A global research team has received a $1.5 million (1.4 million euros) grant to develop a virtual reality (VR) system to assess traumatic brain injury (TBI) for military purposes.
The project, entitled "Model Development and Translation of a Virtual Reality Military Operational Neuropsychological Assessment," is being led by scientists at the University of Arizona. They will use deep-learning neural networks to identify neuropsychological deficits during a relatively brief interactive VR combat-related "game."
During this "game," participants will use a VR headset and hand sensor system to engage in an immersive set of scenarios relevant to the military. The VR system will allow simultaneous assessment of a variety of neurocognitive domains in real-time while the subject interacts with the system's posed problem scenarios.
This includes engaging in combat-relevant activities involving friend-or-foe discrimination, visual and auditory perception, situational awareness, decision-making, and communication. Data will be extracted and analyzed using machine-learning algorithms.
