Publications
Search
201.
Khooshabeh, Peter; Lucas, Gale
Virtual Human Role Players for Studying Social Factors in Organizational Decision Making Journal Article
In: Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 9, 2018, ISSN: 1664-1078.
@article{khooshabeh_virtual_2018,
title = {Virtual Human Role Players for Studying Social Factors in Organizational Decision Making},
author = {Peter Khooshabeh and Gale Lucas},
url = {http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00194/full},
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00194},
issn = {1664-1078},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-03-01},
journal = {Frontiers in Psychology},
volume = {9},
abstract = {The cyber domain of military operations presents many challenges. A unique element is the social dynamic between cyber operators and their leadership because of the novel subject matter expertise involved in conducting technical cyber tasks, so there will be situations where senior leaders might have much less domain knowledge or no experience at all relative to the warfighters who report to them. Nonetheless, it will be important for junior cyber operators to convey convincing information relevant to a mission in order to persuade or influence a leader to make informed decisions. The power dynamic will make it difficult for the junior cyber operator to successfully influence a higher ranking leader. Here we present a perspective with a sketch for research paradigm(s) to study how different factors (normative vs. informational social influence, degree of transparency, and perceived appropriateness of making suggestions) might interact with differential social power dynamics of individuals in cyber decision-making contexts. Finally, we contextualize this theoretical perspective for the research paradigms in viable training technologies.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The cyber domain of military operations presents many challenges. A unique element is the social dynamic between cyber operators and their leadership because of the novel subject matter expertise involved in conducting technical cyber tasks, so there will be situations where senior leaders might have much less domain knowledge or no experience at all relative to the warfighters who report to them. Nonetheless, it will be important for junior cyber operators to convey convincing information relevant to a mission in order to persuade or influence a leader to make informed decisions. The power dynamic will make it difficult for the junior cyber operator to successfully influence a higher ranking leader. Here we present a perspective with a sketch for research paradigm(s) to study how different factors (normative vs. informational social influence, degree of transparency, and perceived appropriateness of making suggestions) might interact with differential social power dynamics of individuals in cyber decision-making contexts. Finally, we contextualize this theoretical perspective for the research paradigms in viable training technologies.
202.
Weber, René; Mangus, J. Michael; Huskey, Richard; Hopp, Frederic R.; Amir, Ori; Swanson, Reid; Gordon, Andrew; Khooshabeh, Peter; Hahn, Lindsay; Tamborini, Ron
Extracting Latent Moral Information from Text Narratives: Relevance, Challenges, and Solutions Journal Article
In: Communication Methods and Measures, vol. 12, no. 2-3, pp. 119–139, 2018, ISSN: 1931-2458, 1931-2466.
@article{weber_extracting_2018,
title = {Extracting Latent Moral Information from Text Narratives: Relevance, Challenges, and Solutions},
author = {René Weber and J. Michael Mangus and Richard Huskey and Frederic R. Hopp and Ori Amir and Reid Swanson and Andrew Gordon and Peter Khooshabeh and Lindsay Hahn and Ron Tamborini},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19312458.2018.1447656},
doi = {10.1080/19312458.2018.1447656},
issn = {1931-2458, 1931-2466},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-03-01},
journal = {Communication Methods and Measures},
volume = {12},
number = {2-3},
pages = {119–139},
abstract = {Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) and the Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars (MIME) contend that moral judgments are built on a universal set of basic moral intuitions. A large body of research has supported many of MFT’s and the MIME’s central hypotheses. Yet, an important prerequisite of this research—the ability to extract latent moral content represented in media stimuli with a reliable procedure—has not been systematically studied. In this article, we subject different extraction procedures to rigorous tests, underscore challenges by identifying a range of reliabilities, develop new reliability test and coding procedures employing computational methods, and provide solutions that maximize the reliability and validity of moral intuition extraction. In six content analytical studies, including a large crowd-based study, we demonstrate that: (1) traditional content analytical approaches lead to rather low reliabilities; (2) variation in coding reliabilities can be predicted by both text features and characteristics of the human coders; and (3) reliability is largely unaffected by the detail of coder training. We show that a coding task with simplified training and a coding technique that treats moral foundations as fast, spontaneous intuitions leads to acceptable inter-rater agreement, and potentially to more valid moral intuition extractions. While this study was motivated by issues related to MFT and MIME research, the methods and findings in this study have implications for extracting latent content from text narratives that go beyond moral information. Accordingly, we provide a tool for researchers interested in applying this new approach in their own work.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) and the Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars (MIME) contend that moral judgments are built on a universal set of basic moral intuitions. A large body of research has supported many of MFT’s and the MIME’s central hypotheses. Yet, an important prerequisite of this research—the ability to extract latent moral content represented in media stimuli with a reliable procedure—has not been systematically studied. In this article, we subject different extraction procedures to rigorous tests, underscore challenges by identifying a range of reliabilities, develop new reliability test and coding procedures employing computational methods, and provide solutions that maximize the reliability and validity of moral intuition extraction. In six content analytical studies, including a large crowd-based study, we demonstrate that: (1) traditional content analytical approaches lead to rather low reliabilities; (2) variation in coding reliabilities can be predicted by both text features and characteristics of the human coders; and (3) reliability is largely unaffected by the detail of coder training. We show that a coding task with simplified training and a coding technique that treats moral foundations as fast, spontaneous intuitions leads to acceptable inter-rater agreement, and potentially to more valid moral intuition extractions. While this study was motivated by issues related to MFT and MIME research, the methods and findings in this study have implications for extracting latent content from text narratives that go beyond moral information. Accordingly, we provide a tool for researchers interested in applying this new approach in their own work.
203.
Rizzo, Skip
Will healthcare be where the killer VR apps will emerge? Journal Article
In: VR 360, 2018.
@article{rizzo_skip_will_2018,
title = {Will healthcare be where the killer VR apps will emerge?},
author = {Skip Rizzo},
url = {https://www.virtualreality-news.net/news/2018/feb/13/will-healthcare-be-where-killer-vr-apps-will-emerge/},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-02-01},
journal = {VR 360},
abstract = {Virtual reality (VR) technology offers new opportunities for clinical research, assessment, and intervention. Since the mid-1990s, VR-based testing, training, teaching, and treatment approaches have been developed by clinicians and researchers that would be difficult, if not impossible, to deliver using traditional methods},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Virtual reality (VR) technology offers new opportunities for clinical research, assessment, and intervention. Since the mid-1990s, VR-based testing, training, teaching, and treatment approaches have been developed by clinicians and researchers that would be difficult, if not impossible, to deliver using traditional methods
204.
Rizzo, Albert ‘Skip’; Shilling, Russell
Clinical Virtual Reality tools to advance the prevention, assessment, and treatment of PTSD Journal Article
In: European Journal of Psychotraumatology, vol. 8, no. sup5, 2018, ISSN: 2000-8198, 2000-8066.
@article{rizzo_clinical_2018,
title = {Clinical Virtual Reality tools to advance the prevention, assessment, and treatment of PTSD},
author = {Albert ‘Skip’ Rizzo and Russell Shilling},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20008198.2017.1414560},
doi = {10.1080/20008198.2017.1414560},
issn = {2000-8198, 2000-8066},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {European Journal of Psychotraumatology},
volume = {8},
number = {sup5},
abstract = {Numerous reports indicate that the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/ OND) military personnel has created a significant behavioural healthcare challenge. These findings have served to motivate research on how to better develop and disseminate evidence-based treatments for PTSD. The current article presents the use of Virtual Reality (VR) as a clinical tool to address the assessment, prevention, and treatment of PTSD, based on the VR projects that were evolved at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies since 2004. A brief discussion of the definition and rationale for the clinical use of VR is followed by a description of a VR application designed for the delivery of prolonged exposure (PE) for treating Service Members (SMs) and Veterans with combat- and sexual assault-related PTSD. The expansion of the virtual treatment simulations of Iraq and Afghanistan for PTSD assessment and prevention is then presented. This is followed by a forward-looking discussion that details early efforts to develop virtual human agent systems that serve the role of virtual patients for training the next generation of clinical providers, as healthcare guides that can be used to support anonymous access to trauma-relevant behavioural healthcare information, and as clinical interviewers capable of automated behaviour analysis of users to infer psychological state. The paper will conclude with a discussion of VR as a tool for breaking down barriers to care in addition to its direct application in assessment and intervention.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Numerous reports indicate that the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/ OND) military personnel has created a significant behavioural healthcare challenge. These findings have served to motivate research on how to better develop and disseminate evidence-based treatments for PTSD. The current article presents the use of Virtual Reality (VR) as a clinical tool to address the assessment, prevention, and treatment of PTSD, based on the VR projects that were evolved at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies since 2004. A brief discussion of the definition and rationale for the clinical use of VR is followed by a description of a VR application designed for the delivery of prolonged exposure (PE) for treating Service Members (SMs) and Veterans with combat- and sexual assault-related PTSD. The expansion of the virtual treatment simulations of Iraq and Afghanistan for PTSD assessment and prevention is then presented. This is followed by a forward-looking discussion that details early efforts to develop virtual human agent systems that serve the role of virtual patients for training the next generation of clinical providers, as healthcare guides that can be used to support anonymous access to trauma-relevant behavioural healthcare information, and as clinical interviewers capable of automated behaviour analysis of users to infer psychological state. The paper will conclude with a discussion of VR as a tool for breaking down barriers to care in addition to its direct application in assessment and intervention.
205.
Nilsson, Niels; Peck, Tabitha; Bruder, Gerd; Hodgson, Eric; Serafin, Stefania; Suma, Evan; Whitton, Mary; Steinicke, Frank
15 Years of Research on Redirected Walking in Immersive Virtual Environments Journal Article
In: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 2018, ISSN: 0272-1716.
@article{nilsson_15_2018,
title = {15 Years of Research on Redirected Walking in Immersive Virtual Environments},
author = {Niels Nilsson and Tabitha Peck and Gerd Bruder and Eric Hodgson and Stefania Serafin and Evan Suma and Mary Whitton and Frank Steinicke},
url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8255772/},
doi = {10.1109/MCG.2018.111125628},
issn = {0272-1716},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications},
abstract = {Virtual reality users wearing head-mounted displays can experience the illusion of walking in any direction for infinite distance while, in reality, they are walking a curvilinear path in physical space. This is accomplished by introducing unnoticeable rotations to the virtual environment—a technique called redirected walking. This paper gives an overview of the research that has been performed since redirected walking was first practically demonstrated 15 years ago.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Virtual reality users wearing head-mounted displays can experience the illusion of walking in any direction for infinite distance while, in reality, they are walking a curvilinear path in physical space. This is accomplished by introducing unnoticeable rotations to the virtual environment—a technique called redirected walking. This paper gives an overview of the research that has been performed since redirected walking was first practically demonstrated 15 years ago.
206.
Krämer, Nicole C.; Lucas, Gale; Schmitt, Lea; Gratch, Jonathan
In: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, vol. 109, pp. 112–121, 2018, ISSN: 10715819.
@article{kramer_social_2018,
title = {Social snacking with a virtual agent – On the interrelation of need to belong and effects of social responsiveness when interacting with artificial entities},
author = {Nicole C. Krämer and Gale Lucas and Lea Schmitt and Jonathan Gratch},
url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1071581917301271},
doi = {10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.09.001},
issn = {10715819},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Studies},
volume = {109},
pages = {112--121},
abstract = {Based on considerations that people´s need to belong can be temporarily satisfied by “social snacking” (Gardner et al., 2005) in the sense that in absence of social interactions which adequately satisfy belongingness needs surrogates can bridge lonely times, it was tested whether the interaction with a virtual agent can serve to ease the need for social contact. In a between subjects experimental setting, 79 participants interacted with a virtual agent who either displayed socially responsive nonverbal behavior or not. Results demonstrate that although there was no main effect of socially responsive behavior on participants´ subjective experience of rapport and on connectedness with the agent, those people with a high need to belong reported less willingness to engage in social activities after the interaction with a virtual agent – but only if the agent displayed socially responsive behavior.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Based on considerations that people´s need to belong can be temporarily satisfied by “social snacking” (Gardner et al., 2005) in the sense that in absence of social interactions which adequately satisfy belongingness needs surrogates can bridge lonely times, it was tested whether the interaction with a virtual agent can serve to ease the need for social contact. In a between subjects experimental setting, 79 participants interacted with a virtual agent who either displayed socially responsive nonverbal behavior or not. Results demonstrate that although there was no main effect of socially responsive behavior on participants´ subjective experience of rapport and on connectedness with the agent, those people with a high need to belong reported less willingness to engage in social activities after the interaction with a virtual agent – but only if the agent displayed socially responsive behavior.
207.
Neubauer, Catherine; Mozgai, Sharon; Scherer, Stefan; Woolley, Joshua; Chuang, Brandon
Manual and Automatic Measures Confirm-Intranasal Oxytocin Increases Facial Expressivity Journal Article
In: Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction, 2017.
@article{neubauer_manual_2017,
title = {Manual and Automatic Measures Confirm-Intranasal Oxytocin Increases Facial Expressivity},
author = {Catherine Neubauer and Sharon Mozgai and Stefan Scherer and Joshua Woolley and Brandon Chuang},
url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321644417_Manual_and_Automatic_Measures_Confirm-Intranasal_Oxytocin_Increases_Facial_Expressivity?enrichId=rgreq-22efb1e32ef30cdd22e6bee2b3b63d56-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzMyMTY0NDQxNztBUzo1NjkwNTI4NzM4NTQ5NzZAMTUxMjY4NDE4NTcyOQ%3D%3D&el=1_x_2&_esc=publicationCoverPdf},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-12-01},
journal = {Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction},
abstract = {The effects of oxytocin on facial emotional expressivity were investigated in individuals with schizophrenia and age-matched healthy controls during the completion of a Social Judgment Task (SJT) with a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design. Although pharmacological interventions exist to help alleviate some symptoms of schizophrenia, currently available agents are not effective at improving the severity of blunted facial affect. Participant facial expressivity was previously quantified from video recordings of the SJT using a wellvalidated manual approach (Facial Expression Coding System; FACES). We confirm these findings using an automated computer-based approach. Using both methods we found that the administration of oxytocin significantly increased total facial expressivity in individuals with schizophrenia and increased facial expressivity at trend level in healthy controls. Secondary analysis showed that oxytocin also significantly increased the frequency of negative valence facial expressions in individuals with schizophrenia but not in healthy controls and that oxytocin did not significantly increase positive valence facial expressions in either group. Both manual coding and automatic facial analysis revealed the same pattern of findings. Considering manual annotation can be expensive and timeconsuming, these results suggest that automatic facial analysis may be an efficient and cost-effective alternative to currently utilized manual approaches and may be ready for use in clinical settings.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The effects of oxytocin on facial emotional expressivity were investigated in individuals with schizophrenia and age-matched healthy controls during the completion of a Social Judgment Task (SJT) with a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design. Although pharmacological interventions exist to help alleviate some symptoms of schizophrenia, currently available agents are not effective at improving the severity of blunted facial affect. Participant facial expressivity was previously quantified from video recordings of the SJT using a wellvalidated manual approach (Facial Expression Coding System; FACES). We confirm these findings using an automated computer-based approach. Using both methods we found that the administration of oxytocin significantly increased total facial expressivity in individuals with schizophrenia and increased facial expressivity at trend level in healthy controls. Secondary analysis showed that oxytocin also significantly increased the frequency of negative valence facial expressions in individuals with schizophrenia but not in healthy controls and that oxytocin did not significantly increase positive valence facial expressions in either group. Both manual coding and automatic facial analysis revealed the same pattern of findings. Considering manual annotation can be expensive and timeconsuming, these results suggest that automatic facial analysis may be an efficient and cost-effective alternative to currently utilized manual approaches and may be ready for use in clinical settings.
208.
Laird, John E.; Lebiere, Christian; Rosenbloom, Paul S.
In: AI Magazine, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 13, 2017, ISSN: 0738-4602, 0738-4602.
@article{laird_standard_2017,
title = {A Standard Model of the Mind: Toward a Common Computational Framework across Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, and Robotics},
author = {John E. Laird and Christian Lebiere and Paul S. Rosenbloom},
url = {https://search.proquest.com/docview/1987347010?pq-origsite=gscholar},
doi = {10.1609/aimag.v38i4.2744},
issn = {0738-4602, 0738-4602},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-12-01},
journal = {AI Magazine},
volume = {38},
number = {4},
pages = {13},
abstract = {The purpose of this article is to begin the process of engaging the international research community in developing what can be called a standard model of the mind, where the mind we have in mind here is human-like. The notion of a standard model has its roots in physics, where over more than a half-century the international community has developed and tested a standard model that combines much of what is known about particles. This model is assumed to be internally consistent, yet still have major gaps. Its function is to serve as a cumulative reference point for the field while also driving efforts to both extend and break it.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The purpose of this article is to begin the process of engaging the international research community in developing what can be called a standard model of the mind, where the mind we have in mind here is human-like. The notion of a standard model has its roots in physics, where over more than a half-century the international community has developed and tested a standard model that combines much of what is known about particles. This model is assumed to be internally consistent, yet still have major gaps. Its function is to serve as a cumulative reference point for the field while also driving efforts to both extend and break it.
209.
Swanson, Reid William; Gordon, Andrew S.; Khooshabeh, Peter; Sagae, Kenji; Huskey, Richard; Mangus, Michael; Amir, Ori; Weber, Rene
An Empirical Analysis of Subjectivity and Narrative Levels in Weblog Storytelling Across Cultures Journal Article
In: Dialogue & Discourse, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 105–128, 2017.
@article{swanson_empirical_2017,
title = {An Empirical Analysis of Subjectivity and Narrative Levels in Weblog Storytelling Across Cultures},
author = {Reid William Swanson and Andrew S. Gordon and Peter Khooshabeh and Kenji Sagae and Richard Huskey and Michael Mangus and Ori Amir and Rene Weber},
url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321170929_An_Empirical_Analysis_of_Subjectivity_and_Narrative_Levels_in_Personal_Weblog_Storytelling_Across_Cultures?_sg=Ck1pqxhW1uuTUe54DX5BLVYey6L6DkwTpjnes1ctAEuGQDHxoEOr887eKWjHIA0_-kk4ya9dXwEZ4OM},
doi = {10.5087/dad.2017.205},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-11-01},
journal = {Dialogue & Discourse},
volume = {8},
number = {2},
pages = {105–128},
abstract = {Storytelling is a universal activity, but the way in which discourse structure is used to persuasively convey ideas and emotions may depend on cultural factors. Because first-person accounts of life experiences can have a powerful impact in how a person is perceived, the storyteller may instinctively employ specific strategies to shape the audience’s perception. Hypothesizing that some of the differences in storytelling can be captured by the use of narrative levels and subjectivity, we analyzed over one thousand narratives taken from personal weblogs. First, we compared stories from three different cultures written in their native languages: English, Chinese and Farsi. Second, we examined the impact of these two discourse properties on a reader’s attitude and behavior toward the narrator. We found surprising similarities and differences in how stories are structured along these two dimensions across cultures. These discourse properties have a small but significant impact on a reader’s behavioral response toward the narrator.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Storytelling is a universal activity, but the way in which discourse structure is used to persuasively convey ideas and emotions may depend on cultural factors. Because first-person accounts of life experiences can have a powerful impact in how a person is perceived, the storyteller may instinctively employ specific strategies to shape the audience’s perception. Hypothesizing that some of the differences in storytelling can be captured by the use of narrative levels and subjectivity, we analyzed over one thousand narratives taken from personal weblogs. First, we compared stories from three different cultures written in their native languages: English, Chinese and Farsi. Second, we examined the impact of these two discourse properties on a reader’s attitude and behavior toward the narrator. We found surprising similarities and differences in how stories are structured along these two dimensions across cultures. These discourse properties have a small but significant impact on a reader’s behavioral response toward the narrator.
210.
Rosario, Dalton; Borel, Christoph; Conover, Damon; McAlinden, Ryan; Ortiz, Anthony; Shiver, Sarah; Simon, Blair
Small Drone Field Experiment: Data Collection & Processing Journal Article
In: NATO SET-241 Symposium, 2017.
@article{rosario_small_2017,
title = {Small Drone Field Experiment: Data Collection & Processing},
author = {Dalton Rosario and Christoph Borel and Damon Conover and Ryan McAlinden and Anthony Ortiz and Sarah Shiver and Blair Simon},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10693},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-11-01},
journal = {NATO SET-241 Symposium},
abstract = {Following an initiative formalized in April 2016—formally known as ARL West—between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies (USC ICT), a field experiment was coordinated and executed in the summer of 2016 by ARL, USC ICT, and Headwall Photonics. The purpose was to image part of the USC main campus in Los Angeles, USA, using two portable COTS (commercial off the shelf) aerial drone solutions for data acquisition, for photogrammetry (3D reconstruction from images), and fusion of hyperspectral data with the recovered set of 3D point clouds representing the target area. The research aims for determining the viability of having a machine capable of segmenting the target area into key material classes (e.g., manmade structures, live vegetation, water) for use in multiple purposes, to include providing the user with a more accurate scene understanding and enabling the unsupervised automatic sampling of meaningful material classes from the target area for adaptive semi-supervised machine learning. In the latter, a target-set library may be used for automatic machine training with data of local material classes, as an example, to increase the prediction chances of machines recognizing targets. The field experiment and associated data post processing approach to correct for reflectance, geo-rectify, recover the area’s dense point clouds from images, register spectral with elevation properties of scene surfaces from the independently collected datasets, and generate the desired scene segmented maps are discussed. Lessons learned from the experience are also highlighted throughout the paper.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Following an initiative formalized in April 2016—formally known as ARL West—between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies (USC ICT), a field experiment was coordinated and executed in the summer of 2016 by ARL, USC ICT, and Headwall Photonics. The purpose was to image part of the USC main campus in Los Angeles, USA, using two portable COTS (commercial off the shelf) aerial drone solutions for data acquisition, for photogrammetry (3D reconstruction from images), and fusion of hyperspectral data with the recovered set of 3D point clouds representing the target area. The research aims for determining the viability of having a machine capable of segmenting the target area into key material classes (e.g., manmade structures, live vegetation, water) for use in multiple purposes, to include providing the user with a more accurate scene understanding and enabling the unsupervised automatic sampling of meaningful material classes from the target area for adaptive semi-supervised machine learning. In the latter, a target-set library may be used for automatic machine training with data of local material classes, as an example, to increase the prediction chances of machines recognizing targets. The field experiment and associated data post processing approach to correct for reflectance, geo-rectify, recover the area’s dense point clouds from images, register spectral with elevation properties of scene surfaces from the independently collected datasets, and generate the desired scene segmented maps are discussed. Lessons learned from the experience are also highlighted throughout the paper.
211.
Rizzo, Albert “Skip”; Koenig, Sebastian Thomas
Is clinical virtual reality ready for primetime? Journal Article
In: Neuropsychology, vol. 31, no. 8, pp. 877–899, 2017, ISSN: 1931-1559, 0894-4105.
@article{rizzo_is_2017,
title = {Is clinical virtual reality ready for primetime?},
author = {Albert “Skip” Rizzo and Sebastian Thomas Koenig},
url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319165844_Is_Clinical_Virtual_Reality_Ready_for_Primetime},
doi = {10.1037/neu0000405},
issn = {1931-1559, 0894-4105},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-10-01},
journal = {Neuropsychology},
volume = {31},
number = {8},
pages = {877–899},
abstract = {Objective: Since the mid-1990s, a significant scientific literature has evolved regarding the outcomes from the use of what we now refer to as Clinical Virtual Reality (VR). This use of VR simulation technology has produced encouraging results when applied to address cognitive, psychological, motor, and functional impairments across a wide range of clinical health conditions. This article addresses the question, “Is Clinical VR Ready for Primetime?” Method: After a brief description of the various forms of VR technology, we discuss the trajectory of Clinical VR over the last 20 years and summarize the basic assets that VR offers for creating clinical applications. The discussion then addresses the question of readiness in terms of the theoretical basis for Clinical VR assets, the research to date, the pragmatic factors regarding availability, usability, and costs of Clinical VR content/systems, and the ethical issues for the safe use of VR with clinical populations. Results: Our review of the theoretical underpinnings and research findings to date leads to the prediction that Clinical VR will have a significant impact on future research and practice. Pragmatic issues that can influence adoption across many areas of psychology also appear favorable, but professional guidelines will be needed to promote its safe and ethical use. Conclusions: While there is still much research needed to advance the science in this area, we strongly believe that Clinical VR applications will become indispensable tools in the toolbox of psychological researchers and practitioners and will only grow in relevance and popularity in the future. Keywords: Clinical Virtual Reality, Psychology, Rehabilitation, Neuropsychology},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Objective: Since the mid-1990s, a significant scientific literature has evolved regarding the outcomes from the use of what we now refer to as Clinical Virtual Reality (VR). This use of VR simulation technology has produced encouraging results when applied to address cognitive, psychological, motor, and functional impairments across a wide range of clinical health conditions. This article addresses the question, “Is Clinical VR Ready for Primetime?” Method: After a brief description of the various forms of VR technology, we discuss the trajectory of Clinical VR over the last 20 years and summarize the basic assets that VR offers for creating clinical applications. The discussion then addresses the question of readiness in terms of the theoretical basis for Clinical VR assets, the research to date, the pragmatic factors regarding availability, usability, and costs of Clinical VR content/systems, and the ethical issues for the safe use of VR with clinical populations. Results: Our review of the theoretical underpinnings and research findings to date leads to the prediction that Clinical VR will have a significant impact on future research and practice. Pragmatic issues that can influence adoption across many areas of psychology also appear favorable, but professional guidelines will be needed to promote its safe and ethical use. Conclusions: While there is still much research needed to advance the science in this area, we strongly believe that Clinical VR applications will become indispensable tools in the toolbox of psychological researchers and practitioners and will only grow in relevance and popularity in the future. Keywords: Clinical Virtual Reality, Psychology, Rehabilitation, Neuropsychology
212.
Khashe, Saba; Lucas, Gale; Becerik-Gerber, Burcin; Gratch, Jonathan
Buildings with persona: Towards effective building-occupant communication Journal Article
In: Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 75, pp. 607–618, 2017, ISSN: 07475632.
@article{khashe_buildings_2017,
title = {Buildings with persona: Towards effective building-occupant communication},
author = {Saba Khashe and Gale Lucas and Burcin Becerik-Gerber and Jonathan Gratch},
url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0747563217303618},
doi = {10.1016/j.chb.2017.05.040},
issn = {07475632},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-10-01},
journal = {Computers in Human Behavior},
volume = {75},
pages = {607–618},
abstract = {Occupant behavior is one of the most significant contributors to building energy consumption. Employing communication systems to enable buildings to interact with their occupants and influence the way they behave could significantly reduce energy consumption.We investigated the effectiveness of different delivery styles (i.e., avatar, voice, and text), as well as the impact of communicator’s persona (i.e., building facility manager and building itself) and gender (i.e., male and female) on occupants’ compliance with pro-environmental requests. The results showed that avatar is more effective than voice and voice is more effective than text on promoting compliance with persuasive pro-environmental requests. In addition, results showed greater compliance with requests made by the persona of a building facility manager than the persona of the building itself. Finally, participants were more likely to comply with the female communicator than the male communicator. Accordingly, this new interaction between buildings and their occupants could impact human behavior.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Occupant behavior is one of the most significant contributors to building energy consumption. Employing communication systems to enable buildings to interact with their occupants and influence the way they behave could significantly reduce energy consumption.We investigated the effectiveness of different delivery styles (i.e., avatar, voice, and text), as well as the impact of communicator’s persona (i.e., building facility manager and building itself) and gender (i.e., male and female) on occupants’ compliance with pro-environmental requests. The results showed that avatar is more effective than voice and voice is more effective than text on promoting compliance with persuasive pro-environmental requests. In addition, results showed greater compliance with requests made by the persona of a building facility manager than the persona of the building itself. Finally, participants were more likely to comply with the female communicator than the male communicator. Accordingly, this new interaction between buildings and their occupants could impact human behavior.
213.
Krämer, Nicole C.; Lucas, Gale; Schmitt, Lea; Gratch, Jonathan
In: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2017, ISSN: 10715819.
@article{kramer_social_2017,
title = {Social Snacking with a virtual agent – On the interrelation of need to belong and effects of social responsiveness when interacting with artificial entities},
author = {Nicole C. Krämer and Gale Lucas and Lea Schmitt and Jonathan Gratch},
url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1071581917301271},
doi = {10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.09.001},
issn = {10715819},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-09-01},
journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Studies},
abstract = {Based on considerations that people´s need to belong can be temporarily satisfied by “social snacking” (Gardner et al., 2005) in the sense that in absence of social interactions which adequately satisfy belongingness needs surrogates can bridge lonely times, it was tested whether the interaction with a virtual agent can serve to ease the need for social contact. In a between subjects experimental setting, 79 participants interacted with a virtual agent who either displayed socially responsive nonverbal behavior or not. Results demonstrate that although there was no main effect of socially responsive behavior on participants´ subjective experience of rapport and on connectedness with the agent, those people with a high need to belong reported less willingness to engage in social activities after the interaction with a virtual agent – but only if the agent displayed socially responsive behavior.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Based on considerations that people´s need to belong can be temporarily satisfied by “social snacking” (Gardner et al., 2005) in the sense that in absence of social interactions which adequately satisfy belongingness needs surrogates can bridge lonely times, it was tested whether the interaction with a virtual agent can serve to ease the need for social contact. In a between subjects experimental setting, 79 participants interacted with a virtual agent who either displayed socially responsive nonverbal behavior or not. Results demonstrate that although there was no main effect of socially responsive behavior on participants´ subjective experience of rapport and on connectedness with the agent, those people with a high need to belong reported less willingness to engage in social activities after the interaction with a virtual agent – but only if the agent displayed socially responsive behavior.
214.
Schnurr, Paula P.; Bryant, Richard; Berliner, Lucy; Kilpatrick, Dean G.; Rizzo, Albert; Ruzek, Josef I.
What I have changed my mind about and why: public health and technology perspectives in the field of trauma studies Journal Article
In: European Journal of Psychotraumatology, vol. 8, no. sup5, 2017, ISSN: 2000-8198, 2000-8066.
@article{schnurr_what_2017,
title = {What I have changed my mind about and why: public health and technology perspectives in the field of trauma studies},
author = {Paula P. Schnurr and Richard Bryant and Lucy Berliner and Dean G. Kilpatrick and Albert Rizzo and Josef I. Ruzek},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20008198.2017.1372007},
doi = {10.1080/20008198.2017.1372007},
issn = {2000-8198, 2000-8066},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-09-01},
journal = {European Journal of Psychotraumatology},
volume = {8},
number = {sup5},
abstract = {Background: This paper is based on a panel discussion at the 32nd annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies in Dallas, Texas, in November 2016. Objective: Paula Schnurr convened a panel of experts in the fields of public health and technology to address the topic: ‘What I have changed my mind about and why.’ Method: The panel included Richard Bryant, Lucy Berliner, Dean Kilpatrick, Albert (‘Skip’) Rizzo, and Josef Ruzek. Results: Panellists discussed innovative strategies for the dissemination of scientific knowledge and evidence-based treatment. Conclusions: Although there are effective treatments, there is a need to enhance the effectiveness of these treatments. There also is a need to develop simpler, low-cost strategies to disseminate effective treatments. However, technology approaches also offer pathways to increased dissemination. Researchers must communicate scientific findings more effectively to impact public opinion and public policy.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Background: This paper is based on a panel discussion at the 32nd annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies in Dallas, Texas, in November 2016. Objective: Paula Schnurr convened a panel of experts in the fields of public health and technology to address the topic: ‘What I have changed my mind about and why.’ Method: The panel included Richard Bryant, Lucy Berliner, Dean Kilpatrick, Albert (‘Skip’) Rizzo, and Josef Ruzek. Results: Panellists discussed innovative strategies for the dissemination of scientific knowledge and evidence-based treatment. Conclusions: Although there are effective treatments, there is a need to enhance the effectiveness of these treatments. There also is a need to develop simpler, low-cost strategies to disseminate effective treatments. However, technology approaches also offer pathways to increased dissemination. Researchers must communicate scientific findings more effectively to impact public opinion and public policy.
215.
Chollet, Mathieu; Scherer, Stefan
Perception of Virtual Audiences Journal Article
In: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 50–59, 2017, ISSN: 0272-1716.
@article{chollet_perception_2017,
title = {Perception of Virtual Audiences},
author = {Mathieu Chollet and Stefan Scherer},
url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8013501/},
doi = {10.1109/MCG.2017.3271465},
issn = {0272-1716},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-08-01},
journal = {IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications},
volume = {37},
number = {4},
pages = {50–59},
abstract = {A growing body of evidence shows that virtual audiences are a valuable tool in the treatment of social anxiety, and recent works show that it also a useful in public-speaking training programs. However, little research has focused on how such audiences are perceived and on how the behavior of virtual audiences can be manipulated to create various types of stimuli. The authors used a crowdsourcing methodology to create a virtual audience nonverbal behavior model and, with it, created a dataset of videos with virtual audiences containing varying behaviors. Using this dataset, they investigated how virtual audiences are perceived and which factors affect this perception.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
A growing body of evidence shows that virtual audiences are a valuable tool in the treatment of social anxiety, and recent works show that it also a useful in public-speaking training programs. However, little research has focused on how such audiences are perceived and on how the behavior of virtual audiences can be manipulated to create various types of stimuli. The authors used a crowdsourcing methodology to create a virtual audience nonverbal behavior model and, with it, created a dataset of videos with virtual audiences containing varying behaviors. Using this dataset, they investigated how virtual audiences are perceived and which factors affect this perception.
216.
Melo, Celso M.; Marsella, Stacy; Gratch, Jonathan
Social decisions and fairness change when people’s interests are represented by autonomous agents Journal Article
In: Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, pp. 163–187, 2017, ISSN: 1387-2532, 1573-7454.
@article{de_melo_social_2017,
title = {Social decisions and fairness change when people’s interests are represented by autonomous agents},
author = {Celso M. Melo and Stacy Marsella and Jonathan Gratch},
url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10458-017-9376-6},
doi = {10.1007/s10458-017-9376-6},
issn = {1387-2532, 1573-7454},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-07-01},
journal = {Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems},
pages = {163–187},
abstract = {There has been growing interest on agents that represent people’s interests or act on their behalf such as automated negotiators, self-driving cars, or drones. Even though people will interact often with others via these agent representatives, little is known about whether people’s behavior changes when acting through these agents, when compared to direct interaction with others. Here we show that people’s decisions will change in important ways because of these agents; specifically, we showed that interacting via agents is likely to lead people to behave more fairly, when compared to direct interaction with others. We argue this occurs because programming an agent leads people to adopt a broader perspective, consider the other side’s position, and rely on social norms—such as fairness—to guide their decision making. To support this argument, we present four experiments: in Experiment 1 we show that people made fairer offers in the ultimatum and impunity games when interacting via agent representatives, when compared to direct interaction; in Experiment 2, participants were less likely to accept unfair offers in these games when agent representatives were involved; in Experiment 3, we show that the act of thinking about the decisions ahead of time—i.e., under the so-called “strategy method”—can also lead to increased fairness, even when no agents are involved; and, finally, in Experiment 4 we show that participants were less likely to reach an agreement with unfair counterparts in a negotiation setting.We discuss theoretical implications for our understanding of the nature of people’s social behavior with agent representatives, as well as practical implications for the design of agents that have the potential to increase fairness in society.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
There has been growing interest on agents that represent people’s interests or act on their behalf such as automated negotiators, self-driving cars, or drones. Even though people will interact often with others via these agent representatives, little is known about whether people’s behavior changes when acting through these agents, when compared to direct interaction with others. Here we show that people’s decisions will change in important ways because of these agents; specifically, we showed that interacting via agents is likely to lead people to behave more fairly, when compared to direct interaction with others. We argue this occurs because programming an agent leads people to adopt a broader perspective, consider the other side’s position, and rely on social norms—such as fairness—to guide their decision making. To support this argument, we present four experiments: in Experiment 1 we show that people made fairer offers in the ultimatum and impunity games when interacting via agent representatives, when compared to direct interaction; in Experiment 2, participants were less likely to accept unfair offers in these games when agent representatives were involved; in Experiment 3, we show that the act of thinking about the decisions ahead of time—i.e., under the so-called “strategy method”—can also lead to increased fairness, even when no agents are involved; and, finally, in Experiment 4 we show that participants were less likely to reach an agreement with unfair counterparts in a negotiation setting.We discuss theoretical implications for our understanding of the nature of people’s social behavior with agent representatives, as well as practical implications for the design of agents that have the potential to increase fairness in society.
217.
Narang, Sahil; Best, Andrew; Feng, Andrew; Kang, Sin-hwa; Manocha, Dinesh; Shapiro, Ari
Motion recognition of self and others on realistic 3D avatars Journal Article
In: Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds, vol. 28, no. 3-4, 2017, ISSN: 15464261.
@article{narang_motion_2017,
title = {Motion recognition of self and others on realistic 3D avatars},
author = {Sahil Narang and Andrew Best and Andrew Feng and Sin-hwa Kang and Dinesh Manocha and Ari Shapiro},
url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cav.1762/epdf},
doi = {10.1002/cav.1762},
issn = {15464261},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-05-01},
journal = {Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds},
volume = {28},
number = {3-4},
abstract = {Current 3D capture and modeling technology can rapidly generate highly photorealistic 3D avatars of human subjects. However, while the avatars look like their human counterparts, their movements often do not mimic their own due to existing challenges in accurate motion capture and retargeting. A better understanding of factors that influence the perception of biological motion would be valuable for creating virtual avatars that capture the essence of their human subjects. To investigate these issues, we captured 22 subjects walking in an open space.We then performed a study where participants were asked to identify their own motion in varying visual representations and scenarios. Similarly, participants were asked to identify the motion of familiar individuals. Unlike prior studies that used captured footage with simple “point-light” displays, we rendered the motion on photo-realistic 3D virtual avatars of the subject. We found that self-recognition was significantly higher for virtual avatars than with point-light representations. Users were more confident of their responses when identifying their motion presented on their virtual avatar. Recognition rates varied considerably between motion types for recognition of others, but not for self-recognition. Overall, our results are consistent with previous studies that used recorded footage and offer key insights into the perception of motion rendered on virtual avatars.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Current 3D capture and modeling technology can rapidly generate highly photorealistic 3D avatars of human subjects. However, while the avatars look like their human counterparts, their movements often do not mimic their own due to existing challenges in accurate motion capture and retargeting. A better understanding of factors that influence the perception of biological motion would be valuable for creating virtual avatars that capture the essence of their human subjects. To investigate these issues, we captured 22 subjects walking in an open space.We then performed a study where participants were asked to identify their own motion in varying visual representations and scenarios. Similarly, participants were asked to identify the motion of familiar individuals. Unlike prior studies that used captured footage with simple “point-light” displays, we rendered the motion on photo-realistic 3D virtual avatars of the subject. We found that self-recognition was significantly higher for virtual avatars than with point-light representations. Users were more confident of their responses when identifying their motion presented on their virtual avatar. Recognition rates varied considerably between motion types for recognition of others, but not for self-recognition. Overall, our results are consistent with previous studies that used recorded footage and offer key insights into the perception of motion rendered on virtual avatars.
218.
Fyffe, G.; Nagano, K.; Huynh, L.; Saito, S.; Busch, J.; Jones, A.; Li, H.; Debevec, P.
Multi-View Stereo on Consistent Face Topology Journal Article
In: Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 295–309, 2017, ISSN: 01677055.
@article{fyffe_multi-view_2017,
title = {Multi-View Stereo on Consistent Face Topology},
author = {G. Fyffe and K. Nagano and L. Huynh and S. Saito and J. Busch and A. Jones and H. Li and P. Debevec},
url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cgf.13127/epdf},
doi = {10.1111/cgf.13127},
issn = {01677055},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-05-01},
journal = {Computer Graphics Forum},
volume = {36},
number = {2},
pages = {295–309},
abstract = {We present a multi-view stereo reconstruction technique that directly produces a complete high-fidelity head model with consistent facial mesh topology. While existing techniques decouple shape estimation and facial tracking, our framework jointly optimizes for stereo constraints and consistent mesh parameterization. Our method is therefore free from drift and fully parallelizable for dynamic facial performance capture. We produce highly detailed facial geometries with artist-quality UV parameterization, including secondary elements such as eyeballs, mouth pockets, nostrils, and the back of the head. Our approach consists of deforming a common template model to match multi-view input images of the subject, while satisfying cross-view, cross-subject, and cross-pose consistencies using a combination of 2D landmark detection, optical flow, and surface and volumetric Laplacian regularization. Since the flow is never computed between frames, our method is trivially parallelized by processing each frame independently. Accurate rigid head pose is extracted using a PCA-based dimension reduction and denoising scheme. We demonstrate high-fidelity performance capture results with challenging head motion and complex facial expressions around eye and mouth regions. While the quality of our results is on par with the current state-of-the-art, our approach can be fully parallelized, does not suffer from drift, and produces face models with production-quality mesh topologies.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We present a multi-view stereo reconstruction technique that directly produces a complete high-fidelity head model with consistent facial mesh topology. While existing techniques decouple shape estimation and facial tracking, our framework jointly optimizes for stereo constraints and consistent mesh parameterization. Our method is therefore free from drift and fully parallelizable for dynamic facial performance capture. We produce highly detailed facial geometries with artist-quality UV parameterization, including secondary elements such as eyeballs, mouth pockets, nostrils, and the back of the head. Our approach consists of deforming a common template model to match multi-view input images of the subject, while satisfying cross-view, cross-subject, and cross-pose consistencies using a combination of 2D landmark detection, optical flow, and surface and volumetric Laplacian regularization. Since the flow is never computed between frames, our method is trivially parallelized by processing each frame independently. Accurate rigid head pose is extracted using a PCA-based dimension reduction and denoising scheme. We demonstrate high-fidelity performance capture results with challenging head motion and complex facial expressions around eye and mouth regions. While the quality of our results is on par with the current state-of-the-art, our approach can be fully parallelized, does not suffer from drift, and produces face models with production-quality mesh topologies.
219.
Berkiten, Sema; Halber, Maciej; Solomon, Justin; Ma, Chongyang; Li, Hao; Rusinkiewicz, Szymon
Learning Detail Transfer based on Geometric Features Journal Article
In: Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 361–373, 2017, ISSN: 01677055.
@article{berkiten_learning_2017,
title = {Learning Detail Transfer based on Geometric Features},
author = {Sema Berkiten and Maciej Halber and Justin Solomon and Chongyang Ma and Hao Li and Szymon Rusinkiewicz},
url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cgf.13132/full},
doi = {10.1111/cgf.13132},
issn = {01677055},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-05-01},
journal = {Computer Graphics Forum},
volume = {36},
number = {2},
pages = {361–373},
abstract = {The visual richness of computer graphics applications is frequently limited by the difficulty of obtaining high-quality, detailed 3D models. This paper proposes a method for realistically transferring details (specifically, displacement maps) from existing high-quality 3D models to simple shapes that may be created with easy-to-learn modeling tools. Our key insight is to use metric learning to find a combination of geometric features that successfully predicts detail-map similarities on the source mesh; we use the learned feature combination to drive the detail transfer. The latter uses a variant of multi-resolution non-parametric texture synthesis, augmented by a high-frequency detail transfer step in texture space. We demonstrate that our technique can successfully transfer details among a variety of shapes including furniture and clothing.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The visual richness of computer graphics applications is frequently limited by the difficulty of obtaining high-quality, detailed 3D models. This paper proposes a method for realistically transferring details (specifically, displacement maps) from existing high-quality 3D models to simple shapes that may be created with easy-to-learn modeling tools. Our key insight is to use metric learning to find a combination of geometric features that successfully predicts detail-map similarities on the source mesh; we use the learned feature combination to drive the detail transfer. The latter uses a variant of multi-resolution non-parametric texture synthesis, augmented by a high-frequency detail transfer step in texture space. We demonstrate that our technique can successfully transfer details among a variety of shapes including furniture and clothing.
220.
Hu, Liwen; Bradley, Derek; Li, Hao; Beeler, Thabo
Simulation-Ready Hair Capture Journal Article
In: Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 281–294, 2017, ISSN: 01677055.
@article{hu_simulation-ready_2017,
title = {Simulation-Ready Hair Capture},
author = {Liwen Hu and Derek Bradley and Hao Li and Thabo Beeler},
url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cgf.13126/full},
doi = {10.1111/cgf.13126},
issn = {01677055},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-05-01},
journal = {Computer Graphics Forum},
volume = {36},
number = {2},
pages = {281–294},
abstract = {Physical simulation has long been the approach of choice for generating realistic hair animations in CG. A constant drawback of simulation, however, is the necessity to manually set the physical parameters of the simulation model in order to get the desired dynamic behavior. To alleviate this, researchers have begun to explore methods for reconstructing hair from the real world and even to estimate the corresponding simulation parameters through the process of inversion. So far, however, these methods have had limited applicability, because dynamic hair capture can only be played back without the ability to edit, and solving for simulation parameters can only be accomplished for static hairstyles, ignoring the dynamic behavior. We present the first method for capturing dynamic hair and automatically determining the physical properties for simulating the observed hairstyle in motion. Since our dynamic inversion is agnostic to the simulation model, the proposed method applies to virtually any hair simulation technique, which we demonstrate using two state-of-the-art hair simulation models. The output of our method is a fully simulation-ready hairstyle, consisting of both the static hair geometry as well as its physical properties. The hairstyle can be easily edited by adding additional external forces, changing the head motion, or re-simulating in completely different environments, all while remaining faithful to the captured hairstyle.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Physical simulation has long been the approach of choice for generating realistic hair animations in CG. A constant drawback of simulation, however, is the necessity to manually set the physical parameters of the simulation model in order to get the desired dynamic behavior. To alleviate this, researchers have begun to explore methods for reconstructing hair from the real world and even to estimate the corresponding simulation parameters through the process of inversion. So far, however, these methods have had limited applicability, because dynamic hair capture can only be played back without the ability to edit, and solving for simulation parameters can only be accomplished for static hairstyles, ignoring the dynamic behavior. We present the first method for capturing dynamic hair and automatically determining the physical properties for simulating the observed hairstyle in motion. Since our dynamic inversion is agnostic to the simulation model, the proposed method applies to virtually any hair simulation technique, which we demonstrate using two state-of-the-art hair simulation models. The output of our method is a fully simulation-ready hairstyle, consisting of both the static hair geometry as well as its physical properties. The hairstyle can be easily edited by adding additional external forces, changing the head motion, or re-simulating in completely different environments, all while remaining faithful to the captured hairstyle.
Filter
2006
Martinovski, Bilyana
Framework for analysis of mitigation in courts Journal Article
In: Journal of Pragmatics, 2006.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:
@article{martinovski_framework_2006,
title = {Framework for analysis of mitigation in courts},
author = {Bilyana Martinovski},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Framework%20for%20analysis%20of%20mitigation%20in%20courts.pdf},
year = {2006},
date = {2006-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Pragmatics},
abstract = {This paper presents an activity-based framework for empirical discourse analysis of mitigation in public environments such as Swedish and Bulgarian courtroom examinations. Mitigation is defined as a pragmatic, cognitive and linguistic behavior the main purpose of which is reduction of vulnerability. The suggested framework consists of mitigation processes, which involve mitigating argumentation lines, defense moves, and communicative acts. The functions of mitigation are described in terms of the participants' actions and goals separately from politeness strategies. The conclusions and observations address two things: issues related to the pragmatic theory of communication especially mitigation and issues related to the trial as a social activity. For instance, non-turn-taking confirmations by examiners are often followed by volunteered utterances, which in some cases may be examples of 'rehearsed' testimonies. At the same time the witnesses' tendency to volunteer information even on the behalf of their own credibility indicates that they also favor pro-party testimonies. Despite the objective judicial role of the prosecutor or judge and/or despite the examiners accommodating style the verbal behavior of the witnesses exhibits constant anticipation of danger.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper presents an activity-based framework for empirical discourse analysis of mitigation in public environments such as Swedish and Bulgarian courtroom examinations. Mitigation is defined as a pragmatic, cognitive and linguistic behavior the main purpose of which is reduction of vulnerability. The suggested framework consists of mitigation processes, which involve mitigating argumentation lines, defense moves, and communicative acts. The functions of mitigation are described in terms of the participants' actions and goals separately from politeness strategies. The conclusions and observations address two things: issues related to the pragmatic theory of communication especially mitigation and issues related to the trial as a social activity. For instance, non-turn-taking confirmations by examiners are often followed by volunteered utterances, which in some cases may be examples of 'rehearsed' testimonies. At the same time the witnesses' tendency to volunteer information even on the behalf of their own credibility indicates that they also favor pro-party testimonies. Despite the objective judicial role of the prosecutor or judge and/or despite the examiners accommodating style the verbal behavior of the witnesses exhibits constant anticipation of danger.
Parsons, Thomas D.; Braaten, Alyssa J.; Hall, Colin D.; Robertson, R. Kevin
Better quality of life with neuropsychological improvement on HAART Journal Article
In: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, vol. 4, no. 11, 2006.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: MedVR
@article{parsons_better_2006,
title = {Better quality of life with neuropsychological improvement on HAART},
author = {Thomas D. Parsons and Alyssa J. Braaten and Colin D. Hall and R. Kevin Robertson},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Better%20quality%20of%20life%20with%20neuropsychological%20improvement%20on%20HAART.pdf},
year = {2006},
date = {2006-01-01},
journal = {Health and Quality of Life Outcomes},
volume = {4},
number = {11},
abstract = {Background: Successful highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimens have resulted in substantial improvements in the systemic health of HIV infected persons and increased survival times. Despite increased systemic health, the prevalence of minor HIV-associated cognitive impairment appears to be rising with increased longevity, and it remains to be seen what functional outcomes will result from these improvements. Cognitive impairment can dramatically impact functional ability and day-to-day productivity. We assessed the relationship of quality of life (QOL) and neuropsychological functioning with successful HAART treatment. Methods: In a prospective longitudinal study, subjects were evaluated before instituting HAART (naïve) or before changing HAART regimens because current therapy failed to maintain suppression of plasma viral load (treatment failure). Subjects underwent detailed neuropsychological and neurological examinations, as well as psychological evaluation sensitive to possible confounds. Re-evaluation was performed six months after institution of the new HAART regimen and/or if plasma viral load indicated treatment failure. At each evaluation, subjects underwent ultrasensitive HIV RNA quantitative evaluation in both plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. Results: HAART successes performed better than failures on measures exploring speed of mental processing (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .02). HAART failure was significantly associated with increased self-reports of physical health complaints (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .01) and substance abuse (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .01). An interesting trend emerged, in which HAART failures endorsed greater levels of psychological and cognitive complaints (p = 06). Analysis between neuropsychological measures and QOL scores revealed significant. correlation between QOL Total and processing speed (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .05), as well as flexibility (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .05). Conclusion: Our study investigated the relationship between HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment and quality of life. HAART failures experienced slower psychomotor processing, and had increased self-reports of physical health complaints and substance abuse. Contrariwise, HAART successes experienced improved mental processing, demonstrating the impact of successful treatment on functioning. With increasing life expectancy for those who are HIV seropositive, it is important to measure cognitive functioning in relation to the actual QOL these individuals report. The study results have implications for the optimal management of HIV-infected persons. Specific support or intervention may be beneficial for those who have failed HAART in order to decrease substance abuse and increase overall physical health.},
keywords = {MedVR},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Background: Successful highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimens have resulted in substantial improvements in the systemic health of HIV infected persons and increased survival times. Despite increased systemic health, the prevalence of minor HIV-associated cognitive impairment appears to be rising with increased longevity, and it remains to be seen what functional outcomes will result from these improvements. Cognitive impairment can dramatically impact functional ability and day-to-day productivity. We assessed the relationship of quality of life (QOL) and neuropsychological functioning with successful HAART treatment. Methods: In a prospective longitudinal study, subjects were evaluated before instituting HAART (naïve) or before changing HAART regimens because current therapy failed to maintain suppression of plasma viral load (treatment failure). Subjects underwent detailed neuropsychological and neurological examinations, as well as psychological evaluation sensitive to possible confounds. Re-evaluation was performed six months after institution of the new HAART regimen and/or if plasma viral load indicated treatment failure. At each evaluation, subjects underwent ultrasensitive HIV RNA quantitative evaluation in both plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. Results: HAART successes performed better than failures on measures exploring speed of mental processing (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .02). HAART failure was significantly associated with increased self-reports of physical health complaints (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .01) and substance abuse (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .01). An interesting trend emerged, in which HAART failures endorsed greater levels of psychological and cognitive complaints (p = 06). Analysis between neuropsychological measures and QOL scores revealed significant. correlation between QOL Total and processing speed (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .05), as well as flexibility (p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .05). Conclusion: Our study investigated the relationship between HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment and quality of life. HAART failures experienced slower psychomotor processing, and had increased self-reports of physical health complaints and substance abuse. Contrariwise, HAART successes experienced improved mental processing, demonstrating the impact of successful treatment on functioning. With increasing life expectancy for those who are HIV seropositive, it is important to measure cognitive functioning in relation to the actual QOL these individuals report. The study results have implications for the optimal management of HIV-infected persons. Specific support or intervention may be beneficial for those who have failed HAART in order to decrease substance abuse and increase overall physical health.
Gold, Jeffrey I.; Kim, Seok Hyeon; Kant, Alexis J.; Joseph, Michael H.; Rizzo, Albert
Effectiveness of Virtual Reality for Pediatric Pain Distraction during IV Placement Journal Article
In: CyberPsychology and Behavior, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 207–212, 2006.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: MedVR
@article{gold_effectiveness_2006,
title = {Effectiveness of Virtual Reality for Pediatric Pain Distraction during IV Placement},
author = {Jeffrey I. Gold and Seok Hyeon Kim and Alexis J. Kant and Michael H. Joseph and Albert Rizzo},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Effectiveness%20of%20Virtual%20Reality%20for%20Pediatric%20Pain%20Distraction%20during%20IV%20Placement.pdf},
year = {2006},
date = {2006-01-01},
journal = {CyberPsychology and Behavior},
volume = {9},
number = {2},
pages = {207–212},
abstract = {The objective of this study was to test the efficacy and suitability of virtual reality (VR) as apain distraction for pediatric intravenous (IV) placement. Twenty children (12 boys, 8 girls) requiring IV placement for a magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography (MRI/CT) scan were randomly assigned to two conditions: (1) VR distraction using Street Luge(5DT), presented via a head-mounted display, or (2) standard of care (topical anesthetic) with no distraction. Children, their parents, and nurses completed self-report questionnaires that assessed numerous health-related outcomes. Responses from the Faces Pain Scale–Revisedindicated a fourfold increase in affective pain within the control condition; by contrast, nosignificant differences were detected within the VR condition. Significant associations between multiple measures of anticipatory anxiety, affective pain, IV pain intensity, and measures of past procedural pain provided support for the complex interplay of a multimodalassessment of pain perception. There was also a sufficient amount of evidence supportingthe efficacy of Street Luge as a pediatric pain distraction tool during IV placement: an adequate level of presence, no simulator sickness, and significantly more child-, parent-, and nurse-reported satisfaction with pain management. VR pain distraction was positively endorsed by all reporters and is a promising tool for decreasing pain, and anxiety in childrenundergoing acute medical interventions. However, further research with larger sample sizesand other routine medical procedures is warranted.},
keywords = {MedVR},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The objective of this study was to test the efficacy and suitability of virtual reality (VR) as apain distraction for pediatric intravenous (IV) placement. Twenty children (12 boys, 8 girls) requiring IV placement for a magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography (MRI/CT) scan were randomly assigned to two conditions: (1) VR distraction using Street Luge(5DT), presented via a head-mounted display, or (2) standard of care (topical anesthetic) with no distraction. Children, their parents, and nurses completed self-report questionnaires that assessed numerous health-related outcomes. Responses from the Faces Pain Scale–Revisedindicated a fourfold increase in affective pain within the control condition; by contrast, nosignificant differences were detected within the VR condition. Significant associations between multiple measures of anticipatory anxiety, affective pain, IV pain intensity, and measures of past procedural pain provided support for the complex interplay of a multimodalassessment of pain perception. There was also a sufficient amount of evidence supportingthe efficacy of Street Luge as a pediatric pain distraction tool during IV placement: an adequate level of presence, no simulator sickness, and significantly more child-, parent-, and nurse-reported satisfaction with pain management. VR pain distraction was positively endorsed by all reporters and is a promising tool for decreasing pain, and anxiety in childrenundergoing acute medical interventions. However, further research with larger sample sizesand other routine medical procedures is warranted.
2005
Morie, Jacquelyn; Iyer, Kumar; Luigi, Donat-Pierre; Williams, Josh; Dozois, Aimee; Rizzo, Albert
Development of a Data Management Tool for Investigating Multivariate Space and Free Will Experiences Journal Article
In: Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 319–331, 2005.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: MedVR, Virtual Worlds
@article{morie_development_2005,
title = {Development of a Data Management Tool for Investigating Multivariate Space and Free Will Experiences},
author = {Jacquelyn Morie and Kumar Iyer and Donat-Pierre Luigi and Josh Williams and Aimee Dozois and Albert Rizzo},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Development%20of%20a%20Data%20Management%20Tool%20for%20Investigating%20Multivariate%20Space%20and%20Free%20Will%20Experiences%20in%20Virtual%20Reality.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-09-01},
journal = {Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback},
volume = {30},
number = {3},
pages = {319–331},
abstract = {While achieving realism has been a main goal in making convincing virtual reality (VR) environments, just what constitutes realism is still a question situated firmly in the research domain. VR has become mature enough to be used in therapeutic applications such as clinical exposure therapy with some success. We now need detailed scientific investigations to better understand why VR works for these types of cases, and how it could work for other key applications such as training. Just as in real life, it appears that the factors will be complex and multi-variate, and this plethoric situation presents exceptional challenges to the VR researcher. We would not want to lessen VR’s ability to replicate real world conditions in order to more easily study it, however, for by doing so we may compromise the very qualities that comprise its effectiveness. What is really needed are more robust tools to instrument, organize, and visualize the complex data generated by measurements of participant experiences in a realistic virtual world. We describe here our first study in an ongoing program of effective virtual environment research, the types of data we are dealing with, and a specific tool we have been compelled to create that allows us some measure of control over this data. We call this tool Phloem, after the botanical channels that plants use to transport, support and store nutrients.},
keywords = {MedVR, Virtual Worlds},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
While achieving realism has been a main goal in making convincing virtual reality (VR) environments, just what constitutes realism is still a question situated firmly in the research domain. VR has become mature enough to be used in therapeutic applications such as clinical exposure therapy with some success. We now need detailed scientific investigations to better understand why VR works for these types of cases, and how it could work for other key applications such as training. Just as in real life, it appears that the factors will be complex and multi-variate, and this plethoric situation presents exceptional challenges to the VR researcher. We would not want to lessen VR’s ability to replicate real world conditions in order to more easily study it, however, for by doing so we may compromise the very qualities that comprise its effectiveness. What is really needed are more robust tools to instrument, organize, and visualize the complex data generated by measurements of participant experiences in a realistic virtual world. We describe here our first study in an ongoing program of effective virtual environment research, the types of data we are dealing with, and a specific tool we have been compelled to create that allows us some measure of control over this data. We call this tool Phloem, after the botanical channels that plants use to transport, support and store nutrients.
Kwon, Soon-il; Narayanan, Shrikanth
Unsupervised Speaker Indexing Using Generic Models Journal Article
In: IEEE Transactions on Speech and Audio Processing, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 1004–1013, 2005.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:
@article{kwon_unsupervised_2005,
title = {Unsupervised Speaker Indexing Using Generic Models},
author = {Soon-il Kwon and Shrikanth Narayanan},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Unsupervised%20Speaker%20Indexing%20Using%20Generic%20Models.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-09-01},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Speech and Audio Processing},
volume = {13},
number = {5},
pages = {1004–1013},
abstract = {Unsupervised speaker indexing sequentially detects points where a speaker identity changes in a multispeaker audio stream, and categorizes each speaker segment, without any prior knowledge about the speakers. This paper addresses two chal- lenges: The first relates to sequential speaker change detection. The second relates to speaker modeling in light of the fact that the number/identity of the speakers is unknown. To address this issue, a predetermined generic speaker-independent model set, called the sample speaker models (SSM), is proposed. This set can be useful for more accurate speaker modeling and clustering without requiring training models on target speaker data. Once a speaker-independent model is selected from the generic sample models, it is progressively adapted into a specific speaker-depen- dent model. Experiments were performed with data from the Speaker Recognition Benchmark NIST Speech corpus (1999) and the HUB-4 Broadcast News Evaluation English Test material (1999). Results showed that our new technique, sampled using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, gave 92.5% indexing accuracy on two speaker telephone conversations, 89.6% on four-speaker conversations with the telephone speech quality, and 87.2% on broadcast news. The SSMs outperformed the universal background model by up to 29.4% and the universal gender models by up to 22.5% in indexing accuracy in the experiments of this paper.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Unsupervised speaker indexing sequentially detects points where a speaker identity changes in a multispeaker audio stream, and categorizes each speaker segment, without any prior knowledge about the speakers. This paper addresses two chal- lenges: The first relates to sequential speaker change detection. The second relates to speaker modeling in light of the fact that the number/identity of the speakers is unknown. To address this issue, a predetermined generic speaker-independent model set, called the sample speaker models (SSM), is proposed. This set can be useful for more accurate speaker modeling and clustering without requiring training models on target speaker data. Once a speaker-independent model is selected from the generic sample models, it is progressively adapted into a specific speaker-depen- dent model. Experiments were performed with data from the Speaker Recognition Benchmark NIST Speech corpus (1999) and the HUB-4 Broadcast News Evaluation English Test material (1999). Results showed that our new technique, sampled using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, gave 92.5% indexing accuracy on two speaker telephone conversations, 89.6% on four-speaker conversations with the telephone speech quality, and 87.2% on broadcast news. The SSMs outperformed the universal background model by up to 29.4% and the universal gender models by up to 22.5% in indexing accuracy in the experiments of this paper.
Gratch, Jonathan; Marsella, Stacy C.
Evaluating a computational model of emotion Journal Article
In: Journal Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. Special Issue on the Best of AAMAS 2004, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 23–43, 2005.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Social Simulation, Virtual Humans
@article{gratch_evaluating_2005,
title = {Evaluating a computational model of emotion},
author = {Jonathan Gratch and Stacy C. Marsella},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Evaluating%20a%20computational%20model%20of%20emotion.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-07-01},
journal = {Journal Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. Special Issue on the Best of AAMAS 2004},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {23–43},
abstract = {Spurred by a range of potential applications, there has been a growing body of research in computational models of human emotion. To advance the development of these models, it is critical that we evaluate them against the phenomena they purport to model. In this paper, we present one method to evaluate an emotion model that compares the behavior of the model against human behavior using a standard clinical instrument for assessing human emotion and coping. We use this method to evaluate the Emotion and Adaptation (EMA) model of emotion Gratch and Marsella. The evaluation highlights strengths of the approach and identifies where the model needs further development.},
keywords = {Social Simulation, Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Spurred by a range of potential applications, there has been a growing body of research in computational models of human emotion. To advance the development of these models, it is critical that we evaluate them against the phenomena they purport to model. In this paper, we present one method to evaluate an emotion model that compares the behavior of the model against human behavior using a standard clinical instrument for assessing human emotion and coping. We use this method to evaluate the Emotion and Adaptation (EMA) model of emotion Gratch and Marsella. The evaluation highlights strengths of the approach and identifies where the model needs further development.
Grote, Christopher L.; Parsons, Thomas D.
Threats to the Livelihood of the Forensic Neuropsychological Practice: Avoiding Ethical Misconduct Journal Article
In: Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 79–93, 2005.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: MedVR
@article{grote_threats_2005,
title = {Threats to the Livelihood of the Forensic Neuropsychological Practice: Avoiding Ethical Misconduct},
author = {Christopher L. Grote and Thomas D. Parsons},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Threats%20to%20the%20Livelihood%20of%20the%20Forensic%20Neuropsychological%20Practice-%20Avoiding%20Ethical%20Misconduct.pdf},
doi = {10.1300/J151v04n03_06},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology},
volume = {4},
number = {3},
pages = {79–93},
abstract = {We review six diverse issues that have the potential of devaluing our profession, in that ethical missteps could lead to the perception or reality that the work of forensic neuropsychologists is "for sale." By resisting temptations or overtures to engage in inappropriate conduct, such as attacking colleagues or failing to recognize how our own biases might influence our behavior or opinions, neuropsychologists strive to create a work product that enhances the reputation of our profession and makes a positive contribution to the public-at-large.},
keywords = {MedVR},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We review six diverse issues that have the potential of devaluing our profession, in that ethical missteps could lead to the perception or reality that the work of forensic neuropsychologists is "for sale." By resisting temptations or overtures to engage in inappropriate conduct, such as attacking colleagues or failing to recognize how our own biases might influence our behavior or opinions, neuropsychologists strive to create a work product that enhances the reputation of our profession and makes a positive contribution to the public-at-large.
Parsons, Thomas D.; Rizzo, Albert; Zaag, Cheryl; McGee, Jocelyn; Buckwalter, John Galen
Gender Differences and Cognition Among Older Adults Journal Article
In: Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, vol. 12, pp. 78–88, 2005.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: MedVR
@article{parsons_gender_2005,
title = {Gender Differences and Cognition Among Older Adults},
author = {Thomas D. Parsons and Albert Rizzo and Cheryl Zaag and Jocelyn McGee and John Galen Buckwalter},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Gender%20Differences%20and%20Cognition%20Among%20Older%20Adults.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition},
volume = {12},
pages = {78–88},
abstract = {The more replicated findings about gender difference in cognitive performance suggest female superiority on visuomotor speed and language ability and male superiority on mechanical and visuospatial tasks. Generally, group strengths found in the early school years become more established at adolescence and remain stable through adulthood. The current study tested whether the patterns established in the early years remained among 30 adult subjects. We also utilized a series of exploratory analyses to determine if observed gender differences were impacted by the covariance present between all cognitive tests. Results suggest that although the patterns established in the early years remain stable through time for males, the established patterns for females are altered with age. Our findings are compelling in supporting a male advantage on visuospatial tasks among older adults. These findings are discussed in terms of common variance between test instruments as a possible source of difference. Our finding that the gender effect tended to increase when common variance was controlled argues that this methodology may enhance the ability to detect domain specific effects.},
keywords = {MedVR},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The more replicated findings about gender difference in cognitive performance suggest female superiority on visuomotor speed and language ability and male superiority on mechanical and visuospatial tasks. Generally, group strengths found in the early school years become more established at adolescence and remain stable through adulthood. The current study tested whether the patterns established in the early years remained among 30 adult subjects. We also utilized a series of exploratory analyses to determine if observed gender differences were impacted by the covariance present between all cognitive tests. Results suggest that although the patterns established in the early years remain stable through time for males, the established patterns for females are altered with age. Our findings are compelling in supporting a male advantage on visuospatial tasks among older adults. These findings are discussed in terms of common variance between test instruments as a possible source of difference. Our finding that the gender effect tended to increase when common variance was controlled argues that this methodology may enhance the ability to detect domain specific effects.
Robertson, R. Kevin; Mielke, Jens; Appiah, Kuku; Hall, Colin D.; Price, Richard W.; Kumwenda, Johnstone; Kanyama, Cecelia; Amod, Farida; Marra, Christina; Taylor, Terrie; Lalloo, Umesh; Jelsma, Jennifer; Holding, Penny; Boivin, Michael; Birbeck, Gretchen; Nakasujja, Noeline; Sanne, Ian; Parsons, Thomas D.; Parente, Amanda; Tucker, Karen A.
Assessment of neuroAIDS in Africa Journal Article
In: Journal of NeuroVirology, vol. 11, no. S1, pp. 7–16, 2005.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: MedVR
@article{robertson_assessment_2005,
title = {Assessment of neuroAIDS in Africa},
author = {R. Kevin Robertson and Jens Mielke and Kuku Appiah and Colin D. Hall and Richard W. Price and Johnstone Kumwenda and Cecelia Kanyama and Farida Amod and Christina Marra and Terrie Taylor and Umesh Lalloo and Jennifer Jelsma and Penny Holding and Michael Boivin and Gretchen Birbeck and Noeline Nakasujja and Ian Sanne and Thomas D. Parsons and Amanda Parente and Karen A. Tucker},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Assessment%20of%20neuroAIDS%20in%20Africa.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {Journal of NeuroVirology},
volume = {11},
number = {S1},
pages = {7–16},
abstract = {In June of 2004, the Center for AIDS Mental Health Research, National Institute of Mental Health sponsored a conference on the Assessment of NeuroAIDS in Africa, which was held in Blantrye, Malawai. The conference presentations summarized here highlight the need for research on NeuroAIDS in Africa and methods for assessing HIV-related neurological diseases (Robertson, 2004).},
keywords = {MedVR},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In June of 2004, the Center for AIDS Mental Health Research, National Institute of Mental Health sponsored a conference on the Assessment of NeuroAIDS in Africa, which was held in Blantrye, Malawai. The conference presentations summarized here highlight the need for research on NeuroAIDS in Africa and methods for assessing HIV-related neurological diseases (Robertson, 2004).
Gratch, Jonathan; Marsella, Stacy C.
Lessons from Emotion Psychology for the Design of Lifelike Characters Journal Article
In: Applied Artificial Intelligence Journal, vol. 19, pp. 215–233, 2005.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Social Simulation, Virtual Humans
@article{gratch_lessons_2005,
title = {Lessons from Emotion Psychology for the Design of Lifelike Characters},
author = {Jonathan Gratch and Stacy C. Marsella},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Lessons%20from%20Emotion%20Psychology%20for%20the%20Design%20of%20Lifelike%20Characters.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {Applied Artificial Intelligence Journal},
volume = {19},
pages = {215–233},
abstract = {This special issue describes a number of applications that utilize lifelike characters that teach indirectly, by playing some role in a social interaction with a user. The design of such systems reflects a compromise between competing, sometimes unarticulated de- mands: they must realistically exhibit the behaviors and characteristics of their role, they must facilitate the desired learning, and they must work within the limitations of current technology, and there is little theoretical or empirical guidance on the impact of these compromises on learning. Our perspective on this problem is shaped by our interest in the role of emotion and emotional behaviors in such forms of learning. In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in the role of emotion in the design of virtual hu- mans. The techniques and motivations underlying these various efforts can seem, from an outsider's perspective, as bewildering and multifaceted as the concept of emotion itself is generally accused of being. Drawing on insights from emotion psychology, this article attempts to clarify for the designers of educational agents the various theoretical perspec- tives on the concept of emotion with the aim of giving guidance to designers of educa- tional agents.},
keywords = {Social Simulation, Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This special issue describes a number of applications that utilize lifelike characters that teach indirectly, by playing some role in a social interaction with a user. The design of such systems reflects a compromise between competing, sometimes unarticulated de- mands: they must realistically exhibit the behaviors and characteristics of their role, they must facilitate the desired learning, and they must work within the limitations of current technology, and there is little theoretical or empirical guidance on the impact of these compromises on learning. Our perspective on this problem is shaped by our interest in the role of emotion and emotional behaviors in such forms of learning. In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in the role of emotion in the design of virtual hu- mans. The techniques and motivations underlying these various efforts can seem, from an outsider's perspective, as bewildering and multifaceted as the concept of emotion itself is generally accused of being. Drawing on insights from emotion psychology, this article attempts to clarify for the designers of educational agents the various theoretical perspec- tives on the concept of emotion with the aim of giving guidance to designers of educa- tional agents.
Gordon, Andrew S.
The Fictionalization of Lessons Learned Journal Article
In: IEEE Multimedia, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 12–14, 2005.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: The Narrative Group
@article{gordon_fictionalization_2005,
title = {The Fictionalization of Lessons Learned},
author = {Andrew S. Gordon},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/The%20Fictionalization%20of%20Lessons%20Learned.pdf},
year = {2005},
date = {2005-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Multimedia},
volume = {12},
number = {4},
pages = {12–14},
keywords = {The Narrative Group},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2004
Gordon, Andrew S.; Hobbs, Jerry R.
Formalizations of Commonsense Psychology Journal Article
In: AI Magazine, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 49–62, 2004.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: The Narrative Group
@article{gordon_formalizations_2004,
title = {Formalizations of Commonsense Psychology},
author = {Andrew S. Gordon and Jerry R. Hobbs},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Formalizations%20of%20Commonsense%20Psychology.pdf},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
journal = {AI Magazine},
volume = {24},
number = {5},
pages = {49–62},
abstract = {The central challenge in commonsense knowledge representation research is to develop content theories that achieve a high degree of both competency and coverage. We describe a new methodology for constructing formal theories in commonsense knowledge domains that complements traditional knowledge representation approaches by first addressing issues of coverage. We show how a close examination of a very general task (strategic planning) leads to a catalog of the concepts and facts that must be encoded for general commonsense reasoning. These concepts are sorted into a manageable number of coherent domains, one of which is the representational area of commonsense human memory. We then elaborate on these concepts using textual corpus-analysis techniques, where the conceptual distinctions made in natural language are used to improve the definitions of the concepts that should be expressible in our formal theories. These representational areas are then analyzed using more traditional knowledge representation techniques, as demonstrated in this article by our treatment of commonsense human memory.},
keywords = {The Narrative Group},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The central challenge in commonsense knowledge representation research is to develop content theories that achieve a high degree of both competency and coverage. We describe a new methodology for constructing formal theories in commonsense knowledge domains that complements traditional knowledge representation approaches by first addressing issues of coverage. We show how a close examination of a very general task (strategic planning) leads to a catalog of the concepts and facts that must be encoded for general commonsense reasoning. These concepts are sorted into a manageable number of coherent domains, one of which is the representational area of commonsense human memory. We then elaborate on these concepts using textual corpus-analysis techniques, where the conceptual distinctions made in natural language are used to improve the definitions of the concepts that should be expressible in our formal theories. These representational areas are then analyzed using more traditional knowledge representation techniques, as demonstrated in this article by our treatment of commonsense human memory.
Traum, David
Issues in Multiparty Dialogues Journal Article
In: Advances in Agent Communication, 2004.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Virtual Humans
@article{traum_issues_2004,
title = {Issues in Multiparty Dialogues},
author = {David Traum},
editor = {F. Dignum},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Issues%20in%20Multiparty%20Dialogues.pdf},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
journal = {Advances in Agent Communication},
abstract = {This article examines some of the issues in representation of, processing, and automated agent participation in natural language dialgue, considering expansion from two-party dialogue to multi-party dialogue. These issues include some regarding the roles agents play in dialogue, interactive factors, and content management factors.},
keywords = {Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article examines some of the issues in representation of, processing, and automated agent participation in natural language dialgue, considering expansion from two-party dialogue to multi-party dialogue. These issues include some regarding the roles agents play in dialogue, interactive factors, and content management factors.
Parsons, Thomas D.; Larson, Peter; Kratz, Kris; Thiebaux, Marcus; Bluestein, Brendon; Buckwalter, John Galen; Rizzo, Albert
Sex differences in mental rotation and spatial rotation in a virtual environment Journal Article
In: Neuropsychologia, vol. 42, pp. 555–562, 2004.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: MedVR
@article{parsons_sex_2004,
title = {Sex differences in mental rotation and spatial rotation in a virtual environment},
author = {Thomas D. Parsons and Peter Larson and Kris Kratz and Marcus Thiebaux and Brendon Bluestein and John Galen Buckwalter and Albert Rizzo},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Sex%20differences%20in%20mental%20rotation%20and%20spatial%20rotation%20in%20a%20virtual%20environment.pdf},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.08.014},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
journal = {Neuropsychologia},
volume = {42},
pages = {555–562},
abstract = {The visuospatial ability referred to as mental rotation has been shown to produce one of the largest and most consistent sex differences, in favor of males, in the cognitive literature. The current study utilizes both a paper-and-pencil version of the mental rotations test (MRT) and a virtual environment for investigating rotational ability among 44 adult subjects. Results replicate sex differences traditionally seen on paper-and-pencil measures, while no sex effects were observed in the virtual environment. These ï¬ndings are discussed in terms of task demands and motor involvement. Sex differences were also seen in the patterns of correlations between rotation tasks and other neuropsychological measures. Current results suggest men may rely more on left hemisphere processing than women when engaged in rotational tasks. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.},
keywords = {MedVR},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The visuospatial ability referred to as mental rotation has been shown to produce one of the largest and most consistent sex differences, in favor of males, in the cognitive literature. The current study utilizes both a paper-and-pencil version of the mental rotations test (MRT) and a virtual environment for investigating rotational ability among 44 adult subjects. Results replicate sex differences traditionally seen on paper-and-pencil measures, while no sex effects were observed in the virtual environment. These ï¬ndings are discussed in terms of task demands and motor involvement. Sex differences were also seen in the patterns of correlations between rotation tasks and other neuropsychological measures. Current results suggest men may rely more on left hemisphere processing than women when engaged in rotational tasks. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Parsons, Thomas D.; Rizzo, Albert; Buckwalter, John Galen
Backpropagation and Regression: Comparative Utility for Neuropsychologists Journal Article
In: Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 95–104, 2004.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: MedVR
@article{parsons_backpropagation_2004,
title = {Backpropagation and Regression: Comparative Utility for Neuropsychologists},
author = {Thomas D. Parsons and Albert Rizzo and John Galen Buckwalter},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Backpropagation%20and%20Regression-%20Comparative%20Utility%20for%20Neuropsychologists.pdf},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology},
volume = {26},
number = {1},
pages = {95–104},
abstract = {The aim of this research was to compare the data analytic applicability of a backpropagated neural network with that of regression analysis. Thirty individuals between the ages of 64 and 86 (Mean age = 73.6; Mean years education = 15.4; % women = 50) participated in a study designed to validate a new test of spatial ability administered in virtual reality. As part of this project a standard neuropsychological battery was administered. Results from the multiple regression model (R2 = .21, p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .28; Standard Error = 18.01) were compared with those of a backpropagated ANN (R2 = .39, p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .02; Standard Error = 13.07). This 18% increase in prediction of a common neuropsychological problem demonstrated that an ANN has the potential to outperform a regression.},
keywords = {MedVR},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The aim of this research was to compare the data analytic applicability of a backpropagated neural network with that of regression analysis. Thirty individuals between the ages of 64 and 86 (Mean age = 73.6; Mean years education = 15.4; % women = 50) participated in a study designed to validate a new test of spatial ability administered in virtual reality. As part of this project a standard neuropsychological battery was administered. Results from the multiple regression model (R2 = .21, p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .28; Standard Error = 18.01) were compared with those of a backpropagated ANN (R2 = .39, p textbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextbackslashtextless .02; Standard Error = 13.07). This 18% increase in prediction of a common neuropsychological problem demonstrated that an ANN has the potential to outperform a regression.
Gratch, Jonathan; Marsella, Stacy C.
A Domain-independent Framework for Modeling Emotion Journal Article
In: Journal of Cognitive Systems Research, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 269–306, 2004.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Social Simulation, Virtual Humans
@article{gratch_domain-independent_2004,
title = {A Domain-independent Framework for Modeling Emotion},
author = {Jonathan Gratch and Stacy C. Marsella},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/A%20Domain-independent%20Framework%20for%20Modeling%20Emotion.pdf},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Cognitive Systems Research},
volume = {5},
number = {4},
pages = {269–306},
abstract = {In this article, we show how psychological theories of emotion shed light on the interaction between emotion and cognition, and thus can inform the design of human-like autonomous agents that must convey these core aspects of human behavior. We lay out a general computational framework of appraisal and coping as a central organizing principle for such systems. We then discuss a detailed domain-independent model based on this framework, illustrating how it has been applied to the problem of generating behavior for a significant social training application. The model is useful not only for deriving emotional state, but also for informing a number of the behaviors that must be modeled by virtual humans such as facial expressions, dialogue management, planning, reacting, and social understanding. Thus, the work is of potential interest to models of strategic decision-making, action selection, facial animation, and social intelligence.},
keywords = {Social Simulation, Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In this article, we show how psychological theories of emotion shed light on the interaction between emotion and cognition, and thus can inform the design of human-like autonomous agents that must convey these core aspects of human behavior. We lay out a general computational framework of appraisal and coping as a central organizing principle for such systems. We then discuss a detailed domain-independent model based on this framework, illustrating how it has been applied to the problem of generating behavior for a significant social training application. The model is useful not only for deriving emotional state, but also for informing a number of the behaviors that must be modeled by virtual humans such as facial expressions, dialogue management, planning, reacting, and social understanding. Thus, the work is of potential interest to models of strategic decision-making, action selection, facial animation, and social intelligence.
Parsons, Thomas D.; Thompson, E.; Buckwalter, John Galen; Bluestein, Brendon
Pregnancy History and Cognition During and After Pregnancy Journal Article
In: International Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 114, pp. 1099–1110, 2004, ISSN: 0020-7454.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: MedVR
@article{parsons_pregnancy_2004,
title = {Pregnancy History and Cognition During and After Pregnancy},
author = {Thomas D. Parsons and E. Thompson and John Galen Buckwalter and Brendon Bluestein},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Pregnancy%20History%20and%20Cognition%20During%20and%20After%20Pregnancy.pdf},
doi = {10.1080/00207450490475544},
issn = {0020-7454},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
journal = {International Journal of Neuroscience},
volume = {114},
pages = {1099–1110},
abstract = {An increasing body of literature confirms anecdotal reports that cognitive changes occur during pregnancy. This article assessed whether prior pregnancy, which alters a woman's subsequent hormonal environment, is associated with a specific cognitive profile during and after pregnancy. Seven primigravids and nine multigravids were compared, equivalent for age and education. No differences between groups were found during pregnancy. After delivery, multigravids performed better than primigravids on verbal memory tasks. After controlling for mood, a significant difference in verbal memory remained. A neuroadaptive mechanism may develop after first pregnancy that increases the ability to recover from some cognitive deficits after later pregnancies.},
keywords = {MedVR},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
An increasing body of literature confirms anecdotal reports that cognitive changes occur during pregnancy. This article assessed whether prior pregnancy, which alters a woman's subsequent hormonal environment, is associated with a specific cognitive profile during and after pregnancy. Seven primigravids and nine multigravids were compared, equivalent for age and education. No differences between groups were found during pregnancy. After delivery, multigravids performed better than primigravids on verbal memory tasks. After controlling for mood, a significant difference in verbal memory remained. A neuroadaptive mechanism may develop after first pregnancy that increases the ability to recover from some cognitive deficits after later pregnancies.
Gordon, Andrew S.
The Representation of Planning Strategies Journal Article
In: Artificial Intelligence, vol. 153, pp. 287–305, 2004.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: The Narrative Group
@article{gordon_representation_2004,
title = {The Representation of Planning Strategies},
author = {Andrew S. Gordon},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/The%20Representation%20of%20Planning%20Strategies.PDF},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
journal = {Artificial Intelligence},
volume = {153},
pages = {287–305},
abstract = {An analysis of strategies, recognizable abstract patterns of planned behavior, highlights the difference between the assumptions that people make about their own planning processes and the representational commitments made in current automated planning systems. This article describes a project to collect and represent strategies on a large scale to identify the representational components of our commonsense understanding of intentional action. Three hundred and seventy-two strategies were collected from ten different planning domains. Each was represented in a pre-formal manner designed to reveal the assumptions that these strategies make concerning the human planning process. The contents of these representations, consisting of nearly one thousand unique concepts, were then collected and organized into forty-eight groups that outline the representational requirements of strategic planning systems.},
keywords = {The Narrative Group},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
An analysis of strategies, recognizable abstract patterns of planned behavior, highlights the difference between the assumptions that people make about their own planning processes and the representational commitments made in current automated planning systems. This article describes a project to collect and represent strategies on a large scale to identify the representational components of our commonsense understanding of intentional action. Three hundred and seventy-two strategies were collected from ten different planning domains. Each was represented in a pre-formal manner designed to reveal the assumptions that these strategies make concerning the human planning process. The contents of these representations, consisting of nearly one thousand unique concepts, were then collected and organized into forty-eight groups that outline the representational requirements of strategic planning systems.
2003
Gratch, Jonathan; Marsella, Stacy C.
Fight the Way You Train:The Role and Limits of Emotions in Training for Combat Journal Article
In: Brown Journal of World Affairs, vol. X, pp. 63–76, 2003.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Social Simulation, Virtual Humans
@article{gratch_fight_2003,
title = {Fight the Way You Train:The Role and Limits of Emotions in Training for Combat},
author = {Jonathan Gratch and Stacy C. Marsella},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Fight%20the%20Way%20You%20Train-The%20Role%20and%20Limits%20of%20Emotions%20in%20Training%20for%20Combat.pdf},
year = {2003},
date = {2003-06-01},
journal = {Brown Journal of World Affairs},
volume = {X},
pages = {63–76},
keywords = {Social Simulation, Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Uhrmacher, Adelinde; Swartout, William
Agent-Oriented Simulation Journal Article
In: Applied System Simulation, pp. 215–239, 2003.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:
@article{uhrmacher_agent-oriented_2003,
title = {Agent-Oriented Simulation},
author = {Adelinde Uhrmacher and William Swartout},
url = {http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4419-9218-5_10},
year = {2003},
date = {2003-01-01},
journal = {Applied System Simulation},
pages = {215–239},
abstract = {Metaphors play a key role in computer science and engineering. Agents bring the notion of locality of information (as in object-oriented programming) together with locality of intent or purpose. The relation between multi-agent and simulation systems is multi-facetted. Simulation systems are used to evaluate software agents in virtual dynamic environments. Agents become part of the model design, if autonomous entities in general, and human or social actors in particular shall be modeled. A couple of research projects shall illuminate some of these facets.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Metaphors play a key role in computer science and engineering. Agents bring the notion of locality of information (as in object-oriented programming) together with locality of intent or purpose. The relation between multi-agent and simulation systems is multi-facetted. Simulation systems are used to evaluate software agents in virtual dynamic environments. Agents become part of the model design, if autonomous entities in general, and human or social actors in particular shall be modeled. A couple of research projects shall illuminate some of these facets.
Pair, Jarrell; Neumann, Ulrich; Piepol, Diane; Swartout, William
FlatWorld: Combining Hollywood Set-Design Techniques with VR Journal Article
In: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, no. January/February, 2003.
@article{pair_flatworld_2003,
title = {FlatWorld: Combining Hollywood Set-Design Techniques with VR},
author = {Jarrell Pair and Ulrich Neumann and Diane Piepol and William Swartout},
editor = {Lawrence Rosenblum and Macedonia},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/FlatWorld-%20Combining%20Hollywood%20Set-Design%20Techniques%20with%20VR.pdf},
year = {2003},
date = {2003-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications},
number = {January/February},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Habash, Nizar; Dorr, Bonnie; Traum, David
Hybrid Natural Language Generation from Lexical Conceptual Structures Journal Article
In: Machine Translation, vol. 18, pp. 81–127, 2003.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Virtual Humans
@article{habash_hybrid_2003,
title = {Hybrid Natural Language Generation from Lexical Conceptual Structures},
author = {Nizar Habash and Bonnie Dorr and David Traum},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Hybrid%20Natural%20Language%20Generation%20from%20Lexical%20%20Conceptual%20Structures.pdf},
year = {2003},
date = {2003-01-01},
journal = {Machine Translation},
volume = {18},
pages = {81–127},
abstract = {This paper describes Lexogen, a system for generating natural-language sentences from Lexical Conceptual Structure, an interlingual representation. The system has been developed as part of a Chinese–English Machine Translation (MT) system; however, it is designed to be used for many other MT language pairs and natural language applications. The contributions of this work include: (1) development of a large-scale Hybrid Natural Language Generation system with language-independent components; (2) enhancements to an interlingual representation and asso- ciated algorithm for generation from ambiguous input; (3) development of an efficient reusable language-independent linearization module with a grammar description language that can be used with other systems; (4) improvements to an earlier algorithm for hierarchically mapping thematic roles to surface positions; and (5) development of a diagnostic tool for lexicon coverage and correct- ness and use of the tool for verification of English, Spanish, and Chinese lexicons. An evaluation of Chinese–English translation quality shows comparable performance with a commercial translation system. The generation system can also be extended to other languages and this is demonstrated and evaluated for Spanish.},
keywords = {Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper describes Lexogen, a system for generating natural-language sentences from Lexical Conceptual Structure, an interlingual representation. The system has been developed as part of a Chinese–English Machine Translation (MT) system; however, it is designed to be used for many other MT language pairs and natural language applications. The contributions of this work include: (1) development of a large-scale Hybrid Natural Language Generation system with language-independent components; (2) enhancements to an interlingual representation and asso- ciated algorithm for generation from ambiguous input; (3) development of an efficient reusable language-independent linearization module with a grammar description language that can be used with other systems; (4) improvements to an earlier algorithm for hierarchically mapping thematic roles to surface positions; and (5) development of a diagnostic tool for lexicon coverage and correct- ness and use of the tool for verification of English, Spanish, and Chinese lexicons. An evaluation of Chinese–English translation quality shows comparable performance with a commercial translation system. The generation system can also be extended to other languages and this is demonstrated and evaluated for Spanish.
2002
Debevec, Paul
A Tutorial on Image-Based Lighting Journal Article
In: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 2002.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Graphics
@article{debevec_tutorial_2002,
title = {A Tutorial on Image-Based Lighting},
author = {Paul Debevec},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Image-Based%20Lighting.pdf},
year = {2002},
date = {2002-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications},
keywords = {Graphics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Pighin, Frédéric; Szeliski, Richard; Salesin, David H.
Modeling and Animating Realistic Faces from Images Journal Article
In: International Journal on Computer Vision, vol. 50, pp. 143–169, 2002.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:
@article{pighin_modeling_2002,
title = {Modeling and Animating Realistic Faces from Images},
author = {Frédéric Pighin and Richard Szeliski and David H. Salesin},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Modeling%20and%20Animating%20Realistic%20Faces%20from%20Images.pdf},
year = {2002},
date = {2002-01-01},
journal = {International Journal on Computer Vision},
volume = {50},
pages = {143–169},
abstract = {We present a new set of techniques f or mo deling and animating realistic f aces f rom photographs and videos. Given a set of face photographs taken simultaneously, our modeling technique allows the interactive recovery of a textured 3D face model. By repeating this process for several facial expressions, we acquire a set of faces models that can be linearly combined to express a wide range of expressions. Given a video sequence, this linear face model can be used to estimate the face position, orientation, and facial expression at each frame. We illustrate these techniques on several datasets and demonstrate robust estimations of detailed face geometry and motion.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We present a new set of techniques f or mo deling and animating realistic f aces f rom photographs and videos. Given a set of face photographs taken simultaneously, our modeling technique allows the interactive recovery of a textured 3D face model. By repeating this process for several facial expressions, we acquire a set of faces models that can be linearly combined to express a wide range of expressions. Given a video sequence, this linear face model can be used to estimate the face position, orientation, and facial expression at each frame. We illustrate these techniques on several datasets and demonstrate robust estimations of detailed face geometry and motion.
Rickel, Jeff; Marsella, Stacy C.; Gratch, Jonathan; Hill, Randall W.; Traum, David; Swartout, William
Toward a New Generation of Virtual Humans for Interactive Experiences Journal Article
In: IEEE Intelligent Systems, 2002.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Social Simulation, Virtual Humans
@article{rickel_toward_2002,
title = {Toward a New Generation of Virtual Humans for Interactive Experiences},
author = {Jeff Rickel and Stacy C. Marsella and Jonathan Gratch and Randall W. Hill and David Traum and William Swartout},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Toward%20a%20New%20Generation%20of%20Virtual%20Humans%20for%20Interactive%20Experiences.pdf},
year = {2002},
date = {2002-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Intelligent Systems},
keywords = {Social Simulation, Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Gratch, Jonathan; Rickel, Jeff; André, Elisabeth; Cassell, Justine; Petajan, Eric; Badler, Norman
Creating Interactive Virtual Humans: Some Assembly Required Journal Article
In: IEEE Intelligent Systems, pp. 54–63, 2002.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Virtual Humans
@article{gratch_creating_2002,
title = {Creating Interactive Virtual Humans: Some Assembly Required},
author = {Jonathan Gratch and Jeff Rickel and Elisabeth André and Justine Cassell and Eric Petajan and Norman Badler},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Creating%20Interactive%20Virtual%20Humans-%20Some%20Assembly%20Required.pdf},
year = {2002},
date = {2002-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Intelligent Systems},
pages = {54–63},
abstract = {Science fiction has long imagined a future populated with artificial humans–human-looking devices with human-like intelligence. Although Asimov's benevolent robots and the Terminator movies' terrible war machines are still a distant fantasy, researchers across a wide range of disciplines are beginning to work together toward a more modest goal–building virtual humans. These software entities look and act like people and can engage in conversation and collaborative tasks, but they live in simulated environments. With the untidy problems of sensing and acting in the physical world thus dispensed, the focus of virtual human research is on capturing the richness and dynamics of human behavior.},
keywords = {Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Science fiction has long imagined a future populated with artificial humans–human-looking devices with human-like intelligence. Although Asimov's benevolent robots and the Terminator movies' terrible war machines are still a distant fantasy, researchers across a wide range of disciplines are beginning to work together toward a more modest goal–building virtual humans. These software entities look and act like people and can engage in conversation and collaborative tasks, but they live in simulated environments. With the untidy problems of sensing and acting in the physical world thus dispensed, the focus of virtual human research is on capturing the richness and dynamics of human behavior.
2001
Gordon, Andrew S.
Browsing Image Collections with Representations of Commonsense Activities Journal Article
In: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, vol. 52, no. 11, pp. 925–929, 2001.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: The Narrative Group
@article{gordon_browsing_2001,
title = {Browsing Image Collections with Representations of Commonsense Activities},
author = {Andrew S. Gordon},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Browsing%20Image%20Collections%20with%20Representations%20of%20Commonsense%20Activities.PDF},
year = {2001},
date = {2001-01-01},
journal = {Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology},
volume = {52},
number = {11},
pages = {925–929},
abstract = {To support browsing-based subject access to image collections, it is necessary to provide users with networks of subject terms that are organized in an intuitive, richly interconnected manner. A principled approach to this task is to organize the subject terms by their relationship to activity contexts that are commonly understood among users. This article describes a methodology for creating networks of subject terms by manually representing a large number of common-sense activities that are broadly related to image subject terms. The application of this methodology to the Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials produced 768 representations that supported users of a prototype browsing-based retrieval system in searching large, indexed photograph collections.},
keywords = {The Narrative Group},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
To support browsing-based subject access to image collections, it is necessary to provide users with networks of subject terms that are organized in an intuitive, richly interconnected manner. A principled approach to this task is to organize the subject terms by their relationship to activity contexts that are commonly understood among users. This article describes a methodology for creating networks of subject terms by manually representing a large number of common-sense activities that are broadly related to image subject terms. The application of this methodology to the Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials produced 768 representations that supported users of a prototype browsing-based retrieval system in searching large, indexed photograph collections.
2000
Moutchtaris, Athanasios; Reveliotis, Panagiotis; Kyriakakis, Chris
Inverse Filter Design for Immersive Audio Rendering Over Loudspeakers Journal Article
In: IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 77–87, 2000.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:
@article{moutchtaris_inverse_2000,
title = {Inverse Filter Design for Immersive Audio Rendering Over Loudspeakers},
author = {Athanasios Moutchtaris and Panagiotis Reveliotis and Chris Kyriakakis},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Inverse%20Filter%20Design%20for%20Immersive%20Audio%20Rendering%20Over%20Loudspeakers.pdf},
year = {2000},
date = {2000-06-01},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Multimedia},
volume = {2},
number = {2},
pages = {77–87},
abstract = {Immersive audio systems can be used to render virtual sound sources in three-dimensional (3-D) space around a listener. This is achieved by simulating the head-related transfer function (HRTF) amplitude and phase characteristics using digital filters. In this paper, we examine certain key signal processing considerations in spatial sound rendering over headphones and loudspeakers. We address the problem of crosstalk inherent in loudspeaker rendering and examine two methods for implementing crosstalk cancellation and loudspeaker frequency response inversion in real time. We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve crosstalk cancellation of 30 dB using both methods, but one of the two (the Fast RLS Transversal Filter Method) offers a significant advantage in terms of computational efficiency. Our analysis is easily extendable to nonsymmetric listening positions and moving listeners.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Immersive audio systems can be used to render virtual sound sources in three-dimensional (3-D) space around a listener. This is achieved by simulating the head-related transfer function (HRTF) amplitude and phase characteristics using digital filters. In this paper, we examine certain key signal processing considerations in spatial sound rendering over headphones and loudspeakers. We address the problem of crosstalk inherent in loudspeaker rendering and examine two methods for implementing crosstalk cancellation and loudspeaker frequency response inversion in real time. We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve crosstalk cancellation of 30 dB using both methods, but one of the two (the Fast RLS Transversal Filter Method) offers a significant advantage in terms of computational efficiency. Our analysis is easily extendable to nonsymmetric listening positions and moving listeners.
1999
Kyriakakis, Chris; Tsakalides, Panagiotis; Holman, Tomlinson
Surrounded by Sound: Acquisition and Rendering Methods for Immersive Audio Journal Article
In: Signal Processing Magazine, IEEE, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 55–66, 1999, ISSN: 1053-5888.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:
@article{kyriakakis_surrounded_1999,
title = {Surrounded by Sound: Acquisition and Rendering Methods for Immersive Audio},
author = {Chris Kyriakakis and Panagiotis Tsakalides and Tomlinson Holman},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Surrounded%20by%20Sound-%20Acquisition%20and%20Rendering%20Methods%20for%20Immersive%20Audio.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/79.743868},
issn = {1053-5888},
year = {1999},
date = {1999-01-01},
journal = {Signal Processing Magazine, IEEE},
volume = {16},
number = {1},
pages = {55–66},
abstract = {The authors discuss immersive audio systems and the signal processing issues that pertain to the acquisition and subsequent rendering of 3D sound fields over loudspeakers. On the acquisition side, recent advances in statistical methods for achieving acoustical arrays in audio applications are reviewed. Classical array signal processing addresses two major aspects of spatial filtering, namely localization of a signal of interest, and adaptation of the spatial response of an array of sensors to achieve steering in a given direction. The achieved spatial focusing in the direction of interest makes array signal processing a necessary component in immersive sound acquisition systems. On the rendering side, 3D audio signal processing methods are described that allow rendering of virtual sources around the listener using only two loudspeakers. Finally, the authors discuss the commercial implications of audio DSP.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The authors discuss immersive audio systems and the signal processing issues that pertain to the acquisition and subsequent rendering of 3D sound fields over loudspeakers. On the acquisition side, recent advances in statistical methods for achieving acoustical arrays in audio applications are reviewed. Classical array signal processing addresses two major aspects of spatial filtering, namely localization of a signal of interest, and adaptation of the spatial response of an array of sensors to achieve steering in a given direction. The achieved spatial focusing in the direction of interest makes array signal processing a necessary component in immersive sound acquisition systems. On the rendering side, 3D audio signal processing methods are described that allow rendering of virtual sources around the listener using only two loudspeakers. Finally, the authors discuss the commercial implications of audio DSP.
Traum, David; Andersen, Carl F.; Chong, Waiyian; Josyula, Darsana; Okamoto, Yoshi; Purang, Khemdut; O'Donovan-Anderson, Michael; Perlis, Don
Representations of Dialogue State for Domain and Task Independent Meta-Dialogue Journal Article
In: Electronic Transactions on Artificial Intelligence, vol. 3, pp. 125–152, 1999.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Virtual Humans
@article{traum_representations_1999,
title = {Representations of Dialogue State for Domain and Task Independent Meta-Dialogue},
author = {David Traum and Carl F. Andersen and Waiyian Chong and Darsana Josyula and Yoshi Okamoto and Khemdut Purang and Michael O'Donovan-Anderson and Don Perlis},
url = {http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/Representations%20of%20Dialogue%20State%20for%20Domain%20and%20Task%20Independent%20Meta-Dialogue.pdf},
year = {1999},
date = {1999-01-01},
journal = {Electronic Transactions on Artificial Intelligence},
volume = {3},
pages = {125–152},
abstract = {We propose a representation of local dialogue context motivated by the need to react appropriately to meta-dialogue, such as various sorts of corrections to the sequence of an instruction and response action. Such contexts includes at least the following aspects: the words and linguistic structures uttered, the domain correlates of those linguistic structures, and plans and actions in response. Each of these is needed as part of the context in order to be able to correctly interpret the range of possible corrections. Partitioning knowledge of dialogue structure in this way may lead to an ability to represent generic dialogue structure (e.g., in the form of axioms), which can be particularized to the domain, topic and content of the dialogue.},
keywords = {Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We propose a representation of local dialogue context motivated by the need to react appropriately to meta-dialogue, such as various sorts of corrections to the sequence of an instruction and response action. Such contexts includes at least the following aspects: the words and linguistic structures uttered, the domain correlates of those linguistic structures, and plans and actions in response. Each of these is needed as part of the context in order to be able to correctly interpret the range of possible corrections. Partitioning knowledge of dialogue structure in this way may lead to an ability to represent generic dialogue structure (e.g., in the form of axioms), which can be particularized to the domain, topic and content of the dialogue.
0000
Gratch, Jonathan
Emotion recognition ≠ Emotion Understanding: Challenges Confronting the Field of Affective Computing Journal Article
In: pp. 9, 0000.
BibTeX | Tags: Emotions, Virtual Humans
@article{gratch_emotion_nodate,
title = {Emotion recognition ≠ Emotion Understanding: Challenges Confronting the Field of Affective Computing},
author = {Jonathan Gratch},
pages = {9},
keywords = {Emotions, Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Gervits, Felix; Leuski, Anton; Bonial, Claire; Gordon, Carla; Traum, David
A Classification-Based Approach to Automating Human-Robot Dialogue Journal Article
In: pp. 13, 0000.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: ARL, Dialogue, UARC, Virtual Humans
@article{gervits_classication-based_nodate,
title = {A Classification-Based Approach to Automating Human-Robot Dialogue},
author = {Felix Gervits and Anton Leuski and Claire Bonial and Carla Gordon and David Traum},
url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-9323-9_10},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9323-9_10},
pages = {13},
abstract = {We present a dialogue system based on statistical classification which was used to automate human-robot dialogue in a collaborative navigation domain. The classifier was trained on a small corpus of multi-floor Wizard-of-Oz dialogue including two wizards: one standing in for dialogue capabilities and another for navigation. Below, we describe the implementation details of the classifier and show how it was used to automate the dialogue wizard. We evaluate our system on several sets of source data from the corpus and find that response accuracy is generally high, even with very limited training data. Another contribution of this work is the novel demonstration of a dialogue manager that uses the classifier to engage in multifloor dialogue with two different human roles. Overall, this approach is useful for enabling spoken dialogue systems to produce robust and accurate responses to natural language input, and for robots that need to interact with humans in a team setting.},
keywords = {ARL, Dialogue, UARC, Virtual Humans},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We present a dialogue system based on statistical classification which was used to automate human-robot dialogue in a collaborative navigation domain. The classifier was trained on a small corpus of multi-floor Wizard-of-Oz dialogue including two wizards: one standing in for dialogue capabilities and another for navigation. Below, we describe the implementation details of the classifier and show how it was used to automate the dialogue wizard. We evaluate our system on several sets of source data from the corpus and find that response accuracy is generally high, even with very limited training data. Another contribution of this work is the novel demonstration of a dialogue manager that uses the classifier to engage in multifloor dialogue with two different human roles. Overall, this approach is useful for enabling spoken dialogue systems to produce robust and accurate responses to natural language input, and for robots that need to interact with humans in a team setting.
Hartholt, Arno; McCullough, Kyle; Mozgai, Sharon; Ustun, Volkan; Gordon, Andrew S
Introducing RIDE: Lowering the Barrier of Entry to Simulation and Training through the Rapid Integration & Development Environment Journal Article
In: pp. 11, 0000.
@article{hartholt_introducing_nodate,
title = {Introducing RIDE: Lowering the Barrier of Entry to Simulation and Training through the Rapid Integration & Development Environment},
author = {Arno Hartholt and Kyle McCullough and Sharon Mozgai and Volkan Ustun and Andrew S Gordon},
pages = {11},
abstract = {This paper describes the design, development, and philosophy of the Rapid Integration & Development Environment (RIDE). RIDE is a simulation platform that unites many Department of Defense (DoD) and Army simulation efforts to provide an accelerated development foundation and prototyping sandbox that provides direct benefit to the U.S. Army’s Synthetic Training Environment (STE) as well as the larger DoD and Army simulation communities. RIDE integrates a range of capabilities, including One World Terrain, Non-Player Character AI behaviors, xAPI logging, multiplayer networking, scenario creation, destructibility, machine learning approaches, and multi-platform support. The goal of RIDE is to create a simple, drag-and-drop development environment usable by people across all technical levels. RIDE leverages robust game engine technology while designed to be agnostic to any specific game or simulation engine. It provides decision makers with the tools needed to better define requirements and identify potential solutions in much less time and at much reduced costs. RIDE is available through Government Purpose Rights. We aim for RIDE to lower the barrier of entry to research and development efforts within the simulation community in order to reduce required time and effort for simulation and training prototyping. This paper provides an overview of our objective, overall approach, and next steps, in pursuit of these goals.},
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This paper describes the design, development, and philosophy of the Rapid Integration & Development Environment (RIDE). RIDE is a simulation platform that unites many Department of Defense (DoD) and Army simulation efforts to provide an accelerated development foundation and prototyping sandbox that provides direct benefit to the U.S. Army’s Synthetic Training Environment (STE) as well as the larger DoD and Army simulation communities. RIDE integrates a range of capabilities, including One World Terrain, Non-Player Character AI behaviors, xAPI logging, multiplayer networking, scenario creation, destructibility, machine learning approaches, and multi-platform support. The goal of RIDE is to create a simple, drag-and-drop development environment usable by people across all technical levels. RIDE leverages robust game engine technology while designed to be agnostic to any specific game or simulation engine. It provides decision makers with the tools needed to better define requirements and identify potential solutions in much less time and at much reduced costs. RIDE is available through Government Purpose Rights. We aim for RIDE to lower the barrier of entry to research and development efforts within the simulation community in order to reduce required time and effort for simulation and training prototyping. This paper provides an overview of our objective, overall approach, and next steps, in pursuit of these goals.
Hartholt, Arno; McCullough, Kyle; Mozgai, Sharon; Ustun, Volkan; Gordon, Andrew S
Introducing RIDE: Lowering the Barrier of Entry to Simulation and Training through the Rapid Integration & Development Environment Journal Article
In: pp. 11, 0000.
@article{hartholt_introducing_nodate-1,
title = {Introducing RIDE: Lowering the Barrier of Entry to Simulation and Training through the Rapid Integration & Development Environment},
author = {Arno Hartholt and Kyle McCullough and Sharon Mozgai and Volkan Ustun and Andrew S Gordon},
pages = {11},
abstract = {This paper describes the design, development, and philosophy of the Rapid Integration & Development Environment (RIDE). RIDE is a simulation platform that unites many Department of Defense (DoD) and Army simulation efforts to provide an accelerated development foundation and prototyping sandbox that provides direct benefit to the U.S. Army’s Synthetic Training Environment (STE) as well as the larger DoD and Army simulation communities. RIDE integrates a range of capabilities, including One World Terrain, Non-Player Character AI behaviors, xAPI logging, multiplayer networking, scenario creation, destructibility, machine learning approaches, and multi-platform support. The goal of RIDE is to create a simple, drag-and-drop development environment usable by people across all technical levels. RIDE leverages robust game engine technology while designed to be agnostic to any specific game or simulation engine. It provides decision makers with the tools needed to better define requirements and identify potential solutions in much less time and at much reduced costs. RIDE is available through Government Purpose Rights. We aim for RIDE to lower the barrier of entry to research and development efforts within the simulation community in order to reduce required time and effort for simulation and training prototyping. This paper provides an overview of our objective, overall approach, and next steps, in pursuit of these goals.},
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This paper describes the design, development, and philosophy of the Rapid Integration & Development Environment (RIDE). RIDE is a simulation platform that unites many Department of Defense (DoD) and Army simulation efforts to provide an accelerated development foundation and prototyping sandbox that provides direct benefit to the U.S. Army’s Synthetic Training Environment (STE) as well as the larger DoD and Army simulation communities. RIDE integrates a range of capabilities, including One World Terrain, Non-Player Character AI behaviors, xAPI logging, multiplayer networking, scenario creation, destructibility, machine learning approaches, and multi-platform support. The goal of RIDE is to create a simple, drag-and-drop development environment usable by people across all technical levels. RIDE leverages robust game engine technology while designed to be agnostic to any specific game or simulation engine. It provides decision makers with the tools needed to better define requirements and identify potential solutions in much less time and at much reduced costs. RIDE is available through Government Purpose Rights. We aim for RIDE to lower the barrier of entry to research and development efforts within the simulation community in order to reduce required time and effort for simulation and training prototyping. This paper provides an overview of our objective, overall approach, and next steps, in pursuit of these goals.
Hartholt, Arno; Mozgai, Sharon
From Combat to COVID-19 – Managing the Impact of Trauma Using Virtual Reality Journal Article
In: pp. 35, 0000.
Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: DTIC, MedVR, Virtual Humans, VR
@article{hartholt_combat_nodate,
title = {From Combat to COVID-19 – Managing the Impact of Trauma Using Virtual Reality},
author = {Arno Hartholt and Sharon Mozgai},
pages = {35},
abstract = {Research has documented the efficacy of clinical applications that leverage Virtual Reality (VR) for assessment and treatment purposes across a wide range of domains, including pain, phobias, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As the field of Clinical VR matures, it is important to review its origins and examine how these initial explorations have progressed, what gaps remain, and what opportunities the community can pursue. We do this by reflecting on our personal scientific journey against the backdrop of the field in general. In particular, this paper discusses how a clinical research program that was initially designed to deliver trauma-focused VR exposure therapy (VRET) for combat-related PTSD has been evolved to expand its impact and address a wider range of trauma sources. Such trauma sources include sexual trauma and the needs of first responders and healthcare professionals serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide an overview of the field and its general trends, discuss the genesis of our research agenda and its current status, and summarize upcoming opportunities, together with common challenges and lessons learned.},
keywords = {DTIC, MedVR, Virtual Humans, VR},
pubstate = {published},
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Research has documented the efficacy of clinical applications that leverage Virtual Reality (VR) for assessment and treatment purposes across a wide range of domains, including pain, phobias, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As the field of Clinical VR matures, it is important to review its origins and examine how these initial explorations have progressed, what gaps remain, and what opportunities the community can pursue. We do this by reflecting on our personal scientific journey against the backdrop of the field in general. In particular, this paper discusses how a clinical research program that was initially designed to deliver trauma-focused VR exposure therapy (VRET) for combat-related PTSD has been evolved to expand its impact and address a wider range of trauma sources. Such trauma sources include sexual trauma and the needs of first responders and healthcare professionals serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide an overview of the field and its general trends, discuss the genesis of our research agenda and its current status, and summarize upcoming opportunities, together with common challenges and lessons learned.