Presentation of Body Sway Sensation Considering the Distinction Between Self-Motion and Environmental Motion Induced by Alternating Vibrations to Antagonistic Tendons in the Ankles

In virtual reality (VR) environments and immersive content, the use of kinesthetic illusions has garnered attention as a simple yet effective method to present whole-body motion sensations, such as body sway and tilt. This study proposes a technique to present sensations of whole-body sway by altern...

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Main Authors: Eifu Narita, Keigo Ushiyama, Izumi Mizoguchi, Hiroyuki Kajimoto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10896661/
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author Eifu Narita
Keigo Ushiyama
Izumi Mizoguchi
Hiroyuki Kajimoto
author_facet Eifu Narita
Keigo Ushiyama
Izumi Mizoguchi
Hiroyuki Kajimoto
author_sort Eifu Narita
collection DOAJ
description In virtual reality (VR) environments and immersive content, the use of kinesthetic illusions has garnered attention as a simple yet effective method to present whole-body motion sensations, such as body sway and tilt. This study proposes a technique to present sensations of whole-body sway by alternately vibrating the antagonistic muscles of the ankle and manipulating the switching speed (frequency) of these vibrations to induce the interpretation of the sway as either “the body is moving” or “the environment (ground) is moving.” To validate the effectiveness of this method, three experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we investigated the effect of the switching frequency on the interpretation of sway. The results revealed a tendency for low frequencies to be interpreted as “self-sway” and high frequencies as “environmental sway.” In Experiment 2, we examined the influence of shifting the center of pressure (CoP) in the anterior-posterior direction on sway interpretation. While the CoP position had minimal impact on sway interpretation, the results suggested that the strength of the illusion slightly decreased under high-frequency conditions when the CoP was biased towards the toes or heels. In Experiment 3, we presented visual stimuli of sway with various phase delays and assessed whether the match between the visual stimuli and the vibration-induced sway illusion changed. Although phase delays did not strongly affect the matching scores, the results indicated that visual stimuli might contribute to the interpretation of the illusion. These findings demonstrate the potential of a technique that adjusts the switching frequency of vibrations to differentiate between “self-sway” and “environmental sway” in VR and immersive content. Furthermore, the limited impact of integrating visual stimuli on the interpretation and strength of the illusion suggests that highly immersive and convincing experiences can be designed even without strict synchronization between visual and tactile stimuli.
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spelling doaj-art-1fb6a94c521f4f7b9518d587bb2e8f1d2025-08-20T02:03:42ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113340813409410.1109/ACCESS.2025.354410210896661Presentation of Body Sway Sensation Considering the Distinction Between Self-Motion and Environmental Motion Induced by Alternating Vibrations to Antagonistic Tendons in the AnklesEifu Narita0https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8439-7277Keigo Ushiyama1Izumi Mizoguchi2Hiroyuki Kajimoto3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5088-7397Department of Informatics, The University of Electro-Communications, Chofu, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Informatics, The University of Electro-Communications, Chofu, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Informatics, The University of Electro-Communications, Chofu, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Informatics, The University of Electro-Communications, Chofu, Tokyo, JapanIn virtual reality (VR) environments and immersive content, the use of kinesthetic illusions has garnered attention as a simple yet effective method to present whole-body motion sensations, such as body sway and tilt. This study proposes a technique to present sensations of whole-body sway by alternately vibrating the antagonistic muscles of the ankle and manipulating the switching speed (frequency) of these vibrations to induce the interpretation of the sway as either “the body is moving” or “the environment (ground) is moving.” To validate the effectiveness of this method, three experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we investigated the effect of the switching frequency on the interpretation of sway. The results revealed a tendency for low frequencies to be interpreted as “self-sway” and high frequencies as “environmental sway.” In Experiment 2, we examined the influence of shifting the center of pressure (CoP) in the anterior-posterior direction on sway interpretation. While the CoP position had minimal impact on sway interpretation, the results suggested that the strength of the illusion slightly decreased under high-frequency conditions when the CoP was biased towards the toes or heels. In Experiment 3, we presented visual stimuli of sway with various phase delays and assessed whether the match between the visual stimuli and the vibration-induced sway illusion changed. Although phase delays did not strongly affect the matching scores, the results indicated that visual stimuli might contribute to the interpretation of the illusion. These findings demonstrate the potential of a technique that adjusts the switching frequency of vibrations to differentiate between “self-sway” and “environmental sway” in VR and immersive content. Furthermore, the limited impact of integrating visual stimuli on the interpretation and strength of the illusion suggests that highly immersive and convincing experiences can be designed even without strict synchronization between visual and tactile stimuli.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10896661/Human-computer interactionkinesthetic illusionproprioceptiontendon vibrationvirtual reality
spellingShingle Eifu Narita
Keigo Ushiyama
Izumi Mizoguchi
Hiroyuki Kajimoto
Presentation of Body Sway Sensation Considering the Distinction Between Self-Motion and Environmental Motion Induced by Alternating Vibrations to Antagonistic Tendons in the Ankles
IEEE Access
Human-computer interaction
kinesthetic illusion
proprioception
tendon vibration
virtual reality
title Presentation of Body Sway Sensation Considering the Distinction Between Self-Motion and Environmental Motion Induced by Alternating Vibrations to Antagonistic Tendons in the Ankles
title_full Presentation of Body Sway Sensation Considering the Distinction Between Self-Motion and Environmental Motion Induced by Alternating Vibrations to Antagonistic Tendons in the Ankles
title_fullStr Presentation of Body Sway Sensation Considering the Distinction Between Self-Motion and Environmental Motion Induced by Alternating Vibrations to Antagonistic Tendons in the Ankles
title_full_unstemmed Presentation of Body Sway Sensation Considering the Distinction Between Self-Motion and Environmental Motion Induced by Alternating Vibrations to Antagonistic Tendons in the Ankles
title_short Presentation of Body Sway Sensation Considering the Distinction Between Self-Motion and Environmental Motion Induced by Alternating Vibrations to Antagonistic Tendons in the Ankles
title_sort presentation of body sway sensation considering the distinction between self motion and environmental motion induced by alternating vibrations to antagonistic tendons in the ankles
topic Human-computer interaction
kinesthetic illusion
proprioception
tendon vibration
virtual reality
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10896661/
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