Virtually capable of anything: Experimental evidence for a game transfer phenomenon of space perception following virtual embodiment

Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP) research suggests a transfer of perceptual experiences when interacting between virtual environments (VE) and real-world environments. However, the field relies heavily on subjective self-reports and cross-sectional studies and thus needs experimental attention. Within VE, recent experimental work showed that increasing participants virtual action capabilities by elongating their virtual arm led them to overestimate their ability to reach to objects presented within the VE and to underestimate the distance of these objects. The present study investigated whether virtually-manipulated arm-length would also impact space perception for objects presented in the real-world. Forty students were immersed twice in a VE in which they interacted with virtual objects with a virtual hand. Their virtual action capability was manipulated so that they either had a virtual hand that matched their real hand’s location, or the virtual hand was extended by thirty-five centimeters from the real hand location. After immersion, objects were projected on a table along the sagittal axis (in the real-world) and participants estimated whether they could reach the object (YES or NO) and the sagittal object’s distance. Results replicated the effect of augmented virtual action capability on space perception and further provided objective evidence for the occurrence of a GTP. Following the extended compared to matched virtual hand location, participants perceived that they could reach more objects and estimated the objects as closer. This study stresses the validity and relevance of GTP and calls for further research aimed at investigating the generalizability of the present findings and to clarify potential causal mechanisms. Possible clinical translations are discussed.