One Body, But Four Hands: Exploring the Role of Virtual Hands in Virtual Co-embodiment

This IEEE conference talk explores the concept of virtual co-embodiment in Virtual Reality (VR), where two users share a single virtual avatar. Discover how this technology facilitates skill acquisition by allowing teachers to share hand movements with learners, while examining its effects on Sense of Agency, Sense of Ownership, and social presence. The presenters, including researchers from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, University of Tsukuba, MIT, and Southeast University, discuss findings from two user studies that investigated how visual factors like transparency and congruency of virtual hands impact user perception. Learn about the importance of maintaining self-hands and consistent transparency across both users' hands to improve the sense of ownership in shared VR environments. This 13-minute presentation from the "Presence, body ownership, and agency" session provides valuable insights for designing more effective virtual hand interactions in co-embodied VR experiences.