scholarly journals Library for universal virtual reality experiments (luVRe): A standardized immersive 3D/360° picture and video database for VR based research

Author(s):  
Benjamin Schöne ◽  
Joanna Kisker ◽  
Rebecca Sophia Sylvester ◽  
Elise Leila Radtke ◽  
Thomas Gruber

AbstractVirtual reality is a promising tool for experimental psychology, enhancing the ecological validity of psychological science. The advantage of VR is that it enables researchers to study emotional and cognitive processes under realistic conditions while maintaining strict experimental control. To make it easier for scientists to get into the world of VR research and to improve the comparability of scientific results, we have created and validated a standardized set of 3D/360° videos and photos. Study 1 investigated the electrophysiological differences between motivational and emotional reactions exhibited under immersive VR and conventional 2D conditions. The obtained frontal alpha asymmetries show diverge patterns between the two conditions giving rise to further speculations that associated psychological processes exhibit more natural functional properties under immersive conditions. The feeling of being at the center of a realistic VR environment creates a sense of self-relevance. In VR, motivational tendencies and emotional reactions are related to objects or persons within the vicinity of the participant and not to the stimuli presented on a screen. Study 2, investigating the memory performance for VR videos as opposed to a conventional 2D screen presentation, provides evidence that memory formed under immersive conditions created more profound memory traces. This so-called memory superiority effect for the VR conditions might again result from the feeling of being in a scene, thus facilitating the formation of autobiographical memory. The implementation of VR experiments using the database is straightforward as it does neither require much technical equipment nor a high level of VR expertise.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamdi Ben Abdessalem ◽  
Claude Frasson

Subjective cognitive decline is an early state of Alzheimer’s Disease which affects almost 10 million people every year. It results from negative emotions such as frustration which are more present than healthy adults. For this reason, our work focuses on relaxing subjective cognitive decline patients using virtual reality environments to improve their memory performance. We proposed in our previous work a neurofeedback approach which adapts the virtual environment to each patient according to their emotions using a Neural Agent. We found that the Neural Agent can adapt the environment to each participant but have limitations. This work is a continuation of our approach in which we propose a Limbic Agent able to monitor the interactions between the Neural Agent and patients’ emotional reactions, learn from these interactions, and modify the Neural Agent in order to enhance the adaptation to each patient with an Intelligent Cognitive Control System. Our goal is to create a system able to support the Limbic System which is the main area in charge of controlling emotions and creating memory in the human brain. We used data collected form our previous work to train the Limbic Agent and results showed that the agent is capable of modifying the weight of existing rules, generating new intervention rules, and predicting if they will work or not.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1653
Author(s):  
Jill Lobbestael ◽  
Maaike J. Cima

Validly measuring aggression is challenging because self-reports are plagued with biased answer tendencies and behavioral measures with ethical concerns and low ecological validity. The current study, therefore, introduces a novel virtual reality (VR) aggression assessment tool, differentially assessing reactive and proactive aggression. Two VR tasks were developed, one in an alley environment (N = 24, all male, Mage = 23.88, 83.3% students) and an improved second one in a bar (N = 50, all male, Mage = 22.54, 90% students). In this bar VR task, participants were randomly assigned to either the reactive condition where they were triggered by a cheating and insulting dart-player or to the proactive condition where they could earn extra money by aggressing. Participants’ level of self-reported aggression and psychopathy was assessed, after which they engaged in either the reactive or proactive VR task. Changes in affect and blood pressure were also measured. Aggression in the reactive VR task was evidenced to mostly display convergent validity because it positively correlated with self-reported aggression and total and fearless dominance factor scores of psychopathy, and there was a trend relationship with increased systolic blood pressure. The validity of the proactive aggression variant of our VR bar paradigm received less support, and needs more refinement. It can be concluded that VR is a potentially promising tool to experimentally induce and assess (reactive) aggression, which has the potential to provide aggression researchers and clinicians with a realistic and modifiable aggression assessment environment.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellie Perniskie ◽  
Nic Ward ◽  
John Dalrymple-Alford ◽  
Joyce Alberts ◽  
Ashok Jansari ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
N. Nozdryukhina ◽  
E. Kabayeva ◽  
E. Kirilyuk ◽  
K. Tushova ◽  
A. Karimov

Despite significant advances in the treatment and rehabilitation of stroke, level of post-stroke disability remains at a fairly high level. Recent innovative developments in the rehabilitation of these patients provide good results in terms of functional outcome. One of such developments is method of virtual reality (VR), which affects not only the speed and volume of regaining movement, as well as coordination, but also normalizes the psycho-emotional background, increasing the motivation of patients to improve the recovery process. This article provides a literature review of the use of the VR method in the rehabilitation of post-stroke patients, neurophysiological aspects of recovery of lost functions using this method are considered.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 5956
Author(s):  
Elena Parra ◽  
Irene Alice Chicchi Giglioli ◽  
Jestine Philip ◽  
Lucia Amalia Carrasco-Ribelles ◽  
Javier Marín-Morales ◽  
...  

In this article, we introduce three-dimensional Serious Games (3DSGs) under an evidence-centered design (ECD) framework and use an organizational neuroscience-based eye-tracking measure to capture implicit behavioral signals associated with leadership skills. While ECD is a well-established framework used in the design and development of assessments, it has rarely been utilized in organizational research. The study proposes a novel 3DSG combined with organizational neuroscience methods as a promising tool to assess and recognize leadership-related behavioral patterns that manifest during complex and realistic social situations. We offer a research protocol for assessing task- and relationship-oriented leadership skills that uses ECD, eye-tracking measures, and machine learning. Seamlessly embedding biological measures into 3DSGs enables objective assessment methods that are based on machine learning techniques to achieve high ecological validity. We conclude by describing a future research agenda for the combined use of 3DSGs and organizational neuroscience methods for leadership and human resources.


Author(s):  
Lucas Meyer de Freitas ◽  
Oliver Schuemperlin ◽  
Milos Balac ◽  
Francesco Ciari

This paper shows an application of the multiagent, activity-based transport simulation MATSim to evaluate equity effects of a congestion charging scheme. A cordon pricing scheme was set up for a scenario of the city of Zurich, Switzerland, to conduct such an analysis. Equity is one of the most important barriers toward the implementation of a congestion charging system. After the challenges posed by equity evaluations are examined, it is shown that agent-based simulations with heterogeneous values of time allow for an increased level of detail in such evaluations. Such detail is achieved through a high level of disaggregation and with a 24-h simulation period. An important difference from traditional large-scale models is the low degree of correlation between travel time savings and welfare change. While traditional equity analysis is based on travel time savings, MATSim shows that choice dimensions not included in traditional models, such as departure time changes, can also play an important role in equity effects. The analysis of the results in light of evidence from the literature shows that agent-based models are a promising tool to conduct more complete equity evaluations not only of congestion charges but also of transport policies in general.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (CHI PLAY) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Andrey Krekhov ◽  
Katharina Emmerich ◽  
Ronja Rotthaler ◽  
Jens Krueger

Escape rooms exist in various forms, including real-life facilities, board games, and digital implementations. The underlying idea is always the same: players have to solve many diverse puzzles to (virtually) escape from a locked room. Within the last decade, we witnessed a rapidly increasing popularity of such games, which also amplified the amount of related research. However, the respective academic landscape is mostly fragmented in its current state, lacking a common model and vocabulary that would withstand these games' variety. This manuscript aims to establish such a foundation for the analysis and construction of escape rooms. In a first step, we derive a high-level design framework from prior literature. Then, as our main contribution, we establish an atomic puzzle taxonomy that closes the gap between the analog and digital domains. The taxonomy is developed in multiple steps: we compose a basic structure based on previous literature and systematically refine it by analyzing 39 analog and digital escape room games, including recent virtual reality representatives. The final taxonomy consists of mental, physical, and emotional challenges, thereby providing a robust and approachable basis for future works across all application domains that deal with escape rooms or puzzles in general.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. McGee ◽  
Lisa Jacka

Virtual reality in one form or another has been around for over 50 years, most notably in entertainment and business environments. Technology-focused teachers have been leading the way with attempts at utilising and integrating virtual reality into K-12 and Higher Education. However, as quickly as technology changes so does the enthusiasm for the use in educational contexts. Much of this is due to the high-level cost (time and money) with no evidence-based educational return. In 2020 the global pandemic forced the education sector to innovate to provide authentic learning environments for students. The time is right for virtual reality to take centre stage. Over 171 million people worldwide currently use virtual reality, and the market in education is expected to grow by 42% over the next five years. This paper focuses on a range of virtual reality literature encompassing work across the spectrum of software and hardware, identifying where more educational implementation and research needs to be done and providing a perspective on future possibilities focusing on current affordances.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira A. Brown

This research paper explores the possibilities for virtual reality (VR) documentation of media art installations. Based on an analysis of the characteristics of media art, and a survey of current documentation strategies, this paper investigates the viability of three-dimensional documentation. Four cross-disciplinary case studies are presented and analysed to demonstrate that VR documentation provides an immersive and richer reconstruction of a media art installation in three dimensions. In addition, the interactive components can be simulated within the VR environment, offering the possibility for curators and visitors to virtually re-experience the artwork. The case studies show that, although the creation of VR documentation can be costly and time-consuming, and currently requires a high-level of expertise, it can be a useful addition to established documentation strategies by providing essential information about the visual aspects of the artwork, its environment and the user’s multi-sensory experience.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1035-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID PEETERS ◽  
TON DIJKSTRA

Bilinguals often switch languages as a function of the language background of their addressee. The control mechanisms supporting bilinguals' ability to select the contextually appropriate language are heavily debated. Here we present four experiments in which unbalanced bilinguals named pictures in their first language Dutch and their second language English in mixed and blocked contexts. Immersive virtual reality technology was used to increase the ecological validity of the cued language-switching paradigm. Behaviorally, we consistently observed symmetrical switch costs, reversed language dominance, and asymmetrical mixing costs. These findings indicate that unbalanced bilinguals apply sustained inhibition to their dominant L1 in mixed language settings. Consequent enhanced processing costs for the L1 in a mixed versus a blocked context were reflected by a sustained positive component in event-related potentials. Methodologically, the use of virtual reality opens up a wide range of possibilities to study language and communication in bilingual and other communicative settings.


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