VirtualElo!
Overview
Virtual Elo is short for Virtual Elocution! In this project we investigate the use of Virtual Reality in therapy against public speaking anxiety. Traditional exercises for training coping mechanisms include the exposure to triggering situations, e.g., talking to people in the public, giving a speech, making phone calls etc. While there are situations that can be simulated easily in the real world there also are situations that cannot because it would be costly, e.g., creating a real audience to simulate a “giving a speech” situation. This is where VRET holds many advantages. It is possible to simulate even costly situations and to have them reusable for many persons concerned. Also, VRET can be a good preparation for people whose fear is very powerful. They can exercise in front of a virtual audience until they are ready to face a real one.
In this project we developed a first prototype presenting a virtual audience. The prototype allows to adjust the atmosphere of the audience. The atmosphere in the room and the behavior of the audience plays a crucial role in VRET because for people with public speaking anxiety certain behaviors or noises can act as a trigger for their fear. For an effective exercise it is therefore necessary to create a realistic audience. The project is part of the Virtual Audience project of the HCI chair that investigates the implementation and performance of a Virtual Audience perception model for Virtual Reality (VR).
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A project of the Embodiment Lab
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VirtualElo is a project of the HCI Embodiment Lab. The Embodiment Lab provides a platform connecting industry with academia to initiate common research and application projects. Non-academic partners team-up with student groups to try-out new ideas for potential future products and applications. The EmbodimentLab is funded by the Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst (StMWK) and coordinated by the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt). Click on the logo for more information about our Embodiment Lab! |
Funding and Collaboration
Team
