The purpose of this study was to establish ecological validity and initial construct validity of the virtual reality version of the Multiple Errands Test based on NeuroVR software as an assessment tool for executive functions. In particular, the Multiple Errands Test is an assessment of executive functions in daily life which consists of tasks that abide by certain rules and is performed in a shopping mall-like setting where there are items to be bought and information to be obtained. The study population included three groups: post-stroke participants ( n = 9), healthy young participants ( n = 10), and healthy older participants ( n = 10). The general purpose of the study was investigated through the following specific objectives: (1) to examine the relationships between the performance of three groups of participants in the Virtual Multiple Errands Test (VMET) and in the traditional neuropsychological tests employed to assess executive functions; and (2) to compare the performance of post-stroke participants to those of healthy young and older controls in the Virtual Multiple Errands Test and in the traditional neuropsychological tests employed to assess executive functions. Correlations between Virtual Multiple Errands Test variables and some traditional executive functions measures provide preliminary support for the ecological and construct validity of the VMET; further performance obtained at the Virtual Multiple Errands Test provided a distinction between the clinical and healthy population, and between the two age control groups. These results suggest a possible future application of such an ecological approach for cognitive assessment and rehabilitation of stroke patients and elderly population with age-related cognitive decline.

Sheridan's recent paper (1999) on presence is particularly relevant to research on virtual environments (VEs). Sheridan's “eclectic” ontology and his “model of evaluation” proposed as a bridge to close the gap between different positions are discussed. A modification of the evaluation model is suggested to make it apt to provide common ground for different perspectives. VEs are boundary objects that interest various research communities with different worldviews, and cooperation among these communities is necessary if VEs are to become tools for communication and coworking.

The use of virtual reality (VR) applications in the rehabilitation of memory-related cognitive processes and functional abilities, is supported by different studies showing that, in persons with neurologically-based memory impairment, procedural memory often remain relatively intact. VR, by way of its interactive and immersive features, could be used to exploit the patient's preserved procedural abilities. In particular, cognitive processes could be restored via procedures practiced repetitively within an environment which contains functional real-world demands. Starting from the above rationale, the paper presents the music-enhanced VRbased treatment of C., a 65-year old woman, experiencing an impairment in memory-related cognitive processes. At the end of treatment the subject experienced a 12-week booster section. The results presented showed that, after the treatment, the patient experienced an improved clinical condition confirmed by the results of different neuropsychological tests. These results were maintained even during a 3-month follow-up.

The lack of spatial orientation often serves as a warning light for a diffused cerebral impairment, such as the one at the origin of a confusional state or of a mental disorder. Topographical orientation disorders may be the expression of memory or attention deficits, unilateral spatial negligence, or elementary visuoperceptive disorders. In a minority of cases, spatial disorientation presents as an isolated disorder and is the expression of a focal brain lesion. The paper describes the clinical rationale and the technical characteristics of the Virtual Environment for Topographical Orientation (VETO). VETO is used both as a complementary tool for the assessment of topographical orientation disorders and to increase the possibilities of management of these patients from a rehabilitative point of view. VETO is based on the recent theoretical model of wayfinding in virtual environments proposed by Chen and Stanney (1999). This model suggests that wayfinders generally start from the direct perception of the environment or from the recall of a cognitive map. In terms of direct perception of the environment, landmark knowledge is acquired by directly viewing indirect representation such as photographs. In terms of cognitive mapping, procedure/route knowledge is acquired through direct experience or through simulated experience and stored in memory. Our hypothesis is that the study of spatial orientation through specific VETO tasks, both in normal samples and in subjects affected by topographical disorientation, can bring greater comprehension and validation of the cognitive models of spatial orientation present in literature.

This article claims that the meaning of presence is closely linked to the concept we have of reality, i.e., to the ontology that we more or less explicitly adopt. Different ontological stances support different criteria for presence, telepresence , and virtual presence. We propose a cultural conception of presence that challenges the current idea that experiencing a real or simulated environment deals essentially with perceiving its “objective” physical features. We reject commonsense ingenuous realism and its dualism opposing external reality and internal ideas. In our perspective, presence in an environment, real or simulated, means that individuals can perceive themselves, objects, and other people not only as situated in an external space but also as immersed in a sociocultural web connecting objects, people, and their interactions. This cultural web—structured by artifacts both physical (e.g., the physical components of the computer networks) and ideal (e.g., the social norms that shape the organizational use of the computer networks)—makes possible communication and cooperation among different social actors by granting them a common reference grid. Environments, real and virtual, are not private recesses but public places for meaningful social interaction mediated by artifacts. Experiencing presence in a social environment such as a shared virtual office requires more than the reproduction of the physical features of external reality; it requires awareness of the cultural web that makes meaningful—and therefore visible—both people and objects populating the environment.

Virtual reality (VR) is usually described by the media as a particular collection of technological hardware: a computer capable of 3-D real-time animation, a head-mounted display, and data gloves equipped with one or more position trackers. However, this focus on technology is somewhat disappointing for communication researchers and VR designers. To overcome this limitation, this paper describes VR as a communication tool: a communication medium in the case of multiuser VR and a communication interface in single-user VR. The consequences of this approach for the design and the development of VR systems are presented, together with the methodological and technical implications for the study of interactive communication via computers.

The Virtual Environment for Body Image Modification (VEBIM) is a set of tasks aimed at treating body-image disturbances and body dissatisfation associated with eating disorders. Two methods are commonly used to treat body-image disturbance: (1) a cognitive-behavioral therapy to influence patients' feelings of dissatisfaction and (2) a visual-motorial therapy, with the aim of influencing the level of bodily awareness. VEBIM tries to integrate these two therapeutical approaches within an immersive virtual environment. The choice of VEBIM would not only make it possible to intervene simultaneously on all of the forms of bodily representations but also to use for therapeutical purposes the psychophysiological effects provoked on the body by the virtual experience. The paper describes the VEBIM theoretical approach and its characteristics; it also presents a study on a preliminary sample (72 normal subjects) to test the efficacy of this approach.