Collaborative behavior, performance and engagement with visual analytics tasks using mobile devices

Interactive visualizations are external tools that can support users’ exploratory activities. Collaboration can bring benefits to the exploration of visual representations or visu‐ alizations. This research investigates the use of co‐located collaborative visualizations in mobile devices, how users working with two different modes of interaction and view (Shared or Non‐Shared) and how being placed at various position arrangements (Corner‐to‐Corner, Face‐to‐Face, and Side‐by‐Side) affect their knowledge acquisition, engagement level, and learning efficiency. A user study is conducted with 60 partici‐ pants divided into 6 groups (2 modes×3 positions) using a tool that we developed to support the exploration of 3D visual structures in a collaborative manner. Our results show that the shared control and view version in the Side‐by‐Side position is the most favorable and can improve task efficiency. In this paper, we present the results and a set of recommendations that are derived from them

The design-by-adaptation approach to universal access: learning from videogame technology

This paper proposes an alternative approach to the design of universally accessible interfaces to that provided by formal design frameworks applied ab initio to the development of new software. This approach, design-byadaptation, involves the transfer of interface technology and/or design principles from one application domain to another, in situations where the recipient domain is similar to the host domain in terms of modelled systems, tasks and users. Using the example of interaction in 3D virtual environments, the paper explores how principles underlying the design of videogame interfaces may be applied to a broad family of visualization and analysis software which handles geographical data (virtual geographic environments, or VGEs). One of the motivations behind the current study is that VGE technology lags some way behind videogame technology in the modelling of 3D environments, and has a less-developed track record in providing the variety of interaction methods needed to undertake varied tasks in 3D virtual worlds by users with varied levels of experience. The current analysis extracted a set of interaction principles from videogames which were used to devise a set of 3D task interfaces that have been implemented in a prototype VGE for formal evaluation

Middle School Students’ Perceptions, Experiences, And Behaviors Towards Using a Virtual Reality Application to Build Molecules

To deliver successful integration of virtual reality (VR) technology into chemistry education, it is essential that students have clear and positive perceptions about the purpose and the value of such integration. An important part of establishing a plan for integrating virtual reality technology into chemistry education is to explore the current perceptions, experiences, and behaviors of students towards the use of VR technology to establish an initial baseline of skills and areas in need of development. The purpose of this exploratory mixed methods study was to explore the perceptions, experiences, and behaviors of 62 middle school students in the state of Colorado towards the use of virtual reality technology in chemistry education. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect data from participants using a demographic survey, observations, interviews, and a student perception survey. Participants went through a chemistry exercise delivered through a VR application called Molecule Builder. The first research question asked: “What are middle school students’ perceptions toward using VR technology as a learning tool in the chemistry exercise?”. For this research question, the quantitative portion of the data were collected using 24-Likert-scale items in the student perception survey completed fully by 60 student participants and partially by two participants. Quantitative results of the student perception survey yielded an overall mean of 4.58, indicating that student participants, overall, had very positive perceptions of VR as a learning tool. In addition, the qualitative findings showed the emergence of three themes through the analysis of student responses to the five open-ended questions in Section B: Reflections in the student perceptions survey: (a) advantages of VR as a tool to learn chemistry, (b) disadvantages of using VR as a tool to learn chemistry, and (c) suggestions about using virtual reality applications for teaching chemistry. The second research question asked: “Are there any differences between female and male middle school students’ perceptions toward using VR technology as a learning tool in the chemistry exercise?”. This research question was answered using the findings from the 24 Likert-scale items in Section A: Perceptions in the student perception survey, the demographic data from the demographic survey, and participants’ responses to open-ended questions in Section B: Reflections in the student perception survey. Quantitative results of the student perception survey yielded a non-statistically significant difference between female and male students’ perceptions towards utilizing VR for learning chemistry. The results revealed that female and male students have similar perceptions towards using VR as a tool to learn chemistry. In addition, the qualitative findings showed that both females and males had similar perceptions on most of the three themes and nine sub-themes in general. The third research question asked: “How do middle school students describe their experience during the chemistry exercise using the VR tool?”. This research question was answered using structured interviews with all 62 participants. The majority of participants expressed an overall sense of a positive experience of the chemistry exercise using the VR tool. Two main themes were identified during the interviews: (a) positive experiences and (b) mixed experiences. The fourth research question asked: “How do middle school students behave before, during, and after using the VR tool to conduct the chemistry exercise regarding emotions, body language, and any apparent reactions?”. This research question was answered using observation notes and participants’ responses to three open-ended questions in section C: Behaviors in the student perception survey, which were completed by all 62 participants. The emergent themes from participant behaviors before using the VR tool to conduct the chemistry exercise were: (a) exited, (b) anxious, (c) ambivalent, and (d) joyful. The emergent themes from participant behaviors during the use of the VR tool to conduct the chemistry exercise were: (a) joyful, (b) engaged, (c) virtually present, and (d) ambivalent. The emergent themes from participant behaviors after using the VR tool to conduct the chemistry exercise were: (a) motivated, (b) joyful, (c) accomplished, (d) surprised, and (e) dissociated. In conclusion, results and findings indicated that the use of VR as a tool to learn chemistry was perceived positively by middle school students without gender differences. Additionally, the majority of students had positive experiences using the VR application to build molecules. Finally, students’ behaviors were mostly positive towards the use of VR as a learning tool. The findings and recommendations made in the study could be addressed and utilized by the stakeholders including policymakers, administrators, and educators in the integration of virtual reality technology in the classroom and education in general

Geospatial big data and cartography : research challenges and opportunities for making maps that matter

Geospatial big data present a new set of challenges and opportunities for cartographic researchers in technical, methodological, and artistic realms. New computational and technical paradigms for cartography are accompanying the rise of geospatial big data. Additionally, the art and science of cartography needs to focus its contemporary efforts on work that connects to outside disciplines and is grounded in problems that are important to humankind and its sustainability. Following the development of position papers and a collaborative workshop to craft consensus around key topics, this article presents a new cartographic research agenda focused on making maps that matter using geospatial big data. This agenda provides both long-term challenges that require significant attention as well as short-term opportunities that we believe could be addressed in more concentrated studies.PostprintPeer reviewe

Interpretation at the Controller\u27s Edge: The Role of Graphical User Interfaces in Virtual Archaeology

The important role of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) as a medium of interaction with technology is well established in the world of media design, but has not received significant attention in the field of virtual archaeology. GUIs provide interactive capabilities and contextual information for 3D content such as structure-from-motion (SFM) models, and can represent the difference between raw data and thoughtful, skilled scholarly publications. This project explores the implications of a GUI created with the game engine Unity 3D (Unity) for a series of SFM models recorded at a structure known as the Area B House at the ancient central Italian city of Gabii. Unity\u27s capabilities as a game engine allow for an embodied, reflexive, and design-centered approach to archaeological content. This presents some challenges to a strict interpretation of the New Materialism, and its call for unmediated interaction with archaeological things. On the contrary, design oriented thinking encourages us to balance human factors (i.e., the user experience) with the representations of things that constitute our content. The Area B House interface thus embraces a symmetrical view of materiality, wherein humans and things are equally important agents in entangled, recursive relationships. This is particularly true as entanglement, a key concept in symmetrical archaeology, manifests in the emergent systems of gameplay that arise out of embodied experiences with archaeological sites. This thesis will situate the theoretical implications of our interface within some longstanding debates about archaeological objectivity, representation, and communication

Collaborative geographic visualization

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil Gestão e Sistemas AmbientaisThe present document is a revision of essential references to take into account when developing ubiquitous Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with collaborative visualization purposes. Its chapters focus, respectively, on general principles of GIS, its multimedia components and ubiquitous practices; geo-referenced information visualization and its graphical components of virtual and augmented reality; collaborative environments, its technological requirements, architectural specificities, and models for collective information management; and some final considerations about the future and challenges of collaborative visualization of GIS in ubiquitous environment