University of Southern California


User-Centered Sciences

The primary goals of this project are to design, develop, implement and evaluate psychometrically reliable and valid virtual testing and training environments that target human cognitive and behavioral processes in normal and impaired populations. We have developed virtual environments focusing on the study, assessment, and rehabilitation of attention, memory and executive processes and visuospatial abilities. We have completed a series of research field trials using ImmersaDesk-delivered scenarios that target assessment of visuospatial skills including visual field-specific reaction time, depth perception, 3D field dependency (virtual rod and frame test), static and dynamic manual target tracking in 3D space, and spatial rotation. We have also recently conducted research on children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder using a head mounted display "Virtual Classroom" scenario.

We are continuing to expand the range of component cognitive processes measured and are planning studies to apply these tools with clinical populations (brain-injury, stroke, learning disability, dementia) and under varied perceptual (2D vs. 3D)/interactional (active vs. observational) conditions. We have also developed a prototype of an immersive head-mounted display virtual environment for the study, assessment, and rehabilitation of attention processes.

Visuospatial Processes Virtual Reality Project

The application of VR technology for the rehabilitation of cognitive and functional deficits could serve to remedy the major weaknesses of both the restorative and functional approaches and actually produce a systematic treatment method which would integrate the best features from both approaches. In essence, it may be possible for a VR application to provide systematic restorative training within the context of functionally relevant, ecologically valid simulated environments.

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Virtual Classroom

Virtual Classroom is specifially aimed at the assessment of Attenion Defcit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. The prevalence of ADHD is estimated at 3%-5% in school age children with data on it ’s occurrence in adolescence and adulthood being somewhat limited. The scenario consists of a standard rectangular class room environment containing desks, a teacher , blackboard and side wall with large window looking out onto a street..

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Virtual Office

Clinical populations that are currently being tested in the office include persons with multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, stroke and Alzheimer’s Disease. The user sits at a real desk, but within the HMD, they see the scenes that make up the virtual office. The virtual desk contains a phone, computer screen, and message pad, while throughout the office, a virtual clock ticks in real- time, and a variety of human avatar representations of co- workers/ supervisors can be actively engaged.

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Virtual Reality and Pain Distraction

This project was done in collaboration with Rebecca Allen from the department of Media and Digital Arts at UCLA using her "Bush Soul" art installation as the VR scenerio. It is the aim of this study to answer the question of whether or not VR is an effective method of distracting children from the pain of venipuncture and to examine the degree of immersion required. Given previous studies of pediatric pain distraction and the initial support for VR forms of pain distraction, it is hypothesized that there will be significant differences in the pain experiences of children assigned to the three different groups. It is predicted that these differences will be detected in pain intensity, affective pain, and behavioral distress.

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