Elizabeth Lewis

We typically feel that we are located within our physical bodies and the environment around us. To create the feeling of presence, within one’s own body and the world, the brain combines information from sensory signals such as vision, touch and proprioception and signals generated from physiological processes such as the cardiac cycle. My research examines how feelings of presence can be created artificially in mixed reality environments and how the sensorial construction of bodily presence changes when we engage in self-exploration (e.g. during meditation), interact with other bodies and use technology to augment our appearance (e.g. using photo-filters).