Triggermuscle: Exploring Weight Perception for Virtual Reality Through Adaptive Trigger Resistance in a Haptic VR Controller

It is challenging to provide users with a haptic weight sensation of virtual objects in VR since current consumer VR controllers and software-based approaches such as pseudo-haptics cannot render appropriate haptic stimuli. To overcome these limitations, we developed a haptic VR controller named Triggermuscle that adjusts its trigger resistance according to the weight of a virtual object. Therefore, users need to adapt their index finger force to grab objects of different virtual weights. Dynamic and continuous adjustment is enabled by a spring mechanism inside the casing of an HTC Vive controller. In two user studies, we explored the effect on weight perception and found large differences between participants for sensing change in trigger resistance and thus for discriminating virtual weights. The variations were easily distinguished and associated with weight by some participants while others did not notice them at all. We discuss possible limitations, confounding factors, how to overcome them in future research and the pros and cons of this novel technology.

Adaptive Playback Control: A Framework for Cinematic VR Creators to Embrace Viewer Interaction

Content creators have been trying to produce engaging and enjoyable Cinematic Virtual Reality (CVR) experiences using immersive media such as 360-degree videos. However, a complete and flexible framework, like the filmmaking grammar toolbox for film directors, is missing for creators working on CVR, especially those working on CVR storytelling with viewer interactions. Researchers and creators widely acknowledge that a viewer-centered story design and a viewer’s intention to interact are two intrinsic characteristics of CVR storytelling. In this paper, we stand on that common ground and propose Adaptive Playback Control (APC) as a set of guidelines to assist content creators in making design decisions about the story structure and viewer interaction implementation during production. Instead of looking at everything CVR covers, we set constraints to focus only at cultural heritage oriented content using a guided-tour style. We further choose two vital elements for interactive CVR: the narrative progression (director vs. viewer control) and visibility of viewer interaction (implicit vs. explicit) as the main topics at this stage. We conducted a user study to evaluate four variants by combining these two elements, and measured the levels of engagement, enjoyment, usability, and memory performance. One of our findings is that there were no differences in the objective results. Combining objective data with observations of the participants’ behavior we provide guidelines as a starting point for the application of the APC framework. Creators need to choose if the viewer will have control over narrative progression and the visibility of interaction based on whether the purpose of a piece is to invoke emotional resonance or promote efficient transfer of knowledge. Also, creators need to consider the viewer’s natural tendency to explore and provide extra incentives to invoke exploratory behaviors in viewers when adding interactive elements. We recommend more viewer control for projects aiming at viewer’s participation and agency, but more director control for projects focusing on education and training. Explicit (vs. implicit) control will also yield higher levels of engagement and enjoyment if the viewer’s uncertainty of interaction consequences can be relieved.

I Am the Robot: Teen Collaboration in an Asymmetric, Virtual Reality Game

Virtual reality (VR) offers potential as a collaborative tool for both technology design and human-robot interaction. We utilized a participatory, human-centered design (HCD) methodology to develop a collaborative, asymmetric VR game to explore teens’ perceptions of, and interactions with, social robots. Our paper illustrates three stages of our design process; ideation, prototyping, and usability testing with users. Through these stages we identified important design requirements for our mid-fidelity environment. We then describe findings from our pilot test of the mid-fidelity VR game with teens. Due to the unique asymmetric virtual reality design, we observed successful collaborations, and interesting collaboration styles across teens. This study highlights the potential for asymmetric VR as a collaborative design tool as well as an appropriate medium for successful teen-to-teen collaboration.

Social Interaction With Agents and Avatars in Immersive Virtual Environments: A Survey

Immersive virtual reality technologies are used in a wide range of fields such as training, education, health, and research. Many of these applications include virtual humans that are classified into avatars and agents. An overview of the applications and the advantages of immersive virtual reality and virtual humans is presented in this survey, as well as the basic concepts and terminology. To be effective, many virtual reality applications require that the users perceive and react socially to the virtual humans in a realistic manner. Numerous studies show that people can react socially to virtual humans; however, this is not always the case. This survey provides an overview of the main findings regarding the factors affecting the social interaction with virtual humans within immersive virtual environments. Finally, this survey highlights the need for further research that can lead to a better understanding of human–virtual human interaction.

New Developments in Virtual Reality-Assisted Treatment of Aggression in Forensic Settings: The Case of VRAPT

Aggression is a known problem in individuals being cared for in forensic settings, yet the evidence base for its treatment is scarce. Virtual Reality (VR) has been proposed as a promising addition to interventions in forensic settings, as it may increase the motivation among participants, bridge the gap between real life, therapeutic and laboratory experiences, and increase the ecological validity of psychological research. Recently, a new treatment for aggression using VR as the treatment environment, Virtual Reality Aggression Prevention Training (VRAPT), was developed to provide realistic and safe environments for participants to practice aggression management. In its current revised version, VRAPT is conceptualized as a form of cognitive behavioral therapy with its theoretical background in the General Aggression Model. Its purpose is to increase awareness of, and improve control over, one’s own aggression and that of others through social interactions in individually tailored virtual environments. This manuscript describes how the lessons learned from the first randomized controlled trial of VRAPT have been applied to further develop the method and discusses challenges and future directions for VR-assisted treatment of aggression in forensic settings. VRAPT is a new psychological treatment for aggression and the coming years will provide expanded scientific evidence for further developments and adaptations.

Investigating the Role of Having an Avatar in Virtual Reality on Pain Alleviation and Embodiment in Patients With Pain Using Electroencephalogram: A Neuroimaging Protocol

Chronic Pain (CP) is prevalent in industrialized countries and stands among the top 10 causes of disability. Given the widespread problems of pharmacological treatments such as opioids, a need to find alternative therapeutic approaches has emerged. Virtual Reality (VR) has shown potential as a non-pharmacological alternative for controlling pain over the past 20 years. The effectiveness of VR has been demonstrated in treating CP, and it has been suggested that VR’s analgesic effects may be associated with the Sense of Embodiment (SoE): the sensation of being inside, having and controlling a virtual body in VR. Studies have shown correlations among brain signals, reported pain and a SoE, and correlations have been observed between using an avatar in VR and pain alleviation among CP patients. However, little has been published about the changes in brain physiology associated with having an avatar in VR, and current published studies present methodological issues. Defining a proper methodology to investigate the underlying brain mechanisms of pain, a SoE associated with having an avatar in VR, and its effect on reducing pain in CP patients is key to the emerging field of VR-analgesia. Here, we propose an intervention trial design (test/intervention/test) to evaluate the effects of having a virtual avatar in VR on pain levels and SoE in CP patients using Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Resting-state EEG recordings, perceived pain levels, and SoE scores will be collected before and after the VR intervention. Patients diagnosed with CP will be recruited from local pain clinics and pseudo-randomly assigned to one of two groups—with or without an avatar. Patients will experience a 10-min VR intervention built to treat CP while their EEG signals are recorded. In articulating the study procedure, we propose a framework for future studies that explores the mechanisms of VR-analgesia in patients with chronic pain.

Evaluating Virtual Patient Interaction Fidelity With Advanced Communication Skills Learners

Previous research in educational medical simulation has drawn attention to the interplay between a simulation’s fidelity and its educational effectiveness. As virtual patients (VPs) are increasingly used in medical simulations for education purposes, a focus on the relationship between virtual patients’ fidelity and educational effectiveness should also be investigated. In this paper, we contribute to this investigation by evaluating the use of a virtual patient selection interface (in which learners interact with a virtual patient via a set of pre-defined choices) with advanced medical communication skills learners. To this end, we integrated virtual patient interviews into a graduate-level course for speech-language therapists over the course of 2 years. In the first cohort, students interacted with three VPs using only a chat interface. In the second cohort, students used both a chat interface and a selection interface to interact with the VPs. Our results suggest that these advanced learners view the selection interfaces as more appropriate for novice learners and that their communication behavior was not significantly affected by using the selection interface. Based on these results, we suggest that selection interfaces may be more appropriate for novice communication skills learners, but for applications in which selection interfaces are to be used with advanced learners, additional design research may be needed to best target these interfaces to advanced learners.

Impact of Virtual Reality Technology on Pain and Anxiety in Pediatric Burn Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to lessen pain and anxiety experienced by pediatric patients undergoing burn wound care procedures. Population-specific variables require novel technological application and thus, a systematic review among studies on its impact is warranted.Objective: The objective of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of VR on pain in children with burn injuries undergoing wound care procedures.Methods: A systematic literature review was performed using PubMed and CINAHL databases from January 2010 to July 2021 with the keywords “pediatric,” “burn,” “virtual reality,” and “pain.” We included experimental studies of between- and within-subjects designs in which pediatric patients’ exposure to virtual reality technology during burn wound care functioned as the intervention of interest. Two researchers independently performed the literature search, made judgements of inclusion/exclusion based on agreed-upon criteria, abstracted data, and assessed quality of evidence using a standardized appraisal tool. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the VR on burning procedural pain in pediatric population. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was used as an index of combined effect size, and a random effect model was used for meta-analysis.Results: Ten articles published between January 2010 and July 2021 passed the selection criteria: six randomized controlled trials and four randomized repeated-measures studies. Consistent results among the studies provided support for VR as effective in reducing pain and potentially pain related anxiety in children undergoing burn wound care through preprocedural preparation (n = 2) and procedural intervention (n = 8). A random effects meta-analysis model indicated a moderate and significant combined effect size (SMD = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.28–0.93, p = 0.0031) of VR effects on pain intensity ratings with no significant heterogeneity of VR intervention effects between studies. Only one study reported direct influence of VR intervention on pre-procedural situational anxiety with a moderate effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.575, 95%CI = 0.11–1.04).Conclusion: Children’s exposure to VR during burn care procedures was associated with lower levels of pain and pain related anxiety. Moderate to large effect sizes support the integration of VR into traditional pediatric burn pain protocols irrespective of innovative delivery methods and content required for use in burned pediatric patients.

Development and Feasibility Assessment of Virtual Reality-Based Relaxation Self-Training Program

Diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) are an effective way for relaxation training and anxiety control, but their use is not common to the general public. Today, as the need for non-face-to-face contact increases, virtual reality (VR)-based self-training is gaining attention in public health. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of the newly developed VR-based relaxation training program. Both diaphragmatic breathing and PMR can be trained without an assistant using this VR application in three steps: 1) learning in a virtual clinic, 2) review in a comfortable virtual environment, and 3) practice in outdoor virtual environments. Self-training is recommended on a 3-weeks schedule with a total of 4–6 trials per day for 4 days a week. Thirty-one healthy volunteers were divided into the VR (n = 15) and worksheet (n = 16) groups, and participated in self-training under similar conditions as much as possible. Multiple evaluations were performed before, during, and after self-training. The change rates of all psychological and psychophysiological measures before and after self-training did not significantly differ between the two groups. The levels of tension after breathing practices showed no group difference, whereas those after PMR practices were significantly lower in the VR group than in the worksheet group. In the VR group, trials of outdoor practices tended to induce a decrease of the tension level, particularly after outdoor breathing trials. The VR group gave a practicable score of 70 points or more, average 43.5, and average 180.3 for usability, cybersickness, and presence of this program, respectively. These results suggest that the VR-based relaxation self-training program can be used by healthy people as a means of relaxation. In the use of this program, diaphragmatic breathing may be used more easily, but the benefit of using VR is higher in PMR. These findings provide justification for a randomized controlled study of whether this program can be used for stress relief in the general population and, furthermore, treatment of patients with anxiety disorders.

Realistic Motion Avatars are the Future for Social Interaction in Virtual Reality

This study evaluated participant self-reported appraisal of social interactions with another person in virtual reality (VR) where their conversational partner was represented by a realistic motion avatar. We use the term realistic motion avatar because: 1. The avatar was modelled to look like the conversational partner it represented, and 2. Full face and body motion capture was utilised so that the avatar mimicked the facial and body language of the conversational partner in real-time. We compared social interaction in VR with face-to-face interaction across two communicative contexts: 1. Getting acquainted conversation, and 2. A structured interview where the participant engaged in self-disclosure about positive and negative experiences. Overall, participants largely indicated they preferred face-to-face over VR communication. However, some participants did indicate a preference for VR communication. Additionally, an analysis of post-conversation ratings indicated no significant difference for rated enjoyment, understanding, self-disclosure, comfort, and awkwardness between communication modes. The only ratings where face-to-face was found to be superior was for perceived closeness across both types of communication, and for feeling understood specifically when disclosing negative experiences. Most participants perceived frequent eye contact in both face-to-face and VR interaction, but typically more eye contact when face-to-face. Eye contact was positively associated with rated enjoyment, closeness, and comfort. Overall, our findings suggest that harnessing full face and body motion capture can make social interaction in VR very similar to face-to-face interaction. We anticipate that VR social interaction is poised to become the next major technological evolution for human computer mediated communication and suggest avenues for further research.