Browsing by Subject "VR"

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. The symptoms appear in childhood and, if left untreated, can continue into adulthood affecting the quality of life. Currently, diagnosing a child's ADHD relies on subjective questionnaires filled out by a parent and an interview. The detection of changes in brain activity especially during everyday activities could bring important information that could help inform the diagnostics of ADHD. The changes in brain activity in persons diagnosed with ADHD during familiar, everyday events have been studied very little. However, ADHD brain imaging studies done during resting state and simple tasks have found changes in large-scale brain networks. These networks can be studied using functional connectivity approach, where the degree of synchronous activity in different brain regions is used to determine the connection strength between these regions. In this thesis, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the differences in the functional connectivity of the whole brain between children diagnosed with ADHD (n=17) and controls (n=19) were investigated during a virtual reality task that simulates everyday life (EPELI), watching natural-like videos, and resting state. Connectivity matrices were generated with the NiLearn Toolbox program using Seitzman and colleagues' (2018) 300-area parcellation. The connectivity of the whole brain was examined using Network-Based Statistics. During movie watching the ADHD group showed increased connectivity compared to the control group in a network that included several areas of the motor cortex. This may indicate a role for these regions in the hyperactivity symptoms of ADHD. The same network also included the right superior temporal gyrus, which has previously been linked to impulsivity symptoms in individuals diagnosed with ADHD. During the virtual reality task and resting state, no differences in connectivity were observed between the groups. However, differences between the experimental situations were revealed in several networks when the connectivity was compared within the groups. Many of these networks were very extensive and included several subcortical and cerebellar structures in addition to cortical areas. Both the control and ADHD groups showed increased connectivity in the resting state compared to EPELI. This could possibly be due to the differences in the participants' actions during the task performance. To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is the first to examine the functional connectivity of brains diagnosed with ADHD during naturalistic stimuli. The clear differences between the controls and the ADHD group during movie watching are promising for future naturalistic brain studies. Based on the results, network models are effective in studying the functional connectivity of ADHD under different conditions. However, consideration for similarity of activities during the virtual task could have led to the detection of larger differences.

This master’s thesis explores vocational education students’ experiences of immersive virtual learning environment. The thesis focuses on experiences of learning vocational skills in an immersive virtual learning environment that is designed for the field of profession. The research method of this study was qualitive. Research data was collected by observing the students whilst studying and in semi-structured interview. The observation was to support the interview data. The participants were five vocational students who have been using im-mersive virtual environment as one of the study environment during their vocational studies. Data analysis was done by using content analysis. According the results the students do experience that immersive virtual learning environment supports the development of their vocational skills as a part of students’ individual learning path. Some students experience that immersive virtual learning environment supports their vocational skills transfer to working life and some students experiences that immersive virtual learning environment supports mainly theoretical studies. Students experienced also various challenges, both technical challenges and challenges to use the virtual environment.

Objectives: Executive function skills are essential in goal-directed behaviour. The assessment of these skills has been based on specific performance-based tasks or subjective questionnaires that measure everyday skills. The EPELI method uses gamification elements, and it has been developed to assess children’s goal-directed behaviour. The method includes both a VR and a computer version, both of which may have their individual benefits. Therefore, it is important to understand the differences between the versions. The aim of the current study was to examine irrelevant actions during EPELI and the differences in actions between the two versions as well as between two separate sessions. The hypothesis was that the number of irrelevant actions does not differ between the versions. Furthermore, the correlation between actions during EPELI and executive function skills in everyday life was examined. It was expected that a high score in BRIEF-questionnaire, which measures challenges in everyday executive functions, would be linked to worse task efficiency and more irrelevant actions. Methods: Participants of the current study were 72 typically developing 9-13 years old children. All participants played EPELI with both VR equipment and a computer. On average there were seven months between the sessions. Half of the participants began with the VR version and the other half began with the computer version. Before the meeting the participants’ guardians filled the BRIEF questionnaire. Irrelevant actions were analysed with generalized linear mixed models. The connection of everyday executive functions skills and EPELI were analysed with correlations. Results and Conclusions: As hypothesised there was no difference in the number of irrelevant actions between the EPELI versions. Instead, the session affected the number of irrelevant actions. During the second session, players had more actions on average than during the first session. The questionnaire that was filled before the first session correlated with the task efficacy and irrelevant actions during EPELI. On the contrary, the correlation was insignificant in the second session. In addition, task efficacy during the computer based EPELI correlated with the questionnaire. Regarding the irrelevant actions, VR equipment did not provide additional insight on top of the computer version. These results suggest that both EPELI versions may complement existing assessment methods. However, the change in the number of irrelevant actions between the two sessions as well as the reasons behind the change should be examined further.

It is widely acknowledged that previous efforts to communicate the severity and rate of climate change have failed. Science communication has for decades relied on the presumption that more information leads to more informed decisions, thus so far, the scientific consensus about human-caused climate change has not resulted in required changes in behaviour. Previous communication efforts have, for the most part, attributed inaction to the lack of information, but in doing so, have excluded many social and psychological elements of communication. Although raising the level of awareness about climate change has been successful, climate change remains to be perceived to be a distal threat. Recently, more sophisticated approaches have been developed to meaningfully communicate climate change, drawing attention to the framing of the communication. In this study, a new approach to science-based environmental communication is evaluated. The case study seeks to address how immersive Virtual Reality (VR) can be used as a tool in science-based environmental communication for policymakers in a locally relevant context. Via immersive VR, information about forests’ role in climate change is mediated to forest policymakers. In the science communication, climate change is framed as an experiential, local, and present risk, promoting a problem definition that focuses on the climate effects of forest utilisation. I evaluate the success of the science-based environmental communication by measuring participants’ personal responses. I focus on measuring enjoyment, interest, trust, and usability. The study participants are members of the Parliament of Finland and governmental officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; and the Ministry of the Environment. The study material consists of feedback forms from participants (N=65) and interviews of the key actors (N=7). To consider the historical background and many conflicting interests in Finnish forest and climate politics, I focus on the comparison between the natural resource position and the environmental position. The results of this study offer compelling evidence for how differently policymakers representing these two positions perceive the usage of immersive VR in science-based environmental communication. The environmental position indicated significantly higher levels of success on all measured components. Considering that the science communication framed forest utilisation as an environmental issue, it is not surprising that participants holding the environmental position perceived the science communication to be more enjoyable, interesting, trustworthy, and usable. Accordingly, the study results provide additional support for the idea of Finnish forest policy as a polarised field of policy with two main positions. With the means of immersive VR, I was able to induce strong personal responses to the science communication. Participants holding the natural resource position were more likely to challenge the legitimacy of the information and the use of VR in science communication than participants holding the environmental position. The results point to the likelihood that communicating climate change via immersive VR can induce strong negative emotions in the participants, but when the communication is comparable with the policymaker's policy preferences, they respond more positively. The study results also suggest, that to communicate climate change more meaningfully, immersive VR should be further explored as a supplementary tool in science communication.

Tässä tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin virtuaalitodellisuuden (VR) tarjoamia mahdollisuuksia ennakkoluulojen ja ryhmien välisten suhteiden parantamisen kannalta. Teoreettisena viitekehyksenä tutkielmassa käytettiin Allportin (1954) kontaktihypoteesia ja sen pohjalta kehitettyä kontaktiteoriaa sekä aiempaa VR-ennakkoluulotutkimusta. Tutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittää, voidaanko valmiissa sosiaalisessa VR-sovelluksessa toteuttaa positiivista ulkoryhmäkontaktia hyödyntävä ennakkoluulointerventio, jonka avulla enemmistöryhmän implisiittiset asenteet kontaktoitua ulkoryhmää kohtaan muuttuisivat positiivisemmiksi. Varsinaisen tutkimuskysymyksen lisäksi tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin myös eksploratiivisesti sukupuolen, avatarin vartaloon samaistumisen ja koetun yhteisen läsnäolon tunteen vaikutusta intervention jälkeisiin implisiittisiin asenteisiin. Pyrin tutkielmani avulla täydentämään nykyistä ennakkoluuloihin liittyvää VR-tutkimuksen kenttää toteuttamalla aikaisemmasta tutkimuksesta poiketen ennakkoluulointervention valmiissa sosiaalisessa VR-sovelluksessa nimeltä AltspaceVR. Tutkielman aineisto kerättiin osana laajempaa PREVENT-hanketta, joka keskittyy ennakkoluulojen tutkimiseen virtuaaliympäristöissä. Aineisto kerättiin pääosin syksyllä 2021 ja tutkimukseen osallistui yhteensä 94 koehenkilöä, joista 76 otettiin mukaan analyysiin. Tutkimus koostui esikyselystä, VR-osuudesta ja jälkikyselystä. VR-osuus suoritettiin AltspaceVR-sovelluksessa ja se koostui tutoriaalista, säkinheittopelistä ja odotushuoneesta, joista tässä tutkielmassa keskityttiin vain säkinheittopelin tarkasteluun eli kontaktiin ensisijaisen ulkoryhmän edustajan kanssa. Muutosta koehenkilöiden implisiittisissä asenteissa mitattiin Greenwaldin ja kumppaneiden (1998) kehittämän IAT-testin avulla, joka suoritettiin esikyselyn ja jälkikyselyn aikana. Analyysit toteutettiin R-studiossa käyttämällä yksisuuntaista toistettujen mittausten varianssianalyysia sekä lineaarista regressioanalyysia jatkotestien kohdalla. Tutkielman tuloksena oli, että VR-interventiolla ei ollut vaikutusta koehenkilöiden implisiittisiin asenteisiin eli koe- ja kontrolliryhmän välillä ei ollut tilastollisesti merkitsevää eroa IAT-testin tuloksissa intervention seurauksena. Tutkimukselle asetettu hypoteesi ei siis saanut tukea ja nollahypoteesi jäi voimaan. Jatkotestien tuloksena oli, että sukupuolella ja avatarin vartaloon samaistumisella ei ollut yhteyttä intervention jälkeisiin implisiittisiin asenteisiin. Sen sijaan koetulla yhteisen läsnäolon tunteella oli yhteys intervention jälkeisiin implisiittisiin asenteisiin sekä koe- että kontrolliryhmässä. Vaikka interventiolla ei ollut vaikutusta koehenkilöiden implisiittisiin asenteisiin, tutkielmani lisää ymmärrystä virtuaalitodellisuuden tarjoamista mahdollisuuksista ennakkoluulojen muuttamisen kannalta. Lisäksi tutkielma lisää tietoa koetun yhteisen läsnäolon merkityksestä implisiittisten asenteiden muuttamisen kannalta. Tutkielma tuo myös uutta tietoa valmiiden sosiaalisten VR-sovellusten hyödyntämisestä tutkimuksessa. Jatkotutkimuksen kannalta myös täysin etänä toteutettavien kokeiden mahdollisuutta olisi mielekästä tarkastella.

Tutkimuksessa käsitellään arkeologisten kenttätöiden valokuvadokumentointia ja tarkastellaan mahdollisuutta luoda vähimmäismääre arkeologisten kaivausten valokuvausdokumentoinnille. Tutkimus perustuu menetelmäkokeiluun, jonka periaatteella vähimmäiskuvamääre voidaan perustella. Kuvien perusteella alueista rekonstruoidaan kaivausalueet virtuaaliseen muotoon sekä tarkastellaan niiden mahdollisuutta arkeologisessa dokumentoinnissa sekä jatkotutkimuksessa. Tavoitteena on selvittää, voidaanko kaivausdokumentoinnilla saada objektiivisempaa dokumentaatiota tutkittavista kaivausalueista sekä voidaanko vähimmäismääreen kuvista luoda kolmiulotteisia malleja esimerkiksi jatkotutkimusta varten. Tämän lisäksi tutkimuksessa pohditaan arkeologisen dokumentoinnin digitalisoitumista, tehokkuutta sekä vertaillaan taso – ja profiilikarttojen digitoinnin tuloksia suoraan kolmiulotteisesta malleista tehtyihin karttoihin. Tutkimuksessa verrataan niin ikään älypuhelimien kuvien laatua järjestelmäkameroiden kuvien laatuun. Tämän avulla kartoitetaan älypuhelimien kameroiden käyttömahdollisuuksia valokuvadokumentoinnissa tulevaisuuden arkeologisessa kenttädokumentoinnissa.

The purpose of this master’s study was to examine how and in what ways virtual reality has been used in art education in Finland. In addition, the aim was to examine and analyse what kind of advantages virtual reality can bring to art education. Previous research around the world have shown that virtual reality in education purposes can increase students’ spatial skills and motivation and it can enable new learning experiences. In this study, the results are being compared to the national core curricula of basic education and high school education. This study was carried out using qualitative methods as a multi-case study. The research material was collected by thematic interviews, including interviews of three art teachers and two high school students, who all had used virtual reality in art education during the last three years. Content analysis was utilized in the analysis of the material. In this study, virtual reality was used in a very student-oriented manner in both basic aducation’s and high school education’s art lessons, giving students the freedom to implement their own ideas and visions. The study showed that the use of virtual reality in art education enabled new kinds of experiences that would probably not have been achieved otherwise during art lessons. In addition, virtual reality enabled nearly limitless possibilities, supported creativity, and reduced the so called fear of blank canvas. Based on this study, virtual reality seems to offer new possibilites to fulfill the contents and achieve the goals of the national curricula.

Teknologian kehitys on nopeaa ja koulutuksen on pysyttävä mukana viimeisimmissä inno vaatioissa. Virtuaalitodellisuus on peleihin pohjautuva teknologia, joka on ajankohtainen tut kimusaihe koulutuksen kentällä. Aiemmat tutkimukset ovat osoittaneet virtuaalitodellisuuden käytöstä hyötyvaikutuksia, kuten motivaation ja sitoutumisen lisääntymistä ja avaruudellisen hahmottamisen kehittymistä. Informaatioteknologian nopea kehittyminen voi johtaa siihen, että virtuaalitodellisuus tulee osaksi opetusta ympäri maailmaa. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on kartoittaa tietoa virtuaalitodellisuuden käytöstä peruskoulun oppimisympäristöissä ja siitä, miten ilmiö jo tunnistetaan peruskoulun kontekstissa. Tarkoituksena on myös selvittää, onko virtuaalitodellisuus muuttamassa oppimisympäristöjä tulevaisuudessa. Tutkimuskysymykset ovat 1) minkälaisia virtuaalisen todellisuuden sovellutuksia peruskouluissa on käytetty, ja 2) minkälaisia vaikutuksia virtuaalitodellisuudella on oppimiseen ja siihen liittyviin tekijöihin pe ruskoulussa? Tutkielma on systemaattinen kirjallisuuskatsaus. Tutkielman aineistona oli 12 tarkoin kritee rein valittua vertaisarvioitua artikkelia, jotka olivat peräisin Eric-tietokannasta. Analyysimene telmänä käytettiin laadullista sisällönanalyysia. Analyysin tuotoksena aineisto käytiin tiivistäen läpi ja sitä poimittiin tutkimuskysymysten kannalta olennaiset kohdat. Lopulta poimitut kohdat ryhmiteltiin tutkimustuloksiksi. Tulokset osoittivat, että virtuaalitodellisuutta on mahdollista käyttää peruskoulun opetuksessa monin erilaisin sovellutuksin ja monessa eri oppiaineessa. Virtuaalitodellisuudella havaittiin olevan useita positiivisia vaikutuksia oppimiseen liittyen. Virtuaalitodellisuuskokeilut paransi vat oppilaiden akateemista suoriutumista, ääntämis-, kirjoitus- ja lukemistaitoja, lisäsivät op pilaiden motivaatiota ja kehittivät kognitiivisia kykyjä. Virtuaalitodellisuus paransi erityistar peisten oppilaiden keskittymiskykyä sekä abstraktien objektien hahmottamista. Etiikka ja tur vallisuus vaativat enemmän huomiota. Huonoja vaikutuksia olivat motivaation heikentyminen, epämukavuuden tunteet ja asentotajun ymmärtämisen väheneminen. Johtopäätelminä virtu aalitodellisuudella on potentiaalia tulla osaksi luokkaopetusta. Lisää tutkimusta tarvitaan tek nologian soveltumisesta erityistarpeisille lapsille.

Objectives. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental neuropsychiatric disorder with childhood-onset, characterized by inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. In the diagnosis of ADHD, rating scales and neuropsychological testing serve to make inferences about the impact of a given patient’s symptoms, cognitive deficits, and abilities on everyday functioning. These traditional assessment methods have their limitations, as rating scales have been criticized by the lack of objectivity, and neuropsychological testing due to the limited ecological validity. For these reasons, new objective and ecologically valid assessment methods are needed. The aim of the current study was to examine the utility of Epeli, a new virtual reality-based assessment method that simulates everyday tasks, in the assessment of ADHD in children. Methods. ADHD symptoms were assessed with Epeli by comparing the differences in gross motor activity between 37 children diagnosed with ADHD and 42 typically developing children, aged between 9 and 12 years. Linear mixed models were used to examine how the children’s gross motor activity and distractors presented in the virtual environment affected groups performance in Epeli. Furthermore, it was investigated whether the motor activity variables of Epeli were correlated with the scores in traditional ADHD assessment methods: the continuous performance test (CPT), and ADHD Rating Scale IV (ADHD-RS-IV). Results and conclusions. Children diagnosed with ADHD made more movements of the hand using the game controller and controller clicks than the control group, and thus expressed more gross motor activity during Epeli. This gross motor activity measured from controller movements and clicks was associated with Epeli performance along with the distractors, weakening the performance in children with ADHD more than in typically developing children. Furthermore, the motor activity correlated with ADHD symptoms assessed with ADHD-RS-IV but only marginally with CPT measures. Head movements during Epeli did not reveal differences between the groups and were not associated with Epeli performance. The results suggest that Epeli offers new possibilities to assess children’s ADHD in an objective and ecologically valid way.