Virtual Reality System Research Articles

Technological Features of Immersive Virtual Reality Systems for Upper Limb Stroke Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review.

Stroke is the second most common cause of death worldwide, and it greatly impacts the quality of life for survivors by causing impairments in their upper limbs. Due to the difficulties in accessing rehabilitation services, immersive virtual reality (IVR) is an interesting approach to improve the availability of rehabilitation services. This systematic review evaluates the technological characteristics of IVR systems used in the rehabilitation of upper limb stroke patients. Twenty-five publications were included. Various technical aspects such as game engines, programming languages, headsets, platforms, game genres, and technical evaluation were extracted from these papers. Unity 3D and C# are the primary tools for creating IVR apps, while the Oculus Quest (Meta Platforms Technologies, Menlo Park, CA, USA) is the most often used headset. The majority of systems are created specifically for rehabilitation purposes rather than being readily available for purchase (i.e., commercial games). The analysis also highlights key areas for future research, such as game assessment, the combination of hardware and software, and the potential integration incorporation of biofeedback sensors. The study highlights the significance of technological progress in improving the effectiveness and user-friendliness of IVR. It calls for additional research to fully exploit IVR's potential in enhancing stroke rehabilitation results.

Brain–Computer Interface Based on PLV-Spatial Filter and LSTM Classification for Intuitive Control of Avatars

This study researches the combination of the brain–computer interface (BCI) and virtual reality (VR) in order to improve user experience and facilitate control learning in a safe environment. In addition, it assesses the applicability of the phase-locking value spatial filtering (PLV-SF) method and the Short-Term Memory Network (LSTM) in a real-time EEG-based BCI. The PLV-SF has been shown to improve signal quality, and the LSTM exhibits more stable and accurate behavior. Ten healthy volunteers, six men and four women aged 22 to 37 years, participated in tasks inside a virtual house, using their EEG states to direct their movements and actions through a commercial, low-cost wireless EEG device together with a virtual reality system. A BCI and VR can be used effectively to enable the intuitive control of virtual environments by immersing users in real-life situations, making the experience engaging, fun, and safe. Control test times decreased significantly from 3.65 min and 7.79 min in the first and second quartiles, respectively, to 2.56 min and 4.28 min. In addition, a free route was performed for the three best volunteers who finished in an average time of 6.30 min.

Development of a virtual reality system usability questionnaire (VRSUQ)

Virtual reality (VR) has gained significant attention as a technology that provides immersive experiences similar to the real world. In order for a VR system to be accepted, usability needs to be guaranteed. Accordingly, VR-related researchers are continuing their efforts to improve VR systems by conducting usability evaluations. However, existing studies have limitations in that they cannot comprehensively evaluate the detailed properties of VR systems by using questionnaires developed for general product usability evaluation or focusing only on some usability aspects of VR systems. This suggests it may be difficult to fully capture usability issues in a VR system, and that it is necessary to develop a usability evaluation tool that reflects the specific characteristics of the VR system. Therefore, this study develops and proposes the Virtual Reality System Usability Questionnaire (VRSUQ). In the development of the questionnaire, items were structured based on a literature review and discussions with experts. To account for the diverse characteristics of VR systems, the validity of the questionnaire was verified through both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, utilizing data obtained from three distinct experimental studies that employed different VR systems. In addition, by comparing the results of VRSUQ with the results from the System Usability Scale, which is widely used for perceived usability evaluation, alternative possibilities for using VRSUQ are presented. Further testing on various VR platforms is needed to ensure the reliability and validity of VRSUQ, and as results from using VRSUQ are accumulated, it is expected to be widely used as a more powerful and robust VR-specific perceived usability evaluation tool.

How Immersive Retailing Affects Consumers’ Urge to Buy: Impacts of Self-Imagery, Positive Emotion, and Self-Relevance

The rise of immersive retailing, which employs cutting-edge technology, such as virtual reality (VR), has accelerated empirical research on consumer behavior in these new retail contexts. This research examines how VR retail experiences cause consumers’ impulsive buying through two studies to add knowledge from multiple perspectives, including the dark side of this experience. Study 1 revealed that non-immersive VR fashion stores (i.e., using desktop computer system) can elaborate on consumers’ self-imagery processing, which results in pleasure and the urge to buy. In addition, processing varied according to the level of self-relevance to the VR store; higher self-relevance activates a more elaborate self-imagery. However, Study 2, which compared non-immersive and immersive VR system (i.e., using head-mounted display and controllers) for experiencing a virtual fashion store, showed that immersive VR media system can evoke a higher level of self-imagery process of urge to buy even when self-relevance is relatively low, owing to its technological ability to facilitate high telepresence. These findings suggest that the impact of the VR store experience can be expanded to include impulsive/compulsive purchases.

A new XR-based human‐robot collaboration assembly system based on industrial metaverse

The industrial metaverse is an emerging paradigm of integrated information technologies. A human-robot collaboration assembly system is developed using extended reality (XR) and blockchain technologies. This system includes the physical, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) supporting, and blockchain systems. Virtual avatars represent physical operators and mobile robots in the XR environment. The VR system emulates real-time physical operations, facilitating pre-planning, online task optimization, and converting strategic decisions into executable instructions for physical robots. The AR system enhances the cognitive experience of intelligent operators, contributing to decision-making and VR system control through multi-modal interactions. The integration of the VR and AR systems in perception-decision-control enables real-time process optimization and the reverse control of physical operations. The system is implemented using a decentralized blockchain and end-edge-cloud collaborative network architecture to regulate interaction permissions for each scene characters, ensuring systematic functionality, robust communication, and comprehensive data management. A case study of a gearbox assembly is used to demonstrate the system’s development and efficacy. The results indicate the VR system's comprehensive perception and the AR system's detailed insights, yielding reliable information on global and local levels. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and spatiotemporal visualization during VR decision-making provides computational advantages. Incorporating human input into the AR system enables human-in-the-loop operational decision-making, providing optimal instructions to improve human-robot collaboration performance. Notably, the fusion of blockchain and end-edge-cloud architectures augments inter-system data exchange by efficiently managing and processing human-robot interactions and their diverse avatars. This system offers an innovative approach to human-robot collaboration assembly in manufacturing, with implications for analogous contexts.

Visiting experience of digital museum interior design based on virtual reality and sensor networks

China's computer technology and image sensor technology are both rapidly developing, and the related advantages of digital holography technology are gradually expanding. These technologies have been applied in many fields. For example, three-dimensional measurement, deformation measurement, and anti-counterfeiting fields. This article combines holographic technology and virtual reality technology, and applies them to the interior design of digital museums and the optimization of auxiliary visits. A corresponding mathematical calculation model is established for digital holographic images, and in-depth research is conducted on this mathematical calculation model. Relevant personnel have also conducted relevant research on commonly used digital holography technology, and provided a detailed introduction to the principles of virtual reality technology. They have also conducted in-depth research on the specific working principles of VR technology and the application technology of virtual reality systems. Finally, an analysis and research were conducted on the development of Chinese museums, and a new perspective was proposed on the indoor space of museums under the new digital concept, which has certain reference significance. Currently, Chinese museums are thriving, so deepening the interior space of museums is very important. This article hopes to provide some guidance and practical value for the development of Chinese museums.

The effect of VR on fine motor performance by older adults: a comparison between real and virtual tasks

Virtual Reality (VR) technology has the potential to support the aging population and improve testing of daily abilities to detect functional decline. In multiple research studies, VR performance of participants has been assessed by measuring time to complete test, but the effect of learning how to use the VR system and differences between real and virtual environments have been understudied, especially for fine motor tasks. In this study, 20 older adults ages 65–84 performed a task that required fine motor skills in real-life and then in a VR replica of the same task. All participants completed the task in each setting with no difficulties. A clear learning effect was observed in VR, which was attributed to learning how to use the device itself. Still, participants could not reach the same level of performance (time) in VR as in real-life. Participants rated the VR task more mentally and physically demanding than in real-life, as well as more stressful, but with an overall low cognitive demand. In an exploratory cluster analysis, participants with an average age of 69 years old had more technological devices, found the VR system more usable and realistic than participants in the group with an average of 76 years old. This study demonstrated that VR influences time to complete a fine motor task, and that learning effects related to the system could be confounded with actual task performance if not properly considered in VR studies with older adults.

A wirelessly programmable, skin-integrated thermo-haptic stimulator system for virtual reality

Sensations of heat and touch produced by receptors in the skin are of essential importance for perceptions of the physical environment, with a particularly powerful role in interpersonal interactions. Advances in technologies for replicating these sensations in a programmable manner have the potential not only to enhance virtual/augmented reality environments but they also hold promise in medical applications for individuals with amputations or impaired sensory function. Engineering challenges are in achieving interfaces with precise spatial resolution, power-efficient operation, wide dynamic range, and fast temporal responses in both thermal and in physical modulation, with forms that can extend over large regions of the body. This paper introduces a wireless, skin-compatible interface for thermo-haptic modulation designed to address some of these challenges, with the ability to deliver programmable patterns of enhanced vibrational displacement and high-speed thermal stimulation. Experimental and computational investigations quantify the thermal and mechanical efficiency of a vertically stacked design layout in the thermo-haptic stimulators that also supports real-time, closed-loop control mechanisms. The platform is effective in conveying thermal and physical information through the skin, as demonstrated in the control of robotic prosthetics and in interactions with pressure/temperature-sensitive touch displays.

Immersive engineering instruction: Using Virtual Reality to enhance students’ experience in the classroom

With the growing complexity of construction projects, the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector increasingly requires a skilled workforce. This need is magnified by the challenge of less than ideal retention rates in engineering fields, prompting a search for methods to enhance the learning experience. Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as an effective tool in this context, offering immersive and interactive learning environments that improve the grasp and retention of complex concepts in engineering. This research assesses the benefits of implementing a VR solution for building inspections in an undergraduate civil engineering program. It compares the use of a VR system against traditional desktop-based inspection techniques and considers cognitive load, user experience, and usability aspects of this implementation. Additionally, it examines how students’ spatial abilities affect their performance with both methods. Results demonstrate that VR does not increase cognitive load and is often perceived as requiring less effort by student users. While both the desktop and VR options produced similar usability scores, the VR implementation provided a much more engaging user experience. These results were replicated and echoed in a second study with actual engineering instructors, who likewise held a strong positive attitude towards the VR system, consistent with student attitudes. Taken together, these results highlight the potential for VR to revolutionize educational opportunities, suggesting that its further adoption and exploration should be prioritized as a useful and viable academic tool. Specifically, these results suggest that VR can enhance the learning process in civil engineering and make collaborative virtual building inspections more efficient and engaging.

Current Perceptions of Virtual Reality Technology

User experience is a key predictor of future use of goods and services. The presented study collected a combination of qualitative and quantitative data from both experienced users and novices about their perceptions of virtual reality (VR) equipment, any concerns surrounding the data collected by the equipment, and facets that needed to be taken into consideration for future developments. The purpose of this research was to understand the current user experience of VR and ways in which it can be improved. The findings indicated that the majority of people have used VR, albeit infrequently, and that the most common use for it was for entertainment purposes. The most important characteristics of VR systems were judged to be the available content and price. While it was reported to be enjoyable to use, the ways in which it was suggested to be improved were through a reduction in size and weight of the headsets, and incorporating wireless capabilities. Concerns about the use of VR were the potential for sickness, discomfort, and eye strain, the disconnect from the real world and the subsequent risks that this poses, as well as the use and privacy of user data. The findings from this research can be used as a stepping stone toward the advancement of VR technologies.

Participatory design of a virtual reality life review therapy system for palliative care

We present a novel Virtual Reality (VR) life review therapy system. Life review therapy is an intervention used by clinical psychologists, counselors, and social workers for patients under palliative care to systematically examine various life experiences to resolve conflicts and complete life tasks. The goal of the therapy is to narrativize the patient’s life before death in order to come to terms with their mortality. Our VR life review therapy system allows therapists to perform their interventions in customized virtual spaces designed to encourage the patient to reflect and reminisce about their life experiences. Our system is also developed in response to mobility restrictions and COVID-19 pandemic-related quarantine measures that have separated patients under palliative care from family and friends, resulting in emotional and psychological distress. As VR systems related to health are increasingly being used by therapists in their interventions, it is of utmost importance that the health professionals who will be the end users of these systems are involved in the design process to create ethical healthcare technologies. In response, we initiated the participatory design and evaluation of our VR life review therapy system prototype with six clinical psychologists who have practical experience delivering life review therapy to patients in palliative care in the Hong Kong hospital system. In the study, each participant experienced the VR life review therapy system and evaluated its strengths and weaknesses through semi-structured interviews. The qualitative data gathered from these interviews was coded according to nine different categories; avatars, content design, evaluation, haptic sensations, interaction, gesturing and gaze direction, movement and navigation, non-verbal communication, soundtrack. These conceptual categories were chosen based on our analysis of common themes reported by the clinical psychologists’ experience of the system. Feedback from clinical psychologists on each of these categories was incorporated into the redesign and update of the final system. Overall, participants generally evaluated the system as feasible and effective for use with patients under palliative care, while movement and interaction were the features requiring the most improvement.

Integration of Smart Home and Building Automation Systems in Virtual Reality and Robotics-Based Technological Environment for Neurorehabilitation: A Pilot Study Protocol.

Technological innovation has revolutionized healthcare, particularly in neurological rehabilitation, where it has been used to address chronic conditions. Smart home and building automation (SH&BA) technologies offer promising solutions for managing chronic disabilities associated with such conditions. This single group, pre-post longitudinal pilot study, part of the H2020 HosmartAI project, aims to explore the integration of smart home technologies into neurorehabilitation. Eighty subjects will be enrolled from IRCCS San Camillo Hospital (Venice, Italy) and will receive rehabilitation treatment through virtual reality (VR) and robotics devices for 15 h per day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks in the HosmartAI Room (HR), equipped with SH&BA devices measuring the environment. The study seeks to optimize patient outcomes and refine rehabilitation practices. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and scientific meetings, contributing to advancements in neurological rehabilitation and guiding future research.

TEAttention!: A pilot study of occupational therapy and virtual reality for improving school participation in children with autism spectrum disorder

ABSTRACT One of the environments that child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) find particularly challenging is school, which has an impact on their involvement. Virtual reality (VR) could provide appropriate repetitive or difficulty-controlled experiences relevant for children with ASD, where the environment’s constancy can be crucial to facilitating their adaptation and participation. This study aimed to explore whether an intervention called “TEAttention!” using a combination of a VR system and sensory processing strategies could be beneficial for improving participation in children with ASD in the school environment. The study used a pre- and post-intervention methodology. The participants were five students with ASD enrolled in a primary school. The Sensory Profile-2, unstructured observations and the System of Usability Scales were used. The TEAttention! program showed good usability for occupational therapists and teachers, and the children exhibited increased participation at school, improving their play, communication, and social relationships. VR could be a motivating and supportive component of therapies for children with ASD that could enhance their focus and comprehension of the sensory environment.

VibHead: An Authentication Scheme for Smart Headsets through Vibration

Recent years have witnessed the fast penetration of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) systems into our daily life, the security and privacy issues of the VR/AR applications have been attracting considerable attention. Most VR/AR systems adopt head-mounted devices (i.e., smart headsets) to interact with users and the devices usually store the users’ private data. Hence, authentication schemes are desired for the head-mounted devices. Traditional knowledge-based authentication schemes for general personal devices have been proved vulnerable to shoulder-surfing attacks, especially considering the headsets may block the sight of the users. Although the robustness of the knowledge-based authentication can be improved by designing complicated secret codes in virtual space, this approach induces a compromise of usability. Another choice is to leverage the users’ biometrics; however, it either relies on highly advanced equipments which may not always be available in commercial headsets or introduce heavy cognitive load to users. In this paper, we propose a vibration-based authentication scheme, VibHead, for smart headsets. Since the propagation of vibration signals through human heads presents unique patterns for different individuals, VibHead employs a CNN-based model to classify registered legitimate users based the features extracted from the vibration signals. We also design a two-step authentication scheme where the above user classifiers are utilized to distinguish the legitimate user from illegitimate ones. We implement VibHead on a Microsoft HoloLens equipped with a linear motor and an IMU sensor which are commonly used in off-the-shelf personal smart devices. According to the results of our extensive experiments, with short vibration signals (≤ 1s ), VibHead has an outstanding authentication accuracy; both FAR and FRR are around 5%.

Recreational Therapists’ Usability Perceptions of the Meta Quest 2 VR System

This study used survey methods to examine recreational therapists’ perceptions of the usability of the Meta Quest 2, a popular commercial virtual reality (VR) system, for recreational therapy (RT) practice. Participants (N = 22) completed the System Usability Scale (SUS) following attendance at a six-hour continuing education workshop that included didactic education and experiential learning with the Meta Quest 2 and eight different VR applications. The SUS scores ranged from 37.50–97.50 (M = 64.31, SD = 17.93) which corresponds with a “high marginal” acceptability rating, a letter grade of C-, and an adjective rating of “good” based on three separate SUS interpretation guidelines. There were no significant differences in SUS scores across several personal (age, gender, race) and professional (years of RT practice experience, primary service setting, client diagnostic characteristics, age of clients served) demographic groups. Findings add to the evidence-base in the emerging area of VR use in RT practice, and suggest opportunities for future research.

The Use of a Virtual Reality System in the Rehabilitation of Children with Progressive Muscular Dystrophies

The research aim is to prove the effectiveness of individual programs of physical therapy and occupational therapy for children with progressive muscular dystrophy (PMD), which include game technologies of virtual reality. The following research methods were used in the work: general scientific (analysis, synthesis, synthesis of literature); clinical (clinical examination); pedagogical (observation, experiment); biomedical (development of motor functions), mathematical statistics. It has been proven that after the implementation of a synergistic rehabilitation program on the MFM scale positive changes were observed among children with dystrophic pathologies; according to the Vignos scale, no improvement in results was recorded; according to the Brooke scale - similar situation,among children with PMD Landusy-Dejerin, Emery-Dreyfus and unspecified form, the final results did not differ from the weekend, and among children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, born PMD and Erb-Roth PMD showed deterioration of parameters.

Evaluating Text Reading Speed in VR Scenes and 3D Particle Visualizations.

This work reports how text size and other rendering conditions affect reading speeds in a virtual reality environment and a scientific data analysis application. Displaying text legibly yet space-efficiently is a challenging problem in immersive displays. Effective text displays that enable users to read at their maximum speed must consider the variety of virtual reality (VR) display hardware and possible visual exploration tasks. We investigate how text size and display parameters affect reading speed and legibility in three state-of-the-art VR displays: two head-mounted displays and one CAVE. In our perception experiments, we establish limits where reading speed declines as the text size approaches the so-called critical print sizes (CPS) of individual displays, which can inform the design of uniform reading experiences across different VR systems. We observe an inverse correlation between display resolution and CPS. Yet, even in high-fidelity VR systems, the measured CPS was larger than in comparable physical text displays, highlighting the value of increased VR display resolutions in certain visualization scenarios. Our findings indicate that CPS can be an effective metric for evaluating VR display usability. Additionally, we evaluate the effects of text panel placement, orientation, and occlusion-reducing rendering methods on reading speeds in generic volumetric particle visualizations. Our study provides insights into the trade-off between text representation and legibility in cluttered immersive environments with specific suggestions for visualization designers and highlight areas for further research.

Privacy-Preserving Gaze Data Streaming in Immersive Interactive Virtual Reality: Robustness and User Experience.

Eye tracking is routinely being incorporated into virtual reality (VR) systems. Prior research has shown that eye tracking data, if exposed, can be used for re-identification attacks [14]. The state of our knowledge about currently existing privacy mechanisms is limited to privacy-utility trade-off curves based on data-centric metrics of utility, such as prediction error, and black-box threat models. We propose that for interactive VR applications, it is essential to consider user-centric notions of utility and a variety of threat models. We develop a methodology to evaluate real-time privacy mechanisms for interactive VR applications that incorporate subjective user experience and task performance metrics. We evaluate selected privacy mechanisms using this methodology and find that re-identification accuracy can be decreased to as low as 14% while maintaining a high usability score and reasonable task performance. Finally, we elucidate three threat scenarios (black-box, black-box with exemplars, and white-box) and assess how well the different privacy mechanisms hold up to these adversarial scenarios. This work advances the state of the art in VR privacy by providing a methodology for end-to-end assessment of the risk of re-identification attacks and potential mitigating solutions. f.

Virtual reality experiences for breathing and relaxation training: The effects of real vs. placebo biofeedback

Virtual reality biofeedback systems for relaxation training can be an effective tool for reducing stress and anxiety levels, but most of them offer a limited user experience associated to the execution of a single task and a biofeedback mechanism that reflects a single physiological measurement. Furthermore, user evaluations of such systems do not typically include a placebo condition, making it difficult to determine the actual contribution of biofeedback. This paper proposes a VR system for breathing and relaxation training that: (i) uses biofeedback mechanisms based on multiple physiological measurements, (ii) provides a richer user experience through a narrative that unfolds in phases where the user is the main character and controls different elements of the virtual environment through biofeedback. To evaluate the system and to assess the actual contribution of biofeedback, we compared two conditions involving 35 participants: a biofeedback condition that exploited real-time measurements of user's breathing, skin conductance, and heart rate; and a placebo control condition, in which changes in the virtual environment followed physiological values recorded from a session with another user. The results showed that the proposed virtual experience helped users relax in both conditions, but real biofeedback produced results that were superior to placebo biofeedback, in terms of both relaxation and sense of presence. These outcomes highlight the important role that biofeedback can play in virtual reality systems for relaxation training, as well as the need for researchers to consider placebo conditions in evaluating this kind of systems.

Ghost image analysis for pancake virtual reality systems

Pancake optics (also known as polarization-based catadioptric system) has been widely used as the imaging lens for virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) headsets because of its compact formfactor and excellent image quality. However, such a folded pancake optics not only dramatically lowers the optical efficiency to 25% because of the utilization of a half mirror, but also suffers from ghost images due to the stray light from multiple surface reflections and imperfect polarization control inside the optical system. In this paper, the origins including the light paths of the ghost images are explored by experiment and then analyzed by simulation. The effect of different incident angles on the intensity of each ghost is also investigated.