Category Archives: Virtual Reality

Youre walking down a narrow corridor. Someone is walking toward you, so you step to one side. But in that moment, they step to the same side. You make eye contact, grin awkwardly and then, without a word, negotiate a way around each other.

Our lives are full of these delicate social dances. Whether were having a conversation, playing a game or trying to avoid collisions with passersby, our social interactions are reciprocal. My behavior affects your behavior, which in turn affects my behavior.

But until the past few years, research into social cognitionthe psychology of human interactionhas been decidedly non-interactive. Participants looked at images of faces, read short stories about social scenarios, or watched videos of other people interacting. They didnt actually interact with another person.

Take the Sally-Anne task, which is widely used in studies of autism to test theory of mind, the ability to understand other peoples beliefs, intentions and emotions. The participant watches an interaction between two dolls and is asked to predict the behavior of one of the dolls based on an understanding of what the doll believes.

When children with autism answer incorrectly, the assumption is that they have failed to read the dolls mental state and that similar failures explain their difficulties interacting with other people. However, many adults with autism pass this test, and even others that are more challenging, yet still experience severe social difficulties.

These observations clearly demonstrate that traditional tests of social cognition fail to capture key aspects of social interactions, particularly in adults, that are essential to understanding autism.

We need tests that allow us to precisely measure behavior in complex, reciprocal social interactions. To achieve this goal, we and others are investigating the use of virtual-reality technology as a tool for research and, potentially, therapy.

Using these technologies, we have confirmed that problems with joint attentionthe ability to coordinate with someone else so that you are both paying attention to the same thingpersist into adulthood. Weve also gained important insights about the roots of these problems. We also hope that adults with autism can one day practice their social skills within specially designed virtual environments.

In 2013, a team led byLeonhard Schilbach, now at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, published anew manifestofor social cognition research. These researchers argued that social cognition should be investigated using a second-person neuroscience approach, in which behavior and brain responses are measured while people engage in reciprocal interactions.

This emerging field offers exciting possibilities for understanding autism. But it also presents serious challenges: Experimental investigations require precise control of the conditions so they can be repeated and manipulated consistently. Achieving this control in the context of a realistic social interaction is far from straightforward.

In a review article published earlier this year, we addressed these issues. We focused on studies of joint attention, which involves both responding to your partner to attract his attention, and initiating joint attention, by guiding that person to an object or location of interest. Joint attention is important in the development of language and social skills, and a delay in its development is one of the mostreliable early signs of autism.

One approach used in a number of studies has been to measure brain responses while participants are engaged in a joint-attention game with another person, either face to face or through a live video feed. However, this relies on the partner behaving consistently for all participants.

Differences in the brain responses of people with and without autism may reflect differences in the neural mechanisms of joint attention. But they could just as well reflect variation in the behavior of the partner, or in the participants sensitivity to other social cues, such as smiles or eyebrow raises, from the partner.

To address these issues, we and other researchers have replaced the human partner with a virtual partner, or avatar, whose behavior is controlled by a computer.

In our own studies, participants interact with an animated virtual character called Alan whose face appears in the center of a computer screen. We use an eye tracker to see where on the screen the participant is looking, and program Alan to respond to her eye movements. This gives us complete control over the interaction.

The participant works with Alan to catch a burglar who is hiding in one of six houses on the screen. Each trial begins with both Alan and the participant searching the houses. If the participant finds the burglar, she initiates joint attention, guiding Alan to the burglar by making eye contact and then looking at the correct house. If, on the other hand, Alan finds the burglar, he initiates joint attention and the participant responds.

The game requires participants to coordinate their behavior with Alan, make use of eye contact and flexibly assume different roles in the joint-attention process.

The search phase of our task also adds a complexity that is absent from other studies. Because Alan makes many eye movements during the trial, the participant has to decide whether a particular eye movement is intended to guide her to the burglar or is simply part of Alans ongoing search.

We have found that participants respond much faster if we remove the search phase so Alans eye movements always indicate the burglars location. This suggests that what we call intention monitoringworking out whether a cue such as an eye movement is intended to be communicativeis an important part of joint attention.

In research published in April, we used this task with a group of adults with autism. Overall, they made slightly more errors than controls did. They were also slower to respond to the avatars eye-gaze cue, but were just as fast as controls when we replaced Alans eye-gaze cues with an arrow pointing to the burglars location.

This finding suggests that the difficulties of adults with autism are specific to the social interaction involved in the task, and cannot be explained by other factors that might affect performancesuch as the ability to orient attention or control eye movements.

Our findings suggest that subtle joint-attention difficulties continue into adulthood, at least for some people with autism. This contrasts with evidence from other studies suggesting that children and adults with autism have no difficulty responding to eye-gaze cues on a computer screen.

We think this may reflect the intention-monitoring component of our task, which makes it more akin to a real-life interaction.

In our research so far, participants have interacted with a virtual character on a computer screen. The next step is to use fully immersive virtual-reality headsets to recreate more realistic social interactions, in which individuals must evaluate multiple social cues at once, including eye gaze, head orientation, hand gestures, speech and facial expressions.

We, among others, are also considering clinical applications of new immersive virtual-reality technologies. Virtual simulations could perhaps be used for social-skills training in which elements of a social interaction are introduced gradually. Virtual meeting spaces could also allow people with and without autism to interact in a safe and controlled environment that reduces anxiety and sensory overload.

Many of the insights in our research have come from adults with autism. Theyve told us how to make our task easier to understand, and theyve described the strategies theyve used to complete the task. Many have told us that although the virtual interaction is cognitively challenging, it is less intimidating and anxiety-provoking than real-life interactions.

Involving people with autism in research is key to its success. As virtual-reality technology improves and becomes increasingly affordable, the possibilities may be limited only by our collective imagination.

This story wasoriginaly publishedonSpectrum.

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Virtual Reality May Reveal New Clues About Autism Social Difficulties - Scientific American

LA JOLLA, Calif. (KGTV) It may seem like a typical computer science classroom at UC San Diego, but its the first virtual reality lab to open in the country.

I can interact with these tools and grab things, touch things, said Connor Smith.

Smith, a third-year student at the University, said hes passionate about creating interactive virtual reality worlds.

Would you rather read a history textbook or would you rather go back in time and experience history as if you were there, said Smith.

He said he puts on the goggle-like devices and it transports him to a different place - one he created.

Virtual reality is the future, augmented reality comes right after, said Professor Jurgen Schulze.

Schulze teaches the undergraduate students how to program, design and develop a new world. The class officially launched in May. It started with 30 students, and it has expanded to about 300 students.

Being inside a world they design is a unique experience for them, said Schulze.

Connor Smith, a #UCSD student is designing a cool #virtualreality world. It's part of the new #VR lab that opened! STORY @10News 5pm! pic.twitter.com/4E0O22qLvb

Smith said his passion project is creating a world where people can feel what its like to have certain eye disorders. He said once people put on the device, it helps them feel what other people are experiencing.

It facilitates empathy so that people can understand what it's like to live with a perspective of someone who does have disorders, said Smith.

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UCSD opens country's first virtual reality lab - 10News

Bjrk appears as a virtual reality avatar to talk about her new VR exhibit, Bjrk Digital, and her upcoming performances in Los Angeles. At the podium is Andrew Thomas Huang, the Los Angeles filmmaker who created many of the videos featured in the show. (Photo by Jeanette Oliver)

Bjrks new video for the song Notget premiered on the opening day of Bjrk Digital, a new virtual reality exhibit in downtown Los Angeles that will run through June 4. Seen here are stills from the video directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones. (Photo courtesy of Bjrk)

Bjrks new video for the song Notget premiered on the opening day of Bjrk Digital, a new virtual reality exhibit in downtown Los Angeles that will run through June 4. Seen here are stills from the video directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones. (Photo courtesy of Bjrk)

Bjrks new video for the song Notget premiered on the opening day of Bjrk Digital, a new virtual reality exhibit in downtown Los Angeles that will run through June 4. Seen here are stills from the video directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones. (Photo courtesy of Bjrk)

Bjrks new video for the song Notget premiered on the opening day of Bjrk Digital, a new virtual reality exhibit in downtown Los Angeles that will run through June 4. Seen here are stills from the video directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones. (Photo courtesy of Bjrk)

For the opening day ofBjrk Digital, a touring exhibit by the quirky Icelandic singer-songwriter, Bjrk showed up in person. Virtually, at least, which is entirely the point of the show in downtown Los Angeles through June 4.

Much of whats on display here fromBjrk who also has a sold-out show with a 32-piece string orchestra on May 30 is built around the use of virtual reality, and so when the media assembled for a preview of Bjrk Digital filed into a dark room with a large screen it wasnt that hard to guess who the special guest was about to be.

Bjrk, in the form of a VR facsimile, beamed into the room to chat live from Manhattan about the genesis of the exhibit, which got its start, she explained, after her most recent album Vulnicura was leaked online two years ago. Instead of promoting the record in a more traditional manner, she decided to try something new, teaming up with Los Angeles filmmaker Andrew Thomas Huang, to create 360-degree virtual reality videos to accompany some of the songs on the record.

You can still improvise, Bjrk said of her interest in exploring VR as an artistic medium. It does remind me of the future. Its blank and you dont know. You sort of have to dig a cave with a teaspoon and you dont know what youre going to get.

On the screen,Bjrk appeared as a red-and-purple avatar, a lavender horizontal wound on her chest Vulnicura is said to mean cure for wounds with tiny strands of lights encircling her. When she moved in Manhattan she moved on the screen.

Well come back to her conversation in a moment, but lets walk through the highlights of Bjrk Digital, which is presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, first. It opens with the Biophilia room, where iPads programmed with apps created for the 2011 album of the same name gives users a chance to interact directly with the songs, changing the imagery and the playback as you choose.

The next room features a video for the song Black Lake, with two slightly different edits screening simultaneously on either end of a large room filled with 50 speakers. It creates a cool effect as you move through the room, but the good stuff was just ahead with three rooms in a row that featured 360-degree virtual reality videos of another five numbers.

Stonemilker was shot on an Icelandic seashore and presents Bjrk singing directly to you, and occasionally twoBjrks side by side. You watch this one and the two that follow while sitting on a bar stool that allows you to turn around and while wearing a VR headset and headphones to view other parts of the setting where the video was shot.

The relative realism of Stonemilker gives way to the surrealism of Quicksand and Mouth Mantra. In the first,Bjrk seems made of light and stars, and the viewer feels to be floating inside a constellation created from the matter that flies from her mouth and eyes and skin. For Mouth Mantra the warnings of the exhibit workers if you feel disoriented inside the video, take the headset off finally make sense, as the video places viewer inside Bjrks mouth as she sings the song, the overall feeling something akin to a bad acid trip.

The final two interactive videos are the most ambitious. Family features a Bjrk similar to the avatar shed appeared at for the media a bit earlier, and the viewer here holds hand-controllers in addition to the VR goggles and headphones, with the triggers on each hand letting you create ribbons of light and bursts of color.

Notget was much the same, though without the hand-held devices, and presents the singer as per the exhibit description a digital moth giantess (who) transforms victoriously in masks, because, after all, itsBjrk were talking about here, yes?

After all that, we return to the Cinema room where a two-hour loop of music videos from throughoutBjrks career are screened on a loop, with pillows scattered on the floor so you can chill out a bit to everything from Bachelorette and All Is Full Of Love from her 1997 album Homogenic to Hidden Place from 2001s Vespertine, and on throughout her catalog.

Earlier in the same room Bjrk had talked about her upcoming shows in Los Angeles shes with the orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Tuesday, May 30, and plays the first night of the FYF Fest in Exposition Park on July 21.

I decided to put all the focus on the music for (Disney Hall),Bjrk said, describing the concert as her vocals with just the orchestra and no flashy visuals. Im kind of fond of extremes, as you probably noticed. Its going to be all for the ears.

At FYF, though, where shell perform with her recent collaborator, DJ and electronic musician Arca, the show will have all the lights and videos youd expect at a rock show, with a different set planned to emphasis the change from one setting to the next.

I really enjoy these poles, she said. To sing for two hours with just strings is double hard because I cant hide behind anything. Its more naked. With Arca, its more happy, more joyful.

Shes also got new music coming soon, too, a happier counterpart to Vulnicura, which was written in the wake her split with longtime partner Matthew Barney, and reflects that turmoil in its subject and sound.

I am right now starting to make my next project,Bjrk said. And it probably happens not on earth.

She paused to giggle and continued.

I dont want to give too much away, but yeah, probably.

Bjrk Digital

When: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. through June 4. Ticketed entry every 15 minutes, with approximately 90 minutes needed to view the exhibit.

Where: Magic Box at The Reef,1933 S. Broadway, Los Angeles

Tickets: $35

Also:Bjrk performs at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on Tuesday, May 30 as part of the L.A. Phils Reykjavik Festival, and also at the FYF Fest at Exposition Park in Los Angeles on Friday, July 21.

Information: LAphil.com/tickets/bjork-digital-overview or Bjork.com

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Quirky Icelandic singer Bjrk brings 'Bjrk Digital,' her creative virtual reality show, to LA - OCRegister

First Wales showing of Treehugger: Wawona virtual reality BBC News A virtual reality experience which allows people to encounter one of the world's most impressive trees is coming to Wales. Treehugger: Wawona, which showcases the the giant sequoia of California, won an immersive storytelling award at the 2017 Tribeca ... and more »

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First Wales showing of Treehugger: Wawona virtual reality - BBC News

Two University of Hawaii at Manoa studentscreated a stunning simulation that willtake you to a galaxy far, far away.

In honor of Star Wars40th anniversary,engineering graduate student Noel Kawanoand computer science student Ryan Theriot created Star Wars Squadron and Tatooine.

Their project utilizes a hybrid visualization system that combines immersive virtual reality with ultra-high-resolution display walls.Stand inside, and you can wield a light saber or fly a starfighter through space.

Because of this new system we decided to take advantage of its capabilities and make something really cool, Kawano said.

The system itself, calledDestiny-class CyberCANOE(cyber-enabled Collaboration Analysis Navigation and Observation Environment), was created by UH computer and information sciences professor Jason Leigh.

Leighs students were also heavily involved in the design and construction of the$250,000 state-of-the-art system,with investment and partnership from the National Science Foundation and the UH Academy for Creative Media System.

Its the seventh and bestCyberCANOE Leigh has built in Hawaii over the past couple of years.

The cylindrical CyberCANOE, which is 16 feet in diameter and stands eight feet high, allowsscientists and researchers to visualize data at resolutions that are 100-times better than commercial 3-D displays, for example, exploring outer space or probing microscopic elements within the human body.

On Oct. 28, 2016 the National Science Foundation tweeted: At 256 million pixels, the CyberCANOE at @UHManoa is the highest resolution #VR display in the world.

An open house in Augustwill allowthe public to view the system first-hand.Details have yet to be announced.

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UH students create high-resolution, virtual reality Star Wars simulation - KHON2

"The main idea was to make a real ritual -- something that could be an act, through virtual reality media, to heal the soul of the viewer," said Director Gianluigi Perrone. "I actively looked for a top-notchVR studio that can produce VR content to the highest industrial standard and ultimately chose Immers Studio after exploring several options."This is one of Perrone's first two films shot in virtual reality and screened at Cannes.

The Cannes Film Festival first introduced screenings of virtual reality short films in 2016. This year, the VR Experience was expanded into a five-day industry program. "The rarity of quality VR content inspires filmmakers to adapt this emerging technology, and Immers Studio has dedicated the last three years to creating original VR content, which can be viewed exclusively via our head-mounted display," said Kirin Lee, CEO of Immerex.

Virtual reality will fundamentally change the way movies are watched, and Immerex, headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, develops a content-rich, end-to-end VR ecosystem to bring users a portal solution for the ultimate cinematic experience.

About ImmerexImmerex, based in Santa Clara, CA, develops a content-rich, end-to-end virtual reality ecosystem to offer industry-leading portable cinematic VR experiences. Immers Studio is the content and production arm of Immerex. Immerex's VR ecosystem includes proprietary VR head-mounted displays and a tightly integrated content portal to provide the best personal viewing experience for ultimate visual enjoyment. The sleek design of the company's hardware and portal allows users to experience a virtual world with true emotion, including premium VR entertainment content, live events and spontaneous life experiences. With international roots and powerful partnerships, Immerex is bringing virtual reality entertainment experiences to mainstream audiences.

Media ContactJenny Ng (415) 591-4002 jenny.ng@bm.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/virtual-reality-short-film-the-7th-night-of-thelema-screened-at-cannes-film-festival-300461147.html

SOURCE Immerex

http://www.immerex.com

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Virtual Reality Short Film "The 7th Night of Thelema" Screened at Cannes Film Festival - PR Newswire (press release)

NEW YORK (AP) - Baseball games will soon arrive on virtual-reality headsets.

Video in the new At Bat VR app wont be in VR. Rather, the app places you behind home plate and shows you graphical depictions of each pitch, including a colored streak (red for strikes and green for balls) tracing the balls trajectory. The data come from sensors Major League Baseball already has installed in all of its stadiums.

The app also lets you hover over icons to see the speed and type of each pitch, as well as which parts of a strike zone is strong or weak for a particular batter. Traditional TV coverage of the games will appear on a virtual screen in front of you, alongside play-by-play information and individual player stats.

Its more information that casual baseball fans will want, but hard-core fans might get a kick from having this perspective supplement what they see with regular TV cameras. Baseballs regular At Bat app does have some of this information, but not in 3-D and not while watching video.

At Bat VR will also have a section for 360-degree video packages, but not of actual games.

At Bat VR is included with Major League Baseballs existing streaming packages. For live video, that starts at about $87 for the season. At Bat VR is also subject to the usual blackouts for local teams; in such cases, the graphical depictions will still be available, but not the live video within the headset. (Audio is available with the cheaper At Bat Premium subscription for $20; non-paying users get just the graphics and stats.)

The VR app comes out June 1 and works with Android phones and headsets compatible with Googles Daydream VR system. Theres no version for iPhones.

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Get in the game with Virtual Reality - 13abc Action News

They may feature on television with adorable frequency, yet few are aware of how endangered penguins are.

Despite being loved the world over, they are the world's second most threatened group of marine birds, with 10 of the 18 penguinspecies threatened with extinction.

Alongside the challenges of the wild, penguins must now battle competition with fisheries, bycatch, marine pollution, disease, habitat disturbance and climate change.

To raise awareness Birdlife International have released a virtual reality video, transporting viewers into the middle of sub-antarctic penguin colonies. Their challenging journeys back and forth from their families are captured in full HD and 360 degrees.

The worlds largest nature conservation partnership, BirdLife International, worked with London-based virtual reality specialist, Visualise, to create Walk with Penguins, an engaging 3D 360 short nature film aimed at connecting audiences with penguin protection.

To lend your support visithttp://penguin.birdlife.org

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Walk with penguins: Virtual reality video shows how it is to live ... - The Independent

So the envelope is pushed a little further, the limits of cinema questioned a little harder, the rectangular perimeter fence of the movie screen challenged a little bit more confidently.

The Cannes Film Festival has officially selected this immersive and sensually rather amazing VR experience, lasting six or seven minutes, directed by Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu and shot by Emmanuel Lubezki. It is certainly far more interesting, far more alive to the creative and responsive possibilities of the medium, than the rather tame VR experience at last years Venice Film Festival: a dainty, Sunday-school retelling of the life of Jesus.

The Jesus show had undoubted novelty and a sort of earnest high-mindedness and as a VR virgin I enjoyed it. But Carne y Arena (Flesh and Sand) is on a whole different level a dynamic, kinetic experience in which the audience can roam freely about, looking up and down, and around a 360 degree circle.

It takes as its subject immigrants and refugees who have come up through Central America and Mexico, attempting to enter the United States based on first-hand interviews and research.

The experience plunges you into the disorientating and even terrifying situation. You walk into what is effectively an aircraft hangar shed: the installation has been set up at Cannes-Mandelieu airport, twenty minutes drive out from the centre. You take your shoes and socks off in a side room with other peoples boots and shoes littered about, and walk through into a space the size of a tennis court, covered in sand. The VR goggles go on, and you find yourself in a vast, baking scrubland on the US-Mexico border, as scared and hungry refugees trudge up to you over the horizon. Then a helicopter and two SUVs from border patrol show up full of cops with guns who aggressively arrest everyone, all around you.

Night falls and there is a hallucinatory sequence showing refugees being tipped out of a boat. Then things become scarier still. Just when you had become used to wandering up to imaginary cops with their very real-looking semi-automatics, and nervously accustomed yourself to the fact that all their movements are choreographed and that you are to them effectively a ghost, invisible you realise that the software of this exhibition has tracked your position and eyeline. These cops can and do get in your face.

Its a theatrical triumph. Does it tell us or show us anything meaningful about the refugee issue? Or is it a posh version of the Harrier jump-jet flight simulators at the RAF museum? At first, I was suspicious. It could be a fetishisation or even eroticisation of the refugees suffering sponsored as it is by Prada. But it does tell you one real thing: what it feels like to have a gun pointed at you. For the first time, I had an inkling of what it must be like. You become lowered, lessened you become subhuman, without even a criminals civilian rights. And anyone experiencing this installation can see that this offers only a fraction of what is happening in real life. The good faith of Irritu is plain.

As for whether it really tests the boundaries of cinema thats unproven. Only one person at a time can play. Promenade theatre arguably offers more. And this installation is in fact likely to be comfortably absorbed into the existing world of art galleries, not movie theatres a species of video art that is already well understood. But that is not to downplay the interest of Carne y Arena, and the new and experimental thinking it offers. Innovation is always welcome and necessary.

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Carne y Arena review - dazzling virtual reality exhibit offers a fresh look at the refugee crisis - The Guardian

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VR slow to catch on with US consumers - Memphis Business Journal