2,176 research outputs found
Internet of robotic things : converging sensing/actuating, hypoconnectivity, artificial intelligence and IoT Platforms
The Internet of Things (IoT) concept is evolving rapidly and influencing newdevelopments in various application domains, such as the Internet of MobileThings (IoMT), Autonomous Internet of Things (A-IoT), Autonomous Systemof Things (ASoT), Internet of Autonomous Things (IoAT), Internetof Things Clouds (IoT-C) and the Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) etc.that are progressing/advancing by using IoT technology. The IoT influencerepresents new development and deployment challenges in different areassuch as seamless platform integration, context based cognitive network integration,new mobile sensor/actuator network paradigms, things identification(addressing, naming in IoT) and dynamic things discoverability and manyothers. The IoRT represents new convergence challenges and their need to be addressed, in one side the programmability and the communication ofmultiple heterogeneous mobile/autonomous/robotic things for cooperating,their coordination, configuration, exchange of information, security, safetyand protection. Developments in IoT heterogeneous parallel processing/communication and dynamic systems based on parallelism and concurrencyrequire new ideas for integrating the intelligent âdevicesâ, collaborativerobots (COBOTS), into IoT applications. Dynamic maintainability, selfhealing,self-repair of resources, changing resource state, (re-) configurationand context based IoT systems for service implementation and integrationwith IoT network service composition are of paramount importance whennew âcognitive devicesâ are becoming active participants in IoT applications.This chapter aims to be an overview of the IoRT concept, technologies,architectures and applications and to provide a comprehensive coverage offuture challenges, developments and applications
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3D (embodied) projection mapping and sensing bodies : a study in interactive dance performance
This dissertation identifies the synergies between physical and virtual environments when designing for immersive experiences in interactive dance performances. The integration of virtual information in physical space is transforming our interactions and experiences with the world. By using the body and creative expression as the interface between real and virtual worlds, dance performance creates a privileged framework to research and design interactive mixed reality environments and immersive augmented architectures. The research is primarily situated in the fields of visual art and interaction design. It combines performance with transdisciplinary fields and intertwines practice with theory. The theoretical and conceptual implications involved in designing and experiencing immersive hybrid environments are analyzed using the realityâvirtuality continuum. These theories helped frame the ways augmented reality architectures are achieved through the integration of dance performance with digital software and reception displays. They also helped identify the main artistic affordances and restrictions in the design of augmented reality and augmented virtuality environments for live performance. These pervasive media architectures were materialized in three field experiments, the live dance performances. Each performance was created in three different stages of conception, design and production. The first stage was to âdigitizeâ the performerâs movement and brain activity to the virtual environment and our system. This was accomplished through the use of depth sensor cameras, 3D motion capture, and brain computer interfaces. The second stage was the creation of the computational architecture and software that aggregates the connections and mapping between the physical body and the spatial dynamics of the virtual environment. This process created real-time interactions between the performerâs behavior and motion and the real-time generative computer 3D graphics. Finally, the third stage consisted of the output modality: 3D projector based augmentation techniques were adopted in order to overlay the virtual environment onto physical space. This thesis proposes and lays out theoretical, technical, and artistic frameworks between 3D digital environments and moving bodies in dance performance. By sensing the body and the brain with the 3D virtual environments, new layers of augmentation and interactions are established, and ultimately this generates mixed reality environments for embodied improvisational self-expression.Radio-Television-Fil
Design and evaluation of a choreography-based virtual reality authoring tool for experiential learning in industrial training
The use of virtual reality (VR) for industrial training
helps minimize risks and costs by allowing more frequent and
varied use of experiential learning activities, leading to active and
improved learning. However, creating VR training experiences
is costly and time-consuming, requiring software development
experts. Additionally, current authoring tools lack integration with
existing data and are desktop-oriented, which detach the pedagogic
process of creating the immersive experience from experiencing it
in a situated context. In this article, we present a novel interactive
approach for immersive authoring of VR-based experiential
training by the trainers themselves, from inside the virtual
environment and without the support of development experts. The
design includes identifying interactable elements, such as 3-D
models, equipment, tools, settings, and environment. The trainer
also specifies by demonstration the actions to be performed by
trainees, as a virtual choreography. During course execution,
traineesâ activities are also registered as virtual choreographies and
matched to those specified by the trainer. Thus, trainer and trainee
are culturally situated within their area semantics and social
discourse, rather than adopting concepts of the VR system for the
learning content. We conducted a usability case study with
professionals from an international wind energy company, using
detailed models of wind turbines and real-world procedures.
Trainers set up a training course using the immersive authoring
tool, and trainees executed the course. The learning experience and
usability were analyzed, and the training was certified by
comparing real-world task completion between a user who had
undergone virtual training and a user who did not.Manuscript received 25 June 2021; revised 30 November 2021 and 18 February 2022; accepted 2 March 2022. Date of publication 7 March 2022; date of current version 21 October 2022. This work was supported in part by the ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation - COMPETE 2020 under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, in part by the Portuguese National Innovation Agency (ANI) under Project POCI-01-0247-FEDER038524, and in part by Portuguese funding agency, FCT - Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia, under Project UIDB/50014/2020. An earlier version of this paper was presented in part at the 2021 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D UserInterfaces[DOI: 10.1109/VRW52623.2021.00199].(Corresponding author:
Fernando Cassola.) Fernando Cassola, Daniel Mendes, and Ant onio Coelho are with the INESC
TEC, and Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]). Manuel Pinto and Hugo Paredes are with the INESC TEC and University of Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]).
Leonel Morgado is with the INESC TEC and Universidade Aberta, 1250-100 Lisboa, Portugal (e-mail: [email protected]).
Sara Costa, Luıs Anjos, David Marques, Filipe Rosa, Ana Maia, and Helga Tavares are with the Vestas Wind Systems, 2670-327 Loures, Portugal (email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TLT.2022.3157065info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Virtual relationships: the dancer and the avatar
People might assume that dancing with a digital avatar would be a relatively distant, dehumanizing or disembodied process. However, in this article we propose that effective and creative choreographic practice can be achieved by working with a virtual representation of a dancer, and we offer two case studies to evidence the practical application of motion capture technology within this context. We observed that the virtual model quickly and naturally becomes an extension of the dancer's interiority and that a dynamic affective attunement between dancer and avatar spontaneously develops. We describe how the relationship between the physical and the virtual dancing body raises several practical, theoretical and even philosophical questions for choreographic approach, style and process. Building from Susanne Langer's (1953) germinal conception of the âvirtual powersâ of dance, we articulate a practice-led research opportunity to critically reflect on conventional choreographic practices through the affordances of a specifically digital virtuality, in ways that can open out the kinds of affective, emotional and phenomenological frameworks within which creation occurs. The unique affordances of recent motion capture systems, offer naturalistic three-dimensional environments with an increased improvisational interactivity that simply cannot be achieved with video-based media
Designing for Ballet Classes: Identifying and Mitigating Communication Challenges Between Dancers and Teachers
Dancer-teacher communication in a ballet class can be challenging: ballet is one of the most complex forms of movements, and learning happens through multi-faceted interactions with studio tools (mirror, barre, and floor) and the teacher. We conducted an interview-based qualitative study with seven ballet teachers and six dancers followed by an open-coded analysis to explore the communication challenges that arise while teaching and learning in the ballet studio. We identified key communication issues, including adapting to multi-level dancer expertise, transmitting and realigning development goals, providing personalized corrections and feedback, maintaining the state of flow, and communicating how to properly use tools in the environment. We discuss design implications for crafting technological interventions aimed at mitigating these communication challenges
Collaborative Practices that Support Creativity in Design
Design is a ubiquitous, collaborative and highly material activity. Because of the embodied nature of the design profession, designers apply certain collaborative practices to enhance creativity in their everyday work. Within the domain of industrial design, we studied two educational design departments over a period of eight months. Using examples from our fieldwork, we develop our results around three broad themes related to collaborative practices that support the creativity of design professionals: 1) externalization, 2) use of physical space, and 3) use of bodies. We believe that these themes of collaborative practices could provide new insights into designing technologies for supporting a varied set of design activities. We describe two conceptual collaborative systems derived from the results of our study
Choreographic and Somatic Approaches for the Development of Expressive Robotic Systems
As robotic systems are moved out of factory work cells into human-facing
environments questions of choreography become central to their design,
placement, and application. With a human viewer or counterpart present, a
system will automatically be interpreted within context, style of movement, and
form factor by human beings as animate elements of their environment. The
interpretation by this human counterpart is critical to the success of the
system's integration: knobs on the system need to make sense to a human
counterpart; an artificial agent should have a way of notifying a human
counterpart of a change in system state, possibly through motion profiles; and
the motion of a human counterpart may have important contextual clues for task
completion. Thus, professional choreographers, dance practitioners, and
movement analysts are critical to research in robotics. They have design
methods for movement that align with human audience perception, can identify
simplified features of movement for human-robot interaction goals, and have
detailed knowledge of the capacity of human movement. This article provides
approaches employed by one research lab, specific impacts on technical and
artistic projects within, and principles that may guide future such work. The
background section reports on choreography, somatic perspectives,
improvisation, the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System, and robotics. From this
context methods including embodied exercises, writing prompts, and community
building activities have been developed to facilitate interdisciplinary
research. The results of this work is presented as an overview of a smattering
of projects in areas like high-level motion planning, software development for
rapid prototyping of movement, artistic output, and user studies that help
understand how people interpret movement. Finally, guiding principles for other
groups to adopt are posited.Comment: Under review at MDPI Arts Special Issue "The Machine as Artist (for
the 21st Century)"
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/arts/special_issues/Machine_Artis
A Study of Interaction, Visual Canvas, and Immersion in AR Design: A DSR Approach
Augmented reality (AR) as an innovative technology has changed the way people use technology for interaction and communication. While researchers have studied the application of AR, research on AR as a communication medium remains scant. In this study, we investigate the effect of AR factors (namely, interaction, visual canvas/cues, and immersion) on AR-mediated communication. We apply design science research (DSR) guidelines to design, develop, and evaluate an AR artifact. We derive the design elements based on interactivity, media naturalness, and immersion theories and develop the AR artifact as a mobile app in an iterative manner. We evaluate the design product through the informed arguments and scenarios method, and the design process by assessing its conformance to DSR principles. We show that AR factors\u27 design elementsâinteraction (user controls, contextual tasks, and ergonomics), visual canvas/cues (realistic 3D models, visual and audio cues, and aesthetics), and immersion (diverse components)âplay a critical role in AR-mediated communication. Furthermore, high-quality product visuals and interactive user controls give users a good AR experience. From a practice perspective, AR app designers may incorporate the design process we used in our study and generate AR experiences that fully exploit AR mediaâs communication affordance. We contribute to knowledge by using DSR guidelines for designing and developing AR as a communication medium
Evaluating the Effects of Immersive Embodied Interaction on Cognition in Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is on its advent of becoming mainstream household technology, as technologies such as head-mounted displays, trackers, and interaction devices are becoming affordable and easily available. Virtual reality (VR) has immense potential in enhancing the fields of education and training, and its power can be used to spark interest and enthusiasm among learners. It is, therefore, imperative to evaluate the risks and benefits that immersive virtual reality poses to the field of education. Research suggests that learning is an embodied process. Learning depends on grounded aspects of the body including action, perception, and interactions with the environment. This research aims to study if immersive embodiment through the means of virtual reality facilitates embodied cognition. A pedagogical VR solution which takes advantage of embodied cognition can lead to enhanced learning benefits. Towards achieving this goal, this research presents a linear continuum for immersive embodied interaction within virtual reality. This research evaluates the effects of three levels of immersive embodied interactions on cognitive thinking, presence, usability, and satisfaction among users in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Results from the presented experiments show that immersive virtual reality is greatly effective in knowledge acquisition and retention, and highly enhances user satisfaction, interest and enthusiasm. Users experience high levels of presence and are profoundly engaged in the learning activities within the immersive virtual environments. The studies presented in this research evaluate pedagogical VR software to train and motivate students in STEM education, and provide an empirical analysis comparing desktop VR (DVR), immersive VR (IVR), and immersive embodied VR (IEVR) conditions for learning. This research also proposes a fully immersive embodied interaction metaphor (IEIVR) for learning of computational concepts as a future direction, and presents the challenges faced in implementing the IEIVR metaphor due to extended periods of immersion. Results from the conducted studies help in formulating guidelines for virtual reality and education researchers working in STEM education and training, and for educators and curriculum developers seeking to improve student engagement in the STEM fields
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