VRSC 2021 Conference Proceedings

The biennial conference aims to catalyze ideas and innovation between academia, practice, NGOs and government agencies who work to address analysis, planning, valuation, design and management of visual resources. The aim of the 2021 Virtual Conference is to share ideas and discuss the issues associated with the assessment and protection of visual resources in an era of major landscape change - regionally, national and globally

Exploring effective storytelling guidelines for cinematic virtual reality

Content creators have been exploring ways to use virtual reality (VR) as an effective storytelling tool. The term cinematic virtual reality (CVR) was then created to describe the kind of VR experience that is produced using pre-rendered content with lengthier and complete story structures, with the interaction design that enables viewers to actively choose where to look. Initially, creators of CVR content began by transferring storytelling grammars and techniques from mature media, such as cinema and theater. However, specific challenges for CVR followed, including the narrative paradox (NP) (which is the conflict and tension arising between authorial control and viewer agency), the fear of missing out (FOMO), and the discrepancy between viewer expectations on agency and the system’s interactive capacity. Because CVR is a type of immersive experience, viewers are also inclined to interact with the story world freely. To achieve a final product that is a successful and engrossing storytelling experience, creators must address the NP and FOMO issues and establish a design balance between authorial control and viewer participation in terms of narrative progression. To investigate the issues raised above and assess potential solutions, several user studies were undertaken in this thesis. A human body-language-based attention guidance cue set called Action Units (AUs) was created to address the FOMO issue. It was then compared with two other commonly used synthetic cues for user experiences. According to the findings, the use of AUs in CVR content can boost viewer enjoyment and engagement with the story. The AUs were also favored by viewers for their diegetic qualities and by creators for the simplicity of use. Moving on to the NP issue, the second user study sought to identify the upper limit of a viewer’s desire to actively interact and participate in the narration. Results indicated that viewer control is advised for CVR projects. To handle viewer curiosity and motivate them to interact freely, creators must carefully set up the interactors. Based on the findings, a coherent framework was researched and developed by tying together previously acquired knowledge and rules that were dispersed to various components of producing CVR with the workflow that a creator uses to build the experience. The procedure resulted in a formalized framework called the Adaptive Playback Control (APC) for CVR. The APC starts by guiding content preparation by highlighting the need for applying diegetic attention guidance cues. It also includes guidelines for interactive design by emphasizing the need for design considerations regarding the harmony between viewer and creator roles in directing the narrative development, and raising the visibility of interaction affordances in the immersive storytelling experience. Then, a real-world case study of applying the APC to an immersive Māori (New Zealand indigenous people) storytelling experience was presented. The case study examined whether viewer-participatory design, including profiling viewers and the strategies to introduce narrative variations, was culturally appropriate. In this case study, personalized variations were added to CVR by taking into account both the unique demands of each viewer and their participation in the storytelling process. Insights from the case study showed that for creators to safely guarantee that experiences will live up to viewer expectations and be entertaining and diverse, individual users must also be taken into account from the very beginning of content design. Finally, this thesis offers the Adaptive Playback Control (APC), a novel frame- work for those who create CVR experiences. They can follow the framework’s instructions to create materials specifically designed for an immersive experience utilizing pre-rendered content, such as 360-degree videos. It intends to address the FOMO issue and help creators produce CVR experiences with correct viewer interaction and integrated viewer personalization, resolving the problem of NP and improving the overall experience. This thesis also employed a case study to show how adaptable the framework is and how it may be used in a larger context, in and beyond the cultural heritage sector

Understanding and designing for control in camera operation

Kameraleute nutzen traditionell gezielt Hilfsmittel um kontrollierte Kamerabewegungen zu ermöglichen. Der technische Fortschritt hat hierbei unlängst zum Entstehen neuer Werkzeugen wie Gimbals, Drohnen oder Robotern beigetragen. Dabei wurden durch eine Kombination von Motorisierung, Computer-Vision und Machine-Learning auch neue Interaktionstechniken eingeführt. Neben dem etablierten achsenbasierten Stil wurde nun auch ein inhaltsbasierter Interaktionsstil ermöglicht. Einerseits vereinfachte dieser die Arbeit, andererseits aber folgten dieser (Teil-)Automatisierung auch unerwünschte Nebeneffekte. Grundsätzlich wollen sich Kameraleute während der Kamerabewegung kontinuierlich in Kontrolle und am Ende als Autoren der Aufnahmen fühlen. Während Automatisierung hierbei Experten unterstützen und Anfänger befähigen kann, führt sie unweigerlich auch zu einem gewissen Verlust an gewünschter Kontrolle. Wenn wir Kamerabewegung mit neuen Werkzeugen unterstützen wollen, stellt sich uns daher die Frage: Wie sollten wir diese Werkzeuge gestalten damit sie, trotz fortschreitender Automatisierung ein Gefühl von Kontrolle vermitteln? In der Vergangenheit wurde Kamerakontrolle bereits eingehend erforscht, allerdings vermehrt im virtuellen Raum. Die Anwendung inhaltsbasierter Kontrolle im physikalischen Raum trifft jedoch auf weniger erforschte domänenspezifische Herausforderungen welche gleichzeitig auch neue Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten eröffnen. Um dabei auf Nutzerbedürfnisse einzugehen, müssen sich Schnittstellen zum Beispiel an diese Einschränkungen anpassen können und ein Zusammenspiel mit bestehenden Praktiken erlauben. Bisherige Forschung fokussierte sich oftmals auf ein technisches Verständnis von Kamerafahrten, was sich auch in der Schnittstellengestaltung niederschlug. Im Gegensatz dazu trägt diese Arbeit zu einem besseren Verständnis der Motive und Praktiken von Kameraleuten bei und bildet eine Grundlage zur Forschung und Gestaltung von Nutzerschnittstellen. Diese Arbeit präsentiert dazu konkret drei Beiträge: Zuerst beschreiben wir ethnographische Studien über Experten und deren Praktiken. Sie zeigen vor allem die Herausforderungen von Automatisierung bei Kreativaufgaben auf (Assistenz vs. Kontrollgefühl). Zweitens, stellen wir ein Prototyping-Toolkit vor, dass für den Einsatz im Feld geeignet ist. Das Toolkit stellt Software für eine Replikation quelloffen bereit und erleichtert somit die Exploration von Designprototypen. Um Fragen zu deren Gestaltung besser beantworten zu können, stellen wir ebenfalls ein Evaluations-Framework vor, das vor allem Kontrollqualität und -gefühl bestimmt. Darin erweitern wir etablierte Ansätze um eine neurowissenschaftliche Methodik, um Daten explizit wie implizit erheben zu können. Drittens, präsentieren wir Designs und deren Evaluation aufbauend auf unserem Toolkit und Framework. Die Alternativen untersuchen Kontrolle bei verschiedenen Automatisierungsgraden und inhaltsbasierten Interaktionen. Auftretende Verdeckung durch graphische Elemente, wurde dabei durch visuelle Reduzierung und Mid-Air Gesten kompensiert. Unsere Studien implizieren hohe Grade an Kontrollqualität und -gefühl bei unseren Ansätzen, die zudem kreatives Arbeiten und bestehende Praktiken unterstützen.Cinematographers often use supportive tools to craft desired camera moves. Recent technological advances added new tools to the palette such as gimbals, drones or robots. The combination of motor-driven actuation, computer vision and machine learning in such systems also rendered new interaction techniques possible. In particular, a content-based interaction style was introduced in addition to the established axis-based style. On the one hand, content-based cocreation between humans and automated systems made it easier to reach high level goals. On the other hand however, the increased use of automation also introduced negative side effects. Creatives usually want to feel in control during executing the camera motion and in the end as the authors of the recorded shots. While automation can assist experts or enable novices, it unfortunately also takes away desired control from operators. Thus, if we want to support cinematographers with new tools and interaction techniques the following question arises: How should we design interfaces for camera motion control that, despite being increasingly automated, provide cinematographers with an experience of control? Camera control has been studied for decades, especially in virtual environments. Applying content-based interaction to physical environments opens up new design opportunities but also faces, less researched, domain-specific challenges. To suit the needs of cinematographers, designs need to be crafted with care. In particular, they must adapt to constraints of recordings on location. This makes an interplay with established practices essential. Previous work has mainly focused on a technology-centered understanding of camera travel which consequently influenced the design of camera control systems. In contrast, this thesis, contributes to the understanding of the motives of cinematographers, how they operate on set and provides a user-centered foundation informing cinematography specific research and design. The contribution of this thesis is threefold: First, we present ethnographic studies on expert users and their shooting practices on location. These studies highlight the challenges of introducing automation to a creative task (assistance vs feeling in control). Second, we report on a domain specific prototyping toolkit for in-situ deployment. The toolkit provides open source software for low cost replication enabling the exploration of design alternatives. To better inform design decisions, we further introduce an evaluation framework for estimating the resulting quality and sense of control. By extending established methodologies with a recent neuroscientific technique, it provides data on explicit as well as implicit levels and is designed to be applicable to other domains of HCI. Third, we present evaluations of designs based on our toolkit and framework. We explored a dynamic interplay of manual control with various degrees of automation. Further, we examined different content-based interaction styles. Here, occlusion due to graphical elements was found and addressed by exploring visual reduction strategies and mid-air gestures. Our studies demonstrate that high degrees of quality and sense of control are achievable with our tools that also support creativity and established practices

Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing: The Human-Data-Technology Nexus

This is an open access book. It gathers the first volume of the proceedings of the 31st edition of the International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing, FAIM 2022, held on June 19 – 23, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Covering four thematic areas including Manufacturing Processes, Machine Tools, Manufacturing Systems, and Enabling Technologies, it reports on advanced manufacturing processes, and innovative materials for 3D printing, applications of machine learning, artificial intelligence and mixed reality in various production sectors, as well as important issues in human-robot collaboration, including methods for improving safety. Contributions also cover strategies to improve quality control, supply chain management and training in the manufacturing industry, and methods supporting circular supply chain and sustainable manufacturing. All in all, this book provides academicians, engineers and professionals with extensive information on both scientific and industrial advances in the converging fields of manufacturing, production, and automation

Computational Shifts in Theatrical Space

This dissertation describes a set of research projects that were conducted between 2012 and 2014 in order to answer the question how do computational ideas alter our understanding of place? Each project was produced in the context of the performing arts and included plays, dance performances and film and installation work. For each project new software and hardware systems were created as a means of exploring different types of mediated communication. These systems include a scalable depth-camera based tracking system for performance on stage, a tool for manipulation of live-streamed video incorporated into stage performance, a method of tracking biometric data of performers live during the performance and a game-engine for creating interactive environments. Collectively these experiments establish a framework for the discussion of the nature of the shifts caused by applying computational ideas to space. Finally, the results lay the foundation for further theoretical work concerning the creation of cultural artifacts that exist somewhere between the material and immaterial, the influence of computation on the nature of modeling, and the impact of ubiquitous computing on contemporary notions of performance and play

Cultural Heritage Storytelling, Engagement and Management in the Era of Big Data and the Semantic Web

The current Special Issue launched with the aim of further enlightening important CH areas, inviting researchers to submit original/featured multidisciplinary research works related to heritage crowdsourcing, documentation, management, authoring, storytelling, and dissemination. Audience engagement is considered very important at both sites of the CH production–consumption chain (i.e., push and pull ends). At the same time, sustainability factors are placed at the center of the envisioned analysis. A total of eleven (11) contributions were finally published within this Special Issue, enlightening various aspects of contemporary heritage strategies placed in today’s ubiquitous society. The finally published papers are related but not limited to the following multidisciplinary topics:Digital storytelling for cultural heritage;Audience engagement in cultural heritage;Sustainability impact indicators of cultural heritage;Cultural heritage digitization, organization, and management;Collaborative cultural heritage archiving, dissemination, and management;Cultural heritage communication and education for sustainable development;Semantic services of cultural heritage;Big data of cultural heritage;Smart systems for Historical cities – smart cities;Smart systems for cultural heritage sustainability

Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing: The Human-Data-Technology Nexus

This is an open access book. It gathers the first volume of the proceedings of the 31st edition of the International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing, FAIM 2022, held on June 19 – 23, 2022, in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Covering four thematic areas including Manufacturing Processes, Machine Tools, Manufacturing Systems, and Enabling Technologies, it reports on advanced manufacturing processes, and innovative materials for 3D printing, applications of machine learning, artificial intelligence and mixed reality in various production sectors, as well as important issues in human-robot collaboration, including methods for improving safety. Contributions also cover strategies to improve quality control, supply chain management and training in the manufacturing industry, and methods supporting circular supply chain and sustainable manufacturing. All in all, this book provides academicians, engineers and professionals with extensive information on both scientific and industrial advances in the converging fields of manufacturing, production, and automation

Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research

ca. 200 words; this text will present the book in all promotional forms (e.g. flyers). Please describe the book in straightforward and consumer-friendly terms. [There is ever more research on smart cities and new interdisciplinary approaches proposed on the study of smart cities. At the same time, problems pertinent to communities inhabiting rural areas are being addressed, as part of discussions in contigious fields of research, be it environmental studies, sociology, or agriculture. Even if rural areas and countryside communities have previously been a subject of concern for robust policy frameworks, such as the European Union’s Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy Arguably, the concept of ‘the village’ has been largely absent in the debate. As a result, when advances in sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT) led to the emergence of a rich body of research on smart cities, the application and usability of ICT in the context of a village has remained underdiscussed in the literature. Against this backdrop, this volume delivers on four objectives. It delineates the conceptual boundaries of the concept of ‘smart village’. It highlights in which ways ‘smart village’ is distinct from ‘smart city’. It examines in which ways smart cities research can enrich smart villages research. It sheds light on the smart village research agenda as it unfolds in European and global contexts.