The World Looks Bigger Through A Virtual Child's Eyes
Child-Sized Banakou et al. A virtual reality experiment that put adults in a virtual 4-year-old's body found changes in perception. To a four-year-old, the world is a pretty big place. Once we grow up, the playgrounds and classrooms of our childhood no longer seem as towering as they appear in our memories. The childish overestimation of the world around us isn't just a result of short stature, though. A new study led by University of Barcelona computer scientist Mel Slater finds that when adults are placed into a child's body, they think objects are much larger than they would as adults, even tiny adults viewing the world from the same vantage point. The study immersed 30 adults in a virtual reality experience to test how their perspective altered their perception of objects' size. The adults saw themselves, through a first person perspective and in a mirror, in a toddler's body. When...