Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

The Engine Is the Message: Videogame Infrastructure and the Future of Digital Platforms

On January 18, Microsoft revealed its $68.7 billion deal to acquire videogame publisher Activision Blizzard. The acquisition was pitched as an investment towards “metaverse platforms” that gaming would play a key role in developing. Journalists speculated about the increasing consolidation of the videogame industry and whether blockbuster franchises would be locked into Microsoft’s platforms and subscription services. Commentary on the metaverse weighed in on how toxicity and harassment in game industry workplaces such as Activision Blizzard might relate to issues of trust and safety in virtual worlds such as Meta’s Horizon Worlds. Seemingly above the fray of platform strategy, market speculation, and corporate scandal, New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka (2022) tweeted as a matter of fact: “video game infrastructure and tools are increasingly going to take over all digital platforms”. This panel contextualizes discussions about the business and aesthetics of 3D platforms in the infrastructural work of game engines, which routinely integrate databases, file formats, web protocols, and translational algorithms. We trace public debates and corporate statements over representation and governance, equity and inclusion (Bosworth 2021) to the techniques, technologies, and practices that enable massive real-time 3D digital spaces to flow and transact. We also highlight the growing intertwinement between game engine development companies and related content ecosystems, such as the Epic Games Store and the Unreal Engine, and Epic’s and Unity’s Asset Stores. This panel investigates how digital systems are designed to regulate technical interoperability and its implications for creative practice and cultural production. Together, these papers map how power and capital become centralized and distributed throughout the back end of the metaverse, and politicize how social practices and subjectivities are negotiated through technological architecture

Smart Avatars in JackMOO

Creation of compelling 3-dimensional, multi-user virtual worlds for education and training applications requires a high degree of realism in the appearance, interaction, and behavior of avatars within the scene. Our goal is to develop and/or adapt existing 3-dimensional technologies to provide training scenarios across the Internet in a form as close as possible to the appearance and interaction expected of live situations with human participants. We have produced a prototype system, JackMOO, which combines Jack, a virtual human system, and LambdaMOO, a multiuser, network-accessible, programmable, interactive server. Jack provides the visual realization of avatars and other objects. LambdaMOO provides the web-accessible communication, programability, and persistent object database. The combined JackMOO allows us to store the richer semantic information necessitated by the scope and range of human actions that an avatar must portray, and to express those actions in the form of imperative sentences. This paper describes JackMOO, its components, and a prototype application with five virtual human agents

Development of Immersive and Interactive Virtual Reality Environment for Two-Player Table Tennis

Although the history of Virtual Reality (VR) is only about half a century old, all kinds of technologies in the VR field are developing rapidly. VR is a computer generated simulation that replaces or augments the real world by various media. In a VR environment, participants have a perception of “presence”, which can be described by the sense of immersion and intuitive interaction. One of the major VR applications is in the field of sports, in which a life-like sports environment is simulated, and the body actions of players can be tracked and represented by using VR tracking and visualisation technology. In the entertainment field, exergaming that merges video game with physical exercise activities by employing tracking or even 3D display technology can be considered as a small scale VR. For the research presented in this thesis, a novel realistic real-time table tennis game combining immersive, interactive and competitive features is developed. The implemented system integrates the InterSense tracking system, SwissRanger 3D camera and a three-wall rear projection stereoscopic screen. The Intersense tracking system is based on ultrasonic and inertia sensing techniques which provide fast and accurate 6-DOF (i.e. six degrees of freedom) tracking information of four trackers. Two trackers are placed on the two players’ heads to provide the players’ viewing positions. The other two trackers are held by players as the racquets. The SwissRanger 3D camera is mounted on top of the screen to capture the player’

Virtual humans: thirty years of research, what next?

In this paper, we present research results and future challenges in creating realistic and believable Virtual Humans. To realize these modeling goals, real-time realistic representation is essential, but we also need interactive and perceptive Virtual Humans to populate the Virtual Worlds. Three levels of modeling should be considered to create these believable Virtual Humans: 1) realistic appearance modeling, 2) realistic, smooth and flexible motion modeling, and 3) realistic high-level behaviors modeling. At first, the issues of creating virtual humans with better skeleton and realistic deformable bodies are illustrated. To give a level of believable behavior, challenges are laid on generating on the fly flexible motion and complex behaviours of Virtual Humans inside their environments using a realistic perception of the environment. Interactivity and group behaviours are also important parameters to create believable Virtual Humans which have challenges in creating believable relationship between real and virtual humans based on emotion and personality, and simulating realistic and believable behaviors of groups and crowds. Finally, issues in generating realistic virtual clothed and haired people are presente

Creating architecture for a digital information system leveraging virtual environments

Abstract. The topic of the thesis was the creation of a proof of concept digital information system, which utilizes virtual environments. The focus was finding a working design, which can then be expanded upon. The research was conducted using design science research, by creating the information system as the artifact. The research was conducted for Nokia Networks in Oulu, Finland; in this document referred to as “the target organization”. An information system is a collection of distributed computing components, which come together to create value for an organization. Information system architecture is generally derived from enterprise architecture, and consists of a data-, technical- and application architectures. Data architecture outlines the data that the system uses, and the policies related to its usage, manipulation and storage. Technical architecture relates to various technological areas, such as networking and protocols, as well as any environmental factors. The application architecture consists of deconstructing the applications that are used in the operations of the information system. Virtual reality is an experience, where the concepts of presence, autonomy and interaction come together to create an immersive alternative to a regular display-based computer environment. The most typical form of virtual reality consists of a headmounted device, controllers and movement-tracking base stations. The user’s head- and body movement can be tracked, which changes their position in the virtual environment. The proof-of-concept information system architecture used a multi-server -based solution, where one central physical server hosted multiple virtual servers. The system consisted of a website, which was the knowledge-center and where a client software could be downloaded. The client software was the authorization portal, which determined the virtual environments that were available to the user. The virtual reality application included functionalities, which enable co-operative, virtualized use of various Nokia products, in immersive environments. The system was tested in working situations, such as during exhibitions with customers. The proof-of-concept system fulfilled many of the functional requirements set for it, allowing for co-operation in the virtual reality. Additionally, a rudimentary model for access control was available in the designed system. The shortcomings of the system were related to areas such as security and scaling, which can be further developed by introducing a cloud-hosted environment to the architecture

Virtual human representation and communication in VLNet

[No abstract available

Presence 2005: the eighth annual international workshop on presence, 21-23 September, 2005 University College London (Conference proceedings)

OVERVIEW (taken from the CALL FOR PAPERS) Academics and practitioners with an interest in the concept of (tele)presence are invited to submit their work for presentation at PRESENCE 2005 at University College London in London, England, September 21-23, 2005. The eighth in a series of highly successful international workshops, PRESENCE 2005 will provide an open discussion forum to share ideas regarding concepts and theories, measurement techniques, technology, and applications related to presence, the psychological state or subjective perception in which a person fails to accurately and completely acknowledge the role of technology in an experience, including the sense of 'being there' experienced by users of advanced media such as virtual reality. The concept of presence in virtual environments has been around for at least 15 years, and the earlier idea of telepresence at least since Minsky's seminal paper in 1980. Recently there has been a burst of funded research activity in this area for the first time with the European FET Presence Research initiative. What do we really know about presence and its determinants? How can presence be successfully delivered with today's technology? This conference invites papers that are based on empirical results from studies of presence and related issues and/or which contribute to the technology for the delivery of presence. Papers that make substantial advances in theoretical understanding of presence are also welcome. The interest is not solely in virtual environments but in mixed reality environments. Submissions will be reviewed more rigorously than in previous conferences. High quality papers are therefore sought which make substantial contributions to the field. Approximately 20 papers will be selected for two successive special issues for the journal Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. PRESENCE 2005 takes place in London and is hosted by University College London. The conference is organized by ISPR, the International Society for Presence Research and is supported by the European Commission's FET Presence Research Initiative through the Presencia and IST OMNIPRES projects and by University College London