Designing, testing and adapting navigation techniques for the immersive web

One of the most essential interactions in Virtual Reality (VR) is the user’s ability to move around and explore the virtual environment. The design of the navigation technique plays a crucial role in the user experience since it determines key usability aspects. VR devices allow for an immersive exploration of 3D worlds, but navigation in VR is challenging for many users, due to potential usability issues related to specific VR controllers, user skills, and motion sickness. Although hundreds of interaction techniques have been proposed for this task, VR navigation still poses a high entry barrier for many users. In this paper we argue that adapting the navigation technique to its context of use can lead to substantial improvements in navigation usability and accessibility. The context of use includes the type of scene, the available physical space, as well as the profile of the user. We present a test platform to facilitate the design and fine-tuning of interaction techniques for 3D navigation. We focus on mainstream VR devices (headsets and controllers) and support the most common navigation metaphors (walking, flying, teleportation). The key idea is to let developers specify, at runtime, the exact mapping between user actions and locomotion changes, for any of the supported metaphors. Such mappings are described by a collection of parameters (e.g. maximum speed) whose values can be adjusted interactively through a GUI, or be provided by user-defined code which can be edited at runtime. Feedback obtained from developers suggests that this approach can be used to quickly adapt the navigation techniques to various people including persons with no previous 3D navigation skills, elderly people, and people with disabilities, as well as to the type, size and semantics of the virtual environment.This work has been funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER ‘‘A way to make Europe’’. Pedret model partially funded by EU Horizon 2020, JPICH Conservation, Protection and Use initiative (JPICH-0127) and the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación, grant PCI2020-111979 Enhancement of Heritage Experiences: the Middle Ages; Digital Layered Models of Architecture and Mural Paintings over Time (EHEM)Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Growing the use of Virtual Worlds in education : an OpenSim perspective

The growth in the range of disciplines that Virtual Worlds support for educational purposes is evidenced by recent applications in the fields of cultural heritage, humanitarian aid, space exploration, virtual laboratories in the physical sciences, archaeology, computer science and coastal geography. This growth is due in part to the flexibility of OpenSim, the open source virtual world platform which by adopting Second Life protocols and norms has created a de facto standard for open virtual worlds that is supported by a growing number of third party open source viewers. Yet while this diversity of use-cases is impressive and Virtual Worlds for open learning are highly popular with lecturers and learners alike immersive education remains an essentially niche activity. This paper identifies functional challenges in terms of Management, Network Infrastructure, the Immersive 3D Web and Programmability that must be addressed to enable the wider adoption of Open Virtual Worlds as a routine learning technology platform. We refer to specific use-cases based on OpenSim and abstract generic requirements which should be met to enable the growth in use of Open Virtual Worlds as a mainstream educational facility. A case study of a deployment to support a formal education curriculum and associated informal learning is used to illustrate key points.Postprin

Semantics of immersive web through its architectural structure and graphic primitives

Currently, practices and tools for computer-aided three-dimensional design, do not allow the semantic description of objects constructed in some cases specified notations as handling layers, or labeling of each development itself. The lack of a standard for the description of the elements represents a major drawback for using advanced three-dimensional environments such as the automation of search and construction processes that require semantic knowledge of its elements. This project proposes the development the semantic composition from the hierarchy of three-dimensional visualization of graphics primitives used to construct three-dimensional objects, taking into account the geometric composition architecture of standard 19775-1 of the International Electrotechnical Commission of the International Organization for Standardization For the development of semantic composition use the methodology methontology proposed by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, because it allows the construction of ontologies about specific domains, limiting the domain by defining classes and subclasses, relationships and the generation of instances a framework for resource description on web ontology language

The Future Of Leadership Training: An Immersive Web-Based Program Enhancing Nurse’s Critical Soft Leadership Skills In New Healthcare Contexts

As the care of health shifts to a more decentralized model of care, it essential that the role of nursing facilitates new paths to meeting patients and communities where they are in the context of their lives, forging new partnerships outside of the traditional health care setting, and focusing on advocating for collective upstream solutions (Pittman, 2020). However, this shift requires a set of skills that are not a focus of current nurse leadership training. These are Soft Leadership Skills: networking, communication, teamwork, and innovation/creativity, but not in the traditional sense of the terms (Rao, 2017). The goal of this project was to introduce these concepts through an immersive, web-based program to a group of aspiring nurse leaders at the Organization of Nurse Leaders, New Jersey. The participants were given a brief pre-survey, a 12-minute web-based program, and a brief post-survey offered over the span of 5 weeks. Participant’s demographics, knowledge on the topic, interest in learning more and the program’s value proposition were assessed. Overall, the program was well received, with an increase in knowledge on Soft Leadership Skills from participation in the program, increased importance of utilization in current practice, and an increased interest to learn more on the topic. This data supports the need for future work focusing on a broader demographic of nurses and further trainings on Soft Leadership Skills for nurses to lead the future of health care

Online Scientific Volunteering: the technological immersion for the co-construction of knowledge, employability, entrepreneurship and innovation in a logic of inclusion

“We all have something to learn and something to share” is the motto of this project, through which we aim to assess the impact of a multilingual platform which combines and makes the most of the potentials of digital environments and favours inclusion, in the co-construction of knowledge in learning/practice, in employability, entrepreneurism and innovation. In this article we will introduce an ongoing project which is founded on the principle of openness to the research community. Its philosophy is Online Scientific Volunteering for the co-construction of knowledge about learning best practices. The platform that will emerge from the project will be open access. The academic community, whether national or international, can contribute with content and knowledge to the platform, through interaction and discussions around relevant and emerging topics. The community may also exploit, without encumbrance, the contents of the platform for their own benefit. This way students and scientific expertise can share in a common knowledge space, and together build a comprehensive knowledge base.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio