Towards real world neuroscience: the impact of virtual and augmented reality techniques on the study of human performance and sense of presence.

Virtual and Augmented reality systems are rapidly evolving. Their technical development is accompanied by a spreading of applications in fields such as architecture, design, digital marketing, education, entertainment, gaming, robotics, fine arts, military and medicine training, engineering and research. Those tools, requiring 8 years ago investment in the order of tens of thousands of US dollars (Bohil, Alicea, & Biocca, 2011) can boast nowadays easier economical accessibility and predicted market size in the next 5 years ranging from 50 to 300 billion (summary of sources). Having regard to the forthcoming large-scale adoption, it is beyond necessary, from a neuroscientific perspective, to investigate the impact of VR and AR technology on human cognition and performance. Therefore, monitoring the interplay between these devices and our brain dynamics in the short and long term and across their development leaps will be crucial to ensure their correct and safe usage in research and beyond. This could pave the way to new research paradigms and commercial applications, granting users the right experience for their needs whether they will need to train for a complex surgical intervention along with an artificial agent or just get the maximum excitement from an immersive sensorial journey. The first introductory chapter will discuss the contribution of virtual and augmented reality as tools for the study of human cognition and performance and the need, arising from an "embodied" vision of cognition, for a transition towards experimental paradigms that allow neuroscientist to study subjects that interact in a realistic environment through spontaneous and natural actions.