The Cyborg's Dilemma: Progressive Embodiment in Virtual Environments [1]

TLDR

The paper introduces the cyborg’s dilemma, where increasingly natural, embodied interfaces paradoxically drive users toward unnatural adaptations, effectively turning them into cyborgs. The study investigates how evolving virtual reality embodiment affects users’ mental states. The authors analyze progressive VR embodiment, examining its impact on physical, social, and self presence, as well as avatar-induced body image and schema distortions.

Abstract

How does the changing representation of the body in virtual environments affect the mind? This article considers how virtual reality interfaces are evolving to embody the user progressively. The effect of embodiment on the sensation of physical presence, social presence, and self presence in virtual environments is discussed. The effect of avatar representation on body image and body schema distortion is also considered. The paper ends with the introduction of the cyborg's dilemma, a paradoxical situation in which the development of increasingly “natural” and embodied interfaces leads to “unnatural” adaptations or changes in the user. In the progressively tighter coupling of user to interface, the user evolves as a cyborg.