A Study on Immersion and Presence of a Portable Hand Haptic System for Immersive Virtual Reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Mingyu; Jeon, Changyu; Kim, Jinmo

2017-05-17

This paper proposes a portable hand haptic system using Leap Motion as a haptic interface that can be used in various virtual reality (VR) applications. The proposed hand haptic system was designed as an Arduino-based sensor architecture to enable a variety of tactile senses at low cost, and is also equipped with a portable wristband. As a haptic system designed for tactile feedback, the proposed system first identifies the left and right hands and then sends tactile senses (vibration and heat) to each fingertip (thumb and index finger). It is incorporated into a wearable band-type system, making its use easy and convenient. Next, hand motion is accurately captured using the sensor of the hand tracking system and is used for virtual object control, thus achieving interaction that enhances immersion. A VR application was designed with the purpose of testing the immersion and presence aspects of the proposed system. Lastly, technical and statistical tests were carried out to assess whether the proposed haptic system can provide a new immersive presence to users. According to the results of the presence questionnaire and the simulator sickness questionnaire, we confirmed that the proposed hand haptic system, in comparison to the existing interaction that uses only the hand tracking system, provided greater presence and a more immersive environment in the virtual reality.

A Study on Immersion and Presence of a Portable Hand Haptic System for Immersive Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Mingyu; Jeon, Changyu; Kim, Jinmo

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a portable hand haptic system using Leap Motion as a haptic interface that can be used in various virtual reality (VR) applications. The proposed hand haptic system was designed as an Arduino-based sensor architecture to enable a variety of tactile senses at low cost, and is also equipped with a portable wristband. As a haptic system designed for tactile feedback, the proposed system first identifies the left and right hands and then sends tactile senses (vibration and heat) to each fingertip (thumb and index finger). It is incorporated into a wearable band-type system, making its use easy and convenient. Next, hand motion is accurately captured using the sensor of the hand tracking system and is used for virtual object control, thus achieving interaction that enhances immersion. A VR application was designed with the purpose of testing the immersion and presence aspects of the proposed system. Lastly, technical and statistical tests were carried out to assess whether the proposed haptic system can provide a new immersive presence to users. According to the results of the presence questionnaire and the simulator sickness questionnaire, we confirmed that the proposed hand haptic system, in comparison to the existing interaction that uses only the hand tracking system, provided greater presence and a more immersive environment in the virtual reality. PMID:28513545

Towards immersive designing of production processes using virtual reality techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domagoj Buzjak

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The article provides a novel approach to the implementation of virtual reality within planning and design of manual processes and systems. The use of hardware and software required to perform different production - especially assembly - tasks in a virtual environment, using CAD parts as interactive elements, is presented. Considering the CAD parts, the format conversion problem is comprehensively described and solved using format conversion software to overcome the present poor data connectivity between the CAD system and VR hardware and software. Two examples of work processes have been made in a virtual environment: peg-in-hole and wall socket assembly. In the latter case, the traditional planning approach of manual assembly tasks using predetermined motion time system MTM-2 has been compared with a modern approach in which the assembly task is fully performed within a virtual environment. The comparison comprises a discussion on the assembly task execution times. In addition, general and specific advantages and disadvantages that arise in the immersive designing of production processes using virtual reality are presented, as well as reflections on teamwork and collaborative man-machine work. Finally, novel technologies are proposed to overcome the main problems that occur when implementing VR, such as time-consuming scene defining or tedious CAD software data conversion.

A Practical Guide, with Theoretical Underpinnings, for Creating Effective Virtual Reality Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Eileen A.; Domingo, Jelia

2017-01-01

With the advent of open source virtual environments, the associated cost reductions, and the more flexible options, avatar-based virtual reality environments are within reach of educators. By using and repurposing readily available virtual environments, instructors can bring engaging, community-building, and immersive learning opportunities to…

Novel Web-based Education Platforms for Information Communication utilizing Gamification, Virtual and Immersive Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Demir, I.

2015-12-01

Recent developments in internet technologies make it possible to manage and visualize large data on the web. Novel visualization techniques and interactive user interfaces allow users to create realistic environments, and interact with data to gain insight from simulations and environmental observations. This presentation showcase information communication interfaces, games, and virtual and immersive reality applications for supporting teaching and learning of concepts in atmospheric and hydrological sciences. The information communication platforms utilizes latest web technologies and allow accessing and visualizing large scale data on the web. The simulation system is a web-based 3D interactive learning environment for teaching hydrological and atmospheric processes and concepts. The simulation systems provides a visually striking platform with realistic terrain and weather information, and water simulation. The web-based simulation system provides an environment for students to learn about the earth science processes, and effects of development and human activity on the terrain. Users can access the system in three visualization modes including virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive reality using heads-up display. The system provides various scenarios customized to fit the age and education level of various users.

Virtual reality exposure therapy

OpenAIRE

Rothbaum, BO; Hodges, L; Kooper, R

1997-01-01

It has been proposed that virtual reality (VR) exposure may be an alternative to standard in vivo exposure. Virtual reality integrates real-time computer graphics, body tracking devices, visual displays, and other sensory input devices to immerse a participant in a computer- generated virtual environment. Virtual reality exposure is potentially an efficient and cost-effective treatment of anxiety disorders. VR exposure therapy reduced the fear of heights in the first control...

A Framework for Aligning Instructional Design Strategies with Affordances of CAVE Immersive Virtual Reality Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ritz, Leah T.; Buss, Alan R.

2016-01-01

Increasing availability of immersive virtual reality (IVR) systems, such as the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) and head-mounted displays, for use in education contexts is providing new opportunities and challenges for instructional designers. By highlighting the affordances of IVR specific to the CAVE, the authors emphasize the…

Immersive Earth Science: Data Visualization in Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Skolnik, S.; Ramirez-Linan, R.

2017-12-01

Utilizing next generation technology, Navteca's exploration of 3D and volumetric temporal data in Virtual Reality (VR) takes advantage of immersive user experiences where stakeholders are literally inside the data. No longer restricted by the edges of a screen, VR provides an innovative way of viewing spatially distributed 2D and 3D data that leverages a 360 field of view and positional-tracking input, allowing users to see and experience data differently. These concepts are relevant to many sectors, industries, and fields of study, as real-time collaboration in VR can enhance understanding and mission with VR visualizations that display temporally-aware 3D, meteorological, and other volumetric datasets. The ability to view data that is traditionally "difficult" to visualize, such as subsurface features or air columns, is a particularly compelling use of the technology. Various development iterations have resulted in Navteca's proof of concept that imports and renders volumetric point-cloud data in the virtual reality environment by interfacing PC-based VR hardware to a back-end server and popular GIS software. The integration of the geo-located data in VR and subsequent display of changeable basemaps, overlaid datasets, and the ability to zoom, navigate, and select specific areas show the potential for immersive VR to revolutionize the way Earth data is viewed, analyzed, and communicated.

Interactive Learning Environment: Web-based Virtual Hydrological Simulation System using Augmented and Immersive Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Demir, I.

2014-12-01

Recent developments in internet technologies make it possible to manage and visualize large data on the web. Novel visualization techniques and interactive user interfaces allow users to create realistic environments, and interact with data to gain insight from simulations and environmental observations. The hydrological simulation system is a web-based 3D interactive learning environment for teaching hydrological processes and concepts. The simulation systems provides a visually striking platform with realistic terrain information, and water simulation. Students can create or load predefined scenarios, control environmental parameters, and evaluate environmental mitigation alternatives. The web-based simulation system provides an environment for students to learn about the hydrological processes (e.g. flooding and flood damage), and effects of development and human activity in the floodplain. The system utilizes latest web technologies and graphics processing unit (GPU) for water simulation and object collisions on the terrain. Users can access the system in three visualization modes including virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive reality using heads-up display. The system provides various scenarios customized to fit the age and education level of various users. This presentation provides an overview of the web-based flood simulation system, and demonstrates the capabilities of the system for various visualization and interaction modes.

Human fear conditioning conducted in full immersion 3-dimensional virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Huff, Nicole C; Zeilinski, David J; Fecteau, Matthew E; Brady, Rachael; LaBar, Kevin S

2010-08-09

Fear conditioning is a widely used paradigm in non-human animal research to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying fear and anxiety. A major challenge in conducting conditioning studies in humans is the ability to strongly manipulate or simulate the environmental contexts that are associated with conditioned emotional behaviors. In this regard, virtual reality (VR) technology is a promising tool. Yet, adapting this technology to meet experimental constraints requires special accommodations. Here we address the methodological issues involved when conducting fear conditioning in a fully immersive 6-sided VR environment and present fear conditioning data. In the real world, traumatic events occur in complex environments that are made up of many cues, engaging all of our sensory modalities. For example, cues that form the environmental configuration include not only visual elements, but aural, olfactory, and even tactile. In rodent studies of fear conditioning animals are fully immersed in a context that is rich with novel visual, tactile and olfactory cues. However, standard laboratory tests of fear conditioning in humans are typically conducted in a nondescript room in front of a flat or 2D computer screen and do not replicate the complexity of real world experiences. On the other hand, a major limitation of clinical studies aimed at reducing (extinguishing) fear and preventing relapse in anxiety disorders is that treatment occurs after participants have acquired a fear in an uncontrolled and largely unknown context. Thus the experimenters are left without information about the duration of exposure, the true nature of the stimulus, and associated background cues in the environment. In the absence of this information it can be difficult to truly extinguish a fear that is both cue and context-dependent. Virtual reality environments address these issues by providing the complexity of the real world, and at the same time allowing experimenters to constrain fear

Cranial implant design using augmented reality immersive system.

Science.gov (United States)

Ai, Zhuming; Evenhouse, Ray; Leigh, Jason; Charbel, Fady; Rasmussen, Mary

2007-01-01

Software tools that utilize haptics for sculpting precise fitting cranial implants are utilized in an augmented reality immersive system to create a virtual working environment for the modelers. The virtual environment is designed to mimic the traditional working environment as closely as possible, providing more functionality for the users. The implant design process uses patient CT data of a defective area. This volumetric data is displayed in an implant modeling tele-immersive augmented reality system where the modeler can build a patient specific implant that precisely fits the defect. To mimic the traditional sculpting workspace, the implant modeling augmented reality system includes stereo vision, viewer centered perspective, sense of touch, and collaboration. To achieve optimized performance, this system includes a dual-processor PC, fast volume rendering with three-dimensional texture mapping, the fast haptic rendering algorithm, and a multi-threading architecture. The system replaces the expensive and time consuming traditional sculpting steps such as physical sculpting, mold making, and defect stereolithography. This augmented reality system is part of a comprehensive tele-immersive system that includes a conference-room-sized system for tele-immersive small group consultation and an inexpensive, easily deployable networked desktop virtual reality system for surgical consultation, evaluation and collaboration. This system has been used to design patient-specific cranial implants with precise fit.

Ontological implications of being in immersive virtual environments

Science.gov (United States)

Morie, Jacquelyn F.

2008-02-01

The idea of Virtual Reality once conjured up visions of new territories to explore, and expectations of awaiting worlds of wonder. VR has matured to become a practical tool for therapy, medicine and commercial interests, yet artists, in particular, continue to expand the possibilities for the medium. Artistic virtual environments created over the past two decades probe the phenomenological nature of these virtual environments. When we inhabit a fully immersive virtual environment, we have entered into a new form of Being. Not only does our body continue to exist in the real, physical world, we are also embodied within the virtual by means of technology that translates our bodied actions into interactions with the virtual environment. Very few states in human existence allow this bifurcation of our Being, where we can exist simultaneously in two spaces at once, with the possible exception of meta-physical states such as shamanistic trance and out-of-body experiences. This paper discusses the nature of this simultaneous Being, how we enter the virtual space, what forms of persona we can don there, what forms of spaces we can inhabit, and what type of wondrous experiences we can both hope for and expect.

Self-Characterstics and Sound in Immersive Virtual Reality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sikström, Erik; Götzen, Amalia De; Serafin, Stefania

This experiment aimed to investigate whether a user controlling a full body avatar via real time motion tracking in an immersive virtual reality setup, would estimate the weight of the virtual avatar differently if the footstep sounds are manipulated using three different audio filter settings....... The visual appearance of the avatar was available in two sizes. The subjects performed six walks with each audio configuration active once over two ground types. After completing each walk, the participants were asked to estimate the weight of the virtual avatar and the suitability of the audio feedback...

Immersive Virtual Reality for Visualization of Abdominal CT.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Qiufeng; Xu, Zhoubing; Li, Bo; Baucom, Rebeccah; Poulose, Benjamin; Landman, Bennett A; Bodenheimer, Robert E

2013-03-28

Immersive virtual environments use a stereoscopic head-mounted display and data glove to create high fidelity virtual experiences in which users can interact with three-dimensional models and perceive relationships at their true scale. This stands in stark contrast to traditional PACS-based infrastructure in which images are viewed as stacks of two-dimensional slices, or, at best, disembodied renderings. Although there has substantial innovation in immersive virtual environments for entertainment and consumer media, these technologies have not been widely applied in clinical applications. Here, we consider potential applications of immersive virtual environments for ventral hernia patients with abdominal computed tomography imaging data. Nearly a half million ventral hernias occur in the United States each year, and hernia repair is the most commonly performed general surgery operation worldwide. A significant problem in these conditions is communicating the urgency, degree of severity, and impact of a hernia (and potential repair) on patient quality of life. Hernias are defined by ruptures in the abdominal wall (i.e., the absence of healthy tissues) rather than a growth (e.g., cancer); therefore, understanding a hernia necessitates understanding the entire abdomen. Our environment allows surgeons and patients to view body scans at scale and interact with these virtual models using a data glove. This visualization and interaction allows users to perceive the relationship between physical structures and medical imaging data. The system provides close integration of PACS-based CT data with immersive virtual environments and creates opportunities to study and optimize interfaces for patient communication, operative planning, and medical education.

Immersive virtual reality for visualization of abdominal CT

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Qiufeng; Xu, Zhoubing; Li, Bo; Baucom, Rebeccah; Poulose, Benjamin; Landman, Bennett A.; Bodenheimer, Robert E.

2013-03-01

Immersive virtual environments use a stereoscopic head-mounted display and data glove to create high fidelity virtual experiences in which users can interact with three-dimensional models and perceive relationships at their true scale. This stands in stark contrast to traditional PACS-based infrastructure in which images are viewed as stacks of two dimensional slices, or, at best, disembodied renderings. Although there has substantial innovation in immersive virtual environments for entertainment and consumer media, these technologies have not been widely applied in clinical applications. Here, we consider potential applications of immersive virtual environments for ventral hernia patients with abdominal computed tomography imaging data. Nearly a half million ventral hernias occur in the United States each year, and hernia repair is the most commonly performed general surgery operation worldwide. A significant problem in these conditions is communicating the urgency, degree of severity, and impact of a hernia (and potential repair) on patient quality of life. Hernias are defined by ruptures in the abdominal wall (i.e., the absence of healthy tissues) rather than a growth (e.g., cancer); therefore, understanding a hernia necessitates understanding the entire abdomen. Our environment allows surgeons and patients to view body scans at scale and interact with these virtual models using a data glove. This visualization and interaction allows users to perceive the relationship between physical structures and medical imaging data. The system provides close integration of PACS-based CT data with immersive virtual environments and creates opportunities to study and optimize interfaces for patient communication, operative planning, and medical education.

Sensorimotor Learning during a Marksmanship Task in Immersive Virtual Reality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hrishikesh M. Rao

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Sensorimotor learning refers to improvements that occur through practice in the performance of sensory-guided motor behaviors. Leveraging novel technical capabilities of an immersive virtual environment, we probed the component kinematic processes that mediate sensorimotor learning. Twenty naïve subjects performed a simulated marksmanship task modeled after Olympic Trap Shooting standards. We measured movement kinematics and shooting performance as participants practiced 350 trials while receiving trial-by-trial feedback about shooting success. Spatiotemporal analysis of motion tracking elucidated the ballistic and refinement phases of hand movements. We found systematic changes in movement kinematics that accompanied improvements in shot accuracy during training, though reaction and response times did not change over blocks. In particular, we observed longer, slower, and more precise ballistic movements that replaced effort spent on corrections and refinement. Collectively, these results leverage developments in immersive virtual reality technology to quantify and compare the kinematics of movement during early learning of full-body sensorimotor orienting.

Sensorimotor Learning during a Marksmanship Task in Immersive Virtual Reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, Hrishikesh M; Khanna, Rajan; Zielinski, David J; Lu, Yvonne; Clements, Jillian M; Potter, Nicholas D; Sommer, Marc A; Kopper, Regis; Appelbaum, Lawrence G

2018-01-01

Sensorimotor learning refers to improvements that occur through practice in the performance of sensory-guided motor behaviors. Leveraging novel technical capabilities of an immersive virtual environment, we probed the component kinematic processes that mediate sensorimotor learning. Twenty naïve subjects performed a simulated marksmanship task modeled after Olympic Trap Shooting standards. We measured movement kinematics and shooting performance as participants practiced 350 trials while receiving trial-by-trial feedback about shooting success. Spatiotemporal analysis of motion tracking elucidated the ballistic and refinement phases of hand movements. We found systematic changes in movement kinematics that accompanied improvements in shot accuracy during training, though reaction and response times did not change over blocks. In particular, we observed longer, slower, and more precise ballistic movements that replaced effort spent on corrections and refinement. Collectively, these results leverage developments in immersive virtual reality technology to quantify and compare the kinematics of movement during early learning of full-body sensorimotor orienting.

Virtual reality environments for post-stroke arm rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beaudoin Christian

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Optimal practice and feedback elements are essential requirements for maximal motor recovery in patients with motor deficits due to central nervous system lesions. Methods A virtual environment (VE was created that incorporates practice and feedback elements necessary for maximal motor recovery. It permits varied and challenging practice in a motivating environment that provides salient feedback. Results The VE gives the user knowledge of results feedback about motor behavior and knowledge of performance feedback about the quality of pointing movements made in a virtual elevator. Movement distances are related to length of body segments. Conclusion We describe an immersive and interactive experimental protocol developed in a virtual reality environment using the CAREN system. The VE can be used as a training environment for the upper limb in patients with motor impairments.

Art in virtual reality 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Ben

2010-01-01

For decades, virtual reality artwork has existed in a small but highly influential niche in the world of electronic and new media art. Since the early 1990's, virtual reality installations have come to define an extreme boundary point of both aesthetic experience and technological sophistication. Classic virtual reality artworks have an almost mythological stature - powerful, exotic, and often rarely exhibited. Today, art in virtual environments continues to evolve and mature, encompassing everything from fully immersive CAVE experiences to performance art in Second Life to the use of augmented and mixed reality in public space. Art in Virtual Reality 2010 is a public exhibition of new artwork that showcases the diverse ways that contemporary artists use virtual environments to explore new aesthetic ground and investigate the continually evolving relationship between our selves and our virtual worlds.

Immersive realities: articulating the shift from VR to mobile AR through artistic practice

Science.gov (United States)

Margolis, Todd; Cornish, Tracy; Berry, Rodney; DeFanti, Thomas A.

2012-03-01

Our contemporary imaginings of technological engagement with digital environments has transitioned from flying through Virtual Reality to mobile interactions with the physical world through personal media devices. Experiences technologically mediated through social interactivity within physical environments are now being preferenced over isolated environments such as CAVEs or HMDs. Examples of this trend can be seen in early tele-collaborative artworks which strove to use advanced networking to join multiple participants in shared virtual environments. Recent developments in mobile AR allow untethered access to such shared realities in places far removed from labs and home entertainment environments, and without the bulky and expensive technologies attached to our bodies that accompany most VR. This paper addresses the emerging trend favoring socially immersive artworks via mobile Augmented Reality rather than sensorially immersive Virtual Reality installations. With particular focus on AR as a mobile, locative technology, we will discuss how concepts of immersion and interactivity are evolving with this new medium. Immersion in context of mobile AR can be redefined to describe socially interactive experiences. Having distinctly different sensory, spatial and situational properties, mobile AR offers a new form for remixing elements from traditional virtual reality with physically based social experiences. This type of immersion offers a wide array of potential for mobile AR art forms. We are beginning to see examples of how artists can use mobile AR to create social immersive and interactive experiences.

Evaluating Experiences in Different Virtual Reality Setups

OpenAIRE

Settgast , Volker; Pirker , Johanna; Lontschar , Stefan; Maggale , Stefan; Gütl , Christian

2016-01-01

Part 2: Use and Evaluation of Digital Entertainment; International audience; This paper describes the evaluation of three different scenarios in the fully immersive room-based virtual environment DAVE (Definitely Affordable Virtual Environment) and a head-mounted display, the Oculus Rift. The evaluation focuses on comparing the two immersive environments and three different scenarios (observation, emotion in a roller coaster, and interaction) in regards to typical virtual-reality characterist...

Virtual Reality: Emerging Applications and Future Directions

Science.gov (United States)

Ludlow, Barbara L.

2015-01-01

Virtual reality is an emerging technology that has resulted in rapid expansion in the development of virtual immersive environments for use as educational simulations in schools, colleges and universities. This article presents an overview of virtual reality, describes a number of applications currently being used by special educators for…

Inclusion of Immersive Virtual Learning Environments and Visual Control Systems to Support the Learning of Students with Asperger Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenzo, Gonzalo; Pomares, Jorge; Lledo, Asuncion

2013-01-01

This paper presents the use of immersive virtual reality systems in the educational intervention with Asperger students. The starting points of this study are features of these students' cognitive style that requires an explicit teaching style supported by visual aids and highly structured environments. The proposed immersive virtual reality…

) Virtual Reality Environments For The Petroleum Industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diembacher, F. X.

2003-01-01

Large screen immersive visualization has gained enormous momentum in the last few years. The oil industry has quickly appreciate the value virtual reality centers bring to the practising engineer and to asset teams. While early concepts emphasized visualization, people soon realized that virtual reality rooms offer more: they are places where people come together, they are places where people want to collaborate. Subsequently these environments were also called Decisionariums, Collaboration Centers, Visionariums, etc. GeoQuest branded these rooms iCenters, a term which encompasses all the potential usages of this environment. is tands for information, internet, interaction, interpretation, impact, etc. iCenters are used for interpretation and analysis of complex models (e.g. 3D seismic interpretation, viewing of simulation models with hundreds of thousands of cells) and for multi-disciplinary working (e.g. planning of advanced wells typically for (deep) offshore environments currently increases by several hundred percent being built in Nigeria-more are being planned. This concepts for building iCenters, examples of how oil companies around the world and in Nigeria use these environments to foster collaboration and reduce costs, and latest developments in the area of remote collaboration (i.e., connected iCenters)

[Virtual reality therapy in anxiety disorders].

Science.gov (United States)

Mitrousia, V; Giotakos, O

2016-01-01

During the last decade a number of studies have been conducted in order to examine if virtual reality exposure therapy can be an alternative form of therapy for the treatment of mental disorders and particularly for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Imaginal exposure therapy, which is one of the components of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, cannot be easily applied to all patients and in cases like those virtual reality can be used as an alternative or a supportive psychotherapeutic technique. Most studies using virtual reality have focused on anxiety disorders, mainly in specific phobias, but some extend to other disorders such as eating disorders, drug dependence, pain control and palliative care and rehabilitation. Main characteristics of virtual reality therapy are: "interaction", "immersion", and "presence". High levels of "immersion" and "presence" are associated with increased response to exposure therapy in virtual environments, as well as better therapeutic outcomes and sustained therapeutic gains. Typical devices that are used in order patient's immersion to be achieved are the Head-Mounted Displays (HMD), which are only for individual use, and the computer automatic virtual environment (CAVE), which is a multiuser. Virtual reality therapy's disadvantages lie in the difficulties that arise due to the demanded specialized technology skills, devices' cost and side effects. Therapists' training is necessary in order for them to be able to manipulate the software and the hardware and to adjust it to each case's needs. Devices' cost is high but as technology continuously improves it constantly decreases. Immersion during virtual reality therapy can induce mild and temporary side effects such as nausea, dizziness or headache. Until today, however, experience shows that virtual reality offers several advantages. Patient's avoidance to be exposed in phobic stimuli is reduced via the use of virtual reality since the patient is exposed to them as many times as he

Modern Virtual Reality. And the effects of affecting human senses to increase immersion

OpenAIRE

Ekros, Matthias

2015-01-01

Modern virtual reality is an ever growing subject in today’s society. I delved deeper into some key moments in the development of modern virtual reality. Oculus Rift has shown incredible potential. Some developments even seek to envelope the human senses in virtual reality as well.   With several different approaches to the same solution there are many ways that the experience can affect the overall immersion of a consumer into the product.  The tests I performed were primarily focused around...

The Selimiye Mosque of Edirne, Turkey - AN Immersive and Interactive Virtual Reality Experience Using Htc Vive

Science.gov (United States)

Kersten, T. P.; Büyüksalih, G.; Tschirschwitz, F.; Kan, T.; Deggim, S.; Kaya, Y.; Baskaraca, A. P.

2017-05-01

Recent advances in contemporary Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are going to have a significant impact on veryday life. Through VR it is possible to virtually explore a computer-generated environment as a different reality, and to immerse oneself into the past or in a virtual museum without leaving the current real-life situation. For such the ultimate VR experience, the user should only see the virtual world. Currently, the user must wear a VR headset which fits around the head and over the eyes to visually separate themselves from the physical world. Via the headset images are fed to the eyes through two small lenses. Cultural heritage monuments are ideally suited both for thorough multi-dimensional geometric documentation and for realistic interactive visualisation in immersive VR applications. Additionally, the game industry offers tools for interactive visualisation of objects to motivate users to virtually visit objects and places. In this paper the generation of a virtual 3D model of the Selimiye mosque in the city of Edirne, Turkey and its processing for data integration into the game engine Unity is presented. The project has been carried out as a co-operation between BİMTAŞ, a company of the Greater Municipality of Istanbul, Turkey and the Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning Lab of the HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany to demonstrate an immersive and interactive visualisation using the new VR system HTC Vive. The workflow from data acquisition to VR visualisation, including the necessary programming for navigation, is described. Furthermore, the possible use (including simultaneous multiple users environments) of such a VR visualisation for a CH monument is discussed in this contribution.

Possible Application of Virtual Reality in Geography Teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Stojšić

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Virtual reality represents simulated three-dimensional environment created by hardware and software, which providing realistic experience and possibility of interaction to the end-user. Benefits provided by immersive virtual reality in educational setting were recognised in the past decades, however mass application was left out due to the lack of development and high price. Intensive development of new platforms and virtual reality devices in the last few years started up with Oculus Rift, and subsequently accelerated in the year 2014 by occurrence of Google Cardboard. Nowadays, for the first time in history, immersive virtual reality is available to millions of people. In the mid 2015 Google commenced developing Expeditions Pioneer Program aiming to massively utilise the Google Cardboard platform in education. Expeditions and other VR apps can enhance geography teaching and learning. Realistic experience acquired by utilisation of virtual reality in teaching process significantly overcome possibilities provided by images and illustrations in the textbook. Besides literature review on usage of virtual reality in education this paper presents suggestion of VR mobile apps that can be used together with the Google Cardboard head mounted displays (HMDs in geography classes, thereby emphasising advantages and disadvantages as well as possible obstacles which may occur in introducing the immersive virtual reality in the educational process.

A Low-Cost Immersive Virtual Reality System for Teaching Robotic Manipulators Programming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vicente Román-Ibáñez

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Laboratory tasks are a powerful pedagogical strategy for developing competences in science and engineering degrees, making students understand in a practical way the theoretical topics explained in the classroom. However, performing experiments in real conditions is usually expensive in terms of time, money and energy, as it requires expensive infrastructures that are generally difficult to maintain in good conditions. To overcome this problem, virtual reality has proven to be a powerful tool to achieve sustainability, making it easy to update laboratories without the need to acquire new equipment. Moreover, the ability to introduce practical knowledge into classrooms without leaving them, makes virtual laboratories capable of simulating typical operating environments as well as extreme situations in the operation of different devices. A typical subject in which students can benefit from the use of virtual laboratories is robotics. In this work we will develop an immersive virtual reality (VR pedagogical simulator of industrial robotic arms for engineering students. With the proposed system, students will know the effects of their own designed trajectories on several different robotic arms and cell environments without having to buy all of them and being safe of damaging the cell components. The simulation will be checking for collisions of the elements in the scene and alert the student when they happen. This can be achieved with a robotic simulator, but the integration with immersive VR is intended to help students better understand robotics. Moreover, even having a real robotic arm available for students, with this proposed VR method, all the students have the opportunity to manage and learn his own version of the robotic cell, without waiting times generated by having less robotic arms than students in classroom.

Immersive virtual reality in destination marketing : evidence from lab and field experiments

OpenAIRE

Vekony, David; Korneliussen, Simen

2016-01-01

Although the concept of virtual reality (VR) has been studied and used for many years, recent technological development has led to the commercial availability of immersive VR, specifically head-mounted displays. Little research has been conducted on the potential for immersive VR to influence consumer behavior. The aim of this thesis is to give insight into how immersive VR can be utilized in destination marketing, through investigating its effect on consumer outcomes directly,...

Using Virtual Reality to Help Students with Social Interaction Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Beach, Jason; Wendt, Jeremy

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if participants could improve their social interaction skills by participating in a virtual immersive environment. The participants used a developing virtual reality head-mounted display to engage themselves in a fully-immersive environment. While in the environment, participants had an opportunity to…

Impact of the virtual reality on the neural representation of an environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mellet, Emmanuel; Laou, Laetitia; Petit, Laurent; Zago, Laure; Mazoyer, Bernard; Tzourio-Mazoyer, Nathalie

2010-07-01

Despite the increasing use of virtual reality, the impact on cerebral representation of topographical knowledge of learning by virtual reality rather than by actual locomotion has never been investigated. To tackle this challenging issue, we conducted an experiment wherein participants learned an immersive virtual environment using a joystick. The following day, participants' brain activity was monitored by functional magnetic resonance imaging while they mentally estimated distances in this environment. Results were compared with that of participants performing the same task but having learned the real version of the environment by actual walking. We detected a large set of areas shared by both groups including the parieto-frontal areas and the parahippocampal gyrus. More importantly, although participants of both groups performed the same mental task and exhibited similar behavioral performances, they differed at the brain activity level. Unlike real learners, virtual learners activated a left-lateralized network associated with tool manipulation and action semantics. This demonstrated that a neural fingerprint distinguishing virtual from real learning persists when subjects use a mental representation of the learnt environment with equivalent performances. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Investigating Learners' Attitudes toward Virtual Reality Learning Environments: Based on a Constructivist Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hsiu-Mei; Rauch, Ulrich; Liaw, Shu-Sheng

2010-01-01

The use of animation and multimedia for learning is now further extended by the provision of entire Virtual Reality Learning Environments (VRLE). This highlights a shift in Web-based learning from a conventional multimedia to a more immersive, interactive, intuitive and exciting VR learning environment. VRLEs simulate the real world through the…

The efficacy of hyoscine hydrobromide in reducing side-effects induced during immersion in virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Regan, E C; Ramsey, A D

1996-03-01

Regan and Price (1994) investigated the frequency of occurrence and severity of side-effects of using an immersion virtual reality system in 150 subjects: 61% of the subjects reported symptoms of malaise at some point during a 20-min immersion and 10-min post-immersion period. This paper describes a double-blind placebo-controlled study that investigated whether 300 microgram of hyoscine/scopolamine hydrobromide administered to subjects prior to immersion in virtual reality was effective in reducing side-effects experienced during immersion. It was hypothesized that the hyoscine hydrobromide would cause a significant reduction in reported symptoms. We administered 300 micrograms of hyoscine hydrobromide to 19 subjects, and 20 subjects were administered a placebo compound 40 min prior to a 20-min immersion in VR. Data on malaise were collected using a simulator sickness questionnaire and a malaise scale. A 2 x 2 Chi-square analysis comparing the numbers of subjects reporting no symptoms on the malaise scale with those reporting some symptoms in the placebo and hyoscine conditions showed the differences between the two groups to be statistically significant at the 0.01 level (Chi-square = 7.392 with 1 df, p = 0.007). This difference was clearly in the direction of fewer symptoms being reported in the hyoscine condition. The results of the study showed that the hyoscine was effective in reducing symptoms that are commonly observed during immersion in virtual reality.

THE SELIMIYE MOSQUE OF EDIRNE, TURKEY – AN IMMERSIVE AND INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE USING HTC VIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. P. Kersten

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Recent advances in contemporary Virtual Reality (VR technologies are going to have a significant impact on veryday life. Through VR it is possible to virtually explore a computer-generated environment as a different reality, and to immerse oneself into the past or in a virtual museum without leaving the current real-life situation. For such the ultimate VR experience, the user should only see the virtual world. Currently, the user must wear a VR headset which fits around the head and over the eyes to visually separate themselves from the physical world. Via the headset images are fed to the eyes through two small lenses. Cultural heritage monuments are ideally suited both for thorough multi-dimensional geometric documentation and for realistic interactive visualisation in immersive VR applications. Additionally, the game industry offers tools for interactive visualisation of objects to motivate users to virtually visit objects and places. In this paper the generation of a virtual 3D model of the Selimiye mosque in the city of Edirne, Turkey and its processing for data integration into the game engine Unity is presented. The project has been carried out as a co-operation between BİMTAŞ, a company of the Greater Municipality of Istanbul, Turkey and the Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning Lab of the HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany to demonstrate an immersive and interactive visualisation using the new VR system HTC Vive. The workflow from data acquisition to VR visualisation, including the necessary programming for navigation, is described. Furthermore, the possible use (including simultaneous multiple users environments of such a VR visualisation for a CH monument is discussed in this contribution.

Knowledge Acquisition and Job Training for Advanced Technical Skills Using Immersive Virtual Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Watanuki, Keiichi; Kojima, Kazuyuki

The environment in which Japanese industry has achieved great respect is changing tremendously due to the globalization of world economies, while Asian countries are undergoing economic and technical development as well as benefiting from the advances in information technology. For example, in the design of custom-made casting products, a designer who lacks knowledge of casting may not be able to produce a good design. In order to obtain a good design and manufacturing result, it is necessary to equip the designer and manufacturer with a support system related to casting design, or a so-called knowledge transfer and creation system. This paper proposes a new virtual reality based knowledge acquisition and job training system for casting design, which is composed of the explicit and tacit knowledge transfer systems using synchronized multimedia and the knowledge internalization system using portable virtual environment. In our proposed system, the education content is displayed in the immersive virtual environment, whereby a trainee may experience work in the virtual site operation. Provided that the trainee has gained explicit and tacit knowledge of casting through the multimedia-based knowledge transfer system, the immersive virtual environment catalyzes the internalization of knowledge and also enables the trainee to gain tacit knowledge before undergoing on-the-job training at a real-time operation site.

Possible Application of Virtual Reality in Geography Teaching

OpenAIRE

Ivan Stojšić; Anđelija Ivkov Džigurski; Olja Maričić; Ljubica Ivanović Bibić; Smiljana Đukičin Vučković

2017-01-01

Abstract Virtual reality represents simulated three-dimensional environment created by hardware and software, which providing realistic experience and possibility of interaction to the end-user. Benefits provided by immersive virtual reality in educational setting were recognised in the past decades, however mass application was left out due to the lack of development and high price. Intensive development of new platforms and virtual reality devices in the last few years started up with Oc...

Applied virtual reality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yule, I.Y.; Lee, D.J.

1996-01-01

An early experience in deploying a manipulator to the Irradiated Fuel Dismantling Cell at Torness Power Station, quickly highlighted that special visualisation techniques were required to achieve a successful deployment and reduce plant system down time. This visualisation was later realised through the IGRIP software pakcage operating on a Silicon Graphics computing engine, which provides a 'Non-Immersive' Virtual Reality environment. Within this environment, models of the Irradiated Fuel Dismantling cell were generated along with a model of the manipulator, allowing manipulator deployment to the Irradiated Fuel Dismantling Cell be modelled. It is estimated that the first use of this new environment provided a significant saving to Scottish Nuclear in potential lost output. The use of this virtual reality environment is currently being extended into the design and deployment of a new manipulator for Torness in vessel inspection, the Boiler Inspection Manipulator. (author)

Incorporating Virtually Immersive Environments as a Collaborative Medium for Virtual Teaming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles J. Lesko, Jr.

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Virtually immersive environments incorporate the use of various computer modelling and simulation techniques enabling geographically dispersed virtual project teams to interact within an artificially projected three-dimensional space online. This study focused on adoption of virtually immersive technologies as a collaborative media to support virtual teaming of both graduate and undergraduate-level project management students. The data and information from this study has implications for educators using virtually immersive environments in the classroom. In this study, we specifically evaluated two key components in this paper: 1 students’ level of trust and; 2 students’ willingness to use the technology, along with their belief about the virtual environment’s ability to extend and improve knowledge sharing in their team work environment. We learned that while students did find the environment a positive add on for working collaboratively, there were students who were neither more nor less likely to use the technology for future collaborative ventures. Most of the students who were not very positive about the environment were “fence sitters” likely indicating needs related to additional training to improve communication skills. Finally, based on the full study results we have provided basic recommendations designed to support team trust building in the system along with interpersonal trust building to facilitate knowledge transfer and better strategic us of the technology.

Virtual reality in advanced medical immersive imaging: a workflow for introducing virtual reality as a supporting tool in medical imaging

KAUST Repository

Knodel, Markus M.

2018-02-27

Radiologic evaluation of images from computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging for diagnostic purposes is based on the analysis of single slices, occasionally supplementing this information with 3D reconstructions as well as surface or volume rendered images. However, due to the complexity of anatomical or pathological structures in biomedical imaging, innovative visualization techniques are required to display morphological characteristics three dimensionally. Virtual reality is a modern tool of representing visual data, The observer has the impression of being “inside” a virtual surrounding, which is referred to as immersive imaging. Such techniques are currently being used in technical applications, e.g. in the automobile industry. Our aim is to introduce a workflow realized within one simple program which processes common image stacks from CT, produces 3D volume and surface reconstruction and rendering, and finally includes the data into a virtual reality device equipped with a motion head tracking cave automatic virtual environment system. Such techniques have the potential to augment the possibilities in non-invasive medical imaging, e.g. for surgical planning or educational purposes to add another dimension for advanced understanding of complex anatomical and pathological structures. To this end, the reconstructions are based on advanced mathematical techniques and the corresponding grids which we can export are intended to form the basis for simulations of mathematical models of the pathogenesis of different diseases.

Immersive virtual reality in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation: A literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Aida, Jared; Chau, Brian; Dunn, Justin

2018-04-07

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States with its sequelae often affecting individuals long after the initial injury. Innovations in virtual reality (VR) technology may offer potential therapy options in the recovery from such injuries. However, there is currently no consensus regarding the efficacy of VR in the setting of TBI rehabilitation. The aim of this review is to evaluate and summarize the current literature regarding immersive VR in the rehabilitation of those with TBI. A comprehensive literature search was conducted utilizing PubMed, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Review using the search terms "virtual reality," "traumatic brain injury," "brain injury," and "immersive." A total of 11 studies were evaluated. These were primarily of low-level evidence, with the exception of two randomized, controlled trials. 10 of 11 studies demonstrated improvement with VR therapy. VR was most frequently used to address gait or cognitive deficits. While the current literature generally offers support for the use of VR in TBI recovery, there is a paucity of strong evidence to support its widespread use. The increasing availability of immersive VR technology offers the potential for engaging therapy in TBI rehabilitation, but its utility remains uncertain given the limited studies available at this time.

Highly immersive virtual reality laparoscopy simulation: development and future aspects.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Tobias; Wunderling, Tom; Paschold, Markus; Lang, Hauke; Kneist, Werner; Hansen, Christian

2018-02-01

Virtual reality (VR) applications with head-mounted displays (HMDs) have had an impact on information and multimedia technologies. The current work aimed to describe the process of developing a highly immersive VR simulation for laparoscopic surgery. We combined a VR laparoscopy simulator (LapSim) and a VR-HMD to create a user-friendly VR simulation scenario. Continuous clinical feedback was an essential aspect of the development process. We created an artificial VR (AVR) scenario by integrating the simulator video output with VR game components of figures and equipment in an operating room. We also created a highly immersive VR surrounding (IVR) by integrating the simulator video output with a [Formula: see text] video of a standard laparoscopy scenario in the department's operating room. Clinical feedback led to optimization of the visualization, synchronization, and resolution of the virtual operating rooms (in both the IVR and the AVR). Preliminary testing results revealed that individuals experienced a high degree of exhilaration and presence, with rare events of motion sickness. The technical performance showed no significant difference compared to that achieved with the standard LapSim. Our results provided a proof of concept for the technical feasibility of an custom highly immersive VR-HMD setup. Future technical research is needed to improve the visualization, immersion, and capability of interacting within the virtual scenario.

Nested immersion: Describing and classifying augmented virtual reality

OpenAIRE

MARSH, William Eric; MERIENNE, Frédéric

2015-01-01

We present a system, intended for automotive design review use cases, that incorporates a tracked tablet in a CAVE, where both the tablet and the CAVE provide different views and interaction possibilities within the same virtual scene. At its core, this idea is not novel. However, the literature reveals few examples of this paradigm in which virtual information is presented on a second physical device to augment an immersive virtual environment. Similarly, it is unclear where the system shoul...

Virtual Reality Hysteroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Levy

1996-08-01

New interactive computer technologies are having a significant influence on medical education, training, and practice. The newest innovation in computer technology, virtual reality, allows an individual to be immersed in a dynamic computer-generated, three-dimensional environment and can provide realistic simulations of surgical procedures. A new virtual reality hysteroscope passes through a sensing device that synchronizes movements with a three-dimensional model of a uterus. Force feedback is incorporated into this model, so the user actually experiences the collision of an instrument against the uterine wall or the sensation of the resistance or drag of a resectoscope as it cuts through a myoma in a virtual environment. A variety of intrauterine pathologies and procedures are simulated, including hyperplasia, cancer, resection of a uterine septum, polyp, or myoma, and endometrial ablation. This technology will be incorporated into comprehensive training programs that will objectively assess hand-eye coordination and procedural skills. It is possible that by incorporating virtual reality into hysteroscopic training programs, a decrease in the learning curve and the number of complications presently associated with the procedures may be realized. Prospective studies are required to assess these potential benefits.

Visualization framework for CAVE virtual reality systems

OpenAIRE

Kageyama, Akira; Tomiyama, Asako

2016-01-01

We have developed a software framework for scientific visualization in immersive-type, room-sized virtual reality (VR) systems, or Cave automatic virtual environment (CAVEs). This program, called Multiverse, allows users to select and invoke visualization programs without leaving CAVE’s VR space. Multiverse is a kind of immersive “desktop environment” for users, with a three-dimensional graphical user interface. For application developers, Multiverse is a software framework with useful class ...

Using Immersive Virtual Reality for Electrical Substation Training

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Eduardo H.; Paludo, Juliana A.; Cordeiro, Carlúcio S.; Domingues, Leonardo R.; Gadbem, Edgar V.; Euflausino, Adriana

2015-01-01

Usually, distribution electricians are called upon to solve technical problems found in electrical substations. In this project, we apply problem-based learning to a training program for electricians, with the help of a virtual reality environment that simulates a real substation. Using this virtual substation, users may safely practice maneuvers…

Virtual Reality in Engineering Education: The Future of Creative Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul-Hadi Ghazi Abulrub

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Virtual reality has achieved an adequate level of development for it to be considered in innovative applications such as education, training, and research in higher education. Virtual reality offers both opportunities and challenges for the educational sector. One of the challenges of virtual reality technology is the costs associated which have been unaffordable for educational institutes. However, in recent years, computer hardware and software development has made it more feasible to incorporate virtual reality technology into future teaching strategies. Despite the cost challenges, educational benefits of implementing virtual reality remain compelling. This paper explains virtual reality principle and describes the interactive educational environment developed at WMG, the University of Warwick. It also discusses the benefits of using state-of-the-art 3D photorealistic interactive and immersive virtual environment for engineering undergraduates and postgraduate teaching, learning and training.

Immersive virtual reality and environmental noise assessment: An innovative audio–visual approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruotolo, Francesco; Maffei, Luigi; Di Gabriele, Maria; Iachini, Tina; Masullo, Massimiliano; Ruggiero, Gennaro; Senese, Vincenzo Paolo

2013-01-01

Several international studies have shown that traffic noise has a negative impact on people's health and that people's annoyance does not depend only on noise energetic levels, but rather on multi-perceptual factors. The combination of virtual reality technology and audio rendering techniques allow us to experiment a new approach for environmental noise assessment that can help to investigate in advance the potential negative effects of noise associated with a specific project and that in turn can help designers to make educated decisions. In the present study, the audio–visual impact of a new motorway project on people has been assessed by means of immersive virtual reality technology. In particular, participants were exposed to 3D reconstructions of an actual landscape without the projected motorway (ante operam condition), and of the same landscape with the projected motorway (post operam condition). Furthermore, individuals' reactions to noise were assessed by means of objective cognitive measures (short term verbal memory and executive functions) and subjective evaluations (noise and visual annoyance). Overall, the results showed that the introduction of a projected motorway in the environment can have immediate detrimental effects of people's well-being depending on the distance from the noise source. In particular, noise due to the new infrastructure seems to exert a negative influence on short term verbal memory and to increase both visual and noise annoyance. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. -- Highlights: ► Impact of traffic noise on people's well-being depends on multi-perceptual factors. ► A multisensory virtual reality technology is used to simulate a projected motorway. ► Effects on short-term memory and auditory and visual subjective annoyance were found. ► The closer the distance from the motorway the stronger was the effect. ► Multisensory virtual reality methodologies can be used to study

Immersive Virtual Environments and Multisensory Interfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stenslie, Ståle

2009-01-01

Based on my work with virtual environments dating back to the early 1990s, and with practical and engineering limitations on building tactile bodysuits that enhance the sense of immersion within detailed and dynamic virtual worlds overcome, this paper will take as its subject the example of my...... immersive artwork the Erotogod experiment (2001). A key aspect of interaction and immersion for the participant was the use of tactile bodysuit. I will analyze the multisensory nature of this experience, how tactility was engendered and, in fact, engineered through a mixture of technologies and approaches....... The paper will focus on the multisensory aspect of my interfaces as they have evolved through my projects, discussing how engineering problems were overcome to enhance tactility, the experimentations with tactile technologies in order to engineer the right feeling, and what is involved in the multisensory...

How virtual reality works: illusions of vision in "real" and virtual environments

Science.gov (United States)

Stark, Lawrence W.

1995-04-01

Visual illusions abound in normal vision--illusions of clarity and completeness, of continuity in time and space, of presence and vivacity--and are part and parcel of the visual world inwhich we live. These illusions are discussed in terms of the human visual system, with its high- resolution fovea, moved from point to point in the visual scene by rapid saccadic eye movements (EMs). This sampling of visual information is supplemented by a low-resolution, wide peripheral field of view, especially sensitive to motion. Cognitive-spatial models controlling perception, imagery, and 'seeing,' also control the EMs that shift the fovea in the Scanpath mode. These illusions provide for presence, the sense off being within an environment. They equally well lead to 'Telepresence,' the sense of being within a virtual display, especially if the operator is intensely interacting within an eye-hand and head-eye human-machine interface that provides for congruent visual and motor frames of reference. Interaction, immersion, and interest compel telepresence; intuitive functioning and engineered information flows can optimize human adaptation to the artificial new world of virtual reality, as virtual reality expands into entertainment, simulation, telerobotics, and scientific visualization and other professional work.

Immersive and interactive virtual reality to improve learning and retention of neuroanatomy in medical students: a randomized controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekstrand, Chelsea; Jamal, Ali; Nguyen, Ron; Kudryk, Annalise; Mann, Jennifer; Mendez, Ivar

2018-02-23

Spatial 3-dimensional understanding of the brain is essential to learning neuroanatomy, and 3-dimensional learning techniques have been proposed as tools to enhance neuroanatomy training. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of immersive virtual-reality neuroanatomy training and compare it to traditional paper-based methods. In this randomized controlled study, participants consisted of first- or second-year medical students from the University of Saskatchewan recruited via email and posters displayed throughout the medical school. Participants were randomly assigned to the virtual-reality group or the paper-based group and studied the spatial relations between neural structures for 12 minutes after performing a neuroanatomy baseline test, with both test and control questions. A postintervention test was administered immediately after the study period and 5-9 days later. Satisfaction measures were obtained. Of the 66 participants randomly assigned to the study groups, 64 were included in the final analysis, 31 in the virtual-reality group and 33 in the paper-based group. The 2 groups performed comparably on the baseline questions and showed significant performance improvement on the test questions following study. There were no significant differences between groups for the control questions, the postintervention test questions or the 7-day postintervention test questions. Satisfaction survey results indicated that neurophobia was decreased. Results from this study provide evidence that training in neuroanatomy in an immersive and interactive virtual-reality environment may be an effective neuroanatomy learning tool that warrants further study. They also suggest that integration of virtual-reality into neuroanatomy training may improve knowledge retention, increase study motivation and decrease neurophobia. Copyright 2018, Joule Inc. or its licensors.

Effects of Exercise in Immersive Virtual Environments on Cortical Neural Oscillations and Mental State

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tobias Vogt

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Virtual reality environments are increasingly being used to encourage individuals to exercise more regularly, including as part of treatment those with mental health or neurological disorders. The success of virtual environments likely depends on whether a sense of presence can be established, where participants become fully immersed in the virtual environment. Exposure to virtual environments is associated with physiological responses, including cortical activation changes. Whether the addition of a real exercise within a virtual environment alters sense of presence perception, or the accompanying physiological changes, is not known. In a randomized and controlled study design, moderate-intensity Exercise (i.e., self-paced cycling and No-Exercise (i.e., automatic propulsion trials were performed within three levels of virtual environment exposure. Each trial was 5 minutes in duration and was followed by posttrial assessments of heart rate, perceived sense of presence, EEG, and mental state. Changes in psychological strain and physical state were generally mirrored by neural activation patterns. Furthermore, these changes indicated that exercise augments the demands of virtual environment exposures and this likely contributed to an enhanced sense of presence.

Altered Perspectives: Immersive Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Shipman, J. S.; Webley, P. W.

2016-12-01

Immersive environments provide an exciting experiential technology to visualize the natural world. Given the increasing accessibility of 360o cameras and virtual reality headsets we are now able to visualize artistic principles and scientific concepts in a fully immersive environment. The technology has become popular for photographers as well as designers, industry, educational groups, and museums. Here we show a sci-art perspective on the use of optics and light in the capture and manipulation of 360o images and video of geologic phenomena and cultural heritage sites in Alaska, England, and France. Additionally, we will generate intentionally altered perspectives to lend a surrealistic quality to the landscapes. Locations include the Catacombs of Paris, the Palace of Versailles, and the Northern Lights over Fairbanks, Alaska. Some 360o view cameras now use small portable dual lens technology extending beyond the 180o fish eye lens previously used, providing better coverage and image quality. Virtual reality headsets range in level of sophistication and cost, with the most affordable versions using smart phones and Google Cardboard viewers. The equipment used in this presentation includes a Ricoh Theta S spherical imaging camera. Here we will demonstrate the use of 360o imaging with attendees being able to be part of the immersive environment and experience our locations as if they were visiting themselves.

Virtual reality, immersion, and the unforgettable experience

Science.gov (United States)

Morie, Jacquelyn F.

2006-02-01

Virtual reality has been in the public eye for nearly forty years. Its early promise was vast: worlds we could visit and live in, if we could bend the technology to our desires. Progress was made, but along the way the original directions and challenges of fully immersive VR took a back seat to more ubiquitous technology such as games that provided many of the same functions. What was lost in this transition was the potential for VR to become a stage for encounters that are meaningful, those experiences that tap into what it means to be human. This paper describes examples of such experiences using VR technology and puts forward several avenues of thought concerning how we might reinvigorate these types of VR explorations.

Extended Immersive Learning Environment: A Hybrid Remote/Virtual Laboratory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lírio Shaeffer

2010-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a collaborative virtual learning environment, which includes technologies such as 3D virtual representations, learning and content management systems, remote experiments, and collaborative learning spaces, among others. It intends to facilitate the construction, management and sharing of knowledge among teachers and students, in a global perspective. The environment proposes the use of 3D social representations for accessing learning materials in a dynamic and interactive form, which is regarded to be closer to the physical reality experienced by teachers and students in a learning context. A first implementation of the proposed extended immersive learning environment, in the area of solid mechanics, is also described, including the access to theoretical contents and a remote experiment to determine the elastic modulus of a given object.These instructions give you basic guidelines for preparing camera-ready papers for conference proceedings. Use this document as a template if you are using Microsoft Word 6.0 or later. Otherwise, use this document as an instruction set. The electronic file of your paper will be formatted further. Define all symbols used in the abstract. Do not cite references in the abstract.

New Desktop Virtual Reality Technology in Technical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Ausburn, Lynna J.; Ausburn, Floyd B.

2008-01-01

Virtual reality (VR) that immerses users in a 3D environment through use of headwear, body suits, and data gloves has demonstrated effectiveness in technical and professional education. Immersive VR is highly engaging and appealing to technically skilled young Net Generation learners. However, technical difficulty and very high costs have kept…

A standardized set of 3-D objects for virtual reality research and applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Peeters, David

2018-06-01

The use of immersive virtual reality as a research tool is rapidly increasing in numerous scientific disciplines. By combining ecological validity with strict experimental control, immersive virtual reality provides the potential to develop and test scientific theories in rich environments that closely resemble everyday settings. This article introduces the first standardized database of colored three-dimensional (3-D) objects that can be used in virtual reality and augmented reality research and applications. The 147 objects have been normed for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, visual complexity, and corresponding lexical characteristics of the modal object names. The availability of standardized 3-D objects for virtual reality research is important, because reaching valid theoretical conclusions hinges critically on the use of well-controlled experimental stimuli. Sharing standardized 3-D objects across different virtual reality labs will allow for science to move forward more quickly.

How incorporation of scents could enhance immersive virtual experiences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthieu Jeremiah Ischer

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Under normal everyday conditions, senses all work together to create experiences that fill a typical person´s life. Unfortunately for behavioral and cognitive researchers who investigate such experiences, standard laboratory tests are usually conducted in a nondescript room in front of a computer screen. They are very far from replicating the complexity of real world experiences. Recently, immersive virtual reality (IVR environments became promising methods to immerse people into an almost real environment that involves more senses. IVR environments provide many similarities to the complexity of the real world and at the same time allow experimenters to constrain experimental parameters to obtain empirical data. This can eventually lead to better treatment options and/or new mechanistic hypotheses. The idea that increasing sensory modalities improve the realism of immersive virtual reality environments has been empirically supported, but the senses used did not usually include olfaction. In this technology report, we will present an odor delivery system applied to a state-of-the-art IVR technology. The platform provides a three-dimensional, immersive, and fully interactive visualization environment called Brain and Behavioral Laboratory - Immersive System (BBL-IS. The solution we propose can reliably deliver various complex scents during different virtual scenarios, at a precise time and space and without contamination of the environment. The main features of this platform are: i the limited cross-contamination between odorant streams with a fast odor delivery (< 500 ms, ii the ease of use and control, and iii the possibility to synchronize the delivery of the odorant with pictures, videos or sounds. How this unique technology could be used to investigate typical research questions in olfaction (e.g., emotional elicitation, memory encoding or attentional capture by scents will also be addressed.

Augmented Virtuality: A Real-time Process for Presenting Real-world Visual Sensory Information in an Immersive Virtual Environment for Planetary Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

McFadden, D.; Tavakkoli, A.; Regenbrecht, J.; Wilson, B.

2017-12-01

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications have recently seen an impressive growth, thanks to the advent of commercial Head Mounted Displays (HMDs). This new visualization era has opened the possibility of presenting researchers from multiple disciplines with data visualization techniques not possible via traditional 2D screens. In a purely VR environment researchers are presented with the visual data in a virtual environment, whereas in a purely AR application, a piece of virtual object is projected into the real world with which researchers could interact. There are several limitations to the purely VR or AR application when taken within the context of remote planetary exploration. For example, in a purely VR environment, contents of the planet surface (e.g. rocks, terrain, or other features) should be created off-line from a multitude of images using image processing techniques to generate 3D mesh data that will populate the virtual surface of the planet. This process usually takes a tremendous amount of computational resources and cannot be delivered in real-time. As an alternative, video frames may be superimposed on the virtual environment to save processing time. However, such rendered video frames will lack 3D visual information -i.e. depth information. In this paper, we present a technique to utilize a remotely situated robot's stereoscopic cameras to provide a live visual feed from the real world into the virtual environment in which planetary scientists are immersed. Moreover, the proposed technique will blend the virtual environment with the real world in such a way as to preserve both the depth and visual information from the real world while allowing for the sensation of immersion when the entire sequence is viewed via an HMD such as Oculus Rift. The figure shows the virtual environment with an overlay of the real-world stereoscopic video being presented in real-time into the virtual environment. Notice the preservation of the object

The effect of degree of immersion upon learning performance in virtual reality simulations for medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Gutiérrez, Fátima; Pierce, Jennifer; Vergara, Víctor M; Coulter, Robert; Saland, Linda; Caudell, Thomas P; Goldsmith, Timothy E; Alverson, Dale C

2007-01-01

Simulations are being used in education and training to enhance understanding, improve performance, and assess competence. However, it is important to measure the performance of these simulations as learning and training tools. This study examined and compared knowledge acquisition using a knowledge structure design. The subjects were first-year medical students at The University of New Mexico School of Medicine. One group used a fully immersed virtual reality (VR) environment using a head mounted display (HMD) and another group used a partially immersed (computer screen) VR environment. The study aims were to determine whether there were significant differences between the two groups as measured by changes in knowledge structure before and after the VR simulation experience. The results showed that both groups benefited from the VR simulation training as measured by the significant increased similarity to the expert knowledge network after the training experience. However, the immersed group showed a significantly higher gain than the partially immersed group. This study demonstrated a positive effect of VR simulation on learning as reflected by improvements in knowledge structure but an enhanced effect of full-immersion using a HMD vs. a screen-based VR system.

Immersive virtual reality and environmental noise assessment: An innovative audio–visual approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruotolo, Francesco, E-mail: francesco.ruotolo@unina2.it [Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Immersive Virtual Reality, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico, 31, 81100, Caserta (Italy); Maffei, Luigi, E-mail: luigi.maffei@unina2.it [Department of Architecture and Industrial Design, Second University of Naples, Abazia di S. Lorenzo, 81031, Aversa (Italy); Di Gabriele, Maria, E-mail: maria.digabriele@unina2.it [Department of Architecture and Industrial Design, Second University of Naples, Abazia di S. Lorenzo, 81031, Aversa (Italy); Iachini, Tina, E-mail: santa.iachini@unina2.it [Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Immersive Virtual Reality, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico, 31, 81100, Caserta (Italy); Masullo, Massimiliano, E-mail: massimiliano.masullo@unina2.it [Department of Architecture and Industrial Design, Second University of Naples, Abazia di S. Lorenzo, 81031, Aversa (Italy); Ruggiero, Gennaro, E-mail: gennaro.ruggiero@unina2.it [Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Immersive Virtual Reality, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico, 31, 81100, Caserta (Italy); Senese, Vincenzo Paolo, E-mail: vincenzopaolo.senese@unina2.it [Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Immersive Virtual Reality, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico, 31, 81100, Caserta (Italy); Psychometric Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Viale Ellittico, 31, 81100, Caserta (Italy)

2013-07-15

Several international studies have shown that traffic noise has a negative impact on people's health and that people's annoyance does not depend only on noise energetic levels, but rather on multi-perceptual factors. The combination of virtual reality technology and audio rendering techniques allow us to experiment a new approach for environmental noise assessment that can help to investigate in advance the potential negative effects of noise associated with a specific project and that in turn can help designers to make educated decisions. In the present study, the audio–visual impact of a new motorway project on people has been assessed by means of immersive virtual reality technology. In particular, participants were exposed to 3D reconstructions of an actual landscape without the projected motorway (ante operam condition), and of the same landscape with the projected motorway (post operam condition). Furthermore, individuals' reactions to noise were assessed by means of objective cognitive measures (short term verbal memory and executive functions) and subjective evaluations (noise and visual annoyance). Overall, the results showed that the introduction of a projected motorway in the environment can have immediate detrimental effects of people's well-being depending on the distance from the noise source. In particular, noise due to the new infrastructure seems to exert a negative influence on short term verbal memory and to increase both visual and noise annoyance. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. -- Highlights: ► Impact of traffic noise on people's well-being depends on multi-perceptual factors. ► A multisensory virtual reality technology is used to simulate a projected motorway. ► Effects on short-term memory and auditory and visual subjective annoyance were found. ► The closer the distance from the motorway the stronger was the effect. ► Multisensory virtual reality methodologies

Poster: Virtual reality interaction using mobile devices

KAUST Repository

Aseeri, Sahar A.

2013-03-01

In this work we aim to implement and evaluate alternative approaches for interacting with virtual environments on mobile devices for navigation, object selection and manipulation. Interaction with objects in virtual worlds using traditional input such as current state-of-the-art devices is often difficult and could diminish the immersion and sense of presence when it comes to 3D virtual environment tasks. We have developed new methods to perform different kinds of interactions using a mobile device (e.g. a smartphone) both as input device, performing selection and manipulation of objects, and as output device, utilizing the screen as an extra view (virtual camera or information display). Our hypothesis is that interaction via mobile devices facilitates simple tasks like the ones described within immersive virtual reality systems. We present here our initial implementation and result. © 2013 IEEE.

Applications and a three-dimensional desktop environment for an immersive virtual reality system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kageyama, Akira; Masada, Youhei

2013-01-01

We developed an application launcher called Multiverse for scientific visualizations in a CAVE-type virtual reality (VR) system. Multiverse can be regarded as a type of three-dimensional (3D) desktop environment. In Multiverse, a user in a CAVE room can browse multiple visualization applications with 3D icons and explore movies that float in the air. Touching one of the movies causes ''teleportation'' into the application's VR space. After analyzing the simulation data using the application, the user can jump back into Multiverse's VR desktop environment in the CAVE

Human factors consideration in clinical applications of virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, C H; Griffin, M J

1997-01-01

Virtual reality environments have many potential applications in medicine, including surgical training, tele-operated robotic surgery, assessment and rehabilitation of behavioural and neurological disorders and diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation of physical disabilities. Although there is much potential for the use of immersive virtual reality environments in clinical applications, there are problems which could limit their ultimate usability. Some users have experienced side-effects during and after exposure to virtual reality environments. The symptoms include ocular problems, disorientation and balance disturbances, and nausea. Susceptibility to side-effects can be affected by age, ethnicity, experience, gender and physical fitness, as well as the characteristics of the display, the virtual environment and the tasks. The characteristics of the virtual reality system have also been shown to affect the ability of users to perform tasks in a virtual environment. Many of these effects can be attributed to delays between the sampling of head and limb positions and the presentation of an appropriate image on the display. The introduction of patients to virtual reality environments, for assessment, therapy or rehabilitation, raises particular safety and ethical issues. Patients exposed to virtual reality environments for assessment and rehabilitation may have disabilities which increase their susceptibility to certain side-effects. Special precautions therefore need to be taken to ensure the safety and effectiveness of such virtual reality applications. These precautions include minimisation of possible side-effects at the design stage. Factors are identified which are likely to affect the incidence of side-effects during and after exposures, and which need to be understood in order to minimise undesirable consequences. There is also a need for the establishment of protocols for monitoring and controlling exposures of patients to virtual reality environments. Issues

Augmented and virtual reality in the media: Questioning the concept of 'immersive' journalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krstić Aleksandra

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article questions and analyzes the concept of 'immersive' journalism, which has emerged from advanced technologies of augmented and virtual reality and which has already been changing the role of the media, journalism and audiences' experiences. Developed and applied in media and tech companies in the Western countries, this form of journalism represents one of the growing business models used by companies oriented towards improving and developing social networks, mobile platforms and multimedia online portals. Immersion of the audience into journalistic stories, which are upgraded by AR and VR technologies, represents the key change of our understanding, analyzing and representing the reality, and at the same time brings into question ethical and professional journalistic standards. Built on the growing body of academic scholarship and contemporary research in the field, this article critically examines the concept 'immersive' journalism and looks into relevant aspects of its theoretical foundations and practical implementation in the media industry and the university education of journalists.

The Design, Development and Evaluation of a Virtual Reality Based Learning Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chwen Jen

2006-01-01

Many researchers and instructional designers increasingly recognise the benefits of utilising three dimensional virtual reality (VR) technology in instruction. In general, there are two types of VR system, the immersive system and the non-immersive system. This article focuses on the latter system that merely uses the conventional personal…

Immersive Virtual Reality for Pediatric Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Won, Andrea Stevenson; Bailey, Jakki; Bailenson, Jeremy; Tataru, Christine; Yoon, Isabel A; Golianu, Brenda

2017-06-23

Children must often endure painful procedures as part of their treatment for various medical conditions. Those with chronic pain endure frequent or constant discomfort in their daily lives, sometimes severely limiting their physical capacities. With the advent of affordable consumer-grade equipment, clinicians have access to a promising and engaging intervention for pediatric pain, both acute and chronic. In addition to providing relief from acute and procedural pain, virtual reality (VR) may also help to provide a corrective psychological and physiological environment to facilitate rehabilitation for pediatric patients suffering from chronic pain. The special qualities of VR such as presence, interactivity, customization, social interaction, and embodiment allow it to be accepted by children and adolescents and incorporated successfully into their existing medical therapies. However, the powerful and transformative nature of many VR experiences may also pose some risks and should be utilized with caution. In this paper, we review recent literature in pediatric virtual reality for procedural pain and anxiety, acute and chronic pain, and some rehabilitation applications. We also discuss the practical considerations of using VR in pediatric care, and offer specific suggestions and information for clinicians wishing to adopt these engaging therapies into their daily clinical practice.

Manipulating the fidelity of lower extremity visual feedback to identify obstacle negotiation strategies in immersive virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Aram; Zhou, Zixuan; Kretch, Kari S; Finley, James M

2017-07-01

The ability to successfully navigate obstacles in our environment requires integration of visual information about the environment with estimates of our body's state. Previous studies have used partial occlusion of the visual field to explore how information about the body and impending obstacles are integrated to mediate a successful clearance strategy. However, because these manipulations often remove information about both the body and obstacle, it remains to be seen how information about the lower extremities alone is utilized during obstacle crossing. Here, we used an immersive virtual reality (VR) interface to explore how visual feedback of the lower extremities influences obstacle crossing performance. Participants wore a head-mounted display while walking on treadmill and were instructed to step over obstacles in a virtual corridor in four different feedback trials. The trials involved: (1) No visual feedback of the lower extremities, (2) an endpoint-only model, (3) a link-segment model, and (4) a volumetric multi-segment model. We found that the volumetric model improved success rate, placed their trailing foot before crossing and leading foot after crossing more consistently, and placed their leading foot closer to the obstacle after crossing compared to no model. This knowledge is critical for the design of obstacle negotiation tasks in immersive virtual environments as it may provide information about the fidelity necessary to reproduce ecologically valid practice environments.

Anxiety Partially Mediates Cybersickness Symptoms in Immersive Virtual Reality Environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pot-Kolder, Roos; Veling, Wim; Counotte, Jacqueline; Van Der Gaag, Mark

2018-01-01

The use of virtual reality (VR) in psychological treatment is expected to increase. Cybersickness (CS) is a negative side effect of VR exposure and is associated with treatment dropout. This study aimed to investigate the following: (a) if gender differences in CS can be replicated, (b) if

An Exploratory fNIRS Study with Immersive Virtual Reality: A New Method for Technical Implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno eSeraglia

2011-12-01

Full Text Available For over two decades Virtual Reality has been used as a useful tool in several fields, from medical and psychological treatments, to industrial and military applications. Only in recent years researchers have begun to study the neural correlates that subtend virtual reality experiences. Even if the fMRI brain image technique is the most common and used technique, it suffers several limitations and problems. Here we present a methodology that involves the use of a new and growing brain imaging technique, fNIRS functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy, while participants experience immersive virtual reality. In order to allow a proper fNIRS probe application, a custom-made virtual reality helmet was created. To test the adapted helmet, a virtual version of the line bisection task was used. Participants could bisect the lines in a virtual peripersonal or extrapersonal space, through the manipulation of a Wiimote controller in order for the participants to move a virtual laser pointer. Although no neural correlates of the dissociation between peripersonal and extrapersonal space were found, a significant hemodynamic activity with respect to the baseline was present in the right parietal and occipital areas. Both advantages and disadvantages of the presented methodology are discussed.

Interactive Scientific Visualization in 3D Virtual Reality Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filip Popovski

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Scientific visualization in technology of virtual reality is a graphical representation of virtual environment in the form of images or animation that can be displayed with various devices such as Head Mounted Display (HMD or monitors that can view threedimensional world. Research in real time is a desirable capability for scientific visualization and virtual reality in which we are immersed and make the research process easier. In this scientific paper the interaction between the user and objects in the virtual environment аrе in real time which gives a sense of reality to the user. Also, Quest3D VR software package is used and the movement of the user through the virtual environment, the impossibility to walk through solid objects, methods for grabbing objects and their displacement are programmed and all interactions between them will be possible. At the end some critical analysis were made on all of these techniques on various computer systems and excellent results were obtained.

Simulating Social Situations in Immersive Virtual Reality - A Study of Bystander Responses to Violent Emergencies

OpenAIRE

Rovira i Pérez, A.

2016-01-01

The goal of this research is to show how immersive virtual reality (IVR) can be used to study human responses to extreme emergencies in social situations. Participants interact realistically with animated virtual humans. We show this through experimental studies of bystander responses to a violent confrontation, and find that there are conditions under which people intervene to help virtual characters that are threatened. We go on to show that a reinforcement learning (RL) method can capture ...

The frequency of occurrence and severity of side-effects of immersion virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Regan, E C; Price, K R

1994-06-01

Virtual reality (VR) has become increasingly well-known over the last few years. However, little is known about the side-effects of prolonged immersion in VR. This study set out to investigate the frequency of occurrence and severity of side-effects of using an immersion VR system. Out of 146 subjects, 61% reported symptoms of malaise at some point during a 20-min immersion and 10-min post-immersion period. These ranged from symptoms such as dizziness, stomach awareness, headaches, eyestrain and lightheadedness to severe nausea. These symptoms caused 5% of the subjects to withdraw from the experiment before completing their 20-min immersion period. Further research needs to be conducted that attempts to identify those factors that play a causative role in the side-effects of the VR system, and that looks for methods of reducing these side-effects.

The effectiveness of virtual reality distraction for pain reduction: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Malloy, Kevin M; Milling, Leonard S

2010-12-01

Virtual reality technology enables people to become immersed in a computer-simulated, three-dimensional environment. This article provides a comprehensive review of controlled research on the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) distraction for reducing pain. To be included in the review, studies were required to use a between-subjects or mixed model design in which VR distraction was compared with a control condition or an alternative intervention in relieving pain. An exhaustive search identified 11 studies satisfying these criteria. VR distraction was shown to be effective for reducing experimental pain, as well as the discomfort associated with burn injury care. Studies of needle-related pain provided less consistent findings. Use of more sophisticated virtual reality technology capable of fully immersing the individual in a virtual environment was associated with greater relief. Overall, controlled research suggests that VR distraction may be a useful tool for clinicians who work with a variety of pain problems. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Virtual reality applications to work.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, P L; Jessel, A S

1998-01-01

Virtual reality (VR) entails the use of advanced technologies, including computers and various multimedia peripherals, to produce a simulated (i.e. virtual) environment that users perceive as comparable to real world objects and events. With the aid of specially designed transducers and sensors, users interact with displayed images, moving and manipulating virtual objects, and performing other actions in a way that engenders a feeling of actual presence (immersion) in the simulated environment. The unique features and flexibility of VR give it extraordinary potential for use in work-related applications. It permits users to experience and interact with a life-like model or environment, in safety and at convenient times, while providing a degree of control over the simulation that is usually not possible in the real-life situation. The work-related applications that appear to be most promising are those that employ virtual reality for visualization and representation, distance communication and education, hands-on training, and orientation and navigation. This article presents an overview to the concepts of VR focusing on its applications in a variety of work settings. Issues related to potential difficulties in using VR including side effects and the transfer of skills learned in the virtual environment to the real world are also reviewed.

Virtual reality enhanced mannequin (VREM) that is well received by resuscitation experts.

Science.gov (United States)

Semeraro, Federico; Frisoli, Antonio; Bergamasco, Massimo; Cerchiari, Erga L

2009-04-01

The objective of this study was to test acceptance of, and interest in, a newly developed prototype of virtual reality enhanced mannequin (VREM) on a sample of congress attendees who volunteered to participate in the evaluation session and to respond to a specifically designed questionnaire. A commercial Laerdal HeartSim 4000 mannequin was developed to integrate virtual reality (VR) technologies with specially developed virtual reality software to increase the immersive perception of emergency scenarios. To evaluate the acceptance of a virtual reality enhanced mannequin (VREM), we presented it to a sample of 39 possible users. Each evaluation session involved one trainee and two instructors with a standardized procedure and scenario: the operator was invited by the instructor to wear the data-gloves and the head mounted display and was briefly introduced to the scope of the simulation. The instructor helped the operator familiarize himself with the environment. After the patient's collapse, the operator was asked to check the patient's clinical conditions and start CPR. Finally, the patient started to recover signs of circulation and the evaluation session was concluded. Each participant was then asked to respond to a questionnaire designed to explore the trainee's perception in the areas of user-friendliness, realism, and interaction/immersion. Overall, the evaluation of the system was very positive, as was the feeling of immersion and realism of the environment and simulation. Overall, 84.6% of the participants judged the virtual reality experience as interesting and believed that its development could be very useful for healthcare training. The prototype of the virtual reality enhanced mannequin was well-liked, without interfence by interaction devices, and deserves full technological development and validation in emergency medical training.

Immersive Virtual Reality for Pediatric Pain

Science.gov (United States)

Won, Andrea Stevenson; Bailey, Jakki; Bailenson, Jeremy; Tataru, Christine; Yoon, Isabel A.; Golianu, Brenda

2017-01-01

Children must often endure painful procedures as part of their treatment for various medical conditions. Those with chronic pain endure frequent or constant discomfort in their daily lives, sometimes severely limiting their physical capacities. With the advent of affordable consumer-grade equipment, clinicians have access to a promising and engaging intervention for pediatric pain, both acute and chronic. In addition to providing relief from acute and procedural pain, virtual reality (VR) may also help to provide a corrective psychological and physiological environment to facilitate rehabilitation for pediatric patients suffering from chronic pain. The special qualities of VR such as presence, interactivity, customization, social interaction, and embodiment allow it to be accepted by children and adolescents and incorporated successfully into their existing medical therapies. However, the powerful and transformative nature of many VR experiences may also pose some risks and should be utilized with caution. In this paper, we review recent literature in pediatric virtual reality for procedural pain and anxiety, acute and chronic pain, and some rehabilitation applications. We also discuss the practical considerations of using VR in pediatric care, and offer specific suggestions and information for clinicians wishing to adopt these engaging therapies into their daily clinical practice. PMID:28644422

Smartphone applications for immersive virtual reality therapy for internet addiction and internet gaming disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Melvyn W B; Ho, Roger C M

2017-01-01

There have been rapid advances in technologies over the past decade and virtual reality technology is an area which is increasingly utilized as a healthcare intervention in many disciplines including that of Medicine, Surgery and Psychiatry. In Psychiatry, most of the current interventions involving the usage of virtual reality technology is limited to its application for anxiety disorders. With the advances in technology, Internet addiction and Internet gaming disorders are increasingly prevalent. To date, these disorders are still being treated using conventional psychotherapy methods such as cognitive behavioural therapy. However, there is an increasing number of research combining various other therapies alongside with cognitive behavioural therapy, as an attempt possibly to reduce the drop-out rates and to make such interventions more relevant to the targeted group of addicts, who are mostly adolescents. To date, there has been a prior study done in Korea that has demonstrated the comparable efficacy of virtual reality therapy with that of cognitive behavioural therapy. However, the intervention requires the usage of specialized screens and devices. It is thus the objective of the current article to highlight how smartphone applications could be designed and be utilized for immersive virtual reality treatment, alongside low cost wearables.

Generating Contextual Descriptions of Virtual Reality (VR) Spaces

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, D. M.; Zaman, C. H.; Sutherland, A.

2017-12-01

Virtual reality holds great potential for science communication, education, and research. However, interfaces for manipulating data and environments in virtual worlds are limited and idiosyncratic. Furthermore, speech and vision are the primary modalities by which humans collect information about the world, but the linking of visual and natural language domains is a relatively new pursuit in computer vision. Machine learning techniques have been shown to be effective at image and speech classification, as well as at describing images with language (Karpathy 2016), but have not yet been used to describe potential actions. We propose a technique for creating a library of possible context-specific actions associated with 3D objects in immersive virtual worlds based on a novel dataset generated natively in virtual reality containing speech, image, gaze, and acceleration data. We will discuss the design and execution of a user study in virtual reality that enabled the collection and the development of this dataset. We will also discuss the development of a hybrid machine learning algorithm linking vision data with environmental affordances in natural language. Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to develop a model which can generate interpretable verbal descriptions of possible actions associated with recognized 3D objects within immersive VR environments. This suggests promising applications for more intuitive user interfaces through voice interaction within 3D environments. It also demonstrates the potential to apply vast bodies of embodied and semantic knowledge to enrich user interaction within VR environments. This technology would allow for applications such as expert knowledge annotation of 3D environments, complex verbal data querying and object manipulation in virtual spaces, and computer-generated, dynamic 3D object affordances and functionality during simulations.

Virtual Reality: immersed in the structural world

OpenAIRE

McCabe, Aimee; McPolin, Daniel

2015-01-01

Virtual reality is a rapidly emerging technology, driven by the computer gaming industry. The maturity of the concept, combined with modern hardware, is delivering an experience which offers a useful commercial tool for industry and educators. This article discusses the uses of virtual reality within structural engineering and provides an understanding of how it can be incorporated easily and efficiently for design purposes and beyond.

Using Virtual Reality Environment to Improve Joint Attention Associated with Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Yufang; Huang, Ruowen

2012-01-01

The focus of this study is using data glove to practice Joint attention skill in virtual reality environment for people with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). The virtual reality environment provides a safe environment for PDD people. Especially, when they made errors during practice in virtual reality environment, there is no suffering or…

An Affordable Virtual Reality System for Treatment of Phantom Limb Pain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Bartal; Nielsen, Ronni Nedergaard; Szabo, Laszlo

2016-01-01

This paper describes the implementation of an affordable phantom limb pain (PLP) home treatment system using virtual reality (VR) and a motion sensor to immerse the users in a virtual environment (VE). The work is inspired by mirror therapy (MT) which is used to treat patients with PLP. This proj......This paper describes the implementation of an affordable phantom limb pain (PLP) home treatment system using virtual reality (VR) and a motion sensor to immerse the users in a virtual environment (VE). The work is inspired by mirror therapy (MT) which is used to treat patients with PLP...... are conveyed in the VR as three games: (1) A bending game, where the patients have to bend a rod, (2) a box game where the patients pick up and place boxes with their hands, (3) and a button memory game where the patients have to push buttons in a given sequence. These games were tested on twelve healthy...

Resting-state fMRI activity predicts unsupervised learning and memory in an immersive virtual reality environment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chi Wah Wong

Full Text Available In the real world, learning often proceeds in an unsupervised manner without explicit instructions or feedback. In this study, we employed an experimental paradigm in which subjects explored an immersive virtual reality environment on each of two days. On day 1, subjects implicitly learned the location of 39 objects in an unsupervised fashion. On day 2, the locations of some of the objects were changed, and object location recall performance was assessed and found to vary across subjects. As prior work had shown that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI measures of resting-state brain activity can predict various measures of brain performance across individuals, we examined whether resting-state fMRI measures could be used to predict object location recall performance. We found a significant correlation between performance and the variability of the resting-state fMRI signal in the basal ganglia, hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, insula, and regions in the frontal and temporal lobes, regions important for spatial exploration, learning, memory, and decision making. In addition, performance was significantly correlated with resting-state fMRI connectivity between the left caudate and the right fusiform gyrus, lateral occipital complex, and superior temporal gyrus. Given the basal ganglia's role in exploration, these findings suggest that tighter integration of the brain systems responsible for exploration and visuospatial processing may be critical for learning in a complex environment.

The effects of substitute multisensory feedback on task performance and the sense of presence in a virtual reality environment

Science.gov (United States)

Milella, Ferdinando; Pinto, Carlo; Cant, Iain; White, Mark; Meyer, Georg

2018-01-01

Objective and subjective measures of performance in virtual reality environments increase as more sensory cues are delivered and as simulation fidelity increases. Some cues (colour or sound) are easier to present than others (object weight, vestibular cues) so that substitute cues can be used to enhance informational content in a simulation at the expense of simulation fidelity. This study evaluates how substituting cues in one modality by alternative cues in another modality affects subjective and objective performance measures in a highly immersive virtual reality environment. Participants performed a wheel change in a virtual reality (VR) environment. Auditory, haptic and visual cues, signalling critical events in the simulation, were manipulated in a factorial design. Subjective ratings were recorded via questionnaires. The time taken to complete the task was used as an objective performance measure. The results show that participants performed best and felt an increased sense of immersion and involvement, collectively referred to as ‘presence’, when substitute multimodal sensory feedback was provided. Significant main effects of audio and tactile cues on task performance and on participants' subjective ratings were found. A significant negative relationship was found between the objective (overall completion times) and subjective (ratings of presence) performance measures. We conclude that increasing informational content, even if it disrupts fidelity, enhances performance and user’s overall experience. On this basis we advocate the use of substitute cues in VR environments as an efficient method to enhance performance and user experience. PMID:29390023

The effects of substitute multisensory feedback on task performance and the sense of presence in a virtual reality environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Natalia; Milella, Ferdinando; Pinto, Carlo; Cant, Iain; White, Mark; Meyer, Georg

2018-01-01

Objective and subjective measures of performance in virtual reality environments increase as more sensory cues are delivered and as simulation fidelity increases. Some cues (colour or sound) are easier to present than others (object weight, vestibular cues) so that substitute cues can be used to enhance informational content in a simulation at the expense of simulation fidelity. This study evaluates how substituting cues in one modality by alternative cues in another modality affects subjective and objective performance measures in a highly immersive virtual reality environment. Participants performed a wheel change in a virtual reality (VR) environment. Auditory, haptic and visual cues, signalling critical events in the simulation, were manipulated in a factorial design. Subjective ratings were recorded via questionnaires. The time taken to complete the task was used as an objective performance measure. The results show that participants performed best and felt an increased sense of immersion and involvement, collectively referred to as 'presence', when substitute multimodal sensory feedback was provided. Significant main effects of audio and tactile cues on task performance and on participants' subjective ratings were found. A significant negative relationship was found between the objective (overall completion times) and subjective (ratings of presence) performance measures. We conclude that increasing informational content, even if it disrupts fidelity, enhances performance and user's overall experience. On this basis we advocate the use of substitute cues in VR environments as an efficient method to enhance performance and user experience.

The effects of substitute multisensory feedback on task performance and the sense of presence in a virtual reality environment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia Cooper

Full Text Available Objective and subjective measures of performance in virtual reality environments increase as more sensory cues are delivered and as simulation fidelity increases. Some cues (colour or sound are easier to present than others (object weight, vestibular cues so that substitute cues can be used to enhance informational content in a simulation at the expense of simulation fidelity. This study evaluates how substituting cues in one modality by alternative cues in another modality affects subjective and objective performance measures in a highly immersive virtual reality environment. Participants performed a wheel change in a virtual reality (VR environment. Auditory, haptic and visual cues, signalling critical events in the simulation, were manipulated in a factorial design. Subjective ratings were recorded via questionnaires. The time taken to complete the task was used as an objective performance measure. The results show that participants performed best and felt an increased sense of immersion and involvement, collectively referred to as 'presence', when substitute multimodal sensory feedback was provided. Significant main effects of audio and tactile cues on task performance and on participants' subjective ratings were found. A significant negative relationship was found between the objective (overall completion times and subjective (ratings of presence performance measures. We conclude that increasing informational content, even if it disrupts fidelity, enhances performance and user's overall experience. On this basis we advocate the use of substitute cues in VR environments as an efficient method to enhance performance and user experience.

Posttraumatic stress disorder: possibilities for olfaction and virtual reality exposure therapy

OpenAIRE

Aiken, Mary P; Berry, Mike J

2015-01-01

Visual and auditory information has dominated the field of virtual reality (VR). Evaluation of the role of sensory stimulation in VR has highlighted olfactory stimulation as a potentially powerful yet underutilized therapeutic tool. Early studies of immersive environments, which were run as experiments, incorporated smell in the virtual experience; however, olfaction in virtual environment design and development has arguably failed to maintain a position commensurate with its sensory capacity...

[Virtual reality in neurosurgery].

Science.gov (United States)

Tronnier, V M; Staubert, A; Bonsanto, M M; Wirtz, C R; Kunze, S

2000-03-01

Virtual reality enables users to immerse themselves in a virtual three-dimensional world and to interact in this world. The simulation is different from the kind in computer games, in which the viewer is active but acts in a nonrealistic world, or on the TV screen, where we are passively driven in an active world. In virtual reality elements look realistic, they change their characteristics and have almost real-world unpredictability. Virtual reality is not only implemented in gambling dens and the entertainment industry but also in manufacturing processes (cars, furniture etc.), military applications and medicine. Especially the last two areas are strongly correlated, because telemedicine or telesurgery was originated for military reasons to operate on war victims from a secure distance or to perform surgery on astronauts in an orbiting space station. In medicine and especially neurosurgery virtual-reality methods are used for education, surgical planning and simulation on a virtual patient.

Virtual Reality Musical Instruments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Serafin, Stefania; Erkut, Cumhur; Kojs, Juraj

2016-01-01

The rapid development and availability of low-cost technologies have created a wide interest in virtual reality. In the field of computer music, the term “virtual musical instruments” has been used for a long time to describe software simulations, extensions of existing musical instruments......, and ways to control them with new interfaces for musical expression. Virtual reality musical instruments (VRMIs) that include a simulated visual component delivered via a head-mounted display or other forms of immersive visualization have not yet received much attention. In this article, we present a field...

Exploring 4D Flow Data in an Immersive Virtual Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, A. H.; Butkiewicz, T.

2017-12-01

Ocean models help us to understand and predict a wide range of intricate physical processes which comprise the atmospheric and oceanic systems of the Earth. Because these models output an abundance of complex time-varying three-dimensional (i.e., 4D) data, effectively conveying the myriad information from a given model poses a significant visualization challenge. The majority of the research effort into this problem has concentrated around synthesizing and examining methods for representing the data itself; by comparison, relatively few studies have looked into the potential merits of various viewing conditions and virtual environments. We seek to improve our understanding of the benefits offered by current consumer-grade virtual reality (VR) systems through an immersive, interactive 4D flow visualization system. Our dataset is a Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) model representing a 12-hour tidal cycle of the currents within New Hampshire's Great Bay estuary. The model data was loaded into a custom VR particle system application using the OpenVR software library and the HTC Vive hardware, which tracks a headset and two six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) controllers within a 5m-by-5m area. The resulting visualization system allows the user to coexist in the same virtual space as the data, enabling rapid and intuitive analysis of the flow model through natural interactions with the dataset and within the virtual environment. Whereas a traditional computer screen typically requires the user to reposition a virtual camera in the scene to obtain the desired view of the data, in virtual reality the user can simply move their head to the desired viewpoint, completely eliminating the mental context switches from data exploration/analysis to view adjustment and back. The tracked controllers become tools to quickly manipulate (reposition, reorient, and rescale) the dataset and to interrogate it by, e.g., releasing dye particles into the flow field, probing scalar velocities

Designing a Virtual-Reality-Based, Gamelike Math Learning Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xinhao; Ke, Fengfeng

2016-01-01

This exploratory study examined the design issues related to a virtual-reality-based, gamelike learning environment (VRGLE) developed via OpenSimulator, an open-source virtual reality server. The researchers collected qualitative data to examine the VRGLE's usability, playability, and content integration for math learning. They found it important…

15 Years of Research on Redirected Walking in Immersive Virtual Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, Niels Chr.; Peck, Tabitha; Bruder, Gerd

2018-01-01

Virtual reality users wearing head-mounted displays can experience the illusion of walking in any direction for infinite distance while, in reality, they are walking a curvilinear path in physical space. This is accomplished by introducing unnoticeable rotations to the virtual environment—a techn......—a technique called redirected walking. This paper gives an overview of the research that has been performed since redirected walking was first practically demonstrated 15 years ago.......Virtual reality users wearing head-mounted displays can experience the illusion of walking in any direction for infinite distance while, in reality, they are walking a curvilinear path in physical space. This is accomplished by introducing unnoticeable rotations to the virtual environment...

A structural equation modeling investigation of the emotional value of immersive virtual reality in education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Makransky, Guido; Lilleholt, Lau

2018-01-01

Virtual reality (VR) is projected to play an important role in education by increasing student engagement and motivation. However, little is known about the impact and utility of immersive VR for administering e-learning tools, or the underlying mechanisms that impact learners’ emotional processes...... consisted of 104 university students (39 females). Significantly higher scores were obtained on 11 of the 13 variables investigated using the immersive VR version of the simulation, with the largest differences occurring with regard to presence and motivation. Furthermore, we identified a model with two...... general paths by which immersion in VR impacts perceived learning outcomes. Specifically, we discovered an affective path in which immersion predicted presence and positive emotions, and a cognitive path in which immersion fostered a positive cognitive value of the task in line with the control value...

Perception of Affordances and Experience of Presence in Virtual Reality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paweł Grabarczyk

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Recent developments in virtual reality technology raise a question about the experience of presence and immersion in virtual environments. What is immersion and what are the conditions for inducing the experience of virtual presence? In this paper, we argue that crucial determinants of presence are perception of affordances and sense of embodiment. In the first section of this paper, we define key concepts and introduce important distinctions such as immersion and presence. In the second and third sections, we respectively discuss presence, immersion and their determinants in detail. In the fourth and fifth sections, we argue for the importance of perception of affordances and sense of embodiment in increasing the degree of presence. Finally, we show the consequences of our view and discuss possible future implications.

Utilization of Virtual Reality Content in Grade 6 Social Studies Using Affordable Virtual Reality Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee Steven O. Zantua

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Virtual Reality is fast becoming a breakthrough in education technology and is headed towards a path where learning has become immersive. Virtual reality (VR offers both learners and educators a great opportunity to bridge gaps in the pedagogical sense. With the emergence of the Google Cardboard (GCB platform, a low-cost, virtual reality gadget comes a wide range of opportunities for educators and institutions to bring about an immersive type of learning environment for the 21st-century learner. Using Grade 6 Middle school students, this research explores the learning outcomes and student reactions using the GCB and Google Expeditions application. The study showed no significant difference in pre-test scores of the control and experimental group. There is however, a significant difference in the scores of the experimental group compared to the control group after post-test. Utilizing t-test in comparing the two groups, it was found that the mean of the post-test scores for Group A (experimental was significantly higher than Group B(control. The result of the independent samples t-test was significant, t(18 = 2.33, p = .032, suggesting that the mean of posttest score was significantly different between Groups A and B. This difference in score performance gives light to how VR can be used as a tool that enhances the learning experience. By using VR technology that is low cost and effective, more institutions will be able to help students learn better.

Designing Shared Virtual Reality Gaming Experiences in Local Multi-platform Games

OpenAIRE

Liszio , Stefan; Masuch , Maic

2016-01-01

Part 4: Short Papers; International audience; Designing multiplayer virtual reality games is a challenging task since immersion is easily destroyed by real world influences. However, providing fun and social virtual reality experiences is inevitable for establishing virtual reality gaming as a convincing new medium. We propose a design approach to integrate social interactions into the game design while retaining immersion, and present design methods to implement this approach. Furthermore, w...

Exploring Learner Acceptance of the Use of Virtual Reality in Medical Education: A Case Study of Desktop and Projection-Based Display Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hsiu-Mei; Liaw, Shu-Sheng; Lai, Chung-Min

2016-01-01

Advanced technologies have been widely applied in medical education, including human-patient simulators, immersive virtual reality Cave Automatic Virtual Environment systems, and video conferencing. Evaluating learner acceptance of such virtual reality (VR) learning environments is a critical issue for ensuring that such technologies are used to…

Eye movements, visual search and scene memory, in an immersive virtual environment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dmitry Kit

Full Text Available Visual memory has been demonstrated to play a role in both visual search and attentional prioritization in natural scenes. However, it has been studied predominantly in experimental paradigms using multiple two-dimensional images. Natural experience, however, entails prolonged immersion in a limited number of three-dimensional environments. The goal of the present experiment was to recreate circumstances comparable to natural visual experience in order to evaluate the role of scene memory in guiding eye movements in a natural environment. Subjects performed a continuous visual-search task within an immersive virtual-reality environment over three days. We found that, similar to two-dimensional contexts, viewers rapidly learn the location of objects in the environment over time, and use spatial memory to guide search. Incidental fixations did not provide obvious benefit to subsequent search, suggesting that semantic contextual cues may often be just as efficient, or that many incidentally fixated items are not held in memory in the absence of a specific task. On the third day of the experience in the environment, previous search items changed in color. These items were fixated upon with increased probability relative to control objects, suggesting that memory-guided prioritization (or Surprise may be a robust mechanisms for attracting gaze to novel features of natural environments, in addition to task factors and simple spatial saliency.

Eye movements, visual search and scene memory, in an immersive virtual environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kit, Dmitry; Katz, Leor; Sullivan, Brian; Snyder, Kat; Ballard, Dana; Hayhoe, Mary

2014-01-01

Visual memory has been demonstrated to play a role in both visual search and attentional prioritization in natural scenes. However, it has been studied predominantly in experimental paradigms using multiple two-dimensional images. Natural experience, however, entails prolonged immersion in a limited number of three-dimensional environments. The goal of the present experiment was to recreate circumstances comparable to natural visual experience in order to evaluate the role of scene memory in guiding eye movements in a natural environment. Subjects performed a continuous visual-search task within an immersive virtual-reality environment over three days. We found that, similar to two-dimensional contexts, viewers rapidly learn the location of objects in the environment over time, and use spatial memory to guide search. Incidental fixations did not provide obvious benefit to subsequent search, suggesting that semantic contextual cues may often be just as efficient, or that many incidentally fixated items are not held in memory in the absence of a specific task. On the third day of the experience in the environment, previous search items changed in color. These items were fixated upon with increased probability relative to control objects, suggesting that memory-guided prioritization (or Surprise) may be a robust mechanisms for attracting gaze to novel features of natural environments, in addition to task factors and simple spatial saliency.

Applying Virtual Reality to commercial Edutainment

Science.gov (United States)

Grissom, F.; Goza, Sharon P.; Goza, S. Michael

1994-01-01

Virtual reality (VR) when defined as a computer generated, immersive, three dimensional graphics environment which provides varying degrees of interactivity, remains an expensive, highly specialized application, yet to find its way into the school, home, or business. As a novel approach to a theme park-type attraction, though, its use can be justified. This paper describes how a virtual reality 'tour of the human digestive system' was created for the Omniplex Science Museum of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The customers main objectives were: (1) to educate; (2) to entertain; (3) to draw visitors; and (4) to generate revenue. The 'Edutainment' system ultimately delivered met these goals. As more such systems come into existence the resulting library of licensable programs will greatly reduce development costs to individual institutions.

Perceived spatial positioning of self-footstep sounds in three surround sound speaker setups for immersive virtual reality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sikström, Erik; Nilsson, Niels Christian; Nordahl, Rolf

2013-01-01

Are there differences in how well loudspeaker setups are able to provide a believable illusion of footstep sounds originating from the user of an immersive virtual reality? To investigate this performance in spatial positioning via loudspeakers, a comparison of the three surround sound loudspeaker...

Designing presence for real locomotion in immersive virtual environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turchet, Luca

2015-01-01

This paper describes a framework for designing systems for real locomotion in virtual environments (VEs) in order to achieve an intense sense of presence. The main outcome of the present research is a list of design features that the virtual reality technology should have in order to achieve...

Introduction to the special issue on virtual reality environments in behavioral sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Riva, Giuseppe; Wiederhold, Brenda K

2002-09-01

Virtual reality (VR) is usually described in biology and in medicine as a collection of technologies that allow people to interact efficiently with three-dimensional (3-D) computerized databases in real time using their natural senses. This definition lacks any reference to head-mounted displays (HMDs) and instrumented clothing such as gloves or suits. In fact, less than 10% of VR healthcare applications in medicine are actually using any immersive equipment. However, if we focus our attention on behavioral sciences, where immersion is used by more than 50% of the applications, VR is described as an advanced form of human- computer interface that allows the user to interact with and become immersed in a computer-generated environment. This difference outlines a different vision of VR shared by psychologists, psychotherapists, and neuropsychologists: VR provides a new human-computer interaction paradigm in which users are no longer simply external observers of images on a computer screen but are active participants within a computer-generated 3-D virtual world. This special issue investigates this vision, presenting some of the most interesting applications actually developed in the area. Moreover, it discusses the clinical principles, human factors, and technological issues associated with the use of VR in the behavioral sciences.

Exploring Urban Environments Using Virtual and Augmented Reality

OpenAIRE

Stelios Papakonstantinou; Vesna Brujic-Okretic; Fotis Liarokapis

2007-01-01

In this paper, we propose the use of specific system architecture, based on mobile device, for navigation in urban environments. The aim of this work is to assess how virtual and augmented reality interface paradigms can provide enhanced location based services using real-time techniques in the context of these two different technologies. The virtual reality interface is based on faithful graphical representation of the localities of interest, coupled with sensory information on the location ...

Manifold compositions, music visualization, and scientific sonification in an immersive virtual-reality environment.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaper, H. G.

1998-01-05

An interdisciplinary project encompassing sound synthesis, music composition, sonification, and visualization of music is facilitated by the high-performance computing capabilities and the virtual-reality environments available at Argonne National Laboratory. The paper describes the main features of the project's centerpiece, DIASS (Digital Instrument for Additive Sound Synthesis); ''A.N.L.-folds'', an equivalence class of compositions produced with DIASS; and application of DIASS in two experiments in the sonification of complex scientific data. Some of the larger issues connected with this project, such as the changing ways in which both scientists and composers perform their tasks, are briefly discussed.

Accessible virtual reality therapy using portable media devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruck, Susan; Watters, Paul A

2010-01-01

Simulated immersive environments displayed on large screens are a valuable therapeutic asset in the treatment of a range of psychological disorders. Permanent environments are expensive to build and maintain, require specialized clinician training and technical support and often have limited accessibility for clients. Ideally, virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) could be accessible to the broader community if we could use inexpensive hardware with specifically designed software. This study tested whether watching a handheld non-immersive media device causes nausea and other cybersickness responses. Using a repeated measure design we found that nausea, general discomfort, eyestrain, blurred vision and an increase in salivation significantly increased in response to handheld non-immersive media device exposure.

Applied virtual reality at the Research Triangle Institute

Science.gov (United States)

Montoya, R. Jorge

1994-01-01

Virtual Reality (VR) is a way for humans to use computers in visualizing, manipulating and interacting with large geometric data bases. This paper describes a VR infrastructure and its application to marketing, modeling, architectural walk through, and training problems. VR integration techniques used in these applications are based on a uniform approach which promotes portability and reusability of developed modules. For each problem, a 3D object data base is created using data captured by hand or electronically. The object's realism is enhanced through either procedural or photo textures. The virtual environment is created and populated with the data base using software tools which also support interactions with and immersivity in the environment. These capabilities are augmented by other sensory channels such as voice recognition, 3D sound, and tracking. Four applications are presented: a virtual furniture showroom, virtual reality models of the North Carolina Global TransPark, a walk through the Dresden Fraunenkirche, and the maintenance training simulator for the National Guard.

Supporting design reviews with pre-meeting virtual reality environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Berg, Marc Casper; Hartmann, Timo; de Graaf, Robin S.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore how design reviews can be supported with pre-meeting virtual reality environments. Previous research has not systematically investigated how virtual environments can be used to communicate the design intent (to clients) and to communicate feedback (to design

Revealing context-specific conditioned fear memories with full immersion virtual reality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole eHuff

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The extinction of conditioned fear is known to be context specific, and often referred to as more robustly contextually bound than the fear memory itself (Bouton, 2004. Yet, recent findings in rodents have challenged the notion that contextual fear retention is initially generalized. The context specificity of a cued-fear memory to the learning context has not been addressed in the human literature largely due to limitations in methodology. Here we adapt a novel technology to test the context specificity of cued fear conditioning using full immersion 3-dimensional virtual reality (VR. During acquisition training, healthy participants navigated through virtual environments containing dynamic snake and spider conditioned stimuli (CSs, one of which was paired with electrical wrist stimulation. During a 24-hour delayed retention test, one group returned to the same context as acquisition training whereas another group experienced the CSs in a novel context. Unconditioned stimulus (US expectancy ratings were assayed on-line during fear acquisition as an index of contingency awareness. Skin conductance responses (SCR time-locked to CS onset were the dependent measure of cued fear, and skin conductance levels during the interstimulus interval were an index of context fear. Findings indicate that early in acquisition training, participants express contingency awareness as well as differential contextual fear, whereas differential cued fear emerged later in acquisition. During the retention test, differential cued fear retention was enhanced in the group who returned to the same context as acquisition training relative to the context shift group. The results extend recent rodent work to illustrate differences in cued and context fear acquisition and the contextual specificity of recent fear memories. Findings support the use of full immersion VR as a novel tool in cognitive neuroscience to bridge rodent models of contextual phenomena underlying human

Renegotiation of Self after a Brain Injury Using Immersive Virtual Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Konnerup, Ulla

This thesis is about using immersive virtual environments in the rehabilitation of persons suffering from aphasia. More specific, it is about how acting through a virtual representation, a so-called avatar, might contribute to renegotiation of identity and regaining lost communicative competencies...

Orientation Preferences and Motion Sickness Induced in a Virtual Reality Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei; Chao, Jian-Gang; Zhang, Yan; Wang, Jin-Kun; Chen, Xue-Wen; Tan, Cheng

2017-10-01

Astronauts' orientation preferences tend to correlate with their susceptibility to space motion sickness (SMS). Orientation preferences appear universally, since variable sensory cue priorities are used between individuals. However, SMS susceptibility changes after proper training, while orientation preferences seem to be intrinsic proclivities. The present study was conducted to investigate whether orientation preferences change if susceptibility is reduced after repeated exposure to a virtual reality (VR) stimulus environment that induces SMS. A horizontal supine posture was chosen to create a sensory context similar to weightlessness, and two VR devices were used to produce a highly immersive virtual scene. Subjects were randomly allocated to an experimental group (trained through exposure to a provocative rotating virtual scene) and a control group (untrained). All subjects' orientation preferences were measured twice with the same interval, but the experimental group was trained three times during the interval, while the control group was not. Trained subjects were less susceptible to SMS, with symptom scores reduced by 40%. Compared with untrained subjects, trained subjects' orientation preferences were significantly different between pre- and posttraining assessments. Trained subjects depended less on visual cues, whereas few subjects demonstrated the opposite tendency. Results suggest that visual information may be inefficient and unreliable for body orientation and stabilization in a rotating visual scene, while reprioritizing preferences for different sensory cues was dynamic and asymmetric between individuals. The present findings should facilitate customization of efficient and proper training for astronauts with different sensory prioritization preferences and dynamic characteristics.Chen W, Chao J-G, Zhang Y, Wang J-K, Chen X-W, Tan C. Orientation preferences and motion sickness induced in a virtual reality environment. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017

Virtual reality (HMD and Interaction from the Perspective of Narrative Construction and Communication: Taxonomic Proposal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose Luis Rubio Tamayo

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Virtual reality is a term popularised by some authors since the eighties and the nineties, in order to define features for immersive environments generated artificially by digital means. Immersive processes in virtual environments have dramatically changed since early experiences in this area, such as Sensorama (1962, flight simulators (in the sixties or Aspen Movie Map Experiment (1978. Those changes offer new possibilities in communication and storytelling domains. This work does a systematic literature review about those phenomena, approaching also the emergence of interdisciplinary fields such as interaction design or user experience. The study aims also to configure a taxonomic classification of components in the domain of storytelling for the use of virtual reality technologies, trying to generate models which help to complement the current ones. This taxonomy is a qualitative milestone for studying interactive dimensions between technology, person and environment.

The role of virtual reality and 3D modelling in built environment education

OpenAIRE

Horne, Margaret; Thompson, Emine Mine

2007-01-01

This study builds upon previous research on the integration of Virtual Reality (VR) within the built environment curriculum and aims to investigate the role of Virtual Reality and three-dimensional (3D) computer modelling on learning and teaching in a school of the built environment. In order to achieve this aim a number of academic experiences were analysed to explore the applicability and viability of 3D computer modelling and Virtual Reality (VR) into built environment subject areas. Altho...

Virtual reality training improves balance function.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Yurong; Chen, Peiming; Li, Le; Huang, Dongfeng

2014-09-01

Virtual reality is a new technology that simulates a three-dimensional virtual world on a computer and enables the generation of visual, audio, and haptic feedback for the full immersion of users. Users can interact with and observe objects in three-dimensional visual space without limitation. At present, virtual reality training has been widely used in rehabilitation therapy for balance dysfunction. This paper summarizes related articles and other articles suggesting that virtual reality training can improve balance dysfunction in patients after neurological diseases. When patients perform virtual reality training, the prefrontal, parietal cortical areas and other motor cortical networks are activated. These activations may be involved in the reconstruction of neurons in the cerebral cortex. Growing evidence from clinical studies reveals that virtual reality training improves the neurological function of patients with spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy and other neurological impairments. These findings suggest that virtual reality training can activate the cerebral cortex and improve the spatial orientation capacity of patients, thus facilitating the cortex to control balance and increase motion function.

Virtual reality training improves balance function

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Yurong; Chen, Peiming; Li, Le; Huang, Dongfeng

2014-01-01

Virtual reality is a new technology that simulates a three-dimensional virtual world on a computer and enables the generation of visual, audio, and haptic feedback for the full immersion of users. Users can interact with and observe objects in three-dimensional visual space without limitation. At present, virtual reality training has been widely used in rehabilitation therapy for balance dysfunction. This paper summarizes related articles and other articles suggesting that virtual reality training can improve balance dysfunction in patients after neurological diseases. When patients perform virtual reality training, the prefrontal, parietal cortical areas and other motor cortical networks are activated. These activations may be involved in the reconstruction of neurons in the cerebral cortex. Growing evidence from clinical studies reveals that virtual reality training improves the neurological function of patients with spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy and other neurological impairments. These findings suggest that virtual reality training can activate the cerebral cortex and improve the spatial orientation capacity of patients, thus facilitating the cortex to control balance and increase motion function. PMID:25368651

Virtual Reality Design: How Head-Mounted Displays Change Design Paradigms of Virtual Reality Worlds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Stein

2016-09-01

Full Text Available With the upcoming generation of virtual reality HMDs, new virtual worlds, scenarios, and games are created especially for them. These are no longer bound to a remote screen or a relatively static user, but to an HMD as a more immersive device. This article discusses requirements for virtual scenarios implemented in new-generation HMDs to achieve a comfortable user experience. Furthermore, the effects of positional tracking are introduced and the relation between the user’s virtual and physical body is analyzed. The observations made are exemplified by existing software prototypes. They indicate how the term “virtual reality,” with all its loaded connotations, may be reconceptualized to express the peculiarities of HMDs in the context of gaming, entertainment, and virtual experiences.

Affordances and Limitations of Immersive Participatory Augmented Reality Simulations for Teaching and Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Dunleavy, Matt; Dede, Chris; Mitchell, Rebecca

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to document how teachers and students describe and comprehend the ways in which participating in an augmented reality (AR) simulation aids or hinders teaching and learning. Like the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) interface that underlies Internet games, AR is a good medium for immersive collaborative…

Development of a low-cost virtual reality workstation for training and education

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, James A.

1996-01-01

Virtual Reality (VR) is a set of breakthrough technologies that allow a human being to enter and fully experience a 3-dimensional, computer simulated environment. A true virtual reality experience meets three criteria: (1) it involves 3-dimensional computer graphics; (2) it includes real-time feedback and response to user actions; and (3) it must provide a sense of immersion. Good examples of a virtual reality simulator are the flight simulators used by all branches of the military to train pilots for combat in high performance jet fighters. The fidelity of such simulators is extremely high -- but so is the price tag, typically millions of dollars. Virtual reality teaching and training methods are manifestly effective, but the high cost of VR technology has limited its practical application to fields with big budgets, such as military combat simulation, commercial pilot training, and certain projects within the space program. However, in the last year there has been a revolution in the cost of VR technology. The speed of inexpensive personal computers has increased dramatically, especially with the introduction of the Pentium processor and the PCI bus for IBM-compatibles, and the cost of high-quality virtual reality peripherals has plummeted. The result is that many public schools, colleges, and universities can afford a PC-based workstation capable of running immersive virtual reality applications. My goal this summer was to assemble and evaluate such a system.

Virtual reality in experience marketing: An empirical study of the effects of immersive VR

OpenAIRE

Ebbesen, Marius; Ahsan, Sabeel

2017-01-01

Recent technological development has led virtual reality (VR) head mounted displays (HMD) to become commercially available to the mass market. Consumers have started to adopt the technology quickly, and forecasts for the VR industry are very promising for the upcoming years. However, little research has been conducted on the effects of exposure to immersive VR video through HMDs. Our aim for this thesis has been to investigate the effects of exposure to VR video and uncover the underlying mec...

Immersive journalism: immersive virtual reality for the first-person experience of news

OpenAIRE

Peña, Nonny de la; Weil, Peggy; Llobera, Joan; Giannopoulos, Elias; Pomés Freixa, Ausiàs; Spanlang, Bernhard; Friedman, Doron; Sánchez-Vives, María Victoria; Slater, Mel

2010-01-01

This paper introduces the concept, and discusses the implications of Immersive Journalism, that is the production of news in a form in which people can gain first- 2 person experiences of the events or situation described in news stories. The fundamental idea of Immersive Journalism is to allow the participant, typically represented as a digital avatar, to actually enter a virtually recreated scenario representing the news story. The sense of presence obtained through an immersive system (whe...

Comparing "pick and place" task in spatial Augmented Reality versus non-immersive Virtual Reality for rehabilitation setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Khademi, Maryam; Hondori, Hossein Mousavi; Dodakian, Lucy; Cramer, Steve; Lopes, Cristina V

2013-01-01

Introducing computer games to the rehabilitation market led to development of numerous Virtual Reality (VR) training applications. Although VR has provided tremendous benefit to the patients and caregivers, it has inherent limitations, some of which might be solved by replacing it with Augmented Reality (AR). The task of pick-and-place, which is part of many activities of daily living (ADL's), is one of the major affected functions stroke patients mainly expect to recover. We developed an exercise consisting of moving an object between various points, following a flash light that indicates the next target. The results show superior performance of subjects in spatial AR versus non-immersive VR setting. This could be due to the extraneous hand-eye coordination which exists in VR whereas it is eliminated in spatial AR.

Validation of virtual reality as a tool to understand and prevent child pedestrian injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwebel, David C; Gaines, Joanna; Severson, Joan

2008-07-01

In recent years, virtual reality has emerged as an innovative tool for health-related education and training. Among the many benefits of virtual reality is the opportunity for novice users to engage unsupervised in a safe environment when the real environment might be dangerous. Virtual environments are only useful for health-related research, however, if behavior in the virtual world validly matches behavior in the real world. This study was designed to test the validity of an immersive, interactive virtual pedestrian environment. A sample of 102 children and 74 adults was recruited to complete simulated road-crossings in both the virtual environment and the identical real environment. In both the child and adult samples, construct validity was demonstrated via significant correlations between behavior in the virtual and real worlds. Results also indicate construct validity through developmental differences in behavior; convergent validity by showing correlations between parent-reported child temperament and behavior in the virtual world; internal reliability of various measures of pedestrian safety in the virtual world; and face validity, as measured by users' self-reported perception of realism in the virtual world. We discuss issues of generalizability to other virtual environments, and the implications for application of virtual reality to understanding and preventing pediatric pedestrian injuries.

Immersive virtual reality used as a platform for perioperative training for surgical residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Witzke, D B; Hoskins, J D; Mastrangelo, M J; Witzke, W O; Chu, U B; Pande, S; Park, A E

2001-01-01

Perioperative preparations such as operating room setup, patient and equipment positioning, and operating port placement are essential to operative success in minimally invasive surgery. We developed an immersive virtual reality-based training system (REMIS) to provide residents (and other health professionals) with training and evaluation in these perioperative skills. Our program uses the qualities of immersive VR that are available today for inclusion in an ongoing training curriculum for surgical residents. The current application consists of a primary platform for patient positioning for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Having completed this module we can create many different simulated problems for other procedures. As a part of the simulation, we have devised a computer-driven real-time data collection system to help us in evaluating trainees and providing feedback during the simulation. The REMIS program trains and evaluates surgical residents and obviates the need to use expensive operating room and surgeon time. It also allows residents to train based on their schedule and does not put patients at increased risk. The method is standardized, allows for repetition if needed, evaluates individual performance, provides the possible complications of incorrect choices, provides training in 3-D environment, and has the capability of being used for various scenarios and professions.

History Educators and the Challenge of Immersive Pasts: A Critical Review of Virtual Reality "Tools" and History Pedagogy

Science.gov (United States)

Allison, John

2008-01-01

This paper will undertake a critical review of the impact of virtual reality tools on the teaching of history. Virtual reality is useful in several different ways. History educators, elementary and secondary school teachers and professors, can all profit from the digital environment. Challenges arise quickly however. Virtual reality technologies…

15 Years of Research on Redirected Walking in Immersive Virtual Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, Niels Chr.; Peck, Tabitha; Bruder, Gerd

2018-01-01

Virtual reality users wearing head-mounted displays can experience the illusion of walking in any direction for infinite distance while, in reality, they are walking a curvilinear path in physical space. This is accomplished by introducing unnoticeable rotations to the virtual environment......—a technique called redirected walking. This paper gives an overview of the research that has been performed since redirected walking was first practically demonstrated 15 years ago....

15 Years of Research on Redirected Walking in Immersive Virtual Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Niels Christian; Peck, Tabitha; Bruder, Gerd; Hodgson, Eri; Serafin, Stefania; Whitton, Mary; Steinicke, Frank; Rosenberg, Evan Suma

2018-03-01

Virtual reality users wearing head-mounted displays can experience the illusion of walking in any direction for infinite distance while, in reality, they are walking a curvilinear path in physical space. This is accomplished by introducing unnoticeable rotations to the virtual environment-a technique called redirected walking. This paper gives an overview of the research that has been performed since redirected walking was first practically demonstrated 15 years ago.

IceCube Polar Virtual Reality exhibit: immersive learning for learners of all ages

Science.gov (United States)

Madsen, J.; Bravo Gallart, S.; Chase, A.; Dougherty, P.; Gagnon, D.; Pronto, K.; Rush, M.; Tredinnick, R.

2017-12-01

The IceCube Polar Virtual Reality project is an innovative, interactive exhibit that explains the operation and science of a flagship experiment in polar research, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. The exhibit allows users to travel from the South Pole, where the detector is located, to the furthest reaches of the universe, learning how the detection of high-energy neutrinos has opened a new view to the universe. This novel exhibit combines a multitouch tabletop display system and commercially available virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays to enable informal STEM learning of polar research. The exhibit, launched in early November 2017 during the Wisconsin Science Festival in Madison, WI, will study how immersive VR can enhance informal STEM learning. The foundation of this project is built upon a strong collaborative effort between the Living Environments Laboratory (LEL), the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC), and the Field Day Laboratory groups from the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The project is funded through an NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) grant, under a special call for engaging students and the public in polar research. This exploratory pathways project seeks to build expertise to allow future extensions. The plan is to submit a subsequent AISL Broad Implementation proposal to add more 3D environments for other Antarctic research topics and locations in the future. We will describe the current implementation of the project and discuss the challenges and opportunities of working with an interdisciplinary team of scientists and technology and education researchers. We will also present preliminary assessment results, which seek to answer questions such as: Did users gain a better understanding of IceCube research from interacting with the exhibit? Do both technologies (touch table and VR headset) provide the same level of engagement? Is one technology better suited for specific learning outcomes?

Immersive participation: Smartphone-Apps and Virtual Reality - tools for knowledge transfer, citizen science and interactive collaboration

Science.gov (United States)

Dotterweich, Markus

2017-04-01

In the last few years, the use of smartphone-apps has become a daily routine in our life. However, only a few approaches have been undertaken to use apps for transferring scientific knowledge to the public audience. The development of learning apps or serious games requires large efforts and several levels of simplification which is different to traditional text books or learning webpages. Current approaches often lack a connection to the real life and/or innovative gamification concepts. Another almost untapped potential is the use of Virtual Reality, a fast growing technology which replicates a virtual environment in order to simulate physical experiences in artificial or real worlds. Hence, smartphone-apps and VR provides new opportunities for capacity building, knowledge transfer, citizen science or interactive engagement in the realm of environmental sciences. This presentation will show some examples and discuss the advantages of these immersive approaches to improve the knowledge transfer between scientists and citizens and to stimulate actions in the real world.

Two-photon calcium imaging in mice navigating a virtual reality environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Leinweber, Marcus; Zmarz, Pawel; Buchmann, Peter; Argast, Paul; Hübener, Mark; Bonhoeffer, Tobias; Keller, Georg B

2014-02-20

In recent years, two-photon imaging has become an invaluable tool in neuroscience, as it allows for chronic measurement of the activity of genetically identified cells during behavior(1-6). Here we describe methods to perform two-photon imaging in mouse cortex while the animal navigates a virtual reality environment. We focus on the aspects of the experimental procedures that are key to imaging in a behaving animal in a brightly lit virtual environment. The key problems that arise in this experimental setup that we here address are: minimizing brain motion related artifacts, minimizing light leak from the virtual reality projection system, and minimizing laser induced tissue damage. We also provide sample software to control the virtual reality environment and to do pupil tracking. With these procedures and resources it should be possible to convert a conventional two-photon microscope for use in behaving mice.

Comparing two types of navigational interfaces for Virtual Reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Teixeira, Luís; Vilar, Elisângela; Duarte, Emília; Rebelo, Francisco; da Silva, Fernando Moreira

2012-01-01

Previous studies suggest significant differences between navigating virtual environments in a life-like walking manner (i.e., using treadmills or walk-in-place techniques) and virtual navigation (i.e., flying while really standing). The latter option, which usually involves hand-centric devices (e.g., joysticks), is the most common in Virtual Reality-based studies, mostly due to low costs, less space and technology demands. However, recently, new interaction devices, originally conceived for videogames have become available offering interesting potentialities for research. This study aimed to explore the potentialities of the Nintendo Wii Balance Board as a navigation interface in a Virtual Environment presented in an immersive Virtual Reality system. Comparing participants' performance while engaged in a simulated emergency egress allows determining the adequacy of such alternative navigation interface on the basis of empirical results. Forty university students participated in this study. Results show that participants were more efficient when performing navigation tasks using the Joystick than with the Balance Board. However there were no significantly differences in the behavioral compliance with exit signs. Therefore, this study suggests that, at least for tasks similar to the studied, the Balance Board have good potentiality to be used as a navigation interface for Virtual Reality systems.

Virtual Reality Conferencing: Multi-user immersive VR experiences on the web

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gunkel, S.N.B.; Stokking, H.M.; Prins, M.J.; Stap, N. van der; Haar, F.B. ter; Niamut, O.A.

2018-01-01

Virtual Reality (VR) and 360-degree video are set to become part of the future social environment, enriching and enhancing the way we share experiences and collaborate remotely. While Social VR applications are getting more momentum, most services regarding Social VR focus on animated avatars. In

[Virtual + 1] * Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Beckhaus, Steffi

Virtual Reality aims at creating an artificial environment that can be perceived as a substitute to a real setting. Much effort in research and development goes into the creation of virtual environments that in their majority are perceivable only by eyes and hands. The multisensory nature of our perception, however, allows and, arguably, also expects more than that. As long as we are not able to simulate and deliver a fully sensory believable virtual environment to a user, we could make use of the fully sensory, multi-modal nature of real objects to fill in for this deficiency. The idea is to purposefully integrate real artifacts into the application and interaction, instead of dismissing anything real as hindering the virtual experience. The term virtual reality - denoting the goal, not the technology - shifts from a core virtual reality to an “enriched” reality, technologically encompassing both the computer generated and the real, physical artifacts. Together, either simultaneously or in a hybrid way, real and virtual jointly provide stimuli that are perceived by users through their senses and are later formed into an experience by the user's mind.

Crowd behaviour during high-stress evacuations in an immersive virtual environment

Science.gov (United States)

Kapadia, Mubbasir; Thrash, Tyler; Sumner, Robert W.; Gross, Markus; Helbing, Dirk; Hölscher, Christoph

2016-01-01

Understanding the collective dynamics of crowd movements during stressful emergency situations is central to reducing the risk of deadly crowd disasters. Yet, their systematic experimental study remains a challenging open problem due to ethical and methodological constraints. In this paper, we demonstrate the viability of shared three-dimensional virtual environments as an experimental platform for conducting crowd experiments with real people. In particular, we show that crowds of real human subjects moving and interacting in an immersive three-dimensional virtual environment exhibit typical patterns of real crowds as observed in real-life crowded situations. These include the manifestation of social conventions and the emergence of self-organized patterns during egress scenarios. High-stress evacuation experiments conducted in this virtual environment reveal movements characterized by mass herding and dangerous overcrowding as they occur in crowd disasters. We describe the behavioural mechanisms at play under such extreme conditions and identify critical zones where overcrowding may occur. Furthermore, we show that herding spontaneously emerges from a density effect without the need to assume an increase of the individual tendency to imitate peers. Our experiments reveal the promise of immersive virtual environments as an ethical, cost-efficient, yet accurate platform for exploring crowd behaviour in high-risk situations with real human subjects. PMID:27605166

Crowd behaviour during high-stress evacuations in an immersive virtual environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Moussaïd, Mehdi; Kapadia, Mubbasir; Thrash, Tyler; Sumner, Robert W; Gross, Markus; Helbing, Dirk; Hölscher, Christoph

2016-09-01

Understanding the collective dynamics of crowd movements during stressful emergency situations is central to reducing the risk of deadly crowd disasters. Yet, their systematic experimental study remains a challenging open problem due to ethical and methodological constraints. In this paper, we demonstrate the viability of shared three-dimensional virtual environments as an experimental platform for conducting crowd experiments with real people. In particular, we show that crowds of real human subjects moving and interacting in an immersive three-dimensional virtual environment exhibit typical patterns of real crowds as observed in real-life crowded situations. These include the manifestation of social conventions and the emergence of self-organized patterns during egress scenarios. High-stress evacuation experiments conducted in this virtual environment reveal movements characterized by mass herding and dangerous overcrowding as they occur in crowd disasters. We describe the behavioural mechanisms at play under such extreme conditions and identify critical zones where overcrowding may occur. Furthermore, we show that herding spontaneously emerges from a density effect without the need to assume an increase of the individual tendency to imitate peers. Our experiments reveal the promise of immersive virtual environments as an ethical, cost-efficient, yet accurate platform for exploring crowd behaviour in high-risk situations with real human subjects. © 2016 The Authors.

Virtual reality interface devices in the reorganization of neural networks in the brain of patients with neurological diseases

Science.gov (United States)

Gatica-Rojas, Valeska; Méndez-Rebolledo, Guillermo

2014-01-01

Two key characteristics of all virtual reality applications are interaction and immersion. Systemic interaction is achieved through a variety of multisensory channels (hearing, sight, touch, and smell), permitting the user to interact with the virtual world in real time. Immersion is the degree to which a person can feel wrapped in the virtual world through a defined interface. Virtual reality interface devices such as the Nintendo® Wii and its peripheral nunchuks-balance board, head mounted displays and joystick allow interaction and immersion in unreal environments created from computer software. Virtual environments are highly interactive, generating great activation of visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems during the execution of a video game. In addition, they are entertaining and safe for the user. Recently, incorporating therapeutic purposes in virtual reality interface devices has allowed them to be used for the rehabilitation of neurological patients, e.g., balance training in older adults and dynamic stability in healthy participants. The improvements observed in neurological diseases (chronic stroke and cerebral palsy) have been shown by changes in the reorganization of neural networks in patients’ brain, along with better hand function and other skills, contributing to their quality of life. The data generated by such studies could substantially contribute to physical rehabilitation strategies. PMID:25206907

Virtual reality interface devices in the reorganization of neural networks in the brain of patients with neurological diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Gatica-Rojas, Valeska; Méndez-Rebolledo, Guillermo

2014-04-15

Two key characteristics of all virtual reality applications are interaction and immersion. Systemic interaction is achieved through a variety of multisensory channels (hearing, sight, touch, and smell), permitting the user to interact with the virtual world in real time. Immersion is the degree to which a person can feel wrapped in the virtual world through a defined interface. Virtual reality interface devices such as the Nintendo® Wii and its peripheral nunchuks-balance board, head mounted displays and joystick allow interaction and immersion in unreal environments created from computer software. Virtual environments are highly interactive, generating great activation of visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems during the execution of a video game. In addition, they are entertaining and safe for the user. Recently, incorporating therapeutic purposes in virtual reality interface devices has allowed them to be used for the rehabilitation of neurological patients, e.g., balance training in older adults and dynamic stability in healthy participants. The improvements observed in neurological diseases (chronic stroke and cerebral palsy) have been shown by changes in the reorganization of neural networks in patients' brain, along with better hand function and other skills, contributing to their quality of life. The data generated by such studies could substantially contribute to physical rehabilitation strategies.

Anxiety Partially Mediates Cybersickness Symptoms in Immersive Virtual Reality Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Pot-Kolder, Roos; Veling, Wim; Counotte, Jacqueline; van der Gaag, Mark

2018-03-01

The use of virtual reality (VR) in psychological treatment is expected to increase. Cybersickness (CS) is a negative side effect of VR exposure and is associated with treatment dropout. This study aimed to investigate the following: (a) if gender differences in CS can be replicated, (b) if differences in anxiety and CS symptoms between patients and controls can be replicated, and (c) whether the relationship between exposure to VR and CS symptoms is mediated by anxiety. A sample (N = 170) of participants with different levels of psychosis liability was exposed to VR environments. CS and anxiety were assessed with self-report measures before and after the VR experiment. This study replicated gender differences in CS symptoms, most of which were present before exposure to VR. It also replicated findings that a significant correlation between anxiety and CS can be found in healthy individuals, but not in patients. In a VR environment, anxiety partially mediated CS symptoms, specifically nausea and disorientation. A partial explanation for the differences found between patients and controls may lie in a ceiling effect for the symptoms of CS. A second explanation may be the partial overlap between CS symptoms and physiological anxiety responses. CS symptoms reported at baseline cannot be explained by exposure to VR, but are related to anxiety. Caution is required when interpreting studies on both CS and anxiety, until the specificity in measurements has been improved. Since anxiety mediated the CS symptoms, CS is expected to decline during treatment together with the reduction of anxiety.

Controlling social stress in virtual reality environments.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dwi Hartanto

Full Text Available Virtual reality exposure therapy has been proposed as a viable alternative in the treatment of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder. Therapists could benefit from extensive control of anxiety eliciting stimuli during virtual exposure. Two stimuli controls are studied in this study: the social dialogue situation, and the dialogue feedback responses (negative or positive between a human and a virtual character. In the first study, 16 participants were exposed in three virtual reality scenarios: a neutral virtual world, blind date scenario, and job interview scenario. Results showed a significant difference between the three virtual scenarios in the level of self-reported anxiety and heart rate. In the second study, 24 participants were exposed to a job interview scenario in a virtual environment where the ratio between negative and positive dialogue feedback responses of a virtual character was systematically varied on-the-fly. Results yielded that within a dialogue the more positive dialogue feedback resulted in less self-reported anxiety, lower heart rate, and longer answers, while more negative dialogue feedback of the virtual character resulted in the opposite. The correlations between on the one hand the dialogue stressor ratio and on the other hand the means of SUD score, heart rate and audio length in the eight dialogue conditions showed a strong relationship: r(6 = 0.91, p = 0.002; r(6 = 0.76, p = 0.028 and r(6 = -0.94, p = 0.001 respectively. Furthermore, more anticipatory anxiety reported before exposure was found to coincide with more self-reported anxiety, and shorter answers during the virtual exposure. These results demonstrate that social dialogues in a virtual environment can be effectively manipulated for therapeutic purposes.

Controlling social stress in virtual reality environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartanto, Dwi; Kampmann, Isabel L; Morina, Nexhmedin; Emmelkamp, Paul G M; Neerincx, Mark A; Brinkman, Willem-Paul

2014-01-01

Virtual reality exposure therapy has been proposed as a viable alternative in the treatment of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder. Therapists could benefit from extensive control of anxiety eliciting stimuli during virtual exposure. Two stimuli controls are studied in this study: the social dialogue situation, and the dialogue feedback responses (negative or positive) between a human and a virtual character. In the first study, 16 participants were exposed in three virtual reality scenarios: a neutral virtual world, blind date scenario, and job interview scenario. Results showed a significant difference between the three virtual scenarios in the level of self-reported anxiety and heart rate. In the second study, 24 participants were exposed to a job interview scenario in a virtual environment where the ratio between negative and positive dialogue feedback responses of a virtual character was systematically varied on-the-fly. Results yielded that within a dialogue the more positive dialogue feedback resulted in less self-reported anxiety, lower heart rate, and longer answers, while more negative dialogue feedback of the virtual character resulted in the opposite. The correlations between on the one hand the dialogue stressor ratio and on the other hand the means of SUD score, heart rate and audio length in the eight dialogue conditions showed a strong relationship: r(6) = 0.91, p = 0.002; r(6) = 0.76, p = 0.028 and r(6) = -0.94, p = 0.001 respectively. Furthermore, more anticipatory anxiety reported before exposure was found to coincide with more self-reported anxiety, and shorter answers during the virtual exposure. These results demonstrate that social dialogues in a virtual environment can be effectively manipulated for therapeutic purposes.

Controlling Social Stress in Virtual Reality Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Hartanto, Dwi; Kampmann, Isabel L.; Morina, Nexhmedin; Emmelkamp, Paul G. M.; Neerincx, Mark A.; Brinkman, Willem-Paul

2014-01-01

Virtual reality exposure therapy has been proposed as a viable alternative in the treatment of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder. Therapists could benefit from extensive control of anxiety eliciting stimuli during virtual exposure. Two stimuli controls are studied in this study: the social dialogue situation, and the dialogue feedback responses (negative or positive) between a human and a virtual character. In the first study, 16 participants were exposed in three virtual reality scenarios: a neutral virtual world, blind date scenario, and job interview scenario. Results showed a significant difference between the three virtual scenarios in the level of self-reported anxiety and heart rate. In the second study, 24 participants were exposed to a job interview scenario in a virtual environment where the ratio between negative and positive dialogue feedback responses of a virtual character was systematically varied on-the-fly. Results yielded that within a dialogue the more positive dialogue feedback resulted in less self-reported anxiety, lower heart rate, and longer answers, while more negative dialogue feedback of the virtual character resulted in the opposite. The correlations between on the one hand the dialogue stressor ratio and on the other hand the means of SUD score, heart rate and audio length in the eight dialogue conditions showed a strong relationship: r(6) = 0.91, p = 0.002; r(6) = 0.76, p = 0.028 and r(6) = −0.94, p = 0.001 respectively. Furthermore, more anticipatory anxiety reported before exposure was found to coincide with more self-reported anxiety, and shorter answers during the virtual exposure. These results demonstrate that social dialogues in a virtual environment can be effectively manipulated for therapeutic purposes. PMID:24671006

Authoring Immersive Mixed Reality Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Misker, Jan M. V.; van der Ster, Jelle

Creating a mixed reality experience is a complicated endeavour. From our practice as a media lab in the artistic domain we found that engineering is “only” a first step in creating a mixed reality experience. Designing the appearance and directing the user experience are equally important for creating an engaging, immersive experience. We found that mixed reality artworks provide a very good test bed for studying these topics. This chapter details three steps required for authoring mixed reality experiences: engineering, designing and directing. We will describe a platform (VGE) for creating mixed reality environments that incorporates these steps. A case study (EI4) is presented in which this platform was used to not only engineer the system, but in which an artist was given the freedom to explore the artistic merits of mixed reality as an artistic medium, which involved areas such as the look and feel, multimodal experience and interaction, immersion as a subjective emotion and game play scenarios.

Remote Laboratory Experiments in a Virtual Immersive Learning Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Berruti

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The Virtual Immersive Learning (VIL test bench implements a virtual collaborative immersive environment, capable of integrating natural contexts and typical gestures, which may occur during traditional lectures, enhanced with advanced experimental sessions. The system architecture is described, along with the motivations, and the most significant choices, both hardware and software, adopted for its implementation. The novelty of the approach essentially relies on its capability of embedding functionalities that stem from various research results (mainly carried out within the VICOM national project, and “putting the pieces together” in a well-integrated framework. These features, along with its high portability, good flexibility, and, above all, low cost, make this approach appropriate for educational and training purposes, mainly concerning measurements on telecommunication systems, at universities and research centers, as well as enterprises. Moreover, the methodology can be employed for remote access to and sharing of costly measurement equipment in many different activities. The immersive characteristics of the framework are illustrated, along with performance measurements related to a specific application.

Virtual reality cerebral aneurysm clipping simulation with real-time haptic feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Alaraj, Ali; Luciano, Cristian J; Bailey, Daniel P; Elsenousi, Abdussalam; Roitberg, Ben Z; Bernardo, Antonio; Banerjee, P Pat; Charbel, Fady T

2015-03-01

With the decrease in the number of cerebral aneurysms treated surgically and the increase of complexity of those treated surgically, there is a need for simulation-based tools to teach future neurosurgeons the operative techniques of aneurysm clipping. To develop and evaluate the usefulness of a new haptic-based virtual reality simulator in the training of neurosurgical residents. A real-time sensory haptic feedback virtual reality aneurysm clipping simulator was developed using the ImmersiveTouch platform. A prototype middle cerebral artery aneurysm simulation was created from a computed tomographic angiogram. Aneurysm and vessel volume deformation and haptic feedback are provided in a 3-dimensional immersive virtual reality environment. Intraoperative aneurysm rupture was also simulated. Seventeen neurosurgery residents from 3 residency programs tested the simulator and provided feedback on its usefulness and resemblance to real aneurysm clipping surgery. Residents thought that the simulation would be useful in preparing for real-life surgery. About two-thirds of the residents thought that the 3-dimensional immersive anatomic details provided a close resemblance to real operative anatomy and accurate guidance for deciding surgical approaches. They thought the simulation was useful for preoperative surgical rehearsal and neurosurgical training. A third of the residents thought that the technology in its current form provided realistic haptic feedback for aneurysm surgery. Neurosurgical residents thought that the novel immersive VR simulator is helpful in their training, especially because they do not get a chance to perform aneurysm clippings until late in their residency programs.

An Interactive Virtual Reality System for On-Orbit Servicing

OpenAIRE

Sagardia, Mikel; Hertkorn, Katharina; Hulin, Thomas; Wolff, Robin; Hummel, Johannes; Dodiya, Janki; Gerndt, Andreas

2013-01-01

The growth of space debris is becoming a serious problem. There is an urgent need for mitigation measures based on maintenance, repair and de-orbiting technologies. Our video presents a virtual reality framework in which robotic maintenance tasks of satellites can be simulated interactively. The two key components of this framework are a realistic virtual reality simulation and an immersive interaction device. The peculiarity of the virtual reality simulation is the combi...

An Objective Measure for the Visual Fidelity of Virtual Reality and the Risks of Falls in a Virtual Environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Menzies, R.J.; Rogers, S.J.; Phillips, A. M.; Chiarovano, E.; Waele de, C.; Verstraten, F.A.J.; MacDougall, H.

Despite decades of development of virtual reality (VR) devices and VR’s recent renaissance, it has been difficult to measure these devices’ effectiveness in immersing the observer. Previously, VR devices have been evaluated using subjective measures of presence, but in this paper, we suggest that

Hybrid Reality Lab Capabilities - Video 2

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado, Francisco J.; Noyes, Matthew

2016-01-01

Our Hybrid Reality and Advanced Operations Lab is developing incredibly realistic and immersive systems that could be used to provide training, support engineering analysis, and augment data collection for various human performance metrics at NASA. To get a better understanding of what Hybrid Reality is, let's go through the two most commonly known types of immersive realities: Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality. Virtual Reality creates immersive scenes that are completely made up of digital information. This technology has been used to train astronauts at NASA, used during teleoperation of remote assets (arms, rovers, robots, etc.) and other activities. One challenge with Virtual Reality is that if you are using it for real time-applications (like landing an airplane) then the information used to create the virtual scenes can be old (i.e. visualized long after physical objects moved in the scene) and not accurate enough to land the airplane safely. This is where Augmented Reality comes in. Augmented Reality takes real-time environment information (from a camera, or see through window, and places digitally created information into the scene so that it matches with the video/glass information). Augmented Reality enhances real environment information collected with a live sensor or viewport (e.g. camera, window, etc.) with the information-rich visualization provided by Virtual Reality. Hybrid Reality takes Augmented Reality even further, by creating a higher level of immersion where interactivity can take place. Hybrid Reality takes Virtual Reality objects and a trackable, physical representation of those objects, places them in the same coordinate system, and allows people to interact with both objects' representations (virtual and physical) simultaneously. After a short period of adjustment, the individuals begin to interact with all the objects in the scene as if they were real-life objects. The ability to physically touch and interact with digitally created

Jacob: a web-based learning environment using virtual reality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, M.J.; Heemskerk, S.; Nijholt, Antinus

2001-01-01

This paper gives an overview of the Jacob project. This project involves the construction of a 3D virtual environment where an animated human-like agent called Jacob gives instruction to the user. The project investigates virtual reality techniques and focuses on three issues: the software

Immersive virtual reality as a teaching tool for neuroanatomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Stepan, Katelyn; Zeiger, Joshua; Hanchuk, Stephanie; Del Signore, Anthony; Shrivastava, Raj; Govindaraj, Satish; Iloreta, Alfred

2017-10-01

Three-dimensional (3D) computer modeling and interactive virtual reality (VR) simulation are validated teaching techniques used throughout medical disciplines. Little objective data exists supporting its use in teaching clinical anatomy. Learner motivation is thought to limit the rate of utilization of such novel technologies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness, satisfaction, and motivation associated with immersive VR simulation in teaching medical students neuroanatomy. Images of normal cerebral anatomy were reconstructed from human Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) computed tomography (CT) imaging and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) into 3D VR formats compatible with the Oculus Rift VR System, a head-mounted display with tracking capabilities allowing for an immersive VR experience. The ventricular system and cerebral vasculature were highlighted and labeled to create a focused interactive model. We conducted a randomized controlled study with 66 medical students (33 in both the control and experimental groups). Pertinent neuroanatomical structures were studied using either online textbooks or the VR interactive model, respectively. We then evaluated the students' anatomy knowledge, educational experience, and motivation (using the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey [IMMS], a previously validated assessment). There was no significant difference in anatomy knowledge between the 2 groups on preintervention, postintervention, or retention quizzes. The VR group found the learning experience to be significantly more engaging, enjoyable, and useful (all p < 0.01) and scored significantly higher on the motivation assessment (p < 0.01). Immersive VR educational tools awarded a more positive learner experience and enhanced student motivation. However, the technology was equally as effective as the traditional text books in teaching neuroanatomy. © 2017 ARS-AAOA, LLC.

UbiWorld: An environment integrating virtual reality, supercomputing, and design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Disz, T.; Papka, M.E.; Stevens, R. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States). Mathematics and Computer Science Div.

1997-07-01

UbiWorld is a concept being developed by the Futures Laboratory group at Argonne National Laboratory that ties together the notion of ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) with that of using virtual reality for rapid prototyping. The goal is to develop an environment where one can explore Ubicomp-type concepts without having to build real Ubicomp hardware. The basic notion is to extend object models in a virtual world by using distributed wide area heterogeneous computing technology to provide complex networking and processing capabilities to virtual reality objects.

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF EMPLOYING IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT ON ENHANCING SPATIAL PERCEPTION WITHIN DESIGN PROCESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rawan Taisser Abu Alatta

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The recent developments in Information Technology (IT and digital media have introduced new opportunities to design studio and new dimensions to design and architecture. The current research studies how the immersion of Virtual Reality (VR in architectural design studio affects spatial perception through the design process. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of using such environments on changing the way how to design for human experience: how it will improve students' spatial understanding of Three Dimensions (3D volumes, and how it will enhance their imagination, enrich their creativity and promote their ability to experience their design's sensations. This study hypothesizes that using an immersive virtual environment in design studio will empower students' imaginations and give them the ability to understand and experience their ideas. It will give them the opportunity to check their design's validity with greater 3D exploration, understanding and comprehension of spatial volumes.  Within a framework of an experimental design research, a series of experiments was conducted to evaluate what had been assumed.  The research used teaching, monitoring, explanatory observation and evaluation methods. The results showed that VR can not only enhance spatial perception and improve the design, but also it can affect the design process and make changes in the architectural design way of thinking. It can help designers to incorporate human experience within the design process.

Journey to the centre of the cell: Virtual reality immersion into scientific data.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Angus P R; Rae, James; Ariotti, Nicholas; Bailey, Benjamin; Lilja, Andrew; Webb, Robyn; Ferguson, Charles; Maher, Sheryl; Davis, Thomas P; Webb, Richard I; McGhee, John; Parton, Robert G

2018-02-01

Visualization of scientific data is crucial not only for scientific discovery but also to communicate science and medicine to both experts and a general audience. Until recently, we have been limited to visualizing the three-dimensional (3D) world of biology in 2 dimensions. Renderings of 3D cells are still traditionally displayed using two-dimensional (2D) media, such as on a computer screen or paper. However, the advent of consumer grade virtual reality (VR) headsets such as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive means it is now possible to visualize and interact with scientific data in a 3D virtual world. In addition, new microscopic methods provide an unprecedented opportunity to obtain new 3D data sets. In this perspective article, we highlight how we have used cutting edge imaging techniques to build a 3D virtual model of a cell from serial block-face scanning electron microscope (SBEM) imaging data. This model allows scientists, students and members of the public to explore and interact with a "real" cell. Early testing of this immersive environment indicates a significant improvement in students' understanding of cellular processes and points to a new future of learning and public engagement. In addition, we speculate that VR can become a new tool for researchers studying cellular architecture and processes by populating VR models with molecular data. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Virtual reality in education

OpenAIRE

Minocha, Shailey; Tudor, Ana-Despina

2017-01-01

In this workshop-presentation, we described the evolution of virtual reality technologies and our research from 3D virtual worlds, 3D virtual environments built in gaming environments such as Unity 3D, 360-degree videos, and mobile virtual reality via Google Expeditions. For each of these four technologies, we discussed the affordances of the technologies and how they contribute towards learning and teaching. We outlined the significance of students being aware of the different virtual realit...

Ocular effects of virtual reality headset wear in young adults

OpenAIRE

Turnbull, Philip R. K.; Phillips, John R.

2017-01-01

Virtual Reality (VR) headsets create immersion by displaying images on screens placed very close to the eyes, which are viewed through high powered lenses. Here we investigate whether this viewing arrangement alters the binocular status of the eyes, and whether it is likely to provide a stimulus for myopia development. We compared binocular status after 40-minute trials in indoor and outdoor environments, in both real and virtual worlds. We also measured the change in thickness of the ocular ...

An investigation of the efficacy of collaborative virtual reality systems for moderated remote usability testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chalil Madathil, Kapil; Greenstein, Joel S

2017-11-01

Collaborative virtual reality-based systems have integrated high fidelity voice-based communication, immersive audio and screen-sharing tools into virtual environments. Such three-dimensional collaborative virtual environments can mirror the collaboration among usability test participants and facilitators when they are physically collocated, potentially enabling moderated usability tests to be conducted effectively when the facilitator and participant are located in different places. We developed a virtual collaborative three-dimensional remote moderated usability testing laboratory and employed it in a controlled study to evaluate the effectiveness of moderated usability testing in a collaborative virtual reality-based environment with two other moderated usability testing methods: the traditional lab approach and Cisco WebEx, a web-based conferencing and screen sharing approach. Using a mixed methods experimental design, 36 test participants and 12 test facilitators were asked to complete representative tasks on a simulated online shopping website. The dependent variables included the time taken to complete the tasks; the usability defects identified and their severity; and the subjective ratings on the workload index, presence and satisfaction questionnaires. Remote moderated usability testing methodology using a collaborative virtual reality system performed similarly in terms of the total number of defects identified, the number of high severity defects identified and the time taken to complete the tasks with the other two methodologies. The overall workload experienced by the test participants and facilitators was the least with the traditional lab condition. No significant differences were identified for the workload experienced with the virtual reality and the WebEx conditions. However, test participants experienced greater involvement and a more immersive experience in the virtual environment than in the WebEx condition. The ratings for the virtual

Transduction between worlds: using virtual and mixed reality for earth and planetary science

Science.gov (United States)

Hedley, N.; Lochhead, I.; Aagesen, S.; Lonergan, C. D.; Benoy, N.

2017-12-01

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have the potential to transform the way we visualize multidimensional geospatial datasets in support of geoscience research, exploration and analysis. The beauty of virtual environments is that they can be built at any scale, users can view them at many levels of abstraction, move through them in unconventional ways, and experience spatial phenomena as if they had superpowers. Similarly, augmented reality allows you to bring the power of virtual 3D data visualizations into everyday spaces. Spliced together, these interface technologies hold incredible potential to support 21st-century geoscience. In my ongoing research, my team and I have made significant advances to connect data and virtual simulations with real geographic spaces, using virtual environments, geospatial augmented reality and mixed reality. These research efforts have yielded new capabilities to connect users with spatial data and phenomena. These innovations include: geospatial x-ray vision; flexible mixed reality; augmented 3D GIS; situated augmented reality 3D simulations of tsunamis and other phenomena interacting with real geomorphology; augmented visual analytics; and immersive GIS. These new modalities redefine the ways in which we can connect digital spaces of spatial analysis, simulation and geovisualization, with geographic spaces of data collection, fieldwork, interpretation and communication. In a way, we are talking about transduction between real and virtual worlds. Taking a mixed reality approach to this, we can link real and virtual worlds. This paper presents a selection of our 3D geovisual interface projects in terrestrial, coastal, underwater and other environments. Using rigorous applied geoscience data, analyses and simulations, our research aims to transform the novelty of virtual and augmented reality interface technologies into game-changing mixed reality geoscience.

BIM Based Virtual Environment for Fire Emergency Evacuation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bin Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Recent building emergency management research has highlighted the need for the effective utilization of dynamically changing building information. BIM (building information modelling can play a significant role in this process due to its comprehensive and standardized data format and integrated process. This paper introduces a BIM based virtual environment supported by virtual reality (VR and a serious game engine to address several key issues for building emergency management, for example, timely two-way information updating and better emergency awareness training. The focus of this paper lies on how to utilize BIM as a comprehensive building information provider to work with virtual reality technologies to build an adaptable immersive serious game environment to provide real-time fire evacuation guidance. The innovation lies on the seamless integration between BIM and a serious game based virtual reality (VR environment aiming at practical problem solving by leveraging state-of-the-art computing technologies. The system has been tested for its robustness and functionality against the development requirements, and the results showed promising potential to support more effective emergency management.

BIM based virtual environment for fire emergency evacuation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bin; Li, Haijiang; Rezgui, Yacine; Bradley, Alex; Ong, Hoang N

2014-01-01

Recent building emergency management research has highlighted the need for the effective utilization of dynamically changing building information. BIM (building information modelling) can play a significant role in this process due to its comprehensive and standardized data format and integrated process. This paper introduces a BIM based virtual environment supported by virtual reality (VR) and a serious game engine to address several key issues for building emergency management, for example, timely two-way information updating and better emergency awareness training. The focus of this paper lies on how to utilize BIM as a comprehensive building information provider to work with virtual reality technologies to build an adaptable immersive serious game environment to provide real-time fire evacuation guidance. The innovation lies on the seamless integration between BIM and a serious game based virtual reality (VR) environment aiming at practical problem solving by leveraging state-of-the-art computing technologies. The system has been tested for its robustness and functionality against the development requirements, and the results showed promising potential to support more effective emergency management.

Cyber entertainment system using an immersive networked virtual environment

Science.gov (United States)

Ihara, Masayuki; Honda, Shinkuro; Kobayashi, Minoru; Ishibashi, Satoshi

2002-05-01

Authors are examining a cyber entertainment system that applies IPT (Immersive Projection Technology) displays to the entertainment field. This system enables users who are in remote locations to communicate with each other so that they feel as if they are together. Moreover, the system enables those users to experience a high degree of presence, this is due to provision of stereoscopic vision as well as a haptic interface and stereo sound. This paper introduces this system from the viewpoint of space sharing across the network and elucidates its operation using the theme of golf. The system is developed by integrating avatar control, an I/O device, communication links, virtual interaction, mixed reality, and physical simulations. Pairs of these environments are connected across the network. This allows the two players to experience competition. An avatar of each player is displayed by the other player's IPT display in the remote location and is driven by only two magnetic sensors. That is, in the proposed system, users don't need to wear any data suit with a lot of sensors and they are able to play golf without any encumbrance.

The relationship between interference control and sense of presence in virtual environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Velichkovsky B. B.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background. The sense of presence is an important aspect of interaction with virtual reality applications. Earlier we suggested that presence can depend on cognitive control. The latter is a set of meta-cognitive processes which are responsible for configuring the cognitive system for the accomplishment of specific tasks with respect to a given context. In particular, cognitive control helps in preventing interference from the task-irrelevant variables. Objective. is study aimed at investigation of the possible relationship between interference control and aspects of presence. Design. Thirty-nine subjects (32 female and 7 male, aged 18 to 27 years participated in the study. The subjects were assessed via a battery of interference control tasks (Flanker Task, Go/No Go task, antisaccade task and performed a virtual scenario (navigating within an array of randomly placed virtual digits in correct numerical order in high-immersion (CAVE and low-immersion (standard computer display virtual environments. Afterwards, the subjects completed a Russian version of the ITC-Sense of Presence inventory. Results. We found that interference control is generally related to the sense of presence, especially in the CAVE (high-immersion environment. Sensory interference control was most strongly associated with various aspects of presence (overall presence score, spatial presence, and emotional involvement. Motor interference control was associated with spatial presence and emotional involvement, but this relationship was weaker than was the case with sensory interference control. Low-immersion virtual environments attenuate some of these links between interference control and presence so that only sensory interference control remains a notable predictor of presence. Conclusion. Interference control is positively associated with presence in virtual environments with varying immersion levels. is may reflect a more general cause-and-effect relationship between

Embodying compassion: a virtual reality paradigm for overcoming excessive self-criticism.

Science.gov (United States)

Falconer, Caroline J; Slater, Mel; Rovira, Aitor; King, John A; Gilbert, Paul; Antley, Angus; Brewin, Chris R

2014-01-01

Virtual reality has been successfully used to study and treat psychological disorders such as phobias and posttraumatic stress disorder but has rarely been applied to clinically-relevant emotions other than fear and anxiety. Self-criticism is a ubiquitous feature of psychopathology and can be treated by increasing levels of self-compassion. We exploited the known effects of identification with a virtual body to arrange for healthy female volunteers high in self-criticism to experience self-compassion from an embodied first-person perspective within immersive virtual reality. Whereas observation and practice of compassionate responses reduced self-criticism, the additional experience of embodiment also increased self-compassion and feelings of being safe. The results suggest potential new uses for immersive virtual reality in a range of clinical conditions.

Virtual Reality Interaction Using Mobile Devices

KAUST Repository

Aseeri, Sahar A.

2013-07-01

With the use of an immersive display system such as CAVE system, the user is able to realize a 3D immersive virtual environment realistically. However, interacting with virtual worlds in CAVE systems using traditional input devices to perform easy operations such as manipulation, object selection, and navigation is often difficult. This difficulty could diminish the immersion and sense of presence when it comes to 3D virtual environment tasks. Our research aims to implement and evaluate alternative approaches of interaction with immersive virtual environments on mobile devices for manipulation and object selection tasks. As many researchers have noted, using a mobile device as an interaction device has a number of advantages, including built-in display, built-in control, and touch screen facility. These advantages facilitate simple tasks within immersive virtual environments. This research proposes new methods using mobile devices like Smart-phones to perform di↵erent kinds of interactions both as an input device, (e.g. performing selection and manipulation of objects) and as an output device (e.g. utilizing the screen as an extra view for a virtual camera or information display). Moreover, we developed a prototype system to demonstrate and informally evaluate these methods. The research conclusion suggests using mobile devices as a 3D-controller. This will be a more intuitive approach to interact within the virtual environment.

IQ-Station: A Low Cost Portable Immersive Environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eric Whiting; Patrick O' Leary; William Sherman; Eric Wernert

2010-11-01

The emergence of inexpensive 3D TV’s, affordable input and rendering hardware and open-source software has created a yeasty atmosphere for the development of low-cost immersive environments (IE). A low cost IE system, or IQ-station, fashioned from commercial off the shelf technology (COTS), coupled with a targeted immersive application can be a viable laboratory instrument for enhancing scientific workflow for exploration and analysis. The use of an IQ-station in a laboratory setting also has the potential of quickening the adoption of a more sophisticated immersive environment as a critical enabler in modern scientific and engineering workflows. Prior work in immersive environments generally required either a head mounted display (HMD) system or a large projector-based implementation both of which have limitations in terms of cost, usability, or space requirements. The solution presented here provides an alternative platform providing a reasonable immersive experience that addresses those limitations. Our work brings together the needed hardware and software to create a fully integrated immersive display and interface system that can be readily deployed in laboratories and common workspaces. By doing so, it is now feasible for immersive technologies to be included in researchers’ day-to-day workflows. The IQ-Station sets the stage for much wider adoption of immersive environments outside the small communities of virtual reality centers.

Subjective visual vertical assessment with mobile virtual reality system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingrida Ulozienė

Full Text Available Background and objective: The subjective visual vertical (SVV is a measure of a subject's perceived verticality, and a sensitive test of vestibular dysfunction. Despite this, and consequent upon technical and logistical limitations, SVV has not entered mainstream clinical practice. The aim of the study was to develop a mobile virtual reality based system for SVV test, evaluate the suitability of different controllers and assess the system's usability in practical settings. Materials and methods: In this study, we describe a novel virtual reality based system that has been developed to test SVV using integrated software and hardware, and report normative values across healthy population. Participants wore a mobile virtual reality headset in order to observe a 3D stimulus presented across separate conditions – static, dynamic and an immersive real-world (“boat in the sea” SVV tests. The virtual reality environment was controlled by the tester using a Bluetooth connected controllers. Participants controlled the movement of a vertical arrow using either a gesture control armband or a general-purpose gamepad, to indicate perceived verticality. We wanted to compare 2 different methods for object control in the system, determine normal values and compare them with literature data, to evaluate the developed system with the help of the system usability scale questionnaire and evaluate possible virtually induced dizziness with the help of subjective visual analog scale. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in SVV values during static, dynamic and virtual reality stimulus conditions, obtained using the two different controllers and the results are compared to those previously reported in the literature using alternative methodologies. The SUS scores for the system were high, with a median of 82.5 for the Myo controller and of 95.0 for the Gamepad controller, representing a statistically significant difference between the two

Low cost heads-up virtual reality (HUVR) with optical tracking and haptic feedback

KAUST Repository

Margolis, Todd

2011-01-23

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have created a new, relatively low-cost augmented reality system that enables users to touch the virtual environment they are immersed in. The Heads-Up Virtual Reality device (HUVR) couples a consumer 3D HD flat screen TV with a half-silvered mirror to project any graphic image onto the user\\'s hands and into the space surrounding them. With his or her head position optically tracked to generate the correct perspective view, the user maneuvers a force-feedback (haptic) device to interact with the 3D image, literally \\'touching\\' the object\\'s angles and contours as if it was a tangible physical object. HUVR can be used for training and education in structural and mechanical engineering, archaeology and medicine as well as other tasks that require hand-eye coordination. One of the most unique characteristics of HUVR is that a user can place their hands inside of the virtual environment without occluding the 3D image. Built using open-source software and consumer level hardware, HUVR offers users a tactile experience in an immersive environment that is functional, affordable and scalable.

Low cost heads-up virtual reality (HUVR) with optical tracking and haptic feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Margolis, Todd; DeFanti, Thomas A.; Dawe, Greg; Prudhomme, Andrew; Schulze, Jurgen P.; Cutchin, Steve

2011-03-01

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have created a new, relatively low-cost augmented reality system that enables users to touch the virtual environment they are immersed in. The Heads-Up Virtual Reality device (HUVR) couples a consumer 3D HD flat screen TV with a half-silvered mirror to project any graphic image onto the user's hands and into the space surrounding them. With his or her head position optically tracked to generate the correct perspective view, the user maneuvers a force-feedback (haptic) device to interact with the 3D image, literally 'touching' the object's angles and contours as if it was a tangible physical object. HUVR can be used for training and education in structural and mechanical engineering, archaeology and medicine as well as other tasks that require hand-eye coordination. One of the most unique characteristics of HUVR is that a user can place their hands inside of the virtual environment without occluding the 3D image. Built using open-source software and consumer level hardware, HUVR offers users a tactile experience in an immersive environment that is functional, affordable and scalable.

The Design of Immersive English Learning Environment Using Augmented Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Kuo-Chen; Chen, Cheng-Ting; Cheng, Shein-Yung; Tsai, Chung-Wei

2016-01-01

The study uses augmented reality (AR) technology to integrate virtual objects into the real learning environment for language learning. The English AR classroom is constructed using the system prototyping method and evaluated by semi-structured in-depth interviews. According to the flow theory by Csikszenmihalyi in 1975 along with the immersive…

Virtual Reality Educational Tool for Human Anatomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Izard, Santiago González; Juanes Méndez, Juan A; Palomera, Pablo Ruisoto

2017-05-01

Virtual Reality is becoming widespread in our society within very different areas, from industry to entertainment. It has many advantages in education as well, since it allows visualizing almost any object or going anywhere in a unique way. We will be focusing on medical education, and more specifically anatomy, where its use is especially interesting because it allows studying any structure of the human body by placing the user inside each one. By allowing virtual immersion in a body structure such as the interior of the cranium, stereoscopic vision goggles make these innovative teaching technologies a powerful tool for training in all areas of health sciences. The aim of this study is to illustrate the teaching potential of applying Virtual Reality in the field of human anatomy, where it can be used as a tool for education in medicine. A Virtual Reality Software was developed as an educational tool. This technological procedure is based entirely on software which will run in stereoscopic goggles to give users the sensation of being in a virtual environment, clearly showing the different bones and foramina which make up the cranium, and accompanied by audio explanations. Throughout the results the structure of the cranium is described in detailed from both inside and out. Importance of an exhaustive morphological knowledge of cranial fossae is further discussed. Application for the design of microsurgery is also commented.

Temperature feedback in virtual environments

Science.gov (United States)

Dionisio, Jose

1997-02-01

Virtual reality (VR) is known as one of the most exciting computer-related technologies. Although its definition is still vague among experts, it is expected that a VR system should give the user an experience of being 'immersed' in a synthesized environment. Aims of this deeper level of user immersion range from the look-like of the scenes where realistic rendering is one of the goals (vision stimulus), to interaction paradigms through the use of, e.g., dataglove peripherals type, to acoustics (earring stimulus) trying to merge as much as possible the human senses towards the desired immersion. Attempting to increase the previously mentioned realism, an extra sensorial perception is recalled and the user is exposed to the feeling of 'virtual comfort' by means of a new parameter: the temperature. The obtained results concentrate on interaction paradigms and couple input/output feedback, emphasizing the factor 'presence.' The prototype, although conceptually simple, brings together within a couple of virtual scenarios, a software/hardware solution, so far original in this field.

The Virtual Tablet: Virtual Reality as a Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Chronister, Andrew

2016-01-01

In the field of human-computer interaction, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) have been rapidly growing areas of interest and concerted development effort thanks to both private and public research. At NASA, a number of groups have explored the possibilities afforded by AR and VR technology, among which is the IT Advanced Concepts Lab (ITACL). Within ITACL, the AVR (Augmented/Virtual Reality) Lab focuses on VR technology specifically for its use in command and control. Previous work in the AVR lab includes the Natural User Interface (NUI) project and the Virtual Control Panel (VCP) project, which created virtual three-dimensional interfaces that users could interact with while wearing a VR headset thanks to body- and hand-tracking technology. The Virtual Tablet (VT) project attempts to improve on these previous efforts by incorporating a physical surrogate which is mirrored in the virtual environment, mitigating issues with difficulty of visually determining the interface location and lack of tactile feedback discovered in the development of previous efforts. The physical surrogate takes the form of a handheld sheet of acrylic glass with several infrared-range reflective markers and a sensor package attached. Using the sensor package to track orientation and a motion-capture system to track the marker positions, a model of the surrogate is placed in the virtual environment at a position which corresponds with the real-world location relative to the user's VR Head Mounted Display (HMD). A set of control mechanisms is then projected onto the surface of the surrogate such that to the user, immersed in VR, the control interface appears to be attached to the object they are holding. The VT project was taken from an early stage where the sensor package, motion-capture system, and physical surrogate had been constructed or tested individually but not yet combined or incorporated into the virtual environment. My contribution was to combine the pieces of

Realization of Flight Control System in Virtual Reality Environment with Biological Signals

OpenAIRE

ALTIN, Cemil; ER, Orhan

2018-01-01

In this study, anunmanned aerial vehicle was flown on a virtual reality gaming platform with thehelp of commands processed by signal processing methods of biological signals. In thedeveloped application, Matlab signal processing environment and Unity 3Denvironment which is a virtual reality software platform are integrated witheach other and made to work. The biological signals obtained from the EEG ve EMGsensors are processed in Matlab environment and then converted to commands andtransferre...

Drafting of the dismantling operations of the MAR 200 workshop with the help of virtual reality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chabal, C.; Soulabaille, Y.; Garnier, T.; Callixte, O.

2014-01-01

In order to optimize future dismantling operations of nuclear installations virtual reality allows the validation of predefined scenarios and their adequacy with the environment. CEA uses an immersion and interactive room to validate maintenance and dismantling operations. The equipment of this room is composed of a video wall that gives a 3-dimensional view of the virtual environment, and of a system for motion capture. For the simulation of handling operations a haptic interface has been designed, it allows the user to receive a tactic and effort-feeling feed back. The immersion is completed by a phonic ambience that creates sounds for virtual operations. The use of the immersion room for optimizing the dismantling of a spent fuel dissolver (MAR 200) used in hot cell is presented. (A.C.)

Virtual Reality Stroop Task for neurocognitive assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, Thomas D; Courtney, Christopher G; Arizmendi, Brian; Dawson, Michael

2011-01-01

Given the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and the fact that many mild TBIs have no external marker of injury, there is a pressing need for innovative assessment technology. The demand for assessment that goes beyond traditional paper-and-pencil testing has resulted in the use of automated cognitive testing for increased precision and efficiency; and the use of virtual environment technology for enhanced ecological validity and increased function-based assessment. To address these issues, a Virtual Reality Stroop Task (VRST) that involves the subject being immersed in a virtual Humvee as Stroop stimuli appear on the windshield was developed. This study is an initial validation of the VRST as an assessment of neurocognitive functioning. When compared to the paper-and-pencil, as well as Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics versions of the Stroop, the VRST appears to have enhanced capacity for providing an indication of a participant's reaction time and ability to inhibit a prepotent response while immersed in a military relevant simulation that presents psychophysiologically arousing high and low threat stimuli.

From virtual environment to virtual community

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus; Terano, Takao; Nishida, Toyoaki; Namatame, Akira; Tsumoto, Syusaku; Ohsawa, Yukido; Washio, Takashi

2001-01-01

We discuss a virtual reality theater environment and its transition to a virtual community by adding domain agents and by allowing multiple users to visit this environment. The environment has been built using VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language). We discuss how our ideas about this environment

Male sexual dysfunctions: immersive virtual reality and multimedia therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Optale, Gabriele; Pastore, Massimiliano; Marin, Silvia; Bordin, Diego; Nasta, Alberto; Pianon, Carlo

2004-01-01

The study describes a therapeutic approach using psycho-dynamic psychotherapy integrating virtual environment (VE) for resolving impotence or better erectile dysfunction (ED) of presumably psychological or mixed origin and premature ejaculation (PE). The plan for therapy consists of 12 sessions (15 if a sexual partner was involved) over a 25-week period on the ontogenetic development of male sexual identity, and the methods involved the use of a laptop PC, joystick, Virtual Reality (VR) helmet with miniature television screen showing a new specially-designed CD-ROM programs using Virtools with Windows 2000 and an audio CD. This study was composed of 30 patients, 15 (10 suffering from ED and 5 PE) plus 15 control patients (10 ED and 5 PE), that underwent the same therapeutic protocol but used an old VR helmet to interact with the old VE using a PC Pentium 133 16 Mb RAM. We also compared this study with another study we carried out on 160 men affected by sexual disorders, underwent the same therapeutic protocol, but treated using a VE created (in Superscape VRT 5.6) using always Windows 2000 with portable tools. Comparing the groups of patients affected by ED and PE, there emerged a significant positive results value without any important differences among the different VE used. However, we had a % increase of undesirable physical reactions during the more realistic 15-minute VR experience using Virtools development kit. Psychotherapy alone normally requires long periods of treatment in order to resolve sexual dysfunctions. Considering the particular way in which full-immersion VR involves the subject who experiences it (he is totally unobserved and in complete privacy), we hypothesise that this methodological approach might speed up the therapeutic psycho-dynamic process, which eludes cognitive defences and directly stimulates the subconscious, and that better results could be obtained in the treatment of these sexual disorders. This method can be used by any

Embodying compassion: a virtual reality paradigm for overcoming excessive self-criticism.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline J Falconer

Full Text Available Virtual reality has been successfully used to study and treat psychological disorders such as phobias and posttraumatic stress disorder but has rarely been applied to clinically-relevant emotions other than fear and anxiety. Self-criticism is a ubiquitous feature of psychopathology and can be treated by increasing levels of self-compassion. We exploited the known effects of identification with a virtual body to arrange for healthy female volunteers high in self-criticism to experience self-compassion from an embodied first-person perspective within immersive virtual reality. Whereas observation and practice of compassionate responses reduced self-criticism, the additional experience of embodiment also increased self-compassion and feelings of being safe. The results suggest potential new uses for immersive virtual reality in a range of clinical conditions.

State of the art of using virtual reality technologies in built environment education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Keenaghan, G.; Horvath, I.

2014-01-01

This paper reports on our major findings concerning the application of virtual reality technologies in built environment education (BEE). In addition to an analysis of the current trends and developments in current virtual reality technologies and systems, it also evaluates their educational

The Use of Virtual Reality for Creating Unusual Environmental Stimulation to Motivate Students to Explore Creative Ideas

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Kung Wong; Lee, Pui Yuen

2015-01-01

This paper discusses the roles of simulation in creativity education and how to apply immersive virtual environments to enhance students' learning experiences in university, through the provision of interactive simulations. An empirical study of a simulated virtual reality was carried out in order to investigate the effectiveness of providing…

Considerations for Designing Instructional Virtual Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Dennen, Vanessa Paz; Branch, Robert C.

Virtual reality is an immersive, interactive medium that manipulates the senses in order provide users with simulated experiences in computer-generated worlds. The visual design of virtual reality is an important issue, but literature has tended to stress the medium's instructional potential rather than setting forth a protocol for designing…

The Use of Virtual Reality in Patients with Eating Disorders: Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Clus, Damien; Larsen, Mark Erik; Lemey, Christophe; Berrouiguet, Sofian

2018-04-27

Patients with eating disorders are characterized by pathological eating habits and a tendency to overestimate their weight and body shape. Virtual reality shows promise for the evaluation and management of patients with eating disorders. This technology, when accepted by this population, allows immersion in virtual environments, assessment, and therapeutic approaches, by exposing users to high-calorie foods or changes in body shape. To better understand the value of virtual reality, we conducted a review of the literature, including clinical studies proposing the use of virtual reality for the evaluation and management of patients with eating disorders. We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science up to April 2017. We created the list of keywords based on two domains: virtual reality and eating disorders. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses to identify, select, and critically appraise relevant research while minimizing bias. The initial database searches identified 311 articles, 149 of which we removed as duplicates. We analyzed the resulting set of 26 unique studies that met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 8 studies were randomized controlled trials, 13 were nonrandomized studies, and 5 were clinical trials with only 1 participant. Most articles focused on clinical populations (19/26, 73%), with the remainder reporting case-control studies (7/26, 27%). Most of the studies used visual immersive equipment (16/26, 62%) with a head-mounted display (15/16, 94%). Two main areas of interest emerged from these studies: virtual work on patients’ body image (7/26, 27%) and exposure to virtual food stimuli (10/26, 38%). We conducted a broad analysis of studies on the use of virtual reality in patients with eating disorders. This review of the literature showed that virtual reality is an acceptable and promising therapeutic tool for patients with eating disorders. ©Damien Clus

The Responses of Medical General Practitioners to Unreasonable Patient Demand for Antibiotics--A Study of Medical Ethics Using Immersive Virtual Reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Xueni; Slater, Mel; Beacco, Alejandro; Navarro, Xavi; Bellido Rivas, Anna I; Swapp, David; Hale, Joanna; Forbes, Paul Alexander George; Denvir, Catrina; Hamilton, Antonia F de C; Delacroix, Sylvie

2016-01-01

Dealing with insistent patient demand for antibiotics is an all too common part of a General Practitioner's daily routine. This study explores the extent to which portable Immersive Virtual Reality technology can help us gain an accurate understanding of the factors that influence a doctor's response to the ethical challenge underlying such tenacious requests for antibiotics (given the threat posed by growing anti-bacterial resistance worldwide). It also considers the potential of such technology to train doctors to face such dilemmas. Twelve experienced GPs and nine trainees were confronted with an increasingly angry demand by a woman to prescribe antibiotics to her mother in the face of inconclusive evidence that such antibiotic prescription is necessary. The daughter and mother were virtual characters displayed in immersive virtual reality. The specific purposes of the study were twofold: first, whether experienced GPs would be more resistant to patient demands than the trainees, and second, to investigate whether medical doctors would take the virtual situation seriously. Eight out of the 9 trainees prescribed the antibiotics, whereas 7 out of the 12 GPs did so. On the basis of a Bayesian analysis, these results yield reasonable statistical evidence in favor of the notion that experienced GPs are more likely to withstand the pressure to prescribe antibiotics than trainee doctors, thus answering our first question positively. As for the second question, a post experience questionnaire assessing the participants' level of presence (together with participants' feedback and body language) suggested that overall participants did tend towards the illusion of being in the consultation room depicted in the virtual reality and that the virtual consultation taking place was really happening.

The Responses of Medical General Practitioners to Unreasonable Patient Demand for Antibiotics--A Study of Medical Ethics Using Immersive Virtual Reality.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xueni Pan

Full Text Available Dealing with insistent patient demand for antibiotics is an all too common part of a General Practitioner's daily routine. This study explores the extent to which portable Immersive Virtual Reality technology can help us gain an accurate understanding of the factors that influence a doctor's response to the ethical challenge underlying such tenacious requests for antibiotics (given the threat posed by growing anti-bacterial resistance worldwide. It also considers the potential of such technology to train doctors to face such dilemmas.Twelve experienced GPs and nine trainees were confronted with an increasingly angry demand by a woman to prescribe antibiotics to her mother in the face of inconclusive evidence that such antibiotic prescription is necessary. The daughter and mother were virtual characters displayed in immersive virtual reality. The specific purposes of the study were twofold: first, whether experienced GPs would be more resistant to patient demands than the trainees, and second, to investigate whether medical doctors would take the virtual situation seriously.Eight out of the 9 trainees prescribed the antibiotics, whereas 7 out of the 12 GPs did so. On the basis of a Bayesian analysis, these results yield reasonable statistical evidence in favor of the notion that experienced GPs are more likely to withstand the pressure to prescribe antibiotics than trainee doctors, thus answering our first question positively. As for the second question, a post experience questionnaire assessing the participants' level of presence (together with participants' feedback and body language suggested that overall participants did tend towards the illusion of being in the consultation room depicted in the virtual reality and that the virtual consultation taking place was really happening.

The Responses of Medical General Practitioners to Unreasonable Patient Demand for Antibiotics - A Study of Medical Ethics Using Immersive Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Xueni; Slater, Mel; Beacco, Alejandro; Navarro, Xavi; Bellido Rivas, Anna I.; Swapp, David; Hale, Joanna; Forbes, Paul Alexander George; Denvir, Catrina; de C. Hamilton, Antonia F.; Delacroix, Sylvie

2016-01-01

Background Dealing with insistent patient demand for antibiotics is an all too common part of a General Practitioner’s daily routine. This study explores the extent to which portable Immersive Virtual Reality technology can help us gain an accurate understanding of the factors that influence a doctor’s response to the ethical challenge underlying such tenacious requests for antibiotics (given the threat posed by growing anti-bacterial resistance worldwide). It also considers the potential of such technology to train doctors to face such dilemmas. Experiment Twelve experienced GPs and nine trainees were confronted with an increasingly angry demand by a woman to prescribe antibiotics to her mother in the face of inconclusive evidence that such antibiotic prescription is necessary. The daughter and mother were virtual characters displayed in immersive virtual reality. The specific purposes of the study were twofold: first, whether experienced GPs would be more resistant to patient demands than the trainees, and second, to investigate whether medical doctors would take the virtual situation seriously. Results Eight out of the 9 trainees prescribed the antibiotics, whereas 7 out of the 12 GPs did so. On the basis of a Bayesian analysis, these results yield reasonable statistical evidence in favor of the notion that experienced GPs are more likely to withstand the pressure to prescribe antibiotics than trainee doctors, thus answering our first question positively. As for the second question, a post experience questionnaire assessing the participants’ level of presence (together with participants’ feedback and body language) suggested that overall participants did tend towards the illusion of being in the consultation room depicted in the virtual reality and that the virtual consultation taking place was really happening. PMID:26889676

Constraint, Intelligence, and Control Hierarchy in Virtual Environments. Chapter 1

Science.gov (United States)

Sheridan, Thomas B.

2007-01-01

This paper seeks to deal directly with the question of what makes virtual actors and objects that are experienced in virtual environments seem real. (The term virtual reality, while more common in public usage, is an oxymoron; therefore virtual environment is the preferred term in this paper). Reality is difficult topic, treated for centuries in those sub-fields of philosophy called ontology- "of or relating to being or existence" and epistemology- "the study of the method and grounds of knowledge, especially with reference to its limits and validity" (both from Webster s, 1965). Advances in recent decades in the technologies of computers, sensors and graphics software have permitted human users to feel present or experience immersion in computer-generated virtual environments. This has motivated a keen interest in probing this phenomenon of presence and immersion not only philosophically but also psychologically and physiologically in terms of the parameters of the senses and sensory stimulation that correlate with the experience (Ellis, 1991). The pages of the journal Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments have seen much discussion of what makes virtual environments seem real (see, e.g., Slater, 1999; Slater et al. 1994; Sheridan, 1992, 2000). Stephen Ellis, when organizing the meeting that motivated this paper, suggested to invited authors that "We may adopt as an organizing principle for the meeting that the genesis of apparently intelligent interaction arises from an upwelling of constraints determined by a hierarchy of lower levels of behavioral interaction. "My first reaction was "huh?" and my second was "yeah, that seems to make sense." Accordingly the paper seeks to explain from the author s viewpoint, why Ellis s hypothesis makes sense. What is the connection of "presence" or "immersion" of an observer in a virtual environment, to "constraints" and what types of constraints. What of "intelligent interaction," and is it the intelligence of the

The importance of postural cues for determining eye height in immersive virtual reality.

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Leyrer, Markus; Linkenauger, Sally A; Bülthoff, Heinrich H; Mohler, Betty J

2015-01-01

In human perception, the ability to determine eye height is essential, because eye height is used to scale heights of objects, velocities, affordances and distances, all of which allow for successful environmental interaction. It is well understood that eye height is fundamental to determine many of these percepts. Yet, how eye height itself is provided is still largely unknown. While the information potentially specifying eye height in the real world is naturally coincident in an environment with a regular ground surface, these sources of information can be easily divergent in similar and common virtual reality scenarios. Thus, we conducted virtual reality experiments where we manipulated the virtual eye height in a distance perception task to investigate how eye height might be determined in such a scenario. We found that humans rely more on their postural cues for determining their eye height if there is a conflict between visual and postural information and little opportunity for perceptual-motor calibration is provided. This is demonstrated by the predictable variations in their distance estimates. Our results suggest that the eye height in such circumstances is informed by postural cues when estimating egocentric distances in virtual reality and consequently, does not depend on an internalized value for eye height.

The importance of postural cues for determining eye height in immersive virtual reality.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus Leyrer

Full Text Available In human perception, the ability to determine eye height is essential, because eye height is used to scale heights of objects, velocities, affordances and distances, all of which allow for successful environmental interaction. It is well understood that eye height is fundamental to determine many of these percepts. Yet, how eye height itself is provided is still largely unknown. While the information potentially specifying eye height in the real world is naturally coincident in an environment with a regular ground surface, these sources of information can be easily divergent in similar and common virtual reality scenarios. Thus, we conducted virtual reality experiments where we manipulated the virtual eye height in a distance perception task to investigate how eye height might be determined in such a scenario. We found that humans rely more on their postural cues for determining their eye height if there is a conflict between visual and postural information and little opportunity for perceptual-motor calibration is provided. This is demonstrated by the predictable variations in their distance estimates. Our results suggest that the eye height in such circumstances is informed by postural cues when estimating egocentric distances in virtual reality and consequently, does not depend on an internalized value for eye height.

Real-time recording and classification of eye movements in an immersive virtual environment.

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Diaz, Gabriel; Cooper, Joseph; Kit, Dmitry; Hayhoe, Mary

2013-10-10

Despite the growing popularity of virtual reality environments, few laboratories are equipped to investigate eye movements within these environments. This primer is intended to reduce the time and effort required to incorporate eye-tracking equipment into a virtual reality environment. We discuss issues related to the initial startup and provide algorithms necessary for basic analysis. Algorithms are provided for the calculation of gaze angle within a virtual world using a monocular eye-tracker in a three-dimensional environment. In addition, we provide algorithms for the calculation of the angular distance between the gaze and a relevant virtual object and for the identification of fixations, saccades, and pursuit eye movements. Finally, we provide tools that temporally synchronize gaze data and the visual stimulus and enable real-time assembly of a video-based record of the experiment using the Quicktime MOV format, available at http://sourceforge.net/p/utdvrlibraries/. This record contains the visual stimulus, the gaze cursor, and associated numerical data and can be used for data exportation, visual inspection, and validation of calculated gaze movements.

[What do virtual reality tools bring to child and adolescent psychiatry?

Science.gov (United States)

Bioulac, S; de Sevin, E; Sagaspe, P; Claret, A; Philip, P; Micoulaud-Franchi, J A; Bouvard, M P

2018-06-01

Virtual reality is a relatively new technology that enables individuals to immerse themselves in a virtual world. It offers several advantages including a more realistic, lifelike environment that may allow subjects to "forget" they are being assessed, allow a better participation and an increased generalization of learning. Moreover, the virtual reality system can provide multimodal stimuli, such as visual and auditory stimuli, and can also be used to evaluate the patient's multimodal integration and to aid rehabilitation of cognitive abilities. The use of virtual reality to treat various psychiatric disorders in adults (phobic anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, addictions…) and its efficacy is supported by numerous studies. Similar research for children and adolescents is lagging behind. This may be particularly beneficial to children who often show great interest and considerable success on computer, console or videogame tasks. This article will expose the main studies that have used virtual reality with children and adolescents suffering from psychiatric disorders. The use of virtual reality to treat anxiety disorders in adults is gaining popularity and its efficacy is supported by various studies. Most of the studies attest to the significant efficacy of the virtual reality exposure therapy (or in virtuo exposure). In children, studies have covered arachnophobia social anxiety and school refusal phobia. Despite the limited number of studies, results are very encouraging for treatment in anxiety disorders. Several studies have reported the clinical use of virtual reality technology for children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). Extensive research has proven the efficiency of technologies as support tools for therapy. Researches are found to be focused on communication and on learning and social imitation skills. Virtual reality is also well accepted by subjects with ASD. The virtual environment offers

Requirements Elicitation and Prototyping of a Fully Immersive Virtual Reality Gaming System for Upper Limb Stroke Rehabilitation in Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maram AlMousa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Stroke rehabilitation plays an important role in recovering the lifestyle of stroke survivors. Although existing research proved the effectiveness and engagement of nonimmersive virtual reality- (VR- based rehabilitation systems, limited research is available on the applicability of fully immersive VR-based rehabilitation systems. In this paper, we present the elicited requirements of a fully immersive VR-based rehabilitation system that will be designed for domestic upper limb stroke patients; we will also provide an initial conceptual prototype of the proposed system.

First- and Third-Person Perspectives in Immersive Virtual Environments: Presence and Performance Analysis of Embodied Users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geoffrey Gorisse

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Current design of virtual reality (VR applications relies essentially on the transposition of users’ viewpoint in first-person perspective (1PP. Within this context, our research aims to compare the impact and the potentialities enabled via the integration of the third-person perspective (3PP in immersive virtual environments (IVE. Our empirical study is conducted in order to assess the sense of presence, the sense of embodiment, and performance of users confronted with a series of tasks presenting a case of potential use for the video game industry. Our results do not reveal significant differences concerning the sense of spatial presence with either point of view. Nonetheless, they provide evidence confirming the relevance of using the first-person perspective to induce a sense of embodiment toward a virtual body, especially in terms of self-location and ownership. However, no significant differences were observed concerning the sense of agency. Concerning users’ performance, our results demonstrate that the first-person perspective enables more accurate interactions, while the third-person perspective provides better space awareness.

Applied virtual reality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yule, I.Y.; Lee, D.J.

1996-01-01

To reduce plant down time during irradiated fuel cell dismantling at Torness Power Station, a new visualisation technique has been used for the manipulator. Complex computer graphics packages were used to provide a ''Virtual Reality'' environment which allowed the Irradiated Fuel Dismantling Cell to be simulated. Significant cost savings have been achieved due to reductions in lost output. The virtual reality environment is at present being extended to the design and deployment of a new manipulator for in-vessel inspection of the boiler. (UK)

Enabling Field Experiences in Introductory Geoscience Classes through the Use of Immersive Virtual Reality

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Moysey, S. M.; Smith, E.; Sellers, V.; Wyant, P.; Boyer, D. M.; Mobley, C.; Brame, S.

2015-12-01

Although field experiences are an important aspect of geoscience education, the opportunity to provide physical world experiences to large groups of introductory students is often limited by access, logistical, and financial constraints. Our project (NSF IUSE 1504619) is investigating the use of immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies as a surrogate for real field experiences in introductory geosciences classes. We are developing a toolbox that leverages innovations in the field of VR, including the Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard, to enable every student in an introductory geology classroom the opportunity to have a first-person virtual field experience in the Grand Canyon. We have opted to structure our VR experience as an interactive game where students must explore the Canyon to accomplish a series of tasks designed to emphasize key aspects of geoscience learning. So far we have produced two demo products for the virtual field trip. The first is a standalone "Rock Box" app developed for the iPhone, which allows students to select different rock samples, examine them in 3D, and obtain basic information about the properties of each sample. The app can act as a supplement to the traditional rock box used in physical geology labs. The second product is a fully functioning VR environment for the Grand Canyon developed using satellite-based topographic and imagery data to retain real geologic features within the experience. Players can freely navigate to explore anywhere they desire within the Canyon, but are guided to points of interest where they are able to complete exercises that will be aligned with specific learning goals. To this point we have integrated elements of the "Rock Box" app within the VR environment, allowing players to examine 3D details of rock samples they encounter within the Grand Canyon. We plan to provide demos of both products and obtain user feedback during our presentation.

Road-Crossing Safety in Virtual Reality: A Comparison of Adolescents With and Without ADHD

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Clancy, Tamera A.; Rucklidge, Julia J.; Owen, Dean

2006-01-01

This study investigated the potential accident-proneness of adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a hazardous road-crossing environment. An immersive virtual reality traffic gap-choice task was used to determine whether ADHD adolescents show more unsafe road-crossing behavior than controls. Participants (ages 13 to…

Validation of an immersive virtual reality system for training near and far space neglect in individuals with stroke: a pilot study.

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Yasuda, Kazuhiro; Muroi, Daisuke; Ohira, Masahiro; Iwata, Hiroyasu

2017-10-01

Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) is defined as impaired ability to attend and see on one side, and when present, it interferes seriously with daily life. These symptoms can exist for near and far spaces combined or independently, and it is important to provide effective intervention for near and far space neglect. The purpose of this pilot study was to propose an immersive virtual reality (VR) rehabilitation program using a head-mounted display that is able to train both near and far space neglect, and to validate the immediate effect of the VR program in both near and far space neglect. Ten USN patients underwent the VR program with a pre-post design and no control. In the virtual environment, we developed visual searching and reaching tasks using an immersive VR system. Behavioral inattention test (BIT) scores obtained pre- and immediate post-VR program were compared. BIT scores obtained pre- and post-VR program revealed that far space neglect but not near space neglect improved promptly after the VR program. This effect for far space neglect was observed in the cancelation task, but not in the line bisection task. Positive effects of the immersive VR program for far space neglect are suggested by the results of the present pilot study. However, further studies with rigorous designs are needed to validate its clinical effectiveness.

Going Outside While Staying Inside - Exercise Motivation with Immersive vs. Non–Immersive Recreational Virtual Environment Augmentation for Older Adult Nursing Home Residents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bruun-Pedersen, Jon Ram; Serafin, Stefania; Kofoed, Lise

2016-01-01

Virtual technology and immersive experiences are not very often associated with older adults. Recent studies suggest that exercise augmentation using flat screen-based virtual environments, which allow nursing home residents to experience virtual places different from the nursing home, can increase...... the intrinsic motivation of nursing home residents. In this paper, we increase the immersive properties of such augmentation through an Oculus Rift Head Mounted Display, to evaluate the effect on the older adults’ sense of presence, if it has any relation to the level of intrinsic motivation to exercise...

Using smartphone technology to deliver a virtual pedestrian environment: usability and validation.

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Schwebel, David C; Severson, Joan; He, Yefei

2017-09-01

Various programs effectively teach children to cross streets more safely, but all are labor- and cost-intensive. Recent developments in mobile phone technology offer opportunity to deliver virtual reality pedestrian environments to mobile smartphone platforms. Such an environment may offer a cost- and labor-effective strategy to teach children to cross streets safely. This study evaluated usability, feasibility, and validity of a smartphone-based virtual pedestrian environment. A total of 68 adults completed 12 virtual crossings within each of two virtual pedestrian environments, one delivered by smartphone and the other a semi-immersive kiosk virtual environment. Participants completed self-report measures of perceived realism and simulator sickness experienced in each virtual environment, plus self-reported demographic and personality characteristics. All participants followed system instructions and used the smartphone-based virtual environment without difficulty. No significant simulator sickness was reported or observed. Users rated the smartphone virtual environment as highly realistic. Convergent validity was detected, with many aspects of pedestrian behavior in the smartphone-based virtual environment matching behavior in the kiosk virtual environment. Anticipated correlations between personality and kiosk virtual reality pedestrian behavior emerged for the smartphone-based system. A smartphone-based virtual environment can be usable and valid. Future research should develop and evaluate such a training system.

A succinct overview of virtual reality technology use in Alzheimer's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Betances, Rebeca I; Arredondo Waldmeyer, María Teresa; Fico, Giuseppe; Cabrera-Umpiérrez, María Fernanda

2015-01-01

We provide a brief review and appraisal of recent and current virtual reality (VR) technology for Alzheimer's disease (AD) applications. We categorize them according to their intended purpose (e.g., diagnosis, patient cognitive training, caregivers' education, etc.), focus feature (e.g., spatial impairment, memory deficit, etc.), methodology employed (e.g., tasks, games, etc.), immersion level, and passive or active interaction. Critical assessment indicates that most of them do not yet take full advantage of virtual environments with high levels of immersion and interaction. Many still rely on conventional 2D graphic displays to create non-immersive or semi-immersive VR scenarios. Important improvements are needed to make VR a better and more versatile assessment and training tool for AD. The use of the latest display technologies available, such as emerging head-mounted displays and 3D smart TV technologies, together with realistic multi-sensorial interaction devices, and neuro-physiological feedback capacity, are some of the most beneficial improvements this mini-review suggests. Additionally, it would be desirable that such VR applications for AD be easily and affordably transferable to in-home and nursing home environments.

Efficacy and safety of non-immersive virtual reality exercising in stroke rehabilitation (EVREST): a randomised, multicentre, single-blind, controlled trial.

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Saposnik, Gustavo; Cohen, Leonardo G; Mamdani, Muhammad; Pooyania, Sepideth; Ploughman, Michelle; Cheung, Donna; Shaw, Jennifer; Hall, Judith; Nord, Peter; Dukelow, Sean; Nilanont, Yongchai; De Los Rios, Felipe; Olmos, Lisandro; Levin, Mindy; Teasell, Robert; Cohen, Ashley; Thorpe, Kevin; Laupacis, Andreas; Bayley, Mark

2016-09-01

Non-immersive virtual reality is an emerging strategy to enhance motor performance for stroke rehabilitation. There has been rapid adoption of non-immersive virtual reality as a rehabilitation strategy despite the limited evidence about its safety and effectiveness. Our aim was to compare the safety and efficacy of virtual reality with recreational therapy on motor recovery in patients after an acute ischaemic stroke. In this randomised, controlled, single-blind, parallel-group trial we enrolled adults (aged 18-85 years) who had a first-ever ischaemic stroke and a motor deficit of the upper extremity score of 3 or more (measured with the Chedoke-McMaster scale) within 3 months of randomisation from 14 in-patient stroke rehabilitation units from four countries (Canada [11], Argentina [1], Peru [1], and Thailand [1]). Participants were randomly allocated (1:1) by a computer-generated assignment at enrolment to receive a programme of structured, task-oriented, upper extremity sessions (ten sessions, 60 min each) of either non-immersive virtual reality using the Nintendo Wii gaming system (VRWii) or simple recreational activities (playing cards, bingo, Jenga, or ball game) as add-on therapies to conventional rehabilitation over a 2 week period. All investigators assessing outcomes were masked to treatment assignment. The primary outcome was upper extremity motor performance measured by total time to complete the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) at the end of the 2 week intervention period, analysed in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NTC01406912. The study was done between May 12, 2012, and Oct 1, 2015. We randomly assigned 141 patients: 71 received VRWii therapy and 70 received recreational activity. 121 (86%) patients (59 in the VRWii group and 62 in the recreational activity group) completed the final assessment and were included in the primary analysis. Each group improved WMFT performance time relative to

[Neuropsychological evaluation of the executive functions by means of virtual reality].

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Climent-Martínez, Gema; Luna-Lario, Pilar; Bombín-González, Igor; Cifuentes-Rodríguez, Alicia; Tirapu-Ustárroz, Javier; Díaz-Orueta, Unai

2014-05-16

Executive functions include a wide range of self regulatory functions that allow control, organization and coordination of other cognitive functions, emotional responses and behaviours. The traditional approach to evaluate these functions, by means of paper and pencil neuropsychological tests, shows a greater than expected performance within the normal range for patients whose daily life difficulties would predict an inferior performance. These discrepancies suggest that classical neuropsychological tests may not adequately reproduce the complexity and dynamic nature of real life situations. Latest developments in the field of virtual reality offer interesting options for the neuropsychological assessment of many cognitive processes. Virtual reality reproduces three-dimensional environments with which the patient interacts in a dynamic way, with a sense of immersion in the environment similar to the presence and exposure to a real environment. Furthermore, the presentation of these stimuli, as well as distractors and other variables, may be controlled in a systematic way. Moreover, more consistent and precise answers may be obtained, and an in-depth analysis of them is possible. The present review shows current problems in neuropsychological evaluation of executive functions and latest advances in the consecution of higher preciseness and validity of the evaluation by means of new technologies and virtual reality, with special mention to some developments performed in Spain.

Mobile devices, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Digital Geoscience Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Crompton, H.; De Paor, D. G.; Whitmeyer, S. J.; Bentley, C.

2016-12-01

Mobile devices are playing an increasing role in geoscience education. Affordances include instructor-student communication and class management in large classrooms, virtual and augmented reality applications, digital mapping, and crowd-sourcing. Mobile technologies have spawned the sub field of mobile learning or m-learning, which is defined as learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions. Geoscientists have traditionally engaged in non-digital mobile learning via fieldwork, but digital devices are greatly extending the possibilities, especially for non-traditional students. Smartphones and tablets are the most common devices but smart glasses such as Pivothead enable live streaming of a first-person view (see for example, https://youtu.be/gWrDaYP5w58). Virtual reality headsets such as Google Cardboard create an immersive virtual field experience and digital imagery such as GigaPan and Structure from Motion enables instructors and/or students to create virtual specimens and outcrops that are sharable across the globe. Whereas virtual reality (VR) replaces the real world with a virtual representation, augmented reality (AR) overlays digital data on the live scene visible to the user in real time. We have previously reported on our use of the AR application called FreshAiR for geoscientific "egg hunts." The popularity of Pokémon Go demonstrates the potential of AR for mobile learning in the geosciences.

NASA Virtual Glovebox: An Immersive Virtual Desktop Environment for Training Astronauts in Life Science Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Twombly, I. Alexander; Smith, Jeffrey; Bruyns, Cynthia; Montgomery, Kevin; Boyle, Richard

2003-01-01

The International Space Station will soon provide an unparalleled research facility for studying the near- and longer-term effects of microgravity on living systems. Using the Space Station Glovebox Facility - a compact, fully contained reach-in environment - astronauts will conduct technically challenging life sciences experiments. Virtual environment technologies are being developed at NASA Ames Research Center to help realize the scientific potential of this unique resource by facilitating the experimental hardware and protocol designs and by assisting the astronauts in training. The Virtual GloveboX (VGX) integrates high-fidelity graphics, force-feedback devices and real- time computer simulation engines to achieve an immersive training environment. Here, we describe the prototype VGX system, the distributed processing architecture used in the simulation environment, and modifications to the visualization pipeline required to accommodate the display configuration.

Modeling of luminance distribution in CAVE-type virtual reality systems

Science.gov (United States)

Meironke, Michał; Mazikowski, Adam

2017-08-01

At present, one of the most advanced virtual reality systems are CAVE-type (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) installations. Such systems are usually consisted of four, five or six projection screens and in case of six screens arranged in form of a cube. Providing the user with a high level of immersion feeling in such systems is largely dependent of optical properties of the system. The modeling of physical phenomena plays nowadays a huge role in the most fields of science and technology. It allows to simulate work of device without a need to make any changes in the physical constructions. In this paper distribution of luminance in CAVE-type virtual reality systems were modelled. Calculations were performed for the model of 6-walled CAVE-type installation, based on Immersive 3D Visualization Laboratory, situated at the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics at the Gdańsk University of Technology. Tests have been carried out for two different scattering distribution of the screen material in order to check how these characteristicinfluence on the luminance distribution of the whole CAVE. The basis assumption and simplification of modeled CAVE-type installation and results were presented. The brief discussion about the results and usefulness of developed model were also carried out.

A novel semi-immersive virtual reality visuo-motor task activates ventrolateral prefrontal cortex: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

Science.gov (United States)

Basso Moro, Sara; Carrieri, Marika; Avola, Danilo; Brigadoi, Sabrina; Lancia, Stefania; Petracca, Andrea; Spezialetti, Matteo; Ferrari, Marco; Placidi, Giuseppe; Quaresima, Valentina

2016-06-01

Objective. In the last few years, the interest in applying virtual reality systems for neurorehabilitation is increasing. Their compatibility with neuroimaging techniques, such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), allows for the investigation of brain reorganization with multimodal stimulation and real-time control of the changes occurring in brain activity. The present study was aimed at testing a novel semi-immersive visuo-motor task (VMT), which has the features of being adopted in the field of neurorehabilitation of the upper limb motor function. Approach. A virtual environment was simulated through a three-dimensional hand-sensing device (the LEAP Motion Controller), and the concomitant VMT-related prefrontal cortex (PFC) response was monitored non-invasively by fNIRS. Upon the VMT, performed at three different levels of difficulty, it was hypothesized that the PFC would be activated with an expected greater level of activation in the ventrolateral PFC (VLPFC), given its involvement in the motor action planning and in the allocation of the attentional resources to generate goals from current contexts. Twenty-one subjects were asked to move their right hand/forearm with the purpose of guiding a virtual sphere over a virtual path. A twenty-channel fNIRS system was employed for measuring changes in PFC oxygenated-deoxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb/HHb, respectively). Main results. A VLPFC O2Hb increase and a concomitant HHb decrease were observed during the VMT performance, without any difference in relation to the task difficulty. Significance. The present study has revealed a particular involvement of the VLPFC in the execution of the novel proposed semi-immersive VMT adoptable in the neurorehabilitation field.

The Virtual Shop: A new immersive virtual reality environment and scenario for the assessment of everyday memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Ouellet, Émilie; Boller, Benjamin; Corriveau-Lecavalier, Nick; Cloutier, Simon; Belleville, Sylvie

2018-06-01

Assessing and predicting memory performance in everyday life is a common assignment for neuropsychologists. However, most traditional neuropsychological tasks are not conceived to capture everyday memory performance. The Virtual Shop is a fully immersive task developed to assess memory in a more ecological way than traditional neuropsychological assessments. Two studies were undertaken to assess the feasibility of the Virtual Shop and to appraise its ecological and construct validity. In study 1, 20 younger and 19 older adults completed the Virtual Shop task to evaluate its level of difficulty and the way the participants interacted with the VR material. The construct validity was examined with the contrasted-group method, by comparing the performance of younger and older adults. In study 2, 35 individuals with subjective cognitive decline completed the Virtual Shop task. Performance was correlated with an existing questionnaire evaluating everyday memory in order to appraise its ecological validity. To add further support to its construct validity, performance was correlated with traditional episodic memory and executive tasks. All participants successfully completed the Virtual Shop. The task had an appropriate level of difficulty that helped differentiate younger and older adults, supporting the feasibility and construct validity of the task. The performance on the Virtual Shop was significantly and moderately correlated with the performance on the questionnaire and on the traditional memory and executive tasks. Results support the feasibility and both the ecological and construct validity of the Virtual Shop. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cognitive evaluation by tasks in a virtual reality environment in multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamargue-Hamel, Delphine; Deloire, Mathilde; Saubusse, Aurore; Ruet, Aurélie; Taillard, Jacques; Philip, Pierre; Brochet, Bruno

2015-12-15

The assessment of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) requires large neuropsychological batteries that assess numerous domains. The relevance of these assessments to daily cognitive functioning is not well established. Cognitive ecological evaluation has not been frequently studied in MS. The aim of this study was to determine the interest of cognitive evaluation in a virtual reality environment in a sample of persons with MS with cognitive deficits. Thirty persons with MS with at least moderate cognitive impairment were assessed with two ecological evaluations, an in-house developed task in a virtual reality environment (Urban DailyCog®) and a divided attention task in a driving simulator. Classical neuropsychological testing was also used. Fifty-two percent of the persons with MS failed the driving simulator task and 80% failed the Urban DailyCog®. Virtual reality assessments are promising in identifying cognitive impairment in MS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Concept of an immersive assistance system with augmented reality for the support of manual activities in radioactive production environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eursch, Andreas A.

2010-01-01

The thesis on an immersive assistance system concept with augmented reality for the support of manual activities in radioactive production environments covers the following topics: analysis of the situation: production and use of radioactive materials, problem analysis of the work in the production facilities, necessity of manual activities, automation, prediction in hot cells; status of research and development; assistance system concept, immersive camera system; augmented reality support in hot cells; economic evaluation and generalization.

Effect of an Immersive Preoperative Virtual Reality Experience on Patient Reported Outcomes: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Bekelis, Kimon; Calnan, Daniel; Simmons, Nathan; MacKenzie, Todd A; Kakoulides, George

2017-06-01

To investigate the effect of exposure to a virtual reality (VR) environment preoperatively on patient-reported outcomes for surgical operations. There is a scarcity of well-developed quality improvement initiatives targeting patient satisfaction. We performed a randomized controlled trial of patients undergoing cranial and spinal operations in a tertiary referral center. Patients underwent a 1:1 randomization to an immersive preoperative VR experience or standard preoperative experience stratified on type of operation. The primary outcome measures were the Evaluation du Vecu de l'Anesthesie Generale (EVAN-G) score and the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information (APAIS) score, as markers of the patient's experience during the surgical encounter. During the study period, a total of 127 patients (mean age 55.3 years, 41.9% females) underwent randomization. The average EVAN-G score was 84.3 (standard deviation, SD, 6.4) after VR, and 64.3 (SD, 11.7) after standard preoperative experience (difference, 20.0; 95% confidence interval, CI, 16.6-23.3). Exposure to an immersive VR experience also led to higher APAIS score (difference, 29.9; 95% CI, 24.5-35.2). In addition, VR led to lower preoperative VAS stress score (difference, -41.7; 95% CI, -33.1 to -50.2), and higher preoperative VAS preparedness (difference, 32.4; 95% CI, 24.9-39.8), and VAS satisfaction (difference, 33.2; 95% CI, 25.4-41.0) scores. No association was identified with VAS stress score (difference, -1.6; 95% CI, -13.4 to 10.2). In a randomized controlled trial, we demonstrated that patients exposed to preoperative VR had increased satisfaction during the surgical encounter. Harnessing the power of this technology, hospitals can create an immersive environment that minimizes stress, and enhances the perioperative experience.

Immersion Revisited: A Review of Existing Definitions of Immersion and Their Relation to Different Theories of Presence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niels Christian Nilsson

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The term immersion continues to be applied inconsistently within and across different fields of research connected with the study of virtual reality and interactive media. Moreover, immersion is oftentimes used interchangeably with the terms presence and engagement. This article details a review of existing definitions of immersion originating within the study of video games, virtual environments, and literary works of fiction. Based on this review, a three-dimensional taxonomy of the various conceptualizations of immersion is proposed. That is, the existing definitions of immersion may be broadly divided into three categories, each representing a dimension of the taxonomy: immersion as a property of a system, a subjective response to narrative contents, or a subjective response to challenges within the virtual environment. Finally, four distinct theories of presence are introduced and, based on the established taxonomy, we discuss how the individual theories relate to existing definitions of immersion.

Evaluation of knowledge transfer in an immersive virtual learning environment for the transportation community.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-05-01

Immersive Virtual Learning Environments (IVLEs) are extensively used in training, but few rigorous scientific investigations regarding the : transfer of learning have been conducted. Measurement of learning transfer through evaluative methods is key ...

Enabling scientific workflows in virtual reality

Science.gov (United States)

Kreylos, O.; Bawden, G.; Bernardin, T.; Billen, M.I.; Cowgill, E.S.; Gold, R.D.; Hamann, B.; Jadamec, M.; Kellogg, L.H.; Staadt, O.G.; Sumner, D.Y.

2006-01-01

To advance research and improve the scientific return on data collection and interpretation efforts in the geosciences, we have developed methods of interactive visualization, with a special focus on immersive virtual reality (VR) environments. Earth sciences employ a strongly visual approach to the measurement and analysis of geologic data due to the spatial and temporal scales over which such data ranges, As observations and simulations increase in size and complexity, the Earth sciences are challenged to manage and interpret increasing amounts of data. Reaping the full intellectual benefits of immersive VR requires us to tailor exploratory approaches to scientific problems. These applications build on the visualization method's strengths, using both 3D perception and interaction with data and models, to take advantage of the skills and training of the geological scientists exploring their data in the VR environment. This interactive approach has enabled us to develop a suite of tools that are adaptable to a range of problems in the geosciences and beyond. Copyright ?? 2008 by the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.

A Succinct Overview of Virtual Reality Technology Use in Alzheimer’s Disease

Science.gov (United States)

García-Betances, Rebeca I.; Arredondo Waldmeyer, María Teresa; Fico, Giuseppe; Cabrera-Umpiérrez, María Fernanda

2015-01-01

We provide a brief review and appraisal of recent and current virtual reality (VR) technology for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) applications. We categorize them according to their intended purpose (e.g., diagnosis, patient cognitive training, caregivers’ education, etc.), focus feature (e.g., spatial impairment, memory deficit, etc.), methodology employed (e.g., tasks, games, etc.), immersion level, and passive or active interaction. Critical assessment indicates that most of them do not yet take full advantage of virtual environments with high levels of immersion and interaction. Many still rely on conventional 2D graphic displays to create non-immersive or semi-immersive VR scenarios. Important improvements are needed to make VR a better and more versatile assessment and training tool for AD. The use of the latest display technologies available, such as emerging head-mounted displays and 3D smart TV technologies, together with realistic multi-sensorial interaction devices, and neuro-physiological feedback capacity, are some of the most beneficial improvements this mini-review suggests. Additionally, it would be desirable that such VR applications for AD be easily and affordably transferable to in-home and nursing home environments. PMID:26029101

Multi-Sensory-Motor Research: Investigating Auditory, Visual, and Motor Interaction in Virtual Reality Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thorsten Kluss

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Perception in natural environments is inseparably linked to motor action. In fact, we consider action an essential component of perceptual representation. But these representations are inherently difficult to investigate: Traditional experimental setups are limited by the lack of flexibility in manipulating spatial features. To overcome these problems, virtual reality (VR experiments seem to be a feasible alternative, but these setups typically lack ecological realism due to the use of “unnatural” interface-devices (joystick. Thus, we propose an experimental apparatus which combines multisensory perception and action in an ecologically realistic way. The basis is a 10-foot hollow sphere (VirtuSphere placed on a platform that allows free rotation. A subject inside can walk in any direction for any distance immersed into virtual environment. Both the rotation of the sphere and movement of the subject's head are tracked to process the subject's view within the VR-environment presented on a head-mounted display. Moreover, auditory features are dynamically processed taking greatest care of exact alignment of sound-sources and visual objects using ambisonic-encoded audio processed by a HRTF-filterbank. We present empirical data that confirm ecological realism of this setup and discuss its suitability for multi-sensory-motor research.

ATLASrift - a Virtual Reality application

CERN Document Server

INSPIRE-00225336; Moyse, Edward; Bianchi, Riccardo Maria

2015-01-01

We present ATLASrift - a Virtual Reality application that provides an interactive, immersive visit to ATLAS experiment. We envision it being used in two different ways: first as an educational and outreach tool - for schools, universities, museums and interested individuals, and secondly as an event viewer for ATLAS physicists - for them it will provide a much better spatial awareness of an event, track and jet directions, occupancies and interactions with detector structures. Using it, one can learn about the experiment as a whole, visit individual sub-detectors, view real interactions, or take a scripted walkthrough explaining questions physicists are trying to answer. We briefly describe our platform of choice - OculusRift VR system, the development environment - UnrealEngine, and, in detail, the numerous technically demanding requirements that had to be fulfilled in order to provide a comfortable user experience. Plans for future versions include making the experience social by adding multi-user/virtual p...

Increasing student engagement and retention using immersive interfaces virtual worlds, gaming and simulation

CERN Document Server

Wankel, Charles

2012-01-01

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Immersive Interfaces: Virtual Worlds, Gaming, and Simulation uses case studies, surveys, and literature reviews to critically examine how gaming, simulation, and virtualization are being used to improve teamwork and leadership skills in students, create engaging communities of practice, and as experiential learning tools to create inter-cultural, multi-perspective, and global experiences. Chapters include how to increase learner engagement using serious games, using game features for classroom engagement, using client-based peer assessment in multi-role, whole-enterprise simulations, using virtual worlds to develop teacher candidate skills, enhancing leadership skills through virtual simulation, using online video simulation for educational leadership, using augmented reality in education, using open source software in education, using educational robotics laboratories to enhance active learning, and utilizing the virtual learning environment to encourage facu...

An exploratory fNIRS study with immersive virtual reality: a new method for technical implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Seraglia, Bruno; Gamberini, Luciano; Priftis, Konstantinos; Scatturin, Pietro; Martinelli, Massimiliano; Cutini, Simone

2011-01-01

For over two decades Virtual Reality (VR) has been used as a useful tool in several fields, from medical and psychological treatments, to industrial and military applications. Only in recent years researchers have begun to study the neural correlates that subtend VR experiences. Even if the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is the most common and used technique, it suffers several limitations and problems. Here we present a methodology that involves the use of a new and growing brain imaging technique, functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), while participants experience immersive VR. In order to allow a proper fNIRS probe application, a custom-made VR helmet was created. To test the adapted helmet, a virtual version of the line bisection task was used. Participants could bisect the lines in a virtual peripersonal or extrapersonal space, through the manipulation of a Nintendo Wiimote ® controller in order for the participants to move a virtual laser pointer. Although no neural correlates of the dissociation between peripersonal and extrapersonal space were found, a significant hemodynamic activity with respect to the baseline was present in the right parietal and occipital areas. Both advantages and disadvantages of the presented methodology are discussed.

An Interactive Logistics Centre Information Integration System Using Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, S.; Mao, B.

2018-04-01

The logistics industry plays a very important role in the operation of modern cities. Meanwhile, the development of logistics industry has derived various problems that are urgent to be solved, such as the safety of logistics products. This paper combines the study of logistics industry traceability and logistics centre environment safety supervision with virtual reality technology, creates an interactive logistics centre information integration system. The proposed system utilizes the immerse characteristic of virtual reality, to simulate the real logistics centre scene distinctly, which can make operation staff conduct safety supervision training at any time without regional restrictions. On the one hand, a large number of sensor data can be used to simulate a variety of disaster emergency situations. On the other hand, collecting personnel operation data, to analyse the improper operation, which can improve the training efficiency greatly.

AN INTERACTIVE LOGISTICS CENTRE INFORMATION INTEGRATION SYSTEM USING VIRTUAL REALITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Hong

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The logistics industry plays a very important role in the operation of modern cities. Meanwhile, the development of logistics industry has derived various problems that are urgent to be solved, such as the safety of logistics products. This paper combines the study of logistics industry traceability and logistics centre environment safety supervision with virtual reality technology, creates an interactive logistics centre information integration system. The proposed system utilizes the immerse characteristic of virtual reality, to simulate the real logistics centre scene distinctly, which can make operation staff conduct safety supervision training at any time without regional restrictions. On the one hand, a large number of sensor data can be used to simulate a variety of disaster emergency situations. On the other hand, collecting personnel operation data, to analyse the improper operation, which can improve the training efficiency greatly.

Learning Rationales and Virtual Reality Technology in Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiou, Guey-Fa

1995-01-01

Defines and describes virtual reality technology and differentiates between virtual learning environment, learning material, and learning tools. Links learning rationales to virtual reality technology to pave conceptual foundations for application of virtual reality technology education. Constructivism, case-based learning, problem-based learning,…

Virtual reality in pediatric psychology

OpenAIRE

Parsons, T. D.; Riva, G.; Parsons, S. J.; Mantovani, F.; Newbutt, N.; Lin, L.; Venturini, E.; Hall, T.

2017-01-01

Virtual reality technologies allow for controlled simulations of affectively engaging background narratives. These virtual environments offer promise for enhancing emotionally relevant experiences and social interactions. Within this context virtual reality can allow instructors, therapists, neuropsychologists, and service providers to offer safe, repeatable, and diversifiable interventions that can benefit assessments and learning in both typically developing children and children with disab...

Virtual Reality: a way to prepare and optimize operations in decommissioning projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chabal, Caroline; Soulabaille, Yves

2016-01-01

The CEA has operated numerous nuclear facilities to carry out R and D and define nuclear fuel life cycle processes since the 1950's. It must now manage the clean-up and dismantling of those which have reached the end of their lifetime. These high priority actions have led to the creation of a dismantling R and D division which provides innovative tools, including in-situ radiological characterization, remote handling and cutting, and intervention scenario simulation. The latter involves running defined scenarios and verifying their suitability for the environment. Simulation is an ideal means of visualizing and therefore better knowing highly radioactive environments where humans cannot enter, of testing different technical alternatives, and of training workers prior to interventions. This paper describes Virtual Reality (VR) uses on dismantling projects. A VR simulation can be defined as an interactive and immersive simulation that enables the user to interact with a computer-simulated environment. VR environments, mostly based on visual immersion displayed through stereoscopic devices, can also include additional sensory information, such as sound or touch. Our application, based on audio, tactile and visual immersion, provides a useful support to verify pre-defined scenarios and to design alternative solutions if necessary. Thanks to a stereoscopic visualization, users are immersed in a virtual world, where they can hear virtual sounds when there is a collision, and can manipulate virtual objects and touch them via a haptic interface. This article first describes the PRESAGE immersive room in Marcoule. Then, the data preparation is explained, especially the 3D model reconstruction and the simulation configuration (remote handling and radiological). Next, different VR uses on decommissioning projects are shown and illustrated by examples. The advantages of such technologies include their speed in testing, user-friendliness, reactivity and usefulness in the

Virtual Reality: A New Learning Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrington, Gary; Loge, Kenneth

1992-01-01

Discusses virtual reality (VR) technology and its possible uses in military training, medical education, industrial design and development, the media industry, and education. Three primary applications of VR in the learning process--visualization, simulation, and construction of virtual worlds--are described, and pedagogical and moral issues are…

Resident perspectives on communication training that utilizes immersive virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Real, Francis J; DeBlasio, Dominick; Ollberding, Nicholas J; Davis, David; Cruse, Bradley; Mclinden, Daniel; Klein, Melissa D

2017-01-01

Communication skills can be difficult to teach and assess in busy outpatient settings. These skills are important for effective counseling such as in cases of influenza vaccine hesitancy. It is critical to consider novel educational methods to supplement current strategies aimed at teaching relational skills. An immersive virtual reality (VR) curriculum on addressing influenza vaccine hesitancy was developed using Kern's six-step approach to curriculum design. The curriculum was meant to teach best-practice communication skills in cases of influenza vaccine hesitancy. Eligible participants included postgraduate level (PL) 2 and PL-3 pediatric residents (n = 24). Immediately following the curriculum, a survey was administered to assess residents' attitudes toward the VR curriculum and perceptions regarding the effectiveness of VR in comparison to other educational modalities. A survey was administered 1 month following the VR curriculum to assess trainee-perceived impact of the curriculum on clinical practice. All eligible residents (n = 24) completed the curriculum. Ninety-two percent (n = 22) agreed or strongly agreed that VR simulations were like real-life patient encounters. Seventy-five percent (n = 18) felt that VR was equally effective to standardized patient (SP) encounters and less effective than bedside teaching (P training.

Virtual reality and planetary exploration

Science.gov (United States)

McGreevy, Michael W.

Exploring planetary environments is central to NASA's missions and goals. A new computing technology called Virtual Reality has much to offer in support of planetary exploration. This technology augments and extends human presence within computer-generated and remote spatial environments. Historically, NASA has been a leader in many of the fundamental concepts and technologies that comprise Virtual Reality. Indeed, Ames Research Center has a central role in the development of this rapidly emerging approach to using computers. This ground breaking work has inspired researchers in academia, industry, and the military. Further, NASA's leadership in this technology has spun off new businesses, has caught the attention of the international business community, and has generated several years of positive international media coverage. In the future, Virtual Reality technology will enable greatly improved human-machine interactions for more productive planetary surface exploration. Perhaps more importantly, Virtual Reality technology will democratize the experience of planetary exploration and thereby broaden understanding of, and support for, this historic enterprise.

Virtual reality and planetary exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Mcgreevy, Michael W.

1992-01-01

Exploring planetary environments is central to NASA's missions and goals. A new computing technology called Virtual Reality has much to offer in support of planetary exploration. This technology augments and extends human presence within computer-generated and remote spatial environments. Historically, NASA has been a leader in many of the fundamental concepts and technologies that comprise Virtual Reality. Indeed, Ames Research Center has a central role in the development of this rapidly emerging approach to using computers. This ground breaking work has inspired researchers in academia, industry, and the military. Further, NASA's leadership in this technology has spun off new businesses, has caught the attention of the international business community, and has generated several years of positive international media coverage. In the future, Virtual Reality technology will enable greatly improved human-machine interactions for more productive planetary surface exploration. Perhaps more importantly, Virtual Reality technology will democratize the experience of planetary exploration and thereby broaden understanding of, and support for, this historic enterprise.

Journalism in virtual reality : opportunities and future research challenges

OpenAIRE

Sirkkunen, Esa; Väätäjä, Heli; Uskali, Turo; Rezaei, Parisa Pour

2016-01-01

This paper presents a state-of-the-art overview on journalism and its opportunities and challenges in virtual reality. First we take a look at what kind of real-life journalistic experiments there have been made in this field so far, then we analyze the research literature on journalistic VR. The paper proceeds to discuss the emergence of virtual reality and immersive journalism explored in the latest reports in the fields of HCI and VR design. In order to analyse VR-journalism...

Virtual Reality for Prototyping Service Journeys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Costas Boletsis

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The use of virtual elements for developing new service prototyping environments and more realistic simulations has been suggested as a way to optimise the service prototyping process. This work examines the application of virtual reality (VR in prototyping service journeys and it hypothesises that VR can recreate service journeys in a highly immersive, agile, and inexpensive manner, thus allowing users to have a representative service experience and enabling service designers to extract high-quality user feedback. To that end, a new service prototyping method, called VR service walkthrough, is presented and evaluated through an empirical comparative study. A VR service walkthrough is a virtual simulation of a service journey, representing how the service unfolds over space and time. A comparative study between the VR service walkthrough method and an adapted service walkthrough method evaluates the application of both methods using a location-based audio tour guide service as a case study. Two user groups (each with 21 users were used to evaluate both methods based on two factors: the user experience they offered and the subjective meaningfulness and quality of feedback they produced. Results show that the VR service walkthrough method gave a performance similar to that of the service walkthrough method. It was also able to communicate the service concept in an immersive way and foster constructive feedback.

Acoustic Virtual Reality – Methods and challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pind Jörgensson, Finnur Kári; Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Llopis, Hermes Sampedro

2018-01-01

and acoustics into the virtual reality sphere adds another dimension to the experience. It both makes the immersion more believable, and in the context of building design, makes it easy and intuitive to try out different acoustic designs and soundscapes. In traditional auralization, although a very powerful...

Virtual Reality Simulation of the International Space Welding Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, James A.

1996-01-01

Virtual Reality (VR) is a set of breakthrough technologies that allow a human being to enter and fully experience a 3-dimensional, computer simulated environment. A true virtual reality experience meets three criteria: (1) It involves 3-dimensional computer graphics; (2) It includes real-time feedback and response to user actions; and (3) It must provide a sense of immersion. Good examples of a virtual reality simulator are the flight simulators used by all branches of the military to train pilots for combat in high performance jet fighters. The fidelity of such simulators is extremely high -- but so is the price tag, typically millions of dollars. Virtual reality teaching and training methods are manifestly effective, and we have therefore implemented a VR trainer for the International Space Welding Experiment. My role in the development of the ISWE trainer consisted of the following: (1) created texture-mapped models of the ISWE's rotating sample drum, technology block, tool stowage assembly, sliding foot restraint, and control panel; (2) developed C code for control panel button selection and rotation of the sample drum; (3) In collaboration with Tim Clark (Antares Virtual Reality Systems), developed a serial interface box for the PC and the SGI Indigo so that external control devices, similar to ones actually used on the ISWE, could be used to control virtual objects in the ISWE simulation; (4) In collaboration with Peter Wang (SFFP) and Mark Blasingame (Boeing), established the interference characteristics of the VIM 1000 head-mounted-display and tested software filters to correct the problem; (5) In collaboration with Peter Wang and Mark Blasingame, established software and procedures for interfacing the VPL DataGlove and the Polhemus 6DOF position sensors to the SGI Indigo serial ports. The majority of the ISWE modeling effort was conducted on a PC-based VR Workstation, described below.

Virtual Reality for Anxiety Disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elif Uzumcu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Virtual reality is a relatively new exposure tool that uses three-dimensional computer-graphics-based technologies which allow the individual to feel as if they are physically inside the virtual environment by misleading their senses. As virtual reality studies have become popular in the field of clinical psychology in recent years, it has been observed that virtual-reality-based therapies have a wide range of application areas, especially on anxiety disorders. Studies indicate that virtual reality can be more realistic than mental imagery and can create a stronger feeling of ԰resenceԻ that it is a safer starting point compared to in vivo exposure; and that it can be applied in a more practical and controlled manner. The aim of this review is to investigate exposure studies based on virtual reality in anxiety disorders (specific phobias, panic disorder and agoraphobias, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, posttraumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.

ESSE: Engineering Super Simulation Emulation for Virtual Reality Systems Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, Kune Y.; Yeon, Choul W.

2008-01-01

The trademark 4 + D Technology TM based Engineering Super Simulation Emulation (ESSE) is introduced. ESSE resorting to three-dimensional (3D) Virtual Reality (VR) technology pledges to provide with an interactive real-time motion, sound and tactile and other forms of feedback in the man machine systems environment. In particular, the 3D Virtual Engineering Neo cybernetic Unit Soft Power (VENUS) adds a physics engine to the VR platform so as to materialize a physical atmosphere. A close cooperation system and prompt information share are crucial, thereby increasing the necessity of centralized information system and electronic cooperation system. VENUS is further deemed to contribute towards public acceptance of nuclear power in general, and safety in particular. For instance, visualization of nuclear systems can familiarize the public in answering their questions and alleviating misunderstandings on nuclear power plants answering their questions and alleviating misunderstandings on nuclear power plants (NPPs) in general, and performance, security and safety in particular. An in-house flagship project Systemic Three-dimensional Engine Platform Prototype Engineering (STEPPE) endeavors to develop the Systemic Three-dimensional Engine Platform (STEP) for a variety of VR applications. STEP is home to a level system providing the whole visible scene of virtual engineering of man machine system environment. The system is linked with video monitoring that provides a 3D Computer Graphics (CG) visualization of major events. The database linked system provides easy access to relevant blueprints. The character system enables the operators easy access to visualization of major events. The database linked system provides easy access to relevant blueprints. The character system enables the operators to access the virtual systems by using their virtual characters. Virtually Engineered NPP Informative systems by using their virtual characters. Virtually Engineered NPP Informative

VirtualizeMe: Real-time avatar creation for Tele-Immersion environments

KAUST Repository

Knoblauch, Daniel

2010-03-01

VirtualizeMe introduces a new design for a fully immersive Tele-Immersion system for remote collaboration and virtual world interaction. This system introduces a new avatar creation approach full-filling four main attributes: high resolution, scalability, flexibility and affordability. This is achieved by a total separation of reconstruction and rendering and exploiting the capabilities of modern graphic cards. The high resolution is achieved by using as much of the input information as possible through lossless compression of the input data and introducing a focused volumetric visual hull reconstruction. The resulting avatar allows eye-to-eye collaboration for remote users. The interaction with the virtual world is facilitated by the volumetric avatar model and allows a fully immersive system. This paper shows a proof of concept based on publicly available pre-recorded data to allow easier comparison. ©2010 IEEE.

Virtual reality training for health-care professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Mantovani, Fabrizia; Castelnuovo, Gianluca; Gaggioli, Andrea; Riva, Giuseppe

2003-08-01

Emerging changes in health-care delivery are having a significant impact on the structure of health-care professionals' education. Today it is recognized that medical knowledge doubles every 6-8 years, with new medical procedures emerging everyday. While the half-life of medical information is so short, the average physician practices 30 years and the average nurse 40 years. Continuing education thus represents an important challenge to face. Recent advances in educational technology are offering an increasing number of innovative learning tools. Among these, Virtual Reality represents a promising area with high potential of enhancing the training of health-care professionals. Virtual Reality Training can provide a rich, interactive, engaging educational context, thus supporting experiential learning-by-doing; it can, in fact, contribute to raise interest and motivation in trainees and to effectively support skills acquisition and transfer, since the learning process can be settled within an experiential framework. Current virtual training applications for health-care differ a lot as to both their technological/multimedia sophistication and to the types of skills trained, varying for example from telesurgical applications to interactive simulations of human body and brain, to virtual worlds for emergency training. Other interesting applications include the development of immersive 3D environments for training psychiatrists and psychologists in the treatment of mental disorders. This paper has the main aim of discussing the rationale and main benefits for the use of virtual reality in health-care education and training. Significant research and projects carried out in this field will also be presented, followed by discussion on key issues concerning current limitations and future development directions.

Immersive video

Science.gov (United States)

Moezzi, Saied; Katkere, Arun L.; Jain, Ramesh C.

1996-03-01

Interactive video and television viewers should have the power to control their viewing position. To make this a reality, we introduce the concept of Immersive Video, which employs computer vision and computer graphics technologies to provide remote users a sense of complete immersion when viewing an event. Immersive Video uses multiple videos of an event, captured from different perspectives, to generate a full 3D digital video of that event. That is accomplished by assimilating important information from each video stream into a comprehensive, dynamic, 3D model of the environment. Using this 3D digital video, interactive viewers can then move around the remote environment and observe the events taking place from any desired perspective. Our Immersive Video System currently provides interactive viewing and `walkthrus' of staged karate demonstrations, basketball games, dance performances, and typical campus scenes. In its full realization, Immersive Video will be a paradigm shift in visual communication which will revolutionize television and video media, and become an integral part of future telepresence and virtual reality systems.

Virtual realities and education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Curcio Igor D.D.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to highlight the state of the art of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality technologies and their applications in formal education. We also present a selected list of case studies that prove the utility of these technologies in the context of formal education. Furthermore, as byproduct, the mentioned case studies show also that, although the industry is able to develop very advanced virtual environment technologies, their pedagogical implications are strongly related to a well-designed theoretical framework.

Change Blindness Phenomena for Virtual Reality Display Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinicke, Frank; Bruder, Gerd; Hinrichs, Klaus; Willemsen, Pete

2011-09-01

In visual perception, change blindness describes the phenomenon that persons viewing a visual scene may apparently fail to detect significant changes in that scene. These phenomena have been observed in both computer-generated imagery and real-world scenes. Several studies have demonstrated that change blindness effects occur primarily during visual disruptions such as blinks or saccadic eye movements. However, until now the influence of stereoscopic vision on change blindness has not been studied thoroughly in the context of visual perception research. In this paper, we introduce change blindness techniques for stereoscopic virtual reality (VR) systems, providing the ability to substantially modify a virtual scene in a manner that is difficult for observers to perceive. We evaluate techniques for semiimmersive VR systems, i.e., a passive and active stereoscopic projection system as well as an immersive VR system, i.e., a head-mounted display, and compare the results to those of monoscopic viewing conditions. For stereoscopic viewing conditions, we found that change blindness phenomena occur with the same magnitude as in monoscopic viewing conditions. Furthermore, we have evaluated the potential of the presented techniques for allowing abrupt, and yet significant, changes of a stereoscopically displayed virtual reality environment.

Language Learning in Virtual Reality Environments: Past, Present, and Future

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Tsun-Ju; Lan, Yu-Ju

2015-01-01

This study investigated the research trends in language learning in a virtual reality environment by conducting a content analysis of findings published in the literature from 2004 to 2013 in four top ranked computer-assisted language learning journals: "Language Learning & Technology," "CALICO Journal," "Computer…

Virtual reality exposure treatment of agoraphobia: a comparison of computer automatic virtual environment and head-mounted display

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meyerbröker, K.; Morina, N.; Kerkhof, G.; Emmelkamp, P.M.G.; Wiederhold, B.K.; Bouchard, S.; Riva, G.

2011-01-01

In this study the effects of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) were investigated in patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia. The level of presence in VRET was compared between using either a head-mounted display (HMD) or a computer automatic virtual environment (CAVE). Results indicate

Virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Laver, Kate E; Lange, Belinda; George, Stacey; Deutsch, Judith E; Saposnik, Gustavo; Crotty, Maria

2017-11-20

Virtual reality and interactive video gaming have emerged as recent treatment approaches in stroke rehabilitation with commercial gaming consoles in particular, being rapidly adopted in clinical settings. This is an update of a Cochrane Review published first in 2011 and then again in 2015. Primary objective: to determine the efficacy of virtual reality compared with an alternative intervention or no intervention on upper limb function and activity.Secondary objectives: to determine the efficacy of virtual reality compared with an alternative intervention or no intervention on: gait and balance, global motor function, cognitive function, activity limitation, participation restriction, quality of life, and adverse events. We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (April 2017), CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and seven additional databases. We also searched trials registries and reference lists. Randomised and quasi-randomised trials of virtual reality ("an advanced form of human-computer interface that allows the user to 'interact' with and become 'immersed' in a computer-generated environment in a naturalistic fashion") in adults after stroke. The primary outcome of interest was upper limb function and activity. Secondary outcomes included gait and balance and global motor function. Two review authors independently selected trials based on pre-defined inclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. A third review author moderated disagreements when required. The review authors contacted investigators to obtain missing information. We included 72 trials that involved 2470 participants. This review includes 35 new studies in addition to the studies included in the previous version of this review. Study sample sizes were generally small and interventions varied in terms of both the goals of treatment and the virtual reality devices used. The risk of bias present in many studies was unclear due to poor reporting. Thus, while there are a large

Optoelectronics technologies for Virtual Reality systems

Science.gov (United States)

Piszczek, Marek; Maciejewski, Marcin; Pomianek, Mateusz; Szustakowski, Mieczysław

2017-08-01

Solutions in the field of virtual reality are very strongly associated with optoelectronic technologies. This applies to both process design and operation of VR applications. Technologies such as 360 cameras and 3D scanners significantly improve the design work. What is more, HMD displays with high field of view or optoelectronic Motion Capture systems and 3D cameras guarantee an extraordinary experience in immersive VR applications. This article reviews selected technologies from the perspective of their use in a broadly defined process of creating and implementing solutions for virtual reality. There is also the ability to create, modify and adapt new approaches that show team own work (SteamVR tracker). Most of the introduced examples are effectively used by authors to create different VR applications. The use of optoelectronic technology in virtual reality is presented in terms of design and operation of the system as well as referring to specific applications. Designers and users of VR systems should take a close look on new optoelectronics solutions, as they can significantly contribute to increased work efficiency and offer completely new opportunities for virtual world reception.

State of the Art of Using Virtual Reality Technologies in Built Environment Education.

OpenAIRE

Keenaghan, Garrett; Horváth, Imre

2014-01-01

This paper reports on our major findings concerning the application of virtual reality technologies in built environment education (BEE). In addition to an analysis of the current trends and developments in current virtual reality technologies and systems, it also evaluates their educational usability and effectiveness in the mirror of the literature. First, a reasoning model is introduced, which is used as a structuring skeleton of the paper. The context of the analysis is learning experienc...

Rehabilitation after Stroke using Immersive User Interfaces in 3D Virtual and Augmented Gaming Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Vogiatzaki

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Stroke is one of most common diseases of our modern societies with high socio-economic impact. Hence, rehabilitation approach involving patients in their rehabilitation process while lowering costly involvement of specialised human personnel is needed. This article describes a novel approach, offering an integrated rehabilitation training for stroke patients using a serious gaming approach based on a Unity3D virtual reality engine combined with a range of advanced technologies and immersive user interfaces. It puts patients and caretakers in control of the rehabilitation protocols, while leading physicians are enabled to supervise the progress of the rehabilitation via Personal Health Record. Possibility to perform training in a familiar home environment directly improves the effectiveness of the rehabilitation. The work presented herein has been conducted within the "StrokeBack" project co-funded by the European Commission under the Framework 7 Program in the ICT domain.

Virtual hydrology observatory: an immersive visualization of hydrology modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Simon; Cruz-Neira, Carolina; Habib, Emad; Gerndt, Andreas

2009-02-01

The Virtual Hydrology Observatory will provide students with the ability to observe the integrated hydrology simulation with an instructional interface by using a desktop based or immersive virtual reality setup. It is the goal of the virtual hydrology observatory application to facilitate the introduction of field experience and observational skills into hydrology courses through innovative virtual techniques that mimic activities during actual field visits. The simulation part of the application is developed from the integrated atmospheric forecast model: Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), and the hydrology model: Gridded Surface/Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA). Both the output from WRF and GSSHA models are then used to generate the final visualization components of the Virtual Hydrology Observatory. The various visualization data processing techniques provided by VTK are 2D Delaunay triangulation and data optimization. Once all the visualization components are generated, they are integrated into the simulation data using VRFlowVis and VR Juggler software toolkit. VR Juggler is used primarily to provide the Virtual Hydrology Observatory application with fully immersive and real time 3D interaction experience; while VRFlowVis provides the integration framework for the hydrologic simulation data, graphical objects and user interaction. A six-sided CAVETM like system is used to run the Virtual Hydrology Observatory to provide the students with a fully immersive experience.

Is Learning in Low Immersive Environments Carried over to High Immersive Environments?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dror David Lev

2012-01-01

Full Text Available One of the more debated issues regarding training simulators is their validity for transfer of skills to sensory environments that differ from the simulator. In two experiments, the advantages of three-dimensional (3D and collocated (Col visual displays were evaluated in a realistic and complex visuomotor task. The two factors were evaluated independently, comparing Col-2D with dislocated-2D (experiment 1 and with Col-3D (experiment 2. As expected, in both cases the more immersive presentation condition facilitated better performance. Furthermore, improvement following training in the more immersive condition carried over to the following less immersive condition but there was no carry over in the opposing order of presentation. This is taken as an indication for the differential development of skills conditioned by the level of immersiveness of the training environment. This further suggests that learning of complex realistic tasks is not carried over from less immersive simulator to the complex sensory environment of reality, due to the large gap in sensory patterns.

Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

1993-04-01

until exhausted. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE All other editions are obsolete. UNCLASSIFIED " VIRTUAL REALITY JAMES F. DAILEY, LIEUTENANT COLONEL...US" This paper reviews the exciting field of virtual reality . The author describes the basic concepts of virtual reality and finds that its numerous...potential benefits to society could revolutionize everyday life. The various components that make up a virtual reality system are described in detail

Virtual Reality Laboratory

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — FUNCTION: Performs basic and applied research in interactive 3D computer graphics, including visual analytics, virtual environments, and augmented reality (AR). The...

Spatial Sound and Multimodal Interaction in Immersive Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grani, Francesco; Overholt, Daniel; Erkut, Cumhur

2015-01-01

primary problem areas: 1) creation of interactive spatial audio experiences for immersive virtual and augmented reality scenarios, and 2) production and mixing of spatial audio for cinema, music, and other artistic contexts. Several ongoing research projects are described, wherein the latest developments...

Evaluation of Virtual Reality Training Using Affect

Science.gov (United States)

Tichon, Jennifer

2012-01-01

Training designed to support and strengthen higher-order mental abilities now often involves immersion in Virtual Reality (VR) where dangerous real world scenarios can be safely replicated. However, despite the growing popularity of VR to train cognitive skills such as decision-making and situation awareness, methods for evaluating their use rely…

An Onboard ISS Virtual Reality Trainer

Science.gov (United States)

Miralles, Evelyn

2013-01-01

Prior to the retirement of the Space Shuttle, many exterior repairs on the International Space Station (ISS) were carried out by shuttle astronauts, trained on the ground and flown to the Station to perform these specific repairs. With the retirement of the shuttle, this is no longer an available option. As such, the need for ISS crew members to review scenarios while on flight, either for tasks they already trained for on the ground or for contingency operations has become a very critical issue. NASA astronauts prepare for Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) or Spacewalks through numerous training media, such as: self-study, part task training, underwater training in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL), hands-on hardware reviews and training at the Virtual Reality Laboratory (VRLab). In many situations, the time between the last session of a training and an EVA task might be 6 to 8 months. EVA tasks are critical for a mission and as time passes the crew members may lose proficiency on previously trained tasks and their options to refresh or learn a new skill while on flight are limited to reading training materials and watching videos. In addition, there is an increased need for unplanned contingency repairs to fix problems arising as the Station ages. In order to help the ISS crew members maintain EVA proficiency or train for contingency repairs during their mission, the Johnson Space Center's VRLab designed an immersive ISS Virtual Reality Trainer (VRT). The VRT incorporates a unique optical system that makes use of the already successful Dynamic On-board Ubiquitous Graphics (DOUG) software to assist crew members with procedure reviews and contingency EVAs while on board the Station. The need to train and re-train crew members for EVAs and contingency scenarios is crucial and extremely demanding. ISS crew members are now asked to perform EVA tasks for which they have not been trained and potentially have never seen before. The Virtual Reality Trainer (VRT

The design of VR-CATS for power plant simulator using virtual reality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, S. Y.; Yoo, H. J.; Lee, M. S.; Hong, J. H.; Lee, Y. K.

2001-01-01

In Hadong fossil power plant simulator project (1998. 1 ∼ 2000. 7), KEPRI applied virtual reality to the simulator. To provide more efficient operator training, KEPRI further developed the virtual reality technology into VR-CATS( Virtual Reality Computer Assistance Training System), a web-based multimedia training system with virtual reality technologies, in KNPEC-2 projects. By visualizing nuclear power plant system with stereoscopic 3-graphics in this project, VR-CATS enable trainee to navigate whole nuclear power plants including high radiation areas and other restricted areas. In addition, instructors can train the local operators to operate the local valves and other equipment in the local area of the plant. It aims at helping trainees understand system locations and system functions more easily. And, by reproducing main control room with stereoscopic 3-D graphics and linking it with P and ID, operating procedures, and plant components, Virtual panels maximize training effects. During the classroom training, the instructor can acess the stand-by host computer of the simulator through a network. This enables the instructor to can operate the simulator with only soft-panel. With the soft-panel, the instructor can activate any malfunction that he wants to instruct, show the trends of major parameters to the trainee and discuss with them. This desktop simulator function helps trainee to understand basic symptoms of the accidents. With CBT, operators can easily understand why some parameters are increasing or decreasing and what they should to mak the system stable. The VR-CATS for Uljin equips with much stronger and higher level virtual environment. First, all components of the virtual plant are linked with P and ID, ISO drawings, and engineering database. In addition, virtual MCR provides much immersive environment with such virtual reality equipment as HMD and data glove. Operators can also do collaboration work in the network through avatar, real

A DBR Framework for Designing Mobile Virtual Reality Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Cochrane, Thomas Donald; Cook, Stuart; Aiello, Stephen; Christie, Duncan; Sinfield, David; Steagall, Marcus; Aguayo, Claudio

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a design based research (DBR) framework for designing mobile virtual reality learning environments. The application of the framework is illustrated by two design-based research projects that aim to develop more authentic educational experiences and learner-centred pedagogies in higher education. The projects highlight the first…

Virtual reality in Latin American clinical psychology and the VREPAR project. Virtual Reality Environments for Psycho-Neuro-physiological Assessment and Rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Mauro Rubens

2002-10-01

Starting with the excellent collective work done by the European Community (EC)-funded Virtual Reality Environments for Psycho-Neuro-physiological Assessment and Rehabilitation (VREPAR) projects, I try to indicate some possible pathways that would allow a better integration of this advanced technology into the reality of Latin American psychology. I myself use analyses that I did in my master's degree in the PUCSP-Catholic University in São Paulo, Brazil. I also include a brief description of the CD-ROM Clinical Psychology Uses of Virtual Reality (CPUVR) that accompanies my thesis. I point out the importance of collaboration between psychology and other disciplines, including computer science. I explain the method that I used to work with digital information, important for the formation of a critical mass of people thinking in Portuguese and Spanish to accelerate a technological jump.

Augmented reality and photogrammetry: A synergy to visualize physical and virtual city environments

Science.gov (United States)

Portalés, Cristina; Lerma, José Luis; Navarro, Santiago

2010-01-01

Close-range photogrammetry is based on the acquisition of imagery to make accurate measurements and, eventually, three-dimensional (3D) photo-realistic models. These models are a photogrammetric product per se. They are usually integrated into virtual reality scenarios where additional data such as sound, text or video can be introduced, leading to multimedia virtual environments. These environments allow users both to navigate and interact on different platforms such as desktop PCs, laptops and small hand-held devices (mobile phones or PDAs). In very recent years, a new technology derived from virtual reality has emerged: Augmented Reality (AR), which is based on mixing real and virtual environments to boost human interactions and real-life navigations. The synergy of AR and photogrammetry opens up new possibilities in the field of 3D data visualization, navigation and interaction far beyond the traditional static navigation and interaction in front of a computer screen. In this paper we introduce a low-cost outdoor mobile AR application to integrate buildings of different urban spaces. High-accuracy 3D photo-models derived from close-range photogrammetry are integrated in real (physical) urban worlds. The augmented environment that is presented herein requires for visualization a see-through video head mounted display (HMD), whereas user's movement navigation is achieved in the real world with the help of an inertial navigation sensor. After introducing the basics of AR technology, the paper will deal with real-time orientation and tracking in combined physical and virtual city environments, merging close-range photogrammetry and AR. There are, however, some software and complex issues, which are discussed in the paper.

Surgery applications of virtual reality

Science.gov (United States)

Rosen, Joseph

1994-01-01

Virtual reality is a computer-generated technology which allows information to be displayed in a simulated, bus lifelike, environment. In this simulated 'world', users can move and interact as if they were actually a part of that world. This new technology will be useful in many different fields, including the field of surgery. Virtual reality systems can be used to teach surgical anatomy, diagnose surgical problems, plan operations, simulate and perform surgical procedures (telesurgery), and predict the outcomes of surgery. The authors of this paper describe the basic components of a virtual reality surgical system. These components include: the virtual world, the virtual tools, the anatomical model, the software platform, the host computer, the interface, and the head-coupled display. In the chapter they also review the progress towards using virtual reality for surgical training, planning, telesurgery, and predicting outcomes. Finally, the authors present a training system being developed for the practice of new procedures in abdominal surgery.

Using voice input and audio feedback to enhance the reality of a virtual experience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miner, N.E.

1994-04-01

Virtual Reality (VR) is a rapidly emerging technology which allows participants to experience a virtual environment through stimulation of the participant`s senses. Intuitive and natural interactions with the virtual world help to create a realistic experience. Typically, a participant is immersed in a virtual environment through the use of a 3-D viewer. Realistic, computer-generated environment models and accurate tracking of a participant`s view are important factors for adding realism to a virtual experience. Stimulating a participant`s sense of sound and providing a natural form of communication for interacting with the virtual world are equally important. This paper discusses the advantages and importance of incorporating voice recognition and audio feedback capabilities into a virtual world experience. Various approaches and levels of complexity are discussed. Examples of the use of voice and sound are presented through the description of a research application developed in the VR laboratory at Sandia National Laboratories.

Virtual Reality: A Definition History - A Personal Essay

OpenAIRE

Bryson, Steve

2013-01-01

This essay, written in 1998 by an active participant in both virtual reality development and the virtual reality definition debate, discusses the definition of the phrase "Virtual Reality" (VR). I start with history from a personal perspective, concentrating on the debate between the "Virtual Reality" and "Virtual Environment" labels in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Definitions of VR based on specific technologies are shown to be unsatisfactory. I propose the following definition of VR, b...

Virtual Reality in Schools: The Ultimate Educational Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Robert D.; Sykes, Wylmarie

1999-01-01

Discusses the use of virtual reality as an educational tool. Highlights include examples of virtual reality in public schools that lead to a more active learning process, simulated environments, integrating virtual reality into any curriculum, benefits to teachers and students, and overcoming barriers to implementation. (LRW)

Physics Education in Virtual Reality: An Example

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufmann, Hannes; Meyer, Bernd

2009-01-01

We present an immersive virtual reality (VR) application for physics education. It utilizes a recent physics engine developed for the PC gaming market to simulate physical experiments correctly and accurately. Students are enabled to actively build their own experiments and study them. A variety of tools are provided to analyze forces, mass, paths…

Controlled interaction: strategies for using virtual reality to study perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Durgin, Frank H; Li, Zhi

2010-05-01

Immersive virtual reality systems employing head-mounted displays offer great promise for the investigation of perception and action, but there are well-documented limitations to most virtual reality systems. In the present article, we suggest strategies for studying perception/action interactions that try to depend on both scale-invariant metrics (such as power function exponents) and careful consideration of the requirements of the interactions under investigation. New data concerning the effect of pincushion distortion on the perception of surface orientation are presented, as well as data documenting the perception of dynamic distortions associated with head movements with uncorrected optics. A review of several successful uses of virtual reality to study the interaction of perception and action emphasizes scale-free analysis strategies that can achieve theoretical goals while minimizing assumptions about the accuracy of virtual simulations.

A hardware and software architecture to deal with multimodal and collaborative interactions in multiuser virtual reality environments

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, P.; Tseu, A.; Férey, N.; Touraine, D.; Bourdot, P.

2014-02-01

Most advanced immersive devices provide collaborative environment within several users have their distinct head-tracked stereoscopic point of view. Combining with common used interactive features such as voice and gesture recognition, 3D mouse, haptic feedback, and spatialized audio rendering, these environments should faithfully reproduce a real context. However, even if many studies have been carried out on multimodal systems, we are far to definitively solve the issue of multimodal fusion, which consists in merging multimodal events coming from users and devices, into interpretable commands performed by the application. Multimodality and collaboration was often studied separately, despite of the fact that these two aspects share interesting similarities. We discuss how we address this problem, thought the design and implementation of a supervisor that is able to deal with both multimodal fusion and collaborative aspects. The aim of this supervisor is to ensure the merge of user's input from virtual reality devices in order to control immersive multi-user applications. We deal with this problem according to a practical point of view, because the main requirements of this supervisor was defined according to a industrial task proposed by our automotive partner, that as to be performed with multimodal and collaborative interactions in a co-located multi-user environment. In this task, two co-located workers of a virtual assembly chain has to cooperate to insert a seat into the bodywork of a car, using haptic devices to feel collision and to manipulate objects, combining speech recognition and two hands gesture recognition as multimodal instructions. Besides the architectural aspect of this supervisor, we described how we ensure the modularity of our solution that could apply on different virtual reality platforms, interactive contexts and virtual contents. A virtual context observer included in this supervisor in was especially designed to be independent to the

Visual Hallucinations as Incidental Negative Effects of Virtual Reality on Parkinson’s Disease Patients: A Link with Neurodegeneration?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Albani

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We followed up a series of 23 Parkinson’s disease (PD patients who had performed an immersive virtual reality (VR protocol eight years before. On that occasion, six patients incidentally described visual hallucinations (VH with occurrences of images not included in the virtual environment. Curiously, in the following years, only these patients reported the appearance of VH later in their clinical history, while the rest of the group did not. Even considering the limited sample size, we may argue that VR immersive systems can induce unpleasant effects in PD patients who are predisposed to a cognitive impairment.

Virtual reality environments for psycho-neuro-physiological assessment and rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Riva, G; Bolzoni, M; Carella, F; Galimberti, C; Griffin, M J; Lewis, C H; Luongo, R; Mardegan, P; Melis, L; Molinari-Tosatti, L; Poerschmann, C; Rovetta, A; Rushton, S; Selis, C; Wann, J

1997-01-01

Virtual Reality Environments for Psychoneurophysiological Assessment and Rehabilitation-is an European Community funded project (Telematics for health-HC 1053 http:/(/)www.etho.be/ht_projects/vrepar/) whose aim is: to develop a PC based virtual reality system (PC-VRS) for the medical market that can be marketed at a price which is accessible to its possible end-users (hospitals, universities and research centres) and which would have the modular, connectability and interoperability characteristics that the existing systems lack; to develop three hardware/software modules for the application of the PC VRS in psychoneurophysiological assessment and rehabilitation. The chosen development areas are eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia and obesity), movement disorders (Parkinson's disease and torsion dystonia) and stroke disorders (unilateral neglect and hemiparesis). This paper presents the rationale of the different approaches and the methodology used.

Moving virtuality into reality: A comparison study of the effectiveness of traditional and alternative assessments of learning in a multisensory, fully immersive physics program

Science.gov (United States)

Gamor, Keysha Ingram

This paper contains a research study that investigated the relative efficacy of using both a traditional paper-and-pencil assessment instrument and an alternative, virtual reality (VR) assessment instrument to assist educators and/or instructional designers in measuring learning in a virtual reality learning environment. To this end, this research study investigated assessment in VR, with the goal of analyzing aspects of student learning in VR that are feasible to access or capture by traditional assessments and alternative assessments. The researcher also examined what additional types of learning alternative assessments may offer. More specifically, this study compared the effectiveness of a traditional method with an alternative (performance-based) method of assessment that was used to examine the ability of the tools to accurately evidence the levels of students' understanding and learning. The domain area was electrostatics, a complex, abstract multidimensional concept, with which students often experience difficulty. Outcomes of the study suggest that, in the evaluation of learning in an immersive VR learning environment, assessments would most accurately manifest student learning if the assessment measure matched the learning environment itself. In this study, learning and assessing in the VR environment yielded higher final test scores than learning in VR and testing with traditional paper-and-pencil. Being able to transfer knowledge from a VR environment to other situations is critical in demonstrating the overall level of understanding of a concept. For this reason, the researcher recommends a combination of testing measures to enhance understanding of complex, abstract concepts.

Gestural Interaction for Virtual Reality Environments through Data Gloves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Rodriguez

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In virtual environments, virtual hand interactions play a key role in interactivity and realism allowing to perform fine motions. Data glove is widely used in Virtual Reality (VR and through simulating a human hands natural anatomy (Avatar’s hands in its appearance and motion is possible to interact with the environment and virtual objects. Recently, hand gestures are considered as one of the most meaningful and expressive signals. As consequence, this paper explores the use of hand gestures as a mean of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI for VR applications through data gloves. Using a hand gesture recognition and tracking method, accurate and real-time interactive performance can be obtained. To verify the effectiveness and usability of the system, an experiment of ease learning based on execution’s time was performed. The experimental results demonstrate that this interaction’s approach does not present problems for people more experienced in the use of computer applications. While people with basic knowledge has some problems the system becomes easy to use with practice.

Controlling social stress in virtual reality environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartanto, D.; Kampmann, I.L.; Morina, N.; Emmelkamp, P.G.M.; Neerincx, M.A.; Brinkman, W.P.

2014-01-01

Virtual reality exposure therapy has been proposed as a viable alternative in the treatment of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder. Therapists could benefit from extensive control of anxiety eliciting stimuli during virtual exposure. Two stimuli controls are studied in this study:

Virtual Reality Cerebral Aneurysm Clipping Simulation With Real-time Haptic Feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Alaraj, Ali; Luciano, Cristian J.; Bailey, Daniel P.; Elsenousi, Abdussalam; Roitberg, Ben Z.; Bernardo, Antonio; Banerjee, P. Pat; Charbel, Fady T.

2014-01-01

Background With the decrease in the number of cerebral aneurysms treated surgically and the increase of complexity of those treated surgically, there is a need for simulation-based tools to teach future neurosurgeons the operative techniques of aneurysm clipping. Objective To develop and evaluate the usefulness of a new haptic-based virtual reality (VR) simulator in the training of neurosurgical residents. Methods A real-time sensory haptic feedback virtual reality aneurysm clipping simulator was developed using the Immersive Touch platform. A prototype middle cerebral artery aneurysm simulation was created from a computed tomography angiogram. Aneurysm and vessel volume deformation and haptic feedback are provided in a 3-D immersive VR environment. Intraoperative aneurysm rupture was also simulated. Seventeen neurosurgery residents from three residency programs tested the simulator and provided feedback on its usefulness and resemblance to real aneurysm clipping surgery. Results Residents felt that the simulation would be useful in preparing for real-life surgery. About two thirds of the residents felt that the 3-D immersive anatomical details provided a very close resemblance to real operative anatomy and accurate guidance for deciding surgical approaches. They believed the simulation is useful for preoperative surgical rehearsal and neurosurgical training. One third of the residents felt that the technology in its current form provided very realistic haptic feedback for aneurysm surgery. Conclusion Neurosurgical residents felt that the novel immersive VR simulator is helpful in their training especially since they do not get a chance to perform aneurysm clippings until very late in their residency programs. PMID:25599200

iVFTs - immersive virtual field trips for interactive learning about Earth's environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce, G.; Anbar, A. D.; Semken, S. C.; Summons, R. E.; Oliver, C.; Buxner, S.

2014-12-01

Innovations in immersive interactive technologies are changing the way students explore Earth and its environment. State-of-the-art hardware has given developers the tools needed to capture high-resolution spherical content, 360° panoramic video, giga-pixel imagery, and unique viewpoints via unmanned aerial vehicles as they explore remote and physically challenging regions of our planet. Advanced software enables integration of these data into seamless, dynamic, immersive, interactive, content-rich, and learner-driven virtual field explorations, experienced online via HTML5. These surpass conventional online exercises that use 2-D static imagery and enable the student to engage in these virtual environments that are more like games than like lectures. Grounded in the active learning of exploration, inquiry, and application of knowledge as it is acquired, users interact non-linearly in conjunction with an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). The integration of this system allows the educational experience to be adapted to each individual student as they interact within the program. Such explorations, which we term "immersive virtual field trips" (iVFTs), are being integrated into cyber-learning allowing science teachers to take students to scientifically significant but inaccessible environments. Our team and collaborators are producing a diverse suite of freely accessible, iVFTs to teach key concepts in geology, astrobiology, ecology, and anthropology. Topics include Early Life, Biodiversity, Impact craters, Photosynthesis, Geologic Time, Stratigraphy, Tectonics, Volcanism, Surface Processes, The Rise of Oxygen, Origin of Water, Early Civilizations, Early Multicellular Organisms, and Bioarcheology. These diverse topics allow students to experience field sites all over the world, including, Grand Canyon (USA), Flinders Ranges (Australia), Shark Bay (Australia), Rainforests (Panama), Teotihuacan (Mexico), Upheaval Dome (USA), Pilbara (Australia), Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Ambient Intelligence in Multimeda and Virtual Reality Environments for the rehabilitation

Science.gov (United States)

Benko, Attila; Cecilia, Sik Lanyi

This chapter presents a general overview about the use of multimedia and virtual reality in rehabilitation and assistive and preventive healthcare. This chapter deals with multimedia, virtual reality applications based AI intended for use by medical doctors, nurses, special teachers and further interested persons. It describes methods how multimedia and virtual reality is able to assist their work. These include the areas how multimedia and virtual reality can help the patients everyday life and their rehabilitation. In the second part of the chapter we present the Virtual Therapy Room (VTR) a realized application for aphasic patients that was created for practicing communication and expressing emotions in a group therapy setting. The VTR shows a room that contains a virtual therapist and four virtual patients (avatars). The avatars are utilizing their knowledge base in order to answer the questions of the user providing an AI environment for the rehabilitation. The user of the VTR is the aphasic patient who has to solve the exercises. The picture that is relevant for the actual task appears on the virtual blackboard. Patient answers questions of the virtual therapist. Questions are about pictures describing an activity or an object in different levels. Patient can ask an avatar for answer. If the avatar knows the answer the avatars emotion changes to happy instead of sad. The avatar expresses its emotions in different dimensions. Its behavior, face-mimic, voice-tone and response also changes. The emotion system can be described as a deterministic finite automaton where places are emotion-states and the transition function of the automaton is derived from the input-response reaction of an avatar. Natural language processing techniques were also implemented in order to establish highquality human-computer interface windows for each of the avatars. Aphasic patients are able to interact with avatars via these interfaces. At the end of the chapter we visualize the

The Impact of Virtual Reality on Chronic Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Ted; Moore, Todd; Choo, James

2016-01-01

The treatment of chronic pain could benefit from additional non-opioid interventions. Virtual reality (VR) has been shown to be effective in decreasing pain for procedural or acute pain but to date there have been few studies on its use in chronic pain. The present study was an investigation of the impact of a virtual reality application for chronic pain. Thirty (30) participants with various chronic pain conditions were offered a five-minute session using a virtual reality application called Cool! Participants were asked about their pain using a 0-10 visual analog scale rating before the VR session, during the session and immediately after the session. They were also asked about immersion into the VR world and about possible side effects. Pain was reduced from pre-session to post-session by 33%. Pain was reduced from pre-session during the VR session by 60%. These changes were both statistically significant at the p virtual reality session. All participants (100%) reported a decrease in pain to some degree between pre-session pain and during-session pain. The virtual reality experience was found here to provide a significant amount of pain relief. A head mounted display (HMD) was used with all subjects and no discomfort was experienced. Only one participant noted any side effects. VR seems to have promise as a non-opioid treatment for chronic pain and further investigation is warranted.

Three-dimensional immersive virtual reality for studying cellular compartments in 3D models from EM preparations of neural tissues

KAUST Repository

Cali, Corrado

2015-07-14

Advances for application of electron microscopy to serial imaging are opening doors to new ways of analyzing cellular structure. New and improved algorithms and workflows for manual and semiautomated segmentation allow to observe the spatial arrangement of the smallest cellular features with unprecedented detail in full three-dimensions (3D). From larger samples, higher complexity models can be generated; however, they pose new challenges to data management and analysis. Here, we review some currently available solutions and present our approach in detail. We use the fully immersive virtual reality (VR) environment CAVE (cave automatic virtual environment), a room where we are able to project a cellular reconstruction and visualize in 3D, to step into a world created with Blender, a free, fully customizable 3D modeling software with NeuroMorph plug-ins for visualization and analysis of electron microscopy (EM) preparations of brain tissue. Our workflow allows for full and fast reconstructions of volumes of brain neuropil using ilastik, a software tool for semiautomated segmentation of EM stacks. With this visualization environment, we can walk into the model containing neuronal and astrocytic processes to study the spatial distribution of glycogen granules, a major energy source that is selectively stored in astrocytes. The use of CAVE was key to observe a nonrandom distribution of glycogen, and led us to develop tools to quantitatively analyze glycogen clustering and proximity to other subcellular features. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The Virtual GloveboX (VGX: a Semi-immersive Virtual Environment for Training Astronauts in Life Sciences Experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Alexander Twombly

2004-06-01

Full Text Available The International Space Station will soon provide an unparalleled research facility for studying the near- and longer-term effects of microgravity on living systems. Using the Space Station Glovebox Facility - a compact, fully contained reach-in environment - astronauts will conduct technically challenging life sciences experiments. Virtual environment technologies are being developed at NASA Ames Research Center to help realize the scientific potential of this unique resource by facilitating the experimental hardware and protocol designs and by assisting the astronauts in training. The "Virtual GloveboX" (VGX integrates high-fidelity graphics, force-feedback devices and real-time computer simulation engines to achieve an immersive training environment. Here, we describe the prototype VGX system, the distributed processing architecture used in the simulation environment, and modifications to the visualization pipeline required to accommodate the display configuration.

Revolutionizing Education: The Promise of Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Gadelha, Rene

2018-01-01

Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to revolutionize education, as it immerses students in their learning more than any other available medium. By blocking out visual and auditory distractions in the classroom, it has the potential to help students deeply connect with the material they are learning in a way that has never been possible before.…

Can walking motions improve visually induced rotational self-motion illusions in virtual reality?

Science.gov (United States)

Riecke, Bernhard E; Freiberg, Jacob B; Grechkin, Timofey Y

2015-02-04

Illusions of self-motion (vection) can provide compelling sensations of moving through virtual environments without the need for complex motion simulators or large tracked physical walking spaces. Here we explore the interaction between biomechanical cues (stepping along a rotating circular treadmill) and visual cues (viewing simulated self-rotation) for providing stationary users a compelling sensation of rotational self-motion (circular vection). When tested individually, biomechanical and visual cues were similarly effective in eliciting self-motion illusions. However, in combination they yielded significantly more intense self-motion illusions. These findings provide the first compelling evidence that walking motions can be used to significantly enhance visually induced rotational self-motion perception in virtual environments (and vice versa) without having to provide for physical self-motion or motion platforms. This is noteworthy, as linear treadmills have been found to actually impair visually induced translational self-motion perception (Ash, Palmisano, Apthorp, & Allison, 2013). Given the predominant focus on linear walking interfaces for virtual-reality locomotion, our findings suggest that investigating circular and curvilinear walking interfaces offers a promising direction for future research and development and can help to enhance self-motion illusions, presence and immersion in virtual-reality systems. © 2015 ARVO.

Virtual reality experiments linking social environment and psychosis: A pilot study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veling, W.; Brinkman, W.P.; Dorrestijn, E.; van der Gaag, M.

2014-01-01

Initial studies with healthy subjects and individuals with high risk for psychosis have suggested that virtual reality (VR) environments may be used to investigate social and psychological mechanisms of psychosis. One small study reported that VR can safely be used in individuals with current

Mobile Virtual Reality : A Solution for Big Data Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, E.; Seichter, N. D.; D'sa, A.; Werner, L. A.; Yuen, D. A.

2015-12-01

Pursuits in geological sciences and other branches of quantitative sciences often require data visualization frameworks that are in continual need of improvement and new ideas. Virtual reality is a medium of visualization that has large audiences originally designed for gaming purposes; Virtual reality can be captured in Cave-like environment but they are unwieldy and expensive to maintain. Recent efforts by major companies such as Facebook have focussed more on a large market , The Oculus is the first of such kind of mobile devices The operating system Unity makes it possible for us to convert the data files into a mesh of isosurfaces and be rendered into 3D. A user is immersed inside of the virtual reality and is able to move within and around the data using arrow keys and other steering devices, similar to those employed in XBox.. With introductions of products like the Oculus Rift and Holo Lens combined with ever increasing mobile computing strength, mobile virtual reality data visualization can be implemented for better analysis of 3D geological and mineralogical data sets. As more new products like the Surface Pro 4 and other high power yet very mobile computers are introduced to the market, the RAM and graphics card capacity necessary to run these models is more available, opening doors to this new reality. The computing requirements needed to run these models are a mere 8 GB of RAM and 2 GHz of CPU speed, which many mobile computers are starting to exceed. Using Unity 3D software to create a virtual environment containing a visual representation of the data, any data set converted into FBX or OBJ format which can be traversed by wearing the Oculus Rift device. This new method for analysis in conjunction with 3D scanning has potential applications in many fields, including the analysis of precious stones or jewelry. Using hologram technology to capture in high-resolution the 3D shape, color, and imperfections of minerals and stones, detailed review and

Using virtual reality environment to improve joint attention associated with pervasive developmental disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Yufang; Huang, Ruowen

2012-01-01

The focus of this study is using data glove to practice Joint attention skill in virtual reality environment for people with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). The virtual reality environment provides a safe environment for PDD people. Especially, when they made errors during practice in virtual reality environment, there is no suffering or dangerous consequences to deal with. Joint attention is a critical skill in the disorder characteristics of children with PDD. The absence of joint attention is a deficit frequently affects their social relationship in daily life. Therefore, this study designed the Joint Attention Skills Learning (JASL) systems with data glove tool to help children with PDD to practice joint attention behavior skills. The JASL specifically focus the skills of pointing, showing, sharing things and behavior interaction with other children with PDD. The system is designed in playroom-scene and presented in the first-person perspectives for users. The functions contain pointing and showing, moving virtual objects, 3D animation, text, speaking sounds, and feedback. The method was employed single subject multiple-probe design across subjects' designs, and analysis of visual inspection in this study. It took 3 months to finish the experimental section. Surprisingly, the experiment results reveal that the participants have further extension in improving the joint attention skills in their daily life after using the JASL system. The significant potential in this particular treatment of joint attention for each participant will be discussed in details in this paper. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Usability Comparisons of Head-Mounted vs. Stereoscopic Desktop Displays in a Virtual Reality Environment with Pain Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Xin; Gromala, Diane; Gupta, Dimple; Squire, Pam

2016-01-01

Researchers have shown that immersive Virtual Reality (VR) can serve as an unusually powerful pain control technique. However, research assessing the reported symptoms and negative effects of VR systems indicate that it is important to ascertain if these symptoms arise from the use of particular VR display devices, particularly for users who are deemed "at risk," such as chronic pain patients Moreover, these patients have specific and often complex needs and requirements, and because basic issues such as 'comfort' may trigger anxiety or panic attacks, it is important to examine basic questions of the feasibility of using VR displays. Therefore, this repeated-measured experiment was conducted with two VR displays: the Oculus Rift's head-mounted display (HMD) and Firsthand Technologies' immersive desktop display, DeepStream3D. The characteristics of these immersive desktop displays differ: one is worn, enabling patients to move their heads, while the other is peered into, allowing less head movement. To assess the severity of physical discomforts, 20 chronic pain patients tried both displays while watching a VR pain management demo in clinical settings. Results indicated that participants experienced higher levels of Simulator Sickness using the Oculus Rift HMD. However, results also indicated other preferences of the two VR displays among patients, including physical comfort levels and a sense of immersion. Few studies have been conducted that compare usability of specific VR devices specifically with chronic pain patients using a therapeutic virtual environment in pain clinics. Thus, the results may help clinicians and researchers to choose the most appropriate VR displays for chronic pain patients and guide VR designers to enhance the usability of VR displays for long-term pain management interventions.

Auditory cues increase the hippocampal response to unimodal virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Andreano, Joseph; Liang, Kevin; Kong, Lingjun; Hubbard, David; Wiederhold, Brenda K; Wiederhold, Mark D

2009-06-01

Previous research suggests that the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy should increase as the experience becomes more immersive. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the experience of immersion are not yet well understood. To address this question, neural activity during exposure to two virtual worlds was measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Two levels of immersion were used: unimodal (video only) and multimodal (video plus audio). The results indicated increased activity in both auditory and visual sensory cortices during multimodal presentation. Additionally, multimodal presentation elicited increased activity in the hippocampus, a region well known to be involved in learning and memory. The implications of this finding for exposure therapy are discussed.

Immersive Education, an Annotated Webliography

Science.gov (United States)

Pricer, Wayne F.

2011-01-01

In this second installment of a two-part feature on immersive education a webliography will provide resources discussing the use of various types of computer simulations including: (a) augmented reality, (b) virtual reality programs, (c) gaming resources for teaching with technology, (d) virtual reality lab resources, (e) virtual reality standards…

Virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Laver, Kate E; George, Stacey; Thomas, Susie; Deutsch, Judith E; Crotty, Maria

2011-09-07

Virtual reality and interactive video gaming have emerged as new treatment approaches in stroke rehabilitation. In particular, commercial gaming consoles are being rapidly adopted in clinical settings; however, there is currently little information about their effectiveness. To evaluate the effects of virtual reality and interactive video gaming on upper limb, lower limb and global motor function after stroke. We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (March 2010), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 1), MEDLINE (1950 to March 2010), EMBASE (1980 to March 2010) and seven additional databases. We also searched trials registries, conference proceedings, reference lists and contacted key researchers in the area and virtual reality equipment manufacturers. Randomised and quasi-randomised trials of virtual reality ('an advanced form of human-computer interface that allows the user to 'interact' with and become 'immersed' in a computer-generated environment in a naturalistic fashion') in adults after stroke. The primary outcomes of interest were: upper limb function and activity, gait and balance function and activity and global motor function. Two review authors independently selected trials based on pre-defined inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed risk of bias. A third review author moderated disagreements when required. The authors contacted all investigators to obtain missing information. We included 19 trials which involved 565 participants. Study sample sizes were generally small and interventions and outcome measures varied, limiting the ability to which studies could be compared. Intervention approaches in the included studies were predominantly designed to improve motor function rather than cognitive function or activity performance. The majority of participants were relatively young and more than one year post stroke. results were statistically significant for arm function (standardised

Immersive Virtual Reality Technologies as a New Platform for Science, Scholarship, and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Djorgovski, Stanislav G.; Hut, P.; McMillan, S.; Knop, R.; Vesperini, E.; Graham, M.; Portegies Zwart, S.; Farr, W.; Mahabal, A.; Donalek, C.; Longo, G.

2010-01-01

Immersive virtual reality (VR) and virtual worlds (VWs) are an emerging set of technologies which likely represent the next evolutionary step in the ways we use information technology to interact with the world of information and with other people, the roles now generally fulfilled by the Web and other common Internet applications. Currently, these technologies are mainly accessed through various VWs, e.g., the Second Life (SL), which are general platforms for a broad range of user activities. As an experiment in the utilization of these technologies for science, scholarship, education, and public outreach, we have formed the Meta-Institute for Computational Astrophysics (MICA; http://mica-vw.org), the first professional scientific organization based exclusively in VWs. The goals of MICA are: (1) Exploration, development and promotion of VWs and VR technologies for professional research in astronomy and related fields. (2) Providing and developing novel social networking venues and mechanisms for scientific collaboration and communications, including professional meetings, effective telepresence, etc. (3) Use of VWs and VR technologies for education and public outreach. (4) Exchange of ideas and joint efforts with other scientific disciplines in promoting these goals for science and scholarship in general. To this effect, we have a regular schedule of professional and public outreach events in SL, including technical seminars, workshops, journal club, collaboration meetings, public lectures, etc. We find that these technologies are already remarkably effective as a telepresence platform for scientific and scholarly discussions, meetings, etc. They can offer substantial savings of time and resources, and eliminate a lot of unnecessary travel. They are equally effective as a public outreach platform, reaching a world-wide audience. On the pure research front, we are currently exploring the use of these technologies as a venue for numerical simulations and their

Sensorial Virtualization: Coupling Gaming and Virtual Environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Garbaya, S.; Miraoui, C.; Wendrich, Robert E.; Lim, T.; Stanescu, I.A.; Hauge, J.B.

2014-01-01

Virtual reality and virtualization are currently used to design complex systems and demonstrate that they represent the functionalities of real systems. However, the design refinement of the virtual environment (VE) and distributed virtual environment (DVE) are still time consuming and costly, as it

Desires for beverages and liking of skin care product odors in imaginative and immersive virtual reality beach contexts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Ida Ninett Skovgaard K; Kraus, Alexandra A.; Ritz, Christian

2018-01-01

Immersive technologies simulating real-life environments allow repeated simulation of complex real-life situations at one location and, therefore, bear potential for consumer product evaluations and food behavior studies. This study aimed to assess whether a contextual exposure by immersive virtu...... on beverage-related desires. The VR technology seems to be a promising tool for evaluating contextual influences in food consumer research.......Immersive technologies simulating real-life environments allow repeated simulation of complex real-life situations at one location and, therefore, bear potential for consumer product evaluations and food behavior studies. This study aimed to assess whether a contextual exposure by immersive virtual...... in the same room but without the contextual exposure was also performed (Neutral). Subjects rated their desires for hot and cold beverages during and just after the contextual exposure. Liking for skin care samples (sun screen and regular lotion) were assessed during exposure. The retention of the contextual...

Inducing an anxiety response using a contaminated virtual environment: validation of a therapeutic tool for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mylène Laforest

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD is characterized by the presence of unwanted and repetitive thoughts triggering significant anxiety, as well as the presence of ritual behaviours or mental acts carried out in response to obsessions to reduce the associated distress. In the contamination subtype, individuals are scared of germs and bacteria, are excessively concerned with cleaning, fear contamination and the spread of disease, and may have a very strong aversion to bodily secretions. A few studies on virtual reality have been conducted with people suffering from OCD, but they all focus on the subtype characterized by checking rituals. The goal of this study is to confirm the potential of a contaminated virtual environment in inducing anxiety in 12 adults suffering from contamination-subtype OCD compared to 20 adults without OCD (N = 32 using a within-between protocol. Subjective (questionnaire and objective (heart rate measurements were compiled. Participants were immersed in a control virtual environment (empty and clean room and a contaminated virtual environment (filthy public restroom designed for the treatment of OCD. Immersions were conducted in a 6-wall CAVE-like system. As hypothesized, the results of repeated-measures ANCOVAs revealed the significant impact of immersion in a filthy public restroom for participants suffering from OCD on both measures. Presence was correlated with anxiety in OCD participants and no difference in presence was observed between groups. Unwanted negative side effects induced by immersions in virtual reality were higher in the OCD group. The clinical implications of the results and directions for further studies are discussed.

Virtual reality as an aid in the development of the LABGENE Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pinheiro, André Ricardo Mendonça; Maeda, Reinaldo M.; Marcio, César Luis; Severino, Kleber Roberto; Ribeiro, Alef Henrique, E-mail: andre.ricardo@marinha.mil.br, E-mail: reinaldo.maeda@marinha.mil.br, E-mail: cesar.marcio@marinha.mil.br, E-mail: kleber.severino@marinha.mil.br, E-mail: alef.ribeiro@marinha.mail.br [Centro Tecnológico da Marinha em São Paulo (CTMSP), São Paulo, SP (Brazil); Zuffo, Marcelo Knörich; Prado, Eugênio Anselmo Pessoa do, E-mail: mkzuffo@lsi.usp.br, E-mail: eugenio.prado@labrisco.usp.br [Universidade São Paulo (EP/USP), São Paulo, SP (Brazil). Escola Politécnica

2017-07-01

The paper shows results from the project to develop virtual reality as a tool to assist the LABGENE project (Laboratory of Generation of Electric Nuclear Energy), which consists of the construction of the prototype onshore of the Brazilian nuclear propulsion submarine (SN-BR), with the objective of Simulate situations and activities pertinent to it. Due to the complexity of the physical structure of LABGENE, it is necessary to implement a tool that facilitates the visualization of the project, in order to assist in the elaboration and definition of access for inspection in service, maintenance access, equipment removal routes, procedures for electromechanical assemblies and for equipment shifts during the exchange of nuclear fuel. To create the virtual environment, game development software is used that allows the export of the 3D project modeled in PDMS (Plant Design Management System) and virtual reality glasses (Oculus Rift) as interface between the user and the operating system. This environment allows the total immersion of the user that starts to take a more comprehensive view of the project. This visualization of the project is that it achieves the objectives listed above. (author)

Virtual reality as an aid in the development of the LABGENE Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinheiro, André Ricardo Mendonça; Maeda, Reinaldo M.; Marcio, César Luis; Severino, Kleber Roberto; Ribeiro, Alef Henrique; Zuffo, Marcelo Knörich; Prado, Eugênio Anselmo Pessoa do

2017-01-01

The paper shows results from the project to develop virtual reality as a tool to assist the LABGENE project (Laboratory of Generation of Electric Nuclear Energy), which consists of the construction of the prototype onshore of the Brazilian nuclear propulsion submarine (SN-BR), with the objective of Simulate situations and activities pertinent to it. Due to the complexity of the physical structure of LABGENE, it is necessary to implement a tool that facilitates the visualization of the project, in order to assist in the elaboration and definition of access for inspection in service, maintenance access, equipment removal routes, procedures for electromechanical assemblies and for equipment shifts during the exchange of nuclear fuel. To create the virtual environment, game development software is used that allows the export of the 3D project modeled in PDMS (Plant Design Management System) and virtual reality glasses (Oculus Rift) as interface between the user and the operating system. This environment allows the total immersion of the user that starts to take a more comprehensive view of the project. This visualization of the project is that it achieves the objectives listed above. (author)

Tangible interfaces in virtual environments, case study: Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear Virtual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santo, Andre Cotelli do E.; Mol, Antonio Carlos A.; Pinto, Emanuele Oliveira; Melo, Joao Victor da C.; Paula, Vanessa Marcia de; Freitas, Victor Goncalves Gloria [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Machado, Daniel Mol [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao em Engenharia (COPPE/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Instituto Alberto Luiz Coimbra

2015-07-01

Virtual Reality (VR) techniques allow the creation of realistic representations of an individual. These technologies are being applied in several fields such as training, simulations, virtual experiments and new applications are constantly being found. This work aims to present an interactive system in virtual environments without the use of peripherals typically found in computers such as mouse and keyboard. Through the movement of head and hands it is possible to control and navigate the virtual character (avatar) in a virtual environment, an improvement in the man-machine integration. The head movements are recognized using a virtual helmet with a tracking system. An infrared camera detects the position of infrared LEDs located in the operator's head and places the vision of the virtual character in accordance with the operator's vision. The avatar control is performed by a system that detects the movement of the hands, using infrared sensors, allowing the user to move it in the virtual environment. This interaction system was implemented in the virtual model of the Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN), which is located on the Ilha do Fundao - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. This three-dimensional environment, in which avatars can move and interact according to the user movements, gives a feeling of realism to the operator. The results show an interface that allows a higher degree of immersion of the operator in the virtual environment, promoting a more engaging and dynamic way of working. (author)

Tangible interfaces in virtual environments, case study: Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear Virtual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santo, Andre Cotelli do E.; Mol, Antonio Carlos A.; Pinto, Emanuele Oliveira; Melo, Joao Victor da C.; Paula, Vanessa Marcia de; Freitas, Victor Goncalves Gloria; Machado, Daniel Mol

2015-01-01

Virtual Reality (VR) techniques allow the creation of realistic representations of an individual. These technologies are being applied in several fields such as training, simulations, virtual experiments and new applications are constantly being found. This work aims to present an interactive system in virtual environments without the use of peripherals typically found in computers such as mouse and keyboard. Through the movement of head and hands it is possible to control and navigate the virtual character (avatar) in a virtual environment, an improvement in the man-machine integration. The head movements are recognized using a virtual helmet with a tracking system. An infrared camera detects the position of infrared LEDs located in the operator's head and places the vision of the virtual character in accordance with the operator's vision. The avatar control is performed by a system that detects the movement of the hands, using infrared sensors, allowing the user to move it in the virtual environment. This interaction system was implemented in the virtual model of the Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN), which is located on the Ilha do Fundao - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. This three-dimensional environment, in which avatars can move and interact according to the user movements, gives a feeling of realism to the operator. The results show an interface that allows a higher degree of immersion of the operator in the virtual environment, promoting a more engaging and dynamic way of working. (author)

What Virtual Reality Research in Addictions Can Tell Us about the Future of Obesity Assessment and Treatment

OpenAIRE

Bordnick, Patrick S; Carter, Brian L; Traylor, Amy C

2011-01-01

Virtual reality (VR), a system of human–computer interaction that allows researchers and clinicians to immerse people in virtual worlds, is gaining considerable traction as a research, education, and treatment tool. Virtual reality has been used successfully to treat anxiety disorders such as fear of flying and post-traumatic stress disorder, as an aid in stroke rehabilitation, and as a behavior modification aid in the treatment of attention deficit disorder. Virtual reality has also been emp...

3D vision in a virtual reality robotics environment

Science.gov (United States)

Schutz, Christian L.; Natonek, Emerico; Baur, Charles; Hugli, Heinz

1996-12-01

Virtual reality robotics (VRR) needs sensing feedback from the real environment. To show how advanced 3D vision provides new perspectives to fulfill these needs, this paper presents an architecture and system that integrates hybrid 3D vision and VRR and reports about experiments and results. The first section discusses the advantages of virtual reality in robotics, the potential of a 3D vision system in VRR and the contribution of a knowledge database, robust control and the combination of intensity and range imaging to build such a system. Section two presents the different modules of a hybrid 3D vision architecture based on hypothesis generation and verification. Section three addresses the problem of the recognition of complex, free- form 3D objects and shows how and why the newer approaches based on geometric matching solve the problem. This free- form matching can be efficiently integrated in a VRR system as a hypothesis generation knowledge-based 3D vision system. In the fourth part, we introduce the hypothesis verification based on intensity images which checks object pose and texture. Finally, we show how this system has been implemented and operates in a practical VRR environment used for an assembly task.

Applying virtual reality to remote control of mobile robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Chin-Shan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is based on virtual reality to assisted pick and place tasks. Virtual reality can be utilized to control remote robot for pick and place element. The operator monitored and controlled the situation information of working site by Human Machine Interface. Therefore, we worked in harsh or dangerous environments that thing can be avoided. The procedure to operate mobile robot in virtual reality describes as follow: An experiment site with really experimental equipment is first established. Then, the experimental equipment and scene modeling are input to virtual reality for establishing a environment similar to the reality. Finally, the remote mobile robot is controlled to operate pick and place tasks through wireless communication by the object operation in virtual reality. The robot consists of a movable robot platform and robotic arm. The virtual reality is constructed by EON software; the Human Machine Interface is established by Visual Basic. The wireless connection is equipped the wireless Bluetooth, which is set the PC and PLC controller. With experimental tests to verify the robot in virtual reality and the wireless remote control, the robot could be operated and controlled to successfully complete pick and place tasks in reality by Human Machine Interface.

Collaborative virtual reality environments for computational science and design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papka, M. E.

1998-01-01

The authors are developing a networked, multi-user, virtual-reality-based collaborative environment coupled to one or more petaFLOPs computers, enabling the interactive simulation of 10 9 atom systems. The purpose of this work is to explore the requirements for this coupling. Through the design, development, and testing of such systems, they hope to gain knowledge that allows computational scientists to discover and analyze their results more quickly and in a more intuitive manner

Application progress of virtual reality rehabilitation technology in upper limb dysfunction after stroke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bing-jie LI

2017-07-01

Full Text Available  Virtual reality (VR rehabilitation technology is a kind of integrated technology which simulates the real world via computer. It has three characteristics: immersion, interaction and imagination. It is widely used in the field of stroke rehabilitation. This review briefly describes the application of virtual reality rehabilitation technology in upper limb dysfunction after stroke. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2017.04.002

Social environments and interpersonal distance regulation in psychosis : A virtual reality study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geraets, Chris N W; van Beilen, Marije; Pot-Kolder, Roos; Counotte, Jacqueline; van der Gaag, Mark; Veling, Wim

BACKGROUND: Experimentally studying the influence of social environments on mental health and behavior is challenging, as social context is difficult to standardize in laboratory settings. Virtual Reality (VR) enables studying social interaction in terms of interpersonal distance in a more

Multisensory Integration in the Virtual Hand Illusion with Active Movement.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Woong; Li, Liang; Satoh, Satoru; Hachimura, Kozaburo

2016-01-01

Improving the sense of immersion is one of the core issues in virtual reality. Perceptual illusions of ownership can be perceived over a virtual body in a multisensory virtual reality environment. Rubber Hand and Virtual Hand Illusions showed that body ownership can be manipulated by applying suitable visual and tactile stimulation. In this study, we investigate the effects of multisensory integration in the Virtual Hand Illusion with active movement. A virtual xylophone playing system which can interactively provide synchronous visual, tactile, and auditory stimulation was constructed. We conducted two experiments regarding different movement conditions and different sensory stimulations. Our results demonstrate that multisensory integration with free active movement can improve the sense of immersion in virtual reality.

Towards Gesture-Based Multi-User Interactions in Collaborative Virtual Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Pretto, N.; Poiesi, F.

2017-11-01

We present a virtual reality (VR) setup that enables multiple users to participate in collaborative virtual environments and interact via gestures. A collaborative VR session is established through a network of users that is composed of a server and a set of clients. The server manages the communication amongst clients and is created by one of the users. Each user's VR setup consists of a Head Mounted Display (HMD) for immersive visualisation, a hand tracking system to interact with virtual objects and a single-hand joypad to move in the virtual environment. We use Google Cardboard as a HMD for the VR experience and a Leap Motion for hand tracking, thus making our solution low cost. We evaluate our VR setup though a forensics use case, where real-world objects pertaining to a simulated crime scene are included in a VR environment, acquired using a smartphone-based 3D reconstruction pipeline. Users can interact using virtual gesture-based tools such as pointers and rulers.

War-Fighting in the Early 21st Century: A Remote-Controlled, Robotic, Robust, Size-Reduced, Virtual-Reality Paradigm

Science.gov (United States)

2006-11-27

39 40 41 Miniaturization: another exponential trend 42 43 Planetary Gear 44 Nanosystems bearing 45 Nanosystems smaller bearing 46 Respirocyte (an...clothing, our eyeglasses • Full immersion visual-auditory virtual reality • Augmented real reality • Interaction with virtual personalities as a primary

Virtual reality sickness questionnaire (VRSQ): Motion sickness measurement index in a virtual reality environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyun K; Park, Jaehyun; Choi, Yeongcheol; Choe, Mungyeong

2018-05-01

This study aims to develop a motion sickness measurement index in a virtual reality (VR) environment. The VR market is in an early stage of market formation and technological development, and thus, research on the side effects of VR devices such as simulator motion sickness is lacking. In this study, we used the simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ), which has been traditionally used for simulator motion sickness measurement. To measure the motion sickness in a VR environment, 24 users performed target selection tasks using a VR device. The SSQ was administered immediately after each task, and the order of work was determined using the Latin square design. The existing SSQ was revised to develop a VR sickness questionnaire, which is used as the measurement index in a VR environment. In addition, the target selection method and button size were found to be significant factors that affect motion sickness in a VR environment. The results of this study are expected to be used for measuring and designing simulator sickness using VR devices in future studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What Virtual Reality Research in Addictions Can Tell Us about the Future of Obesity Assessment and Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Bordnick, Patrick S; Carter, Brian L; Traylor, Amy C

2011-01-01

Virtual reality (VR), a system of human–computer interaction that allows researchers and clinicians to immerse people in virtual worlds, is gaining considerable traction as a research, education, and treatment tool. Virtual reality has been used successfully to treat anxiety disorders such as fear of flying and post-traumatic stress disorder, as an aid in stroke rehabilitation, and as a behavior modification aid in the treatment of attention deficit disorder. Virtual reality has also been employed in research on addictive disorders. Given the strong evidence that drug-dependent people are highly prone to use and relapse in the presence of environmental stimuli associated with drug use, VR is an ideal platform from which to study this relationship. Research using VR has shown that drug-dependent people react with strong craving to specific cues (e.g., cigarette packs, liquor bottles) as well as environments or settings (e.g., bar, party) associated with drug use. Virtual reality has also been used to enhance learning and generalization of relapse prevention skills in smokers by reinforcing these skills in lifelike environments. Obesity researchers and treatment professionals, building on the lessons learned from VR research in substance abuse, have the opportunity to adapt these methods for investigating their own research and treatment questions. Virtual reality is ideally suited to investigate the link between food cues and environmental settings with eating behaviors and self-report of hunger. In addition, VR can be used as a treatment tool for enhancing behavior modification goals to support healthy eating habits by reinforcing these goals in life–like situations. PMID:21527092

Moving from Virtual Reality Exposure-Based Therapy to Augmented Reality Exposure-Based Therapy: A Review

OpenAIRE

Baus, Oliver; Bouchard, Stéphane

2014-01-01

This paper reviews the move from virtual reality exposure-based therapy to augmented reality exposure-based therapy (ARET). Unlike virtual reality (VR), which entails a complete virtual environment (VE), augmented reality (AR) limits itself to producing certain virtual elements to then merge them into the view of the physical world. Although, the general public may only have become aware of AR in the last few years, AR type applications have been around since beginning of the twentieth centur...

Geospatial Google Street View with Virtual Reality: A Motivational Approach for Spatial Training Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Carbonell-Carrera

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Motivation is a determining factor in the learning process, and encourages the student to participate in activities that increase their performance. Learning strategies supplemented by computer technology in a scenario-based learning environment can improve students′ motivation for spatial knowledge acquisition. In this sense, a workshop carried out with 43-second year engineering students supported by Google Street View mobile geospatial application for location-based tasks is presented, in which participants work in an immersive wayfinding 3D urban environment on virtual reality. Students use their own smartphones with Google Street View application integrated in virtual reality (VR 3D glasses with a joystick as locomotion interface. The tool to analyse the motivational factor of this pedagogical approach is the multidimensional measurement device Intrinsic Motivation Inventory with six subscales: interest, perceived competence, perceived choice, effort, tension, and value, measured on a seven point Likert scale. Scores in all subscales considered are above 4 on a scale of 7. A usability study conducted at the end of the experiment provides values above 3 on a scale of 5 in efficacy, efficiency and satisfaction. The results of the experiment carried out indicate that geospatial Google Street View application in Virtual Reality is a motivating educational purpose in the field of spatial training.

VIRTUAL REALITY HYPNOSIS.

Science.gov (United States)

Askay, Shelley Wiechman; Patterson, David R; Sharar, Sam R

2009-03-01

Scientific evidence for the viability of hypnosis as a treatment for pain has flourished over the past two decades (Rainville, Duncan, Price, Carrier and Bushnell, 1997; Montgomery, DuHamel and Redd, 2000; Lang and Rosen, 2002; Patterson and Jensen, 2003). However its widespread use has been limited by factors such as the advanced expertise, time and effort required by clinicians to provide hypnosis, and the cognitive effort required by patients to engage in hypnosis.The theory in developing virtual reality hypnosis was to apply three-dimensional, immersive, virtual reality technology to guide the patient through the same steps used when hypnosis is induced through an interpersonal process. Virtual reality replaces many of the stimuli that the patients have to struggle to imagine via verbal cueing from the therapist. The purpose of this paper is to explore how virtual reality may be useful in delivering hypnosis, and to summarize the scientific literature to date. We will also explore various theoretical and methodological issues that can guide future research.In spite of the encouraging scientific and clinical findings, hypnosis for analgesia is not universally used in medical centres. One reason for the slow acceptance is the extensive provider training required in order for hypnosis to be an effective pain management modality. Training in hypnosis is not commonly offered in medical schools or even psychology graduate curricula. Another reason is that hypnosis requires far more time and effort to administer than an analgesic pill or injection. Hypnosis requires training, skill and patience to deliver in medical centres that are often fast-paced and highly demanding of clinician time. Finally, the attention and cognitive effort required for hypnosis may be more than patients in an acute care setting, who may be under the influence of opiates and benzodiazepines, are able to impart. It is a challenge to make hypnosis a standard part of care in this environment

Peripersonal Space: An Index of Multisensory Body–Environment Interactions in Real, Virtual, and Mixed Realities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Serino

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Human–environment interactions normally occur in the physical milieu and thus by medium of the body and within the space immediately adjacent to and surrounding the body, the peripersonal space (PPS. However, human interactions increasingly occur with or within virtual environments, and hence novel approaches and metrics must be developed to index human–environment interactions in virtual reality (VR. Here, we present a multisensory task that measures the spatial extent of human PPS in real, virtual, and augmented realities. We validated it in a mixed reality (MR ecosystem in which real environment and virtual objects are blended together in order to administer and control visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli in ecologically valid conditions. Within this mixed-reality environment, participants are asked to respond as fast as possible to tactile stimuli on their body, while task-irrelevant visual or audiovisual stimuli approach their body. Results demonstrate that, in analogy with observations derived from monkey electrophysiology and in real environmental surroundings, tactile detection is enhanced when visual or auditory stimuli are close to the body, and not when far from it. We then calculate the location where this multisensory facilitation occurs as a proxy of the boundary of PPS. We observe that mapping of PPS via audiovisual, as opposed to visual alone, looming stimuli results in sigmoidal fits—allowing for the bifurcation between near and far space—with greater goodness of fit. In sum, our approach is able to capture the boundaries of PPS on a spatial continuum, at the individual-subject level, and within a fully controlled and previously laboratory-validated setup, while maintaining the richness and ecological validity of real-life events. The task can therefore be applied to study the properties of PPS in humans and to index the features governing human–environment interactions in virtual or MR. We propose PPS as an

Virtual Reality and Haptics for Product Assembly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Teresa Restivo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Haptics can significantly enhance the user's sense of immersion and interactivity. An industrial application of virtual reality and haptics for product assembly is described in this paper, which provides a new and low-cost approach for product assembly design, assembly task planning and assembly operation training. A demonstration of the system with haptics device interaction was available at the session of exp.at'11.

Virtual reality simulators and training in laparoscopic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Yiannakopoulou, Eugenia; Nikiteas, Nikolaos; Perrea, Despina; Tsigris, Christos

2015-01-01

Virtual reality simulators provide basic skills training without supervision in a controlled environment, free of pressure of operating on patients. Skills obtained through virtual reality simulation training can be transferred on the operating room. However, relative evidence is limited with data available only for basic surgical skills and for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. No data exist on the effect of virtual reality simulation on performance on advanced surgical procedures. Evidence suggests that performance on virtual reality simulators reliably distinguishes experienced from novice surgeons Limited available data suggest that independent approach on virtual reality simulation training is not different from proctored approach. The effect of virtual reality simulators training on acquisition of basic surgical skills does not seem to be different from the effect the physical simulators. Limited data exist on the effect of virtual reality simulation training on the acquisition of visual spatial perception and stress coping skills. Undoubtedly, virtual reality simulation training provides an alternative means of improving performance in laparoscopic surgery. However, future research efforts should focus on the effect of virtual reality simulation on performance in the context of advanced surgical procedure, on standardization of training, on the possibility of synergistic effect of virtual reality simulation training combined with mental training, on personalized training. Copyright © 2014 Surgical Associates Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NeuroVR: an open source virtual reality platform for clinical psychology and behavioral neurosciences.

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Riva, Giuseppe; Gaggioli, Andrea; Villani, Daniela; Preziosa, Alessandra; Morganti, Francesca; Corsi, Riccardo; Faletti, Gianluca; Vezzadini, Luca

2007-01-01

In the past decade, the use of virtual reality for clinical and research applications has become more widespread. However, the diffusion of this approach is still limited by three main issues: poor usability, lack of technical expertise among clinical professionals, and high costs. To address these challenges, we introduce NeuroVR (http://www.neurovr.org--http://www.neurotiv.org), a cost-free virtual reality platform based on open-source software, that allows non-expert users to adapt the content of a pre-designed virtual environment to meet the specific needs of the clinical or experimental setting. Using the NeuroVR Editor, the user can choose the appropriate psychological stimuli/stressors from a database of objects (both 2D and 3D) and videos, and easily place them into the virtual environment. The edited scene can then be visualized in the NeuroVR Player using either immersive or non-immersive displays. Currently, the NeuroVR library includes different virtual scenes (apartment, office, square, supermarket, park, classroom, etc.), covering two of the most studied clinical applications of VR: specific phobias and eating disorders. The NeuroVR Editor is based on Blender (http://www.blender.org), the open source, cross-platform suite of tools for 3D creation, and is available as a completely free resource. An interesting feature of the NeuroVR Editor is the possibility to add new objects to the database. This feature allows the therapist to enhance the patient's feeling of familiarity and intimacy with the virtual scene, i.e., by using photos or movies of objects/people that are part of the patient's daily life, thereby improving the efficacy of the exposure. The NeuroVR platform runs on standard personal computers with Microsoft Windows; the only requirement for the hardware is related to the graphics card, which must support OpenGL.

Wind and warmth in virtual reality: implementation and evaluation

OpenAIRE

Hülsmann, Felix; Fröhlich, Julia; Mattar, Nikita; Wachsmuth, Ipke

2014-01-01

One possibility to make virtual worlds more immersive is to address as many human senses as possible. This paper presents the development of a system for creating wind and warmth simulations in Virtual Reality (VR). Therefore, suitable hardware and an implemented software model are described. Technical evaluations of the hardware and of the software components demonstrate the usability of the system in VR Applications. Furthermore, a user study underlines users’ acceptance and indicates a pos...

Language-driven anticipatory eye movements in virtual reality.

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Eichert, Nicole; Peeters, David; Hagoort, Peter

2018-06-01

Predictive language processing is often studied by measuring eye movements as participants look at objects on a computer screen while they listen to spoken sentences. This variant of the visual-world paradigm has revealed that information encountered by a listener at a spoken verb can give rise to anticipatory eye movements to a target object, which is taken to indicate that people predict upcoming words. The ecological validity of such findings remains questionable, however, because these computer experiments used two-dimensional stimuli that were mere abstractions of real-world objects. Here we present a visual-world paradigm study in a three-dimensional (3-D) immersive virtual reality environment. Despite significant changes in the stimulus materials and the different mode of stimulus presentation, language-mediated anticipatory eye movements were still observed. These findings thus indicate that people do predict upcoming words during language comprehension in a more naturalistic setting where natural depth cues are preserved. Moreover, the results confirm the feasibility of using eyetracking in rich and multimodal 3-D virtual environments.

Mixed Reality with HoloLens: Where Virtual Reality Meets Augmented Reality in the Operating Room.

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Tepper, Oren M; Rudy, Hayeem L; Lefkowitz, Aaron; Weimer, Katie A; Marks, Shelby M; Stern, Carrie S; Garfein, Evan S

2017-11-01

Virtual reality and augmented reality devices have recently been described in the surgical literature. The authors have previously explored various iterations of these devices, and although they show promise, it has become clear that virtual reality and/or augmented reality devices alone do not adequately meet the demands of surgeons. The solution may lie in a hybrid technology known as mixed reality, which merges many virtual reality and augmented realty features. Microsoft's HoloLens, the first commercially available mixed reality device, provides surgeons intraoperative hands-free access to complex data, the real environment, and bidirectional communication. This report describes the use of HoloLens in the operating room to improve decision-making and surgical workflow. The pace of mixed reality-related technological development will undoubtedly be rapid in the coming years, and plastic surgeons are ideally suited to both lead and benefit from this advance.

Motor learning from virtual reality to natural environments in individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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Quadrado, Virgínia Helena; Silva, Talita Dias da; Favero, Francis Meire; Tonks, James; Massetti, Thais; Monteiro, Carlos Bandeira de Mello

2017-11-10

To examine whether performance improvements in the virtual environment generalize to the natural environment. we had 64 individuals, 32 of which were individuals with DMD and 32 were typically developing individuals. The groups practiced two coincidence timing tasks. In the more tangible button-press task, the individuals were required to 'intercept' a falling virtual object at the moment it reached the interception point by pressing a key on the computer. In the more abstract task, they were instructed to 'intercept' the virtual object by making a hand movement in a virtual environment using a webcam. For individuals with DMD, conducting a coincidence timing task in a virtual environment facilitated transfer to the real environment. However, we emphasize that a task practiced in a virtual environment should have higher rates of difficulties than a task practiced in a real environment. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Virtual environments can be used to promote improved performance in ?real-world? environments. Virtual environments offer the opportunity to create paradigms similar ?real-life? tasks, however task complexity and difficulty levels can be manipulated, graded and enhanced to increase likelihood of success in transfer of learning and performance. Individuals with DMD, in particular, showed immediate performance benefits after using virtual reality.

Virtual Reality as Innovative Approach to the Interior Designing

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Kaleja, Pavol; Kozlovská, Mária

2017-06-01

We can observe significant potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) in interior designing field, by development of software and hardware virtual reality tools. Using ICT tools offer realistic perception of proposal in its initial idea (the study). A group of real-time visualization, supported by hardware tools like Oculus Rift HTC Vive, provides free walkthrough and movement in virtual interior with the possibility of virtual designing. By improving of ICT software tools for designing in virtual reality we can achieve still more realistic virtual environment. The contribution presented proposal of an innovative approach of interior designing in virtual reality, using the latest software and hardware ICT virtual reality technologies

Requirements of Integrated Design Teams While Evaluating Advanced Energy Retrofit Design Options in Immersive Virtual Environments

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Xue Yang

2015-12-01

Full Text Available One of the significant ways to save energy use in buildings is to implement advanced energy retrofits in existing buildings. Improving energy performance of buildings through advanced energy retrofitting requires a clear understanding of the cost and energy implications of design alternatives from various engineering disciplines when different retrofit options are considered. The communication of retrofit design alternatives and their energy implications is essential in the decision-making process, as it affects the final retrofit selections and hence the energy efficiency of the retrofitted buildings. The objective of the research presented here was to identify a generic list of information requirements that are needed to be shared and collectively analyzed by integrated design teams during advanced energy retrofit design review meetings held in immersive settings. While identifying such requirements, the authors used an immersive environment based iterative requirements elicitation approach. The technology was used as a means to better identify the information requirements of integrated design teams to be analyzed as a group. This paper provides findings on information requirements of integrated design teams when evaluating retrofit options in immersive virtual environments. The information requirements were identified through interactions with sixteen experts in design and energy modeling domain, and validated with another group of participants consisting of six design experts who were experienced in integrated design processes. Industry practitioners can use the findings in deciding on what information to share with integrated design team members during design review meetings that utilize immersive virtual environments.

Virtual Reality and the Virtual Library.

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Oppenheim, Charles

1993-01-01

Explains virtual reality, including proper and improper uses of the term, and suggests ways that libraries might be affected by it. Highlights include elements of virtual reality systems; possible virtual reality applications, including architecture, the chemical industry, transport planning, armed forces, and entertainment; and the virtual…

Embodying Others in Immersive Virtual Reality: Electro-Cortical Signatures of Monitoring the Errors in the Actions of an Avatar Seen from a First-Person Perspective.

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Pavone, Enea Francesco; Tieri, Gaetano; Rizza, Giulia; Tidoni, Emmanuele; Grisoni, Luigi; Aglioti, Salvatore Maria

2016-01-13

Brain monitoring of errors in one's own and other's actions is crucial for a variety of processes, ranging from the fine-tuning of motor skill learning to important social functions, such as reading out and anticipating the intentions of others. Here, we combined immersive virtual reality and EEG recording to explore whether embodying the errors of an avatar by seeing it from a first-person perspective may activate the error monitoring system in the brain of an onlooker. We asked healthy participants to observe, from a first- or third-person perspective, an avatar performing a correct or an incorrect reach-to-grasp movement toward one of two virtual mugs placed on a table. At the end of each trial, participants reported verbally how much they embodied the avatar's arm. Ratings were maximal in first-person perspective, indicating that immersive virtual reality can be a powerful tool to induce embodiment of an artificial agent, even through mere visual perception and in the absence of any cross-modal boosting. Observation of erroneous grasping from a first-person perspective enhanced error-related negativity and medial-frontal theta power in the trials where human onlookers embodied the virtual character, hinting at the tight link between early, automatic coding of error detection and sense of embodiment. Error positivity was similar in 1PP and 3PP, suggesting that conscious coding of errors is similar for self and other. Thus, embodiment plays an important role in activating specific components of the action monitoring system when others' errors are coded as if they are one's own errors. Detecting errors in other's actions is crucial for social functions, such as reading out and anticipating the intentions of others. Using immersive virtual reality and EEG recording, we explored how the brain of an onlooker reacted to the errors of an avatar seen from a first-person perspective. We found that mere observation of erroneous actions enhances electrocortical markers of

Discovering new methods of data fusion, visualization, and analysis in 3D immersive environments for hyperspectral and laser altimetry data

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Moore, C. A.; Gertman, V.; Olsoy, P.; Mitchell, J.; Glenn, N. F.; Joshi, A.; Norpchen, D.; Shrestha, R.; Pernice, M.; Spaete, L.; Grover, S.; Whiting, E.; Lee, R.

2011-12-01

Immersive virtual reality environments such as the IQ-Station or CAVE° (Cave Automated Virtual Environment) offer new and exciting ways to visualize and explore scientific data and are powerful research and educational tools. Combining remote sensing data from a range of sensor platforms in immersive 3D environments can enhance the spectral, textural, spatial, and temporal attributes of the data, which enables scientists to interact and analyze the data in ways never before possible. Visualization and analysis of large remote sensing datasets in immersive environments requires software customization for integrating LiDAR point cloud data with hyperspectral raster imagery, the generation of quantitative tools for multidimensional analysis, and the development of methods to capture 3D visualizations for stereographic playback. This study uses hyperspectral and LiDAR data acquired over the China Hat geologic study area near Soda Springs, Idaho, USA. The data are fused into a 3D image cube for interactive data exploration and several methods of recording and playback are investigated that include: 1) creating and implementing a Virtual Reality User Interface (VRUI) patch configuration file to enable recording and playback of VRUI interactive sessions within the CAVE and 2) using the LiDAR and hyperspectral remote sensing data and GIS data to create an ArcScene 3D animated flyover, where left- and right-eye visuals are captured from two independent monitors for playback in a stereoscopic player. These visualizations can be used as outreach tools to demonstrate how integrated data and geotechnology techniques can help scientists see, explore, and more adequately comprehend scientific phenomena, both real and abstract.

Multisensory Integration in the Virtual Hand Illusion with Active Movement

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Woong Choi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Improving the sense of immersion is one of the core issues in virtual reality. Perceptual illusions of ownership can be perceived over a virtual body in a multisensory virtual reality environment. Rubber Hand and Virtual Hand Illusions showed that body ownership can be manipulated by applying suitable visual and tactile stimulation. In this study, we investigate the effects of multisensory integration in the Virtual Hand Illusion with active movement. A virtual xylophone playing system which can interactively provide synchronous visual, tactile, and auditory stimulation was constructed. We conducted two experiments regarding different movement conditions and different sensory stimulations. Our results demonstrate that multisensory integration with free active movement can improve the sense of immersion in virtual reality.

Nomad devices for interactions in immersive virtual environments

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George, Paul; Kemeny, Andras; Merienne, Frédéric; Chardonnet, Jean-Rémy; Thouvenin, Indira Mouttapa; Posselt, Javier; Icart, Emmanuel

2013-03-01

Renault is currently setting up a new CAVE™, a 5 rear-projected wall virtual reality room with a combined 3D resolution of 100 Mpixels, distributed over sixteen 4k projectors and two 2k projector as well as an additional 3D HD collaborative powerwall. Renault's CAVE™ aims at answering needs of the various vehicle conception steps [1]. Starting from vehicle Design, through the subsequent Engineering steps, Ergonomic evaluation and perceived quality control, Renault has built up a list of use-cases and carried out an early software evaluation in the four sided CAVE™ of Institute Image, called MOVE. One goal of the project is to study interactions in a CAVE™, especially with nomad devices such as IPhone or IPad to manipulate virtual objects and to develop visualization possibilities. Inspired by nomad devices current uses (multi-touch gestures, IPhone UI look'n'feel and AR applications), we have implemented an early feature set taking advantage of these popular input devices. In this paper, we present its performance through measurement data collected in our test platform, a 4-sided homemade low-cost virtual reality room, powered by ultra-short-range and standard HD home projectors.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT FOR HISHAM PALACE IN JERICHO, PALESTINE

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Shadi Ghadban

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This study aims to introduce Virtual Reality (VR techniques as a tool to develop an interactive environment for cultural heritage sites in Palestine; these sites have their own specific problems and challenges, which have significantly affected most of the existing sites and cause their continuous deterioration. The virtual replicas of these sites and landscapes can act as a medium for their preservation, documentation, interpretation and intervention, assisting in education, tourism and an increase in public awareness regarding their significant value. For this purpose, Hisham Palace in Jericho was chosen as a case study. The historical layers of Hisham Palace were studied and visualized using advanced 3D visualization techniques by applying a five-step approach to analyze and model different elements of the palace to assemble them at a later stage. This approach was implemented due to the critical condition of the physical remains and the insufficient literature on the history of the palace. As a result, a initial 3D virtual reality model was obtained, presented and discussed in a 3D immersive  environment at the Virtual Reality Lab (VR Lab at Birzeit University.

Enhancements to VTK enabling Scientific Visualization in Immersive Environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Leary, Patrick; Jhaveri, Sankhesh; Chaudhary, Aashish; Sherman, William; Martin, Ken; Lonie, David; Whiting, Eric; Money, James

2017-04-01

Modern scientific, engineering and medical computational sim- ulations, as well as experimental and observational data sens- ing/measuring devices, produce enormous amounts of data. While statistical analysis provides insight into this data, scientific vi- sualization is tactically important for scientific discovery, prod- uct design and data analysis. These benefits are impeded, how- ever, when scientific visualization algorithms are implemented from scratch—a time-consuming and redundant process in im- mersive application development. This process can greatly ben- efit from leveraging the state-of-the-art open-source Visualization Toolkit (VTK) and its community. Over the past two (almost three) decades, integrating VTK with a virtual reality (VR) environment has only been attempted to varying degrees of success. In this pa- per, we demonstrate two new approaches to simplify this amalga- mation of an immersive interface with visualization rendering from VTK. In addition, we cover several enhancements to VTK that pro- vide near real-time updates and efficient interaction. Finally, we demonstrate the combination of VTK with both Vrui and OpenVR immersive environments in example applications.

Enhancing Time-Connectives with 3D Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR)

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Passig, David; Eden, Sigal

2010-01-01

This study sought to test the most efficient representation mode with which children with hearing impairment could express a story while producing connectives indicating relations of time and of cause and effect. Using Bruner's (1973, 1986, 1990) representation stages, we tested the comparative effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) as a mode of…

Does Feedback Design Matter? A Neurofeedback Study Comparing Immersive Virtual Reality and Traditional Training Screens in Elderly

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Silvia Erika Kober

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Neurofeedback (NF is a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI application, in which the brain activity is fed back to the user in real-time enabling voluntary brain control. In this context, the significance of the feedback design is mainly unexplored. Highly immersive feedback scenarios using virtual reality (VR technique are available. However, their effects on subjective user experience as well as on objective outcome measures remain open. In the present article, we discuss the general pros and cons of using VR as feedback modality in BCI applications. Furthermore, we report on the results of an empirical study, in which the effects of traditional two-dimensional and three-dimensional VR based feedback scenarios on NF training performance and user experience in healthy older individuals and neurologic patients were compared. In conclusion, we suggest indications and contraindications of immersive VR feedback designs in BCI applications. Our results show that findings in healthy individuals are not always transferable to patient populations having an impact on serious game and feedback design.

Physical Models and Virtual Reality Simulators in Otolaryngology.

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Javia, Luv; Sardesai, Maya G

2017-10-01

The increasing role of simulation in the medical education of future otolaryngologists has followed suit with other surgical disciplines. Simulators make it possible for the resident to explore and learn in a safe and less stressful environment. The various subspecialties in otolaryngology use physical simulators and virtual-reality simulators. Although physical simulators allow the operator to make direct contact with its components, virtual-reality simulators allow the operator to interact with an environment that is computer generated. This article gives an overview of the various types of physical simulators and virtual-reality simulators used in otolaryngology that have been reported in the literature. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Children's Perception of Gap Affordances: Bicycling Across Traffic-Filled Intersections in an Immersive Virtual Environment

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Plumert, Jodie M.; Kearney, Joseph K.; Cremer, James F.

2004-01-01

This study examined gap choices and crossing behavior in children and adults using an immersive, interactive bicycling simulator. Ten- and 12-year-olds and adults rode a bicycle mounted on a stationary trainer through a virtual environment consisting of a street with 6 intersections. Participants faced continuous cross traffic traveling at 25mph…

An innovative virtual reality training tool for orthognathic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Pulijala, Y; Ma, M; Pears, M; Peebles, D; Ayoub, A

2018-02-01

Virtual reality (VR) surgery using Oculus Rift and Leap Motion devices is a multi-sensory, holistic surgical training experience. A multimedia combination including 360° videos, three-dimensional interaction, and stereoscopic videos in VR has been developed to enable trainees to experience a realistic surgery environment. The innovation allows trainees to interact with the individual components of the maxillofacial anatomy and apply surgical instruments while watching close-up stereoscopic three-dimensional videos of the surgery. In this study, a novel training tool for Le Fort I osteotomy based on immersive virtual reality (iVR) was developed and validated. Seven consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeons evaluated the application for face and content validity. Using a structured assessment process, the surgeons commented on the content of the developed training tool, its realism and usability, and the applicability of VR surgery for orthognathic surgical training. The results confirmed the clinical applicability of VR for delivering training in orthognathic surgery. Modifications were suggested to improve the user experience and interactions with the surgical instruments. This training tool is ready for testing with surgical trainees. Copyright © 2018 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

VIRTUAL WOLVERHAMPTON: RECREATING THE HISTORIC CITY IN VIRTUAL REALITY

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Eleanor Ramsey

2017-11-01

Full Text Available While many towns and cities have historic origins, the modern urban landscape is often unrecognisable from the past. Over the last two thousand years innumerable changes have occurred, from the Roman period to the Industrial Revolution, culminating in wide scale development and redevelopment of towns and cities during the 19th and 20th centuries. Fragments of the past survive as extant buildings, monuments, and areas, and are offered protection through mechanisms such as the National Heritage List for England. However, these buildings are part of a dynamic and changing environment, and their place within their original landscape not always visible. Meanwhile, the advent of mainstream and accessible immersive virtual reality offers opportunities to recreate and explore the past, and to disseminate a deeper understanding of the history and historic context of our heritage assets to a broader audience via new technologies. This paper discusses a project based on Wolverhampton that aims to create immersive and 360° experiences of the historic city that allows the user or viewer to explore how the city might have been in the past from a ‘first person’ perspective. It uses multiple approaches to gather, verify and validate archival data, records, maps and building style information. The project itself is a work-in-progress, with various approaches being explored. It looks at sources of information used to inform the virtual world; software and methodologies used to create the model; different forms of VR output; potential forms of funding for wider dissemination; and problems encountered so far.

ATLASrift - a Virtual Reality application

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Vukotic, Ilija; The ATLAS collaboration

2016-01-01

We present ATLASrift - a Virtual Reality application that provides an interactive, immersive visit to ATLAS experiment. We envision it being used in two different ways: first as an educational and outreach tool - for schools, universities, museums and interested individuals, and secondly as an event viewer for ATLAS physicists – for them it will provide a much better spatial awareness of an event, track and jet directions, occupancies and interactions with detector structures. Using it, one can learn about the experiment as a whole, visit individual sub-detectors, view real interactions, or take a scripted walkthrough explaining questions physicists are trying to answer. We briefly describe our platform of choice – OculusRift VR system, the development environment – UnrealEngine, and, in detail, the numerous technically demanding requirements that had to be fulfilled in order to provide a comfortable user experience. Plans for future versions include making the experience social by adding multi-user/vir...

What virtual reality research in addictions can tell us about the future of obesity assessment and treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Bordnick, Patrick S; Carter, Brian L; Traylor, Amy C

2011-03-01

Virtual reality (VR), a system of human-computer interaction that allows researchers and clinicians to immerse people in virtual worlds, is gaining considerable traction as a research, education, and treatment tool. Virtual reality has been used successfully to treat anxiety disorders such as fear of flying and post-traumatic stress disorder, as an aid in stroke rehabilitation, and as a behavior modification aid in the treatment of attention deficit disorder. Virtual reality has also been employed in research on addictive disorders. Given the strong evidence that drug-dependent people are highly prone to use and relapse in the presence of environmental stimuli associated with drug use, VR is an ideal platform from which to study this relationship. Research using VR has shown that drug-dependent people react with strong craving to specific cues (e.g., cigarette packs, liquor bottles) as well as environments or settings (e.g., bar, party) associated with drug use. Virtual reality has also been used to enhance learning and generalization of relapse prevention skills in smokers by reinforcing these skills in lifelike environments. Obesity researchers and treatment professionals, building on the lessons learned from VR research in substance abuse, have the opportunity to adapt these methods for investigating their own research and treatment questions. Virtual reality is ideally suited to investigate the link between food cues and environmental settings with eating behaviors and self-report of hunger. In addition, VR can be used as a treatment tool for enhancing behavior modification goals to support healthy eating habits by reinforcing these goals in life-like situations. © 2011 Diabetes Technology Society.

The use of immersive virtual reality (VR) to predict the occurrence 6 months later of paranoid thinking and posttraumatic stress symptoms assessed by self-report and interviewer methods: a study of individuals who have been physically assaulted.

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Freeman, Daniel; Antley, Angus; Ehlers, Anke; Dunn, Graham; Thompson, Claire; Vorontsova, Natasha; Garety, Philippa; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Glucksman, Edward; Slater, Mel

2014-09-01

Presentation of social situations via immersive virtual reality (VR) has the potential to be an ecologically valid way of assessing psychiatric symptoms. In this study we assess the occurrence of paranoid thinking and of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in response to a single neutral VR social environment as predictors of later psychiatric symptoms assessed by standard methods. One hundred six people entered an immersive VR social environment (a train ride), presented via a head-mounted display, 4 weeks after having attended hospital because of a physical assault. Paranoid thinking about the neutral computer-generated characters and the occurrence of PTSD symptoms in VR were assessed. Reactions in VR were then used to predict the occurrence 6 months later of symptoms of paranoia and PTSD, as assessed by standard interviewer and self-report methods. Responses to VR predicted the severity of paranoia and PTSD symptoms as assessed by standard measures 6 months later. The VR assessments also added predictive value to the baseline interviewer methods, especially for paranoia. Brief exposure to environments presented via virtual reality provides a symptom assessment with predictive ability over many months. VR assessment may be of particular benefit for difficult to assess problems, such as paranoia, that have no gold standard assessment method. In the future, VR environments may be used in the clinic to complement standard self-report and clinical interview methods. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Creativity in Technology Education Facilitated through Virtual Reality Learning Environments: A Case Study

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Thorsteinsson, Gisli; Page, Tom

2007-01-01

Innovation Education (IE) is a new subject area in Icelandic schools. The aim of the subject is to train students to identify the needs and problems in their environment and to develop solutions: a process of ideation. This activity has been classroom based but now a Virtual Reality Learning Environment technology (VRLE) has been designed to…

Visual appearance of a virtual upper limb modulates the temperature of the real hand: a thermal imaging study in Immersive Virtual Reality.

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Tieri, Gaetano; Gioia, Annamaria; Scandola, Michele; Pavone, Enea F; Aglioti, Salvatore M

2017-05-01

To explore the link between Sense of Embodiment (SoE) over a virtual hand and physiological regulation of skin temperature, 24 healthy participants were immersed in virtual reality through a Head Mounted Display and had their real limb temperature recorded by means of a high-sensitivity infrared camera. Participants observed a virtual right upper limb (appearing either normally, or with the hand detached from the forearm) or limb-shaped non-corporeal control objects (continuous or discontinuous wooden blocks) from a first-person perspective. Subjective ratings of SoE were collected in each observation condition, as well as temperatures of the right and left hand, wrist and forearm. The observation of these complex, body and body-related virtual scenes resulted in increased real hand temperature when compared to a baseline condition in which a 3d virtual ball was presented. Crucially, observation of non-natural appearances of the virtual limb (discontinuous limb) and limb-shaped non-corporeal objects elicited high increase in real hand temperature and low SoE. In contrast, observation of the full virtual limb caused high SoE and low temperature changes in the real hand with respect to the other conditions. Interestingly, the temperature difference across the different conditions occurred according to a topographic rule that included both hands. Our study sheds new light on the role of an external hand's visual appearance and suggests a tight link between higher-order bodily self-representations and topographic regulation of skin temperature. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Direct Manipulation in Virtual Reality

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Bryson, Steve

2003-01-01

Virtual Reality interfaces offer several advantages for scientific visualization such as the ability to perceive three-dimensional data structures in a natural way. The focus of this chapter is direct manipulation, the ability for a user in virtual reality to control objects in the virtual environment in a direct and natural way, much as objects are manipulated in the real world. Direct manipulation provides many advantages for the exploration of complex, multi-dimensional data sets, by allowing the investigator the ability to intuitively explore the data environment. Because direct manipulation is essentially a control interface, it is better suited for the exploration and analysis of a data set than for the publishing or communication of features found in that data set. Thus direct manipulation is most relevant to the analysis of complex data that fills a volume of three-dimensional space, such as a fluid flow data set. Direct manipulation allows the intuitive exploration of that data, which facilitates the discovery of data features that would be difficult to find using more conventional visualization methods. Using a direct manipulation interface in virtual reality, an investigator can, for example, move a data probe about in space, watching the results and getting a sense of how the data varies within its spatial volume.

A virtual reality environment for telescope operation

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Martínez, Luis A.; Villarreal, José L.; Ángeles, Fernando; Bernal, Abel

2010-07-01

Astronomical observatories and telescopes are becoming increasingly large and complex systems, demanding to any potential user the acquirement of great amount of information previous to access them. At present, the most common way to overcome that information is through the implementation of larger graphical user interfaces and computer monitors to increase the display area. Tonantzintla Observatory has a 1-m telescope with a remote observing system. As a step forward in the improvement of the telescope software, we have designed a Virtual Reality (VR) environment that works as an extension of the remote system and allows us to operate the telescope. In this work we explore this alternative technology that is being suggested here as a software platform for the operation of the 1-m telescope.

Virtually compliant: Immersive video gaming increases conformity to false computer judgments.

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Weger, Ulrich W; Loughnan, Stephen; Sharma, Dinkar; Gonidis, Lazaros

2015-08-01

Real-life encounters with face-to-face contact are on the decline in a world in which many routine tasks are delegated to virtual characters-a development that bears both opportunities and risks. Interacting with such virtual-reality beings is particularly common during role-playing videogames, in which we incarnate into the virtual reality of an avatar. Video gaming is known to lead to the training and development of real-life skills and behaviors; hence, in the present study we sought to explore whether role-playing video gaming primes individuals' identification with a computer enough to increase computer-related social conformity. Following immersive video gaming, individuals were indeed more likely to give up their own best judgment and to follow the vote of computers, especially when the stimulus context was ambiguous. Implications for human-computer interactions and for our understanding of the formation of identity and self-concept are discussed.

Physics Education in Virtual Reality: An Example

OpenAIRE

Hannes Kaufmann; Bernd Meyer

2009-01-01

We present an immersive virtual reality (VR) application for physics education. It utilizes a recent physics engine developed for the PC gaming market to simulate physical experiments correctly and accurately. Students are enabled to actively build their own experiments and study them. A variety of tools are provided to analyze forces, mass, paths and other properties of objects before, during and after experiments. Innovative teaching content is presented thatexploits the strengths of the 3D...

Molecular Rift: Virtual Reality for Drug Designers.

Science.gov (United States)

Norrby, Magnus; Grebner, Christoph; Eriksson, Joakim; Boström, Jonas