Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Siew Tiang Lau, Rosalind Chiew Jiat Siah, Khairul Dzakirin Bin Rusli, Wen Liang Loh, John Yin Gwee Yap, Emily Ang, Fui Ping Lim, Sok Ying Liaw
Summary: This study describes the design of a head-mounted virtual reality system for education on clinical procedures for nursing students and explores the experience of nursing students using the system. The results show that students had a largely positive perception and learning experience. However, there were challenges related to technology and physical discomfort that need to be addressed.
JMIR SERIOUS GAMES
(2023)
Article
Business
Daniel Westmattelmann, Jan-Gerrit Grotenhermen, Marius Sprenger, William Rand, Gerhard Schewe
Summary: The study findings suggest that utilitarian and hedonic factors influence the use of virtual sports platforms, but there are subgroup differences. Privacy concerns pose a risk to continued use of these platforms for all users, while cheating is only relevant for competitive users. Use intention is positively correlated with actual usage behavior.
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Tam V. Nguyen, Somaraju Kamma, Vamsi Adari, Tyler Lesthaeghe, Thomas Boehnlein, Victoria Kramb
Summary: This paper introduces a novel mixed reality system for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) training, where operator trainees can interact with virtual objects in a mixed environment using wearable headsets. The evaluation results show significant benefits of using mixed reality training for potential technician trainees.
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Alberto Cannavo, Davide Calandra, F. Gabriele Prattico, Valentina Gatteschi, Fabrizio Lamberti
Summary: This article introduces a novel evaluation testbed to support a comprehensive analysis of locomotion approaches in VR environments. An experimental protocol for collecting objective and subjective measures, along with a scoring system to rank approaches, is proposed. The testbed usage is illustrated in a use case for selecting a technique in a given application scenario.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VISUALIZATION AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Cybernetics
Mohd Kamal Othman, Altynai Nogoibaeva, Lai San Leong, Mohamad Hardyman Barawi
Summary: This study evaluated the usability of a VR and non-VR virtual tour application for a living museum. While the VR version had higher user experience scores in most components compared to the non-VR version, there was no significant difference between the two versions based on the overall SUS score, indicating both versions were acceptable.
UNIVERSAL ACCESS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Humanities, Multidisciplinary
Ji Hyun Yi, Hae Sun Kim
Summary: This study systematically designed new museum experiences using wearable mixed reality technology, defining six types of museum artifact viewing experiences and three essential factors that users should feel in the MR experience. Evaluation results showed positive scores for the design based on defined experience types and essential factors.
ACM JOURNAL ON COMPUTING AND CULTURAL HERITAGE
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Social
Shady Guertin-Lahoud, Constantinos K. Coursaris, Sylvain Senecal, Pierre-Majorique Leger
Summary: Virtual reality (VR) technology has been used in the entertainment industry and world-leading museums to provide engaging experiences through multisensory virtual environments (VEs). With the rise of the Metaverse, there is a growing interest in understanding how different dimensions of VEs, such as social and interactive, impact user experience (UX). This field study investigates the perceived and lived experiences of 28 participants in a VR experience with different levels of interactivity, either individually or in pairs. The study utilizes a mixed methods approach, combining conventional UX measures and psychophysiological measures, to comprehensively assess users' immersive and affective experiences. The results show that shared VR elicits more positive affect, while the presence of a real-world partner does not affect presence, immersion, flow, and state anxiety. The study also finds that the interactivity of the VE moderates the effect of a real-world partner on users' adaptive immersion and arousal. These findings support the idea that VR can be shared with a real-world partner without hindering the immersive experience and can enhance positive affect. Therefore, this study not only provides methodological directions for future VR field research but also offers practical insights for VR developers in creating optimal multiuser virtual environments.
CYBERPSYCHOLOGY BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL NETWORKING
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Salvatore Livatino, Dario C. Guastella, Giovanni Muscato, Vincenzo Rinaldi, Luciano Cantelli, Carmelo D. Melita, Alessandro Caniglia, Riccardo Mazza, Gianluca Padula
Summary: This paper proposes an intuitive way to present sensor data to users by using mixed reality and visual aids in order to address the cognitive load issue faced by operators in remote-vehicle teleoperation. The method aims to increase situational awareness and speed up decision-making by providing coherent and intuitive sensor-information presentation.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Yong-Guk Go, Ho-San Kang, Jong-Won Lee, Mun-Su Yu, Soo-Mi Choi
Summary: The development of services and applications involving drones is driving the growth and popularization of the unmanned-aerial-vehicle industry. Flying first-person-view (FPV) drones requires experience, and a remote training system can help beginners practice under expert guidance.
Article
Education & Educational Research
Hayoung Jeon, Yumi Jun, Teemu H. H. Laine, Eunha Kim
Summary: This study developed an immersive VR game with six different design concept versions to cultivate the ability of recognizing that people can have different perspectives and emotions in the same situation through solving puzzles. User evaluations showed that the game had good usability, with the fixed first-person perspective and conveyor belt exhibition method being the most preferred and causing the least cybersickness. These results can be useful for designers, developers, researchers, and psychologists interested in VR-based empathy education.
EDUCATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Valerio De Luca, Maria Cristina Barba, Giovanni D'Errico, Benito Luigi Nuzzo, Lucio Tommaso De Paolis
Summary: Mixed Reality is a valuable tool for promoting cultural heritage, particularly through the use of virtual portals. This paper presents the development of a Mixed Reality mobile application that offers a virtual reconstruction of the church of Sant'Elia, allowing users to experience a virtual journey into the past. The user experience was evaluated through a questionnaire, and the results showed high levels of interest and independence of usability from other factors.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
SangHun Nam, JongIn Choi
Summary: This study proposes a user evaluation system based on a game engine, where users can use an eye-tracking device to measure their area or object of interest. Eye-tracking technology, which measures the intentions of a person looking at a point of interest, is widely used in various sectors. To address the limitations of real-world test environments, studies on user evaluation tests using virtual reality (VR) are actively conducted. In this study, a VR user evaluation system based on an eye-tracking device was developed using the unity game engine and HTC VIVE Pro eye.
MULTIMEDIA TOOLS AND APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Alexandra Bec, Brent Moyle, Vikki Schaffer, Ken Timms
Summary: The deterioration of attractions and destinations is becoming a critical issue in tourism, with closures and destruction posing challenges for tourism development. This paper explores the concept of second chance tourism and innovative preservation methods like virtual and mixed reality to restore over-tourism affected sites. Data collation based on the proposed framework aims to reduce pressure on inherently fragile destinations.
TOURISM MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Yong Min Kim, Ilsun Rhiu
Summary: This study explored the effects of three navigation interfaces on user performance, sense of presence, workload, usability, and motion sickness, revealing different advantages and disadvantages in each evaluation metric. It highlighted the need for more research on user safety for the walking-in-place (WIP) interface and is expected to contribute to the development of guidelines for applying navigation interfaces to specific VR environments.
APPLIED ERGONOMICS
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Cybernetics
Seung Jin Chung, So Yeon Kim, Ki Han Kim
Summary: This study investigated the impact of spatial environment on user experience in VR exhibitions, finding that virtuality-based environments induce more active movements while reality-based environments provide a more comfortable feeling and better communication.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN-COMPUTER STUDIES
(2024)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fariba Mostajeran, Marvin Fischer, Frank Steinicke, Simone Kuehn
Summary: Previous research has shown that exposure to immersive virtual nature environments can have positive effects on emotions and physiology. However, there is limited research on the effects on cognitive performance. In this study, we conducted an experiment with 27 participants to examine the psychological effects of virtual nature exposure compared to a virtual control environment. Results showed that exposure to virtual nature resulted in significantly higher cognitive performance, perceived restorativeness, positive affect, sense of presence, and lower perceived stress and simulator sickness compared to the control environment.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fariba Mostajeran, Frank Steinicke, Sarah Reinhart, Wolfgang Stuerzlinger, Bernhard. E. E. Riecke, Simone Kuehn
Summary: Previous research has shown the positive effects of exposure to real and virtual nature. This study examined how the presence or absence of virtual plants in a virtual office affected users' cognitive performance and psychological well-being. The results showed that participants performed better in memory and creativity tasks and reported higher psychological well-being scores when virtual plants were present in the VR office. The findings suggest that virtual plants have positive influences on users and should be considered in the design of future work and learning environments.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Paul Starke, Sebastian Starke, Taku Komura, Frank Steinicke
Summary: This paper introduces a novel data-driven motion in-betweening system that utilizes phases variables learned by a Periodic Autoencoder to reach target poses of characters. The proposed approach utilizes a mixture-of-experts neural network model and a learned bi-directional control scheme to satisfy modified poses and constraints. The results demonstrate that using phases for motion in-betweening tasks improves motion quality and enables synthesis of challenging movements.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACM ON COMPUTER GRAPHICS AND INTERACTIVE TECHNIQUES
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Cybernetics
Tim Rolff, Susanne Schmidt, Frank Steinicke, Simone Frintrop
Summary: Real-time detection of saccades is important for various applications. This paper proposes a deep learning framework using multimodal data and a Weibull Mixture Model to predict the time-to-event of saccades. The model achieves state-of-the-art performance and considers the temporal properties of gaze sequences.
ACM SYMPOSIUM ON EYE TRACKING RESEARCH & APPLICATIONS, ETRA 2023
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Bastian Dewitz, Sukran Karaosmanoglu, Robert W. Lindeman, Frank Steinicke
Summary: This poster presents a method for systematically distinguishing between interaction techniques in immersive virtual environments. The research currently uses heterogeneous terms to describe the concept of enhancing user abilities beyond the limits of the real world. To clarify and define these terms, the poster proposes using the orthogonal concepts of internalizability, congruence, and enhancement (or ICE-cube) as a simple yet expressive conceptual framework.
2023 IEEE CONFERENCE ON VIRTUAL REALITY AND 3D USER INTERFACES ABSTRACTS AND WORKSHOPS, VRW
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Lucie Kruse, Fariba Mostajeran, Frank Steinicke
Summary: Virtual humanoid agents play an important role in various tasks and their representation affects psychological aspects. In a virtual reality study, we compared the impact of agent visibility during an anagram solving task on social presence and cognitive task performance. We varied the visibility from (i) voice-only, (ii) mouth-only, (iii) full head, (iv) upper body, to (v) full body representations of the same virtual agent. The results showed significant differences in perceived social presence, especially for the least visible representations (voice-only and mouth-only), but no significant effects on task performance were found.
2023 IEEE CONFERENCE ON VIRTUAL REALITY AND 3D USER INTERFACES ABSTRACTS AND WORKSHOPS, VRW
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Ke Li, Tim Rolff, Susanne Schmidt, Reinhard Bacher, Simone Frintrop, Wim Leemans, Frank Steinicke
Summary: NeRF, along with its extension by instant neural graphics primitives, is a rendering method that utilizes real-world images to create highly realistic virtual scenes. However, there is currently limited integration of NeRF into typical VR systems for research and benchmarking purposes in the VR community. In this poster paper, we present an extension that brings stereoscopic, high-resolution, low-latency, 6-DoF NeRF rendering to the Unity game engine for immersive VR applications.
2023 IEEE CONFERENCE ON VIRTUAL REALITY AND 3D USER INTERFACES ABSTRACTS AND WORKSHOPS, VRW
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Information Systems
Andre Zenner, Kristin Ullmann, Oscar Ariza, Frank Steinicke, Antonio Kruger
Summary: This study proposes a set of reflex-based blink triggers for virtual reality and compares the pros and cons of different triggers. The results indicate that triggers based on the menace, corneal, and dazzle reflexes perform the best.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 CHI CONFERENCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN COMPUTING SYSTEMS, CHI 2023
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Information Systems
Sebastian Cmentowski, Sukran Karaosmanoglu, Lennart E. Nacke, Frank Steinicke, Jens Krueger
Summary: Virtual Reality (VR) exergames can increase engagement and motivation for physical activities. However, most games focus on upper body workouts and it is important to provide a balanced full-body workout for them to be a serious alternative to existing exercise programs. In this study, a VR exergame focused on vertical jump training was developed and evaluated by domain experts. The results showed that jump-centered exercises provided a valuable challenge and positive player experience.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 CHI CONFERENCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN COMPUTING SYSTEMS, CHI 2023
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Cybernetics
Lisa L. Barth, Pauline Hilpert, Lina Kaschub, W. Adrian Reichardt, Fariba Mostajeran, Frank Steinicke
Summary: Climate change is the most defining crisis of our time, and education and engagement are crucial in changing the global response to it. Virtual Reality (VR) serious games offer immersive experiences and educational potential. This paper introduces Heated Escape, a novel VR escape room game that aims to educate players about the urgency of the climate crisis.
2022 IEEE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON MIXED AND AUGMENTED REALITY ADJUNCT (ISMAR-ADJUNCT 2022)
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Tim Rolff, H. Matthias Harms, Frank Steinicke, Simone Frintrop
Summary: This paper proposes a Transformer architecture called Gaze Transformer for predicting egocentric gaze points in virtual environments. Unlike previous architectures, it focuses on data modalities provided by eye-trackers or sent to head-mounted displays, rather than relying on application state information. Gaze Transformer allows for the prediction of various eye movements, such as saccades and fixations, by creating unfiltered datasets using raw gaze data from eye-trackers. Additionally, the study analyzes the quality of six different image encoding backends in forecasting gaze positions.
PATTERN RECOGNITION, DAGM GCPR 2022
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Nidhi Joshi, Niklas Beecken, Hawa Bah, Frank Steinicke, Juliane Degner
Summary: This paper presents a prototype of a virtual group meeting emotion analytics tool that combines real human participants and virtual agents. It detects facial expressions using Facial Action Units (FACS) and calculates an aggregated summary of the group's emotional states. In addition, an AI algorithm is trained and tested to infer secondary emotional states. The tool is demonstrated in an online classroom scenario where teachers can receive aggregated emotion analytics of their student group.
2022 IEEE CONFERENCE ON VIRTUAL REALITY AND 3D USER INTERFACES ABSTRACTS AND WORKSHOPS (VRW 2022)
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Ke Li, Aradhana Choudhuri, Susanne Schmidt, Reinhard Bacher, Ingmar Hartl, Wim Leemans, Frank Steinicke
Summary: This paper presents a mixed reality application for laser eye protection using a video see-through head-mounted display. The prototype was designed and evaluated at a state-of-the-art optics laboratory, demonstrating the potential of virtual reality headsets as an alternative to traditional laser safety goggles.
2022 IEEE CONFERENCE ON VIRTUAL REALITY AND 3D USER INTERFACES ABSTRACTS AND WORKSHOPS (VRW 2022)
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Celeste Mason, Frank Steinicke
Summary: Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVAs) have become increasingly common and complex in form and function in our daily lives. Initially developed for basic functionality in work or educational settings, IVAs are now present in a variety of realistic and complex contexts. This paper focuses on personalized embodied human intelligent virtual agents assisting individuals in physical training exergames.
2022 IEEE CONFERENCE ON VIRTUAL REALITY AND 3D USER INTERFACES ABSTRACTS AND WORKSHOPS (VRW 2022)
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Fariba Mostajeran, Pia Reisewitz, Frank Steinicke
Summary: In this preliminary study, the researchers aimed to investigate the social facilitation and inhibition effects in augmented reality. The experiments involved participants performing cognitive and motor tasks alone or in the presence of a real human or a virtual agent. The results showed tendencies towards social facilitation and inhibition.
2022 IEEE CONFERENCE ON VIRTUAL REALITY AND 3D USER INTERFACES ABSTRACTS AND WORKSHOPS (VRW 2022)
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Rafael Maio, Tiago Araujo, Bernardo Marques, Andre Santos, Pedro Ramalho, Duarte Almeida, Paulo Dias, Beatriz Sousa Santos
Summary: Augmented Reality (AR) is a crucial technology in Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing, particularly in the field of data monitoring. In this study, we developed a Pervasive AR tool for data monitoring, along with a web application for comparison purposes. User studies were conducted to gather feedback and evaluate the effectiveness of the systems, confirming the potential of Pervasive AR for data monitoring.
COMPUTERS & GRAPHICS-UK
(2024)
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Berk Cebeci, Mehmet Bahadir Askin, Tolga K. Capin, Ufuk Celikcan
Summary: Despite advances in virtual reality technologies, extended VR sessions with head-mounted displays (HMDs) still face challenges in terms of comfort. In this study, a methodology using gaze-directed and visual saliency-guided paradigms for automatic stereo camera control in real-time interactive VR was proposed. The results showed that the gaze-directed approach outperformed the saliency-guided approach, both improving the overall depth feeling without hindering visual comfort in the tested virtual environments (VEs).
COMPUTERS & GRAPHICS-UK
(2024)
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Ali Egemen Tasoren, Ufuk Celikcan
Summary: By developing the NOVAction engine, we have created the NOVAction23 dataset, which consists of highly diversified and photorealistic synthetic human action sequences. This dataset is significant in improving the performance of human action recognition.
COMPUTERS & GRAPHICS-UK
(2024)
