Simulated breathing in virtual reality does not affect perceived effort during the physical rehabilitation of people with long COVID.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of simulated breathing in virtual reality (VR) for manipulating the level of perceived effort of people with long COVID during sessions of physical rehabilitation.

Methods: We conducted a within-participants randomized prospective study during a cycling exercise in immersive VR with three counterbalanced conditions of simulated breathing: slower breathing, neutral breathing, and faster breathing compared to theirs. 37 participants with long COVID and deconditioning were included in the study, 36 of which could finish the experiment.

Incidence and mortality of prostate cancer in France from 2010 to 2021, using a real-life database (National Health Data System - SNDS) - the CaPCo Study.

Background And Objective: Prostate cancer (PCa) was the leading incident cancer and 3rd leading cause of cancer death in men in France in 2015 with inter-regional disparities. The objectives were to describe PCa incidence and mortality in France and by region, using real life data from the National Health Data System and to identify the factors associated with all-cause or PCa-specific mortality.

Methods: Men aged ≥ 18years hospitalized and/or on long-term care for PCa (ICD-10 code C61) in France between 2010 and 2021 were included.

To use or not to use viewpoint oscillations when walking in VR ? State of the art and perspectives.

Viewpoint oscillations are periodic changes in the position and/or orientation of the point of view in a virtual environment. They can be implemented in Virtual Reality (VR) walking simulations to make them feel closer to real walking. This is especially useful in simulations where users remain in place because of space or hardware constraints.

Towards electrophysiological measurement of presence in virtual reality through auditory oddball stimuli.

Presence is an important aspect of user experience in virtual reality (VR). It corresponds to the illusion of being physically located in a virtual environment (VE). This feeling is usually measured through questionnaires that disrupt presence, are subjective and do not allow for real-time measurement.

Extensive variation and strain-specificity in dengue virus susceptibility among African Aedes aegypti populations.

African populations of the mosquito Aedes aegypti are usually considered less susceptible to infection by human-pathogenic flaviviruses than globally invasive populations found outside Africa. Although this contrast has been well documented for Zika virus (ZIKV), it is unclear to what extent it is true for dengue virus (DENV), the most prevalent flavivirus of humans. Addressing this question is complicated by substantial genetic diversity among DENV strains, most notably in the form of four genetic types (DENV1 to DENV4), that can lead to genetically specific interactions with mosquito populations.

VR for Vocational and Ecological Rehabilitation of Patients With Cognitive Impairment: A Survey.

Cognitive impairment arises from various brain injuries or diseases, such as traumatic brain injury, stroke, schizophrenia, or cancer-related cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment can be an obstacle for patients to the return-to-work. Research suggests various interventions using technology for cognitive and vocational rehabilitation.

Beyond my Real Body: Characterization, Impacts, Applications and Perspectives of "Dissimilar" Avatars in Virtual Reality.

In virtual reality, the avatar - the user's digital representation - is an important element which can drastically influence the immersive experience. In this paper, we especially focus on the use of "dissimilar" avatars i.e.

I am a Genius! Influence of Virtually Embodying Leonardo da Vinci on Creative Performance.

Virtual reality (VR) provides users with the ability to substitute their physical appearance by embodying virtual characters (avatars) using head-mounted displays and motion-capture technologies. Previous research demonstrated that the sense of embodiment toward an avatar can impact user behavior and cognition. In this paper, we present an experiment designed to investigate whether embodying a well-known creative genius could enhance participants' creative performance.

Leveraging Tendon Vibration to Enhance Pseudo-Haptic Perceptions in VR.

Pseudo-haptic techniques are used to modify haptic perception by appropriately changing visual feedback to body movements. Based on the knowledge that tendon vibration can affect our somatosensory perception, this article proposes a method for leveraging tendon vibration to enhance pseudo-haptics during free arm motion. Three experiments were performed to examine the impact of tendon vibration on the range and resolution of pseudo-haptics.

To Stick or Not to Stick? Studying the Impact of Offset Recovery Techniques During Mid-Air Interactions.

During mid-air interactions, common approaches (such as the god-object method) typically rely on visually constraining the user's avatar to avoid visual interpenetrations with the virtual environment in the absence of kinesthetic feedback. This paper explores two methods which influence how the position mismatch (positional offset) between users' real and virtual hands is recovered when releasing the contact with virtual objects. The first method (sticky) constrains the user's virtual hand until the mismatch is recovered, while the second method (unsticky) employs an adaptive offset recovery method.

Impact of Pharmacist-Provided Education Using New Information Sheets on Activation in Patients Treated with Oral Antineoplastic Drugs (IMPACT-OAD Project).

Background: Oral antineoplastic drugs (OADs) play an increasing role in the treatment of cancer. Patients must have a high degree of understanding and autonomy to manage the numerous adverse effects at home. In Quebec, recommendations have been made for oncology pharmacists to systematically counsel all patients who are starting an OAD.

Inducing Self-Motion Sensations With Haptic Feedback: State-of-The-Art and Perspectives on "Haptic Motion".

While virtual reality applications flourish, there is a growing need for technological solutions to induce compelling self-motion, as an alternative to cumbersome motion platforms. Haptic devices target the sense of touch, yet more and more researchers managed to address the sense of motion by means of specific and localized haptic stimulations. This innovative approach constitutes a specific paradigm that can be called "haptic motion".

When Tangibles Become Deformable: Studying Pseudo-Stiffness Perceptual Thresholds in a VR Grasping Task.

Pseudo-Haptic techniques, or visuo-haptic illusions, leverage user's visual dominance over haptics to alter the users' perception. As they create a discrepancy between virtual and physical interactions, these illusions are limited to a perceptual threshold. Many haptic properties have been studied using pseudo-haptic techniques, such as weight, shape or size.

PalmEx: Adding Palmar Force-Feedback for 3D Manipulation With Haptic Exoskeleton Gloves.

Haptic exoskeleton gloves are a widespread solution for providing force-feedback in Virtual Reality (VR), especially for 3D object manipulations. However, they are still lacking an important feature regarding in-hand haptic sensations: the palmar contact. In this paper, we present PalmEx, a novel approach which incorporates palmar force-feedback into exoskeleton gloves to improve the overall grasping sensations and manual haptic interactions in VR.

Revisiting Walking-in-Place by Introducing Step-Height Control, Elastic Input, and Pseudo-Haptic Feedback.

Walking-in-place (WIP) is a locomotion technique that enables users to "walk infinitely" through vast virtual environments using walking-like gestures within a limited physical space. This article investigates alternative interaction schemes for WIP, addressing successively the control, input, and output of WIP. First, we introduce a novel height-based control to increase advanced speed.

Assisted walking-in-place: Introducing assisted motion to walking-by-cycling in embodied virtual reality.

In this paper, we investigate the use of a motorized bike to support the walk of a self-avatar in virtual reality (VR). While existing walking-in-place (WIP) techniques render compelling walking experiences, they can be judged repetitive and strenuous. Our approach consists in assisting a WIP technique so that the user does not have to actively move in order to reduce effort and fatigue.

1-year mortality in lung cancer in France according to key timepoints of care pathways.

Background: It is unclear whether delays in care affect prognosis of patients with lung cancer. The primary objective of this study was to describe the care pathway of patients diagnosed with lung cancer in a French region. Secondary objectives were to identify markers associated with 1) time from imaging to treatment and 2) with 1-year survival.

Effect of Vibrations on Impression of Walking and Embodiment With First- and Third-Person Avatar.

We investigate how underfoot vibrotactile feedback can be used to increase the impression of walking and embodiment of static users represented by a first- or third-person avatar. We designed a multi-sensory setup involving avatar displayed on an HMD, and a set of vibrotactile effects displayed at every footstep. In a first study (N = 44), we compared the impression of walking in 3 vibrotactile conditions : 1) with a "constant" vibrotactile rendering reproducing simple contact information, 2) with a more sophisticated "phase-based" vibrotactile rendering the successive contacts of a walking cycle and 3) without vibrotactile feedback.

Multi-sensory display of self-avatar's physiological state: virtual breathing and heart beating can increase sensation of effort in VR.

In this paper we explore the multi-sensory display of self-avatars' physiological state in Virtual Reality (VR), as a means to enhance the connection between the users and their avatar. Our approach consists in designing and combining a coherent set of visual, auditory and haptic cues to represent the avatar's cardiac and respiratory activity. These sensory cues are modulated depending on the avatar's simulated physical exertion.

Toward an Adapted Neurofeedback for Post-stroke Motor Rehabilitation: State of the Art and Perspectives.

Stroke is a severe health issue, and motor recovery after stroke remains an important challenge in the rehabilitation field. Neurofeedback (NFB), as part of a brain-computer interface, is a technique for modulating brain activity using on-line feedback that has proved to be useful in motor rehabilitation for the chronic stroke population in addition to traditional therapies. Nevertheless, its use and applications in the field still leave unresolved questions.

Influence of User Posture and Virtual Exercise on Impression of Locomotion During VR Observation.

A seated user watching his avatar walking in Virtual Reality (VR) may have an impression of walking. In this paper, we show that such an impression can be extended to other postures and other locomotion exercises. We present two user studies in which participants wore a VR headset and observed a first-person avatar performing virtual exercises.