Vision: Plural Embodiment Society
“A society where diverse individuals can navigate and transform among multiple embodiments according to
their needs, preferences, and contexts.”
I aim to build technologies and interactions that allow people to freely choose and adapt embodiments. By
reducing physical and psychological limitations, everyone can select the embodiment best suited to each
situation, making the ways we live far more diverse.
For example, you might spread the load of everyday shopping with sub‑arms, dive underground in a
snake‑shaped robot while at work, play as a dragon in the metaverse after coming home, or relax with
friends as a dog‑type avatar. Like Ditto in Pokémon, you continually transform from one body to another. We
envision a daily life where such “changing bodies like outfits” is taken for granted.
Pursuing Human Body Plasticity
Non‑human avatars can be characterized by two major axes: non‑homology (how different
their form is from the human body) and extensibility (extra degrees of freedom or
components). These raise two corresponding challenges:
- Issue of Shape: How can fundamentally different shapes, such as octopus arms or spider
bodies, be mapped to the innate body so they feel like one’s own?
- Issue of Number: How can the excess freedom and broad tactile surface beyond the human
norm be compressed, integrated, and interpolated?
For shape challenges, the key is to shorten the cognitive distance from the original body to the
reconstructed one. For number challenges, overlay presentation of information and reuse of redundant
degrees of freedom are crucial.
I organize these issues into four domains, (shape, number) × (control, feedback). My
master’s research tackled the shape × control quadrant. During my PhD I will address
the remaining three and synthesize a theory of transformation that enables people to treat extended and
non‑homologous bodies as their own, considering not only cybernetic aspects but also the cultural
meaning of “transformation.”
Expanding Ability and Mind with Non‑Human Bodies
These bodies promise both physical and psychological extension.
Physical extension: Exploring narrow spaces with octopus arms or snake robots, boosting
efficiency in zero‑gravity tasks with multi‑leg suits—changing body shape to broaden activity domains.
Psychological extension: Mitigating phobias, fostering empathy with animals, and
reconstructing self‑image, among other mental benefits.
This field is still in its infancy, leaving ample room for developing applications and clarifying
underlying mechanisms.
Learning from Practice in the Metaverse
My interest is rooted in avatar culture on the metaverse. Since diving into VRChat in 2018, I have been
fascinated by expanded bodily expressions—tails, moving animal ears, fire‑breathing—and the new channels
of communication they open. I hope to spread the joy of this culture beyond the boundary of reality and
virtuality and widen its scope.
Many of the challenges described above are the very issues users face in the metaverse. I advance my
research while interviewing these users about their needs and pain points.
Adaptive Embodiment — User‑Driven Body Editing
Proteus in Greek mythology changed his form freely to evade Menelaus. Beyond context‑adaptive
transformation, enabling users to flexibly rewrite embodiment according to their preferences and
physical traits would broaden the range of bodily adaptation. Equipping users with mechanisms to easily
edit body structure and control methods supports diversity of situations, tastes, and bodily
characteristics. I am exploring the potential of such self‑editing and inter‑body transitions.
To date, I have created two demos that let users edit their own bodies and several works
dealing with transformations between bodies. These experiences demonstrate the fun and utility of
“changing one’s body,” which I aim to elevate into a platform anyone can enjoy—a future of
user‑generated embodiment where everyone can edit, share, and remix bodies to their liking.
If this vision resonates with you, feel free to reach out. I welcome collaborations and internships.
Shuto Takashita, PhD Year 2, Inami Lab, The University of Tokyo
@shike_cosmicXR
shuto.takashita@star.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp
