CRI: IAD - Advancing Virtual Environments as Laboratories for Studying Human Behavior

这是一笔设备拨款，用于购买眼球追踪和显示技术，以支持使用虚拟环境作为人类行为研究媒介的多学科研究。该研究项目使用了一个沉浸式的交互式自行车模拟器来研究儿童和成人骑自行车的人如何在穿过交通拥挤的道路时做出决定，并使用了一个大屏幕沉浸式显示系统来研究真实和虚拟环境中的空间感知。利用新的仪器，该项目将：1)将眼动追踪和头动追踪系统与现有的交互式自行车模拟器集成，研究过马路时的视觉注意力；2)测试投影立体图像和地面如何增加大屏显示系统的真实感和有效性；3)将大屏显示系统与头戴式显示系统进行比较，研究显示特性如何影响空间感知。新仪器将在四个重要方面扩展现有设施：1)在高保真自行车模拟器中增加眼动追踪；2)升级大屏幕显示器，采用立体投影；3)在自行车模拟器中增加地面显示器；4)获得头戴式显示系统。通过增加和测试不同类型的沉浸式交互式虚拟环境的现实性和有效性，以及开发将虚拟环境技术与其他尖端技术相结合的新计算技术，使用这种基础设施的研究将推动最先进的虚拟环境作为人类行为研究实验室的发展。这项基础设施的研究将有助于我们理解儿童晚期和青少年早期感知-行动耦合的发展，并有助于我们理解儿童骑自行车受伤的潜在原因。研究结果将为未来旨在减少汽车-自行车碰撞的干预研究奠定基础。这个项目在模拟技术、实验方法和我们对距离感知的理解方面取得的进展将有助于在行为研究中使用虚拟环境的发展。这项研究还将对用于培训、教学和娱乐目的的交互式仿真技术产生影响。最后，该项目将通过为心理学和计算机科学领域的本科生、研究生和博士后提供合作研究经验，促进多学科培训。

This is an equipment grant to purchase eye-tracking and display technology to support multidisciplinary research on the use of virtual environments as a medium for the study of human behavior. The research program uses an immersive, interactive bicycling simulator to study how child and adult cyclists make decisions about crossing traffic-filled roads, and a large-screen immersive display system to study spatial perception in real and virtual environments. Using the new instrumentation, the project will: 1) Integrate an eye-tracking and head-tracking system with the existing interactive bicycling simulator to conduct studies of visual attention during road crossing, 2) Test how projecting stereo images and a ground surface adds to the realism and effectiveness of a large-screen display system, and 3) Compare a large-screen display system with a head-mounted display system to investigate how display characteristics impact spatial perception.New instrumentation will expand current facilities in four important ways: 1) adding eye tracking to the high fidelity bicycling simulator, 2) upgrading large screen displays with stereo projection, 3) adding a ground display to the bicycling simulator, and 4) acquiring a head-mounted display system. By increasing and testing the realism and effectiveness of different types of immersive, interactive virtual environments, and developing new computational techniques for integrating virtual environment technology with other cutting-edge technologies, research using this infrastructure will advance the development of state-of-the-art virtual environments as laboratories for the study of human behavior.The research made possible by this infrastructure will contribute to both our understanding of the development of perception-action coupling during late childhood and early adolescence and to our understanding of the underlying causes of child bicycling injuries. The results will lay a foundation for future intervention studies designed to reduce car-bicycle collisions. Advances made on this project in simulation technology, in experimental methodology, and in our understanding of distance perception will contribute to the development of virtual environments for use in behavioral research. This research will also have impact on interactive simulation technology for training, teaching, and entertainment purposes. Finally, this project will promote multidisciplinary training by providing collaborative research experience to a diverse group of undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs in psychology and computer science.