Virtual worlds’ influences on our mental balance and physical health: a survey with philosophical approaches

Interactive virtual worlds have an impact in our mental and physical balance and as an extension in our health. This survey studies the existing literature in these aspects, from a philosophical approach and concludes on the impact that virtual worlds have to the humans. The process applied involves the analyses of key points relevant to computer games, virtual reality and cyberspace

Arousing a wide range of emotions within educational virtual reality simulation about major depressive disorder affects knowledge retention

The experience of using an educational application, concerning a major depressive disorder simulation, could be anything but pleasant, so the challenges of creating such an application are ample. In this research, the effects of the emotional experience of the players, deriving from the positive ending of the virtual reality (VR) simulation’s embedded narrative or the lack of it, are evaluated. Alongside the investigation of a possible link between the emotional impact of the simulation and information retention, the overall effect of the application in relation to VR presence and body ownership is appraised. Thirty participants over 18 years old tested the application, using an Oculus Rift head-mounted display with a joystick, and their data were recorded by a pre- and a post-questionnaire. The 30 participants have been separated into groups of 15, where the positive ending was accessible to only one of the two groups. The group which experienced the positive ending reported a significant correlation of emotional impact and knowledge retention

Aliens versus Humans: Do avatars make a difference in how we play the game?

An immersive first-person 3D computer game was designed and developed to investigate if the visual characteristics of a player's avatar influences their behavior. Two types of gender-matched biped avatar were used: Normal looking Humanoids and tougher looking Aliens. In the game, players had to block incoming projectiles fired from two canons with their hands. The number of times the players were hit as well as a measure of how hard they hit the projectiles was recorded. Results show differences in these measures dependent on the type of avatar used, in line with previous findings whereby people appear to be influenced by the perceived characteristics of their digital representation

The effect of the appearance of our self-representation in a virtual world on our behavior: a survey

Our self-representation in a virtual world can influence our behavior and actions there. This survey studies the existing literature in these aspects, and concludes on the impact of your virtual appearance on your behavior. The process applied involves the analyses of key points relevant to body ownership, virtual reality, embodiment, and human behavior

Virtual reality for inducing empathy and reducing prejudice towards stigmatized groups: a survey

This paper gives an up-to-date overview of research about Virtual Reality (VR) for inducing empathy and reducing prejudice towards stigmatized groups and the measurements used in the studies. Outcomes from the studies reviewed provide only preliminary support for the use of VR for successfully inducing empathy into people and reducing their prejudice towards stigmatized groups and the preference for using selfreport methods for the measurement of empathy and prejudice

Geometrical Algorithms for Real Time Sound Rendering Using Intelligent Prioritization

Geometrical algorithms have been the main subject of research in the field of real time sound rendering. These algorithms are variants of the image source and ray tracing algorithms, enhanced with improvements that speed up substantially their performance. The fundamental concepts behind the improvements achieved up to now was the reduction of the processed information and the acceleration of the actual processing. In this paper, we show how altering the traversal method affects significantly the algorithm’s performance. These optimizations alter its behavior, providing better results for real time purposes. We separate the techniques into three major categories and we propose a stochastic Monte Carlo algorithm which involves optimizations based on prioritization.This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 739578 and under Grant Agreement No 692058 and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for European Programmes, Coordination and Development. DOI :10.2312/egve.20181319, Geometrical Algorithms for Real Time Sound Rendering Using Intelligent Prioritization, Charalampous, Panagiotis and Michael-Grigoriou, Despina, ICAT-EGVE 2018 - International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence and Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments, Bruder, Gerd and Yoshimoto, Shunsuke and Cobb, Sue, 2018, pages 85-94, Copyright ©2018 The Eurographics Association, The Eurographics Association

Aliens versus Humans: Do avatars make a difference in how we play the game?

An immersive first-person 3D computer game was designed and developed to investigate if the visual characteristics of a player's avatar influences their behavior. Two types of gender-matched biped avatar were used: Normal looking Humanoids and tougher looking Aliens. In the game, players had to block incoming projectiles fired from two canons with their hands. The number of times the players were hit as well as a measure of how hard they hit the projectiles was recorded. Results show differences in these measures dependent on the type of avatar used, in line with previous findings whereby people appear to be influenced by the perceived characteristics of their digital representation

Improved hybrid algorithm for real time sound propagation using intelligent prioritization

We present a hybrid algorithm which combines image source method, ray tracing and intelligent prioritization for faster calculation of impulse responses to be used in real time sound rendering. We use the image source method to calculate sound reflections from specular surfaces and we use a prioritized ray tracing algorithm for fast detection and evaluation of valid image sources from the tree of candidate image sources. Our algorithm delivers improved acoustical results in most cases when compared to a non prioritized version of it, a ray tracing algorithm and a best first image source algorithms, indicating that prioritization can deliver performance gains in real time sound rendering methods