Will we ever be able to truly feel like we’re inhabiting a virtual world? A virtual reality twist on the classic rubber hand illusion suggests we can – and all it takes is a bit of magnetic brain stimulation.

Around 20 years ago, psychologists in Pennsylvania discovered that they could convince people that a rubber hand was their own. They placed it on a table in front of a volunteer, and stroked it while simultaneously also stroking the person’s actual hand. The experiment inspired further “ bodily illusion …