The contribution of real-time mirror reflections of motor actions on virtual body ownership in an immersive virtual environment

This paper reports an experiment that investigated people"s body ownership of an avatar that was observed in a virtual mirror. Twenty subjects were recruited in a within-groups study where 10 first experienced a virtual character that synchronously reflected their upper-body movements as seen in a virtual mirror, and then an asynchronous condition where the mirror avatar displayed prerecorded actions, unrelated to those of the participant. The other 10 subjects experienced the conditions in the opposite order. In both conditions the participant could carry out actions that led to elevation above ground level, as seen from their first person perspective and correspondingly in the mirror. A rotating virtual fan eventually descended to 2m above the ground. The hypothesis was that synchronous mirror reflection would result in higher subjective sense of ownership. A questionnaire analysis showed that the body ownership illusion was significantly greater for thesynchronous than asynchronous condition. Additionally participants in the synchronous condition avoided collision with the descending fan significantly more often than those in the asynchronous condition. The results of this experiment are put into context within similar experiments on multisensory correlation and body ownership within cognitive neuroscience

The uncanny valley of haptics

During teleoperation and virtual reality experiences, enhanced haptic feedback incongruent with other sensory cues can reduce subjective realism, producing an uncanny valley of haptics

Plantas arom?ticas que vivifican mi ser, la yerbabuena, limoncillo, cidr?n, or?gano y manzanilla

63 P?ginasRecurso Electr?nicoLa sociedad actual frecuentemente se desvincula de los conocimientos te?rico-pr?cticos referentes al empleo de las plantas arom?ticas, olvidando los beneficios en los ?mbitos educativos, familiar y social; como objetivo central se definen estrategias pedag?gicas que favorezcan el reconocimiento y comprensi?n del beneficio con la utilizaci?n de cinco plantas arom?ticas: yerba buena, limoncillo, cidr?n, or?gano y manzanilla, en los estudiantes del CER Socorro de Sabanas del Municipio de Santa Fe de Antioquia y de la I.E. Atanasio Girardot del Municipio de Bello; con Metodolog?a de Investigaci?n Acci?n (IA) considerando los intereses del colectivo frente a la utilizaci?n y beneficios de las plantas arom?ticas, sus efectos curativos, y su empleo en emplastos, bebidas, ba?os, laxantes, entre otros usos. Se cumple con el perfil de la Licenciatura en Educaci?n B?sica establecido por la Universidad del Tolima; se aprecian hallazgos referidos a un grado de concientizaci?n respecto al empleo y uso de las plantas arom?ticas. Result? gratificante para la poblaci?n beneficiaria la adquisici?n de las nociones impartidas, la distribuci?n de macetas y el disfrute de tisanas en cada encuentro para la recolecci?n de informaci?n y socializaci?n final de los resultados. Es gratificante, como evidencia del trabajo y para afianzar los saberes tradicionales, enriquecidos con el enfoque te?rico-pr?ctico de la propuesta, la elaboraci?n y distribuci?n del M?dulo Sembramos la salud. Amerita resaltar la recuperaci?n del patrimonio generado a trav?s de los conversatorios con la comunidad adulta y los educadores de ambas instituciones educativas vinculadas.ABSTRACT. Today's society often split with the theoretical and practical knowledge regarding the use of herbs , forgetting the benefits in education , family and social spheres; like the central objective of teaching strategies that encourage the recognition and understanding of the benefit with the use of five aromatic plants: good grass, lemongrass, Cidr?n , oregano and chamomile in CER students Relief Sheets Municipality of Santa Fe de Antioquia and EI Atanasio Girardot Municipality of Bello ; Research Methodology in Action ( IA ) considering the interests of the collective over the use and benefits of herbs , their healing effects , and their use in plasters, drinks, bathrooms, laxatives, among other uses. It complies with the profile of the Bachelor of Primary Education established by the University of Tolima; findings related to a degree of awareness regarding the employment and use of aromatic plants are appreciated. Gratifying for the acquisition target population received notions, the distribution of pots and enjoys teas at each meeting for the collection of information and socialization of end results. It is gratifying, as evidence of the work and to strengthen traditional knowledge, enriched with theoretical and practical approach of the proposal, development and distribution of sow health module. Amerita highlight the recovery of assets generated through community conversations with adult educators and educational institutions both linked.INTRODUCCI?N 15 1. ANTECEDENTES DEL PROBLEMA 16 1.1. T?TULO DEL TRABAJO 16 2. JUSTIFICACI?N 19 3. FORMULACION DEL PROBLEMA 20 3.1 PREGUNTA MOVILIZADORA 20 3.2 PROBLEMA 20 4. OBJETIVOS 22 4.1 OBJETIVO GENERAL 22 4.2 OBJETIVOS ESPEC?FICOS 22 5. MARCO GENERAL 23 5.2 MARCO CONTEXTUAL 24 5.2.1 Contexto comunitario 24 5.3 COMPONENTE PEDAG?GICO 27 5.3.1 Categor?as generales cultura 27 5.4 COMPONENTE ESPEC?FICO DE ESTUDIO 29 5.4.1 Categor?as espec?ficas 29 5.4.2 Plantas arom?ticas 29 5.4.3 Formas de uso 31 5.4.4 Beneficios 32 5.5 CONSOLIDADO DE LAS PLANTAS OBJETO DE ESTUDIO 32 6. DISE?O METODOL?GICO DEL PROCESO INVESTIGATIVO 40 6.1 POBLACI?N BENEFICIARIA 40 6.2 METODOLOG?A DE TRABAJO 41 6.3 UNIVERSO Y MUESTRA 41 6.4 TIPO DE ESTUDIO 41 6.5 ?REA DE ESTUDIO 42 6.6 PROCEDIMIENTOS DEL DISE?O METODOL?GICO 43 6.7 ESTRATEGIAS DE TRABAJO 43 6.8 INSTRUMENTOS PARA LA RECOLECCI?N DE LA INFORMACI?N 44 7. AN?LISIS DE LA INFORMACI?N 45 7.1 ACTIVIDADES POR DESARROLLAR 45 7.1.1 Etapa inicial 45 7.1.2 Etapa de ejecuci?n 46 7.1.3 Etapa de finalizaci?n 46 8. CRONOGRAMA 47 9. PRESUPUESTO GLOBAL DE LA PROPUESTA 50 10. RECURSOS 53 11. CONCLUSIONES 54 RECOMENDACIONES 55 REFERENCIAS 5

Biodegradable nanofibrous scaffolds as smart delivery vehicles for amino acids

The encapsulation of amino acids (AAs) and their correct preservation before they are ingested are challenging tasks. Nonpolar (l-alanine and l-phenylalanine), polar (l-cysteine hydrochloride and l-asparagine), and charged (l-lysine hydrochloride and l-aspartic acid) AAs were loaded into biodegradable and nontoxic poly(tetramethylene succinate) (PE44) nanofibers (NFs) with electrospinning. The loading of AAs considerably affected the morphology, topography, thermal properties, and wettability of the PE44 NFs. Furthermore, although the AAs crystallized in a phase separated from the polymeric matrix, the distribution of such crystals changed into PE44 NFs and depended on their chemical nature. Release assays in enzyme-free solutions provided evidence that very significant amounts of AAs were retained in the NFs after 7 days, whereas assays in the lipase-containing solution (because lipase performs essential roles in the digestion) showed almost complete release after a few hours. Lipase preferentially attacked the PE44 regions responsible for the retention of AAs in the biphasic system and favored the almost immediate release of the biomolecules. The results displayed in this study, combined with the biocompatibility, biodegradability, and potential use of the PE44 NFs as edible nonnutritional elements, suggest that the loaded PE44–AA NFs could be used to supply essential and conditional AAs.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The neurological traces of look-alike avatars

We designed an observational study where participants (n = 17) were exposed to pictures and look-alike avatars pictures of themselves, a familiar friend or an unfamiliar person. By measuring participants' brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG), we found face-recognition event related potentials (ERPs) in the visual cortex, around 200-250 ms, to be prominent for the different familiarity levels. A less positive component was found for self-recognized pictures (P200) than pictures of others, showing similar effects in both real faces and look-alike avatars. A rapid adaptation in the same component was found when comparing the neural processing of avatar faces vs. real faces, as if avatars in general were assimilated as real face representations over time. ERP results also showed that in the case of the self-avatar, the P200 component correlated with more complex conscious encodings of self-representation, i.e., the difference in voltage in the P200 between the self-avatar and the self-picture was reduced in participants that felt the avatar looked like them. This study is put into context within the literature of self-recognition and face recognition in the visual cortex. Additionally, the implications of these results on look-alike avatars are discussed both for future virtual reality (VR) and neuroscience studies

Are chimpanzees really so poor at understanding imperative pointing? Some new data and an alternative view of canine and ape social cognition

There is considerable interest in comparative research on different species’ abilities to respond to human communicative cues such as gaze and pointing. It has been reported that some canines perform significantly better than monkeys and apes on tasks requiring the comprehension of either declarative or imperative pointing and these differences have been attributed to domestication in dogs. Here we tested a sample of chimpanzees on a task requiring comprehension of an imperative request and show that, though there are considerable individual differences, the performance by the apes rival those reported in pet dogs. We suggest that small differences in methodology can have a pronounced influence on performance on these types of tasks. We further suggest that basic differences in subject sampling, subject recruitment and rearing experiences have resulted in a skewed representation of canine abilities compared to those of monkeys and apes

Validación de la versión española del inventario de asertividad Gambrill y Richey en población con diagnóstico de esquizofrenia

Objetivo: Validar la versión española del Cuestionario de Asertividad de Gambrill y Richey en personas con esquizofrenia. Método: La muestra está compuesta por 125 personas con esquizofrenia en tratamiento en uno de los centros de rehabilitación psicosocial que participan en el estudio. Los instrumentos utilizados para valorar la validez discriminante y convergente son:el cuestionario de habilidades de comunicación(CSQ); la Escala de Funcionamiento Social(EFS); el Perfil de Habilidades de la Vida Cotidiana(LSP);la Escala de Impresión Clínica Global (ICG) y la Escala de Funcionamiento Global (GAF). Resultados: La consistencia interna del instrumento muestra un alfa de Cronbach de .935 en la escala total. Los coeficientes de correlación intraclase para valorar la consistencia temporal del instrumento oscilan entre .21 y .78. El instrumento muestra validez convergente con la escala CSQ y con las subescalas de comunicación y aislamiento social (p < .001-.05). Con el resto de subescalas de funcionamiento social muestra validez divergente. Con la CGI muestra validez divergente con la probabilidad de respuesta, sin embargo encontramos que hay validez convergente entre las subescalas de CGI y la subescala de grado de malestar del instrumento (p < .012-.042). Conclusiones: El instrumento muestra unas buenas características psicométricas y parece útil para la valoración de las habilidades sociales en una muestra de personas con esquizofrenia

Measuring the learning effectiveness of serious gaming for training of complex manufacturing tasks

© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. Background. Training new workers on complex manufacturing tasks has long been a challenge for high value manufacturing companies. Equipment downtime, costly instructors, and dangerous working environments are some of the impediments of hands-on training. To overcome these hurdles, a traditional manufacturing paper manual was transformed into a serious game through capturing and embedding expert knowledge. Aim. This article investigates the learning effectiveness of learning via a serious game (Training Game) compared with the tradition learning method (Paper Manual) through a user study. Method. Twenty employees took part in a randomised controlled trial. They were assigned to one of two conditions: Training Game (experimental condition), or Paper Manual (control condition). Participants spent a maximum of 30 minutes to study manufacturing instructions before completing two tests to evaluate the amount of learning achieved. Results. The results show that the Training Game was more effective for learning procedu ral knowledge than the Paper Manual. Regarding factual knowledge, no significant difference was identified between the two conditions. In terms of motivation, increased engagement levels were reported in the Training Game condition. Conclusions. This user study shows evidence that the serious TG being evaluated is an effective method for training procedural knowledge in a complex manufacturing scenario