Feasibility of Mapping Brain Activity to the Levels of Task Complexity within Environments of Virtual Reality
Date
2023-09-21
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Abstract
Mapping brain activity to certain levels of task complexity is essential for creating environments of Virtual Reality (VR), which could adapt to the mental states of human users. To investigate the feasibility of such mapping, the research work of this thesis took an approach of two steps. At first, the levels of task complexity were defined according to the geometric and appearance parameters of objects that the users interacted with for executing a task. By associating the parameters to the execution of the task, this step remedied qualitative descriptions of the levels in current state-of-the-art. Secondly, an empirical study of two experiments was conducted within a VR to collect brain activities (as brainwaves) of human participants (i.e., users) during the execution involving various task complexity. Using a device of encephalography (EEG) to collect the brainwaves, this step assessed several existing features derived from the brainwaves as potential indicators of feasibility. This thesis produced two significant findings: (1) the definition of task complexity is quantitative and could be suitable for describing object-oriented tasks, and (2) specific EEG features – such as engagement ratio – could indicate increased or decreased levels of task complexity. Hence, the work indicates the feasibility of mapping brain activity to the levels of task complexity. Future investigations are needed to refine the definition, and EEG features for optimizing cognitive engagement and performance by modulating the levels of task complexity. The outcomes of the investigations could have implications for training, simulation, and user experience in various VR-based applications.
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EEG, Task complexity, Engagement Ratio, Activity Ratio, Attention Ratio, VR environments
Citation
Perez Vite, Y. J. I. (2023). Feasibility of mapping brain activity to the levels of task complexity within environments of Virtual Reality (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.