Positive Technology Journal

Via Wired

London-based creative agency DBLG shows the way with “Bears on Stairs,” a short clip that combines a 3-D printed hero with traditional stop-motion animation to charming effect. The ursine epic has a 2-second run time and took four weeks to complete, making it about as efficient as your average Michael Bay production, by my rough calculations. The lumbering action took 50 printed models in all.

BEARS ON STAIRS from DBLG on Vimeo.

Fifty years ago, before either arcades or home video games, visitors waited in line at Brookhaven National Laboratory to play Tennis for Two, an electronic tennis game that is unquestionably a forerunner of the modern video game. Two people played the electronic tennis game with separate controllers that connected to an analog computer and used an oscilloscope for a screen. The game's creator, William Higinbotham, was a physicist who lobbied for nuclear nonproliferation as the first chair of the Federation of American Scientists.

Measuring the effects through time of the influence of visuomotor and visuotactile synchronous stimulation on a virtual body ownership illusion.

Perception. 2014;43(1):43-58

Authors: Kokkinara E, Slater M

Abstract. Previous studies have examined the experience of owning a virtual surrogate body or body part through specific combinations of cross-modal multisensory stimulation. Both visuomotor (VM) and visuotactile (VT) synchronous stimulation have been shown to be important for inducing a body ownership illusion, each tested separately or both in combination. In this study we compared the relative importance of these two cross-modal correlations, when both are provided in the same immersive virtual reality setup and the same experiment. We systematically manipulated VT and VM contingencies in order to assess their relative role and mutual interaction. Moreover, we present a new method for measuring the induced body ownership illusion through time, by recording reports of breaks in the illusion of ownership ('breaks') throughout the experimental phase. The balance of the evidence, from both questionnaires and analysis of the breaks, suggests that while VM synchronous stimulation contributes the greatest to the attainment of the illusion, a disruption of either (through asynchronous stimulation) contributes equally to the probability of a break in the illusion.

Via Neurogadget

Researchers have developed a new way to explore the human brain in virtual reality. The system, called Glass Brain, which is developed by Philip Rosedale, creator of the famous game Second Life, and Adam Gazzaley, a neuroscientist at the University of California San Francisco, combines brain scanning, brain recording and virtual reality to allow a user to journey through a person’s brain in real-time.

Read the full story on Neurogadget

Researchers at at John A. Rogers’ lab at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign have incorporated off-the-shelf chips into fexible electronic patches to allow for high quality ECG and EEG monitoring.

Here is the video:

The effects of augmented visual feedback during balance training in Parkinson's disease: study design of a randomized clinical trial.

BMC Neurol. 2013;13:137

Authors: van den Heuvel MR, van Wegen EE, de Goede CJ, Burgers-Bots IA, Beek PJ, Daffertshofer A, Kwakkel G

Abstract. BACKGROUND: Patients with Parkinson's disease often suffer from reduced mobility due to impaired postural control. Balance exercises form an integral part of rehabilitative therapy but the effectiveness of existing interventions is limited. Recent technological advances allow for providing enhanced visual feedback in the context of computer games, which provide an attractive alternative to conventional therapy. The objective of this randomized clinical trial is to investigate whether a training program capitalizing on virtual-reality-based visual feedback is more effective than an equally-dosed conventional training in improving standing balance performance in patients with Parkinson's disease.
METHODS/DESIGN: Patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease will participate in a five-week balance training program comprising ten treatment sessions of 60 minutes each. Participants will be randomly allocated to (1) an experimental group that will receive balance training using augmented visual feedback, or (2) a control group that will receive balance training in accordance with current physical therapy guidelines for Parkinson's disease patients. Training sessions consist of task-specific exercises that are organized as a series of workstations. Assessments will take place before training, at six weeks, and at twelve weeks follow-up. The functional reach test will serve as the primary outcome measure supplemented by comprehensive assessments of functional balance, posturography, and electroencephalography. DISCUSSION: We hypothesize that balance training based on visual feedback will show greater improvements on standing balance performance than conventional balance training. In addition, we expect that learning new control strategies will be visible in the co-registered posturographic recordings but also through changes in functional connectivity.

Virtual reality for the assessment of frontotemporal dementia, a feasibility study.

Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2014 Feb 14;

Authors: Mendez MF, Joshi A, Jimenez E

Abstract
Abstract Purpose: Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a non-Alzheimer dementia characterized by difficulty in documenting social-emotional changes. Few investigations have used virtual reality (VR) for documentation and rehabilitation of non-Alzheimer dementias. Methods: Five bvFTD patients underwent insight interviews while immersed in a virtual environment. They were interviewed by avatars, their answers were recorded, and their heart rates were monitored. They were asked to give ratings of their stress immediately at the beginning and at the end of the session. Results: The patients tolerated the head-mounted display and VR without nausea or disorientation, heart rate changes, or worsening stress ratings. Their insight responses were comparable to real world interviews. All bvFTD patients showed their presence in the VR environment as they moved their heads to face and respond to each avatar's questions. The bvFTD patients tended to greater verbal elaboration of answers with larger mean length of utterances compared to their real world interviews. Conclusions: VR is feasible and well-tolerated in bvFTD. These patients may have VR responses comparable to real world performance and they may display a presence in the virtual environment which could even facilitate assessment. Further research can explore the promise of VR for the evaluation and rehabilitation of dementias beyond Alzheimer's disease. Implications for Rehabilitation Clinicians need effective evaluation and rehabilitation strategies for dementia, a neurological syndrome of epidemic proportions and a leading cause of disability. Memory and cognitive deficits are the major disabilities and targets for rehabilitation in Alzheimer's disease, the most common dementia. In contrast, social and emotional disturbances are the major disabilities and targets for rehabilitation in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), an incompletely understood non-Alzheimer dementia. Virtual reality is a technology that holds great promise for the evaluation and rehabilitation of patients with bvFTD and other non-Alzheimer dementias, and preliminary evidence suggests that this technology is feasible in patients with bvFTD.

Evaluation of a virtual reality prospective memory task for use with individuals with severe traumatic brain injury.

Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2014 Feb 24;

Authors: Canty AL, Fleming J, Patterson F, Green HJ, Man D, Shum DH

Abstract
The current study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity, convergent validity and ecological validity of a newly developed virtual reality prospective memory (PM) task (i.e., the Virtual Reality Shopping Task; VRST) for use with individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Thirty individuals with severe TBI and 24 uninjured adults matched on age, gender and education level were administered the VRST, a lexical decision PM task (LDPMT), an index of task-friendliness and a cognitive assessment battery. Significant others rated disruptions in the TBI participants' occupational activities, interpersonal relationships and independent living skills. The performance of the TBI group was significantly poorer than that of controls on event-based PM as measured by the LDPMT, and on time- and event-based PM as measured by the VRST. Performance on the VRST significantly predicted significant others' ratings of patients' occupational activities and independent living skills. The VRST was rated as significantly more reflective of an everyday activity, interesting and was afforded a higher recommendation than the LDPMT. For the TBI group, event and total PM performance on the VRST significantly correlated with performance on measures of mental flexibility and verbal fluency, and total PM performance correlated with verbal memory. These results provide preliminary but promising evidence of the sensitivity, as well as the convergent and ecological validity of the VRST.

Virtual Reality for Sensorimotor Rehabilitation Post-Stroke: The Promise and Current State of the Field.

Curr Phys Med Rehabil Reports. 2013 Mar;1(1):9-20

Authors: Fluet GG, Deutsch JE

Abstract
Developments over the past 2 years in virtual reality (VR) augmented sensorimotor rehabilitation of upper limb use and gait post-stroke were reviewed. Studies were included if they evaluated comparative efficacy between VR and standard of care, and or differences in VR delivery methods; and were CEBM (center for evidence based medicine) level 2 or higher. Eight upper limb and two gait studies were included and described using the following categories hardware (input and output), software (virtual task and feedback and presentation) intervention (progression and dose), and outcomes. Trends in the field were commented on, gaps in knowledge identified, and areas of future research and translation of VR to practice were suggested.

From Wired

Ice cream can be the reward after a successful little league game, a consolation after a bad breakup, or, in the hands of gourmet geeks, a sweet musical instrument. Designers Carla Diana and Emilie Baltz recently whipped up a musical performance where a quartet of players jammed using just a quart of vanilla ice cream and some high-tech cones

In this demo video, artist Alex McLeod shows an environment he designed for Interaxon to use at CES in 2011 interaxon.ca/CES#.

The glasses display the scene in 3D and attaches sensors read users brain-states which control elements of the scene.

3D Thought controlled environment via Interaxon from Alex McLeod on Vimeo.

Reblogged from Medgadget

People unfortunate enough to lose an arm or a leg often feel pain in their missing limb, an unexplained condition known as phantom limb pain.  Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden decided to test whether they can fool the brain into believing the limb is still there and maybe stop the pain.

They attached electrodes to the skin of the remaining arm of an amputee to read the myoelectric signals from the muscles below. Additionally, the arm was tracked in 3D using a marker so that the data could be integrated into a moving generated avatar as well as computer games. The amputee moves the arm of the avatar like he would if his own still existed, while the brain becomes reacquainted with its presence. After repeated use, and playing video games that were controlled using the same myoelectric interface, the person in the study had significant pain reduction after decades of phantom limb pain.

Here’s a video showing off the experimental setup:

Study in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Treatment of phantom limb pain (PLP) based on augmented reality and gaming controlled by myoelectric pattern recognition: a case study of a chronic PLP patient…

Voluntary Out-of-Body Experience: An fMRI Study.

Front Hum Neurosci. 2014;8:70

Authors: Smith AM, Messier C

Abstract
The present single-case study examined functional brain imaging patterns in a participant that reported being able, at will, to produce somatosensory sensations that are experienced as her body moving outside the boundaries of her physical body all the while remaining aware of her unmoving physical body. We found that the brain functional changes associated with the reported extra-corporeal experience (ECE) were different than those observed in motor imagery. Activations were mainly left-sided and involved the left supplementary motor area and supramarginal and posterior superior temporal gyri, the last two overlapping with the temporal parietal junction that has been associated with out-of-body experiences. The cerebellum also showed activation that is consistent with the participant's report of the impression of movement during the ECE. There was also left middle and superior orbital frontal gyri activity, regions often associated with action monitoring. The results suggest that the ECE reported here represents an unusual type of kinesthetic imagery.

Humanlike robot hands controlled by brain activity arouse illusion of ownership in operators.

Sci Rep. 2013;3:2396

Authors: Alimardani M, Nishio S, Ishiguro H

Abstract
Operators of a pair of robotic hands report ownership for those hands when they hold image of a grasp motion and watch the robot perform it. We present a novel body ownership illusion that is induced by merely watching and controlling robot's motions through a brain machine interface. In past studies, body ownership illusions were induced by correlation of such sensory inputs as vision, touch and proprioception. However, in the presented illusion none of the mentioned sensations are integrated except vision. Our results show that during BMI-operation of robotic hands, the interaction between motor commands and visual feedback of the intended motions is adequate to incorporate the non-body limbs into one's own body. Our discussion focuses on the role of proprioceptive information in the mechanism of agency-driven illusions. We believe that our findings will contribute to improvement of tele-presence systems in which operators incorporate BMI-operated robots into their body representations.

The accelerating pace of scientific publishing and the rise of open access, as depicted by xkcd.com cartoonist Randall Munroe.

Via KurzweilAI.net

Keio University scientists have developed a “neurocam” — a wearable camera system that detects emotions, based on an analysis of the user’s brainwaves.

The hardware is a combination of Neurosky’s Mind Wave Mobile and a customized brainwave sensor.

The algorithm is based on measures of “interest” and “like” developed by Professor Mitsukura and the neurowear team.

The users interests are quantified on a range of 0 to 100. The camera automatically records five-second clips of scenes when the interest value exceeds 60, with timestamp and location, and can be replayed later and shared socially on Facebook.

The researchers plan to make the device smaller, more comfortable, and fashionable to wear.

Via IEET

Philosopher Nick Bostrom is a Swedish at the University of Oxford known for his work on existential risk and the anthropic principle covered in books such as Global Catastrophic Risks, Anthropic Bias and Human Enhancement. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics . He is currently the director of both The Future of Humanity Institute and the Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology as part of the Oxford Martin School at Oxford University.

A high-fidelity virtual environment for the study of paranoia.

Schizophr Res Treatment. 2013;2013:538185

Authors: Broome MR, Zányi E, Hamborg T, Selmanovic E, Czanner S, Birchwood M, Chalmers A, Singh SP

Abstract. Psychotic disorders carry social and economic costs for sufferers and society. Recent evidence highlights the risk posed by urban upbringing and social deprivation in the genesis of paranoia and psychosis. Evidence based psychological interventions are often not offered because of a lack of therapists. Virtual reality (VR) environments have been used to treat mental health problems. VR may be a way of understanding the aetiological processes in psychosis and increasing psychotherapeutic resources for its treatment. We developed a high-fidelity virtual reality scenario of an urban street scene to test the hypothesis that virtual urban exposure is able to generate paranoia to a comparable or greater extent than scenarios using indoor scenes. Participants (n = 32) entered the VR scenario for four minutes, after which time their degree of paranoid ideation was assessed. We demonstrated that the virtual reality scenario was able to elicit paranoia in a nonclinical, healthy group and that an urban scene was more likely to lead to higher levels of paranoia than a virtual indoor environment. We suggest that this study offers evidence to support the role of exposure to factors in the urban environment in the genesis and maintenance of psychotic experiences and symptoms. The realistic high-fidelity street scene scenario may offer a useful tool for therapists.

Effects of the addition of transcranial direct current stimulation to virtual reality therapy after stroke: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

NeuroRehabilitation. 2014 Jan 28;

Authors: Viana RT, Laurentino GE, Souza RJ, Fonseca JB, Silva Filho EM, Dias SN, Teixeira-Salmela LF, Monte-Silva KK

Abstract. BACKGROUND: Upper limb (UL) impairment is the most common disabling deficit following a stroke. Previous studies have suggested that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) enhances the effect of conventional therapies.
OBJECTIVE: This pilot double-blind randomized control trial aimed to determine whether or not tDCS, combined with Wii virtual reality therapy (VRT), would be superior to Wii therapy alone in improving upper limb function and quality of life in chronic stroke individuals.
METHODS: Twenty participants were randomly assigned either to an experimental group that received VRT and tDCS, or a control group that received VRT and sham tDCS. The therapy was delivered over 15 sessions with 13 minutes of active or sham anodal tDCS, and one hour of virtual reality therapy. The outcomes included were determined using the Fugl-Meyer scale, the Wolf motor function test, the modified Ashworth scale (MAS), grip strength, and the stroke specific quality of life scale (SSQOL). Minimal clinically important differences (MCID) were observed when assessing outcome data.
RESULTS: Both groups demonstrated gains in all evaluated areas, except for the SSQOL-UL domain. Differences between groups were only observed in wrist spasticity levels in the experimental group, where more than 50% of the participants achieved the MCID.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings support that tDCS, combined with VRT therapy, should be investigated and clarified further.