ABSTRACT. SYMPOSIUM CHAIRS: Andrea Gaggioli, Alice Chirico and Bernhard Riecke

There are experiences in life that are able to generate profound and long-lasting shifts in core beliefs and attitudes, including subjective self-transformation [1]. These experiences have the capacity of changing not only what individuals know and value, but also how they see the world. For these characteristics, transformative experiences are gaining increasing attention not only in psychology and neuroscience, but also in philosophy. From a psychological perspective, transformative change is often associated to specific experiential states, defined “self-transcendence experiences”. These are transient mental states that allow individuals experiencing something greater of themselves, reflecting on deeper dimensions of their existence and shaping lasting spiritual beliefs. These experiences encompass several mental states, including flow, positive emotions such as awe and elevation, “peak” experiences, “mystical” experiences and mindfulness (for a review, see Yaden et al. [2]). Although the phenomenological profile of these experiential states can vary significantly in terms of quality and intensity, they are characterized by a diminished sense of self and increased feelings of connectedness to other people and one’s surroundings [2]. Previous research has shown that self-transcendent experiences are important sources of positive psychological outcomes, including increased meaning in life, positive mood and life satisfaction, positive behavior change, spiritual development and pro-social attitudes. One potentially interesting question related to self-transcendent experiences concerns whether, and to which extent, these mental states can be invited or elicited by means of interactive technologies. This question lies at the center of a new research program – transformative experience design (TED) [3] – which has a two-fold aims: (i) to systematically investigate the phenomenological and neurocognitive aspects of self-transcendent experiences, as well as their implications for individual growth and psychological wellbeing; and (ii) to translate such knowledge into a tentative set of design principles for developing “e-experiences” that support meaning in life and personal growth. More specifically, the TED framework has identified three possible assets that can be combined to achieve this goal. The first strategy concerns the use of advanced simulation technologies, such as virtual, augmented and mixed reality, as the elective medium to generate controlled alteration of perceptual, motor and cognitive processes. The second asset regards the use of the language of arts to create emotionally-compelling storytelling scenarios. The third and final element of TED concerns the use of brain-based technologies, such as brain stimulation and bio/neurofeedback, to modulate neuro-physiological processes underlying self-transcendence mental states, using a closed-loop approach. The central assumption of TED is that the combination of these means provides a broad spectrum of transformative possibilities, which include, for example, “what it is like” to embody another self or another life form, simulating peculiar neurological phenomena like synesthesia or out-of-body experiences, and altering time and space perception. The safe and controlled use of these e-experiences hold the potential to facilitate self-knowledge and self-understanding, foster creative expression, develop new skills, and recognize and learn the value of others. The goal of this symposium is to introduce attendees to emerging research in transformative experience design as well as to explore the theoretical and methodological challenges associated to this topic.

Presentations: - Katerina Stepanova, A framework for studying Transformative Experiences through VR - Andrea Gaggioli, Closing the loop: User-Adaptive Generative Virtual Reality - Alexandra Kitson, Lucid Dreaming as a Lens into Transformative Experience Design for Virtual Reality - Alice Chirico, The Continuum of Self-transcendence: Flow Experience and the emotion of Awe

Name of the discussant: will be communicated later to the conference organizers

References

[1] Miller, W. R., & C'de Baca, J. (2001). Quantum change: When epiphanies and sudden insights transform ordinary lives. New York: Guilford Press.

[2] Yaden, D. B., Haidt, J., Hood, R. W., Jr., Vago, D. R., & Newberg, A. B. (2017). The varieties of self-transcendent experience. Review of General Psychology, 21(2), 143-160.

[3] Gaggioli, A. (2016). Transformative Experience Design. In Human Computer Confluence. Transforming Human Experience Through Symbiotic Technologies, eds A. Gaggioli, A. Ferscha, G. Riva, S. Dunne, and I. Viaud-Delmon (Berlin: De Gruyter Open), 96–121.

ABSTRACT. Our view of the world forms based on our experiences. Certain experiences can have a strong powerful effect that could transform an individual’s worldview. These experiences are often described as transformative, or in strong cases, pivotal. Such experience can occur when an individual witnesses a powerful natural phenomenon, such as a vast ocean or mountain views, underwater world, or the view of the Earth from space. After admiring the beauty of the world, individual sometimes experience a shift in their consciousness, and adjust their worldview based on the newly received perspective. Such experiences are profoundly positive, but unfortunately very rare and private, and thus difficult to study or reproduce.   We are presenting a framework that suggests a method of studying transformative experience through the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology. The immersive powers of virtual reality can “teleport” the immersant from the lab into a different world, thus providing the researchers with a unique real-time access to these inherently private emotional experiences in a controlled lab condition. In order to understand such complex phenomena we are proposing to describe it as a progression through different stages or levels of the experience, and assess each stage and transition individually.

Our framework outlines the progression of the transformative experience in 3 stages: perceptual dissonance, cognitive shift, and behavioral change. The initial stage is a perceptual experience that is presenting a familiar concept, but from a novel perspective, thus creating a perceptual dissonance. Awe-inspiring experiences often share a common characteristic of perceptual vastness, which is arguably impossible to achieve in controlled lab conditions without the use of VR. This stage can elicit emotional responses, such as awe, that can be measured with a use of physiological measures, e.g. goosebumps (Quesnel & Riecke, 2017). After being faced with a perceptual dissonance an individual will have to intake this information, and either accommodate it, assimilate it, or reject it (Gaggioli, 2016). If accommodation was successful, the experience would move to the stage of the cognitive shift;  the individual’s worldview is altered in order to account for the new experience. This stage can be assessed through implicit measures of attitudes, e.g., implicit association test. Transition to the third stage of the behavioral change happens if there was also a dissonance between the new worldview and the individual’s behavior – this process can be explained through the theory of cognitive dissonance. The third stage can be evaluated through observation of behavior both inside VR and after the experience. To illustrate this framework in a specific context we will look at a VR experience design inspired by the Overview Effect – the profound feeling experienced by astronauts observing the vastness and beauty of the Earth from space, that results in a cognitive shift of increased feeling of connectedness and consequently increased pro-social and pro-environmental behavior.

Through an iterative design of a the VR experience, and the use of this framework to assess the progression of a transformative experience, we will be able to identify the key characteristic and triggers in the VR experience that facilitate the progression between the stages of the transformative experience. Understanding how to design for transformative experience in VR will make such profound transformative experiences more accessible both for the researchers interested in studying them as well as for the general public wishing to improve their well-being.

References: Gaggioli, A. (2016). Transformative experience design. Human Computer Confluence. Transforming Human Experience Through Symbiotic Technologies, 96-121. Quesnel, D., & Riecke, B. E. (2017). Awestruck: Natural Interaction with Virtual Reality on Eliciting Awe (pp. 205–206). In IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces, Los Angeles, CA, USA

ABSTRACT. In this contribution, we describe the design and preliminary evaluation of a system designed to generate visual metaphors of emotions according to the user’s affective responses at runtime. In this VR experience, called the “Emotional Labyrinth”, the user walks through an endless maze, whose structure and contents are automatically generated according to four basic emotional states: joy, sadness, anger and fear. These affective states are automatically detected on the basis of cardiorespiratory measures, using the heuristic decision tree developed by Reinville et al. (2006). When an emotional state is detected, different visual metaphors are generated at runtime to portray the elicited emotional responses: for example, the emotional state of sadness is visually rendered as rain; joy is represented by blooming flowers. To unlock the next level of the maze, the user has to solve an “emotional challenge”, consisting in the self-induction of target emotional states, i.e., by thinking about the flowers to induce joy. The difficulty of the next labyrinth is determined by the user's performance in the emotional challenge. A preliminary study was carried out to evaluate the capacity of the selected emotional metaphors to induce the corresponding target emotion. Four versions of the Emotional Labyrinth, each depicting a different visual metaphor of emotion (i.e., Darkness, Fire; Flowers; Rain), were tested regarding their ability to convey target emotional states, respectively: Fear; Anger; Joy; Sadness. 10 female participants (age range 24-41, M=28.10, SD=4.88) navigated into each version of the virtual environment and filled out ad hoc questionnaires to report their emotional responses (4 VAS on the four target basic emotions), according to a within-subjects design. Physiological measures were also collected. Repeated measures analyses showed that each environment conveyed the target emotion more than other potentially intervenient emotional states. However, the visual metaphors of “fire” induced both fear and anger at a greater extent than other displays. Implications of these findings for the design of self-adaptive emotional content generation systems in VR are drawn.

ABSTRACT. Technology is rapidly growing and becoming more present in our daily lives. Yet, rather than being a source of making our lives easier and more fulfilling, technology is being used as a source of escapism and compulsive consumption of information, and this can lead to a loss of meaningful and authentic connection. Authentic connection is important in sustaining positive well-being and relationships. Technologies, such as social platforms aimed at connecting people exist, but are often used superficially and do not provide that meaningful connection people seek. Emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR) are fundamentally different, unlike smartphones or screens, in the way they can immerse users and have the potential to alter their behaviour and mental state. So, it becomes essential that designers carefully study the implications of VR for its users, and consider the human perspective when creating these experiences in order to keep the human condition intact. Especially in the fields of VR, we are in uncharted territory – a vast amount of applications and content yet with little or no regulation. Without standards and guidelines for effective VR content, we diminish the potential for harnessing this technology for positive experiences and well-being.

Researchers in the past decade have investigated how VR might be used to facilitate transformative experiences, sudden and profound changes in the self-world, by creating novel opportunities for learning and insight [1]. More recently, the human-computer interaction community has emphasized the use of interaction design for promoting positive health and well-being. From this research, the fields of Positive Technology and Positive Computing have formed with the goal of applying a scientific-based approach to designing interactive systems for well-being and positive change. A key challenge interaction designers face is designing for technologies that are purposefully built to foster transformative experiences. One possible way to approach this challenge is to ground VR experience design in real human experiences; there happens to exist a transformative experience that very closely mimics VR – lucid dreaming.

Lucid dreaming is the experience of knowing one is dreaming while dreaming, giving the lucid dreamer the opportunity to control or shape their dream. In terms of transformative experiences, lucid dreaming is similar to VR in that they both have the potential to manipulate bodily self-consciousness, embody another person's subjective experience, and alter laws of logic and nature. Moreover, both lucid dreaming and VR can alter bodily self-consciousness, allow people to embody another, and simulate impossible worlds. Therefore, we can use lucid dreaming experiences as a lens into how to design for VR transformative experiences. One study so far has looked at applying lucid dreaming to VR transformative experience design [2] and one of the new insights gleaned was to incorporate ceremony into the experience. That is, use rituals or preparations designed to ease the user into and out of the transformative VR experience in order to give users time to open themselves mentally for a profound experience and reflect on their shift in worldview after. From this one study, we can see there is much to learn from these somewhat mystical or spiritual experiences of altered consciousness. Yet, much work has to be done in validating the theoretical design implications.

[1] Gaggioli, A., Chirico, A., Triberti, S., & Riva, G. (2016). Transformative Interactions: Designing Positive Technologies to Foster Self-Transcendence and Meaning. ANNUAL REVIEW OF CYBERTHERAPY AND TELEMEDICINE 2016, 169. [2] Kitson, A., Schiphorst, T., & Riecke, B. E. (2018). Are You Dreaming? A Phenomenological Study on Understanding Lucid Dreams as a Tool for Introspection in Virtual Reality. CHI ’18 (accepted). Montreal, ON, Canada: ACM. doi:10.1145/3173574.3173917

ABSTRACT. This paper is sent to be considered specifically for the Symposium “Transformative experience design: using virtual reality, brain-based technologies and the language of arts to support self-transcendent experiences”

When the boundaries between the Self and the others dissolve, people are prone to enter a self-transcendent experience (STE). A recent model (Yaden, Haidt, Vago, & Newberg, 2017) posited that STEs can be placed on a continuum ranging from a low to a higher intensity. Both the optimal psychological state of flow and the complex emotion of awe have been considered as STEs and placed on this continuum. Despite this promising theoretical underpinning their relationship has not been empirically tested yet. Here, we involved 38 participants (20 females) to investigate the relationship between flow and awe as self-transcendent experiences, in response to three virtual environments (VREs) previously validated to elicit awe (i.e., Forest of tall trees, Mountains and the vision of the Earth from outside its atmosphere). We assumed that since flow is a lower intensity STE than awe, it would be elicited at some extent also when people experienced awe, and that the two experiences would be correlated within each VRE. We assessed flow levels (Flow State Scale) and sense of presence (ITC-SOPI) after the navigation of each environment in a within-subjects design. Our results showed that all environments induced high levels of flow and presence. After Bonferroni correction, we found that only Mountains elicited higher significant levels of Global flow compared to Earth view. Earth view was the lowest-flow conductive scenario. Paired sample T-Test Bayes Factor (BF) showed that Mountain and Forest induced statistically similar levels of Global flow. More, awe and flow resulted significantly correlated, in line with the STE reference model. Overall, dimensions related to self-transcendence showed significantly high correlations in awe and flow. This study provided the first empirical evidence of the relationship between two phenomena, which are so fleeting but so relevant for individuals’ wellbeing, health, and mutual connectedness.

ABSTRACT. The transition to the digital society is ongoing and several elements such as the key role of social networks in linking individuals (provision of services from organizations, disseminate information to citizens, source of entertainment, recent data demonstrates that people from Quebec (Canada) possess an average of at least one desktop and two laptop computers at home and that 90% of them have access to the Internet. More specifically in regard to people with disabilities, it appears that technologies promote more equal citizen participation. In fact, research confirms that actions undertaken to promote the use of technologies by people with intellectual disability (ID) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have several beneficial effects: development of academic skills and social skills, better time management, ability to achieve new activities contributing to daily life, increased motivation, reduced anxiety, new possibilities for expressing preferences, etc. Those results are encouraging and show that technological interventions specifically tailored to the needs and capacities of people with ID or ASD can not only have positive effects, but also support their digital inclusion process.

However, effective use of technologies by people with ID or ASD requires the development of new skills (use a mouse or a touch screen) or the adaptation of the digital environment (use of an adapted peripheral). Another element of complexity consists in interacting daily with a digital environment common to most citizens but frequently not well adapted to their specific needs.

This new and fast emerging technological era created a digital gap between people with ID or ASD and connected citizens. Moreover, we observe that, like the poorer and less educated populations, a majority of them are unable to make a smooth transition to the digital society. This gap is reflected more specifically in a sense of social exclusion which is called "digital divide or exclusion".

Despite all efforts made in recent years to support people with ID or ASD to access the digital society, we are still struggling to keep up the pace. Thus, several actors feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the actions to be undertaken and wholeheartedly ask for the identification of a specific targeted set of actions and the sharing of information and knowledge. This problem requires that we undertake social, political, ethical and technological discussions.

In today's society, digital exclusion is an issue that needs to be addressed and it is within this context that we developed the Charter for Inclusive Technologies (# CTI2016) which proposed 10 recommendations of core actions that shall be addressed by all actors of our society. Following on it, we proposed the 2017-2022 Action Plan for Inclusive Technologies - # PTI2022.

The symposium will start with a presentation of the Charter for Inclusive Technologies (# CTI2016) and the 2017-2022 Action Plan for Inclusive Technologies - # PTI2022 that will be followed by 4 presentations illustrating different ongoing projects which address some of those core recommendations.

1. Core actions recommendations for inclusive technologies of people with ID/ASD : A Charter and an Action Plan for Inclusive Technologies ! (Yves Lachapelle UQTR)

2. The STORM projet : Using video game to promote completion of morning routine for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder. (Dany Lussier-Desrochers UQTRT)

3. Use of the Social Robot Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder in School and Social Services Organizations : A Pilot Study. (Laurence Pépin-Beauchesne UQTR)

4. The TASA Program: Using the IPad As a Tool to Promote the Autonomy of Adults With Trisomy 21. (Isabelle Simonato)

5. Useful technologies to support parent skills of individuals with ID (Annie-Claude Villeneuve)

ABSTRACT. In June 2016, a scientific event gathered more than 150 participants (people with intellectual disability [ID]/ Autism Spectrum Disorder [ASD], decision makers, professionals, stakeholders, etc.) who issued 10 recommendations to promote greater social participation of people with ID or ASD in the digital society. This initiative is aligned with current Quebec’s departmental policies and action plans. Moreover, the preamble to the Charter clearly sets the foundation for this approach.

Many legislative documents, such as the « Equals in every respect: Because rights are meant to be exercised » policy (Office des personnes handicapées du Québec [OPHQ], 2009), emphasize the fact that one of today’s greatest challenges is to ensure that society strives to best meet the fundamental needs of people with impairments and disabilities. Seeking innovative solutions to these new challenges, the last decade has been marked by a particular interest in support technologies. For people with ID or ASD, this poses the challenge of ensuring their digital inclusion at all levels while ensuring that they are prevented from being abused and aggressed because of their vulnerabilities. Achieving this goal, requires a shared vision, common commitments and a concerted set of actions.

Although necessary, identifying a set of recommendations seemed insufficient to the participants. In fact, Mrs Deleury, Chair of the Commission on Ethics in Science and Technology and Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Law of Laval University mentioned the importance of coordinating all actions of stakeholders and put in place measures to materialize the principles of the Charter for Inclusive Technologies. Shortly after, the Integrated University Health and Social Services Centres (CIUSSS) announced the creation of a working committee (N=10) and a committee of experts (N=11) and challenged them to develop a five-year action plan specifying actions to be undertaken to support the implementation of the Charter’s recommendations. The members of these committees were selected on the basis of their expertise and complementarity of knowledge.

The work of these two committees was conducted between November 2016 and May 2017. The mandate of the working committee was to develop an action plan for the Charter for Inclusive Technologies from more than 200 recommendations made by the participants. During a provincial consultation. As for the Expert Panel, its mandate was to approve the action plan and ensure its compliance with the 10 recommendations made in the Charter for Inclusive Technologies.

Accordingly, the recommendations were transformed into 10 guiding principles. For each of them, a series of objectives have been identified. These objectives are linked to specific actions and people responsible for their implementation. In addition, the action plan includes 23 goals and 48 actions to support the concretization of digital inclusion for people with ID or ASD. These are spread over a period of 5 years and involve a variety of actors. The implementation of actions related to the action plan will be closely monitored. To do this, a tactical coordination committee has been created. This presentation will present both the Charter and the Action plan for inclusive technologies.

ABSTRACT. Problem Morning routines are challenging for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; Fombonne & Couture, 2009; Sallee, 2015). Studies show that these people have deficits in executive functions, and particularly with emotional and behavioural self-regulation and working memory (Gagné, Leblanc, & Rousseau, 2009; Hébert, 2015; Réseau national d’expertise en TSA, 2016 ). For children with ASD or ADHD, these deficits can hinder the realization of the morning routine. Therefore, to support their children, parents must use systematic daily monitoring combined with frequent reinforcement. However, parents report that this kind of supervision is grueling and exhausting (Bimbrahw, Boger, & Mihailidis, 2012; Sallee 2015)

Objectives This pilot study aims the development of a digital solution supporting the completion of morning routine (project STORM). The prototype, played on an electronic tablet, uses video games to help empower children with ADHD and ASD to complete their morning routine. This pilot study describes the users’ experience with STORM prototype. The study will attempt to meet the following three objectives: 1. Identify the acceptance level of the STORM prototype, including perceived utility and ease of use; 2. Explore the perception of children and their parents about the effects of using the STORM prototype on the completion of morning routine; 3. Document if the STORM prototype was used on a daily basis according to the proposed approach.

Method The pilot study uses a descriptive mixed design (qualitative and quantitative). Five families (children aged 6-12 who has a diagnosis of ASD or ADHD) are recruited in order to use the STORM prototype each morning for a 2-week period. To meet the first objective, a semi-structured interview is conducted with families (parents and children) before the experiment. Four themes are discussed : 1) family situation; 2) morning routine; 3) past experiences with technologies and; 4) perception of the HERO prototype. The second objective is achieved through a quantitative data collection using the French version of The Before School Functioning Questionnaire (BSFQ) administered to parents before and after the implementation of the prototype (Wilens et al., 2010). The BSFQ documents the challenges encountered for the realization of daily morning routine. Finally, to document the third objective, a spyware is installed with the game. This spyware collects information about children’s playing habits (e.g. tasks realized by the child, duration of the game sessions, moment of use, etc.).

Relevance of the Project and / or Anticipated Benefits The pilot study will be completed in February. Therefore results will be available in March 2018. The research team believes that this project will contribute significantly to the improvement of morning routine and encourage programmers to involve users from the earliest stages of conception. It is also hoped that the prototype will be appreciated by children and relatives.

ABSTRACT. PROBLEM The use of digital devices in social services and school environment has increased significantly in the last few years. The emergence of this new practice can be an effective tool for intervention that can respond to the various users’ needs (Ayres, Mechling, & Sansosti, 2013; Biggs, Carter, & Gustafson, 2017; Nunes et al., 2010). Among the studies, many of them focused on the potential of using technologies (computers, interactive whiteboards, electronic tablets, etc.) to help children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to develop new skills (Chien et al., 2015; Ganz, Hong, & Goodwyn, 2013; Lorah et al., 2013). Recently, some studies have been interested in a new intervention device, the social robot. Even if studies show benefits, few of them analyzed the implementation process or the attitude of professionals toward this technology in school and social services organizations (Conti, Di Nuovo, Buono, & Di Nuovo, 2017; Huijnen, Lexis, Jansens, & de Witte, 2017; Zubrycki & Granosik, 2016).

OBJECTIVE The objective of the project is to evaluate the implementation process of a social robot used in clinical interventions with children with ASD in two different organizations. Three specific objectives were pursued: 1) Evaluate the clinical effects associated with the use of a social robot; 2) Analyze the technical conditions which need to be met in order to facilitate an optimal deployment in schools and in social services; and 3) Document the issues associated with the transformation of professional practices.

METHOD To meet the objectives, a qualitative descriptive design, specifically a case study, was used. The sample comes from two different organizations : a school (n = 5 teachers and 2 stakeholders) and health and social service (n = 5 clinicians). To be included in this research, one of the criteria was that participants had to have used the social robot during interventions with ASD children for at least 1 month. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Each interview lasted approximately 60 minutes. In January 2018, a thematic and comparative analysis will be realized in order to document the three objectives (clinical effects, technical conditions, impact on professional practices) and verify the similarities and differences between both environments.

ANTICIPATED RESULTS This study is currently underway and results will be available at the end of winter. As anticipated results, we expect to have similar results for both organizations in the benefits of use of this technology for people with ASD. However, the implementation context will be different and the analysis will highlight the specific conditions that we must take into account to promote a successful use of the social robot. Finally, the results will show the impacts of this new intervention tool on the professional practices for both teachers/stakeholders and clinicians. The attitude of these professionals toward this new intervention device will also be documented.

ABSTRACT. Background. Literature suggests that we are now in a digital Age (Bernier, 2013; Centre facilitant la recherche et l’innovation dans les organisations, 2015; Schmidt & Cohen, 2013). For people with intellectual disability (ID), the current shift to digital society is happening faster than their adaptation process. According to studies, the majority of people with intellectual disability are not able to make a successful transition to the digital world (Wainer, Vieira, & Melguizo, 2015; Wei & Hindman, 2011; Zawisza, Kamiński, Jakuczun, & Gładysz, 2013). Major transformations due to the widespread social transition to digital technology hinders the social participation of this population in numerous dimensions of daily life, and in the exercise of their social roles. Thus, suitable support to learn how to use digital technologies is needed and essential for people with ID who want to be full participants of today's society. An intervention program named TASA (Technology At the Service of Autonomy) was developed by the Regroupement pour la Trisomie 21 (RT21; Trisomy 21 Group) aiming to promote the digital autonomy of adults with Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). The program is offered four days a week since September 2016. Each participant has access to an iPad to participate in and accomplish various daily tasks and activities in areas such as multimedia, cooking, community skills, and active living. The goal is for participants to become at ease and competent with the use of such technology in their daily life. The Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières was enlisted to help with the design, implementation and evaluation of the TASA program.

Aim. This research aims to evaluate the impacts of the program on the evolution of the digital inclusion and participation trajectories of people diagnosed with Trisomy 21, as well as their self-determination, self-esteem and quality of life, using iPad technology.

Method. This participative research study uses a qualitative descriptive design to develop and evaluate the TASA program. Since September 2017, a doctoral student is present biweekly in the organization to support the RT21 team in its implementation and evaluation. The sample comprises four types of respondents: TASA program managers (n=2), educators (n=2), participants with Trisomy 21 (n=20), and a family member for each participant (n=20). Different data collection tools are used with different actors to meet the objectives. A daily diary is recorded by educators, describing the progress of the activities of the day. Observation notes are taken during the two days of the graduate student’s presence among participants and educators in the RT21 classroom or on outings into the community. Semi-directed interviews are conducted by the doctoral student with each of the actors. Four interviews are planned for program participants and their family member, two for managers, and three for program educators. A thematic and comparative analysis will be realized in order to document the evolution of the participants in their digital literacy and autonomy.

Anticipated Results. The data collection is in process until September 2018, but preliminary results will be available this spring for the data collected in 2016-2017. It is expected that a trajectory of technology use will reveal three types of digital technology users (beginner, intermediate and advanced), as well as the facilitating and hindering factors to learning and autonomy. More specifically, it is expected that all TASA participants, regardless of their user type, will have new knowledge and skills in using the iPad for greater autonomy, self-esteem and quality of life in the digital Age.

ABSTRACT. Background. In recent decades, number of families headed by parents with ID has increased (Desmet, Éthler & Couture, 2013). However, parents with ID may face several personal and environmental risk factors that may affect their ability to ensure the well-being of their children (Aunos, Feldman & Goupil, 2008). Consequently, those parents need more accessible services adapted to their specific needs to support them in their parenthood. On the other hand, several applications have been developed to enhance independence and self-determination of individuals with ID (Cullen, Simmons-Reed & Weaver, 2016; Lussier-Desrochers & al., 2017). Using technological devices may be a cost-effective, low-stigmatizing and innovative solution to support parents with ID while being consistent with actual promising practices.

Aim. This project is part of a broader research which explores effectiveness of technological devices to support parent skills of individuals with ID. More specifically, the purpose of this preliminary study is to 1) conduct a literature review and thematic analyse of the parental needs of individuals with ID and 2) to identify applications and technologies that could address those specific needs.

Method. First, a qualitative analyse of existing primary research papers about the parental needs of individuals with ID has been conducted. The databases PsycINFO, SocINDEX, Social Services Abstracts, CINAHL, Cairn and Erudit has been consulted to find articles. Additional search strategies have been used such as scanning bibliographies from selected key publications. Articles were identified by combining search terms related to "ID" with terms related to "parenting" and "needs/challenges". The keywords were chosen by using databases’ Thesaurus and recommendations of Sandieson, Kirkpatrick, Sandieson & Zimmerman (2010) who expose the most efficient combination of keywords related to ID. A quality assessment has been conducted for all primary studies identified as meeting inclusion criteria using the scoring system for the quantitative and qualitative studies of Kmet, Lee & Cook (2004). Only articles having a quality score over 40% has been kept. Those articles were analyzed using a thematic analysis method (Paillé & Mucchielli, 2016) with the aid of NVivo 11 software. Finally, a review of the applications and technologies currently available on the market has been carried out to document the adequacy of those technological solutions and the parental needs of individuals with ID.

Anticipated result. As this project is currently in progress, the result will be available at the end of the winter. However, analyses will highlight the predominant themes and sub-themes related to the challenges faced by parents with ID. For each of the needs will be associated applications and technologies that have been studied to support their parenthood until now. Those technologies will be described such as the related-cost and benefits for parents and their children. Given that research in this area is beginning, it is possible that there would not be publications supporting the use of technology to respond some of the needs of parents with ID. In this case, recommendations of applications and technologies will be issued and their relevance to the characteristics of parents with ID will be discussed.

Conclusion. The results could demonstrate how extended are the possibilities to support parents with ID by the use of technological devices and could serve as a foundation for future researches exploring effectiveness of technology to support parents with ID. Implementation of technology in intervention could be an interesting solution to ensure the ongoing support needed by those parents, reduce the intrusion into their lives and overcome the lack of accessibility of the actual specialized parenting program. Finally, implementing technology in intervention could ensure adequate response to the needs of their children and, ultimately, their optimal development.

ABSTRACT. Introduction:

In the early 2000s, the development of Information Communication Technologies has extensively increased the rise of the pornographic industry. Finding its origins several thousand years ago, pornography seems to have found the ideal multimedia support: the internet. Easy to access, inexpensive, anonymous: online pornography is nowadays commonly used by everyone. With nearly 30,000 views every second in the world, porn has become a societal object in the same way as television, video games or the internet as a whole (Brand & Al, 2016). As such, access to pornography has not only developed, but has been especially trivialized, giving free rein to many societal debates on its effects (V. Estellon, 2014). According to some authors, the use of pornography is constitutive of deviance (Poulsen & Al., 2013) whereas for others its use goes hand in hand with the normal evolution of the mores of the present society (L. Lajeunesse & Al., 2013). Moreover, according to a recent study (Gouvernet & Al., 2016), pornography does not appear to be pathological, nevertheless the effects of its uses deserve more interest. In any case, the compulsive use of pornographic media can become problematic for several users and deleteriously impact the physiological, professional, social and intimacy areas of pathological users.

Problem:

This research engages with the theme of sexual cyber addiction through an exploratory psychodynamic approach study. In previous research, we observed both quantitative and qualitative variations in the use of pornographic media. The present study aimed to highlight sexual cyber addiction under the etiology of narcissistic-object disorder. By analogy with eating disorders, the hypotheses of anorexic expression, characterized by the restriction in the choice of sexual partners and bulimic expression, characterized by an excess in partner sexual choices has been investigated

Methodology:

Population/Sample:  etiology of an object relationship disorder has been investigated concerning 4 unattached men between the ages of 23 and 38 with pathological use of pornographic media. They were recruited from DASA (Sex Addicts Anonymous). To verify these hypotheses, transferential and counter-transferential processes were analyzed using a cohort of 4 male adults’, members of DASA France, who had been suffering from a compulsive use of pornographic media for several years. The Internet Sex Screening Test (D. Delmonico & Al., 2003) was administered to each of them to assess the degree of their symptoms. Furthermore, a semi-structured face-to-face interview and a semi-directive research video-interview (L. Haddouk, 2016) have been proposed to study subjects. By using these two interview methods (physical and digital presential), modalities of the subjects’ object relationships could be highlighted.

Results:

Scores of ISST highlighted significative risks to present problematic sexual behavior on the internet and problematic uses of pornographic medias for all participants. In addition, the analysis of transferential and counter-transferential processes, both through face-to-face and video-interview, revealed serious narcissistic-object conflicts for the participants. Besides, subjects with anorexic expression of the symptom of addiction to pornography appeared more comfortable and less inhibited by tele-consultation than by face-to-face interviews, as if the screen constituted a medium in the relationship with the researcher. As such, these results are inline with borderline structuring of the personality of compulsive users of pornography. To conclude, the screen proposed in video-interview, (L. Haddouk, 2016) can be the support of a potential space for the emergence of inter-subjectivity.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Information and Communication Technologies are part of everyday life. Therefore, their use is not surprising in different fields, including Psychology. More specifically, the use of internet-based interventions has helped to overcome some of the barriers to psychotherapy (such as its elevated cost or time and mobility constraints, among others), without compromising its effectiveness. Nevertheless, the proportion of patients who agree to receive this kind of interventions is significantly lower than in traditional "face-to-face" therapy. Furthermore, one big and current challenge in this field is to reduce the high drop-out rates that occur with this type of interventions. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the expectations of patients with Adjustment disorder (AjD) towards TAO, an internet-based self-help intervention for this problem, and explore whether these expectations affect the patients’ adherence to the program. Method: The sample will include participants from a randomized control trial, which is currently in progress (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02758418), targeted at comparing TAO and a 7-week waiting list control condition. All participants will receive the same intervention program of seven linear modules and will complete Expectation of treatment scale after the first introductory module where the treatment rationale is given. The adherence will be estimated taking into account the number of completed modules by each participant. On the other hand, patients who have used the program at least once but have not completed the post-intervention assessment will be considered as dropouts. Conclusions: Increasing adherence to Internet-based interventions is a key factor in order to make these interventions reach to those people who may benefit from them. The results of this work will contribute to improve the use of internet-delivered interventions. First, the results will provide relevant information regarding the patients' attitudes towards online psychotherapy, and the importance of including components which enable the promotion of positive expectations of treatment. Second, if any relationship is found between expectations and adherence, it would represent an advance in the field of internet-based interventions and could also help to promote their implementation in healthcare settings.

ABSTRACT. Attentional bias toward palatable food cues plays an important role in increase in food craving and overeating. Especially, obese individuals with binge eating showed more biased processing to food cues than those without binge eating. Regulating attentional bias toward food cues would be important since attentional bias to food cues could be a risk factor in the development and maintenance of pathological eating behavior. Thus, attentional bias modification (ABM) that makes disengagement of attention from certain cues could be effectively applied to obese individuals with binge eating. The effect of ABM on decreasing attentional bias to food cues, food craving, and food intake have been investigated. Also, further research about multiple session training and sustained training effect over time have noticed to improve effectiveness of ABM training. Multiple session ABM training study showed that the training effect was not sustained for the participants who received single-session ABM training but the effect of the training lasted for 24 hours and 1 week after the training for the participants who were repeatedly trained for 5 weeks. That is, more than one training session may be required to improve effect. Hence, if ABM could deliver home-based training program, it has the advantage of the repeated training without the need to visiting laboratory or hospital for each training sessions. Even though online self-training program have limitations such as difficulty in controlling the extraneous variables, but the necessity for development of home-based ABM training is emphasized because it can help individuals to perform ABM easily and repeatedly without restriction of time or space. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether home-based attentional bias modification training could have sustainable effect on changes of attentional bias for high-calorie food cues in obese individuals with binge eating. A total of 11 obese female university students were recruited who had a high body mass index and body fat percentage. They were divided into two groups by binge eating symptoms: obese with binge eating group and obese without binge eating group. The procedure consisted of four sessions: pre-training, training, post-training, and follow-up sessions. At the pre-training session, baseline attentional process to food cues and food intake were assessed in the laboratory. And then, participants completed ABM training sessions twice per week for a month at home by themselves. In the ABM training session, participants completed ABM training based on visual probe task in which pairs of high and low-calorie food cues presented for 200ms. Participants are asked to respond to the probe that replaced either low-calorie (80% of total trials) or high-calorie food cues (20% of total trials). At the post-training session, changes of attentional process to food cues and food intake were assessed in the laboratory immediately after completing home-based ABM training. Finally, follow-up session was performed in the laboratory one-month after the end of training to verify the persistence of training effect. As results, obese with binge eating group showed decreased attentional bias to high-calorie food cues and decreased food consumption at post-training session compared to baseline. However, these effects were not sustained until one-month follow-up session. The results of the study indicate that multiple sessions in home-based ABM training could have short-term effect which did not last until one-month on regulating attentional bias toward high-calorie food cues and food consumption in obese individuals. Also, ABM training may have differential effects whether obese individuals have binge eating symptoms or not. Further studies should demonstrate factors which could improve long-term effect of home-based ABM training in obese individuals according to eating related behavioral characteristics.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, overweight or obese adults should perform a minimum of 225 to 300 minutes per week of moderate physical activity (PA). Nevertheless, physical inactivity in obese population is very common. The negative body image has been considered a great barrier to not practicing PA in this population. Research suggest that concerns about the self-image are associated with the decrease of PA. In this context, the majority of research that studies the relationship between PA and body image has focused on social physical anxiety. Individuals who feel uncomfortable with how their body appears in front of others try not to perform PA in the presence of other people, for fear of presenting a negative social image. There is a negative relationship between social physical anxiety and PA practice. In addition, the presence of social physical anxiety is related to other variables associated with the PA practice such as, less enjoyment, lack of PA motivation or extern motivation and beliefs of low self-efficacy. To overcome this barrier Virtual Reality (VR) can help obese patients to overcome their difficulties with their negative body image, allowing the exchange of body image (body-swapping). In this context, the “Machine to be another” (MTBA) paradigm is a VR system designed to generate body swapping illusion and “embodiment” of another body. This procedure tries to offer users an immersive experience of seeing themselves in the body of another person, where the user's body is replaced by the body of the performer. Through the head-mounted display, participants see the first-person perspective of the body performer and this perspective is captured by a camera positioned from the point of view of the body performer. Objectives: This study intends to use the MTBA as an instrument of manipulation of body image during the practice of PA in an obese population and analyzed its impact on the experience of a PA task (pleasure and perceived effort) and on variables related to PA practice (anxiety, self-efficacy, motivation and enjoyment). Method: This study will be performed with 45 obese people aged 18-50 years from Brazil. Participants will be invited to do 15 minutes of static bicycle to the rhythm of a song. Participants will be randomized in two conditions: 1) “Slimmer body” (SB), where participants will perform the PA task embodying a thinner person, and 2) “Own body” (OB), where participants will perform the PA task with their own body. Measures (affect and perceived effort) will be taken every 5 minutes during the PA task. Other measures (anxiety, motivation, enjoyment and self-efficacy) will be taken before and after the PA task. Finally, measures of “embodiment” will be taken. Results: This work is in progress. A mixed ANOVA 2 (inter) x 2 (intra) will be performed for anxiety, self-efficacy, motivation and enjoyment. Repeated measures ANOVA will be applied to check whether there are differences between two conditions (SB and OB) during and at the end of the PA task in affect and perceived effort. Participants in the “SB” condition are expected to show a lower anxiety during the PA task, greater positive affect and lower effort perception than the “OB” condition during the PA task. Participants in the “SB” condition are expected to show a higher increase on self-efficacy, motivation and enjoyment scores than the “OB” condition after the PA task. Conclusions. If results are positive, the use of VR (body-swapping) and specifically the MTBA could be considered as useful tools to improve the PA experience in obese people and consequently increase the practice in this population. Aknowledgments: CIBEROBN is an initiate of the ISCII.

ABSTRACT. Binge eaters often showed approach and attentional bias to high-calorie food when they exposure to food related cues. Biased processing to high-calorie food cues related to craving and it could promote eating behavior in the absence of hunger. Therefore, divert bias away from food stimulus by training could be helpful to modulate cue-driven binge eating behavior. The most commonly used training is computerized attentional bias modification (ABM) training that use visual prove task. ABM training involves the presentation of visual food and neutral stimulus pair, followed by a probe which appears in the location vacated by one of the two stimuli. In the ABM training, participants are required to respond to the probe and the probe is always presented in the location of the neutral stimulus. That is, ABM training designed to disengage from food related cue performing visual probe task. The effect of ABM training that could both regulate attentional bias to food cues and decline overeating behavior have discovered. Recently, research about factors that improve effectiveness of ABM have suggested and automatic attributes have noticed as the crucial factor of ABM that could effectively intervention to binge eating behavior. That is, it is important to directly modify automatic and early biased process to palatable food cues since attentional bias to foods that lead to binge eating occurred early, fast, and reflexively outside of conscious awareness. Although previous studies have showed the possibility of ABM for regulating attentional bias to foods, the existing procedure of ABM relatively focused on late and conscious process that difficult to access automatic biased processing. Automatic attentional bias process is known that it could be detected for short period between 200 and 500ms, but precious procedure of ABM training to effectively control automatic attentional bias need to be investigated. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the procedure of ABM to modify automatic attentional biased process toward high-calorie food cues in binge eaters. Specially, this study compared the effect of exposure duration for stimulus pair (high and low-calorie food cues) in ABM training based on visual probe task. A total of 60 undergraduate participants who have binge eating tendency were divided into two groups according to exposure duration of stimulus pair in ABM training: micro short ABM group (200ms) and short ABM group (500ms). Visual attention to high and low-calorie food cues and food consumption in bogus taste test were measured before and after completing ABM. The results showed that there were significant differences in changes of visual attention to food cues after completing ABM between micro short and short ABM group. Micro short ABM group showed decreased automatic attentional bias to high-calorie food cues and ate less food in bogus taste test after completing ABM than short ABM group. This result indicates that micro short ABM training which are constructed stimulus exposure duration of 200ms may have effect on modulating automatic attentional bias to high-calorie food cues and food intake. The results of this study suggest the importance of accessing early and automatic properties in attentional bias modification training for binge eating behavior. Future studies are need to examine the effect of repeated training session of early ABM. Furthermore, the lasting effects of early ABM training on both automatic attentional bias to food cues and food intake should be investigated in follow-up assessments.

ABSTRACT. Eating disorders (ED) affect more and more young people. The place of school in student’s life is important. So, scholar primary prevention program become unavoidable to prevent ED and obesity. Despite the ministerial recommendation, the prevention programs related to common healthy lifestyles focus exclusively on the level of physical activity and food education, without considering the risk to exacerbate ED. Furthermore, most of ED program, don’t integrate Quebec School competences. Nevertheless, 1) The inclusion of the latest ED in the DSM-5, binge eating disorder, requires the integration of ED and obesity prevention programs into a student’s holistic focus. 2) The best current pedagogy clearly make room for new technologies such as E-learning, etc., guaranteeing of a better chance to increase student motivation. Eventually, an integration of ED and obesity prevention programs using the new technologies allowing to remediate limitations. This study cases aims to present the use virtual comic named Korkifaipo in case to ED primary prevention program among high school students. 

The sample of this study is composed by high school students (69 girls and 14 boys) aged between 11 and 14 years old engaged in the veiled prevention program at a high. In the perspective of evaluating the fluctuation of the physical self-perception (PSP) adequately, we used a logbook that the students needed to fill out once a week. On the right page of this logbook, there is an analogical visual scale (Stunkard et al., 1983). This scale had for goal to measure the evolution of the body dissatisfaction. On the left page of this logbook, there is a shortened assessment of physical self-perception (Ninot, 2006) and it has for goal to measure the evolution of the PSP. 

During15 weeks, participants were put in educational situation where the art, theater, french and physical education teacher targeted a protective factor of eating disorders. The art, theater and french teacher use a comics strip as an educational tool. This comic is named Korkifaipo and it only has images. Is does not contain dialogues. Plus, at three moments in the middle of the prevention program, during this 15 weeks, participants were immersed in comics using virtual reality. Students were immersed in virtual environments with an MSI GT72 6QE Dominator Pro G laptop [512 GB HDD, Latest 6th Gen, Intel® Core™ i7 processor, GeForce® GTX 980M graphics card, 17.3" Full HD (1920x1080), G-SYNC ready with 75Hz] and an Oculus Rift DK2 head mounted display. At each immersion, students were immersed in the environment of one character. During those immersion, they saw the environment of the character using the first-person perspective. In the first immersion, participants were in the environment of Persona, an anorexic character, in the second immersion, they were immersed in the environment of Naraghi, a bulimic character and in the last immersion, students were immersed in the environment of Mezzo, also a bulimic character. 

Using time-series analysis, preliminary results showed that some students had fluctuation of their PSP each time they were immersed. Moreover, by being immersed in the first-person perspective, students can fully understand the character’s feeling. Furthermore, verbatim of those meetings can prove it: « he is always sad, I want to know why he always wear a mask » or « When he wears is mask, we don’t know what he thinks of, how he feels ». Moreover, students were able to associate their feelings with a character through virtual reality: « I like her. I lived a little bit the same thing » or « She reminds me, I understand her story’s ». In addition to those student’s reactions, teachers were unanimous, using the virtual reality has increased the student’s motivation for this project.

ABSTRACT. BACKGROUND: Children with injuries, including burns and fractures, experience severe pain intensity during medical procedures. Current guidelines on pediatric procedural pain management recommend the combination of non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions to enhance pain management and decrease the side effects of analgesics. Virtual reality (VR) has gained growing consideration as a non-pharmacological method as it engages multiple senses and allows interactions with a virtual world. A single case study assessing the feasibility of a VR intervention via Oculus Rift® in one child of 11 years old with burn injuries during occupational therapy showed a reduction in pain intensity and pain unpleasantness, without any side effects. To our knowledge, no other studies have tested the feasibility of Oculus Rift® for procedural pain management in children with injuries undergoing painful medical procedures.

AIM: The aim of this pilot clinical trial is to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a VR distraction using Oculus Rift® in children with injuries undergoing painful medical procedures. We also plan to evaluate the feasibility of the design and to predict appropriate sample size for a larger-scale clinical trial.

METHOD: Design: Within-subject/crossover study design. Each child serves as his own control and receives both standard and experimental treatment during the same treatment session through a randomized order. Sample and Setting: Convenience sampling of 20 children aged from 7 to 18 years old presenting with an injury to the surgical-trauma outpatient clinics of the CHU Ste-Justine, Montreal, Canada. Interventions. A) Standard care as per the unit's protocol. B) VR distraction through the use of the Oculus Rift® goggles to play a video game. The video game Dreamland was developed by our team with a personalized care content tailored to children to maximize the feeling of immersion and minimize cybersickness, and approved by a team of healthcare professionals in pediatric care. Study proceedings: Medical procedures such as physiotherapy, dressing changes or percutaneous pin removal procedures typically last between 10 to 20 minutes. The duration is divided into two sequences of the same duration (5 to 10 minutes) where the participant receives the same care from the same healthcare professional. For one sequence, only the standard treatment is administered and for the other sequence, children receive the standard treatment in addition to VR distraction in a randomized order. Measures: Pain (NRS) and anxiety (CFS) measures are taken before the treatment session, after the first sequence of the session, and after the second sequence of the session, followed by a measure of nurses` satisfaction level via a questionnaire developed and pretested by the team. The memory of pain and anxiety is then assessed 24h after the procedure. Data is also collected on the occurrence of side effects in addition to the design's feasibility outcomes: participants recruited each month, adherence to study protocol. Data analysis: Quantitative analysis. Mean differences in pain and anxiety scores between the two treatment sequences will be compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.

RESULTS & CONCLUSION: Data collection started on July 10th, 2017. To date, 10 participants have been recruited. We expect to reach the desired sample size by July 2018. Procedural pain management in children remains suboptimal and the importance of developing more effective interventions is required. New technologies can play an important role as non-pharmacological pain management methods, especially since they are becoming inherent parts of children's lives. We believe that results of this study will ultimately allow improving pain and anxiety management practices in outpatient surgical-trauma clinics by showing that non-pharmacological interventions are feasible interventions, at a relatively low cost, to improve the experience of the child undergoing painful procedures through an innovative approach.

ABSTRACT. Introduction. The facial expression of pain encodes the sensory (intensity) and affective (unpleasantness) dimensions of pain. It can be decomposed in terms of Action Units (AUs), the smallest discriminating facial movements. Two groups of AUs are related to the affective dimension: brow lowering (B), and nose wrinkling and upper lip raising (N). Another group of AUs is related to the sensory dimension: orbit tightening and eye lids closure (O). The effect on observers’ perception of the temporal order of sensory and affective AUs of pain have yet to be documented to create realistic virtual representations of dynamic pain expression. The aim of this study is to compare the perception of realism and pain in different orders of AUs in pain expressing avatars. 

Method. Participants. 45 healthy adults (22 women; 23.6±5.2 years old) were recruited. Material. Four avatars were used to create seven videos of dynamic facial expressions: six sequential onsets combining the three groups of AUs (B, N and O) and one synchronized onset. For the sequential expressions (duration = 2800 ms), the onset of the AUs was cumulative with some overlap between the groups. The first group was followed by the onset of the second (at 400 ms) and third (at 800 ms) groups which took place at half of the onset of the previous AUs. For the synchronized expression (duration = 2000 ms), the onset of the three-grouped pain AUs started at the same time. Following the apex of the AUs intensity, all expressions ended by the synchronized offset of AUs. Procedure. Participants evaluated the realism of the facial movements of the pain expression and the level of intensity and unpleasantness of the pain perceived, using visual analog scales presented after the videos. The computer task consisted of one block of 112 trials per variable (realism and pain) counterbalanced between participants. 

Results. A repeated measures design was used for each variable with the Order of AUs (six sequential and one synchronized) as the within-subject factor. For realism, the ANOVA revealed a significant effect of Order, F(2.833, 124.648) = 23.080, p < .001, η2p = .344. Pairwise comparisons highlighted the presence of a group of orders of AUs perceived more realistic (Sequences [BON], [OBN], [ONB], and Synchronized). For pain intensity, the ANOVA revealed a significant effect of Order, F(3.558, 152.997) = 11.463, p < .001, η2p = .210. Pairwise comparisons highlighted the presence of a group of sequences perceived more intense (Sequences [ONB], [NOB]). For pain unpleasantness, the ANOVA revealed a significant effect of Order, F(3.527, 151.658) = 30.061, p < .001, η2p = .411. Pairwise comparisons highlighted the presence of a group of sequences perceived with a higher level of unpleasantness (Sequences [ONB], [NBO], [NOB]). 

Discussion. The order of AUs in the pain expression of avatars affects the evaluation of realism and pain level. A more realistic expression is associated with the onset of the orbit tightening and eye lids closure (sensory dimension) before or at the same time as the nose wrinkling and upper lip raising (affective dimension). Also, a more intense expression is associated with the onset of the furrowing of the brows (affective dimension), which occurs last. A higher level of unpleasantness in pain expression is associated with the onset of the nose wrinkling and upper lip raising before the furrowing of the brows. 

Conclusion. The order of AUs related to the sensory dimension of pain influences only the perception of realism, while the order of AUs related to the affective dimension of pain influences the perception of realism and pain. This finding about the dynamism of pain expression is essential to improve avatar-human interactions.

ABSTRACT. Children who show developmental delay or lower motor skills than expected for their age tend to experience frustration and difficulty in performing physical activities. This reduces their enthusiasm for an active lifestyle. The lack of participation in physical activities directly affects the improvement of childhood health status and quality of life, the advancement of adult health status and the probability of maintaining adequate activity into adulthood. Therefore, an early diagnostic of poor motor skills is very important, because the sooner it is detected the more likely it can be improved or reverted by using instructions and recommendations from a qualified professional. The performance of a fundamental motor skill in early childhood can be investigated using diverse assessment tools. Which one to use depends on the type of test, the context and the availability. Regardless of the type of tool to use to assess the motor skills, all of them involve measurement, i.e. data collection, and evaluation of the information collected. The Test of Gross Motor Development, as known as TGMD, is one of the most common assessment tools found in the literature. The purpose of the TGMD is to measure the gross motor skills of children from 3 to 10-years-old based on qualitative aspects of their performance. The test is a process-oriented test and is used to identify if a child's motor skill development is significantly behind his/her peers’ development. Although the classical tests are reliable and useful for motor skills assessment, they have some limitations such as dependence on human observation and high cost to be administrated. Computer-based applications have been widely used in computer science due to their advantages such as immediate feedback, accurate measurements and consistency. In addition, technology has become more advanced and affordable, bringing to the market powerful depth cameras and human motion tracking devices, such as the Kinect sensor, for a low cost. This work aims to develop a reliable computer-based application using Microsoft Kinect sensor to implement the third version of the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-3). The system comprises the Kinect sensor, a contact sensor, algorithms for image processing and algorithms for data assessment. The assessment consists of customized algorithms that verify if the 3D position of the most relevant joints for each skill to be tested varies along time according to the respective performance criteria. The proposed system then returns an immediate feedback to the participant, indicating if s/he passes or fails the selected skill. The experimental phase consisted of administrating the proposed system to implement the TGMD-3 in three different approaches. The first and second experiments intended to test the application’s sensibility for determining how well the system detects passes and fails. The last experiment intended to compare the application’s results to the classical test results. The experiments were conducted at Laurentian University Ben Avery Gym, in an indoor environment with clear space. The results revealed the computer-based application for assessing gross motor skills is accurate, it shows high levels of agreement when compared to the classical test and it is limited by the space requirements. A plan for the future is to study the psychometric properties of the software using the Kinect sensor and then adapt the assessment algorithms to be used with another depth sensor device to capture 3D body tracking, since the Kinect sensor was discontinued in October of 2017.

ABSTRACT. Obesity is linked to many health concerns. One way to combat obesity is participating in regular exercise. Yet, integrating exercise as part of a daily routine can be challenging as it requires a great deal of commitment, effort, motivation, and with the proliferation of modern-day technology, people are encouraged to be inactive rather than active. Modern technology can afford sedentary behaviours, but can also encourage people to be more physically active. Not all forms of technology afford sedentary behaviours. For example, there is a new generation of video games, called “exergames”, that require players to manipulate virtual objects using a range of body motions and they can be an alternative to traditional non-active games to encourage physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviours.

Exergames are becoming a popular way to motivate exercise participation. Research shows that social exergames are particularly engaging because players experience feelings of cohesion and peer support similar to real-life social activities and organized sports. However, some research suggests that exergames might not be able to maintain exercise interest over the long-term. Growing research evidence suggests that tailoring game content and other players based on individual personality can increase the level of enjoyment experienced in video games which encourage continued play. Although informative, how to tailor game scenarios and other players based on individual player personality are unclear. The goal of this research project is to explore the effects of personality tailoring with respect to game scenario and the personality of other players. We believe that tailoring game scenario and other players to individual personality can encourage continued play, and ultimately enhance exercise adherence.

We conducted a pilot study to investigate the effects of tailoring game scenarios and player preferences based on personality. 10 participants (5 pairs) played virtual Bocce in a closed laboratory setting and completed the intrinsic motivation inventory (IMI), the 10-item personality inventory (TIPI), and a questionnaire consisting of customized items to evaluate the game, as well as, level of social influence one player had on the other. Participant pairs played both competitive (head-to-head) and cooperative (same team) game scenarios. Results showed that player pairs who score high on extraversion and openness particularly enjoyed their game experience together. Yet, player pairs who score high on conscientiousness and openness reported low levels of enjoyment suggesting that they did not enjoy their game experience together. Results also showed that player pairs who score high on extraversion and openness particularly enjoyed playing a competitive game, whereas player pairs who score high on conscientiousness and openness particularly enjoyed playing a cooperative game. With respect to social influence, results showed that player pairs who score high on conscientiousness and openness experienced more positive social interactions in a cooperative game compared to a competitive game. These results have important design implications for motivating continued play. Tailoring game scenarios and other players considering the personality of an individual player can increase or decrease the level of enjoyment experienced between players for determining continued or discontinued play.

In addition to personality-based tailoring, we are currently planning to investigate the effects of other player pairing possibilities such as motivational orientations, as well as the effects of larger groups. To further validate subjective reports, we also plan to collect physiological measures such as heart rate and re-test using a more physically demanding game. Regardless of how a game algorithm assesses the personality of a player, knowing this information helps in tailoring game content and other players in an exergame context that is more likely to increase the level of enjoyment, social interaction and exercise adherence.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Cybersickness (or simulator sickness) is one of important side effects of virtual reality therapy and rehabilitation. Recent research and theory suggests that it is caused by various information mismatch, therefore, the seamless connections between real and virtual world may be required. However, research on this issue has been limited to the studies of virtual environments, interactions with virtual objects, and virtual reality devices. The impact of virtual avatar on the cybersickness has yet to be rigorously examined. In the present study, we investigated how the cybersickness is affected by interaction with virtual avatar. We compared human-avatar interaction qualities with different motion and appearance synchronization levels between the participants and virtual avatars.

Method: Forty participants (mean age = 23.7, SD = 2.5, 16 females) were recruited for this study. We designed three types of motion synchrony and another three types of appearance synchrony to generate different motion and appearance synchronization levels. The motion synchrony levels were controlled by using different motion capture systems: six camera mocap system – motive, Kinect, and pre-recorded systems; and the appearance synchronizations were controlled by size matched between virtual avatar and participant: 70, 100, and 130% size matching. During each condition of the VR experiences, participants were asked to perform predefined gestures and look their movement through the virtual mirror in virtual room. Each participant was allocated to one of appearance synchrony groups and the sequence of the motion synchrony conditions was counterbalanced across all participants. To measure cybersickness, we used simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ; 16 item measures but only can measure after each condition), fast motion sickness report (FMS; one item measure and asked their cybersickness in every minute), and postural sway measure (PS; body balance measure on top of balance board after each condition).

Results: Seven participants’ PS data were excluded because balance board malfunctions and misleading of participant’s instruction. The results suggested that there were significant main effects on the motion synchrony (SSQ: F (2, 74) = 9.860, p < .001, n2 = 0.210, FMS: F (2, 74) = 28.112, p < .001, n2 = 0.432, PS: F (2, 60) = 5.238, p < .01, n2 = 0.149). Participants reported the lower cybersickness according to the motion synchrony levels increasing. The results also suggested that there was effects of the appearance synchronization levels on the PS, F (2, 30) = 3.871, p < .05, n2 = 0.205, but no significant effects on the SSQ and FMS (all ps > .762). The interaction effect between the motion and appearance synchrony were not significant in the all measures (all ps > .960)

Discussion: The pattern of results suggests that the motion and appearance synchrony levels has an impact on the cybersickness of human-avatar interaction. This observation is consistent with previous research on the interaction qualities of virtual environment may have a pivotal role in the cybersickness, and suggested a unique implication that by changing the avatar size the participants’ cybersickness can be adjusted. With rigorous follow up studies, these results can be used to reduce cybersickness on the specific VR applications including virtual avatar therapy and rehabilitation.

ABSTRACT. Although research on young people’s identification processes on the Internet is a growing field, there are few studies that illustrate conditions for young people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Previous studies have shown that young people with ID are worried about being marginalized, and that many in fact are lonelier than other young people. Internet and social networking sites might be of vital importance as a space for exploring alternative and less stigmatized identities. Scandinavian research has shown that a new generation of young people with ID is emerging who have developed somewhat new ways of relating to issues of participation and identity. Mainly these strategies concern the possibilities of expressing alternative self-presentations, which are not necessarily connected to a specific functional impairment or a certain welfare institutional belonging (e.g., special need student or care user). One such strategy can concern attempts to, in an online setting, present a preferred identity (e.g. that of a hockey fan or a musician), which may differ from their disabled identity, which would be apparent in an offline setting.

A Swedish research project—Particip@tion on Internet? Pupils with intellectual disabilities and identification processes on Internet—aims to describe and analyse how young people (age 16-20) with a mild ID interacts and participate on the Internet. More precisely, drawing upon the perspectives of young people with ID, parents and school staff, we want to study self-presentations, social relations and participation within different kinds of Internet communities. Therefore, the goal of the project is to generate knowledge concerning these complex processes, which could be useful for the nearest surrounding of adults in order to support and help young people with ID with their Internet use. The project comprises qualitative interviews with young people with ID (n=27), parents of young people with ID (n=22) and professionals in special schools (n=17). The transcribed interviews were analyzed, using a thematic content analysis.

A prominent finding in the study concerned the young informants being well aware of both risks and opportunities using Internet and Social Networking Sites. Consequently, the more they interacted with non-disabled peers, the more they experienced negative consequences of Internet use. One conclusion was that these circumstances rather lead to downsizing than upsizing Internet use, and as prolongation, less participation on Social Networking Sites. Although the Internet can be a ‘free-zone’ where the young person can develop social bonds and construct their identity away from adult oversight, parents and professionals are highly present. Young people mostly feel confident but also in no need of support. Professionals and parents do consider the Internet an arena for positive opportunities, but also with risks. The professionals seemed to be more worried about the risks than the parents who state that the opportunities outweigh the dis¬advantages. For parents, the real risk is described as the risk of loneliness and social isolation. That parents consider the Internet to be an arena for relationships is an interesting change compared to previous research where both parents and professionals are worried about the risks of abuse etc. Overall, the young people with ID are described as a more heterogeneous group by both parents and professionals compared to previous research. Considering young people’s need for autonomy, it is of great importance that parents and professionals balance their level of support depending on the needs of the young person. We recommend that professional practitioners reflect upon the ways that support can be arranged in order to empower young people with ID to participate on the Internet. The experiences of the informants are discussed in a conceptual framework of social identity, participation, sexuality and emancipation.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Personality and psychological adjustment have been topics of interest in research on Facebook (FB; Blachnio et al., 2013; Caers, et al., 2013). Links between different components of FB usage (Caci et al., 2014; Gosling et al., 2011) and the personality trait of extroversion have been established in many studies, and the traits of agreeability and openness to experience have also shown to be associated with a higher usage of the virtual platform (Gosling et al., 2011), whereas neuroticism has been shown to be linked to frequency of usage (Caci et al., 2014). On the other hand, the trait of conscientiousness was found to be associated with less FB usage as well as not having a FB account or leaving FB (Ghosh & Dasgupta, 2015; Ryan & Xenos, 2011). Meanwhile, studies on FB usage and depressive symptoms as well as well-being have given rise to contradictory results, whereas studies including anxiety symptoms remain scant.

Objective: To verify the existence of FB user profiles and to link them to different psychological outcomes.

Method: A total of 321 young Canadian adults (60.7% women, M = 25.37 years), including 302 FB users, responded to a pen-and-paper questionnaire administered by a research assistant in their home. A hierarchical cluster analysis was performed on 3 FB usage variables: degree of involvement in FB activities, number of FB friends, and time spent on social media. Then, the resulting FB user profiles, as well as a group of non users, were compared on dimensions of personality (Donnellan et al., 2006), symptoms of depression and anxiety (Derogatis, 1983) and well-being (Peterson et al., 2005) using ANOVAs with Tukey post-hoc analyses and chi-square analyses.

Results: Examination of the dendrogram leaded to the distinction of 3 FB user profiles: Low Investment (34.2% of the sample, distinguished by a lower score on all measures of usage), High Investment with Few Friends (38.4% of the sample, showing a high level of investment and a high amount of time spent on FB but a lower number of virtual friends), and High Investment (27.4% of users, characterized by a high score on all measures of FB usage). Subsequent analyses revealed that the trait of extroversion was higher among participants in the High Investment profile than all other profiles as well as the participants with no FB account and that the level of conscientiousness was higher among the Low Investment profile and non users than the two other groups. Moreover, level of neuroticism was higher in individuals showing High Investment with Few Friends than in those demonstrating Low Investment in FB. As for the adjustment measures, the High Investment users reported higher well-being than the two other profiles, whereas participants in the High Investment with Few Friends profile were more likely (80.2%) to report at least some depressive symptoms compared to participants in the Low Investment cluster.

Conclusions: Our study allowed to bring new light onto the complex reality of FB usage in young adults. By using a person-centered approach, we were able to identify 3 clusters of participants which shown unique relationships with personality and adjustment variables. We were able to distinguish two different groups of highly invested FB users which shown very different outcomes, and to illustrate some of the similarities that can exist between the personality of low FB users and non-users. Together, these results suggest that FB users do not constitute a homogeneous group. Some recommendations for future studies include taking into account the duration of FB non usage, as well as including measures of self-esteem, social support and FB problematic use to better document the diversity of profiles.

ABSTRACT. Loneliness is increasingly considered to be a public health problem. At the same time, the popularity of social networking sites (SNS) is constantly growing. This paradox raises important issues in community psychology regarding the possible links between these phenomena. In this poster presentation, we present the results of an empirical research project aimed at better understanding the relationships between loneliness and the passive and active use of Facebook in emerging adults. It was hypothesized that more frequent active social use of FB would be associated with less loneliness (H1) and that this negative association would be stronger than that between active non-social use of FB and loneliness (H1a), while more frequent passive use of FB would be associated with greater loneliness (H2). In this prospective study, emerging adults living in Quebec City (province of Quebec, Canada) completed an online questionnaire assessing their use of Facebook (Passive and Active Use of Facebook Measure – Gerson, Plagnol, & Corr, 2017), and loneliness (Échelle de solitude de l’Université Laval - Grace, Joshi, & Pelletier, 1993). Data were collected in early January 2018. Participants were emerging adults (N=311; Mage=22.59, SD=2.68 years; 75.6% female). To test the association between loneliness and types of FB use, a multiple linear regression analysis with the standard method of entry was run. The findings suggest that more frequent passive use of Facebook was associated with greater loneliness in a sample of emerging adults. Prevention interventions promoting more active use of FB could be developed as a constructive means of fostering supportive relationships in emerging adults.

ABSTRACT. Empathy, or the process by which an individual is able to understand and, to some extent, feel what another individual is feeling, is a crucial component of social interactions. Online empathy, or empathy experienced in online settings, has been associated with prosocial interactions in online social support communities and decreased cyberbullying behaviors. However, recent empirical work shows that self-reported empathic tendencies are lower in online compared to offline social interactions and that the link between empathy levels and social support is six times stronger in person than online. Medical and psychosocial literature pertaining to online interventions yields mixed results, where self-reported levels of empathy among mental health providers are comparable to in person environments despite the significantly lower quantity of interventions taking place online versus face-to-face. Thus, inconsistency in the empirical literature warrants establishing a conceptual framework of online empathy that takes the distinctive characteristics of mediated social interactions into account. An essential aspect of computer-mediated communication involves the amount of filtering of nonverbal socioemotional cues, as empathy is evoked and displayed through both verbal and nonverbal signals. Across a nonverbal richness continuum, a specific medium can be qualified as poor by filtering most nonverbal cues (eg., text-based communication) or as rich by allowing the display of the near integrality of nonverbal content (eg., videoconference and virtual reality). These considerations led to the development of a conceptual framework of online empathy revolving around the adequate perception of nonverbal signals to evoke and display empathy in mediated interpersonal interactions. The framework distinguishes feeling, conveying, and perceiving empathy as distinct steps of the empathic interaction and proposes that a greater portion of nonverbal signals is filtered in mediated interactions relative to face-to-face interactions in each exchange of information between interlocutors. Discrepancies in feeling, conveying, and perceiving empathy that may be present in face-to-face interactions can thus be further exacerbated by the filtering of nonverbal signals. An important feature of this conceptual framework is the consideration of empathy from the perspective of both parties involved in the empathic exchange. The interpretation of empirical data through this framework can generate concrete adaptations of computer-mediated communication to foster empathy, thus contributing to the efficacy of social and medical online interventions. The framework also emphasizes the need to further study the perception of verbal and nonverbal cues in relation to empathy across a range of communication media.

ABSTRACT. Research on online vengeance illustrates that social media platforms are sometimes used for payback, retribution and punishment. These platforms provide highly accessible opportunities for revenge as they have grown both in popularity and influence over the last decade. Consequently, interpersonal revenge enacted through social media warrants independent attention and identifying the prevalence as well as the relationships contexts in which it is most likely to occur is an important first step to broaden our understanding of these behaviors.

This research assessed the prevalence of acts of revenge on social media in four different types of relationship contexts: between friends, between family members, between coworkers, and between romantic partners. Participants were recruited from a western university and through snowball sampling (N = 930).

A mixed design with two within-subjects factors – 3 role (perpetrator, victim, and observer) by 2 revenge type (control/monitoring and direct aggression) – and one between-subject factor – 4 relationship (coworkers, family, friends, and romantic partners) – was employed. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four relationship contexts and the prevalence of online revenge behaviors was assessed with a series of 17 online revenge behaviors specific to social media platforms, modified from a standardized online cyber dating abuse scale. This final scale captured two types of online revenge behaviors: (a) direct aggression and (b) control and monitoring. When reporting on the prevalence of these behaviors, participants rated how often they had been the victim, perpetrated, or witnessed each act.

Collapsing across relationship contexts, a repeated measures ANOVA revealed mean differences between roles in acts of revenge (F [1.35, 1183.34] = 799.14, p < .001). Post hoc tests showed that participants were significantly more likely to report witnessing acts of revenge online (M = 2.22, SD = 1.03) than they were to report being either the victim (M = 1.46, SD = .59; p < .001) or the perpetrator of such acts (M = 1.33, SD = .40; p < .001). Participants were also significantly more likely to report being victim than they were to report having perpetrated revenge (p < .001). This finding is consistent with the previous literature which illustrates that participants prefer not to associate themselves with acts of revenge given how negatively these acts are perceived by society.

Additionally, a paired sample t test revealed that control and monitoring (M = 5.54, SD = 2.21) is significantly more prevalent than direct aggression (M = 4.69, SD = 1.74; t = 16.03, p < .001) when revenge occurs on social media. As direct aggression is more often public than control and monitoring, this result suggests that individuals are generally aware of the potential costs involved when being deliberately aggressive before an audience and prefer to get even on social media through behaviors that are of lower potential cost to them.

Although the prevalence of acts of revenge on social media is relatively low (M = 1.67, SD = .62), our results suggest it is higher in some relational contexts than others. A one-way between groups ANOVA revealed significant group differences (F (3, 868) = 42.42, p < .001). Post hoc tests demonstrated that revenge on social media is significantly more likely to occur between two friends (M = 1.95, SD = .63) than between two coworkers (M = 1.49, SD = .61; p < .001) or two family members (M = 1.46, SD = .48; p < .001) and more likely to occur between two romantic partners (M = 1.84, SD = .56) than between two coworkers (p < .001) or two family members (p < .001). No other group differences achieved significance.

ABSTRACT. Mental health services are facing two major challenges: First challenge: Many people with mental disorders do not get the help they need. Second challenge: Most of the assessments and treatments of mental disorders take place in clinical settings outside the patient’s environnement. Smartphone apps may help to overcome such challenges. The apps are mobile services combining computerized tools and Internet communication delivered “in vivo”.. Apps are potentially able to reach people (appealing potential). They may trigger a potential for behavioural change in a specific time and context opening new opportunities for empowering people in their real life (process for change potential).

According with such promises, a lot of commercial smartphone apps were developed. Most of them however lack a scientific basis or specific validation. There is an important gap between the celerity of the market and the psychiatric involvement in this field. It seems however as shown by an increasing number of studies at hand that the appealing potential is, to some extent, reached by apps for mental health. Furthermore, apps based interventions have been shown to be promising or effective in some trials (process for change potential). It seems however that adherence in naturalistic settings (engagement) is not good enough which challenges the promises of the smartphone apps potential.

User-centered approaches and engagement processes (i.e. possibly games-based) are particularly important to take in consideration for future developments, Games are possibly helpful for engagement and to promote cognitive and behavioural change as suggested by some randomized controlled studies, including among people with severe psychiatric disorders. Future developments in the field may integrate around user needs and well defined psychiatric and psychotherapeutic objectives and processes by different specialists (i.e. Information technologies, information specialists, other medical disciplines, psychology, mathematics, communication…) able to integrate behaviour change mechanisms, apps technologies, and game-mechanisms in coherent, appealing and engaging tools.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: One of the important causes of simulator sickness (SS) is misalignment both individual inter-pupillary distance (IPD) and a head-mounted display (HMD) configuration. Several researchers studied the relationship between human’s IPD and HMD configuration. However, these studies could not apply personalized IPD, and might be reflected subjective opinions. We proposed an experimental design that adjusts the HMD’s inter-ocular distance and inter-screen distance (IOISD) based on the individual IPD. The goal of the current study was to investigate empirically the variations of SS by the differences between individual IPD and HMD’s IOISD.

Method: We developed a program which could coordinate the IOISD based on individual IPD. In accordance with the interval between IOISD and IPD, the task was composed of five conditions: Baseline (B), Baseline + 2mm (B+2), Baseline + 4mm (B+4), Baseline - 2mm (B-2), and Baseline - 4mm (B-4). Baseline means the condition which is same both individual IPD and HMD’s IOISD. Twenty participants were recruited, and required to watch a dizzy video in every 5 minutes. During watching the video, participants were asked to rank their perceived degree of SS using fast motion sickness (FMS) verbal ratings from zero to twenty every minute. After watching video, participants immediately filled in the simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ) which consist a 4-Likert scale.

Results: We conducted repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) to investigate the relationship of SS. SSQ total score showed a statistically significant difference (F[4, 84] = 5.875, p < .001, η2 = .219). Our analysis found that the B condition (M = 19.2, SD = 18.1) induced the lowest score of SS, followed by the B-2 (M = 23.3, SD = 21.2), B-4 (M = 29.8, SD = 31.1), B+2 (M = 34.2, SD = 31.4), and B+4 (M = 40.5, SD = 45.0) condition. We also analyzed SSQ subscores for nausea, oculomotor, and disorientation. Nausea-related subscore showed a statistically significant difference in five conditions (F[4, 84] = 3.147, p < .05, η2 = .130). We found also significant differences in oculomotor-related subscore (F[4, 84] = 7.623, p < .001, η2 = .266), and disorientation-related subscore (F[4, 84] = 4.710, p < .005, η2 = .183). In addition, the average of FMS scores of each condition were used to find differences of five conditions, and it showed a statistically significant main effect (F[4, 84] = 5.994, p < .001, η2 = .222).

Discussion: This research verified that human felt less SS when the disparity between the individual IPD and the HMD’s IOISD was smaller. The SSQ score was the lowest in the B condition and highly increased by 111% in the B+4 condition. Some participants complained of discomfort of double vision or diplopia in B+2 and B+4 condition. Conventional HMDs have fixed configuration or can adjust only lenses. Many people have complained that their eyes abnormally rotated outward (divergence) or inward (convergence) when they used HMD according to online forums. This study suggested that HMD should be adjustable both lenses (IOD) and the screen (ISD) to prevent misalignment error.

Conclusion: We investigated the relationship between incorrect IPD issue and SS using new experimental design. We verified incorrect IPD induced more visual discomfort, and the smaller discrepancy between the individual IPD and the HMD’s IOISD induced less SS. We hope this research will be an important contribution to reduce SS, and becomes a guideline for HMD users and designers to use virtual reality.

ABSTRACT. Language and telecommunications have been able to help mankind transcend time and space to connect with our loved ones. Reading a letter from a deceased relative; calling a spouse deployed around the world; a senior citizen catching up on a family’s life by following them on social media. Without this communicative ability, the deprivation of human connection and social engagement can transition into the ill-effects of isolation. How will this intuitive interaction between imagination and media be enhanced or disabled by the implementation of virtuality? This paper covers continued research of mixed reality and the relationship between media and the imagination with story creation. Exploratory research with the therapy community and the space program is starting to inform this next generation of social connection with cyber-cognition.

Telecommunications has transformed our lives by how it expands the imagination for us to be tele-present across former geographical and temporal limitations. It has also brought unexpected social consequences. The distraction of a cell phone call can distract our attention and threaten our lives. Social media can undermine our democracy. Senior citizens can be cut off from society with the digital divide. As a society, we are more technically connected than ever, yet there is a growing epidemic of social isolation that has been deemed as harmful to public health as obesity. There are essential factors that are missing with the current media technology.

We are starting with exploring how to enhance life participation for stroke victims suffering from Aphasia and expanding its application to validate this technique to also address isolation for astronauts.

Isolation & Aphasia: Aphasia is a loss of language due to a stroke, which causes isolation. It is a proxy for astronauts in deep space being deprived of human connection and social engagement. In addition, it impairs people from being “lost in a book,” or lost in their imagination through a storytelling with language.

Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA) provides community outlets that invite People with Aphasia (PWA) into social activities that improve natural abilities while supporting disabilities for improved human connection and social engagement.

StoryTroves is a LPAA activity, which is a box of story-provocative artifacts that reveal a story beyond words to be interpreted by the participant. This is preferably done as a group in a gossip-like conversation that stimulates vivid stories within the imagination.

Conversational Story Creation leverages our inherent talent for gossip to take turns being storyteller (expressive imagination) and story-listener (empathetic imagination) to get lost in our imagination through the creation of a story as a group conversation. This engagement transforms the story experience from a passive, lonely trance into interactive group “dance.”

StoryTrove Therapy Research is focused on how this emerging form of story experience is expanding PWAs and typical participants to increase human connection, social engagement through exercising the imagination. The results will lead to new forms of stimulus, measure and analysis that can transfer into virtual and tele-therapy.

What features of communication content will facilitate better human connection and social engagement to create significant and persistent memories for loved ones that are millions of miles away? How will available empirical measures might be brought to bear in the scientific and artistic exploration of this problem? With an understanding of what Mixed Reality can achieve, we can begin to design communication methods and content conventions to test the theory. We will present innovative outcomes of these “StoryTroves” and other emerging Mixed Reality applications that are being applied to community venues such as libraries, museums, schools, clinics, entertainment centers as well as for habitation in deep space.

ABSTRACT. Offline reactivation of newly encoded memories is a central process by which sleep contributes to memory consolidation. These neural ‘replays’ occur spontaneously during both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep, and it has been suggested that dreaming also plays an active role in memory improvement. A growing body of research has shown that these neural replays could also be artificially triggered by replaying an auditory stimulus associated with prior learning, known as targeted memory reactivation (TMR). Our pilot study aims to enhance procedural learning of a VR-flying task with TMR, specifically by presenting task-associated tones during REM sleep. A total of 14 healthy participants (22.33±3.68yrs old; 12 F) took part in a procedural VR task prior to and following a polysomnographically-recorded morning nap, during which the tones were either replayed (N=9; stim group) or were absent (N=6; control group). Our procedural task (built with Unity 3D) uses the VIVE room-scale system and involves flying in a virtual environment and accumulating points by efficiently passing through a circuit of rings, to engage vestibular and motor systems. Performance was calculated as the number of successfully reached rings, divided by the time to complete the circuit. A mixed-design ANOVA with time (pre-, post-nap) as within-subject factor and group (control, Stim) as between-subject factor revealed a marginally significant interaction between time and condition, F(1,14)=3.292, p=.091, ηp2=.190, with a higher increase in performance for the Stim group after the morning nap, t(14)=-2.544, p=.025, while the two groups did not differ in their performance prior to the nap, t(14)=-1.152, p=.269. These results, although preliminary, suggest that TMR during REM sleep could influence sensorimotor skill performance, presumably by reactivating neural circuits that were formed during the VR-task learning. Future studies will aim to confirm the present results with a larger sample size. We will also assess how an immersive VR-flying experience is incorporated into dreaming processes and whether these incorporations are associated with procedural improvement. Moreover, analyses of sleep micro and macro structure measures will provide more precision on these findings. This study may help develop new sleep-based methods using VR for enhancing, optimizing and rehabilitating balance and motor memory.

ABSTRACT. Head-mounted displays enable social interactions in immersive virtual environments. However, it is yet unclear whether the technology is suitable for collaborative work between distant group members. Other communication technologies such as online chat tools or video conferencing systems have repeatedly led to poorer group performance compared to face-to-face interaction. It has been argued that lack of social presence and increased cognitive load might be responsible for these results. The use of a multi-user Virtual Reality (VR) system can help to overcome some of these limitations. Multi-user VR enables users to convey spatially directed, non-verbal behavior (i.e., selective gaze and gestures), which was shown to be beneficial for group performance. Moreover, the entire visual field is taken by the VR display, thus allowing to reduce extraneous cognitive load by means of controlling task-irrelevant stimuli. We set out to compare multi-user VR, video conferencing, and face-to-face interaction in terms of collaborative performance in a group decision task. Furthermore, we examine whether performance is influenced by the feeling of presence, social presence, and cognitive load. Using the hidden profile paradigm, we have started testing small groups of three participants, who are working on a personnel selection case. In the hidden profile paradigm, each participant receives an individual information set containing shared and unshared information about four fictional candidates. The correct (i.e., most favorable) candidate can only be identified if sufficient unshared information is exchanged during the subsequent group discussion. The groups are randomly assigned to discuss the alternatives in a multi-user VR environment via virtual representatives (i.e., avatars), in a video conference, or in a face-to-face setting. Data collection (approx. 150 students) is currently ongoing. Consistent with previous research, we expect poorer performance of the video conferencing system compared to the face-to-face condition. In contrast, we expect better performance in the VR condition, presumably comparable to the face-to-face condition. We will present preliminary analyses and discuss our findings with respect to the potential of multi-user VR as a tool for online collaboration.

ABSTRACT. With the aging of the population, new strategies must be developed to adequately answer the growing health needs of the elderly. Virtual communities targeted to older adults may represent interesting tools, ranging from providing health-related information to operating preventive programs, or simply reducing social isolation and thus increasing the quality of life of the elderly. Developing and maintaining efficient health-oriented virtual communities is a valid public health strategy if they demonstrate sufficient health benefits for users. However, while this idea is theoretically appealing, the actual process might be relatively hard to operationalize and to evaluate. Generally speaking, several factors should be taken into consideration in the designing process and the evaluation of virtual communities. Indeed, the design of eHealth strategies aiming at developing or supporting communities targeted to elderly population bears generic issues shared with any eHealth virtual community (e.g., user engagement, participation, and acceptance). Furthermore, it also bears additional challenges related to the specificities of the targeted population – the elderly. Among these population-related issues, we should keep in mind the degree of health literacy, the potentiality of engagement in the virtual community by older adults, or potential limitations related to access to care or the presence of (age-related) disabilities. Once designed, evaluation is critical to accompany and support the implementation and large-scale growth of the community. The factors to consider for the evaluation of an online health intervention include patient health outcomes, match to clinical processes, clinician’s and patient’s satisfaction, and cost-benefits analyses¹. A strategy of evaluation of online health material – particularly when targeted to vulnerable population such as the elderly – should also include tools for readability, sentiment analysis, understandability, usability, as well as rely on regular qualitative assessments by and of the target population². In conclusion, the optimal development of health-oriented senior-targeted virtual communities will require a holistic approach taking into consideration the specificities and the unique needs of this population. After the initial implantation steps, appropriate evaluation using mixed approach tools will be instrumental to the continuous enhancement of the support potential of this health-oriented communities, and to insure long-term adhesion of the participants to the interface. Such integrated approaches will be necessary for significant positive impact on elderly health to be reached with eHealth strategies.

¹ Beaunoyer, E., & Guitton, M. J. (2017). Effective Use of Virtual Communities for Health-Purposes in the Elderly. In El Morr, C. (ed.). Novel Applications of Virtual Communities in Healthcare Settings (pp. 127–146) . Canada: IGI Global. 

² Beaunoyer, E., Arsenault, M., Lomanowska, A. M., & Guitton, M. J. (2017). Understanding online health information: Evaluation, tools, and strategies. Patient Education and Counseling, 100(2), 183–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2016.08.028

ABSTRACT. Introduction: To explore the relationship between binocular inhibitory topography and visual field defects in glaucoma patients. The relationship between binocular contrast attenuation and visual acuity, and the preliminary connection between various sensory deficits and visual nerve pathway defects, can further identify the brain visual defect sites in glaucoma patients. The learning zone of the sensory training threshold, in combination with clinical treatment methods, achieves the goal of controlling the condition of glaucoma patients and even improving their visual quality through the neuroplasticity training of the binocular visual function push-pull model. Method: Fifty-five patients with glaucoma underwent the following basic ophthalmologic examinations, including uncorrected and corrected vision, slit lamp, intraocular pressure, fundus photography, OCT, visual field, CT or MRI of the head to exclude intracranial lesions, followed by brain visual function tests. Long-term neuroplasticity treatment was applied for 3 months. During treatment patients returned to the hospital for review, reassessment, and data acquisition. Result: After 3 months of long-term visual neuroplasticity treatment, 27 (77.14%) patients had visual acuity improvement of 1-2 lines. 35 patients had no stereopsis before treatment, and after training, 21 patients (60%) recovered stereopsis. Conclusion: By combining the dynamic stereo augmented reality model, the binocular suppression topographic map model, and the contrast push-pull model, most patients achieved stereoscopic visual function enhancement and visual acuity enhancement, suggesting that the above models can temporarily activate retinal cell function in glaucoma patients.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: To study the binocular-ocular vision in patients with pseudophakia eyes, focusing on the direction of coarse stereopsis, and to explore the relationship between residual binocular vision at the level of the visual pathway of the central nervous system using augmented reality display technology.

Method: A total of 37 children with artificial phakic eyes aged from 4 to 14 years old, 25 males and 12 females were selected from December 2015 to February 2017. They were all undergoing intraocular lens implantation due to congenital or traumatic cataracts (right Eye 11 cases, left eye in 13 cases, both eyes in 12 cases). Routine three-stage visual functions were tested and functions of the brain-vision biological model (stereopsis of structure from motion, large-scale second-order stereopsis) were measured at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after surgery. In the stereopsis examination, the biological model used the LG2343P 3D polarized display, and a new algorithm to generate brain vision-related biologic stimuli. The patients were viewed under binocular vision, and the results of the examination were recorded to analyze the data.

Results: Most of the 37 patients suffered from loss of conventional visual function in both eyes. Bio-model results showed that there was residual dynamic stereopsis (large-cell M-channels) in 10 cases and residual large-scale second-order stereopsis (small-cell P-channels) in 27 cases.

Conclusion: The binocular visual function defect is serious in children with pseudophakia eyes. The residual coarse stereoscopic biological model can be used to measure the high-energy stereopsis of patients with clinical phakic eyes. The defects of large-cell M-channel (motion and depth, stereopsis of structure from motion) is more severe than the loss of small cell P channels (colors and shapes) . Our findings suggest new avenues for individualized perception therapy using augmented reality technology.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: The type of amblyopia is usually classified according to visual resolution. This paper investigates the relationship between the type of amblyopia and binocular eye position and spatial distortion topography. We explore the correlation between visual impairment of binocular vision and control deficits in the central nervous system. Clinics provide new evidence and methods using augmented reality technology.

Methods: A total of 109 amblyopia patients aged 4-17 years were selected. Polarization was performed on a 3D computer screen to generate binocular vision, one eye was visually fixed, and the other eye was visually measured as the binocular perception overlapped. The binocular visual perception eye position model and international standard visual acuity table were used to measure the specific performance of each visual function of the patient. The amblyopia level was classified according to visual acuity: 0.2-0.5 for moderate amblyopia, and 0.6-and above for mild amblyopia. The visually perceptible eye positions are classified according to the offset amount: 0.4 degree or less is a type, 0.4-2.0 degree is a b type, and 2.0 degree or more is a c type. Twenty-four cases of amblyopia patients aged 4-17 years were selected for spatial distorted examination. The examination method was as follows: 3D polarizing display (D2343p, LG) was used, the resolution was 1920×1080, and the screen size of the monitor was 51cm×28.7cm. The stimulating image size is 51cm*29cm, the viewing angle is 38deg*18deg, the cross size is 0.33deg*0.33deg, the size of the circle is 0.4deg*0.4deg, and there are a total of 36 circles with a uniform division of 3.6deg from the center, 4.4deg, 5.2deg on three circles.

Results: (1) There were 60 patients with moderate amblyopia and 49 patients with mild amblyopia. There was no correlation between binocular visual acuity and perceived eye position shift in amblyopic patients (t=0.620). There was no correlation between perceived eye position shifts of moderate and mild amblyopia (t=0.669). In moderate amblyopia, class a accounts for 36.6%, class b accounts for 43.4%, and class c accounts for 20% of patients. Among the mild amblyopia, class a accounts for 20.4%, class b accounts for 65.3%, and class c accounts for 14.18% of patients. There were 12 patients with moderate amblyopia and 12 patients with mild amblyopia. There was no significant difference in deviation distance (pixels) and deviation angle (degrees) between the small circle, middle circle, and great circle among patients with moderate and mild amblyopia (P>0.05). The deviation distance and deviation angle of the patients with moderate amblyopia at the small circle were 26.89±27.02 and 39.6±3.71, and they were 27.20±21.47 and 4.12±3.85 at the middle circle, and 25.92±24.99 and 2.79 at the great circle respectively. ± 2.72, overall 26.95 ± 24.12, 3.77 ± 3.31. Patients with mild amblyopia had 20.25±14.16 and 3.74±2.367 offset distances and angles respectively. In the middle circle, they were 19.26±13.55 and 2.75±1.61, respectively, and the great circles were 19.60±14.45 and 2.36±1.75, respectively. The overall values were 19.70±13.92 and 2.95±1.98, respectively.

Conclusion: Binocular visual acuity shift and amblyopic binocular spatial resolution are not a defect-related pathway. There is no correlation between visual acuity classification between perceived amblyopia types and spatial topography. Ambiguity eye position abnormalities exist in different spatial resolution states of amblyopia (normal values below 0.15 degree). Perceivable eye position shifts and abnormalities are potentially related to unstable binocular fixation and ocular fixation abnormalities. Therefore, neurological deficits in amblyopic patients are not only manifested in abnormal spatial resolution, but also manifested as binocular fixation and stability. These findings were accentuated by using augmented reality technology. Discovery of this type of defect provides a new perspective and classification model for the diagnosis and treatment of amblyopia.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Adequate social abilities are critical to an individual’s capacity to develop and form lasting relationship and interact with peers. Although several factors are important for the development of social competence, moral reasoning (MR) has shown to be particularly important to the establishment of appropriate social behaviours. MR is defined as how individuals think about moral dilemmas and conventions that govern social interactions in their everyday lives. The Socio-Moral Reasoning Aptitude Level (So-Moral) Task is a computer-based tool that assesses MR using visual vignettes depicting everyday social dilemmas with a moral component. Combining this task with virtual reality (VR) has the potential to increase ecological validity by providing experimental conditions that are reasonably similar to those in a real-world environment. VR is particularly relevant to the study of social skills because it allows participants to react, feel, think and behave as they would in physical reality. VR also increases the validity and accuracy of the participants’ responses to social situations. The aim of this study was to validate a VR version of the So-Moral task in adolescents. It was expected that the So-Moral-VR task would produce similar moral maturity levels as the original computer version and ultimately provide a novel and more ecological mode of social assessment. Method: 15 adolescents and young adults between 12 and 25 years (M= 19.3, SD= 4.6 years, 8 males) were recruited and completed both versions of the So-Moral Task (computer and VR). Participants were presented with 9 or 10 moral dilemmas, depending on the version, and were asked to explain how they would react and why, if they were in that situation. Moral maturity level was assessed for each dilemma based on a validated five level scale. Paired sample t-tests were used to compared moral maturity levels between both versions of the So-Moral Task and a Pearson correlation was used to explore the association between the VR and computer versions. Results: Preliminary results showed no moral maturity difference between the VR and the computer version of the So-Moral Task (t=0.511 p=0.618). Pearson correlation revealed a strong association between the So-Moral-VR Task and the original So-Moral Task (r=0.73 p=0.003). Conclusion: These results suggest that VR version of the So-Moral Task provides similar results as the computer version, thus providing a reliable measure of moral reasoning within a more ecological and dynamic mode of assessment.