Research

The IMMERSCOM 2009 Second International Conference on Immersive Telecommunications will be held at the University of California, Berkeley on May 27-29, 2009. Full papers are due on November 1, 2008. Here's the mission statement of the conference: "The aim of IMMERSCOM is to focus on multi- and cross-disciplinary research on capturing, processing, analyzing, coding, communication and rendering of rich audio-visual content in order to enable remote immersive experiences of people, objects and environments. The body of technologies that enable such immersive remote experiences is collectively referred to as immersive telecommunications technologies. Applications of immersive telecommunications technologies can be varied, and include telepresence, industrial automation, health care, education, and entertainment.

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 ScienceDaily article takes a look at a PhD thesis presented at the University of the Basque Country which puts forward the use of avatars or virtual Internet personages as an efficient form of non-verbal communication, principally focusing on emotional aspects. From the article: "Scientists have been working for decades so that the interaction between people and computers be more natural and intuitive. In fact, a great part of the success or failure of a computer application depends on the user interface. The way in which we communicate with the operating system, for example, has progressed a lot from the time when it was required to write complicated lines of commands on a black and white screen to those with much more intuitive windows.

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…

This Technology Review article reports researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign have developed a simple process to grow upright copper nanowires on different surfaces which could be used in ultra-thin field-emission displays that are brighter and sharper than flat-panel displays. From the article: "The nanowire arrays could find use in field-emission displays, a new type of display technology that promises to provide brighter, more vivid pictures than existing flat-panel displays. In such an application, the nanowires would be used to fire electrons at phosphor particles on a screen, lighting them up.

This Media Newswire article reports a NIMH-sponsored double-blind study of 24 war veterans shows a marked reduction in acoustic startle — the reflex response to sudden loud sounds — in those treated with virtual reality exposure therapy combined with either d-cycloserine, an antibiotic that has been shown to facilitate the extinction of fear memories; pill placebo; or the anti-anxiety medication alprazolam ( Xanax ). From the article: ""These preliminary data suggest that this type of virtual reality exposure therapy is effective in reducing the elevated startle response that was evident before treatment," says Barbara Rothbaum, PhD,*a professor in psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

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."

[This Physorg article reports research published in the March issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, is suggesting that we process images in two very distinct ways. From the article: " Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Psychologist Tzvi Ganel and his colleagues presented research participants with the “Ponzo” illusion, an image common in psychological research that makes two objects that are similar in length appear drastically different. They then hooked participants’ index finger and thumb to computerized position tracking equipment and asked them to grasp the objects with their fingers.

Even thought the object appeared to be larger (or smaller) than it really was, the size of their grasp reflected the object’s real rather than apparent size. For good measure, the researchers arranged the illusion so that the object that appeared to be the smaller of the two was actually the larger of the two.

This ScienceDaily article reports scientists at the University of Illinois have created the first mixed reality state in a physical system using a virtual pendulum and its real-world counterpart. From the article: "Through bidirectional instantaneous coupling, each pendulum "sensed" the other, their motions became correlated, and the two began swinging as one.

"In a mixed reality state there is no clear boundary between the real system and the virtual system," said U. of I. physicist Alfred Hubler. "The line blurs between what's real and what isn't."

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.