Studier har påvisat att de negativa attityder som en stor del av befolkning uppvisar mot mental ohälsa är en bidragande faktor till de stigma som omger många av dessa sjukdomar. Denna uppsats ställer två frågor: hur kan en simulering av psykos konstrueras för VR och på vilket sätt kan en sådan simulering påverka attityderna gentemot tillståndet psykos. I ett försök att besvara dessa frågor byggdes en prototyp med Unity3D och Google Resonance audio. Denna prototyp användes sedan i kombination med två enkäter för att besvara frågan gällande attitydförändringar. Resultaten kom att visa att det är möjligt att konstruera en sådan simulering samt att VR som medium uppvisar potential att påverka attityden hos användaren gentemot ämnet för simulering. Som fortsättning på denna uppsats skulle framtida forskning kunna bestå framtagningen av ett ramverk för konstruerandet av simulering i VR. Framtida forskning skulle även kunna fokusera på att upprepa enkäterna med ett större antal deltagare. Detta skulle leda till ett större dataset vilket i sin tur skulle främja belysandet av subtila skillnader i de potentiella attitydförändringarna. / Studies have shown that the negative attitudes held by a substantial portion of the general public towards mental illness is a contributing factor to the stigma surrounding illnesses such as schizophrenia and psychosis. This thesis asks two questions: how to construct a psychosis simulation using VR and in what ways such a simulation can affect the attitudes towards the illness. As an attempt to answer these questions a prototype was built using Unity3D and Google Resonance audio. This prototype was then used in conjunction with two surveys in order to answer the question regarding attitudes. The results showed that building such a simulation is possible and that VR holds potential to affect participants attitudes towards the subject of simulation. To build upon this thesis, future work could consist of establishing a framework for building simulations in VR. Future work could also consist of repeating the surveys with a larger number of participants which would yield a larger data set which in turn would promote the highlighting of subtle nuances in a potential attitude change.

Actualmente existen pocas iniciativas reales para mejorar la forma de pago del transporte público en Lima. Para los usuarios del Metropolitano y los Corredores de Lima es común realizar largas colas para comprar tarjetas, recargar, consultar saldo e ingresar a los buses. Esto genera disconformidad que afecta el buen servicio de ambos sistemas de transporte. Metrofácil ayuda a ahorrar tiempo ya que ofrece beneficios como consulta de saldo, recargar, rutas, horarios, anuncios de incidencia en las estaciones, y la opción de una tarjeta virtual. Nuestro mercado objetivo son personas que tienen un smartphone, utilizan aplicaciones móviles, están dispuestos a realizar transacciones en plataformas virtuales y cuentan con una tarjeta de débito o crédito. El mercado potencial estimado de usuarios diarios son 625 763 personas. Los canales que utilizaremos son la aplicación móvil, redes sociales y página web. Tendremos como recursos claves las alianzas con entidades bancarias y como socios claves el área técnica, entidades financieras y Protransporte. Como campaña de lanzamiento se realizarán activaciones en las principales estaciones del Metropolitano y publicidad por redes sociales, la cual consistirá en generar interacción del público. Se ha estimado que el valor actual del proyecto es de S/. 5,118,004 soles y nuestra TIR es de 80%. Además, el tiempo para poder recuperar la inversión sería de 2 años 10 meses. Confiamos en que este proyecto brindará solución a la insatisfacción de miles de usuarios y será un primer paso a la reforma de transporte que tanto necesita la ciudad de Lima. / Currently there are few real initiatives to improve the form of payment of public transport in Lima. For users of Metropolitano and Corredores de Lima it is common to make long lines to buy cards, recharge and check balance. This generates disagreement that affects the good service of both transport systems. Metrofácil helps to save time since it offers benefits such as balance inquiry, recharge, routes, schedules, incidence announcements in the stations, and the option of a virtual card. Our target market is people who have a smartphone, use mobile applications, are willing to carry out transactions on virtual platforms and have a debit or credit card. The estimated potential market of daily users is 625 763 people. The channels we will use are the mobile application, social networks and web page. We will have as key resources alliances with banking entities and as key partners in the technical area, financial entities and Protransporte. As a launching campaign, activations will be made in the main stations of the Metropolitan and advertising by social networks, which will consist in generating public interaction. It has been estimated that the current value of the project is S /. 5,118,004 soles and our IRR is 80%. In addition, the time to recover the investment would be 2 years 10 months. We trust that this project will provide a solution to the dissatisfaction of thousands of users and will be a first step to the transportation reform that the city of Lima so badly needs. / Trabajo de investigación

Detta arbete undersökte hur Virtual Reality(VR) kan ha en påverkan på hur husvisningar genomförs. Undersökningen försökte ta reda på om VR kan användas för att ersätta eller komplettera fysiska husvisningar. Arbetet gick även igenom vad som är viktigt för utvecklare att tänka på för att förbättra användarnas upplevelser. Undersökningen genomfördes med flera datainsamlingsmetoder som enkäter, intervjuer och observationer av en VR-prototyp. VR-prototypensom var gjord i Unity lät testpersonerna genomföra en digital husvisning. Resultatet visade att det finns potential för den här typen av applikationer, på grund av att det kan minska vissa stressmoment för användarna. Användarna påpekade att det skulle fungera mer som en komplement till fysiska visningar på grund av att det inte ger riktigt hela bilden av huset som användarna vill ha. Med sådana applikationer finns en avsaknad av viktiga aspekter såsom bild av området och lukt.

<p>We conducted a study in the virtual environment to explore the influence of three types of lighting (dynamic rim lighting vs. static rim lighting vs. no rim lighting) on users’ visual attention, and the lighting’s potential effects on the users’ preference/choice-making. We recruited 40 participants to complete a virtual grocery shopping task in the experiments, and after the experiment, the participants were given a survey to self-report their experience. We found that (1) the users do not prefer to collect virtual objects with dynamic rim lighting than virtual objects with static rim lighting; (2) the users do not prefer to collect virtual objects with rim lighting than virtual objects without lighting; (3) if the virtual object has a warm-colored texture, it’s more likely to be chosen when it has dynamic rim lighting compared with static rim lighting or no rim lighting; and (4) properties of the dominant color on the texture of a virtual object, such as the B value is a good predictor in predicting if the user tends to choose the object with rim lighting or without rim lighting, while R, B and Lightness values are plausible in predicting if the user tends to choose the virtual objects with dynamic rim lighting or static rim lighting. </p>

The subjective experience of presence is considered to be important in the treatment of anxiety disorders using virtual reality. Presence can be defined as a psychological phenomenon through which one's cognitive processes are oriented towards another world. Most of the research on presence has focused on the roles of technological factors influencing presence, while the number of studies focusing on the personality and physiological predictors are far fewer. Thus, the present study examined the relationship between various personality variables and presence, along with physiological correlates of presence when engaged in a virtual environment. The Presence Questionnaire, to determine their experience of presence, and a small battery of personality-related questionnaires were administered to 70 young adults who participated in 3 different virtual reality scenarios. Participants' physiological responses were recorded in the form of heart rate, galvanic skin levels, and galvanic skin responses were assessed as were urges to drink (craving). Data analysis showed that expectations, levels of craving, and drinking history played a significant role in the experience of presence.

This study investigated the development of trust between strangers interacting via avatars in virtual worlds. The first part of the study analyzed perceived trustworthiness based on the visual appearance of avatars; the second part makes observations of two strangers self-disclosing information via avatars in a virtual world; the third part analyzed an experimental situation of two individuals interacting via avatars, where avatar appearance was changed and participants were recruited based on their experience with interacting with others via avatars. Findings showed that perceived trustworthiness does vary based on the visual appearance of the avatar. A positive relationship was found for self-disclosure and experience, in that those who have previously chosen to participate in a virtual world were more likely to share more detailed information about themselves. Non-significant differences in self-disclosure were found for avatar appearance; however, experience in using virtual worlds was significantly different for the willingness to share information before engaging in a task: experienced participants shared more information than inexperienced participants. This suggests that self-disclosure might be influenced by appearance at the point of formation in that the experienced are willing to overlook the avatar, and less so when there are other sources of information to base trust-behavior on (Altman & Taylor, 1973; Nowak & Rauh, 2006). Recommendations were made for modifications for similar experiments trying to validate an objective measure of trust, and for continued research in the development of trust between strangers interacting via avatars.

Wearing a virtual reality head-mounted display (VR-HMD) disconnects users from the real- world context that they are physically in. While one solution is to have everyone in the room wear VR-HMDs, this is not inclusive for all users. For example, children are not recommended to wear VR-HMDs due to eyesight concerns, and individuals with cybersickness, make-up, or thick hair texture may not want to wear them. In this thesis, we investigated the effects of using motion-tracked tablets as a window through which people can see the virtual world and understand how we can offer a more inclusive and social VR experience. Finally, we explore our in-lab user study to evaluate the usability of such a system, and we compare it against watching the VR-HMD user's egocentric view on a computer screen. Our results show that the tablet-based VR system is highly usable. Because of its agency, the participants felt more present and preferred the tablet-based system over the baseline method. / Master of Science / Wearing a VR-HMD (Virtual Reality Head Mounted Display) to enter VR (Virtual reality) usually cuts the user off from the real-world context around them. One possible solution to this problem is to let everyone wear VR-HMDs. But it is not feasible for everyone. Some individuals experience cybersickness or physical constraints such as glasses, thick hair, or makeup. Additionally, children are not allowed to wear VR-HMD as it may affect their eyesight. We propose a solution to this problem by enabling users to use motion-tracked tablets. Motion-tracked tablets refer to tablets such as iPad, Galaxy Tab, etc., that are tracked inside a Virtual Environment (VE) using trackers such as Vive Tracker. The trackers track the relative location of the tablet inside the VE. We believe motion-tracked tablets will give the users a window to the VE. In this thesis, we investigated the effects of using motion-tracked tablets in VR to understand how we can offer a more inclusive and social VR experience. We explored how useful the users found the system, how situationally aware they were about the VE, and how present they felt in the VE. Our results show a preference for motion-tracked tablets over the egocentric view of the VR-HMD user through a computer screen.

Neuropsychological testing is one method used in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders. However, the testing process may be affected by subtle external factors which if not controlled for may have the ability to affect the scores obtained. The primary aim of this thesis was to investigate the effects of some of these external factors, namely caffeine, non-oily fish consumption and time of day. A secondary aim was to evaluate the use of a novel virtual assessment as a possible tool for the early detection of AD. Healthy elderly participants over the age of sixty with no existing cognitive impairment or neurological condition were recruited to take part. For each external factor investigated participants were required to undertake a cognitive assessment. The results demonstrated that subtle external factors present during a typical testing session have the ability to significantly affect the scores obtained. Scores on one part of the virtual test correlated with existing tests used for the early detection of cognitive impairment and were significantly lower in participants classified as mildly impaired. With further modification this test has the potential to be used as an early detection tool. The results have implications for the interpretation of neuropsychological test scores which may be considered when classifying participants, determining treatment interventions, selecting participants for research and making a diagnosis. These findings have important considerations for psychological and cognitive research that investigates human brain function.

In this thesis, we show that every periodic virtual knot can be realized as the closure of a periodic virtual braid. If K is a q-periodic virtual knot with quotient K_*, then the knot group G_{K_*} is a quotient of G_K and we derive an explicit q-symmetric Wirtinger presentation for G_K, whose quotient is a Wirtinger presentation for G_{K_*}. When K is an almost classical knot and q=p^r, a prime power, we show that K_* is also almost classical, and we establish a Murasugi-like congruence relating their Alexander polynomials modulo p. This result is applied to the problem of determining the possible periods of a virtual knot $K$. For example, if K is an almost classical knot with nontrivial Alexander polynomial, our result shows that K can be p-periodic for only finitely many primes p. Using parity and Manturov projection, we are able to apply the result and derive conditions that a general q-periodic virtual knot must satisfy. The thesis includes a table of almost classical knots up to 6 crossings, their Alexander polynomials, and all known and excluded periods. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis explores the educational potential of virtual environments, which are computer-generated spaces that allow users to have a sense of presence and interaction with simulated worlds. In this thesis, I argue that virtual environments are not merely tools for learning specific skills or knowledge, but can also enable formative experiences that contribute to the purpose of education as understood by contemporary educational theorists. Using Masschelein &amp; Simons’ concept of Scholè, which is a touchstone for the reinvention of school education, this thesis compares and contrasts different aspects of virtual environments with those of the scholastic. In order to do that, I propose a fictional virtual environment exclusively designed for formal education, called the Virtual Educational Environment (VEE), and discuss its possibilities and challenges. In doing so, I also suggest that virtual environments can be a global form of gathering that can augment physical classes, and call for more attention to their theoretical and practical implications for education.