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Embodiment of virtual feet correlates with motor performance in a target-stepping task: a pilot study

Authors :
Alex van den Berg
Bart de Vries
Zoë Breedveld
Annelouk van Mierlo
Marnix Tijhuis
Laura Marchal-Crespo
Source :
Frontiers in Virtual Reality, Vol 4 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2023.

Abstract

Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) has gained popularity in neurorehabilitation for its potential to increase patients’ motivation and engagement. A crucial yet relatively unexplored aspect of IVR interfaces is the patients’ representation in the virtual world, such as with an avatar. A higher level of embodiment over avatars has been shown to enhance motor performance during upper limb training and has the potential to be employed to enhance neurorehabilitation. However, the relationship between avatar embodiment and gait performance remains unexplored. In this work, we present the results of a pilot study with 12 healthy young participants that evaluates the effect of different virtual lower limb representations on foot placement accuracy while stepping over a trail of 16 virtual targets. We compared three levels of virtual representation: i) a full-body avatar, ii) only feet, and iii) no representation. Full-body tracking is computed using standard VR trackers to synchronize the avatar with the participants’ motions. Foot placement accuracy is measured as the distance between the foot’s center of mass and the center of the selected virtual target. Additionally, we evaluated the level of embodiment over each virtual representation through a questionnaire. Our findings indicate that foot placement accuracy increases with some form of virtual representation, either full-body or foot, compared to having no virtual representation. However, the foot and full-body representations do not show significant differences in accuracy. Importantly, we found a negative correlation between the level of embodiment of the foot representation and the distance between the placed foot and the target. However, no such correlation was found for the full-body representation. Our results highlight the importance of embodying a virtual representation of the foot when performing a task that requires accurate foot placement. However, showing a full-body avatar does not appear to further enhance accuracy. Moreover, our results suggest that the level of embodiment of the virtual feet might modulate motor performance in this stepping task. This work motivates future research on the effect of embodiment over virtual representations on motor control to be exploited for IVR gait rehabilitation.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
26734192
Volume :
4
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Virtual Reality
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3d11d6244414f77a80e4a4b968832a8
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/frvir.2023.1104638