Immersive Virtual Environment Laboratory (IVE Lab)

Embodied immersion in virtual reality

The aim of this project is to investigate and develop the method of creating correspondence between physical/performed actions and the visual virtual action presented inside the virtual environment. The interest is to have the best physical-virtual correspondence possible and moreover, to observe the effect that an inaccurate visual feed-back will have on the perception of immersion.

Researchers: Christian Van Brussel, Martin Edwards, Benoit Macq.

Spatial cognition

Research in the psy-naps and the numerical cognition groups work together to investigate how modified interactions in the virtual environment influence spatial cognition processes. Virtual reality provides an excellent experimental method for these investigations as we can manipulate the interaction between action capability, body representation and the environment. The investigations assess how these manipulations influence perception of distances and magnitudes, both between a virtual object and the virtual self, and between different virtual objects.

Researchers: Martin Edwards, Mauro Pesenti, Stéphane Grade, Christian Van Brussel, Valerie Dormal.

Anxiety disorders and phobias

The research centre in psychological health and development (CSDP) has an ongoing research project that investigates the psychology of anxiety disorders. Within this project, the psychology of phobias is investigated and in a recent project, the fear of flying (aerophobia), where people are afraid and unable to travel in planes is being considered. The use of virtual reality provides a useful method for investigating phobias within a safe environment, and furthermore, allows for the use of other laboratory measures such as EEG that would normally be difficult to use in real environments where the phobic stimuli is present (for example, in an aeroplane). As well as developing the understanding of phobia cognition, the group is also interested in using virtual reality for the treatment of phobias and anxiety disorders.

Researchers: Pierre Philippot and his group.

Social interactions in virtual reality

Information for this project will be posted soon.

Researchers: Vincent Yzerbyt and his research group.

Brain-computer interface and virtual reality

The aim of this project is to investigate the brain activity associated with executing actions, and to use the brain activity to operate virtual actions made by a virtual avatar in virtual reality. The project will work with participants that have impaired limb actions, either through stroke or through limb amputation, and aim to harness and develop brain action execution simulations as a means of treating psychological deficits that result from impaired body representations.

Researchers: Emanuele Pasqualotto and Martin Edwards.