  With the increasing adoption of mixed reality headsets with video passthrough
functionality, concerns over perceptual and social effects have surfaced.
Building on prior qualitative findings, this study quantitatively investigates
the impact of video passthrough on users. Forty participants completed a body
transfer task twice, once while wearing a headset in video passthrough and once
without a headset. Results indicate that using video passthrough induces
simulator sickness, creates social absence, (another person in the physical
room feels less present), alters self-reported body schema, and distorts
distance perception. On the other hand, compared to past research which showed
perceptual aftereffects from video passthrough, the current study found none.
We discuss the broader implications for the widespread adoption of mixed
reality headsets and their impact on theories surrounding presence and body
transfer.
