听觉刺激对虚拟环境中空间压缩的影响

人们往往会低估虚拟环境中空间的距离(空间压缩)。早期研究发现视听刺激的不一致会改善空间压缩,但听觉刺激在其中的作用及其影响效果需进一步研究。本研究首先探究了听觉刺激的有无对空间压缩的影响,接着操控视听刺激之间的物物距离进一步探究其对空间压缩的影响和改善。研究发现听觉刺激以两种方式影响空间压缩：听觉刺激的存在可以改善空间压缩;空间压缩与视听刺激的物物距离负相关。研究建议为了改善空间压缩,视听刺激应当同时呈现且物物距离至少为1 m。     

Value-based adoption of augmented reality: A study on the influence on online purchase intention in retail

The increasing use of digital technology-based retail services provides new opportunities for digital marketing. In this paper, we investigate how augmented reality (AR) technology can be leveraged as part of the firm's strategy. We explore the online purchase intention through AR smart glasses (ARSG), considering consumers' value assessment through a cost–benefit analysis and the influence of technical, experiential and social AR value drivers. We develop an augmented value-based adoption model addressing four main objectives: (1) Evaluate the effect of the perceived value of ARSG, (2) Evaluate the effect of immersion (experiential dimension), (3) Evaluate the effect of AR devices and technical complexity (technical dimension) and (4) Evaluate the importance of subjective norms (social dimension) on the online purchase intention through AR technology. Based on an ESIC Tech Lab experiment with two types of ARSG from market leaders and AR retail apps, the study uses survey data from 253 participants. The results suggest that the technical dimension has an ambiguous effect, with tech-complexity enhancing directly the perceived value of ARSG for online purchase while reducing the net value of consumers' economic cost–benefit analysis. We find strong evidence that the experiential and social AR dimensions (in the form of immersion and subjective norm) have a significant positive influence on consumers' purchase intention online, which are better predictors than the pure economic cost–benefit assessment (through usefulness and difficulty). Furthermore, the technical innovativeness of consumers is found to increase directly the online purchase intention through ARSG.     

AN ENERGY/AWARENESS/INFORMATION INTERPRETATION OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL REALITY

Abstract. Interpreting the universe as a medium-message process has explanatory value in both scientific and philosophical/spiritual contexts. From this perspective, reality is seen to comprise an enduring medium modulated by transient information. Physically, the medium is energy. Mentally, the medium is awareness. Algorithmically, the medium is an information generator, a programmatic entity that generates temporary informational patterns which modulate the medium's energy aspect in space and time to produce matter and physical phenomena and modulate the medium's awareness aspect to produce subjective experience, mind. In philosophical terms, the medium is Being; the medium modulated by the message is existence.     

Effects of traditional and immersive video on anticipation in cricket: A temporal occlusion study

Traditional videos are frequently employed to assess anticipation within interceptive sports. However, there are limitations associated with traditional videos which impair the degree of correspondence between training interventions and competitive performances. Virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays allow for the presentation of immersive videos in 360-degrees that might offer a more effective means by which to train athletes. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of research examining the efficacy of immersive videos in a cricket context. The main purpose of the present investigation was to compare batters’ ability to accurately predict the landing location of deliveries, and assess their confidence in such predictions, when viewing traditional and immersive videos. We also examined the degree to which delivery style (i.e., bowling machine, throwdowns, spin, and pace bowling) impacted prediction accuracy and confidence scores. Forty deliveries (i.e., 10 per style; occluded at 120 ms post-ball release) were presented to amateur cricketers (N = 18) in traditional and immersive video conditions. Participants were required to anticipate the landing location of the ball and rate their prediction confidence after each delivery. Analyses indicated a main effect of viewing condition that applied only to prediction. Participants predicted the landing location of the ball with the greatest accuracy in the immersive video footage condition. There was a main effect of delivery style for confidence only, with higher scores observed in the throwdown, spin, and pace conditions, when compared to the bowling machine. Given the increasing rate at which VR is becoming accessible, immersive videos should be considered by sport psychologists as an effective means by which to assess anticipation in cricket.     

Old Fears Die Hard: Return of Public Speaking Fear in a Virtual Reality Procedure

Exposure-based therapy is an effective treatment for social anxiety, but some patients relapse. We used a novel virtual reality procedure to examine spontaneous recovery (i.e., a return of fear over time) and fear renewal (i.e., the return of fear after a context switch) in individuals with fear of public speaking. On Day 1, 32 participants received exposure training before a virtual audience. On Day 8, participants completed a spontaneous recovery phase, followed by a fear renewal test, in which they gave a presentation in front of a new (context switch) or the same audience (no context switch). After exposure, participants exhibited a lower heart rate, subjective distress, negative valence, and arousal. One week later, participants showed spontaneous recovery of heart rate, and the context switch group showed renewal of subjective distress, negative valence, and arousal. Future studies can use this procedure to test interventions aimed at improving long-term exposure effects in individuals with public speaking fear.     

Real and virtual classrooms can trigger the same levels of stuttering severity ratings and anxiety in school-age children and adolescents who stutter

PurposeMany school-age children and adolescents who stutter experience the fear of public speaking. Treatment implications include the need to address this problem. However, it is not always possible to train repeatedly in front of a real audience. The present study aimed to assess the relevance of using a virtual classroom in clinical practice with school-age children and adolescents who stutter.MethodsTen children and adolescents who stutter (aged 9–17 years old) had to speak in three different situations: in front of a real audience, in front of a virtual class and in an empty virtual apartment using a head-mounted display. We aimed to assess whether the self-rated levels of anxiety while speaking in front of a virtual audience reflect the levels of anxiety reported while speaking in front of a live audience, and if the stuttering level while speaking to a virtual class reflects the stuttering level while speaking in real conditions.ResultsResults show that the real audience creates higher anticipatory anxiety than the virtual class. However, both the self-reported anxiety levels and the stuttering severity ratings when talking in front of a virtual class did not differ from those observed when talking to a real audience, and were significantly higher than when talking in an empty virtual apartment.ConclusionOur results support the feasibility and relevance of using a virtual classroom to expose school-age children and adolescents who stutter to a feared situation during cognitive behavioral therapy targeting the fear of public speaking.     

Video game violence: A review of the empirical literature

The popularity of video games, especially violent video games, has reached phenomenal proportions. The theoretical line of reasoning that hypothesizes a causal relationship between violent video-game play and aggression draws on the very large literature on media violence effects. Additionally, there are theoretical reasons to believe that video game effects should be stronger than movie or television violence effects. This paper outlines what is known about the relationship between violent video-game playing and aggression. The available literature on virtual reality effects on aggression is discussed as well. The preponderance of the evidence from the existing literature suggests that exposure to video-game violence increases aggressive behavior and other aggression-related phenomena. However, the paucity of empirical data, coupled with a variety of methodological problems and inconsistencies in these data, clearly demonstrate the need for additional research.     

Dopamine regulation of human speech and bird song: a critical review

To understand the neural basis of human speech control, extensive research has been done using a variety of methodologies in a range of experimental models. Nevertheless, several critical questions about learned vocal motor control still remain open. One of them is the mechanism(s) by which neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, modulate speech and song production. In this review, we bring together the two fields of investigations of dopamine action on voice control in humans and songbirds, who share similar behavioral and neural mechanisms for speech and song production. While human studies investigating the role of dopamine in speech control are limited to reports in neurological patients, research on dopaminergic modulation of bird song control has recently expanded our views on how this system might be organized. We discuss the parallels between bird song and human speech from the perspective of dopaminergic control as well as outline important differences between these species.