VRPSYCH lab Institute for Creative Technologies University of Southern California


 

SITE

Panoramic Video

See a video of an Anger Management clip using the panoramic camera.

The acquisition and presentation of high-resolution panoramic video (PV) presents a number of technical difficulties, as well as excellent clinical therapeutic and research opportunities. We are using a five-camera 360-degree PV system that acquires high-resolution panoramic video images. These images are recorded at 30Hz frame rates and played back for later viewing. During playback, users can wear a VR head-mounted display (HMD) and a head-tracking device that allows them to turn their heads freely to observe the desired portions of the panoramic scene, similar to the scanning that is possible in graphics-based virtual environments.With this system, we have developed 13 scenarios created in an indoor office space for an "anger management in the workplace" application. In these scenarios, actors portrayed agitated and insulting co-workers who address the camera (and vis a vis, the clinical user wearing the HMD) with provocative and hostile verbal messages. The scenarios were designed to provide role playing environments for patients undergoing psychotherapy for issues relating to anger management in the workplace, or as it is commonly referred to as "Desk Rage" (Daw, 2001). The patients wearing the HMD in these scenarios have the opportunity to practice appropriate responses to the characters and employ therapeutic strategies for reducing rage responses. Traditional methods of therapy in this area have mainly relied on guided imagery or role-playing with the therapist and it is hypothesized that PV content could serve to create immersive simulations that patients will find more realistic and engaging. A study has been conducted with this application examining psychophysiological reactivity in subjects viewing these stimuli at St. John's University (Macedonio, DiGiuseppe & Rizzo, 2004). We have also used our system to create a Virtual "Mock-Party" as a VR scenario to deliver exposure therapy for persons with Social Phobia. The PV camera was placed in a static position in the center of an indoor home environment in the midst of an active party with approximately 30 participants. This "scripted" scenario was shot while systematically directing and controlling the gradual introduction of participants into the scene and orchestrating their proximity and "pseudo-interaction" with the camera. As well actors address the camera with a spectrum of socially challenging questions that provide the clinical user with opportunities to practice social verbal engagement in a psychologically safe environment.

Rizzo, A.A., Ghahremani, K. Pryor, L. & Gardner, S. (2003). Immersive 360-Degree Panoramic Video Environments: Research on Creating Useful and Usable Applications. In: Jacko, J. & Stephanidis, C. (Eds.) Human-Computer Interaction: Theory and Practice. L.A. Erlbaum: New York. Vol. 1, pp. 1233-1237.

Rizzo, A.A., Neumann, U., Pintaric, T. and Norden, M. (2001). Issues for Application Development Using Immersive HMD 360 Degree Panoramic Video Environments. In: Smith, M.J., Salvendy, G., Harris, D. & Koubek, R.J. (Eds.) Usability Evaluation and Interface Design, L.A. Erlbaum: New York Vol. 1, pp. 792-796.

Rizzo, A.A. Pryor, L., Matheis, R., Schultheis, M.T., Ghahremani, K. & Araba. (2004). Memory Assessment Using Graphics-Based and Panoramic Video Virtual Environments. Proceedings of The 5th International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technology. Oxford , UK, 331-338.

Pryor, L., Gardner, S., Rizzo, A.A. & Ghahremani, K. (2003). Immersive 360-Degree Panoramic Video Environments: Research on "User Directed News" Applications. Proceedings of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Neumann, U., Pintaric, T. & Rizzo, A.A. (2000). Immersive Panoramic Video. Proceedings of the 8th ACM International Conference on Multimedia, pp. 493-494, October 2000.

Macedonio, M., Rizzo, A.A.,, DiGiuseppe, R. & Reiner, R. (2004). Anger Arousal Using a 360-Degree Panoramic Video Virtual Reality System. The 38th Annual Convention of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. New Orleans, LA. November 2004.

Rizzo, A.A., Pryor, L., Matheis, R., Schultheis, M.T., Ghahremani, K. & Araba. (2004). Memory Assessment Using Graphics-Based and Panoramic Video Virtual Environments. The 5th International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technology. Oxford, UK. Sept. 20, 2004.

Pryor, L., Gardner, S., Rizzo, A.A., & Ghahremani, K. (2003). Immersive 360-Degree Panoramic Video Environments: Research on "User Directed News" Applications. The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication 2003 Convention. July 30, 2003.

Rizzo, A.A., Ghahremani, K. Pryor, L. & Gardner, S. (2003). Immersive 360-Degree Panoramic Video Environments: Research on Creating Useful and Usable Applications. 10th International Conference on Human - Computer Interaction, Crete, Greece, June 22-27, 2003.

Rizzo, A.A., Neumann, U., Pintaric, T., Pair, J. (2002). Immersive HMD 360 Degree Panoramic Video Environments for Exposure Therapy and Anger Management. The 10th Annual Medicine Meets Virtual Reality Conference. Los Angeles, CA.

Rizzo, A.A., Neumann, U. & Pintaric, T. (2001). Virtual Realities created using 360 Degree Panoramic Video for Anger Management and Anxiety Disorder Applications. The 35th Annual Convention of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. Philadelphia, PA. November, 2001.

Rizzo, A.A., Neumann, U. & Pintaric, T. (2001). Applications and Issues for the Use of Immersive HMD-Delivered 360 Degree Panoramic Video Environments. 9th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. New Orleans, LA. Aug. 5-10, 2001.

Neumann, U., Pintaric, T. & Rizzo, A. (2000). Immersive Panoramic Video, The Eighth ACM Multimedia Conference (MM2000). Marina del Ray, CA. November 2, 2000.

  

Recent advances in Panoramic Video camera systems have produced new methods for the creation of virtual environments (James, 2001). With these systems, users can playback and observe pictorially accurate 360-degree video scenes of "real world" environments. When delivered via an immersive head mounted display (HMD), an experience of presence within these captured scenarios can be supported in human users.

This system captures high-resolution panoramic video (>3Kx480) by employing an array of five video cameras that view real world scenes over a combined 360-degrees of horizontal arc. During playback, users wear a head-mounted display (HMD) and a head-tracking device that allows them to turn their heads freely to observe the desired portions of the panoramic scene. Viewers of PV become virtual participants immersed in the observed scene, creating a new dimension in the way people perceive imagery within these types of VEs.

The following targeted test environments were chosen that allowed for assessment across a range of lighting, external activity and camera movement conditions. These environments included:

  1. An outdoor mall with the camera in a static position in daytime lighting with background structures and moderate human foot traffic, both close-up and at a distance. (3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica, CA.)
  2. An outdoor ocean pier with the camera in a static position in extremely intense lighting conditions (direct intense late afternoon sunlight with high reflectance off of the ocean) with both long shots of activity on a beach and close-up activity of human foot traffic and amusement park structures on the pier.
  3. Interior of an outside facing glass elevator with the camera in a static position and the elevator smoothly rising 15 floors from a low light position (street level shielded) to more intense lighting as the elevator ascended.
  4. The camera mounted at the front of a pickup truck bed (near the back of the cab), traveling on a canyon road for 30 minutes at speeds ranging from 0-40 mph under all daylight ranges of lighting (low shaded light to intense direct sun).
  5. Same as #4, except at night on a busy well lit street (Sunset Blvd. In L.A. CA.), and on a freeway traveling at speeds from 0-60 mph.
  6. A University of Southern California Football game within the Los Angeles Coliseum from both static and moving positions in daytime lighting, with extreme close-ups of moving people and massive crowd scenes (40-60 thousand people).
  7. An indoor rock concert (Duran Duran at the Anaheim, CA. House of Blues venue) from a static position under a variety of extreme lighting conditions in the midst of an active crowd, slightly above average head level with 3D immersive audio recording.
  8. A Virtual "Mock-Party" with the camera in a static position in the center of a room with approximately 16 participants. This was our first "scripted" scenario that was shot while systematically directing and controlling the gradual introduction of participants into the scene and orchestrating their proximity and "pseudo-interaction" with the camera. This scenario was created for a therapeutic application designed to address social phobia as outlined in Section 6 below.
  

One well matched and potentially cost/effective PV application currently exists in the area of exposure-based habituation therapy for persons with phobias and other forms of anxiety disorders. This will be the first effort to systematically control "people-exposure" (using actors) within a social environment using our PV camera system. We have already captured "naturalistic" people-laden environments that are being incorporated into this project (Scenarios 1,2,6 and 7, above).

To view an Anger Management video clip using the panoramic camera, click here.