Measuring Responses to Negative Peer Pressure Using Virtual Reality

Adolescent susceptibility to negative peer pressure consistently relates to maladaptive adolescent adjustment. However, measurement of this construct typically involves a mono- method, self-report approach. The current study uses virtual reality to create an observational assessment procedure for measuring adolescent responses to negative peer pressure. Participants (n = 264) completed a lab assessment, including self-reports of susceptibility to peer pressure, antisocial behavior, dating violence perpetration, and depressive symptoms. Participants also engaged in 9 virtual reality simulations (4 involving peer pressure), which were coded for resistance to peer pressure. Control participants repeated the virtual reality simulations at a 2- month follow-up. Resistance scores evidenced item-level convergent validity with each other and discriminant validity with bystander behavior, coded from 5 separate virtual reality simulations. When peer pressure scores were summed and treated as a scale, they evidenced acceptable internal consistency, stability over a 2-month period, convergent validity with self-reports of susceptibility to peer pressure, and criterion validity with self-reports of antisocial behavior and dating violence perpetration. The latter two associations held after accounting for self-reports of susceptibility to peer pressure and participant sex. Results provide initial evidence for the utility of a virtual reality procedure for assessing adolescent resistance to negative peer pressure

Mapping the Current Landscape of Research Library Engagement with Emerging Technologies in Research and Learning: Final Report

The generation, dissemination, and analysis of digital information is a significant driver, and consequence, of technological change. As data and information stewards in physical and virtual space, research libraries are thoroughly entangled in the challenges presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution:1 a societal shift powered not by steam or electricity, but by data, and characterized by a fusion of the physical and digital worlds.2 Organizing, structuring, preserving, and providing access to growing volumes of the digital data generated and required by research and industry will become a critically important function. As partners with the community of researchers and scholars, research libraries are also recognizing and adapting to the consequences of technological change in the practices of scholarship and scholarly communication. Technologies that have emerged or become ubiquitous within the last decade have accelerated information production and have catalyzed profound changes in the ways scholars, students, and the general public create and engage with information. The production of an unprecedented volume and diversity of digital artifacts, the proliferation of machine learning (ML) technologies,3 and the emergence of data as the “world’s most valuable resource,”4 among other trends, present compelling opportunities for research libraries to contribute in new and significant ways to the research and learning enterprise. Librarians are all too familiar with predictions of the research library’s demise in an era when researchers have so much information at their fingertips. A growing body of evidence provides a resounding counterpoint: that the skills, experience, and values of librarians, and the persistence of libraries as an institution, will become more important than ever as researchers contend with the data deluge and the ephemerality and fragility of much digital content. This report identifies strategic opportunities for research libraries to adopt and engage with emerging technologies,5 with a roughly fiveyear time horizon. It considers the ways in which research library values and professional expertise inform and shape this engagement, the ways library and library worker roles will be reconceptualized, and the implication of a range of technologies on how the library fulfills its mission. The report builds on a literature review covering the last five years of published scholarship, primarily North American information science literature, and interviews with a dozen library field experts, completed in fall 2019. It begins with a discussion of four cross-cutting opportunities that permeate many or all aspects of research library services. Next, specific opportunities are identified in each of five core research library service areas: facilitating information discovery, stewarding the scholarly and cultural record, advancing digital scholarship, furthering student learning and success, and creating learning and collaboration spaces. Each section identifies key technologies shaping user behaviors and library services, and highlights exemplary initiatives. Underlying much of the discussion in this report is the idea that “digital transformation is increasingly about change management”6 —that adoption of or engagement with emerging technologies must be part of a broader strategy for organizational change, for “moving emerging work from the periphery to the core,”7 and a broader shift in conceptualizing the research library and its services. Above all, libraries are benefitting from the ways in which emerging technologies offer opportunities to center users and move from a centralized and often siloed service model to embedded, collaborative engagement with the research and learning enterprise

Intelligent tutoring in virtual reality for highly dynamic pedestrian safety training

This thesis presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) with a Virtual Reality (VR) interface for child pedestrian safety training. This system enables children to train practical skills in a safe and realistic virtual environment without the time and space dependencies of traditional roadside training. This system also employs Domain and Student Modelling techniques to analyze user data during training automatically and to provide appropriate instructions and feedback. Thus, the traditional requirement of constant monitoring from teaching personnel is greatly reduced. Compared to previous work, especially the second aspect is a principal novelty for this domain. To achieve this, a novel Domain and Student Modeling method was developed in addition to a modular and extensible virtual environment for the target domain. While the Domain and Student Modeling framework is designed to handle the highly dynamic nature of training in traffic and the ill-defined characteristics of pedestrian tasks, the modular virtual environment supports different interaction methods and a simple and efficient way to create and adapt exercises. The thesis is complemented by two user studies with elementary school children. These studies testify great overall user acceptance and the system’s potential for improving key pedestrian skills through autonomous learning. Last but not least, the thesis presents experiments with different forms of VR input and provides directions for future work.Diese Arbeit behandelt den Entwurf, die Implementierung sowie die Evaluierung eines intelligenten Tutorensystems (ITS) mit einer Virtual Reality (VR) basierten Benutzeroberfläche zum Zwecke von Verkehrssicherheitstraining für Kinder. Dieses System ermöglicht es Kindern praktische Fähigkeiten in einer sicheren und realistischen Umgebung zu trainieren, ohne den örtlichen und zeitlichen Abhängigkeiten des traditionellen, straßenseitigen Trainings unterworfen zu sein. Dieses System macht außerdem von Domain und Student Modelling Techniken gebrauch, um Nutzerdaten während des Trainings zu analysieren und daraufhin automatisiert geeignete Instruktionen und Rückmeldung zu generieren. Dadurch kann die bisher erforderliche, ständige Überwachung durch Lehrpersonal drastisch reduziert werden. Verglichen mit bisherigen Lösungen ist insbesondere der zweite Aspekt eine grundlegende Neuheit für diesen Bereich. Um dies zu erreichen wurde ein neuartiges Framework für Domain und Student Modelling entwickelt, sowie eine modulare und erweiterbare virtuelle Umgebung für diese Art von Training. Während das Domain und Student Modelling Framework so entworfen wurde, um mit der hohen Dynamik des Straßenverkehrs sowie den vage definierten Fußgängeraufgaben zurecht zu kommen, unterstützt die modulare Umgebung unterschiedliche Eingabeformen sowie eine unkomplizierte und effiziente Methode, um Übungen zu erstellen und anzupassen. Die Arbeit beinhaltet außerdem zwei Nutzerstudien mit Grundschulkindern. Diese Studien belegen dem System eine hohe Benutzerakzeptanz und stellt das Potenzial des Systems heraus, wichtige Fähigkeiten für Fußgängersicherheit durch autodidaktisches Training zu verbessern. Nicht zuletzt beschreibt die Arbeit Experimente mit verschiedenen Formen von VR Eingaben und zeigt die Richtung für zukünftige Arbeit auf

A Study of Interaction, Visual Canvas, and Immersion in AR Design: A DSR Approach

Augmented reality (AR) as an innovative technology has changed the way people use technology for interaction and communication. While researchers have studied the application of AR, research on AR as a communication medium remains scant. In this study, we investigate the effect of AR factors (namely, interaction, visual canvas/cues, and immersion) on AR-mediated communication. We apply design science research (DSR) guidelines to design, develop, and evaluate an AR artifact. We derive the design elements based on interactivity, media naturalness, and immersion theories and develop the AR artifact as a mobile app in an iterative manner. We evaluate the design product through the informed arguments and scenarios method, and the design process by assessing its conformance to DSR principles. We show that AR factors\u27 design elements—interaction (user controls, contextual tasks, and ergonomics), visual canvas/cues (realistic 3D models, visual and audio cues, and aesthetics), and immersion (diverse components)—play a critical role in AR-mediated communication. Furthermore, high-quality product visuals and interactive user controls give users a good AR experience. From a practice perspective, AR app designers may incorporate the design process we used in our study and generate AR experiences that fully exploit AR media’s communication affordance. We contribute to knowledge by using DSR guidelines for designing and developing AR as a communication medium

Virtual reality and artificial intelligence applied to consumer experience: a scenario-based approach

Emerging technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been receiving much attention in the Marketing context as a new way to attract customers and enrich their experiences with brands. This study aimed to research the current state of these technologies in Business and discuss the extent to which experiences using Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence may impact a customer experience in three different points of the customer journey: pre-purchase, purchase, and post- purchase stage. An online survey was constructed to measure the effectiveness of VR and AI on a scenario-based approach, along three consumer behaviours in the customer journey – brand associations (pre-purchase stage), purchase intention (purchase stage) and brand loyalty (post-purchase stage). From a sample of 302 respondents, the results suggest that these technologies represent valuable opportunities in Marketing. Overall, the results revealed that the type of experiences addressed in this paper are more prone to instil action (purchase stage) than to build brand associations (pre-purchase stage) or brand loyalty (post-purchase stage). An in-depth analysis of these results manifested interesting outcomes, suggesting several managerial on how to apply these technologies in an integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan.Realidade Virtual (RV) e Inteligência Artificial (IA) têm recebido bastante atenção nos últimos anos pelo facto de serem uma nova forma de atrair os consumidores e enriquecer as suas experiências com as marcas. O principal objetivo desta dissertação é oferecer uma visão do "state of the art" da aplicação destas tecnologias no marketing e investigar até que ponto as experiências com RV e IA podem contribuir para uma melhor experiência do consumidor, nomeadamente em três fases distintas da jornada do consumidor: antes da compra, no momento da compra, e após a compra. Um questionário online foi construído para medir a eficácia de 7 cenários usando RV e AI, em três dos mais representativos comportamentos de uma jornada do consumidor: associações à marca (antes da compra), intenção de comprar (momento da compra) e lealdade à marca (após a compra). Com base numa amostra de 302 participantes, os resultados sugerem que RV e IA contribuem para a criação de significantes oportunidades no marketing. Numa forma geral, os resultados indicam que as experiências que foram selecionadas para este estudo são mais eficientes a persuadir os potenciais consumidores a comprar (momento da compra) do que a contribuir para a criação de associações à marca (antes da compra) ou para construir lealdade à marca (depois da compra). Sendo que, numa análise mais profunda dos resultados, diversas recomendações em como aplicar estas tecnologias numa comunicação integrada de marketing foram retratadas neste estudo

Design Dynamics. Navigating the new Complex Landscape of Omnichannel Fashion Retail

The fashion industry is entering the dynamic global competitive market, promoting various actions prioritising design, creativity, sustainability, and technological advancement as pivotal factors. At the same time, it is reimagining its business models to adapt to the changing landscape. The rise of pervasive connectivity, intuitive interfaces and innovative interaction channels has triggered a revolution in fashion retail, reshaping customer behaviour and expectations. The traditional retail framework has evolved into a fully interconnected omnichannel system. This transformation is characterised by the proliferation of physical and virtual channels and touch points and by the adoption of a more flexible and integrated approach. In this dynamic context, design plays a central role, possessing the ability to impart meaning to the production and distribution system. Design-led innovation represents an incremental form of innovation that injects a nuanced range of meaning into the marketplace, extending beyond tangible objects, including discourses, expressions, narratives, visual images, symbols, metaphors, and spaces. The book analyses the multifaceted nature of the fashion retail experience through the lens of the design discipline, aiming to contextualise the evolution of retail within increasingly complex processes, networks and interconnections, both theoretically and practically. The focus is on retail design, delving into the new skills required and the valuable tools needed to apply them in inherently multidisciplinary contexts. Ultimately, the aim is to navigate the intricate terrain of retail evolution and shed light on the evolving role of design in this multifaceted sector

Metaverse beyond the hype: Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy

The metaverse has the potential to extend the physical world using augmented and virtual reality technologies allowing users to seamlessly interact within real and simulated environments using avatars and holograms. Virtual environments and immersive games (such as, Second Life, Fortnite, Roblox and VRChat) have been described as antecedents of the metaverse and offer some insight to the potential socio-economic impact of a fully functional persistent cross platform metaverse. Separating the hype and “meta…” rebranding from current reality is difficult, as “big tech” paints a picture of the transformative nature of the metaverse and how it will positively impact people in their work, leisure, and social interaction. The potential impact on the way we conduct business, interact with brands and others, and develop shared experiences is likely to be transformational as the distinct lines between physical and digital are likely to be somewhat blurred from current perceptions. However, although the technology and infrastructure does not yet exist to allow the development of new immersive virtual worlds at scale - one that our avatars could transcend across platforms, researchers are increasingly examining the transformative impact of the metaverse. Impacted sectors include marketing, education, healthcare as well as societal effects relating to social interaction factors from widespread adoption, and issues relating to trust, privacy, bias, disinformation, application of law as well as psychological aspects linked to addiction and impact on vulnerable people. This study examines these topics in detail by combining the informed narrative and multi-perspective approach from experts with varied disciplinary backgrounds on many aspects of the metaverse and its transformational impact. The paper concludes by proposing a future research agenda that is valuable for researchers, professionals and policy makers alike

Designing Sound for Social Robots: Advancing Professional Practice through Design Principles

Sound is one of the core modalities social robots can use to communicate with the humans around them in rich, engaging, and effective ways. While a robot's auditory communication happens predominantly through speech, a growing body of work demonstrates the various ways non-verbal robot sound can affect humans, and researchers have begun to formulate design recommendations that encourage using the medium to its full potential. However, formal strategies for successful robot sound design have so far not emerged, current frameworks and principles are largely untested and no effort has been made to survey creative robot sound design practice. In this dissertation, I combine creative practice, expert interviews, and human-robot interaction studies to advance our understanding of how designers can best ideate, create, and implement robot sound. In a first step, I map out a design space that combines established sound design frameworks with insights from interviews with robot sound design experts. I then systematically traverse this space across three robot sound design explorations, investigating (i) the effect of artificial movement sound on how robots are perceived, (ii) the benefits of applying compositional theory to robot sound design, and (iii) the role and potential of spatially distributed robot sound. Finally, I implement the designs from prior chapters into humanoid robot Diamandini, and deploy it as a case study. Based on a synthesis of the data collection and design practice conducted across the thesis, I argue that the creation of robot sound is best guided by four design perspectives: fiction (sound as a means to convey a narrative), composition (sound as its own separate listening experience), plasticity (sound as something that can vary and adapt over time), and space (spatial distribution of sound as a separate communication channel). The conclusion of the thesis presents these four perspectives and proposes eleven design principles across them which are supported by detailed examples. This work contributes an extensive body of design principles, process models, and techniques providing researchers and designers with new tools to enrich the way robots communicate with humans

Experiential Perspectives on Sound and Music for Virtual Reality Technologies

This thesis examines the intersection of sound, music, and virtuality within current and next-generation virtual reality technologies, with a specific focus on exploring the experiential perspectives of users and participants within virtual experiences. The first half of the thesis constructs a new theoretical model for examining intersections of sound and virtual experience. In Chapter 1, a new framework for virtual experience is constructed consisting of three key elements: virtual hardware (e.g., displays, speakers); virtual software (e.g., rules and systems of interaction); and virtual externalities (i.e., physical spaces used for engaging in virtual experiences). Through using and applying this new model, methodical examinations of complex virtual experiences are possible. Chapter 2 examines the second axis of the thesis through constructing an understanding of how sound is designed, implemented, and received within virtual reality. The concept of soundscapes is explored in the context of experiential perspectives, serving as a useful approach for describing received auditory phenomena. Auditory environments are proposed as a new model for exploring how auditory phenomena can be broadcast to audiences. Chapter 3 explores how inauthenticity within sound can impact users in virtual experience and uses authenticity to critically examine challenges surrounding sound in virtual reality. Constructions of authenticity in music performance are used to illustrate how authenticity is constructed within virtual experience. Chapter 4 integrates music into the understanding of auditory phenomena constructed throughout the thesis: music is rarely part of the created world in a virtual experience. Rather, it is typically something which only the audience – as external observers of the created world – can hear. Therefore, music within immersive virtual reality may be challenging as the audience is placed within the created world.The second half of this thesis uses this theoretical model to consider contemporary and future approaches to virtual experiences. Chapter 5 constructs a series of case studies to demonstrate the use of the framework as a trans-medial and intra/inter-contextual tool of analysis. Through use of the framework, varying approaches to implementation of sound and music in virtual reality technologies are considered, which reveals trans-medial commonalities of immersion and engagement with virtual experiences through sound. Chapter 6 examines near-future technologies, including brain-computer interfaces and other full-immersion technologies, to identify key issues in the design and implementation of future virtual experiences and suggest how interdisciplinary collaboration may help to develop solutions to these issues. Chapter 7 considers how the proposed model for virtuality might allow for methodical examination of similar issues within other fields, such as acoustics and architecture, and examines the ethical considerations that may become relevant as virtual technology develops within the 21st Century.This research explores and rationalises theoretical models of virtuality and sound. This permits designers and developers to improve the implementation of sound and music in virtual experiences for the purpose of improving user outcomes.<br/

Holistic Approach for Authoring Immersive and Smart Environments for the Integration in Engineering Education

Die vierte industrielle Revolution und der rasante technologische Fortschritt stellen die etablierten Bildungsstrukturen und traditionellen Bildungspraktiken in Frage. Besonders in der Ingenieurausbildung erfordert das lebenslange Lernen, dass man sein Wissen und seine Fähigkeiten ständig verbessern muss, um auf dem Arbeitsmarkt wettbewerbsfähig zu sein. Es besteht die Notwendigkeit eines Paradigmenwechsels in der Bildung und Ausbildung hin zu neuen Technologien wie virtueller Realität und künstlicher Intelligenz. Die Einbeziehung dieser Technologien in ein Bildungsprogramm ist jedoch nicht so einfach wie die Investition in neue Geräte oder Software. Es müssen neue Bildungsprogramme geschaffen oder alte von Grund auf umgestaltet werden. Dabei handelt es sich um komplexe und umfangreiche Prozesse, die Entscheidungsfindung, Design und Entwicklung umfassen. Diese sind mit erheblichen Herausforderungen verbunden, die die Überwindung vieler Hindernisse erfordert. Diese Arbeit stellt eine Methodologie vor, die sich mit den Herausforderungen der Nutzung von Virtueller Realität und Künstlicher Intelligenz als Schlüsseltechnologien in der Ingenieurausbildung befasst. Die Methodologie hat zum Ziel, die Hauptakteure anzuleiten, um den Lernprozess zu verbessern, sowie neuartige und effiziente Lernerfahrungen zu ermöglichen. Da jedes Bildungsprogramm einzigartig ist, folgt die Methodik einem ganzheitlichen Ansatz, um die Erstellung maßgeschneiderter Kurse oder Ausbildungen zu unterstützen. Zu diesem Zweck werden die Wechselwirkung zwischen verschiedenen Aspekten berücksichtigt. Diese werden in den drei Ebenen - Bildung, Technologie und Management zusammengefasst. Die Methodik betont den Einfluss der Technologien auf die Unterrichtsgestaltung und die Managementprozesse. Sie liefert Methoden zur Entscheidungsfindung auf der Grundlage einer umfassenden pädagogischen, technologischen und wirtschaftlichen Analyse. Darüber hinaus unterstützt sie den Prozess der didaktischen Gestaltung durch eine umfassende Kategorisierung der Vor- und Nachteile immersiver Lernumgebungen und zeigt auf, welche ihrer Eigenschaften den Lernprozess verbessern können. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt liegt auf der systematischen Gestaltung immersiver Systeme und der effizienten Erstellung immersiver Anwendungen unter Verwendung von Methoden aus dem Bereich der künstlichen Intelligenz. Es werden vier Anwendungsfälle mit verschiedenen Ausbildungsprogrammen vorgestellt, um die Methodik zu validieren. Jedes Bildungsprogramm hat seine eigenen Ziele und in Kombination decken sie die Validierung aller Ebenen der Methodik ab. Die Methodik wurde iterativ mit jedem Validierungsprojekt weiterentwickelt und verbessert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Methodik zuverlässig und auf viele Szenarien sowie auf die meisten Bildungsstufen und Bereiche übertragbar ist. Durch die Anwendung der in dieser Arbeit vorgestellten Methoden können Interessengruppen immersiven Technologien effektiv und effizient in ihre Unterrichtspraxis integrieren. Darüber hinaus können sie auf der Grundlage der vorgeschlagenen Ansätze Aufwand, Zeit und Kosten für die Planung, Entwicklung und Wartung der immersiven Systeme sparen. Die Technologie verlagert die Rolle des Lehrenden in eine Moderatorrolle. Außerdem bekommen die Lehrkräfte die Möglichkeit die Lernenden individuell zu unterstützen und sich auf deren kognitive Fähigkeiten höherer Ordnung zu konzentrieren. Als Hauptergebnis erhalten die Lernenden eine angemessene, qualitativ hochwertige und zeitgemäße Ausbildung, die sie qualifizierter, erfolgreicher und zufriedener macht