Exploring How Body Ownership of Abstract Humanoid Bodies in VR Correlates with Participation in Modern Role-Play

Abstract

Maximizing a person's body ownership in virtual reality (VR) is an important part making a VR experience comfortable and believable. However, not much is known about how this ownership differs from person to person. This thesis studies the difference in experienced body ownership between a group of role-players and a control group in both a synchronous and asynchronous condition. Role-players were chosen as, in environments such as table-top rpgs (TTRPGs) and live-action role play (LARP), these players play the role of a characted that is often visually very different from the player themselves. For example, in Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), the majority of players play a character of a species other than human. A VR application was built in Unity and used on a Meta Quest 3 to test the ownership of both groups. A neutral, abstract humanoid avatar was used in order to avoid it looking similar to any one participant. Of the 64 participants, 35 were part of the control group, and 29 were classified as role-players. In the end, the role-players scored significantly higher in body ownership, while scoring similarly to the control group in agency, perceived change to their own body, and an overall embodiment score made up of all three measures. Future research can explore if this increase in body ownership is trainable, or if it is inherent to people drawn to role-play.