Data for- Heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people’s reactivity to virtual caresses on their embodied avatars’ taboo zones

Embodying an artificial agent through immersive virtual reality (IVR) may lead to feeling vicariously somatosensory stimuli on one’s body which are in fact never delivered. To explore whether vicarious touch in IVR reflects the basic individual and social features of real-life interpersonal interactions we tested heterosexual men/women and gay men/lesbian women reacting subjectively and physiologically to the observation of a gender-matched virtual body being touched on intimate, taboo zones (like genitalia) by male and female avatars. All participants rated as most erogenous caresses on their embodied avatar taboo zones. Crucially, heterosexual men/women and gay men/lesbian women rated as most erogenous taboo touches delivered by their opposite and same gender avatar, respectively. Skin conductance was maximal when taboo touches were delivered by female avatars. Our study shows that IVR may trigger realistic experiences and ultimately allow the direct exploration of sensitive societal and individual issues that can otherwise be explored only through imagination.

通过沉浸式虚拟现实（IVR）体现人工智能体，可能导致个体在身体上感受到一种虚拟的、并非实际传递的替代性躯体感觉刺激。为了探究在IVR中的替代性触觉是否能够反映出现实生活中人际互动的基本个体和社会特征，我们测试了异性恋男性和女性以及同性恋男性和女性对观察与其性别相匹配的虚拟身体在私密、禁忌区域（如生殖器）被男女虚拟角色触摸的主观和生理反应。所有参与者均认为，他们体现的虚拟角色在禁忌区域的触摸是最为敏感的抚摸。关键在于，异性恋男性和女性以及同性恋男性和女性分别认为，由异性以及同性虚拟角色进行的禁忌触摸是最为敏感的。当禁忌触摸由女性虚拟角色实施时，皮肤电导率达到最大值。我们的研究表明，IVR可能引发逼真的体验，并最终允许直接探索那些否则只能通过想象才能触及的敏感的社会和个人问题。