Heat Pain Threshold Modulation Through Experiencing Burning Hands in Augmented Reality

Daniel Eckhoff (1) , Alvaro Cassinelli (1) , Christian Sandor (2, 3)

1 CUHK - City University of Hong Kong [Hong Kong]
2 LISN - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Numérique
3 VENISE - Virtual & augmented ENvIronments for Simulation & Experiments - LISN

Evidence exists that visual stimuli can modulate the temperature at which humans start to perceive heat pain. Yet, there is very little research examining the possibilities of heat pain threshold (HPT) modulation through visual and auditory stimuli induced by Augmented Reality (AR) experiences. In this paper, we investigated the research question of whether experiencing virtual flames on the participant's right hand through a Head-Mounted Video See-Through Display (VST-HMD) modulates their HPT. In a pilot study (n = 7), we found that our AR experience has a significant effect on the HPT. The burning hand made participants feel a heat pain at lower temperatures than they would normally do. These results show a top-down influence of AR experiences on the perception of pain.

Mots clés: Human-centered computing; Mixed/augmented reality Applied computing; Psychology

Domaines: Neurosciences [q-bio.NC]; Synthèse d'image et réalité virtuelle [cs.GR]

Daniel Eckhoff, Alvaro Cassinelli, Christian Sandor. Heat Pain Threshold Modulation Through Experiencing Burning Hands in Augmented Reality. 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality Adjunct (ISMAR-Adjunct), Oct 2021, Bari, Italy. pp.352-353, ⟨10.1109/ISMAR-Adjunct54149.2021.00079⟩. ⟨hal-04358164⟩