A new system published in The Visual Computer uses sensors and wireless devices to measure three physiological parameters in real time, heart rate, respiration, and the galvanic (electric) skin response, processes that data using software, and is then used to control the behavior of a virtual character who is sitting in a waiting room.
The heart rate was reflected in the movement of the character's feet, respiration in the rising of the chest (exaggerated movements so that it can be noticed) and the galvanic skin response in the more or less reddish color of the face.
Human unconscious parameters transferred to virtual characters. Credit: Groenegress et al.
"The ultimate aim is to develop a method which allows humans to unconsciously relate with some parts of the virtual environment more intensely than with others, and that they are encouraged only by their own physiological responses to the virtual reality shown," Christoph Groenegress, co-author of the work and researcher at the University of Barcelona told SINC.
The researchers conducted an experiment to see if the people whose physiological parameters were recorded had any preference as regards the virtual actor who would use them, without them knowing in advance, but the result was negative, "probably because other factors also influence the choice such as the character's appearance or their situation in the scene."
The scientists point out that the unconscious processes can be a useful tool for telling stories, in a video-game, obviously, but also for arousing interest in participants when carrying out a sequence of tasks, such as patients undergoing rehabilitation.
"We maintain that the linking of subjective corporal states to a virtual reality can improve the sensation of realism that a person has of this reality and, eventually, create a stronger link between humans and this virtual reality," Groenegress concludes.
Citation: Christoph Groenegress, Bernhard Spanlang, Mel Slater, 'The physiological mirror—a system for unconscious control of a virtual environment through physiological activity', The Visual Computer Volume 26, Numbers 6-8, 649-657, DOI: 10.1007/s00371-010-0471-9
