Virtual reality (VR) holds immense promise as a research tool to deliver results that are generalizable to the real world. However, the methodology used in different VR studies varies substantially. While many of these approaches claim to use "immersive VR", the different hardware and software choices lead to issues regarding reliability and validity of psychological VR research. Questions arise about quantifying presence, the optimal level of graphical realism, the problem of being in dual-realities and reproducibility of VR research. We discuss how VR research paradigms could be evaluated and offer a list of practical recommendations to have common guidelines for psychological VR research.

Self-generated movement leads to the attenuation of predicted sensory consequences of the movement. This mechanism ensures that attention is generally not drawn to sensory signals caused by own movement. Such attenuation has been observed across the animal kingdom and in different sensory modalities. In this study we used novel virtual reality (VR) devices to test the hypothesis that the human brain attenuates visual sensation in the area of the visual field where the subject’s hand is currently moving. We conducted three VR experiments where we monitored hand position during movement while the participants performed a visual search task. In the first two experiments we measured response time for salient moving targets and observed that reaction time (RT) is slower for targets that are behind the (invisible) hand. This result provides the first evidence that the visual motion signals generated by the subject’s own hand movement are suppressed. In the third experiment we observed that RT is also slower for colored targets behind the hand. Our findings provide support for the active inference account of sensory attenuation, which posits that attenuation occurs because attention is withdrawn from the sensory consequences of own movement. Furthermore, we demonstrate how modern VR tools could open up new exciting avenues of research for studying the interplay of action and perception.

It is well known that the human brain continuously predicts the sensory consequences of its own body movements, which typically results in sensory attenuation. Yet, the extent and exact mechanisms underlying sensory attenuation are still debated. To explore this issue, we asked participants to decide which of two visual stimuli was of higher contrast in a virtual reality situation where one of the stimuli could appear behind the participants’ invisible moving hand or not. Over two experiments, we measured the effects of such “virtual occlusion” on first-order sensitivity and on metacognitive monitoring. Our findings show that self-generated hand movements reduced the apparent contrast of the stimulus. This result can be explained by the active inference theory. Moreover, sensory attenuation seemed to affect only first-order sensitivity and not (second-order) metacognitive judgments of confidence.

It is well known that the human brain continuously predicts the sensory consequences of its own body movements, which typically results in sensory attenuation. Yet, the extent and exact mechanisms underlying sensory attenuation are still debated. To explore this issue, we asked participants to decide which of two visual stimuli was of higher contrast in a virtual reality situation where one of the stimuli could appear behind the participants' invisible moving hand or not. Over two experiments, we measured the effects of such "virtual occlusion" on first-order sensitivity and on metacognitive monitoring. Our findings show that self-generated hand movements reduced the apparent contrast of the stimulus. This result can be explained by the active inference theory. Moreover, sensory attenuation seemed to affect only first-order sensitivity and not (second-order) metacognitive judgments of confidence.

BackgroundWe present VREX, a free open-source Unity toolbox for virtual reality research in the fields of experimental psychology and neuroscience.ResultsDifferent study protocols about perception, attention, cognition and memory can be constructed using the toolbox. VREX provides a procedural generation of (interconnected) rooms that can be automatically furnished with a click of a button. VREX includes a menu system for creating and storing experiments with different stages. Researchers can combine different rooms and environments to perform end-to-end experiments including different testing situations and data collection. For fine-tuned control VREX also comes with an editor where all the objects in the virtual room can be manually placed and adjusted in the 3D world.ConclusionsVREX simplifies the generation and setup of complicated VR scenes and experiments for researchers. VREX can be downloaded and easily installed from vrex.mozello.comElectronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40359-017-0173-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

There has been growing interest in collaborative approaches such as co-creation and co-design for strategic energy planning and energy policy design. However, existing analyses have conceptualized collaboration in rather vague terms, have focused primarily on the involvement of industrial actors and have been set in Western Europe. In this paper, we assess an inclusive energy transition policy co-design experiment in Ida-Virumaa, a region in Estonia historically dominated by the oil shale industry and with scarce experience of cross-sector collaboration to date. The experiment had a twofold purpose: (1) to establish a network of people interested in renewable energy and energy efficiency in the region, (2) to develop and validate proposals for policies that could accelerate the energy transition. We found that expectation alignment, social learning, resource mobilization and developmental evaluation can be used to create synergy among participants and can lead to innovative policy proposals. However, collaboration increases the time needed for policy development, the existence of alternative venues can undermine the collaborative process, fluid roles can create confusion around implementation and there might not be many resources to build on in old industrial regions. We conclude that it is still relatively easy to co-design energy policy or a strategic energy plan even in a setting that does not enjoy a well-developed collaborative culture but it is much more challenging to co-create a strong network of committed actors with clear roles in the implementation of policies and plans.

BackgroundRecent research has shown promising results for the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics. One popular view claims that these benefits are mediated by the subjective experiences induced by these substances. Based on this, we designed a virtual reality experience, Psyrreal, that mimics the phenomenological components of psychedelic experiences.AimsWe aimed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of Psyrreal and psychedelic VR experiences in treating depressive symptoms as well as explore the effect of Psyrreal on subjective factors which have been suggested to mediate the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics.MethodsIn this open-label feasibility study, thirteen participants with mild-to-moderate depression underwent a 2-day therapeutic intervention implementing Psyrreal. Depressive symptoms were evaluated by the Emotional State Questionnaire (EST-Q2) at the start of the intervention and 2 weeks after. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews after Psyrreal was also conducted as an additional assessment of the method.ResultsA 2-day intervention implementing Psyrreal led to significant decreases in depressive symptoms at the 2-week follow-up (n = 10, p = 0.007, Hedges’ g = 1.046) measured by the Emotional State Questionnaire (EST-Q2). The analysis of semi-structured interviews suggests that Psyrreal could lead to insight and alterations in the sense of self in some people.ConclusionThis work proposes a novel method using virtual reality to augment the treatment of psychological disorders as well as to precisely investigate the mediating subjective factors of the therapeutic effects of psychedelic substances. Our preliminary results suggest that VR experiences combined with psychological support show potential in treating depressive symptoms and further research into similar methods is warranted.

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