Extended sentience. Body schema and virtual reality.

Abstract

The extended mind thesis argues that some cognitive abilities can be extended beyond the body. This paper will argue that sentience, understood as the capacity to feel, can be extended beyond the physical body in immersive virtual reality scenarios, by virtue of the extension of the subjects' body schema, analogous to the extended mind thesis, seeking to know under what conditions sentience can be extended beyond the individual's skin. The conclusion of this argument will be supported by the premise that sentience and body schema mutually imply each other, as well as by the existence of evidence of modifications of the body schema, propitiated by the use of avatars in immersive virtual scenarios. To do this, we will first discuss the definitions of sentience and body schema, then review the evidence for body schema modification in immersive virtual reality, and examine some challenges to this position.