Differences in Visuospatial Expertise between Skeet Shooting Athletes and Non-Athletes

Background: Sports vision is a specialisation of optometry whose objective is to improve and preserve visual function to increase sports performance. The main objective of the present study was to compare the visual expertise of non-athletes to skeet shooting athletes. Methods: Participants underwent an optometric assessment in which all those with severe deviations from normal vision, after compensating for visual abnormalities, were eliminated. After that, the following six visuospatial components were measured: hand–eye coordination, peripheral awareness, fixation disparity, saccadic eye movements, speed of recognition and visual memory. To measure the aforementioned components, the following tests were used: directional arrows, similar and different characters, the dichromatic disparity test, character marking, a tachistoscopic test and tic-tac-toe using COI-vision software. Results: Skeet shooting athletes performed significatively better (p ≤ 0.05) in two out of the six tests: hand–eye coordination and visual memory. Conclusions: Although this study does not support the theory that athletes—in this case, skeet shooting athletes—perform significantly better in most components of the visuospatial tests, visual memory and hand–eye coordination are exceptions. To be more accurate in distinguishing between athletes and non-athletes, specific testing methods that can be used by a wide variety of disciplines should be developed. Training the weakest aspects of athletes can improve their sports performance.

Granulated Rest Frames Outperform Field of View Restrictors on Visual Search Performance

Dynamic field of view (FOV) restrictors have been successfully used to reduce visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) during continuous viewpoint motion control (virtual travel) in virtual reality (VR). This benefit, however, comes at the cost of losing peripheral awareness during provocative motion. Likewise, the use of visual references that are stable in relation to the physical environment, called rest frames (RFs), has also been shown to reduce discomfort during virtual travel tasks in VR. We propose a new RF-based design called Granulated Rest Frames (GRFs) with a soft-edged circular cutout in the center that leverages the rest frames’ benefits without completely blocking the user’s peripheral view. The GRF design is application-agnostic and does not rely on context-specific RFs, such as commonly used cockpits. We report on a within-subjects experiment with 20 participants. The results suggest that, by strategically applying GRFs during a visual search session in VR, we can achieve better item searching efficiency as compared to restricted FOV. The effect of GRFs on reducing VIMS remains to be determined by future work.

Learning Mathematics in an Immersive Way

In this work we introduce a learning system based on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for studying analytical-geometric structures that are part of the curriculum in mathematics and physics in high school classes. We believe that an immersive study environment has several advantages with respect to traditional two-dimensional environments (such as a book or the simple screen of a PC or even a tablet), such as the spatial understanding of the concepts exposed, more peripheral awareness and moreover an evident decreasing in the information dispersion phenomenon. This does not mean that our teaching proposal has to substitute the traditional approaches, but it can be seen as a robust tool to support learning. In the first phase of our research we have sought to understand which mathematical objects and which tools could have been used to enhance the teaching of mathematics, in order to demonstrate that the use of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality techniques significantly improves the level of understanding of the mathematical subject being studied by the students. The system which provides for the integration of two machine levels, hardware and software, was subsequently tested by a representative sample of students who then provided feedback through a questionnaire.

Open Awareness: Holding the Liminal Space in Transpersonal Coaching and Therapy

“Holding The Space” is the metaphorical container for the therapeutic interaction between the coach or therapist and client. Although the held space is largely intuitive, transpersonal practitioners who wish to teach, apply and develop its practice are faced with the challenge of reproducing it consistently and intentionally. Some important aspects of the held space include energetic resonance and rapport, a participatory perspective, mindfulness, intentionally cultivated attitudes of acceptance, compassion and interconnectedness, and induction of a state of awareness of wider perspective and receptivity. We propose a unique mode of mindful perception ideally suited to Holding The Space, called “Open Awareness”. The characteristics of this state are a mindful mode of perception; metacognitive introspective awareness; extrospective and somatic awareness; a reframe of personal identification leading to a sense of interconnectedness; and a fluid, dynamic balance between conscious focus and peripheral awareness. Open Awareness is simple enough to learn and apply quickly, and profound enough to evolve consciousness through regular practice. In general, the process begins with a shift of awareness to the physical senses, expansion and deepening to more subtle mental objects, and intentional resonance with the metaphorical space in between people and objects. The expansion of awareness is both inward (deep personal) and outward (interpersonal and transpersonal). Open Awareness is a distinct state, but shares characteristics with other disciplines such as Open Focus, Open Monitoring, Focused Attention meditation, and Focus-defocus practice. We advocate Open Awareness as a useful tool for coaches and therapists and suggest research to develop further applications. KEYWORDS Holding the Space, Transpersonal Coaching, Transpersonal Therapy, Mindfulness, Open Awareness.