When people embody a virtual or a robotic avatar, their sense of self extends to the body of that avatar. We argue that, as a consequence, if the avatar gets harmed, the person embodied in that avatar suffers the harm in the first person. Potential scenarios involving physical or psychological harm caused to avatars gives rise to legal, moral, and policy implications that need to be considered by policymakers. We maintain that the prevailing distinction in law between “property” and “person” categories compromises the legal protection of the embodied users. We advocate for the inclusion of robotic and virtual avatars in a double category, property–person, as the property and the person mingle in one: the avatar. This hybrid category is critical to protecting users of mediated embodiment experiences both from potential physical or psychological harm and property damage.

中文翻译：

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我们从中介化身实验中学到了什么以及为什么它对政策制定者很重要

当人们体现一个虚拟或机器人化身时，他们的自我意识会延伸到那个化身的身体上。我们认为，因此，如果化身受到伤害，体现在该化身中的人将受到第一人称的伤害。涉及对化身造成身体或心理伤害的潜在场景会引起政策制定者需要考虑的法律、道德和政策影响。我们坚持认为，“财产”和“人”类别之间的现行法律区别损害了对具体用户的法律保护。我们主张将机器人和虚拟化身纳入双重类别，即财产-人，因为财产和人融合为一个：化身。