Virtual Reality

Effective interventions for increasing people’s intention to get vaccinated are crucial for global health, especially considering COVID-19. We devised a novel intervention using virtual reality (VR) consisting of a consultation with a general practitioner for communicating the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination and, in turn, increasing the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19. 507 participants were randomly assigned across two age conditions (young or old self-body) and two communication conditions (with provision of personal benefit of vaccination only, or collective and personal benefit). The primary outcome was vaccination intention (score range 1–100) measured three times: immediately before and after the study, as well as one week later.

Nov 6, 2021

In this paper, we introduce the term "Affective and Cognitive VR" and its main research lines. This survey also clarifies the different models of Affective and Cognitive States (ACS), presents the methods for measuring them with their respective advantages and drawbacks in VR, and showcases Affective and Cognitive VR studies done in an Immersive Virtual Environment (IVE) in a non-clinical context. We provide a comprehensive list of references with the analysis of 63 research articles and summarize future works directions.

Sep 6, 2021

My PhD thesis aims to contribute to the development of adaptive VR systems based on the users' mental workload. We investigate 3 research axes: induction, recognition, and exploitation of mental workload in VR. In addition, we propose a definition of “Affective and Cognitive Virtual Reality”.

Jan 14, 2021

This paper describes an ``all-in-one'' solution for the real-time recognition of users' mental workloads in VR through the customization of a commercial HMD with physiological sensors. We conducted an extensive user study (N = 75) to collect mental workload data. The classification accuracy of 4 levels of mental workload using sensors embedded in the HMD is compared to the classification performance using commercial grade systems. In addition, we discuss the role of the signal normalization procedures and the contribution of the different physiological signals on the recognition accuracy.

Nov 6, 2020

In this paper, we propose to consider Mental Workload (MWL) for the design of complex training scenarios involving multiple parallel tasks in VR. The proposed approach is based on the assessment of the MWL elicited by each potential task configuration in the training application. Following the assessment, the resulting model is then used to create training scenarios able to modulate the user’s MWL over time. This approach is illustrated by a VR flight training simulator based on the Multi-Attribute Task Battery II. Two user studies (Ntot = 52) confirmed that the approach was able to induce the expected mental workload over time.

Mar 6, 2020

In the context of the IEEE VR 2020 3DUI Contest this paper presents a VR application to highlight the challenges that people with physical disabilities face on their daily life. Two-armed users are placed in a world where people normally have three arms, making them effectively physically disabled. The scenario takes the user through the process of struggling with everyday interactions (designed for humans with three arms), then receiving a third arm prosthesis and thus recovering some level of autonomy. The experience is intended to generate a sense of difference and empathy for physically disabled persons.

Mar 6, 2020

An interactive and narrative VR game to learn about the General Relativity theory

May 19, 2019

Is there an effect of Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Display on the user's mental effort? In this paper, we compare the mental effort in virtual versus in real environments. An experiment (N = 27) was conducted to assess the effect of being immersed in a virtual environment using an HMD on the user's mental effort while performing a standardized cognitive task (the well-known N-back task, with three levels of difficulty, N ∈ 1,2,3). We also explored the impact of performing a dual task (i.e., sitting versus walking) in both environments on mental effort.

Mar 6, 2019

In this paper, we present the design of ten different 3D user interactions using passive haptics and embedded in an escape game scenario in which users have to escape from a pyramid in a limited time. Our solution is innovative by its modularity, allowing interactions with virtual objects using tangible props manipulated either directly using the hands and feet or indirectly through a single prop held in the hand, in order to perform several interactions with the virtual environment. We also propose a navigation technique based on the “impossible spaces” design, allowing users to naturally walk through several overlapping rooms of the VE.

Mar 6, 2019

In this paper, we propose 3D user interfaces (3DUI) that are adapted to specific Virtual Reality (VR) tasks: climbing a ladder using a puppet metaphor, piloting a drone thanks to a 3D virtual compass and stacking 3D objects with physics-based manipulation and time control. These metaphors have been designed to provide the user with an intuitive, playful and efficient way to perform each task.

Mar 6, 2018