FOX’s ‘Lie to Me’ Features PS3 Controller Operated Virtual Reality Prototype

Wow. The ignorance is just stunning.

He has clearly mastered the sixaxis technology.

Actually, this is very much like one of our real DoD system, and a relatively accurate (although rushed) portrayal of the way we use it. The DoD grant paid for the software development and the therapy research. The hardware was off the shelf. Even the headset is the correct brand. We do actually use a PS3 controller in some versions (and a nintendo controller in another). The reason is that they are cheep. If you want to see our real systems, they have been featured in a few hundred press articles. Google, “Virtual Reality” and “Naval Medical Center San Diego.” I never talked to the folks from this show, so I’m presuming that they either saw a news clip about us, worked with one of our collaborators, or went directly to one of the software designers. One of the main developers is at the University of Southern California in LA, so they might have gotten if from there.

Rob McLay

Hey Rob,

That is some pretty interesting information. Thanks for sharing it with us. At the very least we now know that gaming controllers are actually used in some of these DoD funded systems. I still have a hard time believing the drag-and-drop elements and the waving of the controller though.

Thanks for the comment!

You are right, the drag and drop and the waving of the controller is stuff and nonsense. Also, the whole scene is overly dramatic, but of course it’s Hollywood. In real life, there is no glass box, the therapy is one on one, and no real therapist would accuse a Service Member of cowardice in a session. We gradually allow Service Members to face simulated experiences that had traumatized them — the idea being that in a controlled situation that they can now learn to overcome them. Only one of our systems uses the physiological monitoring (built by Virtual Reality Medical Center), but the software looks like the system built by Virtually Better and USC. Both run on PC’s, not game systems by the way. I haven’t seen the whole show, so I don’t know what else is accurate or not. I was actually doing a search to find about the new PTSD guidelines the Obama administration announced this am, and your web page came up in. Thanks for brining it to attention.

Actually, now that I look at it a again, they actually are doing it the way we really do. We can add all the things they do in the show with one click of the mouse.

Interesting. Activision should hire you guys to work on one of the seven Call of Duty sequels they probably have planned for next year :D

So to be clear, you could actually set off an IED with the click of a button based on what someone was telling you in their recollection of events? It just seemed that the rate in which they were making adjustments was lightning fast.

Yes, we can do that. We have a few hundred pre-programmed events and elements that we can add or subtract from any of a dozen staring simulations. IED blasts and ambushes are, for obvious reasons, some of the events that are more commonly used. We have interview the Service Member in advance, so we have a good idea of the pattern of things that we are going to be simulating each time. We then just have to tweak things based on the participant’s feedback. As happens in the show, we might change the position in the convoy, or add or subtract air cover, etc. In real life, we wouldn’t throw all the events at a Service Member at once, but there was nothing in that clip that we couldn’t add to a real VR simulation. In fact, we could instantly add smells or vibrations to the room as well.

Interesting. So the only thing left that seems a bit strange is the controller waving and the way the solider was spoken to, but it’s good to know that the other stuff is actually possible.

Thanks Rob.