Cesari Valentina, Orrù Graziella, Piarulli Andrea, Vallefuoco Alessandra, Melfi Franca, Gemignani Angelo, Menicucci Danilo
Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Clinical Psychology Branch, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy.
AIMS Neurosci. 2024 Sep 10;11(3):352-373. doi: 10.3934/Neuroscience.2024022. eCollection 2024.
Embodiment (the sensation that arises when the properties of an external instrument are processed as if they are the attributes of one's own biological body) and (tele)presence (the sensation of being fully engaged and immersed in a location other than the physical space occupied by one's body) sustain the perception of the physical self and potentially improve performance in teleoperations (a system that enables human intelligence to control robots and requires implementing an effective human-machine interface). Embodiment and presence may be interdependent and influenced by right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) activity. We investigated the interplay between embodiment, (tele)presence, and performance in teleoperation, focusing on the role of the rTPJ. Participants underwent a virtual reality task with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) twice, receiving either active or sham stimulation. Behavioral measures (driving inaccuracy, elapsed time in the lap, time spent in attentional lapses, short-term self-similarity, and long-term self-similarity), perceived workload (mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, own performance, effort, and frustration), embodiment's components (ownership, agency, tactile sensations, location, and external appearance), and presence's components (realism, possibility to act, quality of interface, possibility to examine, self-evaluation of performance, haptic, and sounds) were assessed. The results showed that rTPJ stimulation decreased perceived ownership but enhanced presence with changes in the complexity of visuomotor adjustments (long and short-term self-similarity indices). Structural equation modeling revealed that embodiment increased visuomotor inaccuracy (a composite variable of overall performance, including deviations from the optimal trajectory and the time taken to complete the task), presence reduced workload, and workload increased inaccuracy. These results suggested a dissociation between embodiment and presence, with embodiment hindering performance. Prioritizing virtual integration may lower human performance, while reduced workload from presence could aid engagement. These findings emphasize the intricate interplay between rTPJ, subjective experiences, and performance in teleoperation.
具身化（当外部工具的属性被当作自身生物体的属性进行处理时产生的感觉）和（远程）临场感（完全投入并沉浸于身体所处物理空间之外的某个位置的感觉）维持着对身体自我的感知，并有可能提高远程操作（一种使人的智能能够控制机器人且需要实现有效的人机界面的系统）的表现。具身化和临场感可能相互依存，并受右侧颞顶联合区（rTPJ）活动的影响。我们研究了具身化、（远程）临场感与远程操作表现之间的相互作用，重点关注rTPJ的作用。参与者接受了两次经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）的虚拟现实任务，分别接受有效刺激或伪刺激。评估了行为指标（驾驶不准确程度、一圈所用时间、注意力不集中所花时间、短期自我相似性和长期自我相似性）、感知工作量（心理需求、身体需求、时间需求、自身表现、努力程度和挫败感）、具身化的组成部分（所有权、能动性、触觉感受、位置和外观）以及临场感的组成部分（真实感、行动可能性、界面质量、检查可能性、表现自我评估、触觉和声音）。结果表明，rTPJ刺激降低了感知到的所有权，但随着视觉运动调整复杂性的变化（长期和短期自我相似性指数）增强了临场感。结构方程模型显示，具身化增加了视觉运动不准确程度（整体表现的综合变量，包括偏离最佳轨迹的程度和完成任务所需时间），临场感降低了工作量，而工作量增加了不准确程度。这些结果表明具身化和临场感之间存在分离，具身化会阻碍表现。优先考虑虚拟整合可能会降低人类表现，而临场感带来的工作量减少可能有助于参与度。这些发现强调了rTPJ、主观体验和远程操作表现之间的复杂相互作用。
