Biblio

The availability of commercial fully immersive virtual reality systems allows the proposal and development of new applications that offer novel ways to visualize and interact with multidimensional neuroimaging data. We propose a system for the visualization and interaction with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans in a fully immersive learning environment in virtual reality. The system extracts the different slices from a DICOM file and presents the slices in a 3D environment where the user can display and rotate the MRI scan, and select the clipping plane in all the possible orientations. The 3D environment includes two parts: 1) a cube that displays the MRI scan in 3D and 2) three panels that include the axial, sagittal, and coronal views, where it is possible to directly access a desired slice. In addition, the environment includes a representation of the brain where it is possible to access and browse directly through the slices with the controller. This application can be used both for educational purposes as an immersive learning tool, and by neuroscience researchers as a more convenient way to browse through an MRI scan to better analyze 3D data.

We present data from detailed observations of a “controlled in-the-wild” study of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) system. During 10 days of demonstration at seven nonspecialized public events, 1563 people learned about the system in various social configurations. Observations of audience behavior revealed recurring behavioral patterns. From these observations a framework of interaction with BCI systems was deduced. It describes the phases of passing by an installation, viewing and reacting, passive and active interaction, group interactions, and follow-up actions. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with the people who interacted with the system. The interviews revealed the barriers and several directions for further research on BCIs. Our findings can be useful for designing the BCIs foxr everyday adoption by a wide range of people.