Change in Subjective Evaluation of Weight by the Proteus Effect

In virtual environments, it is known that synchronizing the actions of an avatar with the operator causes a change in the operator’s self-perception, resulting in a change of behavior. This phenomenon is called the Proteus effect. In the research concerning the Proteus effect, researches on the behavior change have been actively conducted. However, the difference between the self-perception changed by the Proteus Effect and the physical sense in real world has not been sufficiently discussed. Therefore, in this research, we prepared two different kinds of avatars with different appearances, and investigated the influence of the change of self-perception changed for each avatar on the evaluation of physical sensation. As a result, a significant difference in the evaluation of weight between the two conditions was found. It was clarified that the Proteus effect affects the evaluation of physical sensation.