Virtual Scenarios Research Articles

Age-related decrease in functional mobility score when performing a locomotor task in an immersive environment.

In recent years, immersive virtual reality technology has emerged in the field of health. Its use could allow the assessment of the motor behavior of individuals in adaptable and reproducible immersive environments, simulating real situations. This study aimed to assess the effect of an immersive scenario on functional mobility during a simple locomotor task according to age. Sixty young adults and 60 older volunteers, who were autonomous and without cognitive and neurological impairment participated. A locomotor task based on the "Timed Up and Go" task was performed in real and virtual conditions. A functional mobility score was calculated by combining the time and the number of steps used and compared between young and older people. Results showed that correlations between time and the number of steps were the same in VR and real conditions, but the locomotor performance decreased significantly in VR for both populations. Additionally, older people exhibited a more reduced locomotor performance in a virtual environment than young adults, thereby their functional mobility score decreased more to complete the task, reflecting the adoption of a more secure locomotion strategy often related to the fear of falling, with an increase in time and number of steps to support balance. The major difference between reality and VR is the visual immersion with an HMD, and visual information is more important in the sensory integration of older people. Therefore, the reduction in visual field and lack of visual exproprioceptive information about the body segments in the virtual environment could explain these results. Finally, the effect of immersion in a virtual scenario on mobility exists for both populations but is accentuated by the aging process and is therefore age dependent.

“Micro World – Exploring the Microbial Kingdom”: design and testing of a microbial VR science product

ABSTRACT We designed a microbial science popularization product based on virtual reality technology, “Micro World – Exploring the Microbial Kingdom,” and conducted usability tests. Participants used head-mounted VR glasses to experience virtual scenarios teaching microbiological knowledge. The product’s user experience was evaluated through a User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ), and the results showed that our product provided both usefulness and enjoyment. In addition, the quality of participants’ relevant knowledge acquisition was measured using the Student Education of Educational Quality (SEEQ). The SEEQ results show that “Micro World” is an effective tool for popularizing microbiology science and can actively promote students’ independent learning and improve learning quality.

Designing profitable and climate-smart farms using virtual reality.

Many pastoral farmers are searching for ways to lower the carbon emission footprint that is generated by livestock. Planting trees on the farm is currently a popular option for farmers to offset their emissions yet requires knowledge of suitable tree species and locations to plant them. This paper describes a decision-support tool aimed at helping farmers to create and visualise different planting designs while balancing the objectives of sequestering carbon and maintaining farm profitability. We take an innovative approach by combining virtual reality technology with biophysical models to create an environment where the user can actively create virtual future farm scenarios. Through the creation process, the user can simultaneously balance multiple objectives including farm aesthetics, economic returns, business and environmental ambitions, and carbon emissions (net) balance. For this proof-of-concept study, we incorporate virtual reality technology in Unreal Engine, environmental and financial data, and high-resolution spatial layers from an operational 400-hectare livestock farm in New Zealand.

La nueva realidad, retos y desafíos

One of the greatest social and educational challenges facing society is to analyze how, from different scenarios, it is possible to build, consolidate and implement a quality teaching and learning process, which includes all the basic elements and allows to have a marked differential in the knowledge and actions of learners after the pandemic (post-covid-19). With the passage of time, technological tools have occupied an important place in society, even more so in the academic field, making it possible to reduce the knowledge gap in any discipline, promoting collaborative work. From this point of view, the question to be analyzed is: Will the use of virtual scenarios be a reality for a teaching-learning process? To achieve this objective, the systematic review method was used in the academic framework, and articles published between the years 2018 to 2022, with search words learning and virtual scenarios, supported by Boléan operators, using the specialized databases for that topic: Redalyc, Scielo, Scopus. The results show the need and relevance of adapting to the new virtual scenarios, being a challenge for the academic entities to characterize the population with greater skills for the technological, without leaving aside the importance of adapting the curricular plans for the actors of the process.

Maintaining High Quality Dosimetry Education in Radiation Oncology Medical Residency Amid and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic: A Reimagined Training Rotation

Maintaining High Quality Dosimetry Education in Radiation Oncology Medical Residency Amid and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic: A Reimagined Training Rotation

심층 신경망 기반 착륙 지점 인식 기법을 위한 가상 현실 데이터 수집 기술 개발

This paper presents a technology for collecting datasets using virtual reality for semantic image segmentation-based landing point recognition methods. The virtual reality scenario assumed that a landing point image was obtained from a vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a downward-facing camera. A semantic image segmentation technique utilizing a deep neural network of the U-Net structure was implemented. The deep neural network was then trained to recognize both the landing points and obstacles. During the deep neural network training phase, only the datasets collected using the automatic labeling technology in virtual reality were utilized to analyze whether it was feasible to recognize the landing points and obstacles in actual environmental images. The results of the analysis confirmed that the trained deep neural network exhibited meaningful performance using only the datasets collected from a virtual environment similar to the actual environment.

On the Ability of Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) to Track Turbulent Flow Paths with Monte Carlo Simulations in GATE

Positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) has offered important insights into the internal dynamics of multiphase flows. High precision and frequency measurements of the location of the tracer particle are required to resolve individual eddies at the millimetre scale or smaller. To explore the potential of PEPT to perform these measurements, a model was developed of the Siemens ECAT “EXACT3D” HR++ positron emission tomography (PET) scanner at the PEPT Cape Town facility in South Africa with the software Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) and was used to generate Lagrangian tracks from simulations of moving tracer particles. The model was validated with measurements from both experiment and simulation and was extended to two virtual scenarios inspired by turbulent flows. The location data from the simulation accurately captured linear portions of an oscillating path up to high speeds of 25 m s−1; however, tracking tended to undercut the turning points due to the high tracer acceleration. For a particle moving on a spiral path of decreasing radius, the location data tracked the path above a radius of 2.0 mm with an uncertainty equivalent to the radius of the tracer particle, 300 μm. Improvements to the measurement are required to track sub-millimetre flow structures, such as the application of PET scanners with higher spatial resolution and upgrades to the sampling processes used in location algorithms.

Promoting the Smart Tourism by Implementing Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

In the new era, the latest technologies are emerging in Industry 4.0, currently out of these technologies two are at peak known as Augmented reality which basically converts reality in virtual scenario and Virtual reality which converts virtuality into reality. Tourism the name itself has a peace and for most of the countries and peoples it is the major source of income or we say functioning. What happen if we sync these two with each other and we can refer it as Smart Tourism by implementing AR-VR. With that note we proposed a model regarding the smart view of tourist spot which will generate more curiosity to know that place by visiting them in personally. Reason behind it is that humans have psychology that regard of just viewing images or listening if we experience any incident by our own we get more fascinated towards it and also keep it remembered for longer period of time. So, here when tourists view locations using AR-VR they feel like they are present at that location, it also helps them to decide whether to visit in real or not. It is cost effective also as user saves a lot by not visiting if place is not of their interest. It also helps to cover all the spots that are even not so famous of specific locations which is not covered in Itinerary provided by most of the tour operators. As tourist will enjoy this and also their expectations and curiosity will increases to visit there, this will boost tourism industry and will become very helpful for locals and others depending on this sector.

Does virtual reality technology reduce pain and anxiety during outpatient hysteroscopy? A randomised controlled trial.

To evaluate the effectiveness of virtual reality technology in reducing pain and anxiety during outpatient hysteroscopy. A prospective randomised controlled trial. A London University Teaching Hospital. Women aged 18-70 years undergoing outpatient hysteroscopy procedures. An unblinded randomised controlled trial was performed between March and October 2022 comparing standard outpatient hysteroscopy care with standard care with the addition of a virtual reality headset playing a virtual reality immersive scenario as a distraction technique. Pain and anxiety numeric rating scores (NRS) from 0 to 11. Eighty-three participants were randomly allocated to the control (n = 42) and virtual reality groups (n = 41). The virtual reality group experienced significantly less anxiety during the procedure than the control group (mean NRS 3.29 versus 4.73, mean difference 1.50; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.12-2.88; P = 0.03). There was no difference in reported average pain (mean NRS 3.73. versus 4.24, mean difference 0.51; 95% CI -1.76 to 0.64; p = 0.41) or maximum pain scores (mean NRS 5.32 versus 5.07, mean difference 0.25; 95% CI -1.05 to 1.55; P = 0.71). The use of virtual reality technology as an adjunct to standard care can reduce patient-reported anxiety but not pain during outpatient hysteroscopy procedures. Continued improvements in the technology and the development of increasingly immersive environments may continue to increase the potential to improve the patient experience in this setting.

Teacher training before and during the Covid19 pandemic in higher education

In teacher training there is a before and after the pandemic (Picón, et al., 2020). Although there was a scheme before covid-19 (Mendiola et al., 2020), it has now been detected that said training that was given in person (Suárez, 2020) was insufficient (Cardona et al., 2020) since the health emergency (Garavito et al., 2020) had a precedent that showed a different reality. This research determines the training provided before (Prieto et al., 2020) and after the pandemic (Zavala et al., 2020), the characteristics of groups of teachers who, framed in a digital divide (Fernández et al. , 2020) were adapting to forced marches with digital and virtual scenarios (Argandoña et al., 2020) for which they were not prepared (Trejos et al., 2020) and that generated teaching and learning problems with students who claimed to be knowledgeable. of technology (Ardini et al., 2020) but who also attended the paradigm of digital youth who only knew about social networks but not about educational platforms (Sarobe et al., 2020). Studies were carried out on 80 teachers from two higher education institutions and 104 students through probabilistic, homogeneous, expert, systematic random sampling, by quotas, of which 80% were not prepared for virtual classes, 20% who If he considered himself prepared, it is because he was already teaching online classes, among other relevant data declared in this document. This through a cross-sectional study conducted in 2019 and 2020. Therefore, it is considered essential that all teachers and students are always trained on digital educational platforms even when the subjects are face-to-face. Teachers must always be up to date to provide quality education and show that a teacher should always be the best student by being up to date.

A Virtual Longitudinal Prenatal Standardized Patient Simulation for Nurse Practitioner Students

Prenatal care is a core competency of family nurse practitioners (FNPs). However, it is often difficult for FNP faculty to locate women’s health providers to precept FNP students. This problem was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as many sites limited the number of students to provide appropriate social distancing. A series of virtual longitudinal standardized patient prenatal scenarios was created for FNP students. The scenarios, 1 per semester, follow a patient through her pregnancy and review core prenatal concepts. The scenarios supplement women’s health clinical rotations and provide standardization of experiences for FNP students

Virtual reality in medical emergencies training: benefits, perceived stress, and learning success

Medical graduates lack procedural skills experience required to manage emergencies. Recent advances in virtual reality (VR) technology enable the creation of highly immersive learning environments representing easy-to-use and affordable solutions for training with simulation. However, the feasibility in compulsory teaching, possible side effects of immersion, perceived stress, and didactic benefits have to be investigated systematically. VR-based training sessions using head-mounted displays alongside a real-time dynamic physiology system were held by student assistants for small groups followed by debriefing with a tutor. In the pilot study, 36 students rated simulation sickness. In the main study, 97 students completed a virtual scenario as active participants (AP) and 130 students as observers (OBS) from the first-person perspective on a monitor. Participants completed questionnaires for evaluation purposes and exploratory factor analysis was performed on the items. The extent of simulation sickness remained low to acceptable among participants of the pilot study. In the main study, students valued the realistic environment and guided practical exercise. AP perceived the degree of immersion as well as the estimated learning success to be greater than OBS and proved to be more motivated post training. With respect to AP, the factor “sense of control” revealed a typical inverse U-shaped relationship to the scales “didactic value” and “individual learning benefit”. Summing up, curricular implementation of highly immersive VR-based training of emergencies proved feasible and found a high degree of acceptance among medical students. This study also provides insights into how different conceptions of perceived stress distinctively moderate subjective learning success.

Insights into the management of pulmonary arterial hypertension patients in Spain

Introduction and objectivesAccurate risk stratification is pivotal to tailor therapy according to the prognosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients to positively impact the course of the disease. We conducted a nationwide study to assess how the current European Society of Cardiology/European Respiratory Society guidelines for risk assessment and management of PAH patients are followed in real-world practice in Spain. MethodsHospital-based physicians answered an online questionnaire describing their yearly caseload of PAH patients and their management of virtual cases scenarios for Word Health Organization functional class (FC) II–III PAH patients. ResultsThe main tests requested for a regular risk assessment were echocardiography, 6-minute walk test, measurement of brain natriuretic peptide/N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide plasma levels and right heart catheterization. The main treatment prescribed was an oral double-combination therapy with an endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA) and a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) or guanylate cyclase stimulator. Around 20% of the clinicians would also add the selective prostacyclin-receptor agonist (selexipag) to ERA and PDE5i as initial therapy for FC III patients, and nearly all clinicians (99%) would add a prostacyclin pathway agent to FC III PAH patients presenting multiple new intermediate-risk parameters despite a 6-month dual therapy with ERA and PDE5i. ConclusionsThe main decisive factor for the management of PAH patients in Spanish hospitals is their functional class and intermediate-risk parameters. Selexipag was more frequently prescribed than parenteral prostacyclin-analogs in triple-combination therapy for FC II–III PAH patients presenting low-risk and intermediate-risk parameters.

Predicting trajectory of crane-lifted load using LSTM network: A comparative study of simulated and real-world scenarios

The use of robotics automation in on-site construction is crucial for achieving precise engineering and quality output. However, there is a lack of modern literature reviews on using robotic arms as small-scale model rotary cranes for predicting suspended load trajectories. This paper presents the first comprehensive attempt to use Long Short Term Memory (LSTM), a deep learning architecture, to approximate load trajectories using a dataset collected through simulation and real-world conditions. The presented framework establishes reasonably high correlations between crane motion and load movement, indicating its effectiveness and robustness. Unlike previous works, this study uses two approaches to collect the dataset: simulation and real-world conditions. For the real-world scenario, a time-based robotic crane controller is equipped with an IMU tracking camera to record on-the-fly movement of the hanging load. For simulation data, the Unity3D platform is used to mimic a virtual environment scenario and perform effortless data generation. The proposed framework’s novelty is demonstrated by an impressive RMSE of 8.11 and graphical visualizations that provide further insights into the analyses and evaluations conducted. Overall, this study is essential for incentivizing future research in relevant on-site construction applications to enhance productivity and promote worker safety.

Midwifery education: Developing virtual scenarios for inquiry-based learning applied in simulation

The University of South Australia, Bachelor of Midwifery curriculum is founded on constructivist philosophy and experiential learning theories where students are central to learning. The curriculum draws on virtual scenarios to integrate theory and practice and engage students in learning with a focus on women centred, continuity of care. Students apply inquiry-based learning to clinical scenarios they encounter in a fictitious city called ‘Horizon’, which comprises a community of women and their families. Women are brought to life virtually by photos, a life story, and online clinical records. Through tutorials, students are immersed in the life stories of these women which are built around health priorities and represent a spectrum of practice and culture, as well as challenges and concerns. The stories foster a relationship-based philosophy as students grow to know these women and their families and provide care as they interact with these scenarios in the simulated Hospital and Health Service environment. Learning is scaffolded across the entire program providing students authentic learning opportunities as they plan and implement care across a variety of complexities and models of care. Students have opportunity to work in teams, practice clinical skills and decision making and develop effective communication skills.

Zaman Serisi Veri Kümeleri İçin Olasılığa Dayalı Tahmin Yöntemi

In this paper, a new probabilistic technique (a variant of Multiple Model Particle Filter-MMPF) will be used to predict time-series datasets. At first, the reliable performance of our method is proved using a virtual random scenario containing sixty successive days; a large difference between the predicted states and the real corresponding values arises on the second, third, and fourth day. The predicted states that are determined by using our method converge rapidly towards the real values while a classical linear model exhibits a large amount of divergence if used alone here. Then, the performance of our approach is compared with some other techniques that were already applied to the same time-series datasets: IEX (Istanbul Stock Exchange Index), TAIEX (Taiwan Stock Exchange), and ABC (The Australian Beer Consumption). The performance evaluation metrics that are utilized here are the correlation coefficient, the mean absolute percentage error, and the root mean squared error.

Development of Monocular Vision based Autonomous Car

Abstract: The evolution of the artificial intelligence has served as the catalyst in the field of technology. We can now develop things which was once just an imagination. One of such creation is the birthof Autonomous cars. Days have come one can do their work even touching steering wheel, accelerator you will still be able to reach your target destination safely. Self-driving car (Autonomous cars) is a robotic vehicle that is designed to travel between destinations without human intervention. It is capable of sensing environment and navigate without human input. Autonomous cars must have control systems that are capable of analysing sensor data to distinguish between different cars on the road. The potential benefits of autonomous cars include reduced mobility and infrastructure costs, increased safety, increased mobility, increased customer satisfaction and reduced crime. Self-driving cars rely on software which needs to be thoroughly tested. Testing self-drivingcar software in real traffic is not only expensive but also dangerous and has already caused fatalities. Virtual tests, in which self-driving car software is tested in computer simulations, offer a more efficient and safer alternative compared to naturalistic field operational tests. However, creating suitable test scenarios is laborious and difficult. In this paper we combine procedural content generation, a technique commonly employed in modern video games, and search-based testing, a testing technique proven to be effective in many domains, in order to automatically create challenging virtual scenarios for testing self-driving car soft- ware. Our as Fault prototype implements this approach to generate virtual roads for testing lane keeping, one of the defining features of autonomous driving. Evaluation on two different self-driving car software systems demonstrates that as Fault can generate effective virtual road networks that succeed in revealing software failures, which manifest as cars departing their lane. Compared to random testing as Faultwas not only more efficient, but also caused up to twice as many lane departures

Cue utilization and pool lifeguarding

Introduction: Amongst pool lifeguards, the capacity to identify drowning swimmers quickly and accurately depends on the interpretation of critical cues. However, assessing the capacity for cue utilization amongst lifeguards at present is costly, time-consuming, and largely subjective. The aim of this study was to test the relationship between cue utilization and the detection of drowning swimmers in a series of virtual public swimming pool scenarios. Method: Eighty-seven participants with or without lifeguarding experience engaged in three virtual scenarios, two of which were target scenarios where drowning events occurred within a 13 minute or 23 minute period of watch. Cue utilization was assessed using the pool lifeguarding edition of the EXPERTise 2.0 software following which 23 participants were classified with higher cue utilization, while the remaining participants were classified with lower cue utilization. Results: The results revealed that participants with higher cue utilization were more likely to have acquired experience as a lifeguard, were more likely to detect the drowning swimmer within a three minute period, and, in the case of the 13 minute scenario, recorded a greater dwell time on the drowning victim prior to the drowning event. Conclusion: The results suggest that cue utilization is associated with drowning detection performance in a simulated environment and could be employed as a basis for assessments of performance amongst lifeguards in the future. Practical Implications: Measures of cue utilization are associated with the timely detection of drowning victims in virtual pool lifeguarding scenarios. Employers and trainers of lifeguards can potentially augment existing lifeguarding assessment programs to quickly and cost-effectively identify the capabilities of lifeguards. This is especially useful for new lifeguards or where pool lifeguarding is a seasonal activity that might be associated with skill decay.

Investigating the Relationship between Users’ Behavioral Intentions and Learning Effects of VR System for Sustainable Tourism Development

Macao is a tourist city. It is home to the Ruins of Saint Paul’s, a unique 100-year-old landmark, which is still standing with manual maintenance, even after three fires and reconstruction events. Therefore, the continuous preservation of its culture, heritage education, and construction are important issues for Macao. With the development of digital technology in recent years, users can quickly search historical sites and save two-dimensional and three-dimensional images and videos through smartphones. These methods also enhance the communication power of culture. Virtual browsing on a smartphone requires computing power and storage space; yet, virtual reality devices are not widely used. Therefore, augmented reality and virtual reality are rarely used simultaneously for three-dimensional interactive guided tours and operation experiences on the same theme. However, by quickly creating virtual reality scenarios and preserving historical sites on mobile devices, 4DAGE’s 4DKanKan technology can provide augmented reality and metaverse virtual reality experiences. 4DKanKan can also integrate mobile guides and navigation software to connect mobile devices and assist in cultural inheritance and conduct sustainable education. This research linked this technology to the web by incorporating augmented reality and virtual reality technology to make designs and discussed the influences among service design, behavioral intentions, and learning effects. We collated and analyzed relevant data and text materials through systematic testing, observation, operation processes, and semi-structured interviews. The PLS multigroup structural model was used to explore and analyze the degree of influence and explanatory power of system quality, information quality, behavioral intention, and learning effects among themselves. The results of this study show that most users accepted the proposed innovative mode of operation and found it to be interesting and fun. Augmented reality is not limited by space or time; however, virtual reality devices taking too long to operate, switching too frequently, and having too many functional interfaces can cause operational problems. This study identified and modified the influencing factors and problems of the proposed system, with the aim of continuing to expand the applications of 4DKanKan to other cultural attractions or museums in the future. In addition, the research results can provide a reference for the sustainable development of related cultural sites.

Aesthetic style transferring method based on deep neural network between Chinese landscape painting and classical private garden’s virtual scenario

ABSTRACT Most of the existing virtual scenarios built for the digital protection of Chinese classical private gardens are too modern in expression style to show the aesthetic significance of their historical period. Considering the aesthetic commonality between traditional Chinese landscape paintings and classical private gardens and referring to image style transfer, here, a deep neural network was proposed to transfer the aesthetic style from landscape paintings to the virtual scenario of classical private gardens. The network consisted of two parts: style prediction and style transfer. The style prediction network was used to obtain style representation from style paintings, and the style transfer network was used to transfer style representation to the content scenario. The pre-trained network was then embedded into the scenario rendering pipeline and combined with the screen post-processing method to realise the stylised expression of the virtual scenario. To verify the feasibility of this methodology, a virtual scenario of the Humble Administrator’s Garden was used as the content scenario and five garden landscape paintings from different time periods and painting styles were selected for the case study. The results demonstrated that this methodology could effectively achieve the aesthetic style transfer of a virtual scenario.