Researchers from the University of Barcelona have created a way to transfer actual human physiological telemetry from an active participant to an on-screen avatar.
Using a variety of sensors and wireless devices, parameters such as heart rate, respiration and “the galvanic (electric) skin response” are transferred immediately to a virtual character, which, in the case of the researcher’s demo, is sitting in a virtual waiting room (pictured).
It was described further that, “The heart rate is reflected in the movement of the character's feet; respiration in the rising of their chest (exaggerated movements so that it can be noticed); and the galvanic skin response in the more or less reddish colour of the face.”
Christoph Groenegress, co-author of the research explained, “The ultimate aim is to develop a method which allows humans to unconsciously relate with some parts of the virtual environment more intensely than with others, and that they are encouraged only by their own physiological responses to the virtual reality shown.”
It’s hoped that such immersion could be a useful tool for telling stories in videogames, or to induce deeper immersion for users utilizing interactive rehabilitation.
Groenegress added, “We maintain that the linking of subjective corporal states to a virtual reality can improve the sensation of realism that a person has of this reality and, eventually, create a stronger link between humans and this virtual reality”
The research was published in the June 2010 issue of The Visual Computer.
