Physiological State and Learning Ability of Students in Normal and Virtual Reality Conditions: Complexity-Based Analysis

Background Education and learning are the most important goals of all universities. For this purpose, lecturers use various tools to grab the attention of students and improve their learning ability. Virtual reality refers to the subjective sensory experience of being immersed in a computer-mediated world, and has recently been implemented in learning environments. Objective The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of a virtual reality condition on students’ learning ability and physiological state. Methods Students were shown 6 sets of videos (3 videos in a two-dimensional condition and 3 videos in a three-dimensional condition), and their learning ability was analyzed based on a subsequent questionnaire. In addition, we analyzed the reaction of the brain and facial muscles of the students during both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional viewing conditions and used fractal theory to investigate their attention to the videos. Results The learning ability of students was increased in the three-dimensional condition compared to that in the two-dimensional condition. In addition, analysis of physiological signals showed that students paid more attention to the three-dimensional videos. Conclusions A virtual reality condition has a greater effect on enhancing the learning ability of students. The analytical approach of this study can be further extended to evaluate other physiological signals of subjects in a virtual reality condition.

Physiological State and Learning Ability of Students in Normal and Virtual Reality Conditions: Complexity-Based Analysis (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Education and learning are the most important goals of all universities. For this purpose, lecturers use various tools to grab the attention of students and improve their learning ability. Virtual reality refers to the subjective sensory experience of being immersed in a computer-mediated world, and has recently been implemented in learning environments. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of a virtual reality condition on students’ learning ability and physiological state. METHODS Students were shown 6 sets of videos (3 videos in a two-dimensional condition and 3 videos in a three-dimensional condition), and their learning ability was analyzed based on a subsequent questionnaire. In addition, we analyzed the reaction of the brain and facial muscles of the students during both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional viewing conditions and used fractal theory to investigate their attention to the videos. RESULTS The learning ability of students was increased in the three-dimensional condition compared to that in the two-dimensional condition. In addition, analysis of physiological signals showed that students paid more attention to the three-dimensional videos. CONCLUSIONS A virtual reality condition has a greater effect on enhancing the learning ability of students. The analytical approach of this study can be further extended to evaluate other physiological signals of subjects in a virtual reality condition.

Realization of Uniform Deformation under Three-Dimensional Condition Based on Soil-Water Coupled Analysis Considering Inertia Forces

In the paper, based on soil-water coupled finite deformation analysis, theoretical considerations and numerical calculations were carried out under undrained three-dimensional condition in order to reproduce a uniform deformation field. At first, a theoretical consideration was assumed to realize a uniform deformation for a saturated soil, according to which the initial velocity and acceleration in both vertical and circumferential directions should be applied to each node to remove the influence of inertia effect. This first theoretical analysis is useful and can guide the numerical calculation. Next, the paper realized a uniform deformation of a three-dimensional cylinder specimen under undrained boundary conditions using the soil-water coupled analysis in which the SYS Cam-clay model is employed as the constitutive model for soil skeleton. The numerical results show that without the inertia forces there is no localized deformation in the specimen.

A Novel Three-Dimensional Cellular Automaton Evacuation Model

In order to effectively reduce evacuation time of pedestrians in emergencies, a novel evacuation model is proposed based on the three-dimensional cellular automation. The model, according to Moore cellular structure, firstly defines location income and estimates evacuation time parameter, and then gives calculation formula for moving probability of pedestrians at next moment. Meanwhile, in combination with the degree of fear and moving speed, evacuation strategies and cellular evolution rules suited to the three-dimensional condition are raised. At last, by establishing simulation model, the article profoundly analyses key factors that affect evacuation time of pedestrians, and finds that the evacuation time shows a negative correlation with the exit width, but a positive correlation with pedestrian density. Appropriate increase of pedestrians fear degree is good for reducing the whole evacuation time.

Redundancy Effects in Short-Term Memory

Five experiments are reported whose purpose was to demonstrate that short-term memory is improved by redundancy within the material. In Experiment I “tune” containing two, three, four and five tones of differing frequencies had to be coded into digits 1–5, to indicate the order of the pitches in a tune. Performance on stimuli containing correlated amplitude and duration were compared with the uni-dimensional condition. Experiment II repeated I, but required intensity to be coded. Experiment III required pitch coding under three conditions including that when amplitude and frequency were uncorrelated, and compared the performance of musically trained subjects with nonmusicians. Experiment IV repeated III, but subjects were informed of the relation between dimensions. Experiment V involved “shadowing” the tunes by whistling simultaneously with the stimulus. It was concluded (a) that intercorrelation improves, but zero correlation impairs short-term memory; (b) that knowledge of the relation between dimensions improves performance in the correlated condition, but does not prevent impairment under zero correlation; and (c) the performance of musically trained subjects exceeds that of controls and is unaffected by the presence of a correlated or uncorrelated dimension.