Real brains in virtual worlds: Validating a novel oddball paradigm in virtual reality

Abstract

NOVEL ODDBALL PARADIGM IN VIRTUAL REALITY 1 Electroencephalography (EEG) research is typically conducted in controlled laboratory settings. This limits the generalizability to real-world situations. Virtual reality (VR) sits as a transitional tool that provides tight experimental control with more realistic stimuli. To test the validity of using VR for eventrelated potential (ERP) research, we used a well-established paradigm, the oddball task. Standard stimuli were presented 80% of the time and target stimuli which were responded to, presented 20% of the time.For our first study we compared traditional to VR stimulus presentation using standard visual and auditory oddball tasks. We found that ERPs collected using VR head mounted displays and typical monitors were comparable on measures of latency, amplitude, and spectral composition. In a second study we implemented a novel depth-based oddball task. We demonstrated that typical oddball ERPs elicited by presentation of near and far stimuli. Interestingly, we observed significant differences in early ERPs components between near and far stimuli, even after controlling for the effects of the oddball task.Current results suggest that VR can serve as a valid means of stimulus presentation in novel or otherwise inaccessible environments for EEG experimentation. We demonstrated the capability of the depth-based oddball to reliably elicit P3 responses, and find an interaction between the depth at which objects are presented and early ERP response. Further research is warranted to better explain this relationship of depth on the ERP components.

The Effect of Spatial Reference on Visual Attention and Workload during Viewpoint Guidance in Augmented Reality

“…It is widely used for analyzing electroencephalogram (EEG) to control AR-based interfaces [27,42,50] or to estimate the brain state of the user while wearing VR or AR googles [61]. Other work used a visual oddball task in a VR setting to test the reliability of the P3b obtained in the virtual ambient [51] or to study the validity of using VR for ERP research [32]. Spanlang et al [48] used a visual oddball paradigm in a VR setup where the participants wore an HMD and were equipped with sensors on their hands to interact with the stimuli, displayed as avatars.…”

Touch dominates vision in a shape processing task – a virtual-reality study.

“…In this context, Wiesing et al [27] have measured stimuli duration and onset measurements in Unreal Engine with a dedicated response pad and reported increased average latency, compared to dedicated cognitive experiment software such as Psychopy and Psychtoolbox. While Unreal Engine as a serious 3D engine has been used for VR based behavioral experiments [28], arXiv:2306.02637v1 [cs.HC] 5 Jun 2023 possibly due to the relative ease of implementation in comparison to the former, Unity Engine has been seeing increased applications in cognitive experiments [17], [29]- [34]. While they are suited for similar purposes, due to differences in implementation detail Unity and Unreal Engine often exhibit different behaviors even when the same effect is intended, especially in frame and I/O related latency performances [35].…”