Analysis of Visualisation and Interaction Tools Authors

This document provides an in-depth analysis of visualization and interaction tools employed in the context of Virtual Museum. This analysis is required to identify and design the tools and the different components that will be part of the Common Implementation Framework (CIF). The CIF will be the base of the web-based services and tools to support the development of Virtual Museums with particular attention to online Virtual Museum.The main goal is to provide to the stakeholders and developers an useful platform to support and help them in the development of their projects, despite the nature of the project itself. The design of the Common Implementation Framework (CIF) is based on an analysis of the typical workflow ofthe V-MUST partners and their perceived limitations of current technologies. This document is based also on the results of the V-MUST technical questionnaire (presented in the Deliverable 4.1). Based on these two source of information, we have selected some important tools (mainly visualization tools) and services and we elaborate some first guidelines and ideas for the design and development of the CIF, that shall provide a technological foundation for the V-MUST Platform, together with the V-MUST repository/repositories and the additional services defined in the WP4. Two state of the art reports, one about user interface design and another one about visualization technologies have been also provided in this document

MMORPG avatars: Representations of escapism in Chinese society based on semiotics of culture

The development of Internet technology and globalization have boosted the game industry, and among which Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) provide a space where players could create their own avatar at will, and generate their physical and psychological involvement to participate in the virtual experience of the game context. Through cases with semiotics analysis and cultural phenomenon, the correlation between in-game avatar and escapism in Chinese context would be examined on how do in-game avatars connect with escapism in China. This highly resilient virtual social space provides a malleable field far from reality, for the transition from culture to nature, from reality to illusion, and from self to digital self. By analyzing the correlation and rooted reasons between in-game avatar in MMORPGs and escapism in Chinese social context, this project will contribute to the re-understanding of the symbolic meaning of in-game avatars and realistic meaning in Chinese society

Recent Developments in Smart Healthcare

Medicine is undergoing a sector-wide transformation thanks to the advances in computing and networking technologies. Healthcare is changing from reactive and hospital-centered to preventive and personalized, from disease focused to well-being centered. In essence, the healthcare systems, as well as fundamental medicine research, are becoming smarter. We anticipate significant improvements in areas ranging from molecular genomics and proteomics to decision support for healthcare professionals through big data analytics, to support behavior changes through technology-enabled self-management, and social and motivational support. Furthermore, with smart technologies, healthcare delivery could also be made more efficient, higher quality, and lower cost. In this special issue, we received a total 45 submissions and accepted 19 outstanding papers that roughly span across several interesting topics on smart healthcare, including public health, health information technology (Health IT), and smart medicine

Immersive competence and immersive literacy: Exploring how users learn about immersive experiences

While immersive experiences mediated through near-eye displays are still a relatively immature medium, there are millions of consumer devices in use. The level of awareness of the forms of the interface and media will vary enormously across the potential audience. Users might own personal devices or might encounter immersive systems in various venues. We introduce the term immersive competence to refer to the general practical knowledge and skills that users accumulate about how typical immersive interfaces work—the ways in which buttons are used, main locomotion techniques, etc. We then introduce the term immersive literacy to refer to awareness of how immersive interfaces are unique, when they might be appropriate, typical forms of media, etc. We sketch out how users develop competence and literacy with immersive media, and then highlight various open questions that are raised

Virtual reality interfaces for seamless interaction with the physical reality

In recent years head-mounted displays (HMDs) for virtual reality (VR) have made the transition from research to consumer product, and are increasingly used for productive purposes such as 3D modeling in the automotive industry and teleconferencing. VR allows users to create and experience real-world like models of products; and enables users to have an immersive social interaction with distant colleagues. These solutions are a promising alternative to physical prototypes and meetings, as they require less investment in time and material. VR uses our visual dominance to deliver these experiences, making users believe that they are in another reality. However, while their mind is present in VR their body is in the physical reality. From the user’s perspective, this brings considerable uncertainty to the interaction. Currently, they are forced to take off their HMD in order to, for example, see who is observing them and to understand whether their physical integrity is at risk. This disrupts their interaction in VR, leading to a loss of presence – a main quality measure for the success of VR experiences. In this thesis, I address this uncertainty by developing interfaces that enable users to stay in VR while supporting their awareness of the physical reality. They maintain this awareness without having to take off the headset – which I refer to as seamless interaction with the physical reality. The overarching research vision that guides this thesis is, therefore, to reduce this disconnect between the virtual and physical reality. My research is motivated by a preliminary exploration of user uncertainty towards using VR in co-located, public places. This exploration revealed three main foci: (a) security and privacy, (b) communication with physical collaborators, and (c) managing presence in both the physical and virtual reality. Each theme represents a section in my dissertation, in which I identify central challenges and give directions towards overcoming them as have emerged from the work presented here. First, I investigate security and privacy in co-located situations by revealing to what extent bystanders are able to observe general tasks. In this context, I explicitly investigate the security considerations of authentication mechanisms. I review how existing authentication mechanisms can be transferred to VR and present novel approaches that are more usable and secure than existing solutions from prior work. Second, to support communication between VR users and physical collaborators, I add to the field design implications for VR interactions that enable observers to choose opportune moments to interrupt HMD users. Moreover, I contribute methods for displaying interruptions in VR and discuss their effect on presence and performance. I also found that different virtual presentations of co-located collaborators have an effect on social presence, performance and trust. Third, I close my thesis by investigating methods to manage presence in both the physical and virtual realities. I propose systems and interfaces for transitioning between them that empower users to decide how much they want to be aware of the other reality. Finally, I discuss the opportunity to systematically allocate senses to these two realities: the visual one for VR and the auditory and haptic one for the physical reality. Moreover, I provide specific design guidelines on how to use these findings to alert VR users about physical borders and obstacles.In den letzten Jahren haben Head-Mounted-Displays (HMDs) für virtuelle Realität (VR) den Übergang von der Forschung zum Konsumprodukt vollzogen und werden zunehmend für produktive Zwecke, wie 3D-Modellierung in der Automobilindustrie oder Telekonferenzen, eingesetzt. VR ermöglicht es den Benutzern, schnell und kostengünstig, Prototypen zu erstellen und erlaubt eine immersive soziale Interaktion mit entfernten Kollegen. VR nutzt unsere visuelle Dominanz, um diese Erfahrungen zu vermitteln und gibt Benutzern das Gefühl sich in einer anderen Realität zu befinden. Während der Nutzer jedoch in der virtuellen Realität mental präsent ist, befindet sich der Körper weiterhin in der physischen Realität. Aus der Perspektive des Benutzers bringt dies erhebliche Unsicherheit in die Nutzung von HMDs. Aktuell sind Nutzer gezwungen, ihr HMD abzunehmen, um zu sehen, wer sie beobachtet und zu verstehen, ob ihr körperliches Wohlbefinden gefährdet ist. Dadurch wird ihre Interaktion in der VR gestört, was zu einem Verlust der Präsenz führt - ein Hauptqualitätsmaß für den Erfolg von VR-Erfahrungen. In dieser Arbeit befasse ich mich mit dieser Unsicherheit, indem ich Schnittstellen entwickle, die es den Nutzern ermöglichen, in VR zu bleiben und gleichzeitig unterstützen sie die Wahrnehmung für die physische Realität. Sie behalten diese Wahrnehmung für die physische Realität bei, ohne das Headset abnehmen zu müssen - was ich als nahtlose Interaktion mit der physischen Realität bezeichne. Daher ist eine übergeordenete Vision von meiner Forschung diese Trennung von virtueller und physicher Realität zu reduzieren. Meine Forschung basiert auf einer einleitenden Untersuchung, die sich mit der Unsicherheit der Nutzer gegenüber der Verwendung von VR an öffentlichen, geteilten Orten befasst. Im Kontext meiner Arbeit werden Räume oder Flächen, die mit anderen ortsgleichen Menschen geteilt werden, als geteilte Orte bezeichnet. Diese Untersuchung ergab drei Hauptschwerpunkte: (1) Sicherheit und Privatsphäre, (2) Kommunikation mit physischen Kollaborateuren, und (3) Umgang mit der Präsenz, sowohl in der physischen als auch in der virtuellen Realität. Jedes Thema stellt einen Fokus in meiner Dissertation dar, in dem ich zentrale Herausforderungen identifiziere und Lösungsansätze vorstelle. Erstens, untersuche ich Sicherheit und Privatsphäre an öffentlichen, geteilten Orten, indem ich aufdecke, inwieweit Umstehende in der Lage sind, allgemeine Aufgaben zu beobachten. In diesem Zusammenhang untersuche ich explizit die Gestaltung von Authentifizierungsmechanismen. Ich untersuche, wie bestehende Authentifizierungsmechanismen auf VR übertragen werden können, und stelle neue Ansätze vor, die nutzbar und sicher sind. Zweitens, um die Kommunikation zwischen HMD-Nutzern und Umstehenden zu unterstützen, erweitere ich das Forschungsfeld um VR-Interaktionen, die es Beobachtern ermöglichen, günstige Momente für die Unterbrechung von HMD-Nutzern zu wählen. Darüber hinaus steuere ich Methoden zur Darstellung von Unterbrechungen in VR bei und diskutiere ihre Auswirkungen auf Präsenz und Leistung von Nutzern. Meine Arbeit brachte auch hervor, dass verschiedene virtuelle Präsentationen von ortsgleichen Kollaborateuren einen Effekt auf die soziale Präsenz, Leistung und Vertrauen haben. Drittens, schließe ich meine Dissertation mit der Untersuchung von Methoden zur Verwaltung der Präsenz, sowohl in der physischen als auch in der virtuellen Realität ab. Ich schlage Systeme und Schnittstellen für den Übergang zwischen den Realitäten vor, die die Benutzer in die Lage versetzen zu entscheiden, inwieweit sie sich der anderen Realität bewusst sein wollen. Schließlich diskutiere ich die Möglichkeit, diesen beiden Realitäten systematisch Sinne zuzuordnen: die visuelle für VR und die auditive und haptische für die physische Realität. Darüber hinaus stelle ich spezifische Design-Richtlinien zur Verfügung, wie diese Erkenntnisse genutzt werden können, um VR-Anwender auf physische Grenzen und Hindernisse aufmerksam zu machen