A pilot study investigating human behaviour towards DAVE (Dog Assisted Virtual Environment) and interpretation of non-reactive and aggressive behaviours during a virtual reality exploration task

Abstract

Dog aggression is a public health concern because dog bites often lead to physical and psychological trauma in humans. It is also a welfare concern for dogs. To prevent aggressive behaviours, it is important to understand human behaviour towards dogs and our ability to interpret signs of dog aggression. This poses ethical challenges for humans and dogs. The aim of this study was to introduce, describe and pilot test a virtual reality dog model (DAVE (Dog Assisted Virtual Environment)). The Labrador model has two different modes displaying aggressive and non-reactive non-aggressive behaviours. The aggressive behaviours displayed are based on the current understanding of canine ethology and expert feedback. The objective of the study was to test the recognition of dog behaviour and associated human approach and avoidance behaviour. Sixteen university students were recruited via an online survey to participate in a practical study, and randomly allocated to two experimental conditions, an aggressive followed by a non-reactive virtual reality model (group AN) or vice versa (group NA). Participants were instructed to ‘explore the area’ in each condition, followed by a survey. A Wilcoxon and Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the closest distance to the dog within and between groups respectively. Participants moved overall significantly closer to the non-reactive dog compared to the aggressive dog (p≤0.001; r = 0.8). Descriptions of the aggressive dog given by participants often used motivational or emotional terms. There was little evidence of simulator sickness and presence scores were high indicating sufficient immersion in the virtual environment. Participants appeared to perceive the dog as realistic and behaved and interacted with the dog model in a manner that might be expected during an interaction with a live dog. This study also highlights the promising results for the potential future use of virtual reality in behavioural research (i.e., human-dog interactions), education (i.e. safety around dogs) and psychological treatment (e.g. dog phobia treatment).

Ludic and Narrative Immersion in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy to Animal Phobias: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The existence of gradual challenges, where each task is presented only when the user feels comfortable with the level of challenge offered in the previous task, promotes feelings of competence and contributes to a minimum ludic immersion potential. All studies classified as having low ludic immersion potential had some form of difficulty variation, either adaptively based on individual anxiety levels [81] or via predefined tasks and environments with different difficulty levels [60,[66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80]82].…”

“…The possibility of moving in the VRE with 6DOF alone is generally sufficient to provide a moderate sense of spatial immersion. A majority of the studies allowed a navigation with 6DOF, encompassing three degrees of rotation and three degrees of translation [68][69][70][71]73,74,[76][77][78][79][80]83,84,87].…”

“…The 15 studies classified as having low potential for temporal immersion present animals with minimally dynamic movements and behaviors that can generate some tension or anxiety related to anticipating the animal's movements [65,[68][69][70][71][72][73][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83].…”

“…Examples of studies with animals exhibiting dynamic behavior include a study where the spider moves when the user touches it [70] and where the dog wakes up and moves when the user approaches at a certain distance [72]. In the study conducted by Oxley et al [78], a dog can exhibit up to 10 different aggressive behaviors, which vary based on the participant's distance from the dog and the speed of approach In the study by Taffou et al [83], addressing cynophobia, besides virtual animals exhibiting dynamic behavior in response to the user's proximity, a strategy was employed to create a sense of anticipation in the user. The user's task is to follow a frog, which creates a desire to know where the frog is leading and what will happen next, similar to the moment when Alice follows the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.…”

Virtual Reality as a Tool in the Treatment of Claustrophobia - A Review

“…Regarding older adults, all the articles reviewed focused on people with war trauma who use VR to improve their condition. Acrophobia 13 [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47], [48], [3 3], [34] Agoraphobia 8 [49], [50], [51], [52], [38], [53], [54], [5 5] Arachnophobia 7 [56], [57], [58], [59], [60], [61], [62] Claustrophobia 14 [63], [64], [65], [66], [67], [6 8], [69], [70], [71], [72], [73], [74], [75], [76] Fear of flying 10…”