Press
Using Virtual Reality to Help Students Understand the Brain’s Complex Systems, Researchers Demonstrate Effectiveness of 3D Visualization as a Learning Tool
By EurekAlert | August 4, 2021
Researchers from the Neuroimaging Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and Wisconsin Institute for the Discovery at University Wisconsin-Madison have developed the UW Virtual Brain Project™, producing unique, interactive, 3D narrated diagrams to help students learn about the structure and function of perceptual systems in the human brain. A new study exploring how students responded to these lessons on desktop PCs and in virtual reality (VR) offers new insights into the benefits of VR as an educational tool.
Led by Associate Professor and Director of NYUAD’s Neuroimaging Center Bas Rokers and Assistant Professor of Psychology and a Principal Investigator in the Virtual Environments Group at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at University of Wisconsin-Madison Karen Schloss, the researchers have published the findings of their work in a new paper, UW Virtual Brain Project: An immersive approach to teaching functional neuroanatomy in the journal Translational Issues in Psychological Science from the American Psychological Association (APA).
Video courtesy of the UW Virtual Brain Project™
Researchers Use Virtual Reality to Demonstrate Effectiveness of 3D Visualization as a Learning Tool
By Phys Org | August 2, 2021
Researchers from the Neuroimaging Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and Wisconsin Institute for the Discovery at University Wisconsin-Madison have developed the UW Virtual Brain Project, producing unique, interactive, 3D narrated diagrams to help students learn about the structure and function of perceptual systems in the human brain. A new study exploring how students responded to these lessons on desktop PCs and in virtual reality (VR) offers new insights into the benefits of VR as an educational tool.
Your Brain on Virtual Reality
By Academic Minute | July 29, 2021
Bas Rokers is Associate Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Neuroimaging Facility at New York University Abu Dhabi. His work has elucidated the neural mechanisms underlying visual perception, by revealing the links between sensory input, neural activity and perpetual experience. His research has informed technological innovation in the domain of virtual and augmented reality and has important applications in healthcare, improving the understanding and treatment of visual disorders.
He has published extensively in high profile publications such as Nature Neuroscience, Current Biology, Psychological Science and Nature Scientific Reports. His research has been funded by the Netherlands Scientific Organization, the US National Institutes of Health, the US Navy, Facebook and Google, amongst others. Before his position at New York University Abu Dhabi, he was an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has held visiting appointments at Utrecht University and MIT. Finally, he is a science advocate and actively engages with the public, most notably by working on National Geographic’s Brain Games TV series and the University of Wisconsin Virtual Brain Project.
Person’s Ability To Detect Visual Cues May Predict Severity Of Motion Sickness
By Newsgram | March 10, 2021
A team of researchers has identified that a person’s ability to detect visual cues may help predict the severity of motion sickness symptoms. The study, published in the journal Entertainment Computing, indicated that, specifically, the discomfort was due to a specific sensory cue called motion parallax, which is defined as the relative movement of different parts of the environment.
“As we tested sensitivity to sensory cues, a robust relationship emerged. It was clear that the greater an individual’s sensitivity to motion parallax cues, the more severe the motion sickness symptoms,” said researcher Bas Rokers from New York University, Abu Dhabi.
“It is our hope that these findings will help lead to the more widespread use of powerful virtual reality (VR) technologies by removing barriers that prevent many people from taking advantage of its potential,” Rokers added.
NYU Abu Dhabi Study Predicts Motion Sickness Severity
By Science Codex | March 10, 2021
Motion sickness is typically associated with traveling in cars, boats, and airplanes, however discomfort or “cybersickness” also arises with technological use such as in virtual reality (VR).
A new study led by Head of the Rokers Vision Laboratory and NYUAD Associate Professor of Psychology Bas Rokers explored why the severity of motion sickness varies from person to person by investigating sources of cybersickness during VR use.
In the new study, Variations in visual sensitivity predict motion sickness in virtual reality published in the journal Entertainment Computing, Rokers and his team used VR headsets to simulate visual cues and present videos that induced moderate levels of motion sickness. They found that a person’s ability to detect visual cues predicted the severity of motion sickness symptoms. Specifically, discomfort was due to a specific sensory cue called motion parallax, which is defined as the relative movement of different parts of the environment.
NYUAD Researcher Aids in the Development of a Pathway to Solve Cybersickness
By Omnia Health | November 30, 2020
Virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies have grown in popularity as they can immerse users in novel situations and environments by simulating the necessary stimuli. However, when using VR or AR technologies such as head-worn displays, users frequently report symptoms of nausea, disorientation, and sleepiness. This is more commonly referred to as cybersickness, a form of motion sickness that has been caused by the use of technology.
Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Neuroimaging Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, Bas Rokers, and a team of researchers have evaluated the state of research on cybersickness and formulated a research and development agenda to eliminate cybersickness, allowing for broader adoption of immersive technologies.
Some Brains are Blind to Moving Objects
By Wnews | September 28, 2016
As many as half of people are blind to motion in some part of their field of vision, but the deficit doesn’t have anything to do with the eyes.
In a study published Sept. 28 in the journal Psychological Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison psychology Professor Bas Rokers and collaborators in the Netherlands have shown that motion blindness is a failure of the brain to properly interpret sensory information — a type of deficit called agnosia. The best-known example of an agnosia is probably face blindness, called prosopagnosia, in which people can’t tell one face from another (and thus can’t tell people apart without other clues).
“It’s not that they can’t tell something is a face. They can look right at it and tell you where the nose and the mouth are,” says Rokers, who studies the brain’s role in vision. “They just can’t integrate that information to figure out identity, because identity depends on the relationship between those elements.
Psychologist to Explain 3-D Perception to National Geographic Audience
By Wnews | October 7, 2011
Bas Rokers, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, will illustrate how our brains process visual motion and depth during the three-part National Geographic television series “Brain Games.”
With the help of magician David Copperfield, Rokers and other brain scientists will demonstrate how our senses habitually fool us. “Our perceptual experience is a combination of sensory input and prior assumptions about our surroundings,” says Rokers. “Sensory illusions occur when those assumptions are violated.” Rokers has identified certain brain regions as involved in processing 3-D motion and says they may explain why up to 20 percent of people report problems watching 3-D movies such as “Avatar,” and perhaps lead to treatments of impaired 3-D vision.