.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
Return
Physio Avatar RM: Effects of Self-Avatar Integration With Foot-Elongated Avatar via Virtual Self-Touch on Human Gait
.png){kind=icon}
OA
AI
R
K
K
R
K
Y
H
A
DOI：10.1109/tnsre.2026.3713187.png)
.png){kind=icon}
Original request for help.png){kind=icon}
Share.png){kind=icon}
Save
Abstract
En 中文
Virtual reality (VR) provides a controllable medium to couple perception and motor behavior in rehabilitation. This study investigated whether experiencing a foot-elongated avatar (FEA) via virtual self-touch (VST), which combines VR visual information and synchronized vibrotactile stimulation, is associated with body schema–related change and whether such change is reflected in motor behavior during obstacle crossing, indexed by maximum foot clearance (MFC). Twenty-two healthy young adults experienced two avatars in counterbalanced order: a life-size avatar (LA) and an FEA with a right-foot length that was 1.5 times that of the LA. The primary outcome measure was MFC while stepping over 10-cm and 30-cm virtual obstacles; the secondary outcome measures were perceptual drift in the perceived toe-tip position and questionnaire scores for the sense of ownership and sense of agency. The VST task produced significantly greater perceptual drift with the FEA than with the LA (<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${p} \lt 0.05$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${r} =0.813$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). For the 30-cm obstacle, the MFC value was significantly greater with the FEA than with the LA (<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${p} \lt 0.05$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${r} =0.415$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). In contrast, the questionnaire scores did not exhibit statistically significant group-level differences between the avatars. These findings suggest that body schema–related change after experiencing a FEA via VST was mainly limited to the perceptual aspect and was not clearly observed in the subjective aspect. Furthermore, the finding suggests that an aspect-specific body schema–related change may be associated with measurable gait adjustment during a more demanding obstacle-crossing task, although VST contribution cannot be isolated in the present design.
Keywords:
Virtual reality
gait rehabilitation
obstacle crossing
self-avatar integration
body schema
virtual self-touch
Journal
IF:
5.2
Papers:
448
Citations:
1.6W
Organization
Cited Papers