Effect of social interaction on Body Ownership Transfer to teleoperated android

Body Ownership Transfer (BOT) is an illusion that we feel external objects as parts of our own body that occurs when teleoperating android robots. In past studies, we have been investigating under what conditions this illusion occurs. However, past studies were only conducted with simple operation tasks such as by only moving the robot´s hand. Does this illusion occur under much complex tasks such as having a conversation? What kind of conversation setting is required to invoke this illusion? In this paper, we examined how factors in social interaction affects occurrence of BOT. Participants had conversation using the teleoperated robot under different situations and teleoperation settings. The results revealed that BOT does occur by the act of having a conversation, and that conversation partner´s presence and appropriate responses are necessary for enhancement of BOT.