Virtual reality (VR) has recently emerged as a potentially effective way to provide general and s... more Virtual reality (VR) has recently emerged as a potentially effective way to provide general and specialty health care services, and appears poised to enter mainstream psychotherapy delivery. Because VR could be part of the future of clinical psychology, it is critical to all psychotherapists that it be defined broadly. To ensure appropriate development of VR applications, clinicians must have a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges it will provide in professional practice. This review outlines the current state of clinical research relevant to the development of virtual environments for use in psychotherapy. In particular, the paper focuses its analysis on both actual applications of VR in clinical psychology and how different clinical perspectives can use this approach to improve the process of therapeutic change. 220
So far, scientific literature has paid attention to the cognitive and environmental determinants ... more So far, scientific literature has paid attention to the cognitive and environmental determinants of presence, trying to offer a definition and assessment measures that could seize such an elusive concept. However, the emotional determinants of presence have received less attention. Not too much effort has been dedicated to study the relationships between emotions and presence. However, emotional responses could play a key role in generating and enhancing presence, specially for some Virtual Reality (VR) applications, such as mental health field (both for promotion and treatment goals). The main goal of EMMA project -an European Community funded research project (IST-2001-39192)-is to study the relationships between presence and emotions. In particular, after analyzing the possible emotional impact of high compelling synthetic experiences characterized by an high level of presence, the EMMA project wants to develop "mood devices" able to induce different forms of mood enhancement on both clinical and non clinical samples. This research will help to understand better the development of some psychopathological phenomena and the development of "new correcting experiences and learnings" to cope those psychopathological experiences. Furthermore, EMMA project will pretend the development of innovative tools to be used with three different real users: (i) users of (real world) mental health services, such as treatment for anxiety disorders, depression, and so on (ii) users with acute restricted mobility (e.g. designed experiences for hospital inpatients), and (iii) mood enhancement for general population (relaxation environments through TV or VR).
Personality dimensions seem to play an important role in chronic diseases by maintaining or incre... more Personality dimensions seem to play an important role in chronic diseases by maintaining or increasing the patient's physical complaints. This study examines in bronchial asthma: (a) the relationships among clinical data, baseline lung function, and personality traits; and (b) the patient's characteristics related to the physician's judgement about his or her asthma severity. Five questionnaires measuring anxiety, depression, self-consciousness, and subjective symptoms were completed by 51 asthmatic patients. Responses to questionnaires and clinical and demographic data were factor-analyzed. Factor analysis revealed that the physician's severity judgement is based on elderly age, high scores on depression, and longer duration of asthma.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a new technology consisting on a graphic environment in which the user, n... more Virtual Reality (VR) is a new technology consisting on a graphic environment in which the user, not only has the feeling of being physically present in a virtual world, but he/she can interact with it. The first VR workstations were designed for big companies in order to create environments that simulate certain situations to train professionals. However, at this moment a great expansion of this technology is taking place in several fields, including the area of health. Especially interesting for us is the use of VR as a therapeutic tool in the treatment of psychological disorders. Compared to the "traditional" treatments, VR has many advantages (e.g., it is a protected environment for the patient, he/she can re-experience many times the feared situation, etc.). There are already data on the effectiveness of this technology in the treatment of different psychological disorders; here anxiety disorders, eating disorders and sexual disorders are reviewed. Finally, this chapter ends with some words about the limitations of VR and future perspectives.
The present study is designed to test the role of immersion and media content in the sense of pre... more The present study is designed to test the role of immersion and media content in the sense of presence. Specifically, we are interested in the affective valence of the virtual environments. This paper describes an experiment that compares three immersive systems (a PC monitor, a rear projected video wall, and a head-mounted display) and two virtual environments, one involving emotional content and the other not. The purpose of the experiment was to test the interactive role of these two media characteristics (form and content). Scores on two self-report presence measurements were compared among six groups of 10 people each. The results suggest that both immersion and affective content have an impact on presence. However, immersion was more relevant for non-emotional environments than for emotional ones.
Augmented Reality has proved to be effective in the treatment of phobia to small animals. The fir... more Augmented Reality has proved to be effective in the treatment of phobia to small animals. The first system developed for this purpose uses visible markers for tracking. In this paper, we present a second version of this system, where the markers are not visible to the user. We use ARToolKit for tracking. The system incorporates two cameras: one colour camera for capturing the real world without visible markers and one infrared camera for capturing the real world whereby it is possible to distinguish markers drawn with a special ink. We are carrying out a study to compare the sense of presence and reality judgment in non clinical populations using both systems.
As Biocca pointed out, the "two poles model" of presence has only considered the virtual and pysh... more As Biocca pointed out, the "two poles model" of presence has only considered the virtual and pyshical spaces, but not the imaginary spaces. This work is aimed at comparing the sense of presence between virtual and imaginary environments. 100 participants were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (imagined versus virtual spaces) and the subjective sense of presence was measured in three moments (begining, middle, and end). Results indicate that the participants in "imagery" spaces indicated a decrease of their sense of presence, whereas the opposite occurs in participants in "virtual" spaces. Imagination seems not to be a long-lasting procedure to elicit presence. However, VR helps users to stay there as time goes by. That is, it provides a "physical" context in which the self can be placed.
In the last few years virtual reality has become an efficient tool for the treatment of eating di... more In the last few years virtual reality has become an efficient tool for the treatment of eating disorders. One of the main problems in virtual environments finding a realistic body model that can be modified according to a patient's criterion. Several 2D morphing techniques have been used for changing the body of the subject. In this article we present a new method for accurate 3D deformation of a human body model that uses a reduced number of parameters. The original goal was to reform different parts of a 3D human body through geometry. The chosen algorithm is based on a series of boxes around the geometry parts to be changed. Any change in the position of a box vertex is converted to geometry deformation and eventually to oportune displacement of the neighbour boxes. As discontinuities have to be avoided, all boxes have a field of deformation decreasing in intensity as distance increases. To achieve a high grade of realism, a set of user photographs taken from several angles are positioned at the head of the mannequin. Depending on the position of the user, one of the photographs is selected and oriented toward the user. The method is under clinical testing in a virtual reality tool for the treatment of eating disorders. With this method, the model can express several aspects of the way the patients perceive their bodies. Initial clinical results have been very promising. 433
The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in reality judgements made by subjects and t... more The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in reality judgements made by subjects and their sense of presence when using the virtual reality (VR) settings of different VR workstations. The two workstations were (1) a high impact computer graphics workstation (Silicon Graphics) with a high quality head mounted display (FS5, Virtual Research) and a 3D joystick (Division) and (2) PC Pentium II-based platform with an AccelEclipse Graphical Card (AccelGraphics) with a medium quality head mounted display (V6, Virtual Research) and a 2D mouse. For measuring the sense of presence and reality, we used a 15-item questionnaire designed for this purpose that assesses the level of immersion and reality of the VR settings, availability of interaction with the VR environment, and emotions and bodily sensations experienced while immersed in the VR world. The subjects were 69 undergraduate students that volunteered for this study and were assigned at random to the two experimental workstations. Results indicated that there are no statistical differences in presence or reality judgment between both experimental conditions. This is an interesting finding because of the importance of reducing the cost of the equipment in the VR field.
Body image (BI) disturbances are considered to be central in eating disorders (ED) psy¬ chopathol... more Body image (BI) disturbances are considered to be central in eating disorders (ED) psy¬ chopathology. There are few studies focused on the treatment of BI disturbances in ED, and most of them have used "traditional methods." The purpose of the present study was to probe the effectiveness of one specific component in the assessment and treatment of BI in ED by means of virtual reality (VR). Two treatment conditions were applied: (a) The Standard Body Image Treatment Condition (SBIT) and (b) the VR Condition. Thirteen eating disordered pa¬ tients were randomly assigned to one of those conditions. No differences between both con¬ ditions were found in general ED measures, but patients treated in the VR condition showed a greater significant improvement in specific BI measures. These results suggest that BI treat¬ ment with VR could be more targeted to its disturbances· than traditional techniques are.
This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) exposure in the ca... more This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) exposure in the case of a patient with a diagnosis of two specific phobias (claustrophobia and storms) and panic disorder with agoraphobia. The treatment consisted of eight, individual, VR-graded ex¬ posure sessions designed specifically to treat claustrophobia. We obtained data at pretreat¬ ment, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up on several clinical measures. Results point out the effectiveness of the VR procedure for the treatment of claustrophobia. An important change appeared in all measures after treatment completion. We also observed a generaliza¬ tion of improvement from claustrophobic situations to the other specific phobic and agora¬ phobic situations that were not treated. We can conclude that VR exposure was effective in reducing fear in closed spaces, in increasing self-efficacy in claustrophobic situations, and in improving other problems not specifically treated. Moreover, changes were maintained at 3 months after treatment.
Virtual reality (VR) has recently emerged as a potentially effective way to provide general and s... more Virtual reality (VR) has recently emerged as a potentially effective way to provide general and specialty health care services, and appears poised to enter mainstream psychotherapy delivery. Because VR could be part of the future of clinical psychology, it is critical to all psychotherapists that it be defined broadly. To ensure appropriate development of VR applications, clinicians must have a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges it will provide in professional practice. This review outlines the current state of clinical research relevant to the development of virtual environments for use in psychotherapy. In particular, the paper focuses its analysis on both actual applications of VR in clinical psychology and how different clinical perspectives can use this approach to improve the process of therapeutic change. 220
So far, scientific literature has paid attention to the cognitive and environmental determinants ... more So far, scientific literature has paid attention to the cognitive and environmental determinants of presence, trying to offer a definition and assessment measures that could seize such an elusive concept. However, the emotional determinants of presence have received less attention. Not too much effort has been dedicated to study the relationships between emotions and presence. However, emotional responses could play a key role in generating and enhancing presence, specially for some Virtual Reality (VR) applications, such as mental health field (both for promotion and treatment goals). The main goal of EMMA project -an European Community funded research project (IST-2001-39192)-is to study the relationships between presence and emotions. In particular, after analyzing the possible emotional impact of high compelling synthetic experiences characterized by an high level of presence, the EMMA project wants to develop "mood devices" able to induce different forms of mood enhancement on both clinical and non clinical samples. This research will help to understand better the development of some psychopathological phenomena and the development of "new correcting experiences and learnings" to cope those psychopathological experiences. Furthermore, EMMA project will pretend the development of innovative tools to be used with three different real users: (i) users of (real world) mental health services, such as treatment for anxiety disorders, depression, and so on (ii) users with acute restricted mobility (e.g. designed experiences for hospital inpatients), and (iii) mood enhancement for general population (relaxation environments through TV or VR).
Personality dimensions seem to play an important role in chronic diseases by maintaining or incre... more Personality dimensions seem to play an important role in chronic diseases by maintaining or increasing the patient's physical complaints. This study examines in bronchial asthma: (a) the relationships among clinical data, baseline lung function, and personality traits; and (b) the patient's characteristics related to the physician's judgement about his or her asthma severity. Five questionnaires measuring anxiety, depression, self-consciousness, and subjective symptoms were completed by 51 asthmatic patients. Responses to questionnaires and clinical and demographic data were factor-analyzed. Factor analysis revealed that the physician's severity judgement is based on elderly age, high scores on depression, and longer duration of asthma.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a new technology consisting on a graphic environment in which the user, n... more Virtual Reality (VR) is a new technology consisting on a graphic environment in which the user, not only has the feeling of being physically present in a virtual world, but he/she can interact with it. The first VR workstations were designed for big companies in order to create environments that simulate certain situations to train professionals. However, at this moment a great expansion of this technology is taking place in several fields, including the area of health. Especially interesting for us is the use of VR as a therapeutic tool in the treatment of psychological disorders. Compared to the "traditional" treatments, VR has many advantages (e.g., it is a protected environment for the patient, he/she can re-experience many times the feared situation, etc.). There are already data on the effectiveness of this technology in the treatment of different psychological disorders; here anxiety disorders, eating disorders and sexual disorders are reviewed. Finally, this chapter ends with some words about the limitations of VR and future perspectives.
The present study is designed to test the role of immersion and media content in the sense of pre... more The present study is designed to test the role of immersion and media content in the sense of presence. Specifically, we are interested in the affective valence of the virtual environments. This paper describes an experiment that compares three immersive systems (a PC monitor, a rear projected video wall, and a head-mounted display) and two virtual environments, one involving emotional content and the other not. The purpose of the experiment was to test the interactive role of these two media characteristics (form and content). Scores on two self-report presence measurements were compared among six groups of 10 people each. The results suggest that both immersion and affective content have an impact on presence. However, immersion was more relevant for non-emotional environments than for emotional ones.
Augmented Reality has proved to be effective in the treatment of phobia to small animals. The fir... more Augmented Reality has proved to be effective in the treatment of phobia to small animals. The first system developed for this purpose uses visible markers for tracking. In this paper, we present a second version of this system, where the markers are not visible to the user. We use ARToolKit for tracking. The system incorporates two cameras: one colour camera for capturing the real world without visible markers and one infrared camera for capturing the real world whereby it is possible to distinguish markers drawn with a special ink. We are carrying out a study to compare the sense of presence and reality judgment in non clinical populations using both systems.
As Biocca pointed out, the "two poles model" of presence has only considered the virtual and pysh... more As Biocca pointed out, the "two poles model" of presence has only considered the virtual and pyshical spaces, but not the imaginary spaces. This work is aimed at comparing the sense of presence between virtual and imaginary environments. 100 participants were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (imagined versus virtual spaces) and the subjective sense of presence was measured in three moments (begining, middle, and end). Results indicate that the participants in "imagery" spaces indicated a decrease of their sense of presence, whereas the opposite occurs in participants in "virtual" spaces. Imagination seems not to be a long-lasting procedure to elicit presence. However, VR helps users to stay there as time goes by. That is, it provides a "physical" context in which the self can be placed.
In the last few years virtual reality has become an efficient tool for the treatment of eating di... more In the last few years virtual reality has become an efficient tool for the treatment of eating disorders. One of the main problems in virtual environments finding a realistic body model that can be modified according to a patient's criterion. Several 2D morphing techniques have been used for changing the body of the subject. In this article we present a new method for accurate 3D deformation of a human body model that uses a reduced number of parameters. The original goal was to reform different parts of a 3D human body through geometry. The chosen algorithm is based on a series of boxes around the geometry parts to be changed. Any change in the position of a box vertex is converted to geometry deformation and eventually to oportune displacement of the neighbour boxes. As discontinuities have to be avoided, all boxes have a field of deformation decreasing in intensity as distance increases. To achieve a high grade of realism, a set of user photographs taken from several angles are positioned at the head of the mannequin. Depending on the position of the user, one of the photographs is selected and oriented toward the user. The method is under clinical testing in a virtual reality tool for the treatment of eating disorders. With this method, the model can express several aspects of the way the patients perceive their bodies. Initial clinical results have been very promising. 433
The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in reality judgements made by subjects and t... more The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in reality judgements made by subjects and their sense of presence when using the virtual reality (VR) settings of different VR workstations. The two workstations were (1) a high impact computer graphics workstation (Silicon Graphics) with a high quality head mounted display (FS5, Virtual Research) and a 3D joystick (Division) and (2) PC Pentium II-based platform with an AccelEclipse Graphical Card (AccelGraphics) with a medium quality head mounted display (V6, Virtual Research) and a 2D mouse. For measuring the sense of presence and reality, we used a 15-item questionnaire designed for this purpose that assesses the level of immersion and reality of the VR settings, availability of interaction with the VR environment, and emotions and bodily sensations experienced while immersed in the VR world. The subjects were 69 undergraduate students that volunteered for this study and were assigned at random to the two experimental workstations. Results indicated that there are no statistical differences in presence or reality judgment between both experimental conditions. This is an interesting finding because of the importance of reducing the cost of the equipment in the VR field.
Body image (BI) disturbances are considered to be central in eating disorders (ED) psy¬ chopathol... more Body image (BI) disturbances are considered to be central in eating disorders (ED) psy¬ chopathology. There are few studies focused on the treatment of BI disturbances in ED, and most of them have used "traditional methods." The purpose of the present study was to probe the effectiveness of one specific component in the assessment and treatment of BI in ED by means of virtual reality (VR). Two treatment conditions were applied: (a) The Standard Body Image Treatment Condition (SBIT) and (b) the VR Condition. Thirteen eating disordered pa¬ tients were randomly assigned to one of those conditions. No differences between both con¬ ditions were found in general ED measures, but patients treated in the VR condition showed a greater significant improvement in specific BI measures. These results suggest that BI treat¬ ment with VR could be more targeted to its disturbances· than traditional techniques are.
This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) exposure in the ca... more This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) exposure in the case of a patient with a diagnosis of two specific phobias (claustrophobia and storms) and panic disorder with agoraphobia. The treatment consisted of eight, individual, VR-graded ex¬ posure sessions designed specifically to treat claustrophobia. We obtained data at pretreat¬ ment, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up on several clinical measures. Results point out the effectiveness of the VR procedure for the treatment of claustrophobia. An important change appeared in all measures after treatment completion. We also observed a generaliza¬ tion of improvement from claustrophobic situations to the other specific phobic and agora¬ phobic situations that were not treated. We can conclude that VR exposure was effective in reducing fear in closed spaces, in increasing self-efficacy in claustrophobic situations, and in improving other problems not specifically treated. Moreover, changes were maintained at 3 months after treatment.
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Papers by ROSA BAÑOS