11 research outputs found
A Psychophysical Experiment Regarding Components of the Plausibility Illusion
We report on the design and results of an experiment investigating factors influencing Slaterâs Plausibility Illusion (Psi) in
virtual environments. Slater proposed Psi and Place Illusion (PI) as orthogonal components of virtual experience which contribute
to realistic response in a VE. PI corresponds to the traditional conception of presence as âbeing there,â so there exists a substantial
body of previous research relating to PI, but very little relating to Psi. We developed this experiment to investigate the components
of plausibility illusion using subjective matching techniques similar to those used in color science. Twenty-one participants each
experienced a scenario with the highest level of coherence (the extent to which a scenario matches user expectations and is internally
consistent), then in eight different trials chose transitions from lower-coherence to higher-coherence scenarios with the goal of matching
the level of Psi they felt in the highest-coherence scenario. At each transition, participants could change one of the following coherence
characteristics: the behavior of the other virtual humans in the environment, the behavior of their own body, the physical behavior
of objects, or the appearance of the environment. Participants tended to choose improvements to the virtual body before any other
improvements. This indicates that having an accurate and well-behaved representation of oneself in the virtual environment is the
most importa
Establishment of a 3D In Vitro Model to Accelerate the Development of Human Therapies against Corneal Diabetes
The authors thank Dr. John M Asara, Min Yuan, and Susanne Breitkopf for their technical help with metabolomics experiments, Dr. Ben Fowler for his technical help with TEM experiments and also Tina B McKay for many thoughtful discussions and scientific insights during the study.Purpose To establish an in vitro model that would mirror the in vivo corneal stromal environment in diabetes (DM) patients. Methods Human corneal fibroblasts from Healthy (HCFs), Type 1DM (T1DM) and Type 2DM (T2DM) donors were isolated and cultured for 4 weeks with Vitamin C stimulation in order to allow for extracellular matrix (ECM) secretion and assembly. Results Our data indicated altered cellular morphology, increased cellular migration, increased ECM assembly, and severe mitochondrial damage in both T1DM and T2DMs when compared to HCFs. Furthermore, we found significant downregulation of Collagen I and Collagen V expression in both T1DM and T2DMs. Furthermore, a significant up regulation of fibrotic markers was seen, including α-smooth muscle actin in T2DM and Collagen III in both T1DM and T2DMs. Metabolic analysis suggested impaired Glycolysis and Tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) pathway. Conclusion DM has significant effects on physiological and clinical aspects of the human cornea. The benefits in developing and fully characterizing our 3D in vitro model are enormous and might provide clues for the development of novel therapeutics.Yeshttp://www.plosone.org/static/editorial#pee