Evaluating the user experience of a photorealistic social VR Movie

We all enjoy watching movies together. However, this is not always possible if we live apart. While we can remotely share our screens, the experience differs from being together. We present a social Virtual Reality (VR) system that captures, reconstructs, and transmits multiple users’ volumetric representations into a commercially produced 3D virtual movie, so they have the feeling of “being there” together. We conducted a 48-user experiment where we invited users to experience the virtual movie either using a Head Mounted Display (HMD) or using a 2D screen with a game controller. In addition, we invited 14 VR experts to experience both the HMD and the screen version of the movie and discussed their experiences in two focus groups. Our results showed that both end-users and VR experts found that the way they navigated and interacted inside a 3D virtual movie was novel. They also found that the photorealistic volumetric representations enhanced feelings of co-presence. Our study lays the groundwork for future interactive and immersive VR movie co-watching experiences

Apple Vision Pro for Healthcare: "The Ultimate Display"? -- Entering the Wonderland of Precision Medicine

At the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2023, Apple introduced the Vision Pro. The Vision Pro is a Mixed Reality (MR) headset, more specifically it is a Virtual Reality (VR) device with an additional Video See-Through (VST) capability. The VST capability turns the Vision Pro also into an Augmented Reality (AR) device. The AR feature is enabled by streaming the real world via cameras to the (VR) screens in front of the user's eyes. This is of course not unique and similar to other devices, like the Varjo XR-3. Nevertheless, the Vision Pro has some interesting features, like an inside-out screen that can show the headset wearers' eyes to "outsiders" or a button on the top, called "Digital Crown", that allows you to seamlessly blend digital content with your physical space by turning it. In addition, it is untethered, except for the cable to the battery, which makes the headset more agile, compared to the Varjo XR-3. This could actually come closer to the "Ultimate Display", which Ivan Sutherland had already sketched in 1965. Not available to the public yet, like the Ultimate Display, we want to take a look into the crystal ball in this perspective to see if it can overcome some clinical challenges that - especially - AR still faces in the medical domain, but also go beyond and discuss if the Vision Pro could support clinicians in essential tasks to spend more time with their patients.Comment: This is a Preprint under CC BY. This work was supported by NIH/NIAID R01AI172875, NIH/NCATS UL1 TR001427, the REACT-EU project KITE and enFaced 2.0 (FWF KLI 1044). B. Puladi was funded by the Medical Faculty of the RWTH Aachen University as part of the Clinician Scientist Program. C. Gsaxner was funded by the Advanced Research Opportunities Program from the RWTH Aachen Universit

The effectiveness of training in virtual environments

The research presented in this thesis explores the use of consumer virtual reality technology for training, comparing its validity to more traditional training formats. The need to evaluate the effectiveness of training in virtual environments is critical as a wider audience gains access to an array of emerging virtual reality consumer devices. Training is an obvious use case for these devices. This is motivated by the well-known success of domain-specific training simulators, the ability to train in safe, controlled environments and the potential to launch training programs when the physical components required to complete a task are not readily available. In this thesis, we present four user studies that aim to compare the effectiveness of systems with varying levels of immersion for learning transfer of several tasks, ranging from object location spatial memory to more complex assembly procedures. For every study, evaluation of the effectiveness of training took place in a real-world, physical environment. The first two studies compare geometric and self-motion models in describing human spatial memory through scale distortions of real and virtual environments. The third study examines the effect of level of immersion, self-avatar and environmental fidelity on object location memory in real and virtual environments. The fourth study compares the effectiveness of physical training and virtual training for teaching a bimanual assembly task. Results highlight the validity of virtual environments for training. The overall conclusion is that virtual training can yield a resulting performance that is superior to other, more traditional training formats. Combined, the outcomes of each of the user studies motivate further study of consumer virtual reality systems in training and suggest considerations for the design of such virtual environments

Virtual reality and collaborative learning: a systematic literature review

Computer Systems, Imagery and Medi

Investigating Immersive Augmented Reality as a Rehabilitation Tool for Parkinson disease

Physical rehabilitation programs are often prescribed in an effort to maintain range of motion, and to adapt strategies for managing the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD) in everyday life. An emerging trend to overcome the limitations of traditional rehabilitation is the use of virtual reality technologies. IThe goal of the present study was to determine the feasibility of augmented reality technology (IAR) in a rehabilitative setting. Three IAR environments were designed and a corresponding task was completed in each one. Not surprisingly, the control group generally performed better than the PD group on the tasks. All participants typically performed better in the real-world than the IAR environment. Additionally both the PD and control groups’ performances improved with repeated visits. The system was well-tolerated and important lessons are highlighted about future implementation of this rehabilitation approach (e.g., the need for a familiarization period to the system)

Exploring the use of virtual reality in episodic memory research

Episodic memory (EM) allows us to receive and retain information about events, where those events happened and when they happened. This knowledge defines humans and if it deteriorates it affects everyday functioning. As such it is important to assess it in a way that reflects our everyday experiences. Evidence suggests that an ecologically valid way of testing EM is needed. One way of achieving this is by using virtual reality. The present thesis aimed to explore how HMD-VR can be used to test EM in an ecologically valid fashion and to attempt to conceptualise and understand the nature of long-term EM as events. Experiments 1 and 2 explored how EM for events differed to EM for non-events or static objects, the latter being stimuli often used in EM research. Additionally, due to the majority of research focusing just on encoding and retrieval, leaving out memory consolidation, the experiments explored how sleep-dependant memory consolidation affects EM. Events were better retrieved then non-events in several tasks. Additionally, results showed that EM for events might not rely on enhanced encoding but on preferential consolidation, as no difference between event- and non-event-retrieval was observed in EM accuracy immediately after encoding, yet events were significantly better retrieved than non-events after a 24-hour period. Experiments 3 and 4 explored how EM performance in HMD-VR differs to Desktop-VR, a system that is traditionally used in the field of memory research. The general prediction was that EM performance would be more accurate in HMD-VR, compared to Desktop-VR. The results were mixed, with Experiment 1 showing no differences in performance while Experiment 2 only partly supporting the prediction by showing better EM performance in some of the measures. The thesis proposes HMD-VR to be a valid, if not more accurate, tool for exploring daily-life-like EM

Virtual Reality Methods

ePDF and ePUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Since the mid-2010s, virtual reality (VR) technology has advanced rapidly. This book explores the many opportunities that VR can offer for humanities and social sciences researchers. The book provides a user-friendly, non-technical methods guide to using ready-made VR content and 360° video as well as creating custom materials. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to using VR, providing helpful, real-world examples of how researchers have used the technology