We propose that interference with the perceptual processes
that localize the center of awareness to within the physical body in the healthy brain might explain occurrences of
out-of-body experiences in neurological and psychiatric patients. Furthermore, by obtaining an understanding of perceptual
factors that determine the normal ‘in-body experience,’ computer scientists and engineers may be able to use this knowledge
to develop a new generation of virtual reality technologies in which the spatial sense of self is directly manipulated to enhance
the feeling of having a body that is localized within a simulated world (Minsky, 1980; Sanchez-Vives & Slater, 2005;
Slater, Perez-Marcos, Ehrsson, & Sanchez-Vives, 2009; Slater et al., 2010).