Virtual Reality News and Research

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Kinect-based virtual reality training boosts functional recovery of upper limbs after subacute stroke

The Kinect-based virtual reality system for the Xbox 360 enables users to control and interact with the game console without the need to touch a game controller, and provides rehabilitation training for stroke patients with lower limb dysfunctions.

27 Dec 2013

Neuroscientists discover how brain cells form "geotags" for specific memories

Using a video game in which people navigate through a virtual town delivering objects to specific locations, a team of neuroscientists from the University of Pennsylvania and Freiburg University has discovered how brain cells that encode spatial information form "geotags" for specific memories and are activated immediately before those memories are recalled.

29 Nov 2013

Researchers develop new interactive software game to help children with peanut allergies

Elizabeth McQuaid, Ph.D., a staff psychologist from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center, is leading a research team testing a new interactive software game developed to help children with peanut allergies better manage allergy symptoms, social situations and proper food avoidance.

24 Oct 2013

CP Family releases video showing children with cerebral palsy playing video games using new technology

Cerebral Palsy Family Network has released a video showing children and teens with cerebral palsy delighting in playing video games using a new technology. The players, some with visual impairment, used gestures instead of keyboards.

31 Aug 2013

Kessler Foundation scientist evaluates virtual reality office task in participants with MS and TBI

Denise Krch, Ph.D., research scientist for Traumatic Brain Injury Research at Kessler Foundation, presented "Pilot results from a virtual reality executive function task," at the International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation. In the pilot study, Dr. Krch evaluated the Assessim Office, a virtual reality office task, in participants with multiple sclerosis and TBI.

28 Aug 2013

Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine's July issue focuses on assistive technology for spinal cord injury

The July issue of the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine focuses on, "Advances in Technology for People with Spinal Cord Injury." Guest Editor Rory Cooper, PhD, is a member of the journal's Editorial Board. Dr. Cooper is the FISA/PVA Endowed Chair and a Distinguished Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.

22 Aug 2013

Research: Visual representation of heart contributes to self-consciousness

While we're not necessarily aware of our heartbeat, this inner rhythm actually contributes to how we experience the body, and what belongs to it, according to research recently conducted at EPFL.

16 Aug 2013

Sensor-based motion tracking system can be used to evaluate neurorehabilitation of upper limbs

Upper limb function impairment is one of the most common sequelae of central nervous system injury. Conventional assessment methods cannot provide objective evaluation of patient performance and the effectiveness of therapies.

6 Aug 2013

Interactive 3-D simulation platform offers surgical residents to hone patient management skills

A novel interactive 3-dimensional(3-D) simulation platform offers surgical residents a unique opportunity to hone their diagnostic and patient management skills, and then have those skills accurately evaluated according to a new study appearing in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

3 Aug 2013

Study: Watching avatar model weight-loss behavior in virtual community may help reduce weight

An estimated two-thirds of all Americans are overweight or obese and many find it difficult to lose weight and keep it off. They've tried fad diets, exercise programs, diet pills and other methods but the battle continues. Now, a new study suggests that watching an avatar model weight-loss behavior in a virtual community might help some women shed pounds in the real world.

1 Jul 2013

Study examines effectiveness of VRET on agoraphobia, panic disorder

A number of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy in specific phobias, but research in  seriously impaired patients with agoraphobia is lacking.

27 May 2013

The Immortality Project awards $2.3M to study near-death experiences, beliefs in afterlife

Phenomena related to near-death experiences, immortality in virtual reality, and genes that prevent a species of freshwater hydra from aging are among the first research proposals funded by The Immortality Project at the University of California, Riverside.

23 May 2013

New prototype allows patients with severe functional disability to be more active and independent

The European R&D project BrainAble, led by Barcelona Digital, has just successfully ended by developing a prototype that allows patients with severe functional disability to be more active and independent.

18 May 2013

New challenges to military medicine

Better body armor and rapid aeromedical evacuations enable American service members to survive blasts that would have proved fatal in Vietnam or even the first Gulf War, but they pose new challenges to military medicine - how to deal with the excruciating pain of injuries, especially severe burns from IED blasts that body armor can't protect.

13 May 2013

Study: Surgeons training in robotic surgery learned best when three different teaching methods are used

By developing a new way to compare techniques for teaching robotic surgery, doctors at The Methodist Hospital and the University of Southern California report in an upcoming issue of the British Journal of Urology International that surgeons training in robotic surgery learned best when three different teaching methods were used.

6 May 2013

Virtual reality reveals new clues on how cells determine place

Leaving the house in the morning may seem simple, but with every move we make, our brains are working feverishly to create maps of the outside world that allow us to navigate and to remember where we are.

4 May 2013

Haptics improve outcomes in people with visual prosthetics

Normal vision is essentially a spatial sense that often relies upon touch and movement during and after development, there is often a correlation between how an object looks and how it feels. Moreover, as a child's senses develop, there is cross-referencing between the various senses. Indeed, where the links between the senses are not made, there may be developmental problems or delays. This should be taken into consideration when training new users of visual prosthetics, artificial retinas, or bionic eyes, suggest researchers in Australia.

2 May 2013

Second Life: A web-based virtual reality program for weight loss

Weight loss is a topic of concern for nearly 36% of Americans who are considered obese. There are many barriers that can interfere with weight loss. For those attending face-to-face weight loss programs, barriers can include travel, conflict with work and home, need for childcare, and loss of anonymity.

26 Apr 2013

CAVE: New virtual reality system from UPC

The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) presents a new multi-projector CAVE, designed and built in its entirety by the Virtual Modelling, Visualisation, Interaction and Virtual Reality Research Group (MOVING).

22 Apr 2013

Research: Children and teens with ASD more likely to develop addictive patterns of video game play

Children and teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use screen-based media, such as television and video games, more often than their typically developing peers and are more likely to develop problematic video game habits, a University of Missouri researcher found.

18 Apr 2013