Dewe HL, Gottwold J, Bird LA, Cowie D

We examined the effects of movement, touch and corporeality (hand form) on children’s embodiment using a VR bubble popping game. In Experiment 1, participants felt a haptic touch either synchronously, asynchronously or not at all while popping bubbles. In Experiment 2, participants used a virtual hand or a block to perform the task. In both experiments, movement of the virtual limb was either synchronous or asynchronous with the participant’s movements. Embodiment was quantified via ratings and proprioceptive drift. Findings from Exp. 1 revealed greater embodiment for the virtual hand in synchronous relative to asynchronous movement. There were no effects of touch or drift. Exp. 2 revealed significantly greater embodiment for both virtual limbs (hand and block) in synchronous compared to asynchronous movement. For most questions, there were no reliable differences between the hand and block, and no differences in drift. These studies explore key processes underlying coherent embodiment in children.