Cheating the virtual hand: altering action capacities influence perceived distance and reachability
(2015) The annual meeting of the Belgium Association for Psychological Sciences (BAPS) — Location: Brussels, Belgium
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- Authors
Salvaggio, Samuel 
- et. al.
- Abstract
- Previous studies have shown that the representation of the body in action contributes and calibrates the way the space around us is perceived. For example, it has been demonstrated that reachability judgements and distance estimations are linked, with the manipulation of reaching capacities (by the use of a tool or postural constrains), having an influence on distance estimation. The aim of the present study was to investigate how modifying action capabilities using virtual reality influence perceived distance and reachability. For this purpose, a virtual environment was created where participants had their hand action altered surreptitiously either in their reaching movement (i.e. action range or action speed), or in the size of their virtual hands. The experiment consisted of: an interaction phase followed by an estimation phase. In the interaction phase, participants had to grasp and move virtual objects in order to familiarize themselves with their action capabilities (altered or not) inside the virtual environment. The estimation phase consisted of reachability judgement and distance estimation tasks. Results showed that augmenting their action range induced an increase of perceived reachability, and an underestimation of distances compared to the non-altered action condition. Augmenting action speed did not change perceived reachability, but did induce a subtle underestimation of distance. Augmenting hand size had no effects on reachability judgements and distance estimations. Those findings support the idea that egocentric distance perception is based on a dynamic experience of perceived reaching capacities.
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Citations
Salvaggio, S., Grade, S., Tournadre, M., Edwards, M., & et al. (2015). Cheating the virtual hand: altering action capacities influence perceived distance and reachability. The annual meeting of the Belgium Association for Psychological Sciences (BAPS), Brussels, Belgium. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/215711