Marco Otte

Virtual Burglary Exploring the Potential of Virtual Reality to Study Burglary in Action

Objectives: This article explores the potential of virtual reality (VR) to study burglary by measuring user responses on the subjective, physiological, and behavioral levels. Furthermore, it examines the influence of individual dispositions, such as sensation seeking and self-control, on behavior during a virtual burglary event. Methods: Participants, male university undergraduates (N = 77), could freely move around a virtual neighborhood wearing a VR headset and using a game controller and were instructed to burgle one of the houses in the neighborhood. Participant movement, items stolen from the house, and heart rate (HR) were recorded throughout the burglary event. Individual dispositions were measured before, and subjective user responses were measured after, the event. Additionally, we experimentally varied whether there was an alarm sounding and participants’ beliefs about the chance of getting caught (deterrence). Results: Participants reacted subjectively to the burglary event by reporting high levels of presence in the virtual environment (VE) and physiologically by showing increased HRs. In terms of behavior, high deterrence resulted in fewer items being stolen and a shorter burglary. Furthermore, sensation seekers stole more valuable items, while participants high in conscientiousness stole fewer items. Conclusions: The results suggest that VEs have substantial potential for studying criminal behavior.

Get your virtual hands off me! - Developing threatening IVAs using haptic feedback

Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVAs) become widely used for numerous applications, varying from healthcare decision support to communication training. In several of such applications, it is useful if IVAs have the ability to take a negative stance towards the user, for instance for anti-bullying or conflict management training. However, the believability of such ‘virtual bad guys’ is often limited, since they are non-consequential, i.e., are unable to apply serious sanctions to users. To improve this situation, this research explores the potential of endowing IVAs with the ability to provide haptic feedback. This was realized by conducting an experiment in which users interact with a virtual agent that is able to physically ‘touch’ the user via a haptic gaming vest. The effect on the loudness of the speech and the subjective experience of the participants was measured. Results of the experiment suggest there might be an effect on the subjective experience of the participants and the loudness of their speech. Statistical analysis, however, shows no significant effect but due to the relatively small sample size it is advisable to further look into these aspects.

Getting Closer to the Action: Using the Virtual Enactment Method to Understand Burglary

ABSTRACT In this article we describe a new method, the Virtual Enactment Method (VEM), to enhance offender recall and motivation to disclose information by having burglars reflect on their experience while committing a crime in a simulated virtual environment. Participants, a sample of 61 incarcerated burglars, ‘thought aloud’ whilst undertaking a virtual burglary. Following the ‘virtual’ burglary, emerging themes were expanded upon in an interview. We show that the simulated environment effectively reinstates the criminogenic event, increases engagement, enhances recall, and encourages participants to talk more openly about their experiences, skills and knowledge.

3D site surveyor for 360° wireless motion tracking

We developed a lightweight, wireless and most affordable three-dimensional tracking system, called 3D site surveyor, which allows versatile, hands-free and easy-to-use human computer interaction, combining off-the-shelf hardware with custom-made software. We based this system on the Nintendo Wii remote controller hardware. 3D site surveyor is able to detect movement of a user in three dimensions (x, y and z-axis), including rotation in the xy-plane (yaw). We will argue that, within the limits of the system, it is theoretically possible to also measure pitch and roll, making the system capable of detecting 6DoF. The system can be applied to, for example, gaming, virtual reality, ambient-assisted living and academic research (e.g., human motion, perception and attention).