Paper

This Behavioral and brain functions article describes a study about modulating presence and impulsive behavior by external stimulation of the brain. From the article: ""The feeling of being there" is one possible way to describe the phenomenon of feeling present in a virtual environment and to act as if this environment is real. One brain area, which is hypothesized to be critically involved in modulating this feeling (also called presence) is the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), an area also associated with the control of impulsive behavior.

This research project's objective is to explore the use of the Wii Balance BoardTM as a low-cost input device in virtual reality (VR). A video is also available. From the project abstract: "In this work we explore the use of the Wii Balance BoardTM as a low-cost input device in virtual reality (VR). We combined and extended existing communication libraries such that the balance board's four separate pressure sensors can be used as input to a VR application. We provide a brief technical overview of obtaining and working with the sensor input. By processing the sudden and gradual changes in the sensor input values caused by pressing on the board, we are able to use the balance board for both discrete and continuous input.

This ZDNet Emerging Tech article takes a look at a technical paper (pdf) which covers more than 50 years of history of bilateral teleoperation. From the article: "In case you’re not familiar with the concept of bilateral teleoperation, this is just a way to remotely control robots. Two researchers have written a technical paper which covers more than 50 years of history of bilateral teleoperation. This paper has just received the ‘Automatica Best Paper’ in the survey/tutorial category. The award will be given at the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Triennial World Congress held in Seoul, South Korea (July 6-11, 2008). But read more…

From Positive Technology Journal:
"Virtual reality exposure therapy using a virtual Iraq: Case report."
J Trauma Stress. 2008 Apr 10;21(2):209-213
Authors: Gerardi M, Rothbaum BO, Ressler K, Heekin M, Rizzo A

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been estimated to affect up to 18% of returning Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans. Soldiers need to maintain constant vigilance to deal with unpredictable threats, and an unprecedented number of soldiers are surviving serious wounds. These risk factors are significant for development of PTSD; therefore, early and efficient intervention options must be identified and presented in a form acceptable to military personnel. This case report presents the results of treatment utilizing virtual reality exposure (VRE) therapy (virtual Iraq) to treat an OIF veteran with PTSD. Following brief VRE treatment, the veteran demonstrated improvement in PTSD symptoms as indicated by clinically and statistically significant changes in scores on the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS; Blake et al., 1990) and the PTSD Symptom Scale Self-Report (PSS-SR; Foa, Riggs, Dancu, & Rothbaum, 1993). These results indicate preliminary promise for this treatment."

From Positive Technology Journal:
"Virtual reality and paranoid ideations in people with an 'at-risk mental state' for psychosis."
Br J Psychiatry Suppl. 2007 Dec;51:s63-8
Authors: Valmaggia LR, Freeman D, Green C, Garety P, Swapp D, Antley A, Prescott C, Fowler D, Kuipers E, Bebbington P, Slater M, Broome M, McGuire PK

BACKGROUND: Virtual reality provides a means of studying paranoid thinking in controlled laboratory conditions. However, this method has not been used with a clinical group. AIMS: To establish the feasibility and safety of using virtual reality methodology in people with an at-risk mental state and to investigate the applicability of a cognitive model of paranoia to this group. METHOD: Twenty-one participants with an at-risk mental state were assessed before and after entering a virtual reality environment depicting the inside of an underground train. RESULTS: Virtual reality did not raise levels of distress at the time of testing or cause adverse experiences over the subsequent week. Individuals attributed mental states to virtual reality characters including hostile intent. Persecutory ideation in virtual reality was predicted by higher levels of trait paranoia, anxiety, stress, immersion in virtual reality, perseveration and interpersonal sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual reality is an acceptable experimental technique for use with individuals with at-risk mental states. Paranoia in virtual reality was understandable in terms of the cognitive model of persecutory delusions.

From SAGE Journals Online:
"Development of symbolic play through the use of virtual reality tools in children with autistic spectrum disorders"
Gerardo Herrera, Francisco Alcantud, Rita Jordan, Amparo Blanquer, Gabriel Labajo, Cristina De Pablo
Autism, Vol. 12, No. 2, 143-157 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1362361307086657

Difficulties in understanding symbolism have been documented as characteristic of autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). In general, virtual reality (VR) environments offer a set of potential advantages for educational intervention in ASD. In particular, VR offers the advantage, for teaching pretend play and for understanding imagination, of it being possible to show these imaginary transformations explicitly. This article reports two case studies of children with autism (aged 8:6 and 15:7, both male), examining the effectiveness of using a VR tool specifically designed to work on teaching understanding of pretend play. The results, confirmed by independent observers, showed a significant advance in pretend play abilities after the intervention period in both participants, and a high degree of generalization of the acquired teaching in one of them.

From Positive Technology Journal: "Validity of virtual reality as a method of exposure in the treatment of test anxiety.
Behav Res Methods. 2007 Nov;39(4):844-51
Authors: Alsina-Jurnet I, Carvallo-Beciu C, Gutiérez-Maldonado J

This is a validation study, aiming to explore the effectiveness of a set of virtual environments forproducing emotionally significant responses in students with high levels of test anxiety in order to be able to implement them later in treatment. Twenty-one students agreed to take part, 11 with high test anxiety and 10 with low test anxiety. The virtual environments were prepared in chronological order: the student's home, then the metro, and finally the corridor and lecture hall where the examination takes place. The results showed that the high-test-anxiety group presented higher levels of anxiety and depression than the low-test-anxiety group during exposure to the virtual environments. This study shows that virtual reality is able to provoke emotional responses in students with high test anxiety. This validation study should be followed up with treatment studies to evaluate the efficacy of virtual reality therapy for treating test anxiety."

From Positive Technology Journal: "Centrally controlled heart rate changes during mental practice in immersive virtual environment: A case study with a tetraplegic.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2007 Nov 29;
Authors: Pfurtscheller G, Leeb R, Friedman D, Slater M

A tetraplegic patient was able to induce midcentral localized beta oscillations in the electroencephalogram (EEG) after extensive mental practice of foot motor imagery. This beta oscillation was used to simulate a wheel chair movement in a virtual environment (VE). The analysis of electrocardiogram (ECG) data revealed that the induced beta oscillations were accompanied by a characteristic heart rate (HR) change in form of a preparatory HR acceleration followed by a short-lasting deceleration in the order of 10-20 bpm (beats-per-minute). This provides evidence that mental practice of motor performance is accompanied not only by activation of cortical structures but also by central commands into the cardiovascular system with its nuclei in the brain stem."

From Positive Technology Journal: "Heading assessment by "tunnel vision" patients and control subjects standing or walking in a virtual reality environment.
ACM Trans Appl Percept. 2007 Jan;4(1):nihms21521
Authors: Apfelbaum H, Pelah A, Peli E

Virtual reality locomotion simulators are a promising tool for evaluating the effectiveness of vision aids to mobility for people with low vision. This study examined two factors to gain insight into the verisimilitude requirements of the test environment: the effects of treadmill walking and the suitability of using controls as surrogate patients. Ten "tunnel vision" patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) were tasked with identifying which side of a clearly visible obstacle their heading through the virtual environment would lead them, and were scored both on accuracy and on their distance from the obstacle when they responded. They were tested both while walking on a treadmill and while standing, as they viewed a scene representing progress through a shopping mall. Control subjects, each wearing a head-mounted field restriction to simulate the vision of a paired patient, were also tested. At wide angles of approach, controls and patients performed with a comparably high degree of accuracy, and made their choices at comparable distances from the obstacle. At narrow angles of approach, patients' accuracy increased when walking, while controls' accuracy decreased. When walking, both patients and controls delayed their decisions until closer to the obstacle. We conclude that a head-mounted field restriction is not sufficient for simulating tunnel vision, but that the improved performance observed for walking compared to standing suggests that a walking interface (such as a treadmill) may be essential for eliciting natural perceptually-guided behavior in virtual reality locomotion simulators."

From Positive Technology Journal: "The analgesic effects of opioids and immersive virtual reality distraction: evidence from subjective and functional brain imaging assessments.

Anesth Analg. 2007 Dec;105(6):1776-83, table of contents

Authors: Hoffman HG, Richards TL, Van Oostrom T, Coda BA, Jensen MP, Blough DK, Sharar SR