Albert "Skip" RizzoInstitute for Creative Technologies
University of Southern California
Albert "Skip" Rizzo
April 13, 2:30 pm
Votey Hall, Rm. 105
Summary
Virtual Reality (VR) technology has undergone a transition in the past few years that has taken it out of the realm of expensive toy and into that of functional technology. Revolutionary advances in the underlying VR enabling technologies (i.e., computation speed, memory storage, graphics and image rendering, display systems, input devices, immersive audio and haptic interfaces, tracking methods, intelligent agents, digital game technology and authoring software, etc.) have supported developments resulting in more powerful, low-cost PC-driven VR systems. Such advances in technological “prowess” and accessibility have delivered the usable VR platforms needed for the conduct of tightly controlled human cognitive and psychological research, as well as for clinical applications in assessment, therapy and rehabilitation. This presentation will deliver an overview of VR technology and application development in the areas of assessment, treatment and rehabilitation over the last 10 years and discuss possibilities for where VR technology development will have the most impact in the next ten years. The presentation will conclude with a hands-on demonstration of a variety of VR applications.
Speaker Bio
Albert "Skip" Rizzo received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is a Research Scientist at the University of Southern California (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies and has a faculty appointment with the USC School of Gerontology. Dr. Rizzo conducts research on the design, development and evaluation of Virtual Reality systems, targeting the areas of clinical assessment, treatment and rehabilitation.