Virtual Embodiment and Pain

Within immersive virtual reality (VR) users can experience the illusory feeling of owning a virtual body. Initial studies demonstrated that this virtual embodiment can be used to reduce experimental and clinical pain. The virtual body and its interaction with the virtual environment can be manipulated in numerous ways. Within the current project, we induce virtual body ownership illusions to investigate the influence of different factors (e.g., ownership, agency, contextual factors, attention) on pain perception. In the long term, the studies should contribute to developing novel treatments for disorders involving altered body image, such as chronic pain.

Publications

Käthner, I., Bader, T., & Pauli, P. (2019). Heat pain modulation with virtual water during a virtual hand illusion. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55407-0
 

Contact

Dr. Ivo Käthner (ivo.kaethner@uni-wuerzburg.de)
 

Duration: since 2017