Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) actively support human collaboration within a computer based virtual space. CVEs employing distributed virtual reality technologies have the potential to support very large numbers of simultaneous participants. However the creation of such systems remains problematic. Particular issues include the realisation of sociologically appropriate affordances fo...

In this chapter, we present a new theoretical and methodological approach to the study of presence and virtual experience. More specifically, our work aims at analyzing the quality of experience associated with virtual environments (VEs), in its emotional, cognitive and motivational components. Specific research instruments have been developed and widely used to study the quality of subjective ...

Virtual Reality (VR) appears a natural medium for computer supported collaborative work (CSCW). However immersive Virtual Reality separates the user from the real world and their traditional tools. An alternative approach is through Mixed Reality (MR), the overlaying of virtual objects on the real world. This allows users to see each other and the real world at the same time as the virtual imag...

The aim of this paper is the presentation of a measurement station to determine the anticipation skills in combat sports. Therefore technologies of virtual reality (VR) are being used which create sports specific stimuli. An advantage of this measurement station is that stimuli are visually three dimensional and can be created standardized. Whereas a high immersion as well as a realistic three ...

Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) is a promising intervention for the treatment of the anxiety disorders. The main objective of this meta-analysis is to compare the efficacy of VRET, used in a behavioral or cognitive-behavioral framework, with that of the classical evidence-based treatments, in anxiety disorders. A comprehensive search of the literature identified 23 studies (n = 608) tha...

Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) developed using immersive or semi-immersive virtual environments present a usability problem for practitioners. To meet practitioner requirements for lower cost and portability VRET programs must often be ported onto desktop environments such as the personal computer (PC). However, success of VRET has been shown to be linked to presence, and the environme...

School phobia is characterized by fear to diverse events associated to school such as being beaten by a classmate, bullied or criticised in front of the class, having to speak in public, doing exams, getting undressed to practice sports, etc. and can frequently cause young children to a chronic school refusal leading to significant social and academic difficulties. In older children and adolesc...

Social phobia has become one of the commonest manifestations of fear in any society. This fear is often accompanied by major depression or social disabilities. With the awareness that fear can be aggravated in social situations, virtual reality researchers and psychologists have investigated the feasibility of a virtual reality system as a psychotherapeutic intervention to combat social phobia....