Amit Barde

Navigation with passive haptic feedback can enhance users’ immersion in virtual environments. We propose a constrained path redirection method to provide users with corresponding haptic feedback at the right time and place. We have quantified the VR exploration practicality in a study and the results show advantages over steer-to-center method in terms of presence, and over Steinicke’s method in terms of matching errors and presence.

Researchers have employed hyperscanning, a technique used to simultaneously record neural activity from multiple participants, in real-world collaborations. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study that has used hyperscanning in Virtual Reality (VR). The aims of this study were; firstly, to replicate results of inter-brain synchrony reported in existing literature for a real world task and secondly, to explore whether the inter-brain synchrony could be elicited in a Virtual Environment (VE). This paper reports on three pilot-studies in two different settings (real-world and VR). Paired participants performed two sessions of a finger-pointing exercise separated by a finger-tracking exercise during which their neural activity was simultaneously recorded by electroencephalography (EEG) hardware. By using Phase Locking Value (PLV) analysis, VR was found to induce similar inter-brain synchrony as seen in the real-world. Further, it was observed that the finger-pointing exercise shared the same neurally activated area in both the real-world and VR. Based on these results, we infer that VR can be used to enhance inter-brain synchrony in collaborative tasks carried out in a VE. In particular, we have been able to demonstrate that changing visual perspective in VR is capable of eliciting inter-brain synchrony. This demonstrates that VR could be an exciting platform to explore the phenomena of inter-brain synchrony further and provide a deeper understanding of the neuroscience of human communication.

Hyperscanning is an emerging method for measuring two or more brains simultaneously. This method allows researchers to simultaneously record neural activity from two or more people. While this method has been extensively implemented over the last five years in the real-world to study inter-brain synchrony, there is little work that has been undertaken in the use of hyperscanning in virtual environments. Preliminary research in the area demonstrates that inter-brain synchrony in virtual environments can be achieved in a mannersimilar to thatseen in the real world. The study described in this paper proposes to further research in the area by studying how non-verbal communication cues in social interactions in virtual environments can afect inter-brain synchrony. In particular, we concentrate on the role eye gaze playsin inter-brain synchrony. The aim of this research is to explore how eye gaze afects inter-brain synchrony between users in a collaborative virtual environment

Researchers have employed hyperscanning, a technique used to simultaneously record neural activity from multiple participants, in real-world collaborations. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study that has used hyperscanning in Virtual Reality (VR). The aims of this study were; firstly, to replicate results of inter-brain synchrony reported in existing literature for a real world task and secondly, to explore whether the inter-brain synchrony could be elicited in a Virtual Environment (VE). This paper reports on three pilot-studies in two different settings (real-world and VR). Paired participants performed two sessions of a finger-pointing exercise separated by a finger-tracking exercise during which their neural activity was simultaneously recorded by electroencephalography (EEG) hardware. By using Phase Locking Value (PLV) analysis, VR was found to induce similar inter-brain synchrony as seen in the real-world. Further, it was observed that the finger-pointing exercise shared the same neurally activated area in both the real-world and VR. Based on these results, we infer that VR can be used to enhance inter-brain synchrony in collaborative tasks carried out in a VE. In particular, we have been able to demonstrate that changing visual perspective in VR is capable of eliciting inter-brain synchrony. This demonstrates that VR could be an exciting platform to explore the phenomena of inter-brain synchrony further and provide a deeper understanding of the neuroscience of human communication.

Inter-brain connectivity between pairs of people was explored during a finger tracking task in the real-world and in Virtual Reality (VR). This was facilitated by the use of a dual EEG set-up that allowed us to use hyperscanning to simultaneously record the neural activity of both participants. We found that similar levels of inter-brain synchrony can be elicited in the real-world and VR for the same task. This is the first time that hyperscanning has been used to compare brain activity for the same task performed in real and virtual environments.

Brain activity sometimes synchronises when people collaborate together on real world tasks. Understanding this process could to lead to improvements in face to face and remote collaboration. In this paper we report on an experiment exploring the relationship between eye gaze and inter-brain synchrony in Virtual Reality (VR). The experiment recruited pairs who were asked to perform finger-tracking exercises in VR with three different gaze conditions: averted, direct, and natural, while their brain activity was recorded. We found that gaze direction has a significant effect on inter-brain synchrony during collaboration for this task in VR. This shows that representing natural gaze could influence inter-brain synchrony in VR, which may have implications for avatar design for social VR. We discuss implications of our research and possible directions for future work.

Virtual Reality (VR) interfaces provide an immersive medium to interact with the digital world. Most VR interfaces require physical interactions using handheld controllers, but there are other alternative interaction methods that can support different use cases and users. Interaction methods in VR are primarily evaluated based on their usability, however, their differences in neurological and physiological effects remains less investigated. In this paper—along with other traditional qualitative matrices such as presence, affect, and system usability—we explore the neurophysiological effects—brain signals and electrodermal activity—of using an alternative facial expression interaction method to interact with VR interfaces. This form of interaction was also compared with traditional handheld controllers. Three different environments, with different experiences to interact with were used—happy (butterfly catching), neutral (object picking), and scary (zombie shooting). Overall, we noticed an effect of interaction methods on the gamma activities in the brain and on skin conductance. For some aspects of presence, facial expression outperformed controllers but controllers were found to be better than facial expressions in terms of usability.