THE dream of many computer game designers has come one step closer to reality with the demonstration of a technique that allows people to identify more fully with a virtual body or avatar. It builds on previous research in which neuroscientists gave subjects the sensation that they were having an “out-of-body experience”, and tricked people into experiencing the sensation that their avatar was being touched.
In the latest experiment, a camera filming each subject’s back produced an image that was projected through a head-mounted display to generate a virtual body 2 metres in front of them. Repeated stroking of the…
