Utility of Virtual Games and Time Allocation Behavior of Game Players: A Multi-extended Utility Framework

Extended-Reality Technologies: An Overview of Emerging Applications in Medical Education and Clinical Care.

The Medical Metaverse, Part 1: Introduction, Definitions, and New Horizons for Neuropsychiatry.

This study investigated changes in players' personal boundary adjustments encompassing physical, emotional and physiological boundaries in virtual worlds. Personal boundaries (or so-called psychological boundary) are defined as rules distinguishing what is allowed and not allowed within a person's region. These boundaries exist within relationships, are dynamic and adjustable, and serve as markers differentiating "self" from "non-self." Violating boundaries implies a negation of personal "identity" and "existence," leading to discomfort and offense. In the virtual reality (VR) world, the Proteus effect—the phenomenon where player behavior is influenced by virtual avatars and world virtualization—may cause behavior differences from the real world. Virtual avatars are digital representations of players within the VR environment. The establishment of personal boundaries might be affected by these influenced behaviors. To explore the impact of world virtualization on players' boundary adjustments and the resulting differences in their perceptions and behaviors compared to the real world, the project conducted a two-part qualitative experiment. The first experiment invited participants to enter a VR scene where non-player characters (NPCs) engaged in conversations that challenged their boundaries within the virtual environment. After the VR session, players participated in interviews to freely express their feelings, thoughts, expectations, and desired responses to having their boundaries violated in the virtual world. They also compared the actions they intended to take in VR with those they would take in the real world. The study expected that players might adjust their personal boundaries in the virtual world, resulting in behavioral and attitudinal differences when offended compared to the real world. Identifying the specific aspects in which these differences occurred was the qualitative exploration objective of the project. This research aimed to deepen the understanding of how virtualization influences personal boundary dynamics and the broader implications for player interactions and experiences in virtual environments.

As virtual reality technology matures and popular, it is gradually applied in art design.Virtual reality is constructed by high-tech means of the artificial environment.How best to achieve the user in the virtual world of realistic experience, has become a new research hotspot.In view of the present virtual reality technology and virtual aesthetics can improve the effect of the simulation are faced with the problem, in this paper, the study of virtual reality in art and design.Put forward the integration of technology and art technique can improve the virtual reality visual properties and the degree of match user requirements, improve the effect of the simulation.

Smith and Smitherson’s Theatre of the Absurd

Mixed reality (MR) provides new opportunities for creative and innovative learning. MR supports the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualisations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real-time (MacCallum & Jamieson, 2017). The MR continuum links both virtual and augmented reality, whereby virtual reality (VR) enables learners to be immersed within a completely virtual world, while augmented reality (AR) blend the real and the virtual world. MR embraces the spectrum between the real and the virtual; the mix of the virtual and real worlds may vary depending on the application. The integration of MR into education provides specific affordances which make it specifically unique in supporting learning (Parson & MacCallum, 2020; Bacca, Baldiris, Fabregat, Graf & Kinshuk, 2014). These affordance enable students to support unique opportunities to support learning and develop 21st-century learning capabilities (Schrier, 2006; Bower, Howe, McCredie, Robinson, & Grover, 2014).
 
 In general, most integration of MR in the classroom tend to be focused on students being the consumers of these experiences. However by enabling student to create their own experiences enables a wider range of learning outcomes to be incorporated into the learning experience. By enabling student to be creators and designers of their own MR experiences provides a unique opportunity to integrate learning across the curriculum and supports the develop of computational thinking and stronger digital skills. The integration of student-created artefacts has particularly been shown to provide greater engagement and outcomes for all students (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009).
 
 In the past, the development of student-created MR experiences has been difficult, especially due to the steep learning curve of technology adoption and the overall expense of acquiring the necessary tools to develop these experiences. The recent development of low-cost mobile and online MR tools and technologies have, however, provided new opportunities to provide a scaffolded approach to the development of student-driven artefacts that do not require significant technical ability (MacCallum & Jamieson, 2017). Due to these advances, students can now create their own MR digital experiences which can drive learning across the curriculum.
 
 This presentation explores how teachers at two high schools in NZ have started to explore and integrate MR into their STEAM classes. This presentation draws on the results of a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) project, investigating the experiences and reflections of a group of secondary teachers exploring the use and adoption of mixed reality (augmented and virtual reality) for cross-curricular teaching. The presentation will explore how these teachers have started to engage with MR to support the principles of student-created digital experiences integrated into STEAM domains.

Non-Verbal Cues (NVCs) add to communication effectiveness among individuals in both real and virtual world. Thus, NVCs transference between the two receives increased attention from both the industry and research community. Their efforts lead to sophisticated technological solutions which allow high fidelity NVCs to be transferred from real individuals to virtual characters/avatars, in real-time, adding to the communication effectiveness of both standalone Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) applications and Social Virtual Reality (SVR) platforms. That combination triggered the development of Virtual Reality Learning Environments (VRLEs), aiming at assisting students towards learning sign language and communicating through it in both virtual and real world. Still, technological limitations affect the quality of such learning and communication experience. This work presents the design, development, and evaluation of an SVR compatible system for sign language learning and communication in virtual worlds. The system considers lessons learned from previous studies and was used to create a VRLE mimicking learning and examination processes students of sign language follow in real life. The results of our study show that despite the appreciation of technological solutions efficiency towards NVCs transference, there are still several issues to be investigated to increase the effectiveness of communication through sign language in virtual worlds.

Virtual reality stroke rehabilitation - hype or hope?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the ongoing issues and concerns of Second Life librarians who are attempting to balance both their virtual library tasks and assignments along with their real world library tasks and assignments.Design/methodology/approachMembers of the Library and Information Technology Association and, in addition, members of the Second Life Librarians group are invited to participate in an online survey during the summer of 2008. In addition to sharing issues and concerns of balancing their work lives in both virtual and real life worlds, survey participants suggest solutions for problem resolution.FindingsData from 161 survey participants show that virtual world librarians are passionate about their commitments to virtual world libraries to the extent that most librarians completed virtual library work at home and are not compensated by their libraries for this work. Issues and problems shared by respondents include inadequate computers and slow internet connections at work, lack of support by library administration, blocking of virtual world software by network technicians, and little response to requests for scheduled time for virtual world library tasks.Research limitations/implicationsThe number of respondents is comparatively small. The authors feel a larger percentage of members may have participated if the survey was conducted during either fall or spring semesters of the academic calendar year. A second survey may be conducted in spring 2009 to compare findings and to track solutions and concerns.Practical implicationsLibrarians may have more time to devote to real life library work and will not need to complete virtual world library tasks at home if they are provided adequate computers and Internet connections at work and are also scheduled for virtual library work.Originality/valueThis paper provides empirical data on the perceived allocations of virtual library work time for virtual librarians and also discusses suggested solutions for better time management of virtual work.

The use of new technologies, particularly virtual reality, is not new in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD): VR is used to facilitate the activation of the traumatic event during exposure therapy. However, during the therapy, VR is a new and distinct realm, separate from the emotions and behaviors experienced by the patient in the real world: the behavior of the patient in VR has no direct effects on the real-life experience; the emotions and problems experienced by the patient in the real world are not directly addressed in the VR exposure. In this article, we suggest that the use of a new technological paradigm, Interreality, may improve the clinical outcome of PTSD. The main feature of Interreality is a twofold link between the virtual and real worlds: (a) behavior in the physical world influences the experience in the virtual one; (b) behavior in the virtual world influences the experience in the real one. This is achieved through 3D shared virtual worlds; biosensors and activity sensors (from the real to the virtual world); and personal digital assistants and/or mobile phones (from the virtual world to the real one). We describe different technologies that are involved in the Interreality vision and its clinical rationale. To illustrate the concept of Interreality in practice, a clinical scenario is also presented and discussed: Rosa, a 55-year-old nurse, involved in a major car accident.

The Convergence Effect: Real and Virtual Encounters in Augmented Reality Art

Bad Avatar!

This study analyzed the movie <Serenity> which is storytelling in the form of a mixture of virtual world and reality world using digital games as the central material of movies. This study analyzed how digital games interact with a person's real-world, virtual world, and the possible world to change individuals.
 This film deals with the discourse of game phobia in our society and reveals the murder process of a boy in a world that overlaps reality and virtual reality. The main space in the movie, Plymouth Island, is a world in a virtual reality game. On the other hand, the scene in which the boy Patrick, the developer and player of the game, appears is a story from the real world. In the real world, the boy is isolated as a victim of violence, and he lives in an unsafe environment.
 However, the virtual world in the game Patrick created is a world that satisfies the needs of safety, social relationships, recognition, and self-actualization. The boy kills his stepfather who threatens his survival in the virtual world and dreams of a new possible world because living in the virtual world rather than the real world is the only way to be real.
 The film talks that the absence of an adult who should play a role in the process of a young boy's growth and a violent environment that hinders his holistic growth is a more fundamental problem than a violent game experience.
 The audience will have a new perception of the game after experiencing the story world that intersects from the fictional reality of a movie to the virtual world of the game and back to reality.

For many of us, obesity is the outcome of an energy imbalance: more energy input than expenditure. However, our waistlines are growing in spite of the huge amount of diets and fat-free/low-calorie products available to cope with this issue. Even when we are able to reduce our waistlines, maintaining the new size is very difficult: in the year after the end of a nutritional and/or behavioral treatment obese persons typically regain from 30% to 50% of their initial losses. A possible strategy for improving the treatment of obesity is the use of advanced information technologies. In the past, different technologies (internet, virtual reality, mobile phones) have shown promising effects in producing a healthy lifestyle in obese patients. Here we suggest that a new technological paradigm - Interreality – that integrates assessment and treatment within a hybrid experiential environment - including both virtual and real worlds - has the potential to improve the clinical outcome of obesity treatments. The potential advantages offered by this approach are: (a) an extended sense of presence: Interreality uses advanced simulations (virtual experiences) to transform health guidelines and provisions in experiences; (b) an extended sense of community: Interreality uses virtual communities to provide users with targeted – but also anonymous, if required - social support in both real and virtual worlds; (c) real-time feedback between physical and virtual worlds: Interreality uses bio and activity sensors and devices (smartphones) both to track in real time the behavior/health status of the user, and to provide targeted suggestions and guidelines. This paper describes in detail the different technologies involved in the Interreality vision. In order to illustrate the concept of Interreality in practice, a clinical scenario is also presented and discussed: Daniela, a 35-year-old fast-food worker with obesity problems.

Because of its benefits in providing an engaging and mobile environment, virtual reality (VR) has recently been rapidly adopted and integrated in education and professional training. Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of VR with the real world, where the real world provides context and the virtual world provides or reconstructs missing information. Mixed reality (MR) is the blending of virtual and physical reality environments allowing users to interact with both digital and physical objects at the same time. In recent years, technology for creating reality-based 3D models has advanced and spread across a diverse range of applications and research fields. The purpose of this paper is to design, develop, and test VR for kinaesthetic distance learning in a museum setting. A VR training program has been developed in which learners can select and perform pre-made scenarios in a virtual environment. The interaction in the program is based on kinaesthetic learning characteristics. Scenarios with VR controls simulate physical interaction with objects in a virtual environment for learners. Learners can grasp and lift objects to complete scenario tasks. There are also simulated devices in the virtual environment that learners can use to perform various actions. The study’s goal was to compare the effectiveness of the developed VR educational program to that of other types of educational material. Our innovation is the development of a system for combining their 3D visuals with rendering capable of providing a mobile VR experience for effective heritage enhancement.