Imagine a simulated training where the characters you interact with are almost human — they converse, they understand, can reason and exhibit emotions.
One such training program being developed at University of Southern California is Virtual Patients.
Virtual Patients are advanced conversational virtual human agents that have been applied to the psychiatric medical field. These interactive agents portray a patient with a clinical or physical condition and can interact verbally and non-verbally with a clinician in an effort to teach interpersonal skills. [continue reading…]
Almost a decade of war in the Middle East with its numerous deployments, the physical and emotional strain of combat and long periods of separation from loved ones has taken its toll. According to a recent study in the Archives of General Psychiatry, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) rates now range between 20-30 percent for those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A study led by PTSD researchers Barbara Rothbaum, PhD, ABPP, and Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD, and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is currently under way at Emory, testing the combination of the drug d-cycloserine (DCS) with virtual reality therapy to help alleviate the symptoms of PTSD. [continue reading…]
Scientists Discover the Complexities of Attractive Female Bodies
Scientists in Australia and Hong Kong have conducted a comprehensive study to discover how different body measurements correspond with ratings of female attractiveness. The study, published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, found that across cultural divides young, tall and long armed women were considered the most attractive. [continue reading…]
