[VIDEO] This Sci-Fi Device Lets Men And Women Swap Bodies [NSFW]
Using virtual reality and neuroscience, this machine lets you see, hear, and even feel what it's like in another person's body.
By Sadho Ram — 25 Jan 2014, 03:57 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
An art experiment in Spain is giving participants the chance to swap bodies with their partners using Oculus Rift, a head-mounted virtual reality system
Called The Machine To Be Another, it's all done in the hopes that body transference will help scientists explore and quantify concepts like sexism, gender identity, and bias.
In the mind-bending experiment, two partners wearing Oculus Rift headsets mimic one another's movements, so that when the partners look down, he or she sees their partner's body.
isciencetimes.comUsing Oculus Rift headsets, male and female volunteers ape each other's actions to effectively gain the impression of what it would be like to have the body of a person of the opposite sex
The project could also work with people of a the same sex, as each body is different so would still provide an interesting experience, but with gender swapping, there are many foreign elements to explore in first person.
Both parties need to be completely in tune with each other, following the same movements throughout for the experience to work.
theverge.com
They have to constantly agree on every movement they make, so you're unlikely to find the tech down at the nearest Namco Park anytime soon. But it's another example of the multiple uses that are emerging for the Oculus Rift headset as time goes by.
How does the machine work?
One member of the couple is called the user, while the other is the performer.
Through the Oculus Rift goggles, the user is shown a video stream taken from the perspective of the performer's eyes.
Each couple agrees on a set of synchronised movements and the partner's mirror each others hand gestures, and so on, while wearing the headsets.
techtimes.com
Through the use of Oculus Rift headsets, and first-person cameras, the Gender Swap experiment creates a brain illusion that partner A can see what is being recorded by the visor worn by partner B, and vice versa, pictured.
Image via dailymail.co.ukBy mimicking movements, it creates an illusion in the brain that what the performer is seeing, is actually being seen through the eyes of the user.
The user can move and interact with objects in a room, while listening to the performer's thoughts spoken through headphones.
This generates the perception of someone speaking inside their mind.