scholarly journals Active Vision in Immersive, 360° Real-World Environments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda J. Haskins ◽  
Jeff Mentch ◽  
Thomas L. Botch ◽  
Caroline E. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Real World ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
First Person ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Gaze Behavior ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Passive Viewing ◽  
First Person Perspective

AbstractVision is an active process. Humans actively sample their sensory environment via saccades, head turns, and body movements. Yet, little is known about active visual processing in real-world environments. Here, we exploited recent advances in immersive virtual reality (VR) and in-headset eye-tracking to show that active viewing conditions impact how humans process complex, real-world scenes. Specifically, we used quantitative, model-based analyses to compare which visual features participants prioritize over others while encoding a novel environment in two experimental conditions: active and passive. In the active condition, participants used head-mounted VR displays to explore 360º scenes from a first-person perspective via self-directed motion (saccades and head turns). In the passive condition, 360º scenes were passively displayed to participants within the VR headset while they were head-restricted. Our results show that signatures of top-down attentional guidance increase in active viewing conditions: active viewers disproportionately allocate their attention to semantically relevant scene features, as compared with passive viewers. We also observed increased signatures of exploratory behavior in eye movements, such as quicker, more entropic fixations during active as compared with passive viewing conditions. These results have broad implications for studies of visual cognition, suggesting that active viewing influences every aspect of gaze behavior – from the way we move our eyes to what we choose to attend to – as we construct a sense of place in a real-world environment.Significance StatementEye-tracking in immersive virtual reality offers an unprecedented opportunity to study human gaze behavior under naturalistic viewing conditions without sacrificing experimental control. Here, we advanced this new technique to show how humans deploy attention as they encode a diverse set of 360º, real-world scenes, actively explored from a first-person perspective using head turns and saccades. Our results build on classic studies in psychology, showing that active, as compared with passive, viewing conditions fundamentally alter perceptual processing. Specifically, active viewing conditions increase information-seeking behavior in humans, producing faster, more entropic fixations, which are disproportionately deployed to scene areas that are rich in semantic meaning. In addition, our results offer key benchmark measurements of gaze behavior in 360°, naturalistic environments.

scholarly journals The Bodily Illusion in Adverse Conditions: Virtual Arm Ownership During Visuomotor Mismatch

Perception ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Caola ◽  
Martina Montalti ◽  
Alessandro Zanini ◽  
Antony Leadbetter ◽  
Matteo Martini
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Arm Movements ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Body Ownership ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Adverse Conditions ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
First Person Perspective ◽  
Subjective Reports ◽  
Bodily Illusion

Classically, body ownership illusions are triggered by cross-modal synchronous stimulations, and hampered by multisensory inconsistencies. Nonetheless, the boundaries of such illusions have been proven to be highly plastic. In this immersive virtual reality study, we explored whether it is possible to induce a sense of body ownership over a virtual body part during visuomotor inconsistencies, with or without the aid of concomitant visuo-tactile stimulations. From a first-person perspective, participants watched a virtual tube moving or an avatar’s arm moving, with or without concomitant synchronous visuo-tactile stimulations on their hand. Three different virtual arm/tube speeds were also investigated, while all participants kept their real arms still. The subjective reports show that synchronous visuo-tactile stimulations effectively counteract the effect of visuomotor inconsistencies, but at slow arm movements, a feeling of body ownership might be successfully induced even without concomitant multisensory correspondences. Possible therapeutical implications of these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Effects of Avatar Perspective on Joint Excursions Used to Play Virtual Dodgeball: Within-Subject Comparative Study

10.2196/18888 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. e18888
Author(s):  
Susanne M van der Veen ◽  
Alexander Stamenkovic ◽  
Megan E Applegate ◽  
Samuel T Leitkam ◽  
Christopher R France ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
First Person ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
The Third ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Third Person ◽  
First Person Perspective ◽  
Third Person Perspective ◽  
The Third Person

Background Visual representation of oneself is likely to affect movement patterns. Prior work in virtual dodgeball showed greater excursion of the ankles, knees, hips, spine, and shoulder occurs when presented in the first-person perspective compared to the third-person perspective. However, the mode of presentation differed between the two conditions such that a head-mounted display was used to present the avatar in the first-person perspective, but a 3D television (3DTV) display was used to present the avatar in the third-person. Thus, it is unknown whether changes in joint excursions are driven by the visual display (head-mounted display versus 3DTV) or avatar perspective during virtual gameplay. Objective This study aimed to determine the influence of avatar perspective on joint excursion in healthy individuals playing virtual dodgeball using a head-mounted display. Methods Participants (n=29, 15 male, 14 female) performed full-body movements to intercept launched virtual targets presented in a game of virtual dodgeball using a head-mounted display. Two avatar perspectives were compared during each session of gameplay. A first-person perspective was created by placing the center of the displayed content at the bridge of the participant’s nose, while a third-person perspective was created by placing the camera view at the participant’s eye level but set 1 m behind the participant avatar. During gameplay, virtual dodgeballs were launched at a consistent velocity of 30 m/s to one of nine locations determined by a combination of three different intended impact heights and three different directions (left, center, or right) based on subject anthropometrics. Joint kinematics and angular excursions of the ankles, knees, hips, lumbar spine, elbows, and shoulders were assessed. Results The change in joint excursions from initial posture to the interception of the virtual dodgeball were averaged across trials. Separate repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed greater excursions of the ankle (P=.010), knee (P=.001), hip (P=.0014), spine (P=.001), and shoulder (P=.001) joints while playing virtual dodgeball in the first versus third-person perspective. Aligning with the expectations, there was a significant effect of impact height on joint excursions. Conclusions As clinicians develop treatment strategies in virtual reality to shape motion in orthopedic populations, it is important to be aware that changes in avatar perspective can significantly influence motor behavior. These data are important for the development of virtual reality assessment and treatment tools that are becoming increasingly practical for home and clinic-based rehabilitation.

scholarly journals The Effects of Cinematic Virtual Reality on Viewing Experience and the Recollection of Narrative Elements

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-425
Author(s):  
Kata Szita ◽  
Pierre Gander ◽  
David Wallstén
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Emotional Engagement ◽  
First Person ◽  
Moving Image ◽  
Narrative Space ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Camera Perspective ◽  
First Person Perspective ◽  
Memory Characteristics

Abstract Cinematic virtual reality offers 360-degree moving image experiences that engage a viewer's body as its position defines the momentary perspective over the surrounding simulated space. While a 360-degree narrative space has been demonstrated to provide highly immersive experiences, it may also affect information intake and the recollection of narrative events. The present study hypothesizes that the immersive quality of cinematic VR induces a viewer's first-person perspective in observing a narrative in contrast to a camera perspective. A first-person perspective is associated with increase in emotional engagement, sensation of presence, and a more vivid and accurate recollection of information. To determine these effects, we measured viewing experiences, memory characteristics, and recollection accuracy of participants watching an animated movie either using a VR headset or a stationary screen. The comparison revealed that VR viewers experience a higher level of presence in the displayed environment than screen viewers and that their memories of the movie are more vivid, evoke stronger emotions, and are more likely to be recalled from a first-person perspective. Yet, VR participants can recall fewer details than screen viewers. Overall, these results show that while cinematic virtual reality viewing involves more immersive and intense experiences, the 360-degree composition can negatively impact comprehension and recollection.

scholarly journals Being Short, Sweet, and Sour: Congruent Visuo-Olfactory Stimulation Enhances Illusory Embodiment

Perception ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 693-696
Author(s):  
Marte Roel Lesur ◽  
Helena Aicher ◽  
Sylvain Delplanque ◽  
Bigna Lenggenhager
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Olfactory Stimulation ◽  
First Person ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Multimodal Signals ◽  
First Person Perspective

Bodily self-identification has shown to be easily altered through spatiotemporally congruent multimodal signals. While such manipulations are mostly studied through visuo-tactile or visuo-motor stimulation, here we investigated whether congruent visuo-olfactory cues might enhance illusory self-identification with an arbitrary object. Using virtual reality, healthy individuals saw a grapefruit from its supposed first-person perspective that was touched in synchrony with their own body. The touch attempted to replicate what was seen as softly squeezing the grapefruit. Crucially, when we additionally presented the smell of a grapefruit in synchrony with the squeezing, they self-identified stronger with the fruit than when they smelled strawberry.

scholarly journals Alice in Wonderland: The effects of body size and movement on children’s size perception and bodily awareness in virtual reality

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Keenaghan ◽  
Marie Polaskova ◽  
Simon Thurlbeck ◽  
Robert W. Kentridge ◽  
Dorothy Cowie
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Size Perception ◽  
First Person ◽  
Bodily Awareness ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Alice In Wonderland ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
First Person Perspective ◽  
Virtual Avatar

In adults, illusory embodiment of a virtual avatar can be induced using synchronous visuomotor cues. Further, embodying different-sized avatars influences adults’ perception of their environment’s size. This study (N=92) investigated whether children are also susceptible to such embodiment and size illusions. Adults and 5-year-olds viewed a first-person perspective of different-sized avatars, moving either synchronously or asynchronously with themselves. Participants rated their feelings of embodiment over the avatar, as well as estimating the sizes of their environment and body. Unlike adults, children embodied the avatar regardless of visuomotor synchrony. Both adults and children embodied different-sized avatars, affecting their perception of the size of their environment. These findings have important implications for our understanding of children’s bodily awareness and size perception.

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