Facial recognition is a critical part of self-image and social interactions. In an era of advanced digital technology, we face intriguing questions about communication and identity. How does altering our facial identity affect our sense of "self" and our interactions with others? These are questions Dr. Shunichi Kasahara, a researcher in the Cybernetic Humanity Studio at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) is investigating, using real-time morphing of facial images (turning our faces into someone else's and vice versa). The studio was established in 2023 as a platform for joint research between OIST and Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.
Dr. Kasahara and his collaborators have investigated the dynamics of face recognition using motor-visual synchrony -- the coordination between a person's physical movements and the visual feedback they receive from those movements. They found that whether we influence the movement of our self-image or not, levels of identification with our face remain consistent. Therefore, our sense of agency, or subjective feelings of control, do not impact our level of identification with our self-image. Their results have been published in Scientific Reports.The effect of agency on perceptions of identity
With psychological experiments using displays and cameras, the scientists investigated where the "self-identification boundary" is and what impacts this boundary. Participants were seated and asked to look at screens showing their faces gradually changing. At some point, the participants could notice a change in their facial identity and were asked to press a button when they felt that the image on the screen was no longer them. The experiment was done in both directions: the image changing from self to other and other to self.
"It's like watching your face in a mirror as you move it and you identify yourself, but your face slowly changes up to a point and you realize this is no longer you," Dr. Kasahara explained.
The researchers examined how three movement conditions affect the facial boundary: synchronous, asynchronous, and static. They hypothesized that if the motions are synchronized, participants would identify with the images to a greater extent. Surprisingly, they found that whether movements were synchronized or not, their facial identity boundaries were similar. Additionally, participants were more likely to identify with static images of themselves than images with their faces moving.
Interestingly, the direction of morphing -- whether from self to other or other to self -- influenced how participants perceived their own facial boundaries: participants were more likely to identify with their facial images when these images morphed from self to other rather than from other to self. Overall, the results suggest that a sense of agency of facial movements does not significantly impact our ability to judge our facial identity.
"Consider the example of deepfakes, which are essentially a form of asynchronous movement. When I remain still but the visual representation moves, it creates an asynchronous situation. Even in these deepfake scenarios, we can still experience a feeling of identity connection with ourselves," Dr. Kasahara explained. "This suggests that even when we see a fake or manipulated version of our image, for example, someone else using our face, we might still identify with that face. Our findings raise important questions about our perception of self and identity in the digital age."
Source: ScienceDaily
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