Application for Psychophysics Experiments in Virtual Reality

Bakalaureusetöö eesmärk on luua rakendus, mis võimaldab viia läbi psühholoogilisi katseid virtuaalreaalsuses või esimeses-isikus perspektiivis tavalistel arvutimonitoridel. Loodud rakenduse inspiratsiooniks on Psychlab. Rakendus võimaldab teha katseid inimeste ja tehisintellektiga varasemast sarnasemas katsetuskeskkonnas, ning võrrelda inim-katseisikuid virtuaalreaalsuses ja ilma virtuaalreaalsuseta timgimustes. Rakendus on loodud kasutades Unity mängumootorit ja sisaldab nelja klassikalist psühholoogia eksperimenti. Bakalaureusetöö annab ülevaate sellest, kuidas rakendus töötab ning taustainfot sarnaste programmide ja implementeeritud katsete kohta. Rakenduse kasutatavuse valideerimiseks on tehtud prooviuuring. Arutatakse võimalikke edasiarendusvõimalusi, näiteks loodud rakendusele masinõppe toe lisamine.The goal of this thesis is to develop an application that allows running psychological experiments in virtual reality or in a first-person perspective on a normal computer monitor. Taking inspiration from Psychlab, the application is meant to be used to bring human test subjects and artificial intelligence agents to a more similar experimenting environment, or comparing the results of the same experiment done on humans with and without virtual reality. The application is created using Unity and four classic psychological experiments are implemented. The thesis gives an overview of how the application functions, and gives background information about similar programs and implemented experiments. A pilot study is conducted to validate the usability of the application. Possible improvements, like adding machine learning support, are discussed

Virtual Reality in Neurosurgery- A Neurostimulator – Based Postgraduate Residency Training: A Novel Step Towards Skillful Young Neurosurgeons

Introduction/Objective:  Virtual Reality (VR) is the need of time in every field of life. Recent biotechnological advances have molded the surgeon-computer relationship. Department of Neurosurgery Jinnah Hospital Lahore has updated the postgraduate training program by adding the virtual reality simulator. We aim to explore the current and future roles and applications of VR and simulation in neurosurgical training that may reduce the learning curve, improve conceptual understanding and enhance visuospatial skills. Materials & Methods:  Eight residents were enrolled in this program. They exercised the basic skills of neurosurgery e.g. suction, use of bipolar cautery, handling of CUSA, use of micro scissors, etc., and the automated software recorded each participant’s graph of performance separately. After 1.5 years, they were assessed in real-time on actual patients under the direct supervision of a qualified neurosurgeon. The assessment was done on DOPS (Directly Observed Procedural Skills) Performa. Results:  The results showed that there was a gradual upward learning curve in simulator-based procedures from negative marking to 70% in basic surgical skills and 60% in advanced procedures on average for all the residents whereas the DOPS showed that all residents performed above expectation i.e., 4 or above. Conclusion:  Neurostimulator-based postgraduate training program is opening new horizons for the safe and skillful training of residents. With the advancement of artificial intelligence, its use in training programs will lead to structured and systematic training patterns in the world of neurosurgery

Widening the scope of virtual reality and augmented reality in dermatology

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are making headlines, pushing the boundaries of educational experiences and applicability in a variety of fields. Medicine has seen a rapid growth of utilization of these devices for various educational and practical purposes. With respect to the field of dermatology, very few uses are discussed in the literature. We briefly present the current status of VR/AR with regard to this specialty

Virtual Environments for Training: From Individual Learning to Collaboration with Humanoids

The next generation of virtual environments for training is oriented towards collaborative aspects. Therefore, we have decided to enhance our platform for virtual training environments, adding collaboration opportunities and integrating humanoids. In this paper we put forward a model of humanoid that suits both virtual humans and representations of real users, according to collaborative training activities. We suggest adaptations to the scenario model of our platform making it possible to write collaborative procedures. We introduce a mechanism of action selection made up of a global repartition and an individual choice. These models are currently being integrated and validated in GVT, a virtual training tool for maintenance of military equipments, developed in collaboration with the French company NEXTER-Group

Mixed reality participants in smart meeting rooms and smart home enviroments

Human–computer interaction requires modeling of the user. A user profile typically contains preferences, interests, characteristics, and interaction behavior. However, in its multimodal interaction with a smart environment the user displays characteristics that show how the user, not necessarily consciously, verbally and nonverbally provides the smart environment with useful input and feedback. Especially in ambient intelligence environments we encounter situations where the environment supports interaction between the environment, smart objects (e.g., mobile robots, smart furniture) and human participants in the environment. Therefore it is useful for the profile to contain a physical representation of the user obtained by multi-modal capturing techniques. We discuss the modeling and simulation of interacting participants in a virtual meeting room, we discuss how remote meeting participants can take part in meeting activities and they have some observations on translating research results to smart home environments

Towards A Theory-Of-Mind-Inspired Generic Decision-Making Framework

Simulation is widely used to make model-based predictions, but few approaches have attempted this technique in dynamic physical environments of medium to high complexity or in general contexts. After an introduction to the cognitive science concepts from which this work is inspired and the current development in the use of simulation as a decision-making technique, we propose a generic framework based on theory of mind, which allows an agent to reason and perform actions using multiple simulations of automatically created or externally inputted models of the perceived environment. A description of a partial implementation is given, which aims to solve a popular game within the IJCAI2013 AIBirds contest. Results of our approach are presented, in comparison with the competition benchmark. Finally, future developments regarding the framework are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, IJCAI 2013 Symposium on AI in Angry Bird

Developing serious games for cultural heritage: a state-of-the-art review

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result, the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented

Serious Games in Cultural Heritage

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented