EMBODIED DIGITAL TWINS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract. The synergies of advances in environmental sensing and modeling and the mainstreaming of immersive technologies lay the foundation for a theoretical grounding of embodied digital twins. Embodied digital twins draw on an established understanding of the importance of place for environmental sciences as well as a paradigmatic shift in the cognitive sciences toward embodied cognition. Nonetheless, the excitement of realizing embodied experiences through immersive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality stands in stark contrast to a lack of consistent terminology and empirical research. In this vision paper, we are proposing to draw more deeply on the theoretical basis of embodied cognition and to establish research frameworks for advancing embodied digital twins. We discuss several examples for turning environmentally sensed and modeled information into high-fidelity immersive experiences and provide a discussion and outlook on critical topics to address.

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Eye movements in sports research and practice: Immersive technologies as optimal environments for the study of gaze behaviour

10.31234/osf.io/fbwvk ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

David Harris ◽

Mark Wilson ◽

Tim Holmes ◽

Toby de Burgh ◽

Samuel James Vine

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Eye Movements ◽

Eye Tracking ◽

Visual Information ◽

Successful Performance ◽

Experimental Control ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Gaze Behaviour ◽

Immersive Technologies

Head-mounted eye tracking has been fundamental for developing an understanding of sporting expertise, as the way in which performers sample visual information from the environment is a major determinant of successful performance. There is, however, a long running tension between the desire to study realistic, in-situ gaze behaviour and the difficulties of acquiring accurate ocular measurements in dynamic and fast-moving sporting tasks. Here, we describe how immersive technologies, such as virtual reality, offer an increasingly compelling approach for conducting eye movement research in sport. The possibility of studying gaze behaviour in representative and realistic environments, but with high levels of experimental control, could enable significant strides forward for eye tracking in sport and improve understanding of how eye movements underpin sporting skills. By providing a rationale for virtual reality as an optimal environment for eye tracking research, as well as outlining practical considerations related to hardware, software and data analysis, we hope to guide researchers and practitioners in the use of this approach.

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Virtual reality video game improves high-fidelity memory in older adults

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82109-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Peter E. Wais ◽

Melissa Arioli ◽

Roger Anguera-Singla ◽

Adam Gazzaley

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Video Game ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Environmental Enrichment ◽

Cognitive Intervention ◽

Therapeutic Interventions ◽

Placebo Control ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

High Fidelity

AbstractTherapeutic interventions have not yet been shown to demonstrate restorative effects for declining long-term memory (LTM) that affects many healthy older adults. We developed a virtual reality (VR) spatial wayfinding game (Labyrinth-VR) as a cognitive intervention with the hypothesis that it could improve detailed, high-fidelity LTM capability. Spatial navigation tasks have been used as a means to achieve environmental enrichment via exposure to and learning about novel and complex information. Engagement has been shown to enhance learning and has been linked to the vitality of the LTM system in the brain. In the current study, 48 older adults (mean age 68.7 ± 6.4 years) with average cognitive abilities for their age were randomly assigned to 12 h of computer game play over four weeks in either the Labyrinth-VR or placebo control game arms. Promptly before and after each participant’s treatment regimen, high-fidelity LTM outcome measures were tested to assess mnemonic discrimination and other memory measures. The results showed a post-treatment gain in high-fidelity LTM capability for the Labyrinth-VR arm, relative to placebo, which reached the levels attained by younger adults in another experiment. This novel finding demonstrates generalization of benefits from the VR wayfinding game to important, and untrained, LTM capabilities. These cognitive results are discussed in the light of relevant research for hippocampal-dependent memory functions.

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Flashpen: A High-Fidelity and High-Precision Multi-Surface Pen for Virtual Reality

2021 IEEE Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR) ◽

10.1109/vr50410.2021.00053 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hugo Romat ◽

Andreas Fender ◽

Manuel Meier ◽

Christian Holz

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

High Precision ◽

High Fidelity

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Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Environments: Demonstrations of Current Technologies and Future Directions

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1071181320641514 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 2119-2123

Author(s):

Sarah Beadle ◽

Randall Spain ◽

Benjamin Goldberg ◽

Mahdi Ebnali ◽

Shannon Bailey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Augmented Reality ◽

Human Factors ◽

Virtual Environments ◽

Medical Training ◽

Risk Environment ◽

Future Directions ◽

Simulated Environments ◽

Interactive Session ◽

Immersive Technologies

Virtual environments and immersive technologies are growing in popularity for human factors purposes. Whether it is training in a low-risk environment or using simulated environments for testing future automated vehicles, virtual environments show promise for the future of our field. The purpose of this session is to have current human factors practitioners and researchers demonstrate their immersive technologies. This is the eighth iteration of the “Me and My VE” interactive session. Presenters in this session will provide a brief introduction of their virtual reality, augmented reality, or virtual environment work before engaging with attendees in an interactive demonstration period. During this period, the presenters will each have a multimedia display of their immersive technology as well as discuss their work and development efforts. The selected demonstrations cover issues of designing immersive interfaces, military and medical training, and using simulation to better understand complex tasks. This includes a mix of government, industry, and academic-based work. Attendees will be virtually immersed in the technologies and research presented allowing for interaction with the work being done in this field.

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Embodied well-being through two media technologies: Virtual reality and social media

New Media & Society ◽

10.1177/1461444819829873 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (8) ◽

pp. 1734-1749 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Kaylee Payne Kruzan ◽

Andrea Stevenson Won

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Virtual Worlds ◽

Empirical Work ◽

Well Being ◽

The Body ◽

Immersive Virtual Reality ◽

Media Technologies ◽

Self Perceptions ◽

Embodied Experiences

How the body is perceived through media is key to many well-being interventions. Researchers have examined the effects of platforms on users’ self-perceptions, including immersive virtual reality, nonimmersive virtual worlds, and social media such as Facebook. In this article, we use several conceptions of levels of embodiment to compare empirical work on the effects of virtual reality and social media as they relate to perceptions and conceptions of the self and body. We encourage social media researchers to utilize research on embodiment in virtual reality to help frame the effects of social media use on well-being. Similarly, researchers in immersive media should consider the opportunities and risks that may arise as embodied experiences become more social. We conclude our discussion with implications for future applications in mental health.

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Six Challenges for Embodiment Research

Current Directions in Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0963721419866441 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (6) ◽

pp. 593-599 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Markus Ostarek ◽

Falk Huettig

Keyword(s):

Embodied Cognition ◽

Language Comprehension ◽

Current Status ◽

Strong Impact ◽

Affective States ◽

Cognitive Sciences ◽

Perceptual Symbols ◽

Sensory Motor ◽

Cognitive Revolution ◽

Key Questions

Twenty years after Barsalou’s seminal perceptual-symbols article, embodied cognition, the notion that cognition involves simulations of sensory, motor, or affective states, has moved from an outlandish proposal to a mainstream position adopted by many researchers in the psychological and cognitive sciences (and neurosciences). Though it has generated productive work in the cognitive sciences as a whole, it has had a particularly strong impact on research into language comprehension. The view of a mental lexicon based on symbolic word representations, which are arbitrarily linked to sensory aspects of their referents, was generally accepted since the cognitive revolution in the 1950s. This has radically changed. Given the current status of embodiment as a main theory of cognition, it is somewhat surprising that a close look at the literature reveals that the debate about the nature of the processes involved in language comprehension is far from settled, and key questions remain unanswered. We present several suggestions for a productive way forward.

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Programming of Industrial Robots Using Virtual Reality and Digital Twins

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10020486 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 486 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrzej Burghardt ◽

Dariusz Szybicki ◽

Piotr Gierlak ◽

Krzysztof Kurc ◽

Paulina Pietruś ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Virtual Environment ◽

Point Of View ◽

Industrial Robots ◽

Virtual Reality System ◽

Digital Twins ◽

Human Movements ◽

Cad Models ◽

Real Robot ◽

Ceramic Casting

The article presents a method of programming robots using virtual reality and digital twins. The virtual environment is a digital twin of a robotic station, built based on CAD models of existing station elements. The virtual reality system is used to record human movements in a virtual environment, which are then reproduced by a real robot. The method developed is dedicated mainly to such situations in which it is necessary for the robot to reproduce the movements of a human performing a process that is complicated from the point of view of robotization. An example of using the method for programming a robot implementing the process of cleaning ceramic casting moulds is presented.

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Stability of equidimensional pseudo–single-domain magnetite over billion-year timescales

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1708344114 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 114 (39) ◽

pp. 10356-10360 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Lesleis Nagy ◽

Wyn Williams ◽

Adrian R. Muxworthy ◽

Karl Fabian ◽

Trevor P. Almeida ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thermal Stability ◽

Magnetic Recording ◽

Theoretical Basis ◽

Magnetic Particles ◽

High Fidelity ◽

Laboratory Measurements ◽

Stable States ◽

Thermally Activated ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Magnetic Stability

Interpretations of paleomagnetic observations assume that naturally occurring magnetic particles can retain their primary magnetic recording over billions of years. The ability to retain a magnetic recording is inferred from laboratory measurements, where heating causes demagnetization on the order of seconds. The theoretical basis for this inference comes from previous models that assume only the existence of small, uniformly magnetized particles, whereas the carriers of paleomagnetic signals in rocks are usually larger, nonuniformly magnetized particles, for which there is no empirically complete, thermally activated model. This study has developed a thermally activated numerical micromagnetic model that can quantitatively determine the energy barriers between stable states in nonuniform magnetic particles on geological timescales. We examine in detail the thermal stability characteristics of equidimensional cuboctahedral magnetite and find that, contrary to previously published theories, such nonuniformly magnetized particles provide greater magnetic stability than their uniformly magnetized counterparts. Hence, nonuniformly magnetized grains, which are commonly the main remanence carrier in meteorites and rocks, can record and retain high-fidelity magnetic recordings over billions of years.

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