Research
BIO-ENGINEERING APPLICATION
UCSIM has designed and developed a virtual reality experience for a UC Forward course, BIOL2030: Inquiry to Innovation: Sensing in Animals and Robots – Biology Meets Engineering, delivered via a fully immersive virtual reality (VR) system. This project focuses on increasing diversity in STEM and increasing student and teacher experience in the fields of biology and engineering. The project consists of: (a) an integrated three-week summer program; (b) a college credit course and workshops, and; (c) paid summer internships upon graduation.
Faculty member George Richardson in the Substance Abuse Counseling department of Human Services, CECH requested development of a prototype “Virtual Counselor” Cognitive Support System application that will run on a desktop or mobile device. The Virtual Counselor provides CBT-based therapy that can be used by both users in personal settings and in professional settings with counselors, and it also has commercialization potential.
Faculty member George Richardson in the Substance Abuse Counseling department of Human Services, CECH requested development of a prototype “Virtual Counselor” Cognitive Support System application that will run on a desktop or mobile device. The Virtual Counselor provides CBT-based therapy that can be used by both users in personal settings and in professional settings with counselors, and it also has commercialization potential.
SPEED ACCOMMODATION
The UCSIM collaborated with the UC Athletics Department to develop a prototype research software to measure distance perception in student athletes and collect preliminary data in preparation to solicit funding for further research and development. The goal of the research project was to determine baseline distance perception performance, develop and test training methodologies to assess distance perception performance, develop and test training methodologies to assess distance perception performance, and ultimately improve athletic performance outcomes.
CINCINNATI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
The UCSIM developed a Unity project software application that provides a set of virtual reality soccer, basketball, and volleyball scenarios and fully integrates with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Team VR Lab, Cortex system, and custom HMD system. The VR application was designed such that test subjects will be guided to land on physical force plates in the VR lab to enable data collection on the timing and force of the test subject’s jump, as well as the dynamics of their body motion using the Cortext system to capture and record positional data.
KIDS IN VR
This research project examines the use of VR with young children using educational age-appropriate STEM media content in a non-formal learning environment. A special game based on the show called Dino Dana, an educational television program about prehistoric creatures targeted to children ages 4-7 years, was created in collaboration with the show’s producers, Sinking Ship.
Faculty member George Richardson in the Substance Abuse Counseling department of Human Services, CECH requested development of a prototype “Virtual Counselor” Cognitive Support System application that will run on a desktop or mobile device. The Virtual Counselor provides CBT-based therapy that can be used by both users in personal settings and in professional settings with counselors, and it also has commercialization potential.
Faculty member George Richardson in the Substance Abuse Counseling department of Human Services, CECH requested development of a prototype “Virtual Counselor” Cognitive Support System application that will run on a desktop or mobile device. The Virtual Counselor provides CBT-based therapy that can be used by both users in personal settings and in professional settings with counselors, and it also has commercialization potential.
GAME THEORY
Faculty members in the Lindner College of Business, Dept. of Operations & Business Analytics requested development of a virtual reality application to allow study participants to perform game theory tasks (Towers of Hanoi and Prisoner’s Dilemma with Punishment Rounds) as part of their ongoing research about economic decision-making. The purpose of this phase of the study is to measure the effects of fully immersive virtual reality on decision-making.
To succeed as clinicians,students must have a solid foundation of working with individuals prior to becoming members ofinterprofessional teams when they join the workforce.1–3 Further, graduates from these professional schools must be proficient in interviewing skills as they transition into their professional roles. This project will provide students with a virtual interactive forum to practice these skills in a safe setting, without thepotential of causing harm to client, and furthermore,allows students to practice until they are proficient.