Proprioception Drift in Virtual Reality: An Experiment with an Unrealistically Long Leg

Embodiment refers to the sensation of owning, controlling, and perceiving a virtual or artificial body as one’s own. This study investigates how embodying an avatar with a leg twice its normal length affects proprioception, with congruent or incongruent visuotactile stimuli. Preliminary results (n = 10) show that participants experienced embodiment with a lengthened virtual leg, regardless of congruence of stimuli. A proprioceptive drift of 31.2 cm toward the virtual foot was observed. These findings extend research on upper-body proprioception to include virtual lower-limb deformations.