Multimodal “sensory illusions” for improving spatial awareness in virtual environments

Inaccurate judgement of distances in virtual environments (VEs) restricts their usefulness for engineering development, in which engineers must have a good understanding of the spaces they are designing. Multimodal feedback can improve depth perception in VEs, but this has yet to be implemented and tested in engineering applications with systems which provide haptic feedback to the body. The project reported in this paper will develop a multimodal VE to improve engineers’ understanding of 3D spaces. It will test the concept of “sensory illusions” where the point of collision in the VE differs to the point of haptic feedback on the body. This will permit the use of fewer vibrotactile devices and therefore the development of a more wearable system. This paper describes related work in multisensory and tactile stimulation which suggests that our perception of a stimulus is not fixed to the point of contact

Multimodal "Sensory Illusions" for Improving Spatial Awareness in Virtual Environments

Inaccurate judgement of distances in virtual environments (VEs) restricts their usefulness for engineering development, in which engineers must have a good understanding of the spaces they are designing. Multimodal feedback can improve depth perception in VEs, but this has yet to be implemented and tested in engineering applications with systems which provide haptic feedback to the body. The project reported in this paper will develop a multimodal VE to improve engineers’ understanding of 3D spaces. It will test the concept of “sensory illusions” where the point of collision in the VE differs to the point of haptic feedback on the body. This will permit the use of fewer vibrotactile devices and therefore the development of a more wearable system. This paper describes related work in multisensory and tactile stimulation which suggests that our perception of a stimulus is not fixed to the point of contact

Development of a low-cost multimodal VR system for engineering design

Virtual Reality technologies are available at a lower cost than ever before. However, such systems are developed mainly for the consumer market, and inaccuracies in spatial judgements may make them unsuitable for specific applications like Engineering Design. There is evidence to suggest that the addition of haptic feedback may improve spatial judgements, but most commercially available haptic systems are impractical and unaffordable outside of specialist research settings and large enterprises. We describe the challenges for developing a multimodal VR system using only low-cost off-the-shelf technologies, and demonstrate a working prototype of a system which aims to overcome these issues

Multimodality in VR: A survey

Virtual reality (VR) is rapidly growing, with the potential to change the way we create and consume content. In VR, users integrate multimodal sensory information they receive, to create a unified perception of the virtual world. In this survey, we review the body of work addressing multimodality in VR, and its role and benefits in user experience, together with different applications that leverage multimodality in many disciplines. These works thus encompass several fields of research, and demonstrate that multimodality plays a fundamental role in VR; enhancing the experience, improving overall performance, and yielding unprecedented abilities in skill and knowledge transfer

Les retours tactile et kinesthésique améliorent la perception de distance en réalité virtuelle

National audienceResearch spanning psychology, neuroscience and HCI found that depth perception distortion is a common problem in virtual reality. This distortion results in depth compression, where users perceive objects closer than their intended distance. Studies suggested that cues, such as audio and haptic, help to solve this issue. We focus on haptic feedback and investigate how force feedback compares to tactile feedback within peripersonal space in reducing depth perception distortion. Our study (N=12) compares the use of haptic force feedback, vibration haptic feedback, a combination of both or no feedback. Our results show that both vibration and force feedback improve depth perception distortion over no feedback (8.3 times better distance estimation than with no haptic feedback vs. 1.4 to 1.5 times better with either vibration or force feedback on their own). Participants also subjectively preferred using force feedback, or a combination of force and vibration feedback, over no feedback.Des recherches en psychologie, neurosciences et IHM ont montré que la distorsion de la perception des distances est un problème courant en réalité virtuelle. Cette distorsion entraîne une compression des profondeurs, et les utilisateurs perçoivent des objets plus proches qu'ils ne le sont. Dans ce papier, nous nous concentrons sur le retour haptique et examinons comment le retour de force se compare au retour tactile pour réduire la compression des profondeurs. Notre étude (N = 12) compare l'utilisation du retour de force, le retour tactile vibratoire, la combinaison des deux ou l'absence de retour. Nos résultats montrent que le retour tactile et le retour de force améliorent la perception de la profondeur. L'estimation de distance est 8.3 fois meilleure que sans retour, par rapport à 1.4-1.5 fois avec retour tactile vibratoire ou de force non-combinés. Les participants ont également préféré utiliser le retour de force, ou une combinaison de force et tactile

Virtual transcendence experiences: Exploring technical and design challenges in multi-sensory environments

In this paper 1, we introduce the concept of Virtual Transcendence Experience (VTE) as a response to the interactions of several users sharing several immersive experiences through different media channels. For that, we review the current body of knowledge that has led to the development of a VTE system. This is followed by a discussion of current technical and design challenges that could support the implementation of this concept. This discussion has informed the VTE framework (VTEf), which integrates different layers of experiences, including the role of each user and the technical challenges involved. We conclude this paper with suggestions for two scenarios and recommendations for the implementation of a system that could support VTEs

Selected topics on the neuroscience of altered perceptions and illusory beliefs

Six neuropsychological topics illustrating altered perceptions and illusory beliefs are explored with particular emphasis on the neurobiological underpinnings of such phenomena. The first five topics are phantom limb, out-of-body experiences including depersonalization and near-death experiences, delusions with an emphasis on the effects of psychedelic drugs, autonomic reflex actions including respiration and heartbeat, and virtual reality. The last topic focuses on three disorders impairing perception and cognition, namely, Anton-Babinski, Charles Bonnet, and Diogenes Syndromes. Many of the related neurobiological mechanisms reflect disturbances of both lower-level and multisensory processing along with specific cortical impairments such as at the temporoparietal junction. The latter has been linked, for example, to out-of-body experiences. Similarly, aberrant neural learning and signaling such as that based on synaptic receptor disturbances show how the interplay between lower-level brain activity and that in the prefrontal cortex contributes to delusions. Specific hypotheses set forth to explain these alterations in perception and cognition are reviewed, such as a remapping theory which depicts cortical reorganization in response to synaptic changes mediated by receptors. The effects of these perceptual/cognitive distortions on experiential pleasure/pain and on adaptability are also explored