Embodiment and Embodied Cognition

Progressive embodiment and the subsequent enhancement of presence have been important goals of VR researchers and designers for some time (Biocca, 1997). Consequently, researchers frequently explore the relationship between increasing embodiment and presence yet rarely emphasize the ties between their work and other work on embodiment. More specifically, we argue that experiments manipulating or implementing visual scale, avatar customization, sensory enrichment, and haptic feedback, to name a few examples, all have embodiment as their independent variable. However, very few studies explicitly frame their work as an exploration of embodiment. In this paper we will leverage the field of Embodied Cognition to help clarify the concept of embodiment.

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