Bodily Action Structures Spatial Representation: Evidence from Virtual Reality, Sensory Augmentation and Map Learning

Abstract

Spatial relations can be defined with respect to the body (egocentric) or among environmental objects only (allocentric). Egocentric relations are necessarily transformed through bodily action. To what extent allocentric cognitive representations are shaped by the body remains unclear. In our study, participants navigate a virtual-reality (VR) city over multiple days in one of three embodiment conditions. In two VR conditions, the participants sit on a swivel chair actively changing navigation direction through bodily rotation. In one of these groups the VR participants wear a sensory augmentation belt which indicates the cardinal direction of north through vibration. The third group of participants navigates a two-dimensional map of the city. After each exploration session, participants complete tasks asking for allocentric spatial relations. We find that the performance in the spatial tasks interacts with the duration of exploration time and the embodiment condition. These findings indicate allocentric spatial representations to be structured by bodily action.