9 research outputs found
水中での視覚心理実験のための刺激提示装置開発およびそれを用いた水中での自己身体誘導運動知覚実験
In order to examine a novel approach toward better understanding concerning multimodal sensory integration in human spatial orientation, we tried to develop an underwater visual display which enables us visual psychophysical experiment in a water. We proposed three possible methods, namely 1) a large visual display equipped with waterprotection housing, 2) a head-mounted display employing waterproof smartphone and 3) an observing visual display placed outside of water via observational window. Advantages and limitations in each method were discussed. We also executed trial vection experiments employing the underwater visual display and confirmed its feasibility. Furthermore, the results suggested that visual-vestibular interactions were quite different in the underwater condition from the normal observational condition. The current study successfully provided us an invaluable information worth to examine in a future study. 自己空間定位に関わる多感覚統合の様相を新たな角度から検討するために, 水中での視覚心理実験を可能とする水中視覚刺激提示装置の検討を行った. 1) 大型水中視覚ディスプレイの設置, 2) 防水スマートフォンを用いた頭部搭載ディスプレイ, 3) プールに設置された観察窓を介した刺激提示, の3 種の方式を提案し, それぞれの長所, 制約を議論した. 水中視覚刺激提示装置を用いた水中での自己身体誘導運動知覚実験を試行し, その実現可能性を確認するとともに, 水中環境での視覚― 平衡感覚間相互作用の特異性を示唆する結果を得るなど, 今後の研究推進に有益な知見を得ることができた.
Effects of Auditory Vection Speed and Directional Congruence on Perceptions of Visual Vection
Spatial disorientation is a major contributor to aircraft mishaps. One potential contributing factor is vection, an illusion of self-motion. Although vection is commonly thought of as a visual illusion, it can also be produced through audition. The purpose of the current experiment was to explore interactions between conflicting visual and auditory vection cues, specifically with regard to the speed and direction of rotation. The ultimate goal was to explore the extent to which aural vection could diminish or enhance the perception of visual vection. The study used a 3 × 2 within-groups factorial design. Participants were exposed to three levels of aural rotation velocity (slower, matched, and faster, relative to visual rotation speed) and two levels of aural rotational congruence (congruent or incongruent rotation) including two control conditions (visual and aural-only). Dependent measures included vection onset time, vection direction judgements, subjective vection strength ratings, vection speed ratings, and horizontal nystagmus frequency. Subjective responses to motion were assessed pre and post treatment, and oculomotor responses were assessed before, during, and following exposure to circular vection. The results revealed a significant effect of stimulus condition on vection strength. Specifically, directionally-congruent aural-visual vection resulted in significantly stronger vection than visual and aural vection alone. Perceptions of directionally-congruent aural-visual vection were slightly stronger vection than directionally-incongruent aural-visual vection, but not significantly so. No significant effects of aural rotation velocity on vection strength were observed. The results suggest directionally-incongruent aural vection could be used as a countermeasure for visual vection and directionally-congruent aural vection could be used to improve vection in virtual environments, provided further research is done
Validation of the Virtual Reality Neuroscience Questionnaire:Maximum duration of immersive virtual reality sessions without the presence of pertinent adverse symptomatology
International audienceThere are major concerns about the suitability of immersive virtual reality (VR) systems (i.e., head-mounted display; HMD) to be implemented in research and clinical settings, because of the presence of nausea, dizziness, disorientation, fatigue, and instability (i.e., VR induced symptoms and effects; VRISE). Research suggests that the duration of a VR session modulates the presence and intensity of VRISE, but there are no suggestions regarding the appropriate maximum duration of VR sessions. The implementation of high-end VR HMDs in conjunction with ergonomic VR software seems to mitigate the presence of VRISE substantially. However, a brief tool does not currently exist to appraise and report both the quality of software features and VRISE intensity quantitatively. The Virtual Reality Neuroscience Questionnaire (VRNQ) was developed to assess the quality of VR software in terms of user experience, game mechanics, in-game assistance, and VRISE. Forty participants aged between 28 and 43 years were recruited (18 gamers and 22 non-gamers) for the study. They participated in 3 different VR sessions until they felt weary or discomfort and subsequently filled in the VRNQ. Our results demonstrated that VRNQ is a valid tool for assessing VR software as it has good convergent, discriminant, and construct validity. The maximum duration of VR sessions should be between 55 and 70 min when the VR software meets or exceeds the parsimonious cut-offs of the VRNQ and the users are familiarized with the VR system. Also, the gaming experience does not seem to affect how long VR sessions should last. Also, while the quality of VR software substantially modulates the maximum duration of VR sessions, age and education do not. Finally, deeper immersion, better quality of graphics and sound, and more helpful in-game instructions and prompts were found to reduce VRISE intensity. The VRNQ facilitates the brief assessment and reporting of the quality of VR software features and/or the intensity of VRISE, while its minimum and parsimonious cut-offs may appraise the suitability of VR software for implementation in research and clinical settings. The findings of this study contribute to the establishment of rigorous VR methods that are crucial for the viability of immersive VR as a research and clinical tool in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology
Immersive virtual reality methods in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology: the Virtual Reality Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL).an immersive neuropsychological test battery of everyday cognitive functions
In cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology, the collection of cognitive and
behavioural data is predominantly achieved by implementing paper-and-pencil and
computerized (i.e., 2D and 3D applications) assessments. However, these
psychometric tools in clinics and/or laboratories display several limitations and
discrepancies between the observed performance in the laboratory/clinic and the actual
performance of individuals in everyday life. The functional and predictive association
between an individual's performance on a set of neuropsychological tests and the
individual's performance in various everyday life settings is called ecological validity.
Ecological validity is considered an important issue that cannot be resolved by the
currently available assessment tools. Virtual reality head-mounted displays (HMD)
appear to be effective research tools, which may address the problem of ecological
validity in neuropsychological testing. However, their widespread implementation is
hindered by virtual reality induced symptoms and effects (VRISE) and the lack of
skills in virtual reality software development.
In this PhD, a technological systematic literature review of the reasons for adverse
symptomatology was conducted and suggestions and technological knowledge for the
implementation of virtual reality HMD systems in cognitive neuroscience provided.
The review indicated features pertinent to display, sound, motion tracking, navigation,
ergonomic interactions, user experience, and computer hardware that should be
considered by researchers. Subsequently, a meta-analysis of 44 neuroscientific or
neuropsychological studies involving virtual reality HMD systems was performed.
The meta-analysis of the virtual reality studies demonstrated that new generation
HMDs induce significantly less VRISE and marginally fewer dropouts. Importantly, the commercial versions of the new generation HMDs with ergonomic interactions had
zero incidents of adverse symptomatology and dropouts. HMDs equivalent to or
greater than the commercial versions of contemporary HMDs accompanied with
ergonomic interactions are suitable for implementation in cognitive neuroscience.
Another aim of this PhD was to devise a brief tool to appraise and report both the
quality of software features and VRISE intensity quantitatively; such a tool does not
currently exist. The Virtual Reality Neuroscience Questionnaire (VRNQ; Kourtesis et
al., 2019) was developed to assess the quality of virtual reality software in terms of
user experience, game mechanics, in-game assistance, and VRISE. Forty participants
aged between 28 and 43 years were recruited (18 gamers and 22 non-gamers) for the
study. They participated in 3 different virtual reality sessions until they felt weary or
discomfort and subsequently filled in the VRNQ. The results demonstrated that VRNQ
is a valid tool for assessing virtual reality software as it has good convergent,
discriminant, and construct validity. The maximum duration of virtual reality sessions
should be between 55 and 70 min when the virtual reality software meets or exceeds
the parsimonious cut-offs of the VRNQ, and the users are familiarized with the virtual
reality system. Also, gaming experience does not affect how long virtual reality
sessions should last. Furthermore, while the quality of virtual reality software
substantially modulates the maximum duration of virtual reality sessions, age and
education do not. Finally, deeper immersion, better quality of graphics and sound, and
more helpful in-game instructions and prompts were found to reduce VRISE intensity.
The VRNQ facilitates the brief assessment and reporting of the quality of virtual reality
software features and/or the intensity of VRISE, while its minimum and parsimonious
cut-offs may appraise the suitability of virtual reality software for implementation in research and clinical settings. However, the development of virtual reality software is
predominantly dependent on third parties (e.g., freelancers or companies) with
programming and software development skills. A solution that will promote the
adoption of immersive virtual reality as a research and clinical tool might be the in-house development of virtual reality research/clinical software by computer science
literate cognitive scientists or research software engineers.
In Chapter 4, guidelines are offered for the development of virtual reality software in
cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology, by describing and discussing the stages
of the development of Virtual Reality Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL), the first
neuropsychological battery in immersive virtual reality. Techniques for evaluating
cognitive functions within a realistic storyline are discussed. The utility of various
assets in Unity, software development kits, and other software are described so that
cognitive scientists can overcome challenges pertinent to VRISE and the quality of the
virtual reality software. In addition, VR-EAL is evaluated in accordance with the
necessary criteria for virtual reality software for research purposes. The virtual reality
neuroscience questionnaire (VRNQ) was implemented to appraise the quality of the
three versions of VR-EAL in terms of user experience, game mechanics, in-game
assistance, and VRISE. Twenty-five participants aged between 20 and 45 years with
12–16 years of full-time education evaluated various versions of VR-EAL. The final
version of VR-EAL achieved high scores in every sub-score of the VRNQ and
exceeded its parsimonious cut-offs. It also appeared to have better in-game assistance
and game mechanics, while its improved graphics substantially increased the quality
of the user experience and almost eradicated VRISE. The results substantially support the feasibility of the development of effective virtual reality research and clinical
software without the presence of VRISE during a 60-min virtual reality session.
In Chapter 5, validation of VR-EAL as an assessment of prospective memory, episodic
memory, attention, and executive functions using an ecologically valid approach is
examined. Performance on the VR-EAL, an immersive virtual reality
neuropsychological battery, is examined against an extensive paper-and-pencil
neuropsychological battery. Forty-one participants (21 females) were recruited: 18
gamers and 23 non-gamers who attended both an immersive virtual reality and a paper-and-pencil testing session. Bayesian Pearson correlation analyses were conducted to
assess construct and convergent validity of the VR-EAL. Bayesian t-tests were
performed to compare virtual reality and paper-and-pencil testing in terms of
administration time, similarity to real life tasks (i.e., ecological validity), and
pleasantness. VR-EAL scores were significantly correlated with their equivalent
scores on the paper-and-pencil tests. The participants’ reports indicated that the VR-EAL tasks were considered significantly more ecologically valid and pleasant than the
paper-and-pencil neuropsychological battery. The VR-EAL battery also had a shorter
administration time. The VR-EAL appears to be an effective neuropsychological tool
for the assessment of everyday cognitive functions, and has enhanced ecological
validity, a highly pleasant testing experience, and does not induce cybersickness.
In the final part of this thesis, the preparatory attentional and memory (PAM) and the
multiprocess theories of prospective memory are examined by attempting to identify
the cognitive functions which may predict the individual’s performance on
ecologically valid prospective memory tasks in the same group of participants
described in Chapter 5. Bayesian t-tests were conducted to explore the differences among different prospective memory tasks (e.g., event-based and time-based) and
prospective memory tasks with varying delays between encoding and the recall of the
intended action (e.g., short-delay versus long-delay). Bayesian linear regression
analyses were performed to examine the predictors of VR-EAL scores. The results
revealed that the type of prospective memory task does not play a significant role in
everyday prospective memory functioning, but instead the length of delay between
encoding and retrieving the prospective memory intention plays a central role. Support
for the PAM and MP frameworks was found in non-focal and focal event-based tasks
respectively. However, the findings, inferring a dynamic interplay between automatic
and intentional monitoring and retrieval processes, agree with the inclusive approach
of the multiprocess framework. Also, the role of executive functions appears crucial
in everyday PM. Finally, everyday PM is predominantly facilitated by episodic
memory, visuospatial attention, auditory attention, and executive functions.
In conclusion, this PhD thesis attempted to show how immersive virtual reality
research methods may be implemented efficiently without the confounding effect of
cybersickness symptomatology in order to enhance the ecological validity of
neuropsychological testing and contribute to our understanding of everyday cognitive
ability
Practical, appropriate, empirically-validated guidelines for designing educational games
There has recently been a great deal of interest in the
potential of computer games to function as innovative
educational tools. However, there is very little evidence of
games fulfilling that potential. Indeed, the process of
merging the disparate goals of education and games design
appears problematic, and there are currently no practical
guidelines for how to do so in a coherent manner. In this
paper, we describe the successful, empirically validated
teaching methods developed by behavioural psychologists
and point out how they are uniquely suited to take
advantage of the benefits that games offer to education. We
conclude by proposing some practical steps for designing
educational games, based on the techniques of Applied
Behaviour Analysis. It is intended that this paper can both
focus educational games designers on the features of games
that are genuinely useful for education, and also introduce a
successful form of teaching that this audience may not yet
be familiar with
Life Sciences Program Tasks and Bibliography
This document includes information on all peer reviewed projects funded by the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, Life Sciences Division during fiscal year 1995. Additionally, this inaugural edition of the Task Book includes information for FY 1994 programs. This document will be published annually and made available to scientists in the space life sciences field both as a hard copy and as an interactive Internet web pag