1,397 research outputs found

    3D Virtual Worlds and the Metaverse: Current Status and Future Possibilities

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    Moving from a set of independent virtual worlds to an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds or Metaverse rests on progress in four areas: immersive realism, ubiquity of access and identity, interoperability, and scalability. For each area, the current status and needed developments in order to achieve a functional Metaverse are described. Factors that support the formation of a viable Metaverse, such as institutional and popular interest and ongoing improvements in hardware performance, and factors that constrain the achievement of this goal, including limits in computational methods and unrealized collaboration among virtual world stakeholders and developers, are also considered

    Interoperability in virtual world

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    Recently we have seen a growing use of virtual worlds (VW) in many areas like marketing, e-commerce, games, social interaction and education. The virtual worlds offer many resources to engage their users (named avatar) like freedom of movements, teleport yourself to other local, communicate with other inhabitants (both text and voice messages), capacity to create, modify and destroy objects and the possibility of programming behaviors to these objects via scripts. The amount of resources "in" the world is great. This measure will be bigger if adding the resources "out" the world. Both resources (in and out) need ways to communication. Our interest on VW applications to education goals, rises the necessity of understand the model, protocols and ways of communication these "virtual worlds" with the "real worlds".XI Workshop tecnologĂ­a informĂĄtica aplicada en educaciĂłnRed de Universidades con Carreras en InformĂĄtica (RedUNCI

    Designing passenger experiences for in-car Mixed Reality

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    In day-to-day life, people spend a considerable amount of their time on the road. People seek to invest travel time for work and well-being through interaction with mobile and multimedia applications on personal devices such as smartphones and tablets. However, for new computing paradigms, such as mobile mixed reality (MR), their usefulness in this everyday transport context, in-car MR remains challenging. When future passengers immerse in three-dimensional virtual environments, they become increasingly disconnected from the cabin space, vehicle motion, and other people around them. This degraded awareness of the real environment endangers the passenger experience on the road, which initially motivates this thesis to question: can immersive technology become useful in the everyday transport context, such as for in-car scenarios? If so, how should we design in-car MR technology to foster passenger access and connectedness to both physical and virtual worlds, ensuring ride safety, comfort, and joy? To this aim, this thesis contributes via three aspects: 1) Understanding passenger use of in-car MR —first, I present a model for in-car MR interaction through user research. As interviews with daily commuters reveal, passengers are concerned with their physical integrity when facing spatial conflicts between borderless virtual environments and the confined cabin space. From this, the model aims to help researchers spatially organize information and how user interfaces vary in the proximity of the user. Additionally, a field experiment reveals contextual feedback about motion sickness when using immersive technology on the road. This helps refine the model and instruct the following experiments. 2) Mixing realities in car rides —second, this thesis explores a series of prototypes and experiments to examine how in-car MR technology can enable passengers to feel present in virtual environments while maintaining awareness of the real environment. The results demonstrate technical solutions for physical integrity and situational awareness by incorporating essential elements of the RE into virtual reality. Empirical evidence provides a set of dimensions into the in-car MR model, guiding the design decisions of mixing realities. 3) Transcending the transport context —third, I extend the model to other everyday contexts beyond transport that share spatial and social constraints, such as the confined and shared living space at home. A literature review consolidates leveraging daily physical objects as haptic feedback for MR interaction across spatial scales. A laboratory experiment discovers how context-aware MR systems that consider physical configurations can support social interaction with copresent others in close shared spaces. These results substantiate the scalability of the in-car MR model to other contexts. Finally, I conclude with a holistic model for mobile MR interaction across everyday contexts, from home to on the road. With my user research, prototypes, empirical evaluation, and model, this thesis paves the way for understanding the future passenger use of immersive technology, addressing today’s technical limitations of MR in mobile interaction, and ultimately fostering mobile users’ ubiquitous access and close connectedness to MR anytime and anywhere in their daily lives.Im modernen Leben verbringen die Menschen einen betrĂ€chtlichen Teil ihrer Zeit mit dem tĂ€glichen Pendeln. Die Menschen versuchen, die Reisezeit fĂŒr ihre Arbeit und ihr Wohlbefinden durch die Interaktion mit mobilen und multimedialen Anwendungen auf persönlichen GerĂ€ten wie Smartphones und Tablets zu nutzen. Doch fĂŒr neue Computing-Paradigmen, wie der mobilen Mixed Reality (MR), bleibt ihre NĂŒtzlichkeit in diesem alltĂ€glichen Verkehrskontext, der MR im Auto, eine Herausforderung. Wenn kĂŒnftige Passagiere in dreidimensionale virtuelle Umgebungen eintauchen, werden sie zunehmend von der Kabine, der Fahrzeugbewegung und den Menschen in ihrer Umgebung abgekoppelt. Diese verminderte Wahrnehmung der realen Umgebung gefĂ€hrdet das Fahrverhalten der Passagiere im Straßenverkehr, was diese Arbeit zunĂ€chst zu der Frage motiviert: Können immersive Systeme im alltĂ€glichen Verkehrskontext, z.B. in Fahrzeugszenarien, nĂŒtzlich werden? Wenn ja, wie sollten wir die MR-Technologie im Auto gestalten, um den Zugang und die Verbindung der Passagiere mit der physischen und der virtuellen Welt zu fördern und dabei Sicherheit, Komfort und Freude an der Fahrt zu gewĂ€hrleisten? Zu diesem Zweck trĂ€gt diese Arbeit zu drei Aspekten bei: 1) VerstĂ€ndnis der Nutzung von MR im Auto durch die Passagiere - ZunĂ€chst wird ein Modell fĂŒr die MR-Interaktion im Auto durch user research vorgestellt. Wie aus Interviews mit tĂ€glichen Pendlern hervorgeht, sind die Passagiere um ihre körperliche Unversehrtheit besorgt, wenn sie mit rĂ€umlichen Konflikten zwischen grenzenlosen virtuellen Umgebungen und dem begrenzten Kabinenraum konfrontiert werden. Das Modell soll Forschern dabei helfen, Informationen und Benutzerschnittstellen rĂ€umlich zu organisieren, die in der NĂ€he des Benutzers variieren. DarĂŒber hinaus zeigt ein Feldexperiment kontextbezogenes Feedback zur Reisekrankheit bei der Nutzung immersiver Technologien auf der Straße. Dies hilft, das Modell zu verfeinern und die folgenden Experimente zu instruieren. 2) Vermischung von RealitĂ€ten bei Autofahrten - Zweitens wird in dieser Arbeit anhand einer Reihe von Prototypen und Experimenten untersucht, wie die MR-Technologie im Auto es den Passagieren ermöglichen kann, sich in virtuellen Umgebungen prĂ€sent zu fĂŒhlen und gleichzeitig das Bewusstsein fĂŒr die reale Umgebung zu behalten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen technische Lösungen fĂŒr rĂ€umliche BeschrĂ€nkungen und Situationsbewusstsein, indem wesentliche Elemente der realen Umgebung in VR integriert werden. Die empirischen Erkenntnisse bringen eine Reihe von Dimensionen in das Modell der MR im Auto ein, die die Designentscheidungen fĂŒr gemischte RealitĂ€ten leiten. 3) Über den Verkehrskontext hinaus - Drittens erweitere ich das Modell auf andere Alltagskontexte jenseits des Verkehrs, in denen rĂ€umliche und soziale ZwĂ€nge herrschen, wie z.B. in einem begrenzten und gemeinsam genutzten Wohnbereich zu Hause. Eine Literaturrecherche konsolidiert die Nutzung von AlltagsgegenstĂ€nden als haptisches Feedback fĂŒr MR-Interaktion ĂŒber rĂ€umliche Skalen hinweg. Ein Laborexperiment zeigt, wie kontextbewusste MR-Systeme, die physische Konfigurationen berĂŒcksichtigen, soziale Interaktion mit anderen Personen in engen gemeinsamen RĂ€umen ermöglichen. Diese Ergebnisse belegen die Übertragbarkeit des MR-Modells im Auto auf andere Kontexte. Schließlich schließe ich mit einem ganzheitlichen Modell fĂŒr mobile MR-Interaktion in alltĂ€glichen Kontexten, von zu Hause bis unterwegs. Mit meiner user research, meinen Prototypen und Evaluierungsexperimenten sowie meinem Modell ebnet diese Dissertation den Weg fĂŒr das VerstĂ€ndnis der zukĂŒnftigen Nutzung immersiver Technologien durch Passagiere, fĂŒr die Überwindung der heutigen technischen BeschrĂ€nkungen von MR in der mobilen Interaktion und schließlich fĂŒr die Förderung des allgegenwĂ€rtigen Zugangs und der engen Verbindung der mobilen Nutzer zu MR jederzeit und ĂŒberall in ihrem tĂ€glichen Leben

    An aesthetics of touch: investigating the language of design relating to form

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    How well can designers communicate qualities of touch? This paper presents evidence that they have some capability to do so, much of which appears to have been learned, but at present make limited use of such language. Interviews with graduate designer-makers suggest that they are aware of and value the importance of touch and materiality in their work, but lack a vocabulary to fully relate to their detailed explanations of other aspects such as their intent or selection of materials. We believe that more attention should be paid to the verbal dialogue that happens in the design process, particularly as other researchers show that even making-based learning also has a strong verbal element to it. However, verbal language alone does not appear to be adequate for a comprehensive language of touch. Graduate designers-makers’ descriptive practices combined non-verbal manipulation within verbal accounts. We thus argue that haptic vocabularies do not simply describe material qualities, but rather are situated competences that physically demonstrate the presence of haptic qualities. Such competencies are more important than groups of verbal vocabularies in isolation. Design support for developing and extending haptic competences must take this wide range of considerations into account to comprehensively improve designers’ capabilities

    Interdisciplinary Insights for Digital Touch Communication

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    Communication is increasingly moving beyond ‘ways of seeing’ to ‘ways of feeling’. This Open Access book provides social design insights and implications for HCI research and design exploring digitally mediated touch communication. It offers a socially orientated map to help navigate the complex social landscape of digitally mediated touch for communication: from everyday touch-screens, tangibles, wearables, haptics for virtual reality, to the tactile internet of skin. Drawing on literature reviews, new case-study vignettes, and exemplars of digital touch, the book examines the major social debates provoked by digital touch, and investigates social themes central to the communicative potential and societal consequences of digital touch: · Communication environments, capacities and practices · Norms associations and expectations · Presence, absence and connection · Social imaginaries of digital touch · Digital touch ethics and values The book concludes with a discussion of the significance of social understanding and methods in the context of Interdisciplinary collaborations to explore touch, towards the design of digital touch communication, ‘ways of feeling’, that are useable, appropriate, ethical and socially aware

    Connecting Couples in Long-Distance Relationships : Towards Unconventional Computer-Mediated Emotional Communication Systems

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    The number of couples who find themselves in a long-distance relationship (LDR) is increasing for a wide range of reasons, such as overseas employment, academic pursuits, military duty, and similar circumstances. With the myriad of communication channels enabled by the low cost and ubiquity of computer-mediated communication technologies, couples in LDRs are able to stay in touch with each other around the globe. However, recent studies have revealed that the mainstream communication tools are inadequate to support the full spectrum of communication needed in intimate relationships. Emotional communication is one of the fundamental needs in close relationships, as it forms an important part of intimacy. This dissertation argues that there is a gap between what is known about LDR couples’ needs in research and what has been implemented for them in practice. The aim of this work is to bridge this gap by mediating emotional communication through unconventional user interfaces that use interaction solutions outside of the scope of their conventional use, with a particular focus on couples who sustain a committed LDR. Here, taking research through design as a core approach, a variety of qualitative methods were employed to seek answers to the research questions. This dissertation includes eight case studies, each of which is dedicated to answering its corresponding research question(s). Study I presents a systematic literature review which explored the current state of the art and identified the design opportunities. Study II introduces a series of co-design activities with five couples in LDRs to reveal the needs and challenges of users in an LDR. Studies III and IV propose two functional prototypes for unconventional communication systems to connect couples in LDRs. Study V showcases 12 design concepts of wearables created by the participants to support their own LDR. Study VI describes how four low-resolution prototypes created for mediating LDRs by the participants in the workshop would be used in real-world contexts. Studies VII and VIII each present a novel design tool to be used as a scaffold when designing communication systems for supporting LDRs: specifically, a conceptual design framework and a card-based design toolkit. This dissertation contributes new knowledge to the field of human-computer interaction through design interventions. It showcases a spectrum of practices which can be seen as a first step towards mediating emotional communication for couples in LDRs using unconventional communication systems. The findings comprise theoretical and empirical insights—derived from the eight case studies in which the author identified design opportunities and design considerations—relating to how couples in LDRs can be better supported by unconventional computer-mediated emotional communication systems

    Responsible Innovation of Touchless Haptics: A Prospective Design Exploration in Social Interaction

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    The rapid development of touchless systems has introduced many innovations in social interaction scenarios in recent years. People now can interact with touchless systems in social applications that are aimed to be used in everyday situations in the future. This accelerated development makes us ask, what will the next generation of touchless systems be like? How can we responsibly develop new touchless technologies in the future? To answer the first question, we brought together 20 experts to ideate, speculate, and evaluate possible touchless applications for social interactions. A total of 48 ideas were generated from two consecutive workshops. Then, to answer the second question, we critically analyzed those ideas through a thematic analysis using a responsible innovation (RI) framework, and identified key ethical considerations to guide developers, practitioners when designing future touchless systems. We argue that the social scenarios described, and the RI framework proposed in this paper are a useful starting point for responsibly designing the next generation of touchless systems

    Creating Test Questions for 3D Collaborative Virtual Worlds: the WorldOfQuestions Authoring Environment

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    In this paper we introduce, describe and evaluate WorldOfQuestions, an authoring environment for the creation and delivery of tests in 3D Collaborative Virtual Worlds. This environment is composed of an extended, customized version of the Open Wonderland platform and a form-based editor. Its aim is to make the most of 3D world features, such as immersion and interactivity, when implementing multiple choice, ordering and essay questions enriched with multimedia elements and 3D objects. A group of teaching professionals was asked to work with the environment, in order to evaluate its usefulness and ease of use. A Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) based framework was used for this evaluation. According to the educators interviewed, the most important aspects to consider regarding the behavioral intention to use the tool were the academic subject being taught, the student profiles, the environment learning curve and the time requirements.This research has been partially supported by the Spanish national projects Learn3 (grant TIN2008-05163/TSI) and EEE (grant TIN2011-28308-C03-01) and the Madrid regional project eMadrid (grant S2009/TIC-1650).publicad

    Social Touch

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    Interpersonal or social touch is an intuitive and powerful way to express and communicate emotions, comfort a friend, bond with teammates, comfort a child in pain, and soothe someone who is stressed. If there is one thing that the current pandemic is showing us, it is that social distancing can make some people crave physical interaction through social touch. The notion of “skin-hunger” has become tangible for many.Social touch differs at a functional and anatomical level from discriminative touch, and has clear effects at physiological, emotional, and behavioural levels. Social touch is a topic in psychology (perception, emotion, behaviour), neuroscience (neurophysiological pathways), computer science (mediated touch communication), engineering (haptic devices), robotics (social robots that can touch), humanities (science and technology studies), and sociology (the social implications of touch). Our current scientific knowledge of social touch is scattered across disciplines and not yet adequate for the purpose of meeting today's challenges of connecting human beings through the mediating channel of technology

    Unpacking Non-Dualistic Design: The Soma Design Case

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    We report on a somaesthetic design workshop and the subsequent analytical work aiming to demystify what is entailed in a non-dualistic design stance on embodied interaction and why a first-person engagement is crucial to its unfoldings. However, as we will uncover through a detailed account of our process, these first-person engagements are deeply entangled with second- and third-person perspectives, sometimes even overlapping. The analysis furthermore reveals some strategies for bridging the body-mind divide by attending to our inner universe and dissolving or traversing dichotomies between inside and outside; individual and social; body and technology. By detailing the creative process, we show how soma design becomes a process of designing with and through kinesthetic experience, in turn letting us confront several dualisms that run like fault lines through HCI's engagement with embodied interaction
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