Until now, Virtual Reality has become part of countless scientific works, always as a tool used to induce sense of presence and embodiment in reproduced real-world experiences for the investigation of human behaviour. However, so far, many few studies have analyzed the Virtual Reality itself and its effects on the human cognition. Since learning is defined as the last step in a long series of cognitive processes, from perception to memorization, it was thought to start exploring, through this project, the effects that Virtual Reality has on learning. In particular, the working hypothesis is that, coherently with the multisensoriality and the higher emotional engagement induced by the Virtual Reality, the subject should learn more and easier compared to traditional modalities, like reading or watching an educational video. Furthermore, the project aims to measure quantitatively these positive effects on learning taking advantages of the showing objectivity, sensitivity and unobtrusiveness of neurophysiological signals. For this reason, the brain activity of subjects during both a traditional and a virtual learning experience will be acquired by means of electroencephalography (EEG). The expected outcomes are therefore doubly relevant. The first phase will frame different immersive environments in the cognitive neuroscience context. The second phase will employ a machine learning approach to provide a Learning Index based on the EEG features more informative of the actual learning of the subjects themselves. The impact of the project is considerable, both for basic and for educational and clinical research. In fact, it would provide insights into the using of Virtual Reality technology in a conscious manner of which the effects on cognitive processes may be, and finally it would pave the way for the use of these tools in the educational and clinical field.
Although the birth of the word Virtual Reality must be sought at the beginning of the 60's, it is only in these days that its diffusion in several contexts sharply increases. This is due essentially to the commercialization of some Virtual Reality hardware, like the 3D headsets Oculus's Rift (www.oculus.com/rift/), and software, like Unity (www.unity3d.com), which have brought the VR to your fingertips. Despite the diffusion, so far there are very few studies that have aimed to analyze the effects of Virtual Reality on cognition, and even less those analyzing the effects on learning using neurophysiological signals. For these reasons, this project can be seen as a starting point and, in addition to the objectives here proposed, several open issues could be tackled in wider studies. For example, for a deeper comprehension of the learning itself, the effects of Virtual Reality on different cognitive components, like the attention or the fatigue, should be investigated taking advantages of the showing objectivity, sensitivity and unobtrusiveness of neurophysiological measurements. For the first time the Virtual Reality changes from being considered a useful instrument to assess or enhance the cognitive capacity of subjects, to be subject of investigation, from the perception to the memorization point of view. Also, thanks to the practicality of the modern system of EEG acquisition, the effect on the continued use of this technology could be analysed placing on different sessions of acquisition over time.
Impact and future applications
An immediate impact of the project outcomes could be the influence on the choice that determines the adoption of the most innovative technologies in educational environment, nowadays a highly topical subjects in several countries. Moreover, the application in clinical areas allows investigating if some pathologies related to the learning environment can be solved by conveying the information in a different way than the standard ones. In fact, a wider analysis of these technologies aimed at those with learning disorders, because could help to understand if there is a preferential way to teach to subjects affected by Autism spectrum disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The feasibility of using Virtual Reality with both ADHD and autistic subjects has been proved in some studies (Areces et al. 2018, Amaral et al. 2017). Finally, it is well known that age also influences learning. In this case the effects of Virtual Reality on the elder people could show whether it can be used as a resource to keep the brain young (brain training) or whether their use with age can be somehow harmful.
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