Design and Comparison of Immersive Interactive Learning and Instructional Techniques for 3D Virtual Laboratories

This work presents the design, development, and testing of 3D virtual laboratories for practice, specifically in undergraduate mechanical engineering laboratories. The 3D virtual laboratories, implemented under two virtual environments3DTV and Computer Automated Virtual Environment (CAVE)serve as pre-lab sessions performed before the actual physical laboratory experiment. The current study compares the influence of two instructional methods (conventional lecture-based and inquiry-based) under two virtual environments, and the results are compared with the pre-lab sessions using a traditional paper-based lab manual. Subsequently, the evaluation is done by conducting performance and quantitative assessments from students pre-and post-laboratory performances. The research results demonstrate that students in the virtual modules (3DTV and CAVE) performed significantly better in the actual physical experiment than the students in the control group in terms of the overall experiment familiarity and procedure and the conceptual knowledge associated with the experiment. 2015 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Integration of Multisensorial Stimuli and Multimodal Interaction in a Hybrid 3DTV System

This article proposes the integration of multisensorial stimuli and multimodal interaction components into a sports multimedia asset under two dimensions: immersion and interaction. The first dimension comprises a binaural audio system and a set of sensory effects synchronized with the audiovisual content, whereas the second explores interaction through the insertion of interactive 3D objects into the main screen and on-demand presentation of additional information in a second touchscreen. We present an end-to-end solution integrating these components into a hybrid (internet-broadcast) television system using current 3DTV standards. Results from an experimental study analyzing the perceived quality of these stimuli and their influence on the Quality of Experience are presented

Virtual viewpoint three-dimensional panorama

Conventional panoramic images are known to provide for an enhanced field of view in which the scene always has a fixed appearance. The idea presented in this paper focuses on the use of the concept of virtual viewpoint creation to generate different panoramic images of the same scene with three-dimensional component. Three-dimensional effect in a resultant panorama is realized by superimposing a stereo-pair of panoramic images

The influence of the visualization task on the Simulator Sickness symptoms - a comparative SSQ study on 3DTV and 3D immersive glasses

International audienceThe human factors are an essential aspect to take into consideration in order to explain the level of public acceptability of new stereo- scopic devices. A study using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire allowed us to illustrate the differences in symptoms after the visual- ization of 3D images on a 3DTV screen and on a pair of prototype immersive 3D glasses. Also, the results of our study showed that the visualization task influenced the exploration of the scenes, and there- fore influenced the evolution of the simulator sickness symptoms

No-reference depth map quality evaluation model based on depth map edge confidence measurement in immersive video applications

When it comes to evaluating perceptual quality of digital media for overall quality of experience assessment in immersive video applications, typically two main approaches stand out: Subjective and objective quality evaluation. On one hand, subjective quality evaluation offers the best representation of perceived video quality assessed by the real viewers. On the other hand, it consumes a significant amount of time and effort, due to the involvement of real users with lengthy and laborious assessment procedures. Thus, it is essential that an objective quality evaluation model is developed. The speed-up advantage offered by an objective quality evaluation model, which can predict the quality of rendered virtual views based on the depth maps used in the rendering process, allows for faster quality assessments for immersive video applications. This is particularly important given the lack of a suitable reference or ground truth for comparing the available depth maps, especially when live content services are offered in those applications. This paper presents a no-reference depth map quality evaluation model based on a proposed depth map edge confidence measurement technique to assist with accurately estimating the quality of rendered (virtual) views in immersive multi-view video content. The model is applied for depth image-based rendering in multi-view video format, providing comparable evaluation results to those existing in the literature, and often exceeding their performance

Measuring temporal variations in presence

In the current study we have applied the concept of presence to 3DTV research. More specifically, we took this concept to reflect the increased perceptual linkage between the observer and the mediated environment, supporting an illusion of non-mediation. We applied the continuous assessment methodology to reveal time-variant properties of presence, which were hitherto largely ignored, and to assess some of the contributing factors that have been suggested as determinants of presence. Our results indicate that subjective presence ratings are subject to considerable temporal variation depending on the stimulus material used. The continuous assessment methodology may be regarded as a useful measurement tool that is sensitive to this time-varying information in subjective presence judgements, provided that any conclusions are based on averaged results obtained from an adequate number of observers. We also found qualitative evidence suggesting that increasing the extent of sensory information provided to an observer, through the addition of stereoscopic and motion parallax cues (simulated via camera movement), may enhance the observer's sense of presence