Grensing, Florian

Specific phobias, such as spider phobia, are a widespread condition, that can negatively impact the quality of life of affected people. Phobias are typically characterised by avoidance behaviour, which can be measured using a behavioural avoidance test (BAT). While behavioural avoidance tests are traditionally performed using a real stimulus (e.g., a spider), virtual reality has also gained popularity in the field of psychology. This offers a more accessible and affordable alternative to traditional diagnostic methods. Our work focuses on a comparison of BATs in vivo and in virtuo, and considering two different approach modalities, by analysing the physiological responses of participants. This study aims to investigate whether these responses during in virtuo BATs are comparable to those observed during in vivo BATs, and whether the modality influences the outcome. In this work, we present our study involving 25 participants and an initial look at the data collected.

The attention we pay to food can provide information about our lifestyle and our relationship to eating. The visual search task is a psychological method commonly used to study searching behaviour and attention, and to infer how these processes relate to the objects being searched for. Efforts have already been made to adapt this method to virtual world, but most implementations remain in 2D, typically on computer monitors. This is noteworthy because, by integrating head position tracking and enabling novel interaction methods that capitalise on this capability, virtual reality offers significant potential to enhance the study of search behaviour. This paper describes our planned preliminary study comparing our custom VR application for advanced search behaviour analysis utilizing the Unity Gaze Interactor, to a classical visual search implementation on a computer. The Unity Gaze Interactor enables interactions with virtual objects and precise tracking of users' gaze direction, providing new opportunities for analysing search behaviour in immersive environments. Our research investigates the behaviours of people who primarily tend towards low-calorie or high-calorie food, comparing their responses across these both approaches. The study started in December 2024.

Psychological trials, such as behavioural avoidance tests (BAT), are a fundamental part of the phobia therapeutic process. In order to link physiological reactions with specific points in time during psychological trials, it is necessary to integrate observation data with data collected automatically by sensors, such as wearable devices. To this end, this paper introduces FRAME - a framework for combining real-world events occurring during psychological trials with physiological data collected by wearables. FRAME consists of three parts, an Observation App, a data integration module and a Virtual Reality (VR) App. The Observation App captures events and their exact time of occurrence. The integration module links the observations with the respective physiological data, allowing an in-depth analysis of physiological reactions. The VR App provides a virtual scenario based on the BAT in vivo, thus enabling a BAT in virtuo. The practical applicability of FRAME is tested within a study comparing behavioural avoidance tests in vivo and in virtuo, assessing 25 patients with arachnophobia wearing an Empatica E4.

Patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have a higher risk of experiencing hypoglycemia, which is a severe condition of decreased blood glucose levels under 70 mg/dL and can result in coma, or death in the worst case. Prediction algorithms could improve diabetes care by enabling preventive actions, but research is limited by available multivariate datasets. Thus, this work investigates the feasibility of transfer learning between two different datasets of people with T1D and type 2 pre-diabetes using a 1 Dimensional Convolutional Neural Network (1DCNN) model. Moreover, different thresholds for defining hypoglycemia are compared for the pre-diabetes group. The results show that transfer learning could be feasible if the model is trained on T1D with a threshold of 70 mg/dL, while a threshold of 80–85 mg/dL achieved the best training performance for the pre-diabetes data.

Immersion and presence are important aspects of virtual reality (VR). Efforts are therefore being made to enhance these effects in order to increase the impact of VR and its transferability to reality. This is particularly important in research areas such as medical education and psychology. The development of haptic gloves has therefore increased significantly in recent years. These are immersive input devices designed to make virtual objects tangible. However, the research field is still very new and there is insufficient research on their handling and effect. For this reason, an application was developed to compare different haptic data gloves with different haptic technologies. A glove with vibrotactile feedback (Manus Prime X Haptic VR) and a glove with additional force feedback (SenseGlove) were used and compared in multiple tasks. These include finger tracking and gesture recognition, as well as hand tracking and the behaviour of gloves when grasping objects with and without haptics. The aim is to determine how well the haptics could be integrated and which is more accepted by the test subjects. For this purpose, a questionnaire has been designed to evaluate the effect of the haptic gloves on users. It aims to get a first impression of the tactile gloves available on the market and to advance research in the area.

Cognitive performance is an important aspect of life. Not only does thinking enable us to act, there is also an interaction between cognitive performance and mental health. It is therefore increasingly important to train and practice one’s cognitive abilities and benefit from brain plasticity. According to Vester’s model of learning types visual, auditiv and haptic impression are imporant for learning. An existing memory training application, which transfers the concept of the game Pairs with personal memories into virtual reality (VR), has now been supplemented with a haptic impression. The original application already establishes the visual and auditory perception channels. With new haptic hardware constantly appearing on the market, the Tactsuit X40 haptic vest from bhaptics has now made it possible to include a third perceptual channel with a wide variation of haptic sensations on various parts of the upper body. Each playing card is associated with an individual image, a piece of music and a vibration pattern. All of which are designed to help the user remember the position of the card. Each of these aspects can be freely enabled and disabled. The result of this work is an application which aims to find if and how strongly haptic impressions influence memory performance. By taking more types of learning into account, we hope to achieve a better memory training. A study has been designed to evaluate the specific aspects of the application and is currently being carried out. In addition to the self-generated haptic patterns, it is also possible to generate haptic impulses based on audio sources. These could possibly provide further support in this application.

The field of virtual reality (VR) is no longer limited to the entertainment sector, and the use also increased in the sector of healthcare and therapy. This paper attempts to compare the effectiveness of a Behavioral Avoidance Test for spider phobia in virtual reality to in vivo. To do this, two different BAT approaches are designed for both in vivo and in virtuo to be compared by a group of phobic participants. In addition, physiological data of the participants were recorded to investigate this comparison on a physiological level.

Avatars are often used to represent people in the virtual world. In the process, they can also have numerous psychological influences on the users. Therefore, this paper discusses a multiplayer application in virtual reality and how a appealing avatar could be designed in it. In a small study with six persons the application was tested competitively in teams of two, the users filled out a questionnaire and answered some additional questions. While an increase in motivation was observed in all participants, the choice of the preferred avatar was not uniform. Thus, this showed that an appealing avatar for everyone could not simply be determined, but personal preferences and experience must be taken into account.

Memory training methods are often not designed for all age groups, which causes older people to be failed by educational systems. However, the brain remains plastic for a lifetime. The application discussed in this paper demonstrates how approaches to learning psychology can be implemented in virtual reality to create an individualized learning environment that addresses all age groups. In addition, personal memoirs were used to address the episodic part of the brain and to increase motivation. In a small usability study, twelve participants tested the application and filled out a questionnaire. This showed that the design and usability of this application, using a virtual learning environment customized to the user as well as different perception channels, has been successful. Moreover, the wellbeing was rated positively as well.

Patients suffering from colon cancer often undergo ostomy surgery. In many cases this means a large change in the life of the patients. While some patients had time to prepare for this change, it is sudden for others. The patients need to take care of their stoma on a daily basis. The steps required for this, are often taught by demonstrating the steps. However, patients often remain uncertain. In this paper, a training application for patients is discussed. This application aims to use virtual reality in order to help patients learn the necessary steps of stoma care, as well as reduce their anxiety about their new life situation. In a small feasibility study, users have tested the application and rated it with the help of a questionnaire. This has yielded positive results, and a larger, long-term study to determine the effectiveness of the application is planned in the near future.