[ Contents | Search | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Shelley Brundage
Date: 17 Oct 2006
Time: 14:34:37 -0500
Remote Name: 128.164.247.162
Hi Ilia: Thanks for all the great questions. Let me try and answer some of them. I'vr reprinted your questions below, with my answers asfter each one. Here goes: 1.The first question is the following: whether the VR system is developed mostly as the clinicist instrumentarium or the PWS may use it independently from the SLP? Answer: We envision using the VR system or some variation of it in both of the ways you describe. We are currently using it as an augmentation to assessment and treatment, in which the clinician is present and "drives" the interaction that takes place in the VR environment. I could also see a self-help possibility in which a PWS could use the VR to practice at home, but the VR environment would need to be changed a bit from its current state in order to do that. 2. It would be very interesting to know What parameters of speech are analysed in VR? Answer: We've calculated measures of % stuttered syllables, speaking apprehension, speaking confidence, self-ratings of speech naturalness and overall 'quality of the speech' given. We are currently calculating speaking rate across different VR and live conditions. 3.Would you please write about some conditions of the conducted testing with VR system, in particular, Whether any other person (for example specialist or assistant) was present in the same room with the examined person or not? Answer: Yes, the experimenter was in the room with the research participant (PWS). It would be relatively easy to have the computer in one room and the participant and headset in another. Relatedly, all of our subjects reported significant amounts of immersion in the VR enviornment, suggesting that the investigator's presence did not change their behavior. Also, our results indicated significant differences in %SS in two VR environments (Challenging vs. supportive job interviews), and the investigator was present in the room for both of these VR conditions. 4. May I mention that the research conducted in our SRC showed the following results - more than 70 percent of PWS don't have speech problems when they speak aloud or read aloud, while being absolutely alone in the room (when they are sure, that nobody can hear them). Taking all this in consideration I'm eager to learn whether the VR system in your experiment was set on the PWS's personal computer, so that the stutterer could use VR in habitual surrounding ( being absolutely alone in the room, being sure that nobody hears him or her)? Answer: I think I answered this above, but will add here that I think that VR has potential for use as a "practice tool" outside of treatment, and your idea of having the practice occur in a "habitual surrounding" should increase response generalization. It's also important for us to learn what rate of anxiety (speaking apprehension) and stuttering frequency was registered in PWS in this situation? Answer: In the Virtual job interview, significantly more stuttering occurred during the challenging job interview. In the live vs. virtual audience study, the amount of stuttering and speaking apprehension scores were not sigificantly different speeches given in live vs. virtual audiences. We interpreted these findings to mean that stuttering and related behaviors occur with similar frequency in virtual and live environments, thereby making VR a valid tool for possible use with PWS. Shelley