Two-Dimensional Display-Based the Proteus Effect on Muscle Activity Level

The Proteus effect is a psychological and physical change caused by the perception of an avatar as a substitute for oneself in a VR space. In our previous study, we showed that not only VR space but also an avatar projected on a two-dimensional display reduced subjective fatigue during squatting exercise. In this paper, we investigate whether physical fatigue during squatting exercise changes in addition to subjective fatigue by measuring surface EMG. In addition, we explore the influence on the Proteus effect when the subject selects an avatar that is “close to the ideal avatar” for himselflherself. The avatar conditions were “muscular,” “non-muscular,” and “no avatar (own appearance),” and we prepared and compared a group of subjects who selected the ideal body shape and a group of subjects who did not select the ideal body shape. Our findings showed that, in the group that did not select the avatar condition, the subjective fatigue level was significantly lower in the muscular avatar condition than in the other conditions, as in the previous study. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in physical fatigue between the two groups. This suggests that the use of muscular avatar, instead of selecting the ideal avatar, results in less subjective fatigue and is as effective as other training.