Investigating Techniques to Enhance the Sense of Embodiment in Immersive Virtual Reality
Key facts
- Where
- Bosisio Parini, ItalySee the site
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 12 and 50 years old?
Source: NCT07870044, who can take part
Where in Italy
- IRCCS Eugenio MedeaBosisio Parini, ItalyTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- IRCCS Eugenio Medea
- Trial code
- NCT07870044
- Record updated
- 10 November 2026
- Original description
Embodiment is an important aspect of virtual reality because it affects how natural and engaging the experience feels and can influence performance and learning in VR-based applications, including rehabilitation. In VR, embodiment refers to the extent to which a person feels that a virtual body (avatar) is their own and under their control. It is typically described as having three components: sense of agency (feeling that one is causing the avatar's actions), body ownership (feeling that the avatar's body is one's own), and self-location (feeling located where the avatar is). While many VR systems aim to increase embodiment, there is limited evidence on which specific techniques are most effective-especially in people with acquired neurological injuries, in whom central nervous system damage may alter body perception and multisensory integration.Read full original descriptionShow less
Studio Dell'Embodiment In Ambienti Di Realtà Virtuale Immersiva
Embodiment is an important aspect of virtual reality because it affects how natural and engaging the experience feels and can influence performance and learning in VR-based applications, including rehabilitation. In VR, embodiment refers to the extent to which a person feels that a virtual body (avatar) is their own and under their control. It is typically described as having three components: sense of agency (feeling that one is causing the avatar's actions), body ownership (feeling that the avatar's body is one's own), and self-location (feeling located where the avatar is). While many VR systems aim to increase embodiment, there is limited evidence on which specific techniques are most effective-especially in people with acquired neurological injuries, in whom central nervous system damage may alter body perception and multisensory integration.
This study will compare several VR techniques that may enhance embodiment, including synchronized visual and tactile stimulation, heart-rate-based visual biofeedback, increased possibilities to actively control the avatar, and familiarity with the performed action. Participants will include healthy volunteers and individuals with acquired neurological injuries (spinal cord injury or stroke). Across three study days, participants will complete multiple short VR conditions while wearing physiological sensors, and after each VR condition, participants will complete questionnaires about their VR experience. The goal is to identify which VR techniques most effectively increase embodiment and whether embodiment-related responses differ between healthy participants and clinical groups.
Inclusion: Age 12 to 50 years; Typically developing participants (healthy volunteers) OR participants with spinal cord injury OR participants with history of stroke; Score ≥ 7 on the "Vocabulary" subtest of WISC (for minors) or WAIS (for adults).
Exclusion: History of epilepsy or epileptic seizures; Poor head control; Visual acuity not correctable with glasses.