Can virtual reality and 3D gaming help people stand up for themselves in real life? In a pilot study developed by Southern Methodist University, a group of young women practiced assertiveness against male sexual aggression using a modified version of Half-Life 2 and a VR headset. After the training (dubbed "My Voice, My Choice"), as this summary indicates, the early results were extremely positive: “22 percent in the control group reported sexual victimization during the three-month follow-up period, compared to only 10 percent in the 'My Voice, My Choice' group.” (Emphasis mine, because it bears emphasis.) While this is just initial data working from a small sample, the growth of virtual reality makes this study one worth repeating in other pilot programs, so I reached out to the lead researchers, Dr. Lorelei Simpson Rowe and Anthony Cuevas, for more details on their training program:
What were some of the most interesting personal reactions to this simulation?
Dr. Lorelei Simpson Rowe: "Many participants were surprised at how difficult it was to be assertive. They thought of themselves as being able to be assertive, but found it more challenging in the simulations than they expected. At the same time, many of the participants also seemed to feel more confident after they successfully used the skills and got positive feedback from others.
"Most students chose to participate in the study because they were given gift cards to thank them for their time - they weren't initially interested in the program - but afterward, they told us how important it was and that they felt all students should go through MVMC."
What advice would you give other researchers and developers working on similar VR experiences?
Dr. Lorelei Simpson Rowe: "I think important next steps will include developing fully computerized protocols (i.e., those that don't require an actor). Additionally, the simulations need to be realistic and consistent with experiences that participants might actually have."
As I said, they used a variation of Half-Life 2 to create the simulation:
Platform/software details, and recommendations for developing similar training programs:
Anthony Cuevas: "We developed the training software by taking the game engine of the science-fiction first-person shooter video game HALF-LIFE 2 and modifying it initially for Dr. Ernest Jouriles and Dr. Renee McDonald and then for the purpose needed by Dr. Lorelei Simpson Rowe, Dr. Jouriles and Dr. McDonald for their 'My Voice, My Choice' training. We started in about 2005-2006. We developed it to run on a PC with Windows. We chose HALF-LIFE 2, because at the time it had the best animated facial expressions around.
"We changed the environment, the characters and their clothing, to make all of it more appealing to college women. We worked with the researchers and used focus groups to help us figure out what environments, characters and clothing would have the most impact and be the most immersive for college women. We asked them how important was sound, and ultimately added sound. So, for example, in one scenario in a car late at night there's a thunderstorm with lightning. For the bedroom scenario, we have the sounds of a party going on and people interacting outside the room.
"Not many researchers are using gaming technology. But for a project like this, we found that starting with an existing game and modifying it will cut the software development time in half.
"The headset we're using right now is a little outdated*, but it's a standard head-mounted display that streams the computer-generated 3D images. The perspective is first-person, which tracks and changes with the wearer's head position, just like with HALF-LIFE 2. Earphones surround the wearer with the sounds relevant to the scene.
"To run the software for the research, we turn on the HALF-LIFE 2 game before the subjects enter the research area. So they don't know this is game software. At the point they put on the headset, they are in the scene that we've created for them.
"I'd advise anyone trying to do this to start with an existing game and modify it."
*Notably, the SMU researchers tell me they used an old VR headset, the Emagin Z800, to obtain these results. They're now working with Oculus Rift, and it'll be interesting to see if better immersion leads to even better results.
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assertiveness training (which fall in the broad group - social awareness and interaction) for those at lower management level and below is a good thing. Not just for women but men employees also
however for women wanting to move up into senior management and this (training you to be more social) is all thats offered by the company/org, then the company/org is doing it wrong
Susan Colantuono has quite a bit to say about this. Is here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_colantuono_the_career_advice_you_probably_didn_t_get
if you are a woman wanting to move from your mid management position to senior then you need to pay attention to her. And so do your emplyoer
Posted by: irihapeti | Saturday, January 31, 2015 at 09:36 PM