3D Therapy for Asperger's and ADHD

This is an interesting video from an American News Channel about an "...innovative new therapy offered at the Center for Brain Health in Dallas. The news report has dummed-down the real work going on here but have a look at the clip and if you look passed the cheesy reporter's clichés, "...funky computer pastime", it's quite interesting. They're practicing social skills in Second Life by running virtual job interviews for people diagnosed with Asperger's.

I think practicing social interactions is something that thousands of people do everyday in Second Life. The persona we adopt in an interview is just another face we choose to show to the world, if not a highly conformed one. This is probably similar to the way anonymous avatars present to the virtual world, it's just that in virtual worlds avatars are free to bend or violate those social rules and in a formal job interview that's probably a bad thing to do.

As a halfway house this seems like a good idea but the assumption behind the 'therapy' is that the skills will be generalised to real life situations. This is one bugbear with behavioural treatments for Autism. It can take a great deal of time to transfer a skill base from one context to another. Behaviourally speaking I'd view this with suspicion until the researchers/practitioners found evidence of effectiveness in the real world. The lack of reinforcing cues such as spontaneous nods, non-verbal cues and body language that are missing in the virtual world would be the essential parts of communication in a job interview. However, they are using real-time voice and the intervention has got to be a good way of reducing the anxiety of a real role-play interview; it can also be done over the internet. I have an open mind on this type of therapy and look forward to reading their findings. I’ll blog more here once I’ve managed to find out more about this work.

I'm resistant to the idea of attributing the label 'Patients' to anyone diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome but at least here we see what looks like a Second Life intervention with some common sense behind it. I'm still not convinced that they are doing ‘Therapy’, perhaps in a loose sense of the term, or even as they claim, “…training the brain to adapt and respond” over and above what we normally do in everyday life. What is special about this intervention, it would seem to me, is that people with Asperger’s are engaging with virtual relationships and benefiting from them.

The video clip of the news report can be viewed at the link below (2mins) as well as the accompanying web page.

“How 'Second Life' therapy helps Asperger's patients.” Web Page News Report.
“Asperger's patients helped using ‘Second Life’ therapy” Video News Report.

Augmented Reality technology challenges notions of consciousness.

Two boffins from Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a way to seamlessly integrate virtual world avatars and graphics into real life scenes in real time. http://arsecondlife.gvu.gatech.edu/ . ‘Thinkers’, a Second Life group with over 600 members, will be having an in-world discussion event on this work and its consequences at 11.30pm (GMT)/3.30pm (PST) on 22nd January 2008. http://slurl.com/secondlife/SupportforHealing/199/189/29 Check out this video for a sample of where the technology is right now.

Might we utilise this technology to augment our own consciousness some day? We know that perception is created in the brain so how long before we manipulate the sensory input sufficiently to authentically make the cognitive jump into a blended reality? Psychologically speaking this technology has potentially huge implications for social interaction theory and identity theory. Philosophically, if the avatars we socially interact with and form relations with are non-physical need we be physical too? Perhaps this takes us back to the old, “Can a computer be conscious?” debate. If two avatars met and could realistically pass between the virtual/real worlds where are the boundaries? Is this the first step toward eradicating the separation of real life and virtual worlds? If so, what kind of a world is emerging? Many, many thought experiments from this one. Come along to the event, run by avatar Extropia DaSilva of the Thinkers group, for some high level discussion amongst diverse intellects.

Do Avatars Dream of Civil Rights?

MacArthur Series on Philanthropy and Virtual Worlds. The USC Institute for Network Culture and Global Kids present a discussion on Virtual Liberties: Do Avatars Dream of Civil Rights? 12:00p.m. PST on Monday, January 28, 2008.

Please join the USC Institute for Network Culture and Global Kids for the first event in an upcoming series on philanthropy and virtual worlds. The event, "Virtual Liberties: Do Avatars Dream of Civil Rights?" will be held on the USC Annenberg Island http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ilha%20de%20Intercambio/9/22/29 or on the Global Kids estate www.tinyurl.com/2m4dnp on Second Life at 12:00p.m. PST on Monday, January 28, 2008.

Jonathan F. Fanton, President of the MacArthur Foundation, will chair a discussion about the avatar civil liberties. Joining him will be Robin Harper, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development from Linden Lab, and Jack Balkin, professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School. Prior to their remarks, Douglas Thomas, Professor at USC and Director of the Institute for Network Culture, and Barry Joseph, Director of Global Kids' Online Leadership Program, will give updates on and announce a dramatic series of programs as part of MacArthur's year exploring philanthropy in virtual worlds. Thomas and Joseph are MacArthur grantees.

Science Friday

Science Friday is an American public radio show and a gathering in Second Life about SCIENCE. The event takes place in Second Life on FRIDAYs. Simple as the concept is it works a treat. You can find the in-world location by clicking here.

Topics are always stimulating and the show has guests and takes telephone calls from listeners and questions from SL residents. There are often debates about science in education and the topics are varied and interesting.

If you attend the Second Life event you'll get to interact with the constant stream of public text messages that the audience send each other. These vary from the astute and profound to the ignorant and stupid. The audience seem to be comprised of a disproportionate amount of American 'professionals' from a wide range of occupations. Partly I think because of the shows US popularity and partly because of the SL users. Keep your eye out for Lindens (Avatars of those who work for Second Life creators Linden Lab) they are regularly at this event.

The host Ira Flatow (SL:Ira Flatley) who is in-world during the show is entertaining and keeps the show moving along well. He's the guy in the white t-shirt in the centre of the group in the pictures. The 2 hour show/meetings are fun and educational, there's always plenty to learn and I'd very much recommend that you try them on 8pm GMT on Fridays. You can visit the website here.

Milton Gets A New Avatar

With a couple of media appearances looming and Milton's old Avatar looking a bit shabby I decided to go for a new look which proved to be an education all of itself. After trying out several looks (including a skeleton and a chimpanzee) I decided to go for a very smart professional look.

My side project that is attempting to get as realistic an avatar as possible of my own appearance has been a partial success so far but still looks a little too freaky for a primary skin. I'm going to continue to perfect that technique before using it. It looks like the best way to map an actual face onto an avatar is to use a blend of original high quality digital photos and Photoshop techniques over a precise template. It's the joins between the photo layers that are particularly hard to get correct and are very much dependent on the avatar's final shape. These will always have to be custom made jobs.

These are some shots of Milton 2.0. He's definitely much slicker than the real life me and looks more intelligent so we'll see how he gets on in the virtual world. I've kitted him out with photorealistic skin, hair and a decent animation override so he moves like a real person as well as looking authentic. It took me a while but these were the best examples I could find in SL and were recommended by some of the best builders and artists in Second Life. The interface between avatar and real life person has always fascinated me I wonder if this will affect the way my students or visitors interact with Milton. I think the end result works well.