Meta-Dreaming: Entangling the Virtual and the Physical

Museums and the Web is an annual conference sponsored by Archives and Museum Informatics.The 99 conference provided us with an opportunity to reflect on how museums are being transformed by the Web as well as to understand the challenges that they are being presented with by the demand for parallel virtual programming

BackgroundAddressing specific social cognitive difficulties is an important target in early psychosis and may help address poor functional outcomes. However, structured interventions using standard therapy settings including groups suffer from difficulties in recruitment and retention.AimsTo address these issues, we aimed to modify an existing group social cognitive intervention entitled ‘Social Cognition and Interaction Training' (SCIT) to be delivered through a virtual world environment (Second Life ©).MethodsA single arm nonrandomized proof-of-concept trial of SCIT-VR was conducted. Five groups of three to five individuals per group were recruited over 6 months. Eight sessions of SCIT-VR therapy were delivered through the virtual world platform Second Life© over a 5-week intervention window. Feasibility was examined using recruitment rates and retention. Acceptability was examined using qualitative methods. Secondary outcomes including social cognitive indices, functioning, and anxiety were measured pre- and postintervention.ResultsThe SCIT-VR therapy delivered was feasible (36% consent rate and 73.3% intervention completion rate), acceptable (high overall postsession satisfaction scores) and safe (no serious adverse events), and had high levels of participant satisfaction. Users found the environment immersive. Prepost changes were found in emotion recognition scores and levels of anxiety. There were no signs of clinical deterioration on any of the secondary measures.ConclusionThis proof-of-concept pilot trial suggested that delivering SCIT-VR through a virtual world is feasible and acceptable. There were some changes in prepost outcome measures that suggest the intervention has face validity. There is sufficient evidence to support a larger powered randomized controlled trial.Clinical Trial RegistrationISRCTN, identifier 41443166

The paper presents the study of the educational context and its characteristics to achieve the most effective learning process.The aim of the research is to examine the perception of physical space in the traditional classroom and virtual space in online learning. The study of this issue is based on the psychological approach to the perception of virtual space as a model of physical space and on understanding the importance of this research area due to the development of distant forms of learning: though, the problems of virtual space functioning in the perception of students and its impact on learning efficiency still remain unexplored. Meanwhile, understanding the mechanism of space perception can help to adapt the learning process to the form of learning in choice: learning in a traditional classroom, where students work in a real physical space, learning in a virtual environment or in a hybrid form.Materials and methods. The theoretical basis for comparing the characteristics of physical and virtual space is the studies that focus on the importance of spatial organization in the process of learning. The psychological approach to the perception of space makes it possible to rely on the mechanism of transferring the physical characteristics of space into a virtual environment and to determine the possibility of comparison, primarily in an axiological sense. The study was carried out in the context of university education. Students of a higher educational institution were offered a questionnaire, the results of which were processed using a statistical method. Quantitative trends were then interpreted in the application to the learning process. The experiment was carried out in three stages (questionnaire, statistical processing, interpretation of the results), each of which revealed new aspects of the problem under study.Results. The study shows that there is a metaphorization mechanism that allows the learner to perceive the space of the virtual classroom in the same terms as the physical space of the traditional classroom. At the same time, the comparison of statistical data indicates the obvious differences in the perception of the student's space in the traditional and virtual classrooms. This is especially true for such parameters as openness, freedom of movement and the ratio of participants in the educational space, which indicates different learning conditions that determine the choice of teaching methods and techniques in the traditional context and in the virtual educational environment. Discussion of the results of statistical analysis allows us to draw conclusions about the difference of educational potential of the virtual and physical classroom spaces, the importance of socialization and various methods of its creation in the educational process.Conclusion. The conducted research shows the need for further study of space in the educational context, the need to take into account its parameters for developing virtual courses. Also, the results of the study show the importance of spatial characteristics for the success of learning, for creating a comfortable educational environment. The data obtained can be used in the development and improvement of online courses; it will help to avoid mistakes when in planning.

This brief article reports on the use of virtual reality and its effectiveness on improving and maintaining learners' intrinsic motivation or interest. Research suggests that interest contributes to learning. Therefore a study of the impact of interests is essential to an understanding of intrinsic motivation. Since the virtual environment provides a sense of presence, it may be possible to create scenarios to stimulate the learners' curiosity and interest. Eighteen students, 11 males and 7 females, between 21 and 32 years old, served as subjects for the study. The experiment consisted of the physical world environment using wooden blocks, and the virtual world using virtual blocks. Both worlds used color and shape as variables. The two variables consisted of three shapes (sphere, pyramid, and cube), and three colors (red, green, and blue). In both worlds, the wooden blocks and virtual blocks had to be manipulated and arranged in nine different patterns. The first experiment started with a two-block pattern. At each step the difficulty was increased by increasing the number of blocks. The subject's score was based on a ten-point scale instrument administered at the end of each experiment. The scores ranged from very weak to very strong. The results were used to identify a significant difference between the subjects' performance in the virtual world and in physical world with respect to curiosity, interest, and sense of control. The interest level comparison indicated that for all subjects scores in the virtual world were always higher than the scores in the physical world. The sense of control level comparison indicated that in the beginning scores in the virtualworld were not always higher than the scores in the physical world. However, after orientation to navigation through the virtual environment, the mean score gradually rose. This research demonstrates that the virtual world is more useful than the physical world (with respect of color and shape) in increasing the memory span of the learner.

Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1. Virtual Reconstruction. 1.1 A Virtual Reality Contest. 1.2 Virtual Reconstruction. 1.3 Computer-Assisted Paleontology. 1.3.1 Data Acquisition. 1.3.2 Data Segmentation and Three-Dimensional Reconstruction. 1.3.3 Virtual Fossil Reconstruction. 1.3.4 From Virtual Reality to Real Virtuality. 1.3.5 Databases and Morphometry. 1.3.6 Virtual Reconstruction in Space and Time. 1.4 Computer-Assisted Surgery. 1.5 Further Reading. 2. Data Representation. 2.1 World Food on a Chessboard. 2.2 Facts About Data to Get Data About Facts. 2.2.1 Analog and Digital Data. 2.2.2 Bits, Bytes, and Words. 2.2.3 Characters, Numbers, Pixels, and Voxels. 2.2.4 Representing Gray Tones and Colors. 2.2.5 Data Compression. 2.2.6 Some Common Image File Formats. 2.2.7 Implicit Versus Explicit Representation of Object Data. 2.2.8 Modeling Three-Dimensional Objects. 2.3 A Taxonomy of Biomedical Data. 2.3.1 Perspectives on Data. 2.3.2 Volume Data. 2.3.3 Surface Data. 2.3.4 Landmark Data. 2.3.5 Extent-Based Data. 2.3.6 Relational Data. 2.4 Further Reading. 3. Data Acquisition. 3.1 Data and the Physical World. 3.2 Vision and Photography as Data Acquisition: Performance Considerations. 3.3 Computed Tomography. 3.3.1 Frau RAntgena s Wedding Ring. 3.3.2 Radiographic Projections. 3.3.3 Reconstructing CT Images. 3.3.4 CT Scanning: Technical Considerations. 3.3.5 Limitations of CT Data Acquisition. 3.3.6 Slice-to-Slice, Helical, and Multislice CT. 3.3.7 Industrial and Micro Computed Tomography. 3.3.8 Three-Dimensional Data Acquisition with a Medical Scanner. 3.4 Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 3.5 Surface Scanners. 3.6 3D Digitizers. 3.7 Further Reading. 4. Image Data Processing. 4.1 Recovering Objects from Images. 4.2 Converting a CT Image into a Screen Image. 4.3 Filtering Images. 4.3.1 Coffee and Kernels. 4.3.2 Convolution and Fourier Analysis. 4.3.3 Statistical Filters. 4.3.4 Edge Detection Filters. 4.4 Extracting Isosurfaces. 4.4.1 Determining Boundaries in CT Images. 4.4.2 From Edges to Isocontours and Isosurfaces. 4.5 Interactive Segmentation. 4.6 Further Reading. 5. Visualization and Interaction. 5.1 Visualizing Data in Two and More Dimensions. 5.2 Interaction with Virtual Worlds. 5.3 The Graphics Rendering Pipeline. 5.4 Setting Up a Virtual Environment. 5.4.1 Object Materials, Lighting, and Shading. 5.4.2 Setting Up the Camera. 5.4.3 Object Manipulation and Interaction. 5.5 Volume Rendering. 5.6 Further Reading. 6. Virtual Fossil Reconstruction. 6.1 A Baroque Puzzle. 6.2 Principles of Reconstruction. 6.3 Physical and Virtual Reconstruction. 6.4 Preparing and Restoring Fossils on the Computer Screen. 6.5 Reconstructing Fossil Morphologies. 6.5.1 Recovering Implicit Anatomic Information. 6.5.2 Combining Computer Graphics and Anatomy: The Globe Paradigm. 6.5.3 Inferring Missing Information. 6.5.4 Interpolation and Extrapolation. 6.6 Correcting Fossil Deformation. 6.6.1 Taphonomic Scenarios. 6.6.2 Correcting Plastic Deformation. 6.7 Validating Virtual Reconstructions. 6.8 Paleodiagnostics and Paleoforensics. 6.9 Inferring Soft Tissue Structures. 6.9.1 Motivation. 6.9.2 Fossil Soft Tissue Reconstruction: Classic and Virtual Approaches. 6.9.3 What Shall Be Reconstructed? 6.9.4 Soft Tissue Reconstruction and Measurement. 6.10 Virtual Surgery: A Paleoanthropologista s Eye View. 6.10.1 Motivation. 6.10.2 Virtual Planning and Simulation of Surgical Interventions. 6.10.3 Custom Implant Design. 6.10.4 Soft Tissue Reconstruction. 6.11 Further Reading. 7. From Virtual Reality to Real Virtuality. 7.1 Reifying Virtual Objects. 7.2 Principles of Rapid Prototyping. 7.3 Combining Virtual Reality and Real Virtuality. 7.4 Further Reading. 8. Morphometric Analysis. 8.1 Morphometry as Reconstruction. 8.2 Morphometry and Geometry. 8.2.1 The Role of Geometry. 8.2.2 The Role of Size and Shape. 8.2.3 Multivariate Morphometry. 8.2.4 Principal Components Analysis and Dimension Reduction. 8.2.5 Classic Multivariate Morphometry: Geometry Lost. 8.2.6 Geometric Morphometrics: Geometry Recovered. 8.3 Shape Space Analysis. 8.3.1 From Da Arcy Thompson to Kendall. 8.3.2 The Workflow of Shape Space Analysis. 8.3.3 Determining a Reference Shape. 8.3.4 Analyzing Data in Shape Space. 8.3.5 Visualizing Patterns of Shape Difference and Shape Change. 8.3.5 Visualizing Patterns of Shape Difference and Shape Change. 8.4 Euclidean Distance Matrix Analysis. 8.4.1 In Search of the Golden Mean. 8.4.2 Exploring Form Variability with EDMA. 8.5 Outline Analysis. 8.6 A Comparison of Geometric Morphometric Methods. 8.6.1 Criteria for Comparison. 8.6.2 From Pattern to Process. 8.7 Exploring Morphometric Patterns. 8.8 Further Reading. Appendix A. Image Data Acquisition Systems: Performance Considerations. Appendix B. Parameters Influencing the Quality of CT Image Data. Appendix C. CT Scanning of Fossil Specimens and Recent Skeletal Specimens: How to Proceed? Appendix D. Object Manipulation in Virtual Space. Appendix E. A Parsimonious Approach to Correction of Taphonomic Deformation. Appendix F. Morphometry. References. Index.

Three-dimensional (3D) maps have many potential applications, such as navigation and urban planning. In this article, we present the use of a 3D virtual world platform Meshmoon to create intelligent open data 3D maps. A processing method is developed to enable the generation of 3D virtual environments from the open data of the National Land Survey of Finland. The article combines the elements needed in contemporary smart city concepts, such as the connection between attribute information and 3D objects, and the creation of collaborative virtual worlds from open data. By using our 3D virtual world platform, it is possible to create up-to-date, collaborative 3D virtual models, which are automatically updated on all viewers. In the scenes, all users are able to interact with the model, and with each other. With the developed processing methods, the creation of virtual world scenes was partially automated for collaboration activities.

BackgroundInnovative restructuring of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) delivery remains critical to reduce barriers and improve access to diverse populations. Destination Cardiac Rehab is a novel virtual world technology‐based CR program delivered through the virtual world platform, Second Life, which previously demonstrated high acceptability as an extension of traditional center‐based CR. This study aims to evaluate efficacy and adherence of the virtual world–based CR program compared with center‐based CR within a community‐informed, implementation science framework.MethodsUsing a noninferiority, hybrid type 1 effectiveness‐implementation, randomized controlled trial, 150 patients with an eligible cardiovascular event will be recruited from 6 geographically diverse CR centers across the United States. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to either the 12‐week Destination Cardiac Rehab or the center‐based CR control groups. The primary efficacy outcome is a composite cardiovascular health score based on the American Heart Association Life's Essential 8 at 3 and 6 months. Adherence outcomes include CR session attendance and participation in exercise sessions. A diverse patient/caregiver/stakeholder advisory board was assembled to guide recruitment, implementation, and dissemination plans and to contextualize study findings. The institutional review board–approved randomized controlled trial will enroll and randomize patients to the intervention (or control group) in 3 consecutive waves/year over 3 years. The results will be published at data collection and analyses completion.ConclusionsThe Destination Cardiac Rehab randomized controlled trial tests an innovative and potentially scalable model to enhance CR participation and advance health equity. Our findings will inform the use of effective virtual CR programs to expand equitable access to diverse patient populations.RegistrationURL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT05897710.

3D multi-user virtual environments (MUVE) bring new opportunities to foreign language teaching and learning as a platform for teaching practices. Due to immersive and interactive nature of 3D MUVE, these tools have gained popularity in the field of foreign language learning and teaching. The power of virtual learning environments lies in creating immersive 3-D spaces that give users a sense of learning by doing. Moreover, the environment is interactive and is much the same as real world interaction. MUVE provides strong support for synchronous collaborations, interactions, and immersive environments for experiential and constructivist learning settings. Some key features of the virtual worlds comprise the ability to construct 3D environments that simulate real world situations, as well as the ability to have a virtual identity to create a cross-cultural self and the ability to have participants from around the world acting virtually in designated roles that convey new types of learning within this environment.

When asking which Virtual World to use for educational purposes, people most often want to hear a one- sentence answer. Frequently the question leads to a discussion that can be compared to a debate about religion: you cannot be too sure which side you will choose but you are easily doomed from the beginning if you pick the wrong side (or in this case, platform). To help educators pick the right Virtual World platform we have developed a Scoring Model and Criteria Catalogue which support choosing the most suitable platform for teaching purposes. Educators can use the Scoring Model to rate the criteria based on their respective demand. The Scoring Model will then suggest a Virtual World platform from a â??long listâ? and instruct the educator how to install/use/maintain the platform. Thus educators will not be left alone with their choice and will get a motivational hint where to start and where to seek support. The â??long listâ? is monitored and updated regularly so that selections are always up-to-date.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The current approach for new Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and Connected and Automated Driving (CAD) function development involves a significant amount of public road testing which is inefficient due to the number miles that need to be driven for rare and extreme events to take place, thereby being very costly also, and unsafe as the rest of the road users become involuntary test subjects. A new development, evaluation and demonstration method for safe, efficient, and repeatable development, demonstration and evaluation of ADAS and CAD functions called Vehicle-in-Virtual –Environment (VVE) was recently introduced as a solution to this problem. The vehicle is operated in a large, empty, and flat area during VVE while its localization and perception sensor data is fed from the virtual environment with other traffic and rare and extreme events being generated as needed. The virtual environment can be easily configured and modified to construct different testing scenarios on demand. This paper focuses on the VVE approach and introduces the coordinate transformations needed to sync pose (location and orientation) in the virtual and physical worlds and handling of localization and perception sensor data using the highly realistic 3D simulation model of a recent autonomous shuttle deployment site in Columbus, Ohio as the virtual world. As a further example that uses multiple actors, the use of VVE for Vehicle-to-VRU communication based Vulnerable Road User (VRU) safety is presented in the paper using VVE experiments and real pedestrian(s) in a safe and repeatable manner. VVE experiments are used to demonstrate the efficacy of the method.</div></div>

Introduction: Immersive online technologies, such as virtual world (VW) platforms, can increase patient engagement in DSME/S. The Women in Control 2.0 (WIC2) trial compared DSME/S delivered in a VW vs. in-person for minority women with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes (HbA1c ≥8.0). We hypothesize the sense of presence afforded by a VW platform fosters patient engagement. Presence in a virtual reality setting is defined as a feeling of being immersed in an environment despite its artificiality. Methods: We used a triangulation mixed-methods design embedded within the WIC2 clinical trial. For the 145 participants randomized to the VW study arm, we measured participant experience of physical, self and social “presence” in the VW using the validated Multimodal Presence Scale (MPS) and 63 participated in qualitative interviews. We analyzed participant experiences in the VW with qualitative data collected via direct observation, focus group, and key informant interviews. We calculated the MPS scores and conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of transcripts. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected independently and integrated using a conceptual mapping process to correlate participants’ experience of DSME/S in the VW. Results: Half of participants were over 56yo and had a mean baseline HbA1c of 9.9% (SD=1.75). Two-thirds of the VW participants reported a sense of social (63.7%) and physical (63.1%) presence, while half-experienced self (49.0%) presence in the VW. Data integration led to three themes related to “presence” in a VW: (1) Self-presence fosters user identification with the personalized avatar (2) Physical presence fosters a growth mindset through imaginative play and visualization, and (3) social presence fosters peer social support. Conclusion: Patient engagement in DSME/S is enhanced by the sense of physical, social and self- presence experienced by learners when using immersive technology software in a peer group context. Disclosure S. Mitchell: Other Relationship; Self; See Yourself Health LLC, Speaker's Bureau; Self; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. A. Bragg: None. M. Winter: None. P. Gardiner: None. J. M. Howard: None. L. D. Laird: None. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK10653)

BackgroundSince their inception, virtual patients have provided health care educators with a way to engage learners in an experience simulating the clinician’s environment without danger to learners and patients. This has led this learning modality to be accepted as an essential component of medical education. With the advent of the visually and audio-rich 3-dimensional multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), a new deployment platform has emerged for educational content. Immersive, highly interactive, multimedia-rich, MUVEs that seamlessly foster collaboration provide a new hotbed for the deployment of medical education content.ObjectiveThis work aims to assess the suitability of the Second Life MUVE as a virtual patient deployment platform for undergraduate dental education, and to explore the requirements and specifications needed to meaningfully repurpose Web-based virtual patients in MUVEs.MethodsThrough the scripting capabilities and available art assets in Second Life, we repurposed an existing Web-based periodontology virtual patient into Second Life. Through a series of point-and-click interactions and multiple-choice queries, the user experienced a specific periodontology case and was asked to provide the optimal responses for each of the challenges of the case. A focus group of 9 undergraduate dentistry students experienced both the Web-based and the Second Life version of this virtual patient. The group convened 3 times and discussed relevant issues such as the group’s computer literacy, the assessment of Second Life as a virtual patient deployment platform, and compared the Web-based and MUVE-deployed virtual patients.ResultsA comparison between the Web-based and the Second Life virtual patient revealed the inherent advantages of the more experiential and immersive Second Life virtual environment. However, several challenges for the successful repurposing of virtual patients from the Web to the MUVE were identified. The identified challenges for repurposing of Web virtual patients to the MUVE platform from the focus group study were (1) increased case complexity to facilitate the user’s gaming preconception in a MUVE, (2) necessity to decrease textual narration and provide the pertinent information in a more immersive sensory way, and (3) requirement to allow the user to actuate the solutions of problems instead of describing them through narration.ConclusionsFor a successful systematic repurposing effort of virtual patients to MUVEs such as Second Life, the best practices of experiential and immersive game design should be organically incorporated in the repurposing workflow (automated or not). These findings are pivotal in an era in which open educational content is transferred to and shared among users, learners, and educators of various open repositories/environments.

Virtual reality finds increasingly more place in education, especially through the three-dimensional environments. Although different experiments were performed with 3D virtual learning environments we believe that research in this area is still in its infancy and the perspective are high due to continuous technological advances. Our learning module allows students to more easily understand, by 3D visualizations and animations, the internal structure of the human body, living cells in the human body, bone structure or hearth sections. The 3D experience is completed with a wide range of multimedia elements like text, voice or digital image with animation. The module offers a collaborative learning environment, which contributes to the socialization of the participants. Their immersion in the virtual space, by means of avatars, improves also the attractiveness of the lesson. When a student is on-line in the virtual world, he has several options for learning about any found object and synchronizes this interaction with the teacher. Such options are YouTube, Wikipedia, Power point presentation, Videos, Hyperlinks. The paper presents the results of an experiment with our learning module, which was conducted with a group of 20 students from the ninth grade at a school in Jordan. The experiment aimed to make a comparison between the traditional method of teaching and learning and the virtual environment-based method offered by our module. Students appreciated the immersion in the virtual space, flying through the human body cells. They enjoyed the lesson, also, because they were able to communicate with colleagues during the lesson, each hidden behind an avatar. Last but not least, the lesson in virtual environment does not require their presence in the real class in a fixed schedule.

This paper proposes a framework for the analysis of artworks created in virtual worlds by extending Lichty's four modalities of art in virtual worlds, identified as transmediated, cybrid, client/browser, and ever gent. A selection of artworks from the Kritical Work in SL exhibitions undertaken in 2008 and 2009 are analysed for the qualities of imaginative experience and the articulation of a new set of movements of the imagination from (and between) physical and virtual world spaces indicates a potency of virtual worlds for the investigation and creation of artistic practice.

To report on a randomized controlled trial of Zest, a highly innovative psychological health promotion group intervention designed specifically for women with spinal cord injury (SCI), a population at risk for adverse psychological health. A national sample of 175 women with SCI were randomized to either the Zest intervention or a control group that received intervention materials at the end of the study. The Zest group participated in a psychological health promotion intervention that met weekly for 10 weeks in the free, online, three-dimensional virtual world of Second Life. The novel use of this technology afforded delivery to participants with SCI without requiring them to leave their homes. Both groups completed online surveys at baseline, at program end, and at 6 months assessing the primary outcomes (depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) and the proposed mediators (self-efficacy, connectedness, and perceived stress). Zest was well received by participants. We found significant group differences supporting the efficacy of the intervention on the primary outcomes of depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Analyses also supported self-efficacy and perceived stress as important mediators of the impact of the intervention on the primary outcomes. Zest, a group program offered on a virtual world platform, offers promise as an intervention for enhancing the psychological health of women with SCI. More attention should be devoted to the psychosocial health needs of people with SCI by developing and implementing affordable, accessible, and widely available programming. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).