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Authors
Abstract(s)
A ansiedade social é uma patologia debilitante que prejudica e diminui a qualidade de vida. O tratamento existe e ´e composto por várias terapias realizadas em simultâneo, sendo uma delas a terapia de exposição¸. Com a evolução tecnológica, surgiu a possibilidade de aplicar a Realidade Virtual `a terapia de exposição¸ (Terapia de Exposição¸ baseada em Realidade Virtual). Neste trabalho desenvolvemos uma aplicação, designada por VirtualSpectators, que tem como objectivo suportar simulações que possam ser usadas na terapia de exposição¸ ao para o tratamento da ansiedade social e, em particular do medo de falar em público A aplicação envolve: i) uma simulação que se desenrola num cenário virtual de um auditório populado por humanos virtuais animados com comportamentos controláveis dinamicamente e ii) uma interface através da qual é efectuado o controlo destes comportamentos e de um conjunto de eventos que podem ser desencadeados na simulação. A interface que desenvolvemos pretende ser simples e intuitiva, fornecendo ao terapeuta um leque de opções de configuração do auditório e de eventos na simulação. A simulação tenta representar o mais realisticamente possível uma audiência que cause no paciente sensação de imersão recorrendo a humanos virtuais realistas e a animações produzidas com dados de motion capture. Neste tipo de aplicações é preciso sempre encontrar o equilíbrio entre o realismo do ambiente 3D e a necessidade de que este seja gerado em tempo real. A solução adoptada é de baixo custo de desenvolvimento, de instalação e de manutenção, e este facto contribuirá certamente para a disseminar e facilitar o seu uso. Através da avaliação por peritos que foi realizada concluímos que atingimos os objetivos estipulados apresentando uma aplicação com um interface simples e um nível de realismo aceitável. Também obtivemos diversas sugestões em relação a melhoramentos e adição de novas funcionalidades que poderão ser implementadas no futuro.
Social anxiety is a debilitating pathology that harms and diminishes our quality of life. The treatment for this pathology is composed by several therapies which are applied simultaneously. One of this therapies is called exposure therapy and consists in exposing the patient to the feared context. Virtual reality technology has been used in the last decades to treat phobias and anxiety disorders, and it has proven very effective. The main objective of the application we developed, called VirtualSpectators, is to support simulations that can be used in exposure-based therapy to treat social anxiety, and especially fear of speaking in public. This application involves: i) a simulation taking place in a virtual scenario with an auditorium inhabited by virtual humans with dynamically controlled behaviours and ii) an interface to control these behaviours as well as a set of events in the simulation. The interface is intended to be simple and intuitive, giving the therapist a large set of configurations of the auditorium and simulation events. The simulation attempts to recreate the realism of an audience which induces the sense of immersion on the patient using virtual humans and motion capture animations. In this kind of application it is necessary to find a balance between the realism of the elements in the 3D environment and its generation in real time. The chosen solution has a low cost in development, installation and maintenance, and we consider that a fact which contributes to facilitate and disseminate its use. We performed an evaluation test with experts (therapists) and the feedback obtained lead to the conclusion that we attained the stipulated objectives by presenting an easy to use application with an acceptable level of realism. We also obtained some suggestions for improvements and new functionalities to improve future iterations of the application.
Social anxiety is a debilitating pathology that harms and diminishes our quality of life. The treatment for this pathology is composed by several therapies which are applied simultaneously. One of this therapies is called exposure therapy and consists in exposing the patient to the feared context. Virtual reality technology has been used in the last decades to treat phobias and anxiety disorders, and it has proven very effective. The main objective of the application we developed, called VirtualSpectators, is to support simulations that can be used in exposure-based therapy to treat social anxiety, and especially fear of speaking in public. This application involves: i) a simulation taking place in a virtual scenario with an auditorium inhabited by virtual humans with dynamically controlled behaviours and ii) an interface to control these behaviours as well as a set of events in the simulation. The interface is intended to be simple and intuitive, giving the therapist a large set of configurations of the auditorium and simulation events. The simulation attempts to recreate the realism of an audience which induces the sense of immersion on the patient using virtual humans and motion capture animations. In this kind of application it is necessary to find a balance between the realism of the elements in the 3D environment and its generation in real time. The chosen solution has a low cost in development, installation and maintenance, and we consider that a fact which contributes to facilitate and disseminate its use. We performed an evaluation test with experts (therapists) and the feedback obtained lead to the conclusion that we attained the stipulated objectives by presenting an easy to use application with an acceptable level of realism. We also obtained some suggestions for improvements and new functionalities to improve future iterations of the application.
Description
Trabalho de projecto de mestrado em Engenharia Informática (Engenharia de Software), apresentado à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2012
Keywords
Ansiedade social Realidade virtual Humanos virtuais Terapia de exposição baseada em realidade virtual Medo de falar em público Trabalhos de projecto de mestrado - 2012