Stanford’s Jeremy Bailenson cites some beneficial research - including our own Skip Rizzo’s Virtual Classroom study for detecting ADHD - that use gaming technologies like the Kinect to learn about human behavior.
But he also notes that people should be aware of what such systems are capable of tracking. Here’s what he says:
“I believe that we’ll see many wonderful applications of this technology, ranging from safety systems to educational tools for struggling students. At the same time, gamers need to be informed that they can be watched, and that how you interact with a game system like the Kinect can potentially reveal a lot about you. As technology becomes more immersive, your video-game persona is not just a character. It’s you.”
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
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.
