19. Effect of Perspective Change on Body Ownership Transfer

We previously investigated body ownership transfer to a teleoperated android body caused by motion synchronization between the robot and its operator. Although visual feedback is the only information provided from the robot side, as a result of body ownership transfer, some operators feel as if they are touched when the robot’s body is touched. This illusion can help operators transfer their presence to the robotic body during teleoperation. By enhancing this phenomenon, we can improve the communication interface and the quality of the interaction between the operator and interlocutor. In this study, we examined the effect of a change in the operator’s perspective on the body ownership transfer during teleoperation. According to the results of past studies on the rubber hand illusion (RHI), we hypothesized that a perspective change would suppress the body owner transfer. Our results, however, showed that under any perspective condition, the participants felt the body ownership transfer. This shows that its generation process differs for teleoperated androids and the RHI.