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The use of Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming increasingly popular in the creation of innovative content archiving and cataloguing solutions. In the field of archaeology, the utilisation of VR for both professional and non-specialist applications remain a relatively unexplored area. To address this gap, we present a VR application designed to streamline the storage and access of critical data for archaeological studies, while facilitating the presentation of these studies to the public. The application interface facilitates direct interaction with 3D models generated through photogrammetry and modelling techniques, facilitating two distinct yet complementary objectives: firstly, a detailed examination of the data collected, which in turn improves research activities; secondly, it brings visitors closer to the world of archaeological research. We applied this system to the case study of excavations at the Temple of Juno in Agrigento, Italy.

Attachment is one of the foundational themes in the history of the psychological development of human beings. For this reason, we assume that it must be approached by taking into account multiple scientific perspectives. The present review aims at analyzing the state of the art regarding the genetic, neurobiological and cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of attachment bonding, considering the child as the frame of reference. We hypothesize that attachment may be present in prototypical forms even in the prenatal period, thus our analysis has a temporal origin in the intrauterine period preceding birth. The intrauterine period is assumed to be a period of maximum sensitivity to stimuli and in particular to those coming from a potential primary caregiver: the biological mother. We conclude with a reframing of the state of the art and propose that future research work would benefit from a superordinate model of attachment, capable of containing and regulating all its components and variables.

The article presents an immersive multisensory simulator developed in a project co-financed by INAIL (the Italian Workers' Compensation Authority) as part of a collaborative research program for the application of innovative technologies and systems to the management of health and safety at work. Specifically, the program provides for the development of simulators for the structuring of skills qualification paths for operators in charge of running and maintaining the most dangerous work equipment. The simulator we present reproduces all the aspects that contribute to a complete driving experience of the simulated machine in an artificial working environment that replicates typical and atypical operations and hazards involved in the use of self-propelled mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) with an extendable articulated boom. The simulator has been designed following the analysis of the most critical working routines with aerial work platforms and using physical components of a real MEWP combined with immersive Virtual Reality technologies. The use of Extended Reality technologies to simulate challenging work scenarios makes it possible to train operators by confronting them with very risky situations without any real danger, both in terms of damage to machinery, and above all in terms of user’s safety. The presented simulation system has been designed as a high-TRL prototype to demonstrate the feasibility of developing training programs in the context of occupational safety and health, based on a mixed-reality simulator targeting MEWP operators and verifiers.

Despite the automatization of many industrial and logistics processes, human workers are still often involved in the manual handling of loads. These activities lead to many work-related disorders that reduce the quality of life and the productivity of aged workers. A biomechanical analysis of such activities is the basis for a detailed estimation of the biomechanical overload, thus enabling focused prevention actions. Thanks to wearable sensor networks, it is now possible to analyze human biomechanics by an inverse dynamics approach in ecological conditions. The purposes of this study are the conceptualization, formulation, and implementation of a deep learning-assisted fully wearable sensor system for an online evaluation of the biomechanical effort that an operator exerts during a manual material handling task. In this paper, we show a novel, computationally efficient algorithm, implemented in ROS, to analyze the biomechanics of the human musculoskeletal systems by an inverse dynamics approach. We also propose a method for estimating the load and its distribution, relying on an egocentric camera and deep learning-based object recognition. This method is suitable for objects of known weight, as is often the case in logistics. Kinematic data, along with foot contact information, are provided by a fully wearable sensor network composed of inertial measurement units. The results show good accuracy and robustness of the system for object detection and grasp recognition, thus providing reliable load estimation for a high-impact field such as logistics. The outcome of the biomechanical analysis is consistent with the literature. However, improvements in gait segmentation are necessary to reduce discontinuities in the estimated lower limb articular wrenches.

This article presents the results of an interdisciplinary research work on the emergence and impact of virtual technologies on the valorization of cultural experience. After reviewing the literature on immersive museography and the concepts of immersion, interaction and social interaction within a cultural experience, we focus our analysis on the drivers of the users’ satisfaction through a three-step research path. Firstly, we realized a preliminary qualitative overview of users’ reactions to virtual environments in a series of selected cultural experiences. Secondly, we designed a model focusing on immersion and social interaction as the two potentially critical drivers of satisfaction. Thirdly, we realized a quantitative study of a project concerning an intangible cultural asset. The results of this study give evidence to the link between immersion and emotion and emphasize the essential mediating role of social interaction. These conclusions are consistent with present technological and market trends, concerning the integration of virtual reality and social networks.

Oculometric measures have been proven to be useful markers of mind-wandering during visual tasks such as reading. However, little is known about ocular activity during mindfulness meditation, a mental practice naturally involving mind-wandering episodes. In order to explore this issue, we extracted closed-eyes ocular movement measurements via a covert technique (EEG recordings) from expert meditators during two repetitions of a 7-minute mindfulness meditation session, focusing on the breath, and two repetitions of a 7-minute instructed mind-wandering task. Power spectral density was estimated on both the vertical and horizontal components of eye movements. The results show a significantly smaller average amplitude of eye movements in the delta band (1-4 Hz) during mindfulness meditation than instructed mind-wandering. Moreover, participants' meditation expertise correlated significantly with this average amplitude during both tasks, with more experienced meditators generally moving their eyes less than less experienced meditators. These findings suggest the potential use of this measure to detect mind-wandering episodes during mindfulness meditation and to assess meditation performance.

Over the years, we have undertaken research projects in the field of cultural heritage perception, trying to analyze the response of the human cognitive system when immersed in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality or other multimedia supports. Our goal has been to study how to improve design exhibition, utilizing these technologies in museums and cultural heritage sites and to study alternative ways to promote human development through deeper contact with art.

En In this paper we present a Digital Serious Game set in a medieval alchemical laboratory, aimed at disseminating the ancient knowledge of medicine distillation contained in the famous Adam Lonicer's Kreuterbuch (1569) treatise. The application is based on interactive Virtual Environments and available on multiple visualization technologies, ranging from simple touch-based tablet up to immersive environments such as CAVEs or Oculus Rift. The game comes as the latest development level of a larger international multidisciplinary project meant to explore novel methodologies to raise the awareness about ancient books, in particular the collection of the Gunnerus Library of Trondheim, with a special attention to the public of youngsters. ItIn questo articolo viene presentato un Digital Serious Game ambientato in un laboratorio alchemico medievale, realizzato al fine di facilitare la trasmissione della conoscenza relativa alle antiche tecniche di distillazione medicinale così come illustrate nel famoso trattato Kreuterbuch di Adam Lonicer (1569). L'applicazione è stata realizzata utilizzando tecnologie di ambienti virtuali interattivi ed è fruibile su un vasto panorama di dispositivi di visualizzazione, a partire da semplici PC touch-screen fino a sistemi immersivi come il CAVE o il recente Oculus Rift. Il gioco rappresenta il terzo livello di sviluppo di un più grande progetto di ricerca multidisciplinare avente come obiettivo l'esplorazione di nuove metodologie per stimolare e promuovere l'interesse per i libri antichi, in particolare la collezione della Gunnery Library di Trondheim, con una speciale attenzione al pubblico dei giovani.

This paper introduces a novel contactless sensing principle conceived for measuring the rotation angle of a shaft. The sensor is based on a smart combination of low-cost components that can be effectively integrated in a mechanical assembly of a rotary joint. The working principle is based on the relative rotation of a small diametrically magnetized cylindrical or annular magnet and at least one Hall effect sensor. One of the main strengths of the new sensing principle is to be adaptable to any assigned dimensions and encumbrances without typical design limitations given by the use of standard components. A numerical model is developed for predicting the sensor output characteristic on the base of the concept of magnetic charge. Such a model is validated against results from laboratory experiments. The parameters that define the geometry and layout of the sensor are optimized in order to maximize linearity over an assigned angular range of measurement. Two examples of mechatronic systems that employ the new sensing principle are presented in order to show the possibility of obtaining with the new principle a compact/integrated sensor-design.

EnMUBIL is an international research project aiming at establishing a novel learning framework based on Virtual Environments technologies in order to disseminate the content of libraries archives, especially ancient manuscripts. The project, lead by the Gunnerus Library of Trondheim, Norway, and participated by the NTNU (Norway) and Scuola Sant’Anna (Italy), has the secondary objective of testing the extent to which distinctive features of Virtual Environment, such as immersion and interaction, impact on the involvement of the public, especially youngster, and therefore on the efficacy of the transmission of content, such as old books, traditionally challenging to disseminate to such a public. The framework includes three different levels of development, described in this paper, and is expected to establish a methodology for the evaluation of the achieved results in the last stages of the project, ending in October 2013.ItMUBIL è un progetto di ricerca internazionale che si pone l’obiettivo di stabilire una nuova metodologia di apprendimento basata sulle tecnologie di ambienti virtuali, al fine di diffondere il contenuto degli archivi di biblioteche, in particolare di manoscritti antichi. Il progetto, coordinato dalla Gunnerus Library di Trondheim, in Norvegia, e partecipato dal NTNU (Norvegia) e dalla Scuola Sant'Anna (Italia), ha l'obiettivo secondario di testare fino a che punto le caratteristiche distintive degli ambienti virtuali, come ad esempio l'immersione e l'interazione, impattano sul coinvolgimento del pubblico, soprattutto giovane, e conseguentemente sull'efficacia della trasmissione di contenuti, come quelli relativi ai libri antichi, tradizionalmente ostici per un siffatto pubblico. Il progetto comprende tre diversi livelli di sviluppo, descritti in questo documento, e la messa a punto di una metodologia per la valutazione dei risultati conseguiti nelle ultime fasi del progetto, che terminerà nel mese di ottobre 2013.

EnVirtual Environment technologies are becoming increasingly important, carving out place in several sectors like training, learning, entertainment or industry, thanks to their adaptability for different contexts.In the Cultural Heritage field, they have been mostly used to reconstruct and represent lost archaeological patrimony, or to create virtual tours of ancient cities and sites. However, these technologies have now also entered museums and cultural institutions, contributing in changing the concept itself of Museum as institution and its relation with the public, supporting an approach more centered on engagement and participatory experiences.This is particularly true in the case of topics commonly intended as “specialistic”, difficult to approach and understand for general public, such as those related to scientific, anatomical and medical collections. The use of VEs and, in general, also of simpler but carefully designed ICT tools (such as institutional websites) can become an important tool to raise awareness and knowledge about these matters.In the present work we describe our experience, focused on a small Anatomy Museum of the University of Pisa, in which we have conducted a study on visitors, and consequently developed asset of interactive tools, aiming at increasing engagement and improving the educational experience, attempting at reducing the gap between the general public and the communication of scientific and medical topics.ItLe nuove tecnologie di Ambienti Virtuali stanno acquisendo una importanza sempre crescente, conquistandosi un posto in ambiti quali training, istruzione, eduntainment e settori industriali, grazie alla loro adattabilità ai vari contesti. Nel campo dei Beni Culturali sono state spesso impiegate nella ricostruzione e rappresentazione del patrimonio archeologico perduto o nella creazione di tour virtuali di antichi siti e città. Attualmente, queste tecnologie hanno fatto il loro ingresso nei musei e nelle istituzioni culturali, contribuendo a cambiare il concetto stesso di Museo come istituzione e la sua relazione con il pubblico, permettendo un approccio più focalizzato su esperienze di partecipazione e coinvolgimento del pubblico.Questo aspetto risulta ancora più evidente nel caso di argomenti comunemente intesi come “specialistici” ovvero difficili da approcciare e comprendere per il pubblico generico, come quelli correlati a collezioni scientifiche e medico-anatomiche. L’uso di Ambienti Virtuali e, in generale, anche di semplici ma ben strutturati ICT tool (come siti web ufficiali) può costituire uno strumento importante per ampliare la conoscenza in questi ambiti.Nel presente lavoro descriviamo la nostra esperienza, incentrata sul piccolo Museo Anatomico dell’Università di Pisa, dove abbiamo condotto uno studio sui visitatori e conseguentemente sviluppato dei tool interattivi, nell’ottica di aumentare l’interesse del pubblico e la qualità dell’esperienza educativa, cercando di ridurre il gap tra il pubblico generico e la comunicazione in ambito medico e scientifico.

In this work we present the design process, the characterization and testing of a novel three-axis mechanical force sensor. This sensor is optimized for use in closed-loop force control of haptic devices with three degrees of freedom. In particular the sensor has been conceived for integration with a dual finger haptic interface that aims at simulating forces that occur during grasping and surface exploration. The sensing spring structure has been purposely designed in order to match force and layout specifications for the application. In this paper the design of the sensor is presented, starting from an analytic model that describes the characteristic matrix of the sensor. A procedure for designing an optimal overload protection mechanism is proposed. In the last part of the paper the authors describe the experimental characterization and the integrated test on a haptic hand exoskeleton showing the improvements in the controller performances provided by the inclusion of the force sensor.

EnVulnerability of cultural properties can be significantly reduced through specific disaster plans, focused on safeguarding cultural assets in emergency situations. The effectiveness of these plans may be enhanced by the use of innovative technologies for visualization and verification purposes. In this paper we propose an alternative application of the dynamic simulation of large crowds for emergency planning in open spaces. We argue that applications related to the real-time simulation and visualization of crowds might be used also for cultural heritage risk preparedness. The application we propose aims to highlight the need of designing different paths for different goals. In an emergency plan related to cultural assets, crowd dynamics simulation could be used to plan different routes with specific functions: paths for evacuating visitors, and paths for evacuating object. Based on the identification of the first ones, which represent the main priority, the second ones can be designed, as alternative and complementary routes allowing cultural heritage operators to immediately take part in emergency operations and to work over objects salvage actions, without obstructing people salvage or escaping activities.An evaluation of the application of such techniques is reported, with the experimental validation of the behavioral model and the related simulation planned as future work. A possible application of this technique for training operators is also outlined.ItLa vulnerabilità dei beni culturali può essere significativamente ridotta attraverso piani di emergenza specifici, concentrati sulla salvaguardia dei beni in situazioni di emergenza. L’efficacia di questi piani può essere migliorata attraverso l’uso di tecnologie innovative per scopi di visualizzazione e verifica. In questo articolo viene proposta un’applicazione alternativa della simulazione dinamica di folle digitali per la pianificazione delle emergenze in spazi aperti; la simulazione e la visualizzazione in tempo reale di folle digitali potrebbero infatti essere utilizzate anche per la preparazione al rischio del patrimonio culturale. In un piano di emergenza relativo ai beni culturali, la simulazione dinamica del comportamento di una folla potrebbe essere usata per pianificare itinerari diversi con specifiche funzioni: percorsi per l’evacuazione dei visitatori, e percorsi per l’evacuazione degli oggetti d’arte. Sulla base della individuazione dei primi, che rappresentano la principale priorità, possono essere progettati i secondi come percorsi alternativi e complementari che consentono agli operatori culturali di prendere immediatamente parte alle operazioni di emergenza e di lavorare sulle azioni di recupero degli oggetti, senza ostacolare le operazioni di salvataggio delle persone. Viene infine riportata una valutazione qualitativa dell’applicazione di tale tecnica, così come la descrizione di una sua possibile applicazione per scopi di formazione degli operatori.

This paper presents the design and the clinical validation of an upper-limb force-feedback exoskeleton, the L-EXOS, for robotic-assisted rehabilitation in virtual reality (VR). The L-EXOS is a five degrees of freedom exoskeleton with a wearable structure and anthropomorphic workspace that can cover the full range of motion of human arm. A specific VR application focused on the reaching task was developed and evaluated on a group of eight post-stroke patients, to assess the efficacy of the system for the rehabilitation of upper limb. The evaluation showed a significant reduction of the performance error in the reaching task (paired t-test, p < 0.02)

Recently, the cortical source of blink-related delta oscillations (delta BROs) in resting healthy subjects has been localized in the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus (PCC/PCu), one of the main core-hubs of the default-mode network. This has been interpreted as the electrophysiological signature of the automatic monitoring of the surrounding environment while subjects are immersed in self-reflecting mental activities. Although delta BROs were directly correlated to the degree of consciousness impairment in patients with disorders of consciousness, they failed to differentiate vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) from minimally conscious state (MCS). In the present study, we have extended the analysis of BROs to frequency bands other than delta in the attempt to find a biological marker that could support the differential diagnosis between VS/UWS and MCS. Four patients with VS/UWS, 5 patients with MCS, and 12 healthy matched controls (CTRL) underwent standard 19-channels EEG recordings during resting conditions. Three-second-lasting EEG epochs centred on each blink instance were submitted to time-frequency analyses in order to extract the normalized Blink-Related Synchronization/Desynchronization (nBRS/BRD) of three bands of interest (low-alpha, high-alpha and low-beta) in the time-window of 50-550 ms after the blink-peak and to estimate the corresponding cortical sources of electrical activity. VS/UWS nBRS/BRD levels of all three bands were lower than those related to both CTRL and MCS, thus enabling the differential diagnosis between MCS and VS/UWS. Furthermore, MCS showed an intermediate signal intensity on PCC/PCu between CTRL and VS/UWS and a higher signal intensity on the left temporo-parieto-occipital junction and inferior occipito-temporal regions when compared to VS/UWS. This peculiar pattern of activation leads us to hypothesize that resting MCS patients have a bottom-up driven activation of the task positive network and thus are tendentially prone to respond to environmental stimuli, even though in an almost unintentional way.

This paper presents the modelling and experimental evaluation of the gravity compensation of a horizontal 3-UPU parallel mechanism. The conventional Newton-Euler method for static analysis and balancing of mechanisms works for serial robots; however, it can become computationally expensive when applied to the analysis of parallel manipulators. To overcome this difficulty, in this paper we propose an approach, based on a Lagrangian method, that is more efficient in terms of computation time. The derivation of the gravity compensation model is based on the analytical computation of the total potential energy of the system at each position of the end-effector. In order to satisfy the gravity compensation condition, the total potential energy of the system should remain constant for all of the manipulator's configurations. Analytical and mechanical gravity compensation is taken into account, and the set of conditions and the system of springs are defined. Finally, employing a virtual reality environment, some experiments are carried out and the reliability and feasibility of the proposed model are evaluated in the presence and absence of the elastic components.

La piazza è un luogo di incontro, di confronto e di discussione, nel quale si creano nuovi rapporti o si rafforzano i rapporti esistenti tra le persone e il luogo stesso. Muoversi dentro una piazza consente di conoscere ‘fi sicamente’ la realtà nella quale stiamo agendo. La rappresentazione digitale di una piazza obbliga, invece, a dematerializzare la realtà e ad operare in una sua traduzione virtuale che consente di vivere l’esperienza di trovarsi in un luogo pur non essendoci. Tale esperienza non può sostituirsi al rapporto individuale che ciascuno di noi instaura con i luoghi reali, ma permette di ricreare con essi relazioni diverse, in accordo con i nostri sensi o addirittura ‘potenziandoli’, attraverso sensazioni nuove, ma comunque coinvolgenti. Un siffatto approccio può offrire un elevato contributo divulgativo perché può essere arricchito da numerose informazioni, su più livelli di conoscenza, fruibili mentre 'camminiamo' dentro la piazza ricostruita, proponendo dunque una capacità conoscitiva più intuitiva e diretta. Questo articolo si propone di esporre e discutere l’utilità e la fl essibilità di uso delle tecnologie virtuali attraverso la presentazione di una serie di ricostruzioni tridimensionali interattive di famose piazze, effettuate dal Laboratorio di Robotica Percettiva (PERCRO) della Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa. Tali ricostruzioni, pur condividendo il medesimo linguaggio digitale, sono state utilizzate per un ampio ventaglio di scopi eterogenei, quali la pianifi cazione urbanistica, la comunicazione culturale, la promozione, l’informazione turistica, la fruizione artistica, nonché la divulgazione storica. Virtual Square Squares are places where people meet, discuss, confront each other, where new relationships within the community are created or strengthened. Moving inside a square allows to physically know the reality in which we are acting. The digital representation of a square, instead, forces a dematerialization of the reality and makes us act in a virtual translation, allowing to experience a place with-out actually being there. This experience cannot replace the indi-vidual relationship established with real places, though it allows to create new and different connections with them, in agreement with our senses or even augmenting them through new involving sensa-tions. Such an approach may offer a relevant contribution for communication and dissemination, as it can provide several information on different levels of knowledge, accessible, while we ‘walk’ inside the reconstructed square, in a more direct and intuitive way. This article aims to describe and discuss the usefulness and the fl exibility of virtual technologies through the presentation of a series of 3D reconstructions of famous squares, produced by the Perceptual Ro-botics Laboratory (PERCRO) of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa. These reconstructions, although sharing the same digital language, have been used for a wide range of heterogeneous purposes, such as urban planning, cultural communication, promotion, tourist information and education.

BackgroundOur body schema gives the subjective impression of being highly stable. However, a number of easily-evoked illusions illustrate its remarkable malleability. In the rubber-hand illusion, illusory ownership of a rubber-hand is evoked by synchronous visual and tactile stimulation on a visible rubber arm and on the hidden real arm. Ownership is concurrent with a proprioceptive illusion of displacement of the arm position towards the fake arm. We have previously shown that this illusion of ownership plus the proprioceptive displacement also occurs towards a virtual 3D projection of an arm when the appropriate synchronous visuotactile stimulation is provided. Our objective here was to explore whether these illusions (ownership and proprioceptive displacement) can be induced by only synchronous visuomotor stimulation, in the absence of tactile stimulation.Methodology/principal findingsTo achieve this we used a data-glove that uses sensors transmitting the positions of fingers to a virtually projected hand in the synchronous but not in the asynchronous condition. The illusion of ownership was measured by means of questionnaires. Questions related to ownership gave significantly larger values for the synchronous than for the asynchronous condition. Proprioceptive displacement provided an objective measure of the illusion and had a median value of 3.5 cm difference between the synchronous and asynchronous conditions. In addition, the correlation between the feeling of ownership of the virtual arm and the size of the drift was significant.Conclusions/significanceWe conclude that synchrony between visual and proprioceptive information along with motor activity is able to induce an illusion of ownership over a virtual arm. This has implications regarding the brain mechanisms underlying body ownership as well as the use of virtual bodies in therapies and rehabilitation.