Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones

Abstract Embodying an artificial agent through immersive virtual reality (IVR) may lead to feeling vicariously somatosensory stimuli on one’s body which are in fact never delivered. To explore whether vicarious touch in IVR reflects the basic individual and social features of real-life interpersonal...

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Autores principales:	Martina Fusaro, Matteo P. Lisi, Gaetano Tieri, Salvatore Maria Aglioti
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/67a3639e58ee45c7b1c1028e5ca5909d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:67a3639e58ee45c7b1c1028e5ca5909d2021-12-02T13:57:38ZHeterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones10.1038/s41598-021-81168-w2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/67a3639e58ee45c7b1c1028e5ca5909d2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81168-whttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Embodying an artificial agent through immersive virtual reality (IVR) may lead to feeling vicariously somatosensory stimuli on one’s body which are in fact never delivered. To explore whether vicarious touch in IVR reflects the basic individual and social features of real-life interpersonal interactions we tested heterosexual men/women and gay men/lesbian women reacting subjectively and physiologically to the observation of a gender-matched virtual body being touched on intimate taboo zones (like genitalia) by male and female avatars. All participants rated as most erogenous caresses on their embodied avatar taboo zones. Crucially, heterosexual men/women and gay men/lesbian women rated as most erogenous taboo touches delivered by their opposite and same gender avatar, respectively. Skin conductance was maximal when taboo touches were delivered by female avatars. Our study shows that IVR may trigger realistic experiences and ultimately allow the direct exploration of sensitive societal and individual issues that can otherwise be explored only through imagination.Martina FusaroMatteo P. LisiGaetano TieriSalvatore Maria AgliotiNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Martina Fusaro Matteo P. Lisi Gaetano Tieri Salvatore Maria Aglioti Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones
description	Abstract Embodying an artificial agent through immersive virtual reality (IVR) may lead to feeling vicariously somatosensory stimuli on one’s body which are in fact never delivered. To explore whether vicarious touch in IVR reflects the basic individual and social features of real-life interpersonal interactions we tested heterosexual men/women and gay men/lesbian women reacting subjectively and physiologically to the observation of a gender-matched virtual body being touched on intimate taboo zones (like genitalia) by male and female avatars. All participants rated as most erogenous caresses on their embodied avatar taboo zones. Crucially, heterosexual men/women and gay men/lesbian women rated as most erogenous taboo touches delivered by their opposite and same gender avatar, respectively. Skin conductance was maximal when taboo touches were delivered by female avatars. Our study shows that IVR may trigger realistic experiences and ultimately allow the direct exploration of sensitive societal and individual issues that can otherwise be explored only through imagination.
format	article
author	Martina Fusaro Matteo P. Lisi Gaetano Tieri Salvatore Maria Aglioti
author_facet	Martina Fusaro Matteo P. Lisi Gaetano Tieri Salvatore Maria Aglioti
author_sort	Martina Fusaro
title	Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones
title_short	Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones
title_full	Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones
title_fullStr	Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones
title_full_unstemmed	Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones
title_sort	heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/67a3639e58ee45c7b1c1028e5ca5909d
work_keys_str_mv	AT martinafusaro heterosexualgayandlesbianpeoplesreactivitytovirtualcaressesontheirembodiedavatarstaboozones AT matteoplisi heterosexualgayandlesbianpeoplesreactivitytovirtualcaressesontheirembodiedavatarstaboozones AT gaetanotieri heterosexualgayandlesbianpeoplesreactivitytovirtualcaressesontheirembodiedavatarstaboozones AT salvatoremariaaglioti heterosexualgayandlesbianpeoplesreactivitytovirtualcaressesontheirembodiedavatarstaboozones
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Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones

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