Our Virtual Reality Setup

 

Current virtual reality technology is affording researchers in psychology the opportunity to develop innovative, ecologically valid experimental paradigms to study perceptual and cognitive phenomena. Not only is the sense of "presence" - the subjective experience of being within an environment much greater in a virtual environment than traditional tasks, but VR also allows experimenters to create artificial experimental scenarios that would not be possible the real world. Our current Virtual Reality setup consists of a head mounted display that provides subjects with visual information that is rapidly updated in response to their behaviours. All computations and image rendering is processed by a high performance SGI Onyx2 graphics computer. Participants are able to navigate within the virtual environment via one of three different interface categories. The first of which includes basic desktop input devices such as, a computer mouse, a keyboard, a 3D Spacemouse™, or a driving simulator. Second is a category of interface that allows for the incorporation of some portions of the body movements, such as biking riding (using modified stationary mountain bicycle). The bicycle is equipped with infrared sensors that measure subjects’ pedalling speed and turning movement. Finally, through a motion-tracking device, we are able to monitor subjects’ natural locomotor behaviour as they freely walk around in an open space, but visually only experience a computer simulated environment.

 

Main Devices

o       Simulation of walking

o       Simulation of driving, picture 1, picture 2,

1.      also see our video of the simulator,

2.      a video from the manufacture

o       Simulation of biking

 

Device pictures (right click your mouse, use “Open in new window” option)

 

Details

Locomotion

6-DF motion tracker (Intersense, IS-900)

Head Mounted Displays

·        nVis: nVisor SX

·        Virtual Research: V8

Eye Tracker (ASL: VR6)

Driving simulator (Drive Safety, DS600C)

Eye Tracking (Seeing Machine)

 

Other Devices

Large screen stereoscopic display (FakeSpace)