VR Research vector - The human / social impact

[SaviorNT]

Greetings!

As a very long time hopeful in VR technology, I have been awaiting not-so-patiently for the technology to come out. With that being said, I do feel that we are on a threshold for this technology.

Now, I have a few other interests other than VR . For example, economics, sociology, and psychology. I also love playing devil's advocate. I, myself, am getting ready to purchase a Rift dev kit for a few reasons.

- I want to design a survival horror game for VR
- A self-served research project (which this thread will go in to)
- Just because I want to play around with it

Note: Speaking of "playing around", does anyone have the weight specifications for the Rift casing? I might know of an opportunity for weight reduction; but I would need to get the specs and talk to my previous employers.

So.. enough of the introductions. Let us begin to play the advocate.

As we all know, we get information about the world around us by several different senses. For humans, sight is a primary sense of how we percieve our world. You often hear of people that are blind, however, their other senses take up the slack for them. The miracles of the brain, right?

With virtual reality, the stuff that we can do now, not 20 years down the road, we can at least put artificial information in two of our senses. Optical and auditorial.

As it is now, with 2d displays and audio, we hear of cases where people lose themselves in games / movies / online. We call these people addicts. But everyone is addicted to something, right?

Now enter virtual reality. The entertainment industry as we know it changes, and evolves around this technology. Instead of merely watching, you can now be apart of the entertainment. You can now go inside of the game you play. You can now become something you're not. This will have an almost universal appeal to people, no matter what form of entertainment they enjoy.

The last I have heard about experimentation from the effects of VR was back in the late '90's. If we look at the research that has been done, you can see tha it ties into what people are interested in at the time. The last time, it was the Matrix. Before that, The Lawnmower Man. This is public research; whether or not the military has done research into the effects of VR.. well, maybe Palmer can answer that one for us (or not :p).

Let's take an average, hard-core gamer. Like me for example.

I get my brand new rift, "YAY!".. I grab something to eat, down a couple bottles of water, and then I hop into the game, say, Doom 3, on Friday.

Sunday, I come out of the game. For two days, my world has been revolving around demons trying to kill me, and me killing them. Fun times, right? Except, now my brain expects to see things that are not there. I start to react as if I was still in the game. There is a popular term for this that would apply. Post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. It may be for a short time (a few seconds after I come out), to a long term (several days). Who knows? There is no "standard" for how each of us will react.

Even then, people will become addicted to the VR space. We often hear stories of obsessive gamers that literally "forget" to eat / drink / sleep, and end up dying while being immersed in just a 2d enviroment. Imagine the implications if people could truly go into the game.

This will have a global impact, as the technology evolves. Businesses start to become virtual only. Worlds start being developed. We would rather be in VR than the RL. On a good note, global warming may slow down

I could go on, but rather than make this a huge thesis of a post, I'll finish up, and give the reason why this is in the R&D section. My particular research project is to test my PTSD theory, as this is probably the extent that my talents to could contribute to the development of VR/AR.

For 48 hours, I'll step into game. After the 48 hours, I'll come out. During this time, I'll have a webcam recording my reactions during this time. I'll also be running Fraps for game footage recording. No outside interference, nothing to draw me back into RL.

Any thoughts for this project? Has it been done already? Recommendations? Discussion is now open.

[bobv5]

What game? Doom 3 isn't 48 hours long.

What about food, water and toilet?

You should probably have someone to keep an eye on you, 48 hours in a high stress situation, with no sleep and little nutrients is not good for the body, no matter what the mental effects.

[Jose]

This "research project" does not sound scientific at all.

What is this "theory" that you are trying to test?

Are you performing the experiment on yourself? Or on someone else while you observe?

What are you doing to avoid biases?

What is your reason for doing this?

does anyone have the weight specifications for the Rift casing? I might know of an opportunity for weight reduction;

How can you reduce the weight of the Rift without removing material from the Rift itself?

[SaviorNT]

Would have responded a bit sooner, but work came up

What game? Doom 3 isn't 48 hours long. What about food, water and toilet?

You should probably have someone to keep an eye on you, 48 hours in a high stress situation, with no sleep and little nutrients is not good for the body, no matter what the mental effects.

It would probably be Doom 3, and while the game play itself may not be 48 hours long, just exploring the enviroment should take awhile.

You brought up a good point about food / water / restroom breaks. As much as I don't like to do it, but I have gone days without before. Sleep would occur in game (find safespot - sleep - wake up still in VR and continuing). From a safety standpoint, I do have a roommate that I discussed this with, and she'll be keeping an eye out to make sure nothing unreasonable is happening. I do agree, that doing this is not very good for the body though, and if I hadn't done it in the 2d world and RL, I probably would not be doing it in VR.

This "research project" does not sound scientific at all.

What is this "theory" that you are trying to test?

Not a particular theory per se, but my question is, what are the short term / long term effects, if any, that occur when, (for the lack of a shorter explanation) you are immersed in a virtual enviroment for an extended period of time (48 hours).

If I had to give a theory of what happens, I would state that yes, you would suffer from something similar to PTSD for a short while. How long? I cannot say. Previous research done with, albeit crappy and shorter term, VR, has stated that people would expect what they had experienced in VR to happen in RL for up to 4 hours after the experiment. I can reference the study when I get home tonight if needed.

Are you performing the experiment on yourself? Or on someone else while you observe?

While I would love to get results from other people, I would need to find a sponsor / participant in the experiment (say, a college professor and his student volunteers). For now, the sample size would only be 1. Myself.

What are you doing to avoid biases?

This is something that I hadn't thought much about. Thanks! For now, my only thought on this is "being honest". I'll talk with some people in the medical field that I know to get their opinions.

What is your reason for doing this?

This is a big question, and one that people ask me when I tell them about this. My reason?

On one hand, I cannot wait for technology to take the step into VR. I have wanted it to come out ever since I first saw Tron.

On the other hand, there is some technology that we should not try to obtain. Is VR one of those technologies? Could it lead us to a better place in history? Or could the technology hamper our progress as a species, or even lead us to the path of self-destruction?

I would like to go further in to it, but alas.. work calls, again

[alekki]

Yeah, this doesn't sound that scientific. By observing yourself (or any one subject), you may get some anecdotal evidence and maybe something to base hypotheses on at next, better experiments. For your study to have any value besides this, you should have more subjects, preferably a control group and most of all, you should specify what exactly you're going to measure, not just see what's going to happen. You should also do statistical analysis on the data you get.

[snorelab]

This is like a comic book version of science. One guy comes up with a wild idea, calls it a theory and then tests it out on a subject, oftentimes himself. What could go wrong?

You will most likely be noticing the effects of hunger, thirst, bladder pressure, bowel pressure, boredom and isolation above everything else. None of those are intrinsic to virtual reality.

[bobv5]

"guy comes up with a wild idea, calls it a theory and then tests it out on a subject,"

It might not be proper science but I find this can be a useful thing to do. Don't want to get off topic but as an example today through the above method I learnt that one parameter in a circuit that seemed very difficult to achive didn't actually matter much if I made a small change to some other parameter.

As for SaviorNT's plans, it seems like they are to satisfy his own curiosity, not for "real" science.

SaviorNT, as long as you are in decent physical and mental health, I think you should do it, just to see what happens.

You could wear one of those backpack drinks holders, filled with some sort of nutrient drink. Trying to hold waste in for 48 hours would be unwise, a reasonable compromise would be to have your friend guide you to toilet with eyes shut, or if you want to be extreme just do it where you stand.

I still think Doom 3 is going to be too short. Even if you explore really well I think it will be less than 24 hours. Perhaps some sort of proceduraly generated maze? I have a few ideas for that but it would be going into GLADOS style illegality.

[Cernos]

hmmm, you can try to sleep with it on, , ofc, u ll need to drink, any idea is good, but, i rly want to know, is how is to be in a virtual word for two days without seeing, or hearing the real word, that may impact you, i think.
Its hard to evade the real world this way.
Good luck!, yeah!, its interesting

pd:sorry for my english!

[cybereality]

I think its an interesting idea and if you can do it safely it could yield some cool ideas. Just be safe.

[Diorama]

Don't listen to the people shooting you down.

Honestly I don't think we will have to wait very long to see what happens when you wear the rift for 2 days straight, I would think we will find out about 2 days after the release of the commercial Rift! (Or possibly 2 days after the first VR porn game )

Yeah it's not a rigorous scientific experiment and its not going to get published in The Lancet anytime soon, but it's interesting as an art project almost, kind of a David Blaine lite.

Sometimes when I'm reading a book really intensely, to the point where I don't look away from the page for a couple of hours, when I look up I'm like "Oh yeah, the world! I forgot about that"; I can't imagine how this would be after even a few hours in VR. At CES people were disoriented after 5 minutes saying how weird it was to take off the headset and suddenly going from being in a medieval citadel to being at a trade show.

There is nothing wrong with informal experiment, just be safe and don't read too much into your 'results'. Who knows; if you turn up something interesting (maybe you lose all sense of balance after 30 hours?) it might be investigated by a lab with more resources etc.

I am intending to make purposely horrible experiences in UDK and try them out, drowning, falling, claustrophobia, loud grating sounds and flashing lights etc. I want to see how horrible VR can be

[geekmaster]

... Honestly I don't think we will have to wait very long to see what happens when you wear the rift for 2 days straight, I would think we will find out about 2 days after the release of the commercial Rift! (Or possibly 2 days after the first VR porn game ) ...

Brainstorm!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstorm_(1983_film)

One team member, Gordo (Jordan Christopher), has sexual intercourse while wearing the recorder, and shares the tape with other colleagues, including Hal Abramson (Joe Dorsey). Hal splices one section of the tape into a continuous orgasm, which results in sensory overload that nearly kills him - leading to his forced retirement.

[snorelab]

I stand by my second statement, Savior. I think the experiment should be designed a little more thoughtfully if you aim to learn anything useful about virtual reality or about yourself. Many of us at one time in our lives embark on something adventurous like this and we learn as much about ourselves as we do about what we were aiming to study. So there is value to it regardless. But you don't want to be the guy who is trying to invent a flying machine and lands at the bottom of a cliff with a thud. You also don't want to be 12 hours into your experiment and REALLY wish you had designed it differently.

[alekki]

Don't listen to the people shooting you down.

I don't think anyone wants to shoot him down. I just want him to be realistic. By just coming up with a hypothesis based on pretty much nothing (I mean, SaviorNT is talking about testing his "theory" on PTSD, which I believe he just came up with without basing it on any previous studies), strapping a Rift on your head and seeing what's going to happen, you will almost certainly find nothing interesting. The experiment might be fun to do and may be interesting to him personally, which is totally fine, but you should not expect to get results that are of any interest to anyone else, let alone relevant to science.

So SaviorNT, if you want to do this, by all means go ahead, there's nothing wrong with that. However, if you don't design the experiment very carefully, taking in account the previous knowledge on the subjects (VR, PTSD etc.), you won't get results that will contribute to science. As it seems that contributing to the knowledge on VR, PTSD, etc. is what you're aiming to do with this experiment, you should get back on the drawing board. Actually, not even that yet, first you should find out what is already known about the relevant subjects, like VR and PTSD, and then start designing an experiment.

There definitely is need for study on the subject. It's just that conducting a study isn't that easy. It doesn't take a super human or any secret knowledge of course, but it definitely takes some careful thinking, planning and designing.

[Jose]

does anyone have the weight specifications for the Rift casing? I might know of an opportunity for weight reduction; but I would need to get the specs and talk to my previous employers.

It would really be of value if you shared your method for reducing the weight of the Rift.

I see some problems with your experiment. You seem to want to self-inflict traumatic stress. How can you do that within a consumer VR system unless you use restraints like in the brainwashing scene in the movie A Clockwork Orange?

Are you trying to induce psychosis using VR?

What kind of safety precautions are you taking? What if you start hallucinating and you mistake your roommate for a demon?

While I would love to get results from other people, I would need to find a sponsor / participant in the experiment (say, a college professor and his student volunteers).

I doubt you will find a legitimate professor willing to perform this experiment, since this experiment involves attempting to inflict traumatic stress on humans.

I get the general idea that you're basically trying to mind-hack yourself. I think that's cool, and that kind of self-experimentation is necessary. But you need to think out your methods more.

Your expectations of the Rift is a little off. The Rift is a 3D head mounted display with orientation tracking. It is immersive, but it's not (yet) the Matrix.

I enjoy your enthusiasm, though. I hope you do not end up on Darwin Awards.

On a related note, I'd really like to see a sub-forum or blogging system here where people can write about their raw experiences or mind-experimentation with virtual reality. We can call it "VR trip reports" or something.

[Naru]

I think the ultimate goal of an experiment like this is to see what VR can do to a person, not necessarily what VR Doom would do to a person. PTSD is only relevant when dealing with something traumatic like monsters trying to kill you, but VR can be anything like simply wandering around a beach where nothing traumatic happens at all. I know exactly what's going to happen in this experiment. You will play the game and get used to the output that you perform while playing, but not necessarily the input you are receiving. Unless something traumatic happens you'll simply wake up in the real world with little problems other than the already known few seconds of disorientation. Your mind gets used to what you're doing in VR not necessarily what you're seeing, so you might see someone walk in front of you in the real world and move your thumb in response like you would move in the video game. Sort of how I once had this problem where I used to say "lol" out loud instead of actually laughing when someone said something funny. Psychosis or PTSD only happens when your mind breaks from some experience you had. I think this experiment is cool and useful for some things, but it doesn't generalize to all VR like virtual worlds.

[SaviorNT]

Wanted to stop in and give a quick chime and update:

Jose: In regards to weight reduction (for HMD's in general, not just for the rift; although it would be a good starting point!), the company that I used to work for was a pre-fab / molding company. They created a casting mold that is EXTREMELY light, and very, very tough. Granted it is designed for mold casting, although, it could be crafted with the same specifications of the HMD casing. The weight per square inch is lighter than plastic, although, I'm not sure if it is worth it cost-wise. That's why I would need the specs of the casing.

Naru: My thoughts exactly! You mentioned a stroll on the beach would provide a different reaction than playing Doom. You're absolutely correct. I cannot recall off-hand where I read it, however, there was a psychological evaluation of a group of students that played Journey for the PS3. Overall, they felt "calmer" and more, I guess, "zen-like?" afterwards than they felt before they started playing.

Imagine if we could do something similar, but instead of having a "window looking in", ie: 2D screens, we could do that in VR, and how / if that same effect could be multiplied by the immersion factor.

However, with the good comes the bad. I would love to play something like Journey in VR, although, I wouldn't be a good candidate for testing, since I think I'm.. calmer? than most


edit: Speaking of Doom, it was stated previously in this thread that it might not be such a good game to test on / with, due to content. I've found some interesting code that was created in python for creating dynamic mazes. If I can port it over to the UE3 script engine and make it 3D, add in actors, textures, a basic storyline, etc.. I might be able to come up with something that would literally take forever to complete. Not sure if I'll be able to do that though, since my programming skills evolve around HTML / visual basic.. not C# / UScript.