{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T04:34:31Z","timestamp":1783312471354,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]],"date-time":"2024-10-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1728518400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Virtual Real."],"abstract":"<jats:p>In immersive VR, a self-avatar that replicates the user\u2019s movements and is viewed from a first-person perspective can substitute the real body. If the avatar\u2019s movements are sufficiently synchronized with the user\u2019s actual movements, the user can experience a sense of embodiment over the avatar. Recent studies have shown that discrepancies between the movements of the avatar and those of the user can be well tolerated while maintaining high levels of embodiment. The point at which a distortion is perceived (detection threshold) and its impact on the level of embodiment has not been studied in lower limb tasks such as gait. This study aimed to identify a detection threshold of gait asymmetry by unilaterally manipulating the step length of a self-avatar, and the effect of this detection on perceived embodiment. A real-time step length distortion model was developed, and a detection threshold between actual and avatar\u2019s gait movement was assessed on thirty healthy participants. The step length was manipulated to introduce gait asymmetry (ascending condition) or start from a large asymmetry that was gradually decreased (descending). The results showed that, on average, the avatar\u2019s step length could be increased by up to 12% before the participants detected the distortion. Furthermore, in the descending condition, they detected increases that were above 9%. The point of detection had no effect on the sense of embodiment as participants still reported being embodied in their avatars, even when they consciously detected the step length distortion. The sense of embodiment was closely correlated with the level of distortion; as distortion increased, embodiment decreased, and <jats:italic>vice versa<\/jats:italic>. For a given distortion level, embodiment was similar whether in the ascending or descending condition. This suggests that embodiment can be achieved even when the avatar\u2019s spatial alignment initially differs from the participants\u2019, provided that alignment is gradually restored. These results provide valuable insights into participants\u2019 ability to tolerate movement discrepancies in embodied avatar experiences during gait in virtual environments, with potential applications in motor training and gait rehabilitation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2024.1339296","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]],"date-time":"2024-10-10T12:29:49Z","timestamp":1728563389000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Detection threshold of distorted self-avatar step length during gait and the effects on the sense of embodiment"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Iris","family":"Willaert","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rachid","family":"Aissaoui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valentin","family":"Vallageas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sylvie","family":"Nadeau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cyril","family":"Duclos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David R.","family":"Labbe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"12846","DOI":"10.1073\/PNAS.1306779110","article-title":"Illusory ownership of a virtual child body causes overestimation of object sizes and implicit attitude changes","volume":"110","author":"Banakou","year":"2013","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2022.712375","article-title":"Follow your nose: extended arm reach after pinocchio illusion in virtual reality","volume":"3","author":"Berger","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Virtual Real"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"756","DOI":"10.1038\/35784","article-title":"Rubber hands \u2018feel\u2019 touch that eyes see","volume":"391","author":"Botvinick","year":"1998","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19747","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-019-56034-5","article-title":"Altered visual feedback from an embodied avatar unconsciously influences movement amplitude and muscle activity","volume":"9","author":"Bourdin","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1428","DOI":"10.1109\/TVCG.2018.2794658","article-title":"The critical role of self-contact for embodiment in virtual reality","volume":"24","author":"Bovet","year":"2018","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"02098999","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0209899","article-title":"Body ownership increases the interference between observed and executed movements","volume":"14","author":"Burin","year":"2019","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1162\/PRES.2006.15.1.1","article-title":"The hand is more easily fooled than the eye: users are more sensitive to visual interpenetration than to visual-proprioceptive discrepancy","volume":"15","author":"Burns","year":"2006","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators and Virtual Environ."},{"key":"B9","first-page":"74","article-title":"SnapMove: movement projection mapping in virtual reality","author":"Cohn","year":"2020"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0266212","DOI":"10.1371\/JOURNAL.PONE.0266212","article-title":"Avatar error in your favor: embodied avatars can fix users\u2019 mistakes without them noticing","volume":"18","author":"Delahaye","year":"2023","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"351","DOI":"10.1007\/S00221-018-5391-3","article-title":"Handedness modulates proprioceptive drift in the rubber hand illusion","volume":"237","author":"Dempsey-Jones","year":"2019","journal-title":"Exp. Brain Res."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1145\/3491102.3517671","article-title":"Designing visuo-haptic illusions with proxies in virtual reality: exploration of grasp, movement trajectory and object mass","author":"Feick","year":"2022"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"142","DOI":"10.1016\/J.CAG.2018.09.001","article-title":"Self-attribution of distorted reaching movements in immersive virtual reality","volume":"76","author":"Galvan Debarba","year":"2018","journal-title":"Comput. Graph"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"689","DOI":"10.1016\/J.JBIOMECH.2005.01.015","article-title":"Kinematic and kinetic factors that correlate with improved knee flexion following treatment for stiff-knee gait","volume":"39","author":"Goldberg","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Biomech."},{"key":"B15","first-page":"18","article-title":"The self-avatar follower effect in virtual reality","author":"Gonzalez-Franco","year":"2020"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.3200\/JMBR.39.2.82-88","article-title":"Comparison of dynamic (effortful) touch by hand and foot","volume":"39","author":"Hajnal","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Mot. Behav."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"313","DOI":"10.1007\/s00221-013-3437-0","article-title":"Proprioceptive performance of bilateral upper and lower limb joints: side-general and site-specific effects","volume":"226","author":"Han","year":"2013","journal-title":"Exp. Brain Res."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1705","DOI":"10.1152\/jn.00937.2014","article-title":"Gait asymmetry during early split-belt walking is related to perception of belt speed difference","volume":"114","author":"Hoogkamer","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Neurophysiol."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"419","DOI":"10.3390\/cells8050419","article-title":"Gait training in virtual reality: short-term effects of different virtual manipulation techniques in Parkinson\u2019s disease","volume":"8","author":"Janeh","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cells"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1837","DOI":"10.1152\/jn.01042.2012","article-title":"Self in motion: sensorimotor and cognitive mechanisms in gait agency","volume":"110","author":"Kannape","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Neurophysiol."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2015.00141","article-title":"Over my fake body: body ownership illusions for studying the multisensory basis of own-body perception","volume":"9","author":"Kilteni","year":"2015","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"373","DOI":"10.1162\/PRES_a_00124","article-title":"The sense of embodiment in virtual reality","volume":"21","author":"Kilteni","year":"2012","journal-title":"Presence"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"28879","DOI":"10.1038\/srep28879","article-title":"First person perspective of seated participants over a walking virtual body leads to illusory agency over the walking","volume":"6","author":"Kokkinara","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1068\/p7545","article-title":"Measuring the effects through time of the influence of visuomotor and visuotactile synchronous stimulation on a virtual body ownership illusion","volume":"43","author":"Kokkinara","year":"2014","journal-title":"Perception"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/2818998","article-title":"The effects of visuomotor calibration to the perceived space and body, through embodiment in immersive virtual reality","volume":"13","author":"Kokkinara","year":"2015","journal-title":"ACM Trans. Appl. Percept."},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.2466\/25.15.PMS.118k17w6","article-title":"Perception threshold of locomotor symmetry while walking on a split-belt treadmill in healthy elderly individuals","volume":"118","author":"Lauzi\u00e8re","year":"2014","journal-title":"Percept. Mot. Ski."},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbiomech.2017.03.004","article-title":"Effects of step length and step frequency on lower-limb muscle function in human gait","volume":"57","author":"Lim","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Biomech."},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1954","DOI":"10.1152\/JN.00832.2009","article-title":"Thinking about walking: effects of conscious correction versus distraction on locomotor adaptation","volume":"103","author":"Malone","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Neurophysiol."},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1265","DOI":"10.1016\/S0893-6080(96)00035-4","article-title":"Forward models for physiological motor control","volume":"9","author":"Miall","year":"1996","journal-title":"Neural Netw."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2015.08.022","article-title":"Violating body movement semantics: neural signatures of self-generated and external-generated errors","volume":"124","author":"Padrao","year":"2016","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"304","DOI":"10.1016\/J.APMR.2007.08.142","article-title":"Gait asymmetry in community-ambulating stroke survivors","volume":"89","author":"Patterson","year":"2008","journal-title":"Arch. Phys. Med. Rehabil."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1179\/108331905X43463","article-title":"Automaticity of walking \u2013 implications for physiotherapy practice","volume":"10","author":"Paul","year":"2005","journal-title":"Phys. Ther. Rev."},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2020.575943","article-title":"Avatar Embodiment. A Standardized Questionnaire","volume":"1","author":"Peck","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Virtual Real."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0255554","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0255554","article-title":"Reaching articular limits can negatively impact embodiment in virtual reality","volume":"17","author":"Porssut","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"B33","first-page":"529","article-title":"Reconciling being in-control vs. being helped for the execution of complex movements in VR","author":"Porssut","year":"2019"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"460","DOI":"10.1177\/1545968312474118","article-title":"Repeated split-belt treadmill training improves poststroke step length asymmetry","volume":"27","author":"Reisman","year":"2013","journal-title":"Neurorehabil Neural Repair"},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1016\/S0966-6362(00)00070-9","article-title":"Symmetry and limb dominance in able-bodied gait: a review","volume":"12","author":"Sadeghi","year":"2000","journal-title":"Gait Posture"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1242\/JEB.017269","article-title":"Powered ankle exoskeletons reveal the metabolic cost of plantar flexor mechanical work during walking with longer steps at constant step frequency","volume":"212","author":"Sawicki","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Exp. Biol."},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1141","DOI":"10.1111\/2041-210X.13434","article-title":"Robustness of linear mixed-effects models to violations of distributional assumptions","volume":"11","author":"Schielzeth","year":"2020","journal-title":"Methods Ecol. Evol."},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"495","DOI":"10.1007\/s00221-012-3044-5","article-title":"Effects of implicit visual feedback distortion on human gait","volume":"218","author":"Seung-Jae","year":"2012","journal-title":"Exp. Brain Res."},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.3389\/neuro.09.006.2008","article-title":"Towards a digital body: the virtual arm illusion","volume":"2","author":"Slater","year":"2008","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2014.00009","article-title":"How to build an embodiment lab: achieving body representation illusions in virtual reality","volume":"1","author":"Spanlang","year":"2014","journal-title":"Front. Robot. AI"},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"655","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797620975774","article-title":"Using body ownership to modulate the motor system in stroke patients","volume":"32","author":"Tambone","year":"2021","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"B41","first-page":"718","article-title":"Modulating the gait of a real-time self-avatar to induce changes in stride length during treadmill walking","author":"Willaert","year":"2020"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Virtual Reality"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frvir.2024.1339296\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]],"date-time":"2024-10-10T12:29:51Z","timestamp":1728563391000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frvir.2024.1339296\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]]},"references-count":43,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/frvir.2024.1339296"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/frvir.2024.1339296","relation":{},"ISSN":["2673-4192"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2673-4192","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]]},"article-number":"1339296"}}