Virtual Environments for the Assessment of Attention and Memory Processes: The Virtual Classroom and Office

Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers new options for neuropsychological assessment and cognitive rehabilitation. If empirical studies demonstrate effectiveness, virtual environments (VEs) could be of considerable benefit to persons with cognitive and functional impairments due to traumatic brain injury, neurological disorders, and learning disabilities. Testing and training scenarios that would be difficult, if not impossible, to deliver using conventional neuropsychological methods are now being developed that take advantage of the assets available with VR technology. These assets include the precise presentation and control of dynamic multi-sensory 3D stimulus environments, as well as advanced methods for recording behavioral responses. When combining these assets within the context of functionally relevant, ecologically valid VEs, a fundamental advancement emerges in how human cognition and functional behavior can be assessed and rehabilitated. This paper will focus on the progress of a collaborative VR research program at the University of Southern California and the Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corporation. These groups are developing and evaluating VR neuropsychological applications designed to target: 1. Attention processes in children with ADHD within a HMD virtual classroom and 2. Memory processes in persons with TBI within a HMD virtual office. Results from completed research, rationales and methodology of works in progress, and our plan for future work will be discussed. Our primary vision has been to develop VR systems that target cognitive processes and functional skills that are relevant to a wide range of patient populations with CNS dysfunction. We have also sought to select cognitive/functional targets that intuitively appear well matched to the specific assets available with the current state of VR technology.