18 research outputs found

    Digital Interaction and Machine Intelligence

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    This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access. This book presents the Proceedings of the 9th Machine Intelligence and Digital Interaction Conference. Significant progress in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and its wider use in many interactive products are quickly transforming further areas of our life, which results in the emergence of various new social phenomena. Many countries have been making efforts to understand these phenomena and find answers on how to put the development of artificial intelligence on the right track to support the common good of people and societies. These attempts require interdisciplinary actions, covering not only science disciplines involved in the development of artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction but also close cooperation between researchers and practitioners. For this reason, the main goal of the MIDI conference held on 9-10.12.2021 as a virtual event is to integrate two, until recently, independent fields of research in computer science: broadly understood artificial intelligence and human-technology interaction

    Survey of movement reproduction in immersive virtual rehabilitation.

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    This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers via the DOI in this record Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a powerful tool for rehabilitation. Many effective VR applications have been developed to support motor rehabilitation of people affected by motor issues. Movement reproduction, which transfers users' movements from the physical world to the virtual environment, is commonly used in VR rehabilitation applications. Three major components are required for movement reproduction in VR: (1) movement input, (2) movement representation, and (3) movement modulation. Until now, movement reproduction in virtual rehabilitation has not yet been systematically studied. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art review on this subject by focusing on existing literature on immersive motor rehabilitation using VR. In this review, we provided in-depth discussions on the rehabilitation goals and outcomes, technology issues behind virtual rehabilitation, and user experience regarding movement reproduction. Similarly, we present good practices and highlight challenges and opportunities that can form constructive suggestions for the design and development of fit-for-purpose VR rehabilitation applications and can help frame future research directions for this emerging area that combines VR and health.Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China ProgrammeKey Program Special Fund of Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool UniversityResearch Development Fund of Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool Universit

    Naturalistic visualization of reaching movements using head-mounted displays improves movement quality compared to conventional computer screens and proves high usability.

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    BACKGROUND The relearning of movements after brain injury can be optimized by providing intensive, meaningful, and motivating training using virtual reality (VR). However, most current solutions use two-dimensional (2D) screens, where patients interact via symbolic representations of their limbs (e.g., a cursor). These 2D screens lack depth cues, potentially deteriorating movement quality and increasing cognitive load. Head-mounted displays (HMDs) have great potential to provide naturalistic movement visualization by incorporating improved depth cues, reduce visuospatial transformations by rendering movements in the space where they are performed, and preserve eye-hand coordination by showing an avatar-with immersive VR (IVR)-or the user's real body-with augmented reality (AR). However, elderly populations might not find these novel technologies usable, hampering potential motor and cognitive benefits. METHODS We compared movement quality, cognitive load, motivation, and system usability in twenty elderly participants (>59 years old) while performing a dual motor-cognitive task with different visualization technologies: IVR HMD, AR HMD, and a 2D screen. We evaluated participants' self-reported cognitive load, motivation, and usability using questionnaires. We also conducted a pilot study with five brain-injured patients comparing the visualization technologies while using an assistive device. RESULTS Elderly participants performed straighter, shorter duration, and smoother movements when the task was visualized with the HMDs than screen. The IVR HMD led to shorter duration movements than AR. Movement onsets were shorter with IVR than AR, and shorter for both HMDs than the screen, potentially indicating facilitated reaction times due to reduced cognitive load. No differences were found in the questionnaires regarding cognitive load, motivation, or usability between technologies in elderly participants. Both HMDs proved high usability in our small sample of patients. CONCLUSIONS HMDs are a promising technology to be incorporated into neurorehabilitation, as their more naturalistic movement visualization improves movement quality compared to conventional screens. HMDs demonstrate high usability, without decreasing participants' motivation, and might potentially lower cognitive load. Our preliminary clinical results suggest that brain-injured patients may especially benefit from more immersive technologies. However, larger patient samples are needed to draw stronger conclusions.*

    Beyond the screen – The potential of smartphone apps and immersive technologies in exposure-based interventions for phobias

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    Specific phobias are extremely common among adults. They are characterized by strong emotional reactions and avoidance behavior when exposed to the feared stimuli. Specifically fears concerning heights or animals such as spiders are highly prevalent, followed by fear of social situations such as fear of public speaking. The gold standard in treating specific phobias is exposure-based therapy. However, exposure-based therapy is limited in its practicability in clinical routine and poses a high hurdle for affected individuals. Virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) smartphone apps offer attractive platforms to simulate exposure situations and by that increase the accessibility of mental health services in general. Thus, novel smartphone-based treatments hold the potential to facilitate the dissemination of exposure-based treatments for specific phobias. The studies presented as part of this thesis aimed at investigating three newly developed interventions for fear of heights, fear of public speaking and fear of spiders, using the currently available advanced technologies. In the first study (Bentz et al., 2021), a stand-alone, automated and gamified VR exposure app Easyheights was developed using 360° images. The app’s effectiveness to reduce fear of heights and avoidance behavior was investigated in a randomized controlled trial in an adult population with clinical and subclinical fear of heights. The repeated use of the app led to reduced fear and avoidance behavior in a real-life situation on a tower. For the second study (Müller, Fehlmann et al., 2022), the developed stand-alone, automated and gamified VR exposure app Fearless Speech aimed at reducing public speaking anxiety (PSA) and avoidance of eye contact. A virtual audience with 360° videos was used for the exposure and gaze control for the eye contact training. The app was investigated in a randomized controlled trial in healthy adults with subclinical PSA. After the repeated use of the app, participants showed reduced fear and improved eye contact in a real-life speech situation. The third study (Zimmer et al., 2021) examined the developed stand-alone, automated and gamified AR exposure app Phobys. In comparison to VR, AR has only recently been introduced to clinical research. The app was designed to reduce fear, disgust and avoidance behavior in adults with clinical and subclinical fear of spiders. The results of the randomized controlled trial showed that repeatedly using the app led to reduced fear, disgust and avoidance behavior in a real-life situation with a real spider. The results of these studies support the potential of stand-alone, automated VR and AR interventions delivered through smartphone apps. The developed apps allow for a high-quality user experience with a highly realistic environment, gaze control for an easy navigation as well as the possibility of interaction. In addition, gamification elements foster engagement with the apps. All three investigated apps offer low-threshold and low-cost treatment for individuals affected by specific phobias. Testing the effectiveness of these newly developed apps in real-life settings sets them apart from previous studies. Hence, this thesis highlights the potential of using smartphone apps with immersive technologies to advance and disseminate exposure-based treatments for specific phobias

    Measuring Behavior 2018 Conference Proceedings

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    These proceedings contain the papers presented at Measuring Behavior 2018, the 11th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research. The conference was organised by Manchester Metropolitan University, in collaboration with Noldus Information Technology. The conference was held during June 5th – 8th, 2018 in Manchester, UK. Building on the format that has emerged from previous meetings, we hosted a fascinating program about a wide variety of methodological aspects of the behavioral sciences. We had scientific presentations scheduled into seven general oral sessions and fifteen symposia, which covered a topical spread from rodent to human behavior. We had fourteen demonstrations, in which academics and companies demonstrated their latest prototypes. The scientific program also contained three workshops, one tutorial and a number of scientific discussion sessions. We also had scientific tours of our facilities at Manchester Metropolitan Univeristy, and the nearby British Cycling Velodrome. We hope this proceedings caters for many of your interests and we look forward to seeing and hearing more of your contributions

    The radiological investigation of musculoskeletal tumours : chairperson's introduction

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    Infective/inflammatory disorders

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    Serious Gaming in Augmented Reality using HMDs for Assessment of Upper Extremity Motor Dysfunctions: User Studies for Engagement and Usability

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    For a better understanding of how different disorders affect motor function, a uniform, standardized and objective evaluation is a desirable goal for the clinical community. We explore the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) combined with serious gaming and free hand tracking to facilitate objective, cost-effective and patient-friendly methods for evaluation of upper extremity motor dysfunction in different patient groups. In this paper, we describe the design process of the game and the system architecture of the AR framework to meet these requirements. Furthermore, we report our findings from two pilot studies we conducted with healthy people aged over 50. First, we present a usability study (n = 5) on three different modalities of visual feedback for natural hand interaction with AR objects (i. e., no augmented hand, partial augmented hand and a full augmented hand model). The results show that a virtual representation of the fingertips or hand improves the usability of natural hand interaction. Secondly, a study about game engagement is presented. The results of this experiment (n = 8) show that there might be potential for engagement, but usability needs to be improved before it can emerge.System EngineeringPolicy Analysi

    Proceedings of the 10th international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies (ICDVRAT 2014)

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