NOViSE: a virtual natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery simulator

Purpose: Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) is a novel technique in minimally invasive surgery whereby a flexible endoscope is inserted via a natural orifice to gain access to the abdominal cavity, leaving no external scars. This innovative use of flexible endoscopy creates many new challenges and is associated with a steep learning curve for clinicians. Methods: We developed NOViSE - the first force-feedback enabled virtual reality simulator for NOTES training supporting a flexible endoscope. The haptic device is custom built and the behaviour of the virtual flexible endoscope is based on an established theoretical framework – the Cosserat Theory of Elastic Rods. Results: We present the application of NOViSE to the simulation of a hybrid trans-gastric cholecystectomy procedure. Preliminary results of face, content and construct validation have previously shown that NOViSE delivers the required level of realism for training of endoscopic manipulation skills specific to NOTES Conclusions: VR simulation of NOTES procedures can contribute to surgical training and improve the educational experience without putting patients at risk, raising ethical issues or requiring expensive animal or cadaver facilities. In the context of an experimental technique, NOViSE could potentially facilitate NOTES development and contribute to its wider use by keeping practitioners up to date with this novel surgical technique. NOViSE is a first prototype and the initial results indicate that it provides promising foundations for further development

A virtual laboratory system for physiology teaching

The problem of understanding physiological processes can be aided by visualization tools. Traditionally this has been achieved by the use of schematic paper diagrams. However, many physiological processes are quite complex, and in many instances students encounter difficulties in understanding the dynamics. This paper describes the rationale behind an alternative approach using interactive three‐dimensional computer‐graphics simulation to aid comprehension of scientific concepts

Synopsis of an engineering solution for a painful problem Phantom Limb Pain

This paper is synopsis of a recently proposed solution for treating patients who suffer from Phantom Limb Pain (PLP). The underpinning approach of this research and development project is based on an extension of “mirror box” therapy which has had some promising results in pain reduction. An outline of an immersive individually tailored environment giving the patient a virtually realised limb presence, as a means to pain reduction is provided. The virtual 3D holographic environment is meant to produce immersive, engaging and creative environments and tasks to encourage and maintain patients’ interest, an important aspect in two of the more challenging populations under consideration (over-60s and war veterans). The system is hoped to reduce PLP by more than 3 points on an 11 point Visual Analog Scale (VAS), when a score less than 3 could be attributed to distraction alone

Modelling 3D product visualisation for online retail atmospherics

Purpose: The Stimulus (S) Organism (O) Responses (R) paradigm has been extensively studied in conventional retailing but has received little attention in the online context. This study aims to investigate the effects of an online retailer atmospheric using three dimensional (3D) product visualisation. Design/methods/approach: We operationalise 3D antecedents, the main online atmospheric cues, as the “stimulus” (S) that attracts consumers’ attention towards the online retailer, authenticity of the 3D, hedonic and utilitarian value as the “organism” (O) part, and consumers’ behavioural intention as the “responses” (R) part. A hypothetical retailer Web site presents a variety of laptops using 3D product visualisations. Findings: The control and animated colours represent the main stimuli (S). Furthermore, 3D authenticity, hedonic and utilitarian values are the main determinants of behavioural intentions. The proposed conceptual model achieves acceptable fit and the hypothesised paths are all valid. Practical implications: Retail website designers can contribute to enhancing consumers’ virtual experience by focusing more on utilitarian and hedonic value. Any 3D flash should include the essential information that consumers seek and consumers should be able to click to any part of the 3D flash to access further information. Originality/values: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first in the U.K. that uses a U.K. sample to investigate the effects of using 3D product visualisation on consumers’ perceptions and responses. Our research makes an important contribution to the online atmospheric literature by providing a rich explanation of how authenticity of the 3D virtual models adds more information, fun and enhances consumers’ responses towards the online retailer

Agent Assistance: From Problem Solving to Music Teaching

We report on our research on agents that act and behave in a web learning environment. This research is part of a general approach to agents acting and behaving in virtual environments where they are involved in providing information, performing transactions, demonstrating products and, more generally, assisting users or visitors of the web environment in doing what they want or have been asked to do. While initially we hardly provided our agents with 'teaching knowledge', we now are in the process of making such knowledge explicit, especially in models that take into account that assisting and teaching takes place in a visualized and information-rich environment. Our main (embodied) tutor-agent is called Jacob; it knows about the Towers of Hanoi, a well-known problem that is offered to CS students to learn about recursion. Other agents we are working on assist a visitor in navigating in a virtual world or help the visitor in getting information. We are now designing a music teacher - using knowledge of software engineering and how to design multi-modal interactions, from previous projects

A Trip to the Moon: Personalized Animated Movies for Self-reflection

Self-tracking physiological and psychological data poses the challenge of presentation and interpretation. Insightful narratives for self-tracking data can motivate the user towards constructive self-reflection. One powerful form of narrative that engages audience across various culture and age groups is animated movies. We collected a week of self-reported mood and behavior data from each user and created in Unity a personalized animation based on their data. We evaluated the impact of their video in a randomized control trial with a non-personalized animated video as control. We found that personalized videos tend to be more emotionally engaging, encouraging greater and lengthier writing that indicated self-reflection about moods and behaviors, compared to non-personalized control videos

Incorporating interactive 3-dimensional graphics in astronomy research papers

Most research data collections created or used by astronomers are intrinsically multi-dimensional. In contrast, all visual representations of data presented within research papers are exclusively 2-dimensional. We present a resolution of this dichotomy that uses a novel technique for embedding 3-dimensional (3-d) visualisations of astronomy data sets in electronic-format research papers. Our technique uses the latest Adobe Portable Document Format extensions together with a new version of the S2PLOT programming library. The 3-d models can be easily rotated and explored by the reader and, in some cases, modified. We demonstrate example applications of this technique including: 3-d figures exhibiting subtle structure in redshift catalogues, colour-magnitude diagrams and halo merger trees; 3-d isosurface and volume renderings of cosmological simulations; and 3-d models of instructional diagrams and instrument designs.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, submitted to New Astronomy. For paper with 3-dimensional embedded figures, see http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot/3dpd