Dear all,
‘This work opens up another avenue for virtual reality, which is not just
to transform your sense of place, but also your sense of self,’
Just found this little article thought it might interest and amuse:
“Scientists have transferred men’s minds into a virtual woman’s body in an
experiment that could enlighten the prejudiced and shed light on how
humans distinguish themselves from others.
In a study at Barcelona University, men donned a virtual reality (VR)
headset that allowed them to see and hear the world as a female character.
When they looked down they could even see their new body and clothes.
The ‘body-swapping’ effect was so convincing that the men’s sense of self
was transferred into the virtual woman, causing them to react reflexively
to events in the virtual world in which they were immersed
.
Men who took part in the experiment reported feeling as though they
occupied the woman’s body and even gasped and flinched when she was
slapped by another character in the virtual world.
‘This work opens up another avenue for virtual reality, which is not just
to transform your sense of place, but also your sense of self,’ said Mel
Slater, a virtual reality researcher at the Catalan Institute of Research
and Advanced Studies and University College London. ‘There isn’t any other
technology that allows you to look down and see another body that isn’t
yours and give you the illusion that it is,’ he said.
‘If you can temporarily give people the illusion that their bodies are
different, then the evidence suggests it also affects their behaviour and
the way they think. They can have new experiences: a person who is thin
can know what it’s like to be fat. A man can have an experience of what
it’s like to be a woman.’”
Full Article -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/may/12/virtual-reality-men-woman-body
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