Review: Combining the Projective Consciousness Model and Virtual Humans for Immersive Psychological Research: A Proof-of-concept Simulating a ToM Assessment by:
- D. RUDRAUF, FPSE, Section of Psychology, Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, and Computer Science
University Center, University of Geneva, Switzerland - G. SERGEANT-PERHTUIS, Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland
- Y. TISSERAND and T. MONNOR, FPSE, Section of Psychology and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences,
University of Geneva, Switzerland - V. DE GEVIGNEY, Independent Researcher, France
- O. BELLI, Evolutio, Switzerland
It is very interesting and futuristic research as virtual life has increased for real humans in their professional and personal lives. The objective of this study was to analyze, classify, and estimate the human mind in a virtual world.
PCM-driven agents that integrate a three-dimensional subjective consciousness perspective are combined with virtual humans as an approach is promising. The purpose of this research is to understand human behavior and the psychological factors that influence it.
Theory of Mind (ToM)
Experiment in a virtual environment to use on real human
– Classify human behavior as a function of ToM order – up to 2nd order
– Expected behavior with consistent ToM parameters using PCM
– To correctly estimate each other’s orders using ToM
– Estimate the order of ToM and preferences attributed to others to optimize behavioral outcomes.
– Assess and finetune the framework with real humans in virtual reality experiments
Although the research paper mentions that it is in its preliminary phase, the methodology seems logical. The topic is at its conceptual level and it will require both a broader and deeper approach in future. For example, Facial Action Coding System (FACS) while studying virtual human beings based on dilating pupils or changing skin could be a narrow approach as other parts such as physical conditions such as lights around, and physiological or psychological or subconscious state of the human being, and/or maturity level of the individual of the subject etc., before the data collection could possibly impact the result to a great extent. It is important to understand the impact or limitations of the mind before developing generic theories because the mind is subtle, fluid, and highly distinct.
These types of research need a deeper understanding of consciousness as categorization could have a significant impact either way. This could spill over into future research.
It would be interesting to know how time affects the end results and can be considered as an additional parameter(s) based on the ‘time’ and ‘time duration’ between the experiments regarding ToM-0, ToM-1, ToM-2, etc., since the researchers have not mentioned how the ‘time’ and ‘time duration’ were between the experiments about ToM-0, ToM-1, ToM-2. Users participating in experiments (virtual real humans) are not likely to be aware of the data collection. If not, there could be additional complications.
Overall, the topic is very interesting considering the massive amount of data generated from different sources. Using these results and derivatives could provide practical benefits to government agencies and/or have huge commercial potential.
- Sandhya Jane