GAMIFICATION

Gamification is the application of game elements such as points, badges, sounds, and graphics, to non-game environments. It has become increasingly popular across many domains. At LAVA Lab we are studying the effects of gamification on motivation, engagement, and attention.

VR

Virtual Reality is the simulation of an interactive environment using a technological medium such as a head-mounted display (HMD). At LAVA Lab, we are studying the influence of presence in Virtual Reality on several measures of task performance. We are studying how cognition, as influenced by being in virtual reality, changes how humans operate.

VISUAL ATTENTION

There is more information in the world than we can process at once, so we need visual attention to focus our mental resources. LAVA Lab studies how visual attention is distributed in space and time, and how attention is influenced by reward.