Picking up stuff never looked so cool!
Steve, an early USC virtual human. ICT and virtual human research has come a long way in the past decade.
Virtual reality game-based technology can be used effectively to improve motor skill rehabilitation of a range of functional deficits. Our design approach focuses on the creation of flexible VR systems/tools that could address both assessment and training tasks in a more comprehensive fashion than is currently available within the clinic and home settings.
Integrating the newest consumer-ready technologies, the Motor Rehab Lab at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies explores and promotes the creation of home-based rehabilitation and exergame applications that do not require the user to hold an interface device or move on a pad as the source of interaction within the game. Instead, the user’s body is the game controller operating in 3D space, and multiple users can be tracked in this fashion for both cooperative and competitive interactive activities.
Using Smell to Enhance Immersion in Virtual Environments, with ICT’s Jacki Morie
Full sensory immersive worlds are the holy grail of games and simulations. Research scientist Jacquelyn Ford Morie of the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies discusses the potential and challenges of using scents in virtual environments. Morie is the co-inventor of the patented Scent Collar, a smell delivery device for use in virtual reality applications
Bill Swartout Speaks about Virtual Humans and Learning at NSF Cyberlearning Research Summit in Washington D.C.
The new video overview for ICT’s Gunslinger. Gunslinger is an interactive-entertainment application of virtual humans that transforms the iconic wild west movie scene into a vivid semblance of reality.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, ABC’s inspirational show that remodels homes for families and people who are facing enormous hardship, features ICT’s Microsoft Kinect motor rehabilitation technology. Belinda Lange, senior research associate at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies, customized ICT rehabilitation software to assist Staff Sergeant Allen Hill, who was almost killed by a roadside bomb, leaving him with traumatic flashbacks that continue to haunt him. Belinda pitched in to help the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition production crew get the house ready.
“The entire experience was incredible. I can’t wait to go back to Kansas to check on Sergeant Hill’s progress and get more feedback on our project,” she said.
To get more information on Belinda Lange’s work involving neurological injury and motor rehabilitation, please check out the ICT MedVR website.
