Effects of Coordinative Arm Swing Movements on the Sense of Agency in Walking Sensation Induced by Kinesthetic Illusion

TL;DR

This study investigates whether coordinated arm swing movements can enhance the sense of agency over walking sensations induced by kinesthetic illusion, suggesting potential improvements in virtual reality and rehabilitation experiences.

Contribution

It introduces a system that links arm swing movements to kinesthetic illusions and demonstrates their effect on increasing the sense of agency.

Findings

Sense of agency tends to increase with arm swing movements.

System effectively switches thigh and ankle vibrations based on arm movements.

Arm swing coordination may improve virtual walking experiences.

Abstract

Kinesthetic illusion can present a sense of movement without actual physical movement of the body, but it often lacks a sense of agency over the movement. Therefore, we focused on the sensation of walking induced by the kinesthetic illusion and hypothesized that incorporating coordinated arm swing movements as actual actions could enhance the sense of agency over the kinesthetic illusion. In this study, we implemented a system that switches the vibrations of the thighs and ankles back and forth based on arm swing movements and investigated whether the sense of agency over the walking sensation induced by the kinesthetic illusion changes with or without arm swing movements. The results suggest a tendency for the sense of agency to be enhanced when arm swing movements are combined.