Can Face Swapping Technology Facilitate Mental Imagery Training?

Abstract

In this research, we conducted a preliminary study to investigate the effectiveness of face swapping technology for mental imagery training. To confirm its effectiveness, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation for measuring motor evoked potential (MEP) as brain excitability during mental imagery training. In the experiment, we used three motions: wrist dorsiflexion as an easy-to-perform motion, and pen spinning and baoding balls rotating motions as difficult motions. In each target motion, we compared MEPs when watching own motion video, another person's motion video, and another person's motion video with the face swapped with own face. The results showed that there was a difference between MEPs in difficult motion video observations. Watching another person's motion video with face swapping showed higher MEP than simply watching another person's video.