Besides navigation accuracy: Gender differences in strategy selection and level of spatial confidence

A virtual version of the reorientation task was employed to test new behavioral measures of navigation strategies and spatial confidence within a gender-fair assessment approach. The results demonstrated that, from a behavioral point of view, women had lower level of spatial confidence than men regardless of level of accuracy. Moreover, the way men and women selected spatial strategies depended on the arrangement of spatial cues within the environment. In other terms women relied on landmarks under specific conditions compatible with an adaptive combination/associative model of spatial orientation. Finally, the present study emphasized the importance to assess gender differences taking into account specific affective variables and information selection processing, beyond accuracy.     

基于三维可视化与虚拟仿真技术的综采工作面生产仿真研究

针对现阶段煤矿从业人员生产培训中存在的不足,以淮南矿业集团潘三矿1622综采工作面为例,引出了基于三维可视化与虚拟仿真技术的综合机械化采煤虚拟仿真系统的设计与开发,利用3D MAX三维建模软件对矿区地形、地质及综采工作面采煤机、液压支架、刮板输送机等生产机械设备进行三维模型的创建,并结合Converse3D虚拟现实制作软件对系统的界面UI和交互进行设计,提出了系统设计开发的完整流程。通过在潘三矿的应用结果表明:基于三维可视化及虚拟仿真技术开发的综采工作面虚拟仿真系统具有易学性、真实性和交互性等特点,能够快速激发工人的学习兴趣,大大降低了工人安全培训的时间。同时,也为工业生产的实时仿真,提供了新的研究方向。     

Teaching industrial ecology and environmental management in Second Life

Second Life is a virtual, open-access, and user-generated environment that has served as a platform for hosting everything from rock concerts to scientific conferences. Many institutions have also used Second Life as an educational tool, for example by, showcasing scientific exhibits or embedding video and images for learning purposes. Here we discuss the creation and use of an interactive, virtual industrial facility - the Elihu Paper Company - as a way to complement a traditional facility tours in a course in industrial environmental management. Virtual facilities offer a number of educational advantages over real-life ones: they are always open and available for tours, they can be accessed instantaneously from anywhere where there is an adequate internet connection, and most importantly, tours and embedded information can be tailored to specific educational objectives. Our experience in using Elihu Paper as a formal facility visit for the past several years shows that students had significantly more time than usual to ask questions, could and did explore the facility independently, and were still able to produce facility reports that fulfilled the educational objectives of the visits, including mapping material flows and explaining pollution prevention and sustainability opportunities.     

基于虚拟现实技术的非煤矿山救护队培训系统设计与实现

针对非煤矿山救护队应急救援培训的实际需求和现实不足的情况,根据救护队行动程序,应用虚拟现实技术,研究与设计非煤矿山救护队应急救援培训系统。硬件系统采用可视立体技术和多点触摸技术,设计双屏触摸一体培训考试机。软件系统由用户信息管理子系统、多媒体演示培训子系统、专项操作训练子系统、考核与评价子系统、综合训练子系统构成。采用3D显示、人性化用户体验设计、自动寻路A*算法和导航网格等关键技术,从几何建模、动画建模、信息数据库和场景驱动等方面对系统整体进行架构。该系统的设计与开发可使非煤矿山救护队培训考核更加安全、高效、系统和节约。     

高处作业人员位置与生理信号相关性分析

为对高处作业人员位置状态进行识别,加强对高处施工人员作业状态的监控,采用VR技术模拟高处作业,同时利用人-机-环同步平台,采集平地处、一级高处作业(取4 m为例)以及二级高处作业(8 m为例)情景下的6种生理信号数据,运用SPSS软件对生理信号进行数据分析.结果显示,不同高处作业人员对皮电信号(EDA)的时域具有显著性...     

Studying freeway merging conflicts using virtual reality technology

Introduction: This research aims to investigate the perceptions and reactions of drivers regarding freeway merging situation, utilizing a new approach with the basis of a multilevel simulation platform which incorporates virtual reality (VR) technology. Methods: A VR driving environment integrated with traffic micro-simulation was developed to evaluate driving behaviors and the impact of merging decisions in terms of traffic conflicts. The driving experiments were conducted under a variety of circumstances, including varying traffic flows and the presence of ramp metering. The Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM) was utilized to extract the number of conflicts from the micro-simulation results. Results: The final results indicated that the probability of conflict has a positive correlation with traffic flow, while conflict frequency at freeway merges is affected by the presence of ramp metering due to its potentiality to enhance driver decisions and reduce the drivers’ pressure when they make maneuvers. Practical Applications: The findings reveal that the proposed VR simulation platform is a useful tool to improve the safety of freeway merging. It has the potential to enhance driver skills and can also be used in the study of human–machine interaction.     

Individual difference factors in risky driving among older adults

INTRODUCTION: Motor-vehicle crashes kill roughly 4,500 American adults over the age of 75 annually. Among younger adults, one behavioral factor consistently linked to risky driving is personality, but this predictor has been overshadowed by research on cognitive, perceptual, and motor processes among older drivers. METHOD: In this study, a sample of 101 licensed drivers, all age 75 and over, were recruited to complete self-report measures on personality, temperament, and driving history. Participants also completed a virtual environment (VE) course designed to assess risk-taking driving behavior. State records of motor-vehicle crashes were collected. RESULTS: Results suggest both a sensation-seeking personality and an undercontrolled temperament are related to risky driving among older adults. Sensation-seeking was particularly related to history of violations and tickets, while temperamental control was more broadly related to a number of risky driving measures. Methodological and crash prevention issues are discussed.     

粒子系统算法在建筑火灾可视化研究中的应用

论述了采用粒子系统建立火灾虚拟现实系统火灾现象的可视化表现原理、算法及特殊处理方法 ,为进一步研究火灾虚拟现实系统 ,提供基础理论和技术支持 ,也是培训消防人员技能和公众火灾自救互救、应急逃生能力的科学方法     

The dynamic nature of cognition during wayfinding

Much of our day-to-day wayfinding behaviour takes place in familiar large-scale urban environments, yet there is a dearth of studies examining how wayfinding unfolds on a second-by-second basis in this context. Here we used a retrospective verbal report protocol, eye tracking and a highly accurate virtual reality simulation of a real city (London, UK) to examine this issue. Subjects, who were taxi drivers, were able to produce extremely detailed accounts of what they had been thinking during wayfinding, which were validated by independent eye-tracking data. There was a high degree of consistency in the types of thoughts across subjects, permitting classification into a number of distinct categories. Moreover, it was possible to quantify the number of thoughts in each category, their durations and temporal order. Detailed analysis of the verbal reports provided new insights into the processes and strategies involved, and highlighted a greater range of thoughts than has previously been reported in studies of wayfinding. By analysing the temporal order of thoughts it was possible to identify specific relationships between categories. Some of these relationships were predicted by current cognitive models of wayfinding, others were novel, thus shedding new light on how navigation unfolds in a busy city.