scholarly journals Closed-Loop Attention Restoration Theory for Virtual Reality-Based Attentional Engagement Enhancement

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 2208
Author(s):  
Gang Li ◽  
Shihong Zhou ◽  
Zhen Kong ◽  
Mengyuan Guo
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Attention Restoration Theory ◽  
Attention Restoration ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
First Case ◽  
Attentional Engagement

Today, as media and technology multitasking becomes pervasive, the majority of young people face a challenge regarding their attentional engagement (that is, how well their attention can be maintained). While various approaches to improve attentional engagement exist, it is difficult to produce an effect in younger people, due to the inadequate attraction of these approaches themselves. Here, we show that a single 30-min engagement with an attention restoration theory (ART)-inspired closed-loop software program (Virtual ART) delivered on a consumer-friendly virtual reality head-mounted display (VR-HMD) could lead to improvements in both general attention level and the depth of engagement in young university students. These improvements were associated with positive changes in both behavioral (response time and response time variability) and key electroencephalography (EEG)-based neural metrics (frontal midline theta inter-trial coherence and parietal event-related potential P3b). All the results were based on the comparison of the standard Virtual ART tasks (control group, n = 15) and closed-loop Virtual ART tasks (treatment group, n = 15). This study provides the first case of EEG evidence of a VR-HMD-based closed-loop ART intervention generating enhanced attentional engagement.

scholarly journals Wired to Exit: Exploring the Effects of Wayfinding Affordances in Underground Facilities Using Virtual Reality

2020 ◽  
pp. 104687812094456
Author(s):  
Panos Kostakos ◽  
Paula Alavesa ◽  
Mikko Korkiakoski ◽  
Mario Monteiro Marques ◽  
Victor Lobo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Parking Lot ◽  
Biometric Measurements ◽  
Physiological Outcomes ◽  
High Level ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Level Effect

Background Wayfinding has been adopted in several intense evacuation and navigation simulations; however, the use of biometric measurements for characterizing physiological outcomes has been somewhat overlooked and applied only under limited laboratory conditions. Methods Twenty-four participants took part in a virtual reality (VR) experiment using a wayfinding installation with the Oculus Rift S head-mounted display (HMD). They were immersed in a simulation of a burning underground parking lot and tasked to navigate to the exit. The purpose of this research was to investigate the high-level effect of wayfinding assistive lights on behavioral, physiological, and psychological outcomes. Participants were split into two groups: the control group was exposed to a scene without assistive lights, and the experimental group was exposed to the same scene with assistive lights. Results Results indicate there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in traveled distance, pauses, turns, or game completion time. Curiously, differences between the two groups in heart rate (HR) outcomes were found to be statistically significant, with subjects in the control group displaying an increasing HR trend during simulation. Conclusions This finding, in accordance with previous studies that have shown the efficacy of landmarks and wayfinding affordances in reducing cognitive demands, suggests that assistive lights might contribute to improved brain wiring connectivity during the game. We discuss these findings in the context of a rich wayfinding affordances literature.

scholarly journals Virtual reality stimulation to reduce the incidence of delirium in critically ill patients: study protocol for a randomized clinical trial

Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aileen C. Naef ◽  
Marie-Madlen Jeitziner ◽  
Stephan M. Gerber ◽  
Béatrice Jenni-Moser ◽  
René M. Müri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Randomized Clinical Trial ◽  
Critically Ill ◽  
Critically Ill Patients ◽  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Noise Cancelling

Abstract Background Delirium has been long considered as a major contributor to cognitive impairments and increased mortality following a critical illness. Pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic strategies are used against delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU), despite these strategies remaining controversial. Previous studies have shown the feasibility of using virtual reality within the ICU setting, and we propose to use this technology to investigate the effect of immersive virtual reality stimulation on the incidence of delirium in the ICU. Moreover, we propose to use motion sensors to determine if patient movement patterns can lead to early prediction of delirium onset. Methods This study is conducted as a randomized clinical trial. A total of 920 critically ill patients in the ICU will participate. The control group will receive standard ICU care, whereas the intervention group will, in addition to the standard ICU care, receive relaxing 360-degree immersive virtual reality content played inside a head-mounted display with noise-cancelling headphones, three times a day. The first 100 patients, regardless of their group, will additionally have their movement patterns recorded using wearable and ambient sensors. Follow-up measurements will take place 6 months after discharge from the ICU. Discussion Delirium is widely present within the ICU setting but lacks validated prevention and treatment strategies. By providing patients with virtual reality stimulation presented inside a head-mounted display and noise-cancelling headphones, participants may be isolated from disturbances on an ICU. It is believed that by doing so, the incidence of delirium will be decrease among these patients. Moreover, identifying movement patterns associated with delirium would allow for early detection and intervention, which may further improve long-term negative outcomes associated with delirium during critical care. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04498585. Registered on August 3, 2020

scholarly journals Cyber sickness in low-immersive, semi-immersive, and fully immersive virtual reality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergo Martirosov ◽  
Marek Bureš ◽  
Tomáš Zítka
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Sense Of Presence ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Immersive Environment ◽  
Grooved Pegboard Test

AbstractIt is known that virtual reality (VR) experience may cause cyber sickness. One aspect of VR is an immersion or otherwise sense of presence, the sense of feeling oneself in a virtual world. In this paper an experiment which was conducted in order to find the link between level of immersion and cyber sickness felt by participants is presented. Eighty-nine participants aged between 19 and 36 years have been equally divided into four groups with different level of VR immersion. The low-immersive group was represented by PC with monoscopic screen, the semi-immersive group was represented by CAVE with stereoscopic projector, the fully immersive group was represented by VR head-mounted display, and the last group was the control group without any kind of immersion. The task for the participants was to navigate through the maze for a specified amount of time (10 min). The Simulator Sickness Questionnaire was used as a subjective measure tool for cyber sickness level and Grooved Pegboard Test for assessing the fine dexterity, both before and after the experiment. Regarding the time spend in VR the fully immersive environment had the biggest problems as more than half of the participants had to stop before 10 min (p < 0.001). Concerning the cyber sickness, the significant increase in nausea score between pre-test and post-test scores has been observed in semi-immersive group (p = 0.0018) and fully immersive group (p < 0.0001). The increase in oculomotor score was smaller. The significant difference was noted only in fully immersive group (p = 0.0449). In spite of great nausea factor after the VR immersion the participants did not show a decrease of fine dexterity in any group (p < 0.001).

Task-Oriented and Imitation-Oriented Movements in Virtual Reality Exercise Performance and Design

2021 ◽  
pp. 001872082110101
Author(s):  
Ken Chen ◽  
Karen B. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Flexion Angle ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Shoulder Muscles ◽  
Shoulder Flexion ◽  
Game Features ◽  
Task Oriented

Objective This study investigated the influence of game features and practice type on human kinematic and muscular performance in a virtual reality exercise (VRE). Participants demonstrated changes in shoulder flexion angle and muscle activation under different virtual scenarios. Background Conventional VRE studies often compared the outcomes between an experimental group that underwent exercise in VR and a real-world exercise control group, whereas comparisons between VRE programs are lacking. Besides, the attributes of VREs received little attention. Method Thirteen able-bodied participants performed upper extremity exercise movements in immersive VR using a head-mounted display. Participants performed task-oriented and imitation-oriented movements with different game features. Shoulder muscle activity (the deltoid, supraspinatus, and infraspinatus) and shoulder motion were collected. Results Practice type (task-oriented, imitation-oriented) significantly influenced the flexion angle of the shoulder complex ( F(1,11) = 9.53, p = .01), and the muscle activity of the supraspinatus ( F(1,9) = 12.61, p = .006) and the infraspinatus ( F(1,9) = 12.71, p = .006). Game features did not have a statistically significant effect on shoulder flexion angle or shoulder muscles’ activations. Conclusions Compared to imitation-oriented practice, task-oriented practice elicited more intensive shoulder movements and muscular efforts but also induced greater movement variations. Substantial differences across game features levels should be further investigated to have significant effects. Applications This research may help guide the design of future VREs. For strength training or rehabilitation where intensive practice is required, task-oriented practice should be considered; for movement learning where movement consistency is required, imitation oriented practice should be adopted.

scholarly journals Head-Mounted Display-Based Therapies for Adults Post-Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1111
Author(s):  
Guillermo Palacios-Navarro ◽  
Neville Hogan
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Clinical Effectiveness ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Rehabilitation ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Post Stroke ◽  
Head Mounted Display

Immersive virtual reality techniques have been applied to the rehabilitation of patients after stroke, but evidence of its clinical effectiveness is scarce. The present review aims to find studies that evaluate the effects of immersive virtual reality (VR) therapies intended for motor function rehabilitation compared to conventional rehabilitation in people after stroke and make recommendations for future studies. Data from different databases were searched from inception until October 2020. Studies that investigated the effects of immersive VR interventions on post-stroke adult subjects via a head-mounted display (HMD) were included. These studies included a control group that received conventional therapy or another non-immersive VR intervention. The studies reported statistical data for the groups involved in at least the posttest as well as relevant outcomes measuring functional or motor recovery of either lower or upper limbs. Most of the studies found significant improvements in some outcomes after the intervention in favor of the virtual rehabilitation group. Although evidence is limited, immersive VR therapies constitute an interesting tool to improve motor learning when used in conjunction with traditional rehabilitation therapies, providing a non-pharmacological therapeutic pathway for people after stroke.

scholarly journals A comparative experimental study of visual brain event-related potentials to a working memory task: virtual reality head-mounted display versus a desktop computer screen

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murat Aksoy ◽  
Chiedu E. Ufodiama ◽  
Anthony D. Bateson ◽  
Stewart Martin ◽  
Aziz U. R. Asghar
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Desktop Computer ◽  
Computer Screen ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Related Potentials

AbstractVirtual reality head mounted display (VR HMD) systems are increasingly utilised in combination with electroencephalography (EEG) in the experimental study of cognitive tasks. The aim of our investigation was to determine the similarities/differences between VR HMD and the computer screen (CS) in response to an n-back working memory task by comparing visual electrophysiological event-related potential (ERP) waveforms (N1/P1/P3 components). The same protocol was undertaken for VR HMD and CS with participants wearing the same EEG headcap. ERP waveforms obtained with the VR HMD environment followed a similar time course to those acquired in CS. The P3 mean and peak amplitudes obtained in VR HMD were not significantly different to those obtained in CS. In contrast, the N1 component was significantly higher in mean and peak amplitudes for the VR HMD environment compared to CS at the frontal electrodes. Significantly higher P1 mean and peak amplitudes were found at the occipital region compared to the temporal for VR HMD. Our results show that successful acquisition of ERP components to a working memory task is achievable by combining VR HMD with EEG. In addition, the higher amplitude N1/P1 components seen in VR HMD indicates the potential utility of this VR modality in the investigation of early ERPs. In conclusion, the combination of VR HMD with EEG/ERP would be a useful approach to advance the study of cognitive function in experimental brain research.

scholarly journals The Differential Impact of Mystery in Nature on Attention: An Oculometric Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Marois ◽  
Brooke Charbonneau ◽  
Andrew M. Szolosi ◽  
Jason M. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Eye Tracker ◽  
Voluntary Attention ◽  
Attention Restoration Theory ◽  
Differential Impact ◽  
Attention Restoration ◽  
Restoration Potential ◽  
Attentional Engagement ◽  
Attention Deployment ◽  
Do So

Nature exposure can provide benefits on stress, health and cognitive performance. According to Attention Restoration Theory (ART), the positive impact of nature on cognition is mainly driven by fascination. Fascinating properties of nature such as water or a winding hiking trail may capture involuntary attention, allowing the directed form of attention to rest and to recover. This claim has been supported by studies relying on eye-tracking measures of attention deployment, comparing exposure to urban and nature settings. Yet, recent studies have shown that promoting higher engagement with a nature setting can improve restorative benefits, hence challenging ART’s view that voluntary attention is resting. Besides, recent evidence published by Szolosi et al. (2014) suggests that voluntary attention may be involved during exposure to high-mystery nature images which they showed as having greater potential for attention restoration. The current study explored how exposure to nature images of different scenic qualities in mystery (and restoration potential) could impact the engagement of attention. To do so, participants were shown nature images characterized by either low or high mystery properties (with allegedly low or high restoration potential, respectively) and were asked to evaluate their fascination and aesthetic levels. Concurrently, an eye tracker collected measures of pupil size, fixations and spontaneous blinks as indices of attentional engagement. Results showed that high-mystery nature images had higher engagement than low-mystery images as supported by the larger pupil dilations, the higher number of fixations and the reduced number of blinks and durations of fixations. Taken together, these results challenge ART’s view that directed attention is merely resting during exposure to restorative nature and offer new hypotheses on potential mechanisms underlying attention restoration.

scholarly journals Virtual Reality as a Portable Alternative to Chromotherapy Rooms for Stress Relief: A Preliminary Study

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (21) ◽  
pp. 6211
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Vaquero-Blasco ◽  
Eduardo Perez-Valero ◽  
Miguel Angel Lopez-Gordo ◽  
Christian Morillas
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Stress Level ◽  
Hypothesis Test ◽  
Test Group ◽  
Stress Relief ◽  
Control Group ◽  
P Value ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
And Control ◽  
Relief Program

Chromotherapy rooms are comfortable spaces, used in places like special needs schools, where stimuli are carefully selected to cope with stress. However, these rooms are expensive and require a space that cannot be reutilized. In this article, we propose the use of virtual reality (VR) as an inexpensive and portable alternative to chromotherapy rooms for stress relief. We recreated a chromotherapy room stress relief program using a commercial head mounted display (HD). We assessed the stress level of two groups (test and control) through an EEG biomarker, the relative gamma, while they experienced a relaxation session. First, participants were stressed using the Montreal imaging stress task (MIST). Then, for relaxing, the control group utilized a chromotherapy room while the test group used virtual reality. We performed a hypothesis test to compare the self- perceived stress level at different stages of the experiment and it yielded no significant differences in reducing stress for both groups, during relaxing (p-value: 0.8379, α = 0.05) or any other block. Furthermore, according to participant surveys, the use of virtual reality was deemed immersive, comfortable and pleasant (3.9 out of 5). Our preliminary results validate our approach as an inexpensive and portable alternative to chromotherapy rooms for stress relief.

scholarly journals Biases of Happy Faces in Face Classification Processing of Depression in Chinese Patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Yuying Tong ◽  
Gang Zhao ◽  
Jinbo Zhao ◽  
Nianxiang Xie ◽  
Dong Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Chinese Patients ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Hamilton Depression Scale ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Face Classification ◽  
Depression Group ◽  
The Difference

We explored the face classification processing mechanism in depressed patients, especially the biases of happy faces in face classification processing of depression. Thirty patients with the first episode of depression at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University were selected as the depression group, while healthy people matched for age, gender, and educational level were assigned to the control group. The Hamilton Depression Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Scale were used to select the subjects; then, we used the forced face classification paradigm to collect behavioral (response time and accuracy) and event-related potential (ERP) data of the subjects. The differences between the groups were estimated using a repeated measurement analysis of variance. The total response time of classified faces in the depression group was longer than that in the control group, the correct rate was lower, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). N170 component analysis demonstrated that the latency of the depression group was prolonged, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). When classifying happy faces, the depressed patients demonstrated a decrease in N170 amplitude and a prolongation of latency in some brain regions compared with the healthy individuals. The cognitive bias in depression may be due to prolonged processing of positive facial information and difficulty in producing positive emotional responses.

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