced as continuous rather than disrupted? In this study, we investigated the continuity of self-localization across transitions between physical and virtual embodiments, with particular attention to the temporal and spatial correspondence between motor action, visual feedback, and body-centered perspective.
A head-motion-coupled stereoscopic display was used to present subjects with a virtual body whose viewpoint and movement correspondence could be systematically manipulated. Experimental conditions varied in visual perspective, motion-mapping latency, and the degree of geometric alignment between the subject's physical body and its virtual counterpart. Subjects were asked to perform simple orientation and reaching tasks following embodiment transitions, and were evaluated through both psychophysical measures and self-report ratings concerning continuity of position sense, body ownership, and subjective presence.
The results suggest that continuity of self-localization does not depend solely on visual realism, but rather on the preservation of sensorimotor consistency across the transition. In particular, stable head-motion coupling and low-latency visuomotor updating significantly reduced the subjective discontinuity associated with changes in embodiment. These findings indicate that self-localization may be preserved across heterogeneous bodies when the relationship between action and perceptual consequence remains sufficiently coherent. The study provides an experimental basis for the design of virtual embodiment systems in which users may move between distinct bodies without substantial loss of self-continuity.