EVEN-VE: Eyes Visibility Based Egocentric Navigation for Virtual Environments

Navigation is one of the 3D interactions often needed to interact with a synthetic world. The latest advancements in image processing have made possible gesture based interaction with a virtual world. However, the speed with which a 3D virtual world responds to a user’s gesture is far greater than posing of the gesture itself. To incorporate faster and natural postures in the realm of Virtual Environment (VE), this paper presents a novel eyes-based interaction technique for navigation and panning. Dynamic wavering and positioning of eyes are deemed as interaction instructions by the system. The opening of eyes preceded by closing for a distinct time-threshold, activates forward or backward navigation. Supporting 2-Degree of Freedom head’s gestures (Rolling and Pitching) panning is performed over the xy-plane. The proposed technique was implemented in a case-study project; EWI (Eyes Wavering based Interaction). With EWI, real time detection and tracking of eyes are performed by the libraries of OpenCV at the backend. To interactively follow trajectory of both the eyes, dynamic mapping is performed in OpenGL. The technique was evaluated in two separate sessions by a total of 28 users to assess accuracy, speed and suitability of the system in Virtual Reality (VR). Using an ordinary camera, an average accuracy of 91% was achieved. However, assessment made by using a high quality camera testified that accuracy of the system could be raised to a higher level besides increase in navigation speed. Results of the unbiased statistical evaluations suggest/demonstrate applicability of the system in the emerging domains of virtual and augmented realities

Virtual reality as an educational tool in interior architecture

Ankara : The Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design and the Institute of Fine Arts of Bilkent Univ., 1997.Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1997.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis discusses the use of virtual reality technology as an educational tool in interior architectural design. As a result of this discussion, it is proposed that virtual reality can be of use in aiding three-dimensional design and visualization, and may speed up the design process. It may also be of help in getting the designers/students more involved in their design projects. Virtual reality can enhance the capacity of designers to design in three dimensions. The virtual reality environment used in designing should be capable of aiding both the design and the presentation process. The tradeoffs of the technology, newly emerging trends and future directions in virtual reality are discussed.Aktaş, OrkunM.S

Interacting with virtual reconstructions in museums: The etruscanning project

Starting from our experience in this domain, we discuss some fundamental concepts about the potentialities of the virtual reconstructions of cultural sites inside museums, with a specific focus on the communication needs, the design, the combination of media, the interaction interfaces, and the embodiment. We conceive a virtual reconstruction as a digital ecosystem, whose main peculiarities are (1) 3D reconstruction, (2) inclusivity, and (3) interactivity. A virtual reconstruction, in a wide sense, should integrate different levels of visualization, both realistic and symbolic; 3D models; metadata; storytelling; behaviors; and tools of visualization and interaction, in order to "reconstruct" and communicate a cultural context, an ecosystem where all the information is integrated. Despite the great advancements of the last years in the digitization process, computer graphics techniques, and archiving strategies, a basic limit of most of virtual museums is that they do not fire up the attention and the involvement of the public: they lack stimulating activities for visitors, narratives metaphors, and emotional impact. The interaction interfaces are not always simple to understand and to control in a few minutes, and they can generate a sense of frustration that causes users to abandon the application after a short and superficial approach. No gap should exist between knowledge and communication. But how can we translate the complexity of the knowledge in appealing to users and into simple applications that fit with the public's need? This article focuses on some communication rules and criteria that are often considered of minor importance by the researchers working in the field of digital cultural heritage but that are really essential to cultural transmission, especially inside museums. We believe that a stronger collaboration between research institutions and museums and among different disciplines would be recommended. Given this premise, we present the Etruscanning EU project, developed in 2011- 2013, focused on the virtual reconstruction of two important Etruscan tombs of the Orientalizing period: the Regolini-Galassi tomb in Cerveteri and the tomb n.5 of Monte Michele in Veii. © 2014 ACM

The screen as boundary object in the realm of imagination

As an object at the boundary between virtual and physical reality, the screen exists both as a displayer and as a thing displayed, thus functioning as a mediator. The screen's virtual imagery produces a sense of immersion in its viewer, yet at the same time the materiality of the screen produces a sense of rejection from the viewer's complete involvement in the virtual world. The experience of the screen is thus an oscillation between these two states of immersion and rejection. Nowadays, as interactivity becomes a central component of the relationship between viewers and many artworks, the viewer experience of the screen is changing. Unlike the screen experience in non-interactive artworks, such as the traditional static screen of painting or the moving screen of video art in the 1970s, interactive media screen experiences can provide viewers with a more immersive, immediate, and therefore, more intense experience. For example, many digital media artworks provide an interactive experience for viewers by capturing their face or body though real-time computer vision techniques. In this situation, as the camera and the monitor in the artwork encapsulate the interactor's body in an instant feedback loop, the interactor becomes a part of the interface mechanism and responds to the artwork as the system leads or even provokes them. This thesis claims that this kind of direct mirroring in interactive screen-based media artworks does not allow the viewer the critical distance or time needed for self-reflection. The thesis examines the previous aesthetics of spatial and temporal perception, such as presentness and instantaneousness, and the notions of passage and of psychological perception such as reflection, reflexiveness and auratic experience, looking at how these aesthetics can be integrated into new media screen experiences. Based on this theoretical research, the thesis claims that interactive screen spaces can act as a site for expression and representation, both through a doubling effect between the physical and virtual worlds, and through manifold spatial and temporal mappings with the screen experience. These claims are further supported through exploration of screen-based media installations created by the author since 2003.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Mazalek, Ali; Committee Member: Bolter, Jay David; Committee Member: Do, Ellen Yi-Luen; Committee Member: Nitsche, Michael; Committee Member: Winegarden, Claudia R

The Use of lmmersive Virtual Reality in Stroke Rehabilitation by Using Microsoft Kinect™

This report is a preliminary step onto developing a new way of rehabilitation technique for stroke patient using Microsoft Kinect as the input device. Currently, many typical virtual reality based stroke rehab has been practices to treat these patient such as treadmill, pointing device, hands glove, body suit and many more whereby they have been identified as costly, bulky and also not feasible for distance patients to have their regular set of rehab exercises. With such problems in place, it is crucial to have a better solution which could help the medical industry to stay innovative, creative and effective. Moreover, this project aims to produce a low cost home-based physical VR therapy application intended for hand stroke patients. The project will involves several phases which follow the incremental model whereby firstly the construction of the basic game environment followed by the analysis and design of the system or rehab activities requirements, the implementation of the prototype which enhanced with the usability testing result, further testing and finally the increment routines to complete the milestones

DirectIVE-- choreographing media for interactive virtual environments

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Media Arts & Sciences, June 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-65).by Flavia Sparacino.M.S

Dance performance in cyberspace - transfer and transformation

The aim of this research undertaking is to understand the potential development of dance performance in the context of cyberculture, by examining the way practitioners use new media to create artworks that include audience participation, and by endeavouring in their theorization. With specific reference to cyberspace as a concept of electronic, networked and navigable space, the enquiry traces the connections such practices have with conventions of the medium of dance, which operate in its widely known condition as a live performing art. But acknowledgement that new media and new contexts of production and reception inform the characteristics of these artworks and their discursive articulation, in terms of the way people and digital technologies interact in contemporary culture, is a major principle to their analysis and evaluation. This qualitative research is based on case-study design as a means of finding pragmatic evidence in particulars, to illustrate abstract concepts, technological processes and aesthetic values that are underway in a new area of knowledge. The field where this research operates within is located by a mapping of published literature that informs a theoretical interdisciplinary framework, which contextualizes the interpretation of artworks. The selected case studies have been subject to a process of systematic and detailed analysis, entailed with a model devised for the purpose of this enquiry. From this undertaking it can be claimed that while an extensive array of technologies, media and interactive models is available in this field, the artists pursue a commitment to demonstrate their worth for specifically developing (new media) dance performance, and for dance performance to articulate technological and critical issues for cyberculture studies. The results of this enquiry also contribute to conceptual understanding of what dance can be, today, in the light of technological changes

Virtual Reality in Mathematics Education (VRiME):An exploration of the integration and design of virtual reality for mathematics education

This thesis explores the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in mathematics education. Four VR prototypes were designed and developed during the PhD project to teach equations, geometry, and vectors and facilitate collaboration.Paper A investigates asymmetric VR for classroom integration and collaborative learning and presents a new taxonomy of asymmetric interfaces. Paper B proposes how VR could assist students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in learning daily living skills involving basic mathematical concepts. Paper C investigates how VR could enhance social inclusion and mathematics learning for neurodiverse students. Paper D presents a VR prototype for teaching algebra and equation-solving strategies, noting positive student responses and the potential for knowledge transfer. Paper E investigates gesture-based interaction with dynamic geometry in VR for geometry education and presents a new taxonomy of learning environments. Finally, paper F explores the use of VR to visualise and contextualise mathematical concepts to teach software engineering students.The thesis concludes that VR offers promising avenues for transforming mathematics education. It aims to broaden our understanding of VR's educational potential, paving the way for more immersive learning experiences in mathematics education