7,453 research outputs found
A Human-Centric Metaverse Enabled by Brain-Computer Interface: A Survey
The growing interest in the Metaverse has generated momentum for members of
academia and industry to innovate toward realizing the Metaverse world. The
Metaverse is a unique, continuous, and shared virtual world where humans embody
a digital form within an online platform. Through a digital avatar, Metaverse
users should have a perceptual presence within the environment and can interact
and control the virtual world around them. Thus, a human-centric design is a
crucial element of the Metaverse. The human users are not only the central
entity but also the source of multi-sensory data that can be used to enrich the
Metaverse ecosystem. In this survey, we study the potential applications of
Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technologies that can enhance the experience of
Metaverse users. By directly communicating with the human brain, the most
complex organ in the human body, BCI technologies hold the potential for the
most intuitive human-machine system operating at the speed of thought. BCI
technologies can enable various innovative applications for the Metaverse
through this neural pathway, such as user cognitive state monitoring, digital
avatar control, virtual interactions, and imagined speech communications. This
survey first outlines the fundamental background of the Metaverse and BCI
technologies. We then discuss the current challenges of the Metaverse that can
potentially be addressed by BCI, such as motion sickness when users experience
virtual environments or the negative emotional states of users in immersive
virtual applications. After that, we propose and discuss a new research
direction called Human Digital Twin, in which digital twins can create an
intelligent and interactable avatar from the user's brain signals. We also
present the challenges and potential solutions in synchronizing and
communicating between virtual and physical entities in the Metaverse
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The Role of Interactive Web Broadcasts in Fostering Distance Learning Students’ Engagement with Practical Lab and Fieldwork
Practical work in science and technology disciplines is crucial for students’ understanding and mastery. For educators who teach those disciplines at a distance and for students who learn remotely, this endeavour may be challenging.
The study presented in this thesis investigates the use of Interactive Web Broadcasts (IWBs) in five undergraduate practical science and technology modules at The Open University. The study examines the reasons for using IWBs, as well as the strategies and types of interactions that staff and students use to engage and interact with one another. The study gathered perspectives from academics (n=18); associate lecturers (n=10); technical production team (n=3); students (n=88), and an external guest expert about the purposes, strategies and motivations of participating in IWBs. The study used a qualitatively mixed-methods design. An adapted protocol of Flanders’s Interaction Analysis Categories was used to analyse the interaction patterns in the web broadcast transcripts and text-chat logs, and a discourse analysis coding scheme was applied to analyse the text-chat. Student online questionnaires were administered towards the end of the modules to capture the student perceptions of IWBs. Student interviews and staff focus groups were also conducted to gain a fuller picture of experiences of using and engaging with IWBs.
Findings show that the purposes and aims of using IWBs are to facilitate student engagement, foster a sense of community, and demonstrate an authentic practice of the sciences in real-world contexts. The communicative strategies were primarily affective and met students’ interests and expectations. The IWBs mitigated feelings of isolation that are common in distance education environments. IWBs had positive impacts on professional teaching practices and fostered collegiality and collaboration among staff. The findings are relevant to other distance and traditional campus-based universities that teach practical science and technology, those who teach online using synchronous technology-mediated systems, and those who are interested in student engagement and practical work
Cognition Assessment Technologies on Deaf People
In recent years there has been a growing interest in research about the different ways of processing and consolidating cognition in deaf people. It is known that hearing loss can lead to differences in some executive functions like control inhibitory or working memory. This literature review describes executive functions in deaf people and how they could be evaluated through technological devices complementing traditional assessments, like neuropsychological batteries. We identified biometric devices, digital and physical interfaces, and software from the literature, whose goal is to design or adapt technology to assess some cognition domains in several ways. The results of the review suggest the need to understand the cognitive phenomenon that significantly impacts the context of deaf people; moreover, it becomes relevant as a line of research in the Cognitive Science of Hearing. Using technologies to measure them and gain a better understanding of cognition in deaf people may provide possibilities for designing or adapting targeted educational or therapeutic strategies
Assessment of saccadic eye movements in healthy subjects using consumer-grade mobile devices
Assessing eye movement features may provide insight into neurological health, inform diagnoses, and guide clinical intervention. The potential to utilize saccadic eye movement latency is especially promising as a clinical biomarker in identifying and treating neurodegenerative disease. Artificial intelligence and deep learning technology have improved the feasibility of eye-tracking methodology and scalability in research studies. Tablet and smartphone-based tracking equipment have been shown to provide quantitative data of comparable accuracy to more costly, special-built equipment while reducing cost and complexity in experimental procedures. Establishing an efficient and accurate measurement tool to aid the detection and tracking of diseases may benefit the development of comprehensive treatment and monitoring strategies. This study, therefore, seeks to examine oculomotor function through saccade latency and error rate in healthy adults with respect to age, demonstrating a mobile device’s efficacy in assessing subtle eye movements and establishing a dataset upon which to guide further investigation
Mars delivery service - development of the electro-mechanical systems of the Sample Fetch Rover for the Mars Sample Return Campaign
This thesis describes the development of the Sample Fetch Rover (SFR), studied for Mars Sample Return (MSR), an international campaign carried out in cooperation between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The focus of this document is the design of the electro-mechanical systems of the rover.
After placing this work into the general context of robotic planetary exploration and summarising the state of the art for what concerns Mars rovers, the architecture of the Mars Sample Return Campaign is presented. A complete overview of the current SFR architecture is provided, touching upon all the main subsystems of the spacecraft. For each area, it is discussed what are the design drivers, the chosen solutions and whether they use heritage technology (in particular from the ExoMars Rover) or new developments. This research focuses on two topics of particular interest, due to their relevance for the mission and the novelty of their design: locomotion and sample acquisition, which are discussed in depth.
The early SFR locomotion concepts are summarised, covering the initial trade-offs and discarded designs for higher traverse performance. Once a consolidated architecture was reached, the locomotion subsystem was developed further, defining the details of the suspension, actuators, deployment mechanisms and wheels. This technology is presented here in detail, including some key analysis and test results that support the design and demonstrate how it responds to the mission requirements.
Another major electro-mechanical system developed as part of this work is the one dedicated to sample tube acquisition. The concept of operations of this machinery was defined to be robust against the unknown conditions that characterise the mission. The design process led to a highly automated robotic system which is described here in its main components: vision system, robotic arm and tube storage
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