(Im)materiality, virtual reality and interaction: grounding the 'virtual' in studies of technology in action

This paper explores the organisation of social interaction amongst participants ‘in’ Virtual Reality. Despite the wide‐ranging sociological interest in ‘virtual’ technologies, there is rather little detailed sociological investigation of user experiences of the virtual technology par excellence, namely multi‐user Virtual Reality. Interestingly the discourses that underpin discussions of more mundane virtual technologies (eg email, the Web, mobile phones, etc.) tend to draw on design visions for Virtual Reality, such as the opportunities for social life freed from the constraints of the physical body. This paper contributes to a growing number of empirical studies that provide a critique of this view, but maybe more importantly, provides a detailed analysis of action and interaction in virtual worlds. It considers the organisation of interaction within VR with particular emphasis on the ways in which visual features of the digital domain are seen and shared by participants. The paper describes the ways in which the abilities to share views on the virtual world requires participants to overcome problems associated with the very material character of the VR interfaces. The study is based on the analysis of recordings of a Virtual Reality system that enables participants to talk to one another and see one another's actions within a virtual environment.     

Virtual Reality: space of negotiation

This paper explores issues of embodiment and representation in relation to Virtual Reality technologies and focuses in particular on the questions that arise in a technologically enforced negotiation between the virtual and the real. My exploration introduces two of my virtual environments, presenting the experimental, provocative playground spanned by such technologies. The sensory involvement of participants in these dynamic, virtual spaces enables me to produce performative realities, in which the boundaries between the Self and the allegedly Other are of a liquid nature. Virtual Reality technology can thus be considered as a ‘thinking apparatus' that not only allows but also provokes to explore the transformation of the real, the body and the Self through the concept of the virtual.     

Adaptive information design for outdoor augmented reality

Augmented Reality focuses on the enrichment of the user's natural field of view by consistent integration of text, symbols and interactive three-dimensional objects in real time. Placing virtual objects directly into the user's view in a natural context empowers highly dynamic applications. On the other hand, this necessitates deliberate choice of information design and density, in particular for deployment in hazardous environments like military combat scenarios. As the amount of information needed is not foreseeable and strongly depends on the individual mission, an appropriate system must offer adequate adaptation capabilities. The paper presents a prototypical, vehicle-mountable Augmented Reality vision system, designed for enhancing situation awareness in stressful urban warfare scenarios. Tracking, as one of the most crucial challenges for outdoor Augmented Reality, is accomplished by means of a Differential-GPS approach while the type of display to attach can be modified, ranging from ocular displays to standard LCD mini-screens. The overall concept also includes envisioning of own troops (blue forces), for which a multi-sensor tracking approach has been chosen. As a main feature, the system allows switching between different information categories, focusing on friendly, hostile, unidentified or neutral data. Results of an empirical study on the superiority of an in-view navigation cue approach conclude the paper.     

Selection of a voice for a speech signal for personalized warnings: the effect of speaker's gender and voice pitch

There is an increasing interest in multimodal technology-based warnings, namely those conveying speech-warning statements. This type of warning may be tailored to the situation as well as to the target user's characteristics. However, more information is needed on how to design these warnings in a way that ensures intelligibility, promotes compliance and reduces the potential for annoyance. In this context, this paper reports an exploratory study whose main purpose was to assist the selection of a synthesized voice for a subsequent compliance study with personalized (i.e., using the person's name) technology-based warnings using Virtual Reality. Participants were requested to listen to speech signals, gathered from a speech synthesizer and post-processed in order to change the pitch perception, and then these were evaluated by fulfilling the MOS-X questionnaire. After that, the participants ranked the voices according to their preference. The effects of the speaker's gender and voice pitch, on both ratings and ranking were assessed. The preference of the male and female listeners for a talker's voice gender was also investigated. The results show that participants mostly prefer as first choice the high-pitched female voice, which also gathered the highest overall score in the MOS-X questionnaire. No significant influence of the participants' gender was found on the assessed measures.     

Past,Present, and Future: Editorial on Virtual Reality Applications to Human Services

Abstract

“Virtual Reality” interventions in human services may include 360° video, augmented reality, mixed reality, and fully immersive 3-dimensional virtual reality simulations. A variety of applications have been evaluated in various fields of study, including medicine, social work, psychology, and human performance training. Currently, the state of research of VR interventions in human services has primarily focused on efficacy and effectiveness research, with few studies evaluating “scaling up” or implementation of VR interventions in larger populations. Unfortunately, the state of efficacy and effectiveness studies of VR interventions still remains weak with some applications due to smaller sample sizes, lack of randomized control trials, and a gap in reporting key intervention qualities, dosage, and outcomes. With new developments in combining artificial intelligence with VR, realism and the potential for human interaction with computer generated simulations may boost presence and immersion within these applications. This editorial provides an overview of the state of virtual reality applications in human service provision, potential gaps to be addressed by research in the future, and the development of AI based interactive sequences that may boost use presence.     

Three-dimensional virtual reality: Applications to the 12 grand challenges of social work

Abstract

The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) identified 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work to unify the profession with focused research, practice and policy applications for the most pressing social issues. Virtual Reality (VR), specifically three-dimensional immersive computer-generated environments, has a history of research and applications to address social and behavioral problems. VR is becoming more readily available, as the technology is becoming more common in mainstream platforms such as mobile technology. While social work interventions are often tailored for vulnerable populations that may not have access to VR computing, it appears that virtual reality is gaining accessibility with these advances. Within the framework of the 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work, researchers from three social work virtual reality laboratories in the United States, Texas State University, the University of Houston, and the University of Alabama, review applications previously tested and currently in development to focus future research and intervention in social work practice.     

The added value of virtual reality technology and force feedback for surgical training simulators

Laparoscopic surgery requires more specialized training of the surgeons than traditional open surgery. The Virtual Basic Laparoscopic Surgical Trainer (VBLaST) is being developed as a virtual version of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Skills (FLS) trainer. This study assessed the current haptic and virtual reality (VR) technology of a virtual peg transfer task of the VBLaST, based on the subjective preference of surgeons and their objective task performance measures. Twenty-one surgical residents, fellows and attendings performed a peg-transfer task in the FLS and the VBLaST. Each subject performed 10 trials on each simulator. Results showed that subjects performed significantly better on the FLS than on the VBLaST. Subjects showed a significant learning effect on both simulators, but with an accelerated improvement on the VBLaST. Even so, 81% of the subjects preferred the FLS over the VBLaST for surgical training which could be attributed to the novelty of the VR technology and existing deficiencies of the haptic interface. Despite the subjective preference for the physical simulator, the performance results indicate an added value of VR and haptics in surgical training, which is expected to be demonstrated in more surgically relevant tasks such as suturing and knot-tying.     

STRANGE YET STYLISH HEADGEAR VR consumption and the construction of gender

This article examines how gender is inscribed and reproduced in the consumption of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. The focus is on how virtual reality systems become embedded in 'everyday life' through leisure and consumption, and how the spectacles and disciplines associated with consumption sites produce gendered virtual subjects. Studies of new communications technologies have tended to polarize between 'cyberpunk'/'cyberfeminist' visions of bodily transcendence in 'cyberspaces', and the critique of such visions from social theorists who focus on the reproduction of social and cultural inequalities through technical systems. These approaches tend to neglect the specific sites in which the social relations of VR are played out. A 'multi-sited' ethnographic study of immersive virtual reality systems is the basis for discussion of how virtual reality technologies produce gender in specific sites. Virtual systems are positioned and used differently in various locales such as arcades and art galleries, bars and theme parks and cafes. The article discusses the practices of consumption which (re)produce and maintain conventional bodily and subjective boundaries. What relationships are becoming institutionalized? Are new conventions of gender created in these consumption relationships? The construction of spectacle and space, and the specific bodily disciplines required for participation in virtual realities in locations of consumption is particularly important in the formation of gender dynamics. Multiple subject positions are offered through competing technical, economic and cultural practices in diverse sites. These positions can establish new conventions of virtual identities and experiences, but also remain shot through with familiar operational categories of gendered identities and bodily practices. This article argues that immersive virtual reality technologies cannot be understood without some consideration of the locales in which they are embedded, and the social identities they make possible or constrain. A local, reflexive and feminist orientation assists in understanding the gendered dynamics associated with 'becoming virtual'.     

The question of the ergonomic use of virtual models

The comfort and functionality between man and his surroundings are the main goals of ergonomics, making it are increasingly in the production process. Many companies have tried Virtual Reality Center (VRC) to assist the analysis and development of ergonomic products. The use of virtual models brings many benefits to the design of products, including greater flexibility, speed and quality, and facilitates the control and reporting, also integrating all stages of the project. There are still some difficulties for the deployment of these resources, like the need for more powerful computers and specialized professionals. Possibly, the VR will be indispensable to the construction in some years, becoming a tool of fundamental importance to the professionals.     

Emerging coherence and relations to communication among executive function tasks in toddlers: Evidence from a Latin American sample

Recent work within early executive function (EF) seems to suggest that toddlers show distinct patterns of development, involving poorly correlated performance across EF tasks and significant improvements over relatively short periods of time. The present study sought to extend these findings by investigating evidence for these patterns in toddlers and the existence of more traditional patterns of EF (e.g., correlations between tasks, links to language) when using the same tasks in a novel Latin American sample. Eighty toddlers (18–24 months) and sixty young preschoolers (30–36) months completed a battery of EF tasks, early social communication, and receptive and expressive language measures. Results indicated that toddlers showed similar distinct patterns of development (i.e., few relations between tasks and links to responding to joint attention), but by early preschool a more cohesive EF and links to language were present. Further, work demonstrated significant age (older children outperformed younger children), gender (girls outperformed boys), and socioeconomic differences (satisfied basic needs outperformed unsatisfied basic needs, but only on the snack delay). This work provides evidence for patterns of emerging EF development within this novel cultural sample (and evidence for group differences) that may be supported by communicative and representational development.     

Corporeal Interactions in VRChat: Situational Intensity and Body Synchronization

Erving Goffman's work on interaction in everyday life focuses on joint spatio-temporal and face-to-face situations and denies the constitution of social situations via mediatized interaction. In contrast, we argue that shared immersive media such as Social Virtual Reality enable intense, delocalized forms of co-present interactions that constitute closeness and intimacy. By discussing Goffman in the context of current works that open up his perspective for mediatization, we present an understanding of social situations that focuses on intensity and synchronized embodiment—physical, digital, and corporeal. On the Social VR platform VRChat, synchronized bodies allow for intimate corporeal practices, such as cuddling, dancing, or cybersex. Virtual Reality technology facilitates delocalized forms of affective-bodily interaction, thereby contributing to the social negotiation of mediatized closeness and intimacy—despite physical distance. Our findings are based on a digital ethnographic analysis of lifeworlds and practices of enthusiast VRChat-users, combined with qualitative semi-structured interviews.     

On the effect of free vs. restricted interaction during the exploration of virtual environments

Exploration of a Virtual Environment (VE) might vary as well in applied technology as in the conceptual design. A conceptual difference of exploring style and navigation type relates to the degree of freedom a user possesses. It ranges from completely unrestricted to completely restricted navigation. To assess the impact of different exploration styles, an experiment was carried out. Four different styles were compared in a large-scale VE. The navigation of the participants was either free or restricted in various levels concerning motion and viewing direction. During the exploration, the participants memorized the location of flags, which represented special events at these locations. The participant's task was to memorize position and color of the flags. Subsequently, they marked the positions and colors of the flags in a map of the scene. The performance in this task was captured, as well as data about their amount of experienced simulator sickness and subjective workload. Additionally, balancing tests were administered to investigate in an objective measurement of simulator sickness. Each condition showed the same achievement in the memorizing task and the subjective workload. Furthermore, the measured high variance in simulator sickness symptoms overrode other effects. In the balancing tests a basic influence of exposure with VE was found. However, subsequent interviews with the participants showed that the personal impression of the efficiency of exploration method was highly individual. By finding and matching exploration methods to individual persons, benefit by using Virtual environments could be enhanced.     

Cross cultural differences in decisions from experience: Evidence from Denmark,Israel, and Taiwan

Three studies are presented that compare decisions from experience in Denmark, Israel, and Taiwan. They focus on two change-related cultural differences suggested by previous research on dialectical vs. analytic approach to thinking. The first implies that East Asians are more likely to change their behavior over time (i.e., are less consistent), the second that they expect more changes in the environment. The results show that the “less consistency in the East” hypothesis has a high predictive value. This hypothesis accurately predicts a behavioral pattern that was documented in all three studies, as well as a non-trivial effect of limited feedback in Study 3: When feedback was limited to the obtained payoff, the participants from Taiwan exhibited less risk aversion than the Israeli. Analysis of the “expecting more changes in the East” hypothesis reveals mixed results. This hypothesis was supported in Study 2, which examined relatively complex multi-alternative multi-outcome tasks, but not in Studies 1 and 3, which examined simple two-alternative two-outcome choice tasks. A possible explanation for the different predictive value of the two examined hypotheses is discussed.     

Affective and Autonomic Responses to Erotic Images: Evidence of Disgust-Based Mechanisms in Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder

Disgust has recently been implicated in the development and maintenance of female sexual dysfunction, yet most empirical studies have been conducted with a sexually healthy sample. The current study contributes to the literature by expanding the application of a disgust model of sexual functioning to a clinically relevant sample of women with low sexual desire/arousal and accompanying sexual distress. Young women (mean age = 19.12 years) with psychometrically defined sexual dysfunction (i.e., female sexual interest/arousal disorder [FSIAD] group) and a healthy control group were compared in their affective (i.e., facial electromyography [EMG] and self-report) and autonomic (i.e., heart rate and electrodermal activity) responses to disgusting, erotic, positive, and neutral images. Significant differences were predicted in responses to erotic images only. Specifically, it was hypothesized that the FSIAD group would display affective and autonomic responses consistent with a disgust response, while responses from the control group would align with a general appetitive response. Results largely supported study hypotheses. The FSIAD group displayed significantly greater negative facial affect, reported more subjective disgust, and recorded greater heart rate deceleration than the control group in response to erotic stimuli. Greater subjective disgust response corresponded with more sexual avoidance behavior. Planned follow-up analyses explored correlates of subjective disgust responses.     

Six‐ and 9‐Month‐Old Infants Discriminate Between Goals Despite Similar Action Patterns

Behne, Carpenter, Call, and Tomasello (2005) showed that 9‐ to 18‐month‐olds, but not 6‐month‐olds, differentiated between people who were unwilling and unable to share toys. As the outcome of the two tasks is the same (i.e., the toy is not shared), the infants must respond to the different goals of the actor. However, visual habituation paradigms have shown an earlier onset of goal awareness. The present study reconciles this disparity by replicating the findings of Behne et al. with both 6‐ and 9‐month‐olds, using similar tasks and additional response measures.     

Neural Correlates of Individual Differences in Infant Visual Attention and Recognition Memory

Past studies have identified individual differences in infant visual attention based upon peak look duration during initial exposure to a stimulus. Colombo and colleagues found that infants that demonstrate brief visual fixations (i.e., short lookers) during familiarization are more likely to demonstrate evidence of recognition memory during subsequent stimulus exposure than infants that demonstrate long visual fixations (i.e., long lookers). This study utilized event‐related potentials (ERPs) to examine possible neural mechanisms associated with individual differences in visual attention and recognition memory for 6‐ and 7.5‐month‐old infants. Short‐ and long‐looking infants viewed images of familiar and novel objects during ERP testing. There was a stimulus type by looker type interaction at temporal and frontal electrodes on the late slow wave (LSW). Short lookers demonstrated an LSW that was significantly greater in amplitude in response to novel stimulus presentations. No significant differences in LSW amplitude were found based on stimulus type for long lookers. These results indicate deeper processing and recognition memory of the familiar stimulus for short lookers.     

Systemic alliance in individual therapy: factor analysis of the ITAS-SF and the relationship with therapy outcomes and termination status

Clients providing systematic feedback to therapists via self-report measures of psychological distress and working alliance have been shown to increase therapy outcomes. However, there are few systemic-based measures that are feasible for therapists to use. Recently, Pinsof et al. (Family Process, 2008, 47, 281) developed a brief systemic alliance measure (ITAS-SF) for individual therapy. The current study tested the factor structure of this measure and examined whether the subscales related to clients' therapy outcomes and termination status (N = 570). The results demonstrated supported a 3-factor model for the ITAS-SF (as compared to the seven factors proposed by Pinsof et al.). In the first factor, content combined the goals for therapy, the tasks or methods to reach those goals and bond between the client and therapist. The second factor reflected how clients perceive the relationship with the therapist (i.e., interpersonal dimension-self/therapist), and the third factor reflected how clients perceive the alliance between their social network and the therapist (i.e., interpersonal dimension others/therapist). The two interpersonal factors were related to therapy outcome and termination status.     

Violent behavior: a measure of emotional upset?

Over the past ten years, sociologists have broadened their view of what counts as an appropriate measure of mental health. This reflects a growing recognition that individuals express emotional upset in various ways. For example, some individuals are more likely to become depressed in response to stress while others are more likely to drink heavily. Contemporary studies often include measures of "internalizing" (i.e., more feeling-based measures) and "externalizing" (i.e., more behavioral measures) styles of psychopathology, especially when studying group differences in mental health. Alcohol abuse is the classic measure of externalized distress in sociological research. In this paper, we present a theoretical argument and supporting empirical evidence to argue that violent behavior should be included as a measure of externalized distress in response to stress. Our study suggests that violent behavior is a more likely response to stress among individuals with particular coping and appraisal tendencies. Specifically, violent behavior may be a more likely response to stress among individuals who tend to appraise situations as threatening while also repressing any emotional response to stress. We contend that, since some groups may be more likely than others to respond to stress with violence, it is particularly important to include measures of violent behavior when studying group difference in distress.     

The Interpretative Dimension of Transformative Events: Outrage Management and Collective Action Framing After the 2001 Anti-G8 Summit in Genoa

By focusing on the aftermath of the 2001 G8 counter-summit in Genoa, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive insight into the interpretative dimension of transformative events leading to backfire. First, in line with the existing literature on transformative events, the study shows that after the violent events, Italian authorities employed all possible strategies to inhibit public outrage (i.e., cover-ups of the situation, stigmatizations of targets to legitimate repressive action, reinterpretations of police violence as different from direct attacks, presence of authoritative assessments and intimidation of participants and witnesses). Second, a multidimensional scaling of symbolic devices from 70 social forum websites shows that after 2001, Italian social movement actors used the narrative of the Genoa events in deliberative (i.e., bridging, extension) or negotiating (i.e., punctuation, articulation) framing processes to build new collective action frames.     

Coordinated Action in the Massively Multiplayer Online Game World of Warcraft

In tandem with the technological advancement of immersive virtual environments, digital games have evolved into complex social worlds where people play collaboratively to achieve individual‐ and group‐oriented goals. The massively multiplayer online games genre has received international attention for the large numbers of users that commit a significant amount of time and effort to online play. Play styles within such game worlds are diverse, but “raiding” is generally considered among gamers and scholars alike to be the most challenging form of collaborative play. Like other forms of social activity, raiding is predicated on players' abilities to successfully coordinate individual lines of action. Yet the vast majority of raiders are not physically copresent during their collaborative efforts. Using Couch's theory of coordinated action as an interpretive frame, we explore the computer‐mediated process of raiding in the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft by analyzing ethnographic data and audio/visual recordings of gameplay. Our study expands Couch's theory of coordinated action in two ways. First, we demonstrate how individuals and groups simultaneously engage in multiple forms of coordinated activity (e.g., conflict and cooperation). Second, we reveal two semiotic layers of coordinated action—the “subject‐subject” (i.e., intersubjective) layer that is facilitated through the game's user interface, and the “subject‐object” layer that comprises players' interactions with the user interface itself. Our study thus considers the potential of Couch's theory for the study of computer‐mediated communication and nonhumans in interaction.