Ultrasonic-Based Environmental Perception for Mobile 5G-Oriented XR Applications

One of the sectors that is expected to significantly benefit from 5G network deployment is eXtended Reality (XR). Besides the very high bandwidth, reliability, and Quality of Service (QoS) to be delivered to end users, XR also requires accurate environmental perception for safety reasons: this is fundamental when a user, wearing XR equipment, is immersed in a “virtual” world, but moves in a “real” environment. To overcome this limitation (especially when using low-cost XR equipments, such as cardboards worn by the end user), it is possible to exploit the potentialities offered by Internet of Things (IoT) nodes with sensing/actuating capabilities. In this paper, we rely on ultrasonic sensor-based IoT systems to perceive the surrounding environment and to provide “side information” to XR systems, then performing a preliminary experimental characterization campaign with different ultrasonic IoT system configurations worn by the end user. The combination of the information flows associated with XR and IoT components is enabled by 5G technology. An illustrative experimental scenario, relative to a “Tourism 4.0” IoT-aided VR application deployed by Vodafone in Milan, Italy, is presented

Sonic Interactions in Virtual Environments

This open access book tackles the design of 3D spatial interactions in an audio-centered and audio-first perspective, providing the fundamental notions related to the creation and evaluation of immersive sonic experiences. The key elements that enhance the sensation of place in a virtual environment (VE) are: Immersive audio: the computational aspects of the acoustical-space properties of Virutal Reality (VR) technologies Sonic interaction: the human-computer interplay through auditory feedback in VE VR systems: naturally support multimodal integration, impacting different application domains Sonic Interactions in Virtual Environments will feature state-of-the-art research on real-time auralization, sonic interaction design in VR, quality of the experience in multimodal scenarios, and applications. Contributors and editors include interdisciplinary experts from the fields of computer science, engineering, acoustics, psychology, design, humanities, and beyond. Their mission is to shape an emerging new field of study at the intersection of sonic interaction design and immersive media, embracing an archipelago of existing research spread in different audio communities and to increase among the VR communities, researchers, and practitioners, the awareness of the importance of sonic elements when designing immersive environments

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion