If I Were You: Perceptual Illusion of Body Swapping

TLDR

The idea of swapping bodies has long fascinated writers and artists, yet it has not been scientifically studied, and it illustrates the fundamental question of why we experience being located inside our own bodies. The study reports a perceptual illusion of body swapping to directly investigate why we feel located inside our bodies. By altering visual perspective and providing correlated multisensory cues, the authors induced a body‑swap illusion in which participants felt ownership of another or artificial body. The illusion was strong enough that participants felt ownership of another body when facing their own and shaking hands, demonstrating that correlated multisensory cues can produce a robust body‑swap experience and revealing the perceptual processes underlying body ownership.

Abstract

The concept of an individual swapping his or her body with that of another person has captured the imagination of writers and artists for decades. Although this topic has not been the subject of investigation in science, it exemplifies the fundamental question of why we have an ongoing experience of being located inside our bodies. Here we report a perceptual illusion of body-swapping that addresses directly this issue. Manipulation of the visual perspective, in combination with the receipt of correlated multisensory information from the body was sufficient to trigger the illusion that another person's body or an artificial body was one's own. This effect was so strong that people could experience being in another person's body when facing their own body and shaking hands with it. Our results are of fundamental importance because they identify the perceptual processes that produce the feeling of ownership of one's body.