Andrea Stevenson Won

Homuncular Flexibility in Virtual Reality

Immersive virtual reality allows people to inhabit avatar bodies that differ from their own, and this can produce significant psychological and physiological effects. The concept of homuncular flexibility Lanier, 2006 proposes that users can learn to control bodies different from their own by changing the relationship between tracked and rendered motion. We examine the effects of remapping movements in the real world onto an avatar that moves in novel ways. In Experiment 1, participants moved their legs more than their arms in conditions where leg movements were more effective for the task. In Experiment 2, participants controlling 3-armed avatars learned to hit more targets than participants in 2-armed avatars. We discuss the implications of embodiment in novel bodies.

Automatic Detection of Nonverbal Behavior Predicts Learning in Dyadic Interactions

Nonverbal behavior can reveal the psychological states of those engaged in interpersonal interaction. Previous research has highlighted the relationship between gesture and learning during instruction. In the current study we applied readily available computer vision hardware and machine learning algorithms to the gestures of teacher/student dyads (N = 106) during a learning session to automatically distinguish between high and low success learning interactions, operationalized by recall for information presented during that learning session. Models predicted learning performance of the dyad with accuracies as high as 85.7 percent when tested on dyads not included in the training set. In addition, correlations were found between summed measures of body movement and learning score. We discuss theoretical and applied implications for learning.

Immersive Virtual Reality for Pediatric Pain

Children must often endure painful procedures as part of their treatment for various medical conditions. Those with chronic pain endure frequent or constant discomfort in their daily lives, sometimes severely limiting their physical capacities. With the advent of affordable consumer-grade equipment, clinicians have access to a promising and engaging intervention for pediatric pain, both acute and chronic. In addition to providing relief from acute and procedural pain, virtual reality (VR) may also help to provide a corrective psychological and physiological environment to facilitate rehabilitation for pediatric patients suffering from chronic pain. The special qualities of VR such as presence, interactivity, customization, social interaction, and embodiment allow it to be accepted by children and adolescents and incorporated successfully into their existing medical therapies. However, the powerful and transformative nature of many VR experiences may also pose some risks and should be utilized with caution. In this paper, we review recent literature in pediatric virtual reality for procedural pain and anxiety, acute and chronic pain, and some rehabilitation applications. We also discuss the practical considerations of using VR in pediatric care, and offer specific suggestions and information for clinicians wishing to adopt these engaging therapies into their daily clinical practice.

Non‐Immersive, Virtual Reality Mirror Visual Feedback for Treatment of Persistent Idiopathic Facial Pain

Dear Editor, This letter describes a preliminary proof-of-concept test of a novel, non-invasive, virtual reality mirror visual feedback (VRMVF) therapy for persistent idiopathic facial pain. Persistent idiopathic face pain (PIFP) shares some characteristics with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type 1: The pain develops after a relatively minor noxious event; is not associated with a specific nerve injury; and results in constant, severe, and often disabling pain. Patients with both conditions may develop allodynia and/or thermal sensitivity, and may limit movement of the affected part to minimize pain. Mirror visualization feedback (MVF) is one approach used for CRPS that might also prove useful in treating PIFP. In 1996, Ramachandran discovered that MVF therapy might mitigate phantom limb pain in amputees [1]. Attempts to expand on this use of MVF have included efforts to treat phantom limb pain, fibromyalgia [2] CRPS [3] and facial pain [4] both in the original format and using virtual reality (VR) [5–7]. We theorized that the similarities between CRPS and PIFP might make a MVF therapy that relies on painless touch effective in treating PIFP as well. In our method, a digital model (or “avatar”) represents the patients head and neck, with the computer screen serving as the “mirror.” This method would allow the …

Appearance and task success in novel avatars

Novel avatar bodies are ones that are not controlled in a one-to-one relationship between the user’s body and the avatar body, for example, when the avatar’s arms are controlled by the user’s legs, or, when the avatar has a third arm. People have been shown to complete tasks more successfully when controlling novel avatar bodies than when controlling avatars that conform to the normal human configurations, when those novel avatars are better suited to the task (Won, Bailenson, Lee, & Lanier, 2015). However, the novel avatars in such studies tend to follow two conventions. First, the novel avatars still resemble biological forms, and second, the novel extensions of the avatar are connected to the avatar body. In the following study, participants operated bodies with three arms. We examined the interaction between biological appearance of the third arm and whether it was attached to the body. There was a significant effect of biological appearance on performance, such that participants inhabiting an avatar with a biological appearance did worse overall. There was also an interaction with biological appearance and an extension that appeared detached from the participant’s body such that participants in this condition performed most poorly overall. We propose a relationship between self-reported presence and task success, and discuss the implications of these findings for the design, implementation, and use of novel avatars.

Evaluating control schemes for the third arm of an avatar

Recent research on immersive virtual environments has shown that users can not only inhabit and identify with novel avatars with novel body extensions, but also learn to control novel appendages in ways beneficial to the task at hand. But how different control schemas might affect task performance and body ownership with novel avatar appendages has yet to be explored. In this article, we discuss the design of control schemas based on the theory and practice of 3D interactions applied to novel avatar bodies. Using a within-subjects design, we compare the effects of controlling a third arm with three different control schemas (bimanual, unimanual, and head-control) on task performance, simulator sickness, presence, and user preference. Both the unimanual and the head-control were significantly faster, elicited significantly higher body ownership, and were preferred over the bimanual control schema. Participants felt that the bimanual control was significantly more difficult than the unimanual control, and elicited less appendage agency than the head-control. There were no differences in reported simulator sickness. We discuss the implications of these results for interface design.

Social Distance Increases Perceived Physical Distance

Proximity, or spatial closeness, can generate social closeness—the closer people are together, the more they interact, affiliate, and befriend one another. Mediated communication allows people to bridge spatial distance and can increase social closeness between conversational partners, even when they are separated by distance. However, mediated communication may not always make people feel closer together. Here, we test a hypothesis derived from construal theory, about one way in which mediated communication might increase spatial distance, by imposing social distance between two texting partners. In three studies, the social distance generated by a text conversation correlated with estimates of spatial distance. Conversations designed to generate social distance increased estimates of spatial distance. We discuss this relationship in light of the rise in computer-mediated communication.

The RealityMashers: Augmented Reality Wide Field-of-View Optical See-Through Head Mounted Displays

Optical see-through (OST) displays can overlay computer generated graphics on top of the physical world, effectually fusing the two worlds together. However, current OST displays have a limited (compared to the human) field-of-view (FOV) and are powered by laptops which hinders their mobility. Furthermore the systems are designed for single-user experiences and therefore cannot be used for collocated multi-user applications. In this paper we contribute the design of the RealityMashers, two wide FOV OST displays that can be manufactured using rapid-prototyping techniques. We also contribute preliminary user feedback providing insights into enhancing future RealityMasher experiences. By providing the RealityMashers schematics we hope to make Augmented Reality more accessible and as a result accelerate the research in the field.