Technologies have always been part of our evolution as humans, and in fact many people now often discuss such topic in terms of co-evolution between humans and machines. Actually the evolutionary success of our species depends on the nearly unique capability of extending our body capabilities by means of more or less complex tools. The advent of virtual and augmented reality technologies opened up intriguing possibilities for the study of the human mind and of its neurological substrates. For example, we can expose people to situations that are impossible to reproduce in the real world and observe their consequences in terms of brain adaptation and plasticity. At the same time the scientific knowledge related to the functioning of our brain offers important suggestions for the development of safe, usable and acceptable interfaces. For these very reasons the relationship between humans and machines by means of virtual simulations has become a novel and important topic in scientific psychological research. In this talk, we will present novel research findings in this rapidly evolving field, with a particular emphasis on the vast potential of this approach.

Info e dettagli: Zaira Cattaneo.