Beyond the Looking Glass: Fooling the Brain with the Augmented Mirror Box

Abstract

Video mediated and augmented reality technologies can challenge our sense of what we perceive and believe to be real. Applied appropriately, the technology presents new opportunities for understanding and treating a range of human functional impairments as well as studying the underling psychological bases of these phenomena. This paper describes our augmented mirror box (AMB) technology which builds on the potential of optical mirror boxes by adding functions that can be applied in therapeutic and scientific settings. Here we test hypotheses about limb presence and perception, belief, and pain using laboratory studies to demonstrate proof of concept. The results of these studies provide evidence that the AMB can be used to manipulate beliefs and perceptions and alter the reported experience of pain. We conclude that the system has potential for use in experimental and in clinical settings.