NeuroVR 2 – A Free Virtual Reality Platform for the Assessment and Treatment in Behavioral Health Care
Riva Giuseppe, Andrea Gaggioli, Grassi Alessandra, Raspelli Simona, Pietro Cipresso, Pallavicini Federica, Vigna Cinzia, Gagliati Andrea, Gasco Stefano, Donvito Giuseppe · Studies in health technology and informatics · 2011
At MMVR 2007 we presented NeuroVR (http://www.neurovr.org) a free virtual reality platform based on open-source software. The software allows non-expert users to adapt the content of 14 pre-designed virtual environments to the specific needs of the clinical or experimental setting. Following the feedbacks of the 2000 users who downloaded the first versions (1 and 1.5), we developed a new version--NeuroVR 2 (http://www.neurovr2.org)--that improves the possibility for the therapist to enhance the patient's feeling of familiarity and intimacy with the virtual scene, by using external sounds, photos or videos. More, when running a simulation, the system offers a set of standard features that contribute to increase the realism of the simulated scene. These include collision detection to control movements in the environment, realistic walk-style motion, advanced lighting techniques for enhanced image quality, and streaming of video textures using alpha channel for transparency.