The relationship between the body and the environment in the virtual world: The interpupillary distance affects the body size perception

PLoS One. 2020 Apr 24;15(4):e0232290. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232290. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Previous research suggests that the size of one's body is used as a metric to scale the external world. On the other hand, the influence of information from the external world on the perception of body size is unclear. It has been suggested that increased inter-pupillary distance (IPD) leads people to perceive the external world as smaller than it actually is. The present study investigated the effect of the IPD on body size perception, and the relationship between the perceived scale of the body and the external world when the IPD is manipulated. To this end, in a virtual environment, we manipulated the IPD as well as the size and presence of participants' hands, while participant's eye height was increased vertically. Results showed that, when participants' eye height was increased and their hands were enlarged, people with a fixed IPD perceived the size of their body to be large (like a giant) while the external world was perceived to be changed minimally. Alternatively, people with increased IPD perceived that the external world as having shrank, whereas their perception of their body size changed little. However, when a viewers' virtual hands were not shown, the IPD did not affect the individual's percept of body size, although the IPD did affect one's perception of the external world. These results suggest that, when the ratio of the size between one's body and the external world are explicit, the perceived size of one's body is affected by the IPD or perceived scale of the external world that is affected by the IPD.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Body Image
  • Body Size / physiology*
  • Distance Perception / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Photic Stimulation / methods
  • Size Perception / physiology*
  • User-Computer Interface
  • Visual Perception / physiology*
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 19H01490 to KY (https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-19H01490/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.