A Comparison of Gesture and Controller-based User Interfaces for 3D Design Reviews in Virtual Reality

We present a custom virtual reality (VR) hand-tracking user interface developed in Unity, and compare it with a similar industry level application (CTRL Elements) utilising controllers. Both applications afford spawning, relocating, reorienting, and rescaling 3D-models within a virtual environment in addition to horizontal, vertical, and rotational user movement options. The interfaces are tested with Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, which is also responsible for the hand-tracking. Our main motivation is to gain an insight into whether hand-tracking UIs could provide added value to industrial design review solutions. We also pinpoint the major advantages and flaws in the controllerless approach and report which of our gesture-based controls are the most intuitive and usable

Proceedings of the 55th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

We present a custom virtual reality (VR) hand-tracking user interface developed in Unity, and compare it with a similar industry level application (CTRL Elements) utilising controllers. Both applications afford spawning, relocating, reorienting, and rescaling 3D-models within a virtual environment in addition to horizontal, vertical, and rotational user movement options. The interfaces are tested with Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, which is also responsible for the hand-tracking. Our main motivation is to gain an insight into whether hand-tracking UIs could provide added value to industrial design review solutions. We also pinpoint the major advantages and flaws in the controllerless approach and report which of our gesture-based controls are the most intuitive and usable. </p

Visualisation of semantic architectural information within a game engine environment

Because of the importance of graphics and information within the domain of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), an appropriate combination of visualisation technology and information management technology is of utter importance in the development of appropriately supporting design and construction applications. We therefore started an investigation of two of the newest developments in these domains, namely game engine technology and semantic web technology. This paper documents part of this research, containing a review and comparison of the most prominent game engines and documenting our architectural semantic web. A short test-case illustrates how both can be combined to enhance information visualisation for architectural design and construction

Virtual bloXing - assembly rapid prototyping for near net shapes

Virtual reality (VR) provides another dimension to many engineering applications. Its immersive and interactive nature allows an intuitive approach to study both cognitive activities and performance evaluation. Market competitiveness means having products meet form, fit and function quickly. Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing (RP&M) technologies are increasingly being applied to produce functional prototypes and the direct manufacturing of small components. Despite its flexibility, these systems have common drawbacks such as slow build rates, a limited number of build axes (typically one) and the need for post processing. This paper presents a Virtual Assembly Rapid Prototyping (VARP) project which involves evaluating cognitive activities in assembly tasks based on the adoption of immersive virtual reality along with a novel nonlayered rapid prototyping for near net shape (NNS) manufacturing of components. It is envisaged that this integrated project will facilitate a better understanding of design for manufacture and assembly by utilising equivalent scale digital and physical prototyping in one rapid prototyping system. The state of the art of the VARP project is also presented in this paper

Virtual assembly rapid prototyping of near net shapes

Virtual reality (VR) provides another dimension to many engineering applications. Its immersive and interactive nature allows an intuitive approach to study both cognitive activities and performance evaluation. Market competitiveness means having products meet form, fit and function quickly. Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing (RP&M) technologies are increasingly being applied to produce functional prototypes and the direct manufacturing of small components. Despite its flexibility, these systems have common drawbacks such as slow build rates, a limited number of build axes (typically one) and the need for post processing. This paper presents a Virtual Assembly Rapid Prototyping (VARP) project which involves evaluating cognitive activities in assembly tasks based on the adoption of immersive virtual reality along with a novel non-layered rapid prototyping for near net shape (NNS) manufacturing of components. It is envisaged that this integrated project will facilitate a better understanding of design for manufacture and assembly by utilising equivalent scale digital and physical prototyping in one rapid prototyping system. The state of the art of the VARP project is also presented in this paper

An investigation into communication studies to improve the designer's understanding of the virtues and constraints of the three dimensional graphical user interface

This research set out to understand the role of design in Virtual Reality (VR) interfaces. The hypothesis was that: Virtual Reality is an emerging medium and does not currently fulfil its full design potential as a medium for communication. Existing research and practice in VR is dominated by Human-Computer Interface (HCI) developers and typically lacks a design approach. The result of this is that many VR projects are developed to mirror reality (mimesis) without considering the potential for the medium to portray ideas in novel or user-led ways. Many designers working in this field take an empirical approach without reference to guidelines or theory, relying on previous experience with other media. The proposition of this research was that there may be more value in a theoretical and holistic approach that combines knowledge from different disciplines to reveal new insights. The research therefore used a qualitative approach to understand the contribution designers, and the design process, could make to this subject. Information was gathered through a two stage series of case studies and semi-structured expert interviews. This research documented in detail a design approach to the development of VR undertaken at BT and in design consultancy. In particular, the investigation looked at the design characteristics of state-of-the-art Virtual Reality projects, highlighting the different attributes (virtues and constraints) of the Virtual Reality medium. These virtues were found to be: interactive, fun and intuitive, illustrates relationships, spatial arrangement of data, navigation and landmarks, use of scale, multiple viewpoints and visualisation of complex information. The constraints were found particularly to affect representational issues (choice of sign) and technological determinism. Although technological determinism was not found to play a significant role, it did impact on the presentation of ideas due to inconsistent interfaces and poorly designed VR software tools. However, the research concluded that.until sufficient examples of practice broaden the subject matter, the generalisation of virtues and constraints of VR offers limited insight beyond the immediate context. In order to improve the practice of VR design, a strategic approach was felt to be necessary to align VR projects to users' communication needs. The primary output of this research has been the mapping of the relationship between the more widely employed iconic (mimetic) interface and the symbolic (abstract) interface in relation to different dimensionality (2D/3D/VR). This matrix was formulated from issues identified in the literature review and refined through expert panels relating to communication theories. The framework demonstrates different representations, virtues and constraints, as well as the relationship between different media types. The benefit of this framework is that it links communication theory with the pragmatics of the designer, thereby integrating broader communication concepts through a visual mapping process. This integration of theory and practice was critical to testing the model with real examples, as well as to presenting the findings to design practitioners. Additionally, this matrix provides a framework to identify future design opportunities. A further output of the research has been the development of two models to illustrate alternative approaches to the design of VR environments by understanding the process of deconstruction and construction of signs. One outcome of the case studies was the discovery that the design approach undertaken at BT allowed the development of representations which were not merely transposed to VR but rather designed for the purpose and for users. It was recommended that for the design of Virtual Environments, signs be deconstructed and transformed to enable creative solutions to be developed. This was felt to add significant benefits over transposing signs, as is typically the approa..

A Planning Pipeline for Large Multi-Agent Missions

In complex multi-agent applications, human operators are often tasked with planning and managing large heterogeneous teams of humans and autonomous vehicles. Although the use of these autonomous vehicles broadens the scope of meaningful applications, many of their systems remain unintuitive and difficult to master for human operators whose expertise lies in the application domain and not at the platform level. Current research focuses on the development of individual capabilities necessary to plan multi-agent missions of this scope, placing little emphasis on the integration of these components in to a full pipeline. The work presented in this paper presents a complete and user-agnostic planning pipeline for large multiagent missions known as the HOLII GRAILLE. The system takes a holistic approach to mission planning by integrating capabilities in human machine interaction, flight path generation, and validation and verification. Components modules of the pipeline are explored on an individual level, as well as their integration into a whole system. Lastly, implications for future mission planning are discussed