Perception Of Reality Research Articles

Workout at a virtual gym: Surrounding avatar's motion speed and exercise intensity effect on the user's time perception.

This study explored the relationship between surrounding avatars and time perception in a virtual reality (VR) gymnasium. Previous research has highlighted that motion speed and exercise intensity significantly influence time perception. In VR, time perception is shaped by various factors, such as an avatar's embodiment at different levels. However, the specific effects of the surrounding avatar on time perception in a VR gymnasium context remain unclear. Thus, this study focuses on two key attributes of the surrounding avatar: (1) motion speeds and (2) exercise intensity. Participants in a VR gymnasium either rode a stationary bike or sat on one while observing avatars performing exercises in the virtual environment(VE). They were then asked to estimate the duration judgment and the feeling of the passage of time for each task. The results revealed that when the surrounding avatars exercised at a faster motion speed, participants perceived the duration of time as longer and felt that time passed more quickly. Additionally, high-intensity exercise led participants to perceive the passage of time as faster.

Forest animals in Upper Sorbian phraseology

The subject of the description in this study is Upper Sorbian phraseology, including the names of forest animals, as well as their derivatives (diminutives and adjectives). The collected material includes nearly one hundred phraseologies containing eleven names of forest animals: wolf, fox, hare, owl, eagle owl, bear, hedgehog, badger, squirrel, deer and roe deer. The study aims to reconstruct the linguistic and cultural image of forest fauna. Upper Sorbian animalistic phraseology reflects both realistic and symbolic human perception of the animal world. This resource contains many stereotypical structures with an axiological character (the world of forest fauna is a source of references to human behaviour and characteristics).

The cyclic vector of realization of cultural memory in the novel "Chagin" by Evgeny Vodolazkin

Evgeny Vodolazkin has firmly established himself in the latest Russian prose as a master of the realization of artistic intrigue. His novels are a vivid confirmation of this. The writer, in addition to forming a very dense intriguing plot, adding a figurative series, manifesting a point of view, deliberately uses the technique of artistic collision, but in an admittedly realistic way. For Evgeny Vodolazkin, the course of novel events is not only a literal combination of situational episodes, it is also a carefully thought-out dialogue with the reader. The subject of the research in the article is the deciphering of the theme of memory on the example of E.G. Vodolazkin's novel "Chagin". The object of study correlates with the main issue of the text, which builds a narrative, a figurative series, a genre structure. The purpose of the work is a parametric analysis of the manifestation of cultural memory in the specified text. The assessment of the imaginative thinking of the main character, Isidor Chagin, is not excluded in the study, since memory cannot be considered separately from the feeling and perception of reality by the character. The methodological basis of the work is focused on the comparative principles of text evaluation, conceptual verification of the work, taking into account the systematization of receptive connotations. In the novel "Chagin", the main character is going through a crisis state – he cannot forget what he has read, seen, and experienced. Memory is syncretically soldered to the existence of the hero as such, it ontologically sets the metaphysics of the character's existence. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the novel has not yet been practically studied within the framework of this category, there is no proper assessment of the topic in the critical-analytical type mode. The materials can be useful practically in verifying the style, manner of writing, and artistic thinking of Evgeny Vodolazkin. The conclusions of the work are focused on the fact that memory in the novel "Chagin" is a formula of irreversibility. But the actions and deeds of the hero are in many ways a demonstration of multiplicity. Although Vodolazkin's writing style and poetics do not gravitate towards postmodernism, the influence of modern trends is clearly evident in this work. The plot of the novel is not accidental, the figure of the main character is composed in a special way, but the context itself, clearly expanding, has a multiplicity of excuses. Cultural memory is cyclically oriented, for Evgeny Vodolazkin it is an impulse to destabilize meanings, because it is an ontological task of artistic creation.

ТЕОРЕТИЧНІ ПІДХОДИ ДО ПРОБЛЕМИ ВПЛИВУ МЕНТАЛЬНОГО ЗДОРОВ'Я НА СУБ'ЄКТИВНУ БЕЗПЕКУ ОСОБИСТОСТІ

Purpose of the article is to analyze theoretical approaches to the issue of the impact of mental health on the subjective sense of safety. Modern socio-economic transformations in Ukraine have heightened the sense of danger, particularly affecting the most vulnerable element of society – the individual. It is important to note that real safety may not coincide with its subjective perception. Therefore, examining the role of mental health in shaping this sense of security becomes a relevant task. Methods include the analysis of contemporary theoretical works and philosophical concepts that view safety as a category defining the viability and resilience of an individual. The study examines the differences between real and subjective perceptions of safety and the role of mental health in this process. It also investigates factors affecting mental health and its connection to an individual's adaptive capabilities in extreme conditions. Results. The article explores theoretical approaches to the issue of the impact of mental health on the subjective safety of an individual, focusing on the assessment and monitoring of psychological aspects. The study analyzes the development of a system of basic indicators measuring safety levels, which combines both objective and subjective threat assessments. In the evaluation of subjective safety, special attention is given to indicators such as anxiety, fear, risk propensity, feelings of insecurity, trust, and confidence in the future. It is argued that these subjective indicators are crucial for understanding how mental health influences an individual's perception of safety, as they determine the internal response to threats and affect overall resilience and the ability to adapt to stressful situations. The results show that mental health is a key factor in shaping an individual's subjective sense of safety. In situations where life is at risk, the role of mental health is critical in maintaining stability and control. However, in cases where higher needs, such as self-actualization, are threatened, its significance is less pronounced. Conclusions highlight the importance of maintaining mental health to strengthen the subjective sense of safety, particularly in critical and extreme situations. Mental health contributes not only to maintaining inner balance but also to adapting to challenging life conditions, making it a key factor in personal resilience.

Studying Lived Experiences in a Fatigued Society Through Observing the Sensory Perception of the World: A Case Study

The sociology of the senses delves into the intricate fabric of the Lifeworld, exploring how the senses play a pivotal role in shaping human interactions, particularly among university students. This case study focuses on understanding the relationships between senses, their interplay, and their collective impact on bodily experiences and perceptions of reality in its “qualitative immediacy.” We will examine the symbolic meanings associated with various senses, such as sound, smell, touch, balance (equilibrioception), movement (kinesthesia), temperature (thermoception), and even our sense of time. By investigating these sensory experiences within the social contexts of academia, we aim to unravel the nuanced connections between different senses and how they merge to form a rich tapestry of individual and collective experiences in everyday life. This exploration will concentrate on three key incidents in the lives of students: coming to University and attending classes, staying on campus, going home. We will shed light on the profound implications of sensory experiences for individual and societal dynamics, focusing on the pathic dimension of experiencing the Lifeworld. The pathic dimension refers to the emotional expressions of our feelings in relation to material objects and the bodies of others with whom we interact. By explicating this dimension, we aim to understand more about the transformative effects of bodily and sensual mindfulness. This analysis draws inspiration from contemplative grounded theory and phenomenology.

Effectiveness of a Novel Web-Based Intervention to Enhance Therapeutic Relationships and Treatment Outcomes in Adult Individual Psychotherapy: Randomized Controlled Trial and Analysis of Predictors of Dropouts.

Routine process and outcome monitoring interventions added to psychotherapy are known to improve treatment outcomes, although they vary in format and effectiveness. This study aimed to evaluate whether a therapist-independent, internet-based routine process monitoring and feedback system could significantly reduce psychological distress and enhance the quality of the therapeutic relationship compared with a treatment-as-usual control group among individuals already engaged in individual psychotherapy. We randomized 475 participants into either the intervention group, which received access to an internet-based routine process monitoring and feedback system in addition to psychotherapy, or the control group, which received only psychotherapy. The trial lasted for 10 weeks. Follow-up assessments at 5 weeks and 10 weeks used the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure as the primary outcome, with the Working Alliance Inventory-Short Revised and the Real Relationship Inventory-Client form as secondary outcomes. Per-protocol analyses (n=166) showed that psychological distress decreased in both groups, but there was no significant advantage for the intervention group. The intervention group experienced a decline in the genuineness dimension score of the real relationship, with an effect size of d=-0.27, compared with d=0.01 in the control group. In the intervention group (but not in the control group), dropouts showed significantly lower real relationship levels (P=.002), working alliance quality (P=.051), and emotional disclosure (P=.01) compared with those who completed the study. Additionally, logistic regression revealed distinct predictors of dropout within the control group and intervention group. The findings do not provide conclusive evidence for the efficacy of the new internet-based intervention in enhancing self-monitoring and prompting reflection on patients' emotional responses to their therapists. However, the intervention appears to influence patients' perceptions of the genuineness dimension in the therapeutic relationship, warranting further investigation. We hypothesize that this alteration in the genuineness dimension could be attributed to the intervention facilitating a more realistic and accurate perception of the therapeutic relationship among participants. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06038747; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06038747. RR2-10.2196/55369.

„ვაჟას ნაქონი ტყვია ვარ, / ჯერ თოფში გაუსროლელი“

Whether you are looking from personal or creative stand­point, Goderdzi Chokheli was a reclusive person. The inner conflict he had with life was the cause of many events for him. In one poem, he seemed to ex­plain the essence of this contradiction: “I left one world and I came to ano­ther”. This “other” was alien to him. Of course, life required adaptation, com­promise, but it could not adapt Goderdzi Chokheli to its pattern. In the constant and intense conf­lict, sometimes one won and sometimes the other. At last, G. Cho­kheli took refuge in art and turned the creative process into an arena in which he overcame soulless and godless modernity and imposed his own order on it. Here began the tragic perception of reality, of life in general, which brought on the aesthetics of Chokheli. Chokheli's relationship with the world is a model of Christian thinking – experience eternity in a transient world. With this intention, he began to compose a new emotional reality. We can divide people into two groups in his work: those filled with kindness and those defiled by cruelty. From this point of view, the writer's position is also obvious and does not require special research. His rhetorical question also sounds natural: “Why is my being enveloped by this ephemeral world, which is cloudy as fog?!”. The unstoppable process of human cruelty exposes and inten­sifies the feeling that the drama of kindness has begun, the apo­calyptic time has come. Although, Chokheli's stories take place in geographically limited area, the cry of the microcosm could be heard from Gudamakari. Chokheli's artistic thinking, his work is the revealed secret of the visible and the invisible, the reality and the fiction, the real and the mythical. That is why he is the bearer of the unshakable code of culture and tradition at the same time. Goderdzi Chokheli's characters are strange people, strange in their life and death. He depicts people with the heart of an angel who believe that honesty is the pride of a man. Faithfulness and protection of spiritual values ​​turned out to be completely incom­patible for the era of the writer. That's why he was looking for lost love and kindness, collecting sorrows to ease our sadness and pain.

HYBRID APPROACH TO LEARNING BASED ON EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE METATHINKING IN POST-WAR UKRAINE

Purpose of the study is to synthesize generalized metaheuristic and metacognitive models, the use of which in project culture contributes to the formation of innovative creative-critical metathinking of an individual. Methodology. The methodology for studying creative activity and training of a designer is based on the post-neoclassical paradigm of scientific knowledge, subject-object integrity of the system of relations and dialectically developing relationships in a hybrid innovative learning environment. The methodology also includes new methods of interdisciplinary research and modeling of reality, integrating physical and social ontology. It is shown that the development of a structural-functional approach to the perception of physical and digital reality takes into account the peculiarities of an individual's brain activity. Results. The main results obtained are a triad of generalized author's metamodels, namely: 1. A heuristic metamodel of post-neoclassical perception of physical reality by a designer, in which the independence of cognition cycles, as well as the complementarity of paradigms (synergetic, triadic and semiotic) combines physical and social ontology, which creates new opportunities for the formation of a designer's creative metathinking in the process of experience. activity. 2. A heuristic metamodel of post-neoclassical perception and reflection of physical and virtual reality by a conceptual designer, in which the dependence of cycles of cognition, as well as the complementarity of heuristic metamodels, is achieved through universal triangles (fractal, Pascal, Sierpinski), the structures of which contribute to innovative activity of the conceptual designer. 3. Cognitive meta-model for the formation of meta-thinking of a designer-conceptualist, which is based on the spatio-temporal balance of explicit and hidden relationships, the cognitive visualization of which contributes to the search for harmony in the process of experience-oriented learning and creative activity through semiotic tools. Scientific novelty is determined by the complementarity of the structures of the author's metamodels of physical and digital reality, the synergy of which contributes to the optimization of experience-oriented models of teaching and self-learning. The interrelation of the structures of metamodels and their complementarity is the basis of successful activities in a hybrid learning environment (real physical and virtual mathematical), which facilitates the transfer of emotional and intellectual content between objects and subjects of the digital world. Practical significance of complementarity and interconnection of new metamodels of metathinking allows us to develop: universal criteria for determining the quality of design objects using GenAI; a method for identifying triads of interconnected opposites in information sources of various natures, the visualization of which simplifies interdisciplinary interaction between designers; create a personal e-assistant, e-consultant, e-expert using GenAI. In post-war Ukraine, interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, methods and successful experiences is extremely relevant within the framework of a hybrid approach to understanding the harmony of physical and digital reality, which promotes successful creative activity based on the perception of the harmony of nature to achieve the unattainable. Further development of experiential learning through the formation of metathinking is necessary to improve mental health and adapt to inevitable social transformations.

Spatial culture code as an element of the metaphorization process

The study of the concept and essence of space, the characteristics of its perception and verbalization has become widespread in various fields of knowledge, including in the cognitive field of linguistic research. Space is of particular importance for the individual, since through its prism the perception of reality takes place. The article examines the peculiarities of formation of a trope with spatial semantics as a result of the action of the metaphorization mechanism.The purpose of the research: to determine the meaning of the spatial culture code in the formation of a trope with spatial semantics.Methods of the research: descriptive, comparative, component analysis method.The results: along with the perceived similarity conceptualized at the level of cognition between the cognitive-perceptual-affective experience of an individual, its object and components as a result of metaphorization operations (analogization, similarity and resemblance), the spatial culture code takes part in the metaphorization process. It has been established that spatial perception is a complex process that combines perceptual and cognitive elements. The result of the perception of space (image) is a significant element of the individual’s perceptual experience, which is the basis of the process of metaphorization, as a result of which a trope with spatial semantics is formed. This type of trope can be based on both a spatial and non-spatial image, since lexemes that verbalize a trope with spatial meaning can change the semantics during the operation of the cognitive mechanism of metaphorization.The conceptualization of perceptual-cognitive-affective experience is not identical among representatives of different linguistic cultures. Tropes with spatial semantics have cultural markings due to the changing experience of an individual’s interaction with the reality.Conclusion: the process of metaphorization is influenced by the spatial culture code.

Attributive verbalization of dream in M. Tsvetaeva’s texts

The purpose of research is to study the i individual style specificity of the attribute verbalization of the conceptual meaning of «dream» in M. Tsvetaeva’s texts, during which it is planned to identify the role of the epithetization process in the individual style system of the poet, the semantic content of the concept «dream» in M. Tsvetaeva’s texts, as well as the types of epithet words, verbalizing this meaning.Methods. On the basis of cognitive-semantic, component, lexical-semantic, semantic analysis of dictionary definitions, as well as statistical methods of analysis, the attribute verbalization of the concept «dream» in the texts of M. Tsvetaeva is analyzed. The comparison of the methods of attribute verbalization of this concept in the poet’s idiostyle and in language use was carried out on the basis of the M. Tsvetaeva’s texts and the «Dictionary of Epithets of the Russian Literary Language».The results. The considered types of epithet words that verbalize the attribute nomination of dream in M. Tsvetaeva’s texts made it possible to record a partial coincidence of the qualitative attributes of this object of epithetization with usage, while the majority of epithet words demonstrate non-usual lexical compatibility. The epithet paradigm is represented by various modifications of epithet words from simple to complex and compound. It has been proven that this specificity of the characteristic verbalization of a dream is associated with the poet’s individual style, occasional word creation, and reflection on epithet words.Conclusion. Attributive verbalization of the qualitative characteristics of an object is one of the peculiarities of M. Tsvetaeva’s individual style. The usual attributes of the concept «dream» are realized in its idiolect, but are subject to the author’s reflection and rethought. The selection and emphasizing of occasional attributes of an object occurs throughout the entire creative process and is expressed in non-standard epithet complexes. This trend is associated with M. Tsvetaeva’s focus on the subjective perception of reality, the focus on the ultimate expression of the quality of an object.

Humour, Transcendence, and Selfhood: An Essay on Lightness and Truth

AbstractThis article is concerned with a ‘lightness that is as far as possible from triviality’. It argues, firstly, that a connection can be drawn between comic perception and pictures of reality that entail transcendence, understood as an otherness at the heart of things that may be indirectly glimpsed but never fully grasped as the object of fixed knowledge. To picture transcendence as enigmatically near within immanence, rather than set abstractly over against it, introduces a sense of relativity and ambivalence into experience. This yields a comic lightness which is nonetheless philosophically serious because it has to do with truth. This has implications, secondly, for understanding selfhood. The essay looks at three accounts of transcendence in this context: the arguments of Socrates regarding the divine madness of eros in Plato's Phaedrus; the development of a more radical conception of transcendence via biblical sources in Philo and Augustine; and the application, via a reconceived Cartesian cogito, of a more moderated account of transcendence in the philosophy of Maurice Merleau‐Ponty to the themes of self‐knowledge and sincerity. In all cases, the affirmation of transcendence destabilises the ‘mundane’ world and human knowledge of it, and relocates the subject's centre of gravity outside themselves via a characteristic movement of release. In all of them, to grow towards truth requires a renunciation of self‐possession and secure self‐knowledge: the self must give itself over to transcendent otherness if it is to become what it more truly is. Both world and self increase in mystery in these different renditions, and this is where humour and lightness break in. The realisation of this mysteriousness is not a cause for despair, however, but the means by which one is freed from illusory claims to absolute knowledge (whether of world or self), and journeys towards truth, held now more lightly and with a greater sense of wonder.

THE CHALLENGES FACED BY PRODUCERS IN THE PRODUCTION OF AMAZONIAN ROBUSTA COFFEE IN TANGARÁ DA SERRA – MT

Coffee production is one of the main activities in the world, generating around 100 million jobs directly and indirectly. In 2022, an estimated 17.97 thousand bags of Amazonian Robusta coffee were produced in Brazil. Given the considerable importance of coffee cultivation for the country as well as for the municipality of Tangará da Serra - MT, it is relevant to identify the main challenges faced by Tangará producers in the production of this type of coffee. In order to provide solutions to the problems exposed, the proposal was to characterize the producers of Amazonian Robusta coffee in Tangará da Serra - MT, identify the difficulties that interfere in production and compare them to those recorded in 2019 with those faced in 2023. For the study, a qualitative methodological approach was used, which enables a given perception of reality, with an exploratory research strategy for greater familiarity with this topic little explored in the municipality. The careful description sought to identify the obstacles faced by local coffee producers, and nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with these workers to collect data. The results showed that they face various challenges in the production of Amazonian robusta coffee, since they worked individually, without any ties to coffee associations or cooperatives, a factor that limits the representativeness of the crop, such as the lack of adaptation to the regime that manages water resources when the irrigation method is used for the crop, and the succession for the coffee activity, which appears as an obstacle to be overcome, since it is the transfer of power to the next manager of the business. It is evident that this production in Tangara tends to grow, since there are new entrants in the crop with crops in formation.

Mathematical Modeling of Physical Reality: From Numbers to Fractals, Quantum Mechanics and the Standard Model.

In physics, we construct idealized mathematical models in order to explain various phenomena which we observe or create in our laboratories. In this article, I recall how sophisticated mathematical models evolved from the concept of a number created thousands of years ago, and I discuss some challenges and open questions in quantum foundations and in the Standard Model. We liberated nuclear energy, landed on the Moon and built 'quantum computers'. Encouraged by these successes, many believe that when we reconcile general relativity with quantum theory we will have the correct theory of everything. Perhaps we should be much humbler. Our perceptions of reality are biased by our senses and by our brain, bending them to meet our priors and expectations. Our abstract mathematical models describe only in an approximate way different layers of physical reality. To describe the motion of a meteorite, we can use a concept of a material point, but the point-like approximation breaks completely when the meteorite hits the Earth. Similarly, thermodynamic, chemical, molecular, atomic, nuclear and elementary particle layers of physical reality are described using specific abstract mathematical models and approximations. In my opinion, the theory of everything does not exist.

Quality of Life as a Non-mortality Patient-centred Outcome in the Critically Ill: A Retrospective Analysis.

Mortality is a common gauged endpoint in critically ill patients. Reduced quality of life is an aligned repercussion of protracted critical illness. Baseline status, severity of illness and its trajectory influence the outcomes. Patient-oriented outcomes are those that matter the most to a patient. However, quite often, family approves of trade-offs with survivorship in the Indian context. We looked at non-mortality outcomes in patients on high-intensity life-sustaining interventions admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) despite poor prognosis and died on full support or survived to be completely dependent. In this retrospective chart review study, we studied patients (1) who spent more than 1 month in the hospital enduring a myriad of distressing physical and psychological vicissitudes, (2) whose primary illness was fairly advanced (3) and either succumbed or survived to be impeded in their response to cognitive assessment and with severe functional impairment. Patient demographics, comorbidities, pre-morbid functional status, burden of critical illness, use of life-sustaining therapies, functional dependence in the last week of ICU stay, best neurological status in the last week pre-death or discharge, dying trajectories and economic analysis were noted. Trends of clinical progress of 23 patients were deliberated. The mean age of males was 65 years and 61 years for females. Five patients had a Barthel index score of 10-20, indicating total dependency and two patients had a score of 21-60, indicating severe dependency. Two patients were cognitively impaired at baseline. The worst neurological status in the week before death or discharge was eye1, motor1, and verbaltracheostomised. Thirteen patients succumbed during ongoing treatment. Daily discussions on the dynamics of illness progression need to take place with family on a regular basis for patients managed in ICU. Realistic perceptions and grounded expectations from the families and caregivers are necessary for patient-centred outcomes.

Chinese Audiences' Perceptions of Social Reality in the Comedy Film Successor

Abstract: Comedy films continue to thrive in Chinas film market, and the genre is breaking out of its original form with innovative reforms. In addition, the market for realistic films is further expanding in China. The film Successor, which was released in mainland China this summer, became a hot topic during its release. This paper examines Chinese audiences reactions to social realities reflected in Successor through the survey. The audience is the most important factor in determining the success of a film, so it is extremely important to pay attention to the audiences comments and reactions to a film. Comedy films are the audiences favorite genre and realism is a popular theme at the moment, combining the two produces a surprising effect. Social media is an important channel for film distributors to promote their films, but some issues are discussed more negatively on the internet. The film, as a relatively pure vehicle, can better reflect the real situation.

Assessment of Health-Oriented Layout and Perceived Density in High-Density Public Residential Areas: A Case Study of Shenzhen

Rapid urbanization has intensified public housing development and building density, posing significant challenges to residents’ well-being and urban sustainability. With the population of the Greater Bay Area on the rise, enhancing the spatial quality of public housing is now essential. The study proposed a quantitative framework to evaluate the relationship between the residential design elements and perceived density in high-density public housing neighborhoods. It employed a virtual reality perception experiment to analyze the relationship between significant spatial indicators and perceived density by investigating 16 high-density residential layout models in 3 configurations: Tower-Enclosed, Balanced Slab-Enclosed, and Staggered Slab-Enclosed. The results indicate that: (1) greater building height intensifies perceived density, leading to sensations of overcrowding and discomfort; (2) an increased sky ratio mitigates perceived density, fostering a more open and pleasant environment; (3) recessed residential facades enhance residents’ density perception; and (4) Staggered Slab-Enclosed Layout configurations receive the most favorable evaluations regarding perceived density. The authors attempt to go beyond current regulations to propose tailored solutions for Shenzhen’s high-density context, improving spatial efficiency and residential comfort in future public housing designs. The finding provides scientific evidence to support urban planners and policymakers in developing more resilient and sustainable high-density neighborhoods.

Research Workshop for Students in the Center of Japanese Studies, University of Indonesia: A Community Service Activity

This article believes that university students should possess a higher level of critical thinking skills after they graduate, which can also be evaluated from their thesis writing project. The capacity to formulate a logical research problem based on empirical observation and academic evaluation is the indicator we are trying to have, thus, assess. This assessment is not the only agenda we are having in this community service activity; we also try to improve and elevate students' capacity of understanding how research works by providing further mentorship consisting of brainstorming and discussion sessions to ignite their critical thinking capacity. Nevertheless, this activity has a guiding question whether university students are able to critically identify and formulate research questions for their thesis writing project. By accepting and archiving their ideas and research proposals, we have found three important findings. First, the students are still struggling to start and set up their research proposals since many of their empirical observations are based on the subjective perception of reality, inspired from self-centered activities like hobbies and subjective preferences. Second, these subjective interpretations manifest into the low awareness of the existing previous literature for their own research, hence, making their research topic to be far from possessing an urgency of writing both empirically and academically. Third, it was also imperative that most of the students are not fully aware of the options of theoretical and conceptual framework they will use as the analytical lenses, left alone its definitions, its applications, and its debates.

From Avatars to Agents: Self-Related Cues Through Embodiment and Personalization Affect Body Perception in Virtual Reality.

Our work investigates the influence of self-related cues in the design of virtual humans on body perception in virtual reality. In a $2\times 2$ mixed design, 64 participants faced photorealistic virtual humans either as a motion-synchronized embodied avatar or as an autonomous moving agent, appearing subsequently with a personalized and generic texture. Our results unveil that self-related cues through embodiment and personalization yield an individual and complemented increase in participants' sense of embodiment and self-identification towards the virtual human. Different body weight modification and estimation tasks further showed an impact of both factors on participants' body weight perception. Additional analyses revealed that the participant's body mass index predicted body weight estimations in all conditions and that participants' self-esteem and body shape concerns correlated with different body weight perception results. Hence, we have demonstrated the occurrence of double standards through induced self-related cues in virtual human perception, especially through embodiment.

Visual Perceptual Confidence: Exploring Discrepancies Between Self-reported and Actual Distance Perception In Virtual Reality.

Virtual Reality (VR) systems are widely used, and it is essential to know if spatial perception in virtual environments (VEs) is similar to reality. Research indicates that users tend to underestimate distances in VR. Prior work suggests that actual distance judgments in VR may not always match the users self-reported preference of where they think they most accurately estimated distances. However, no explicit investigation evaluated whether user preferences match actual performance in a spatial judgment task. We used blind walking to explore potential dissimilarities between actual distance estimates and user-selected preferences of visual complexities, VE conditions, and targets. Our findings show a gap between user preferences and actual performance when visual complexities were varied, which has implications for better visual perception understanding, VR applications design, and research in spatial perception, indicating the need to calibrate and align user preferences and true spatial perception abilities in VR.

Depth Perception in Optical See-Through Augmented Reality: Investigating the Impact of Texture Density, Luminance Contrast, and Color Contrast.

The immersive augmented reality (AR) system necessitates precise depth registration between virtual objects and the real scene. Prior studies have emphasized the efficacy of surface texture in providing depth cues to enhance depth perception across various media, including the real scene, virtual reality, and AR. However, these studies predominantly focus on black-and-white textures, leaving a gap in understanding the effectiveness of colored textures. To address this gap and further explore texture-related factors in AR, a series of experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of different texture cues on depth perception using the perceptual matching method. Findings indicate that the absolute depth error increases with decreasing contrast under black-and-white texture. Moreover, textures with higher color contrast also contribute to enhanced accuracy of depth judgments in AR. However, no significant effect of texture density on depth perception was observed. The findings serve as a theoretical reference for texture design in AR, aiding in the optimization of virtual-real registration processes.