Abstract
With the widespread use of head-mounted displays and motion tracking technology, it has become possible to immerse oneself in a virtual reality or metaverse using an avatar, which is a body in a virtual environment, and obtain various physical experiences. It has been shown that the physical experiences obtained by immersing in an avatar with characteristics different from those of the actual body can alter the user's self-perception, and it leads to alter our perceptions, behaviors, abilities, and even thoughts. The speaker has been conducting research on “Ghost Engineering,” a technology that supports a flexible mind by actively utilizing such effects. In the course of the research, it became clear that in order for Ghost Engineering to be accepted by users and society, it is necessary not only to pursue technologies that cause temporary self-transformation and human augmentation, but also to consider technologies that support users in giving appropriate narratives and meanings to such expanded selves in their lives. In this paper, I discuss the importance of considering the “narrative self” when considering human augmentation in the society, introducing examples of research to clarify the relationship between tentative transformation and the narrative self using avatars and future prospects.
