The current work describes design guidelines for the development of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) platforms to train technicians on maintenance and assembly tasks of industrial machineries. The main skill involved in this kind of tasks is the procedural skill. Based on past literature and studies conducted within the SKILLS project, several main design guidelines were formulat...

This paper describes the main characteristics of two integrated systems that explore Virtual Reality technology and Fuzzy Logic to support and to control the assessment of people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder during the Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy. The integration of different technologies, the development methodology and the test procedures are described throughout the paper.

Consumers care about “experiencing” more than ever nowadays. It is hard to survive for companies using traditional sales methods only, so the marketing technologies must be changed. “Customer experience” has become a contemporary popular trend these days. When consumers’ aesthetic sense becomes mature in a society, companies often have to hold different activities for consumers to experience pr...

Current practice in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) is that therapists ask patients about their anxiety level by means of the Subjective Unit of Discomfort (SUD) scale. With an aim of developing a home-based VRET system, this measurement ideally should be done using speech technology. In a VRET system for social phobia with scripted avatar-patient dialogues, the timing of asking patient...

A multiple baseline across-subjects design was used to examine the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) to treat driving phobia. The treatment consisted of 8 weekly graded VRET sessions. Using self-monitoring and interview measures, treatment efficacy was examined across 5 participants. Three participants had reductions in driving phobia symptoms, while there was little change in...

This paper evaluates virtual reality (VR) model implementations on their ability to inform and engage interdisciplinary groups in transportation planning. First we present a VR simulation system used by engineers and planners to share proposals and work with members of the public. The system consists of several elements: real-time simulation software for visualization, motion and audio hardware...

There is a clear need for more detailed analysis of the role of cognitive self-statements in virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET). To date, no research on this topic has been done. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether coping self-statements would enhance the effectiveness of VRET. In a randomized crossover design, 26 patients with acrophobia (DSM-IV diagnosis of specific ...

The paper discusses the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) and the issues related with its application in the cultural sector, particularly its support of learning and social interaction. It examines the lessons learned from the evaluation of VR (and other ICT) applications in formal and informal learning environments and discusses their methodological limitations. It advocates the need for more...

Desktop virtual reality (VR) offers a powerful environment for visualizing structure in large information sets. In well-designed virtual worlds, users can employ skills from wayfinding in the real world. This paper reports the development and testing of a series of prototype VR worlds, designed to support navigation during information visualization and retrieval. Results indicated that users’ s...