MIME: A mixed-space collaborative system with three immersion levels and multiple users

Shared spaces for remote collaboration are nowadays possible by considering a variety of users, devices, immersion systems, interaction capabilities, navigation paradigms, etc. There is a substantial amount of research done in this line, proposing different solutions. However, still a more general solution that considers the heterogeneity of the involved actors/items is lacking. In this paper, we present MIME, a mixed-space tri-collaborative system. Differently from other mixed-space systems, MIME considers three different types of users (in different locations) according to the level of immersion in the system, who can interact simultaneously – what we call a tri-collaboration. For the three types, we provide a solution to navigate, point at objects/locations and make annotations, while users are able to see a virtual representation of the rest of users. Additionally, the total number of users that can simultaneously interact with the system is only restricted by the available hardware, i.e., various users of the same type can be simultaneously connected to the system. We have conducted a preliminary study at the laboratory level, showing that MIME is a promising tool that can be used in many real cases for different purposes.Shared spaces for remote collaboration are nowadays possible by considering a variety of users, devices, immersion systems, interaction capabilities, navigation paradigms, etc. There is a substantial amount of research done in this line, proposing different solutions. However, still a more general solution that considers the heterogeneity of the involved actors/items is lacking. In this paper, we present MIME, a mixed-space tri-collaborative system. Differently from other mixed-space systems, MIME considers three different types of users (in different locations) according to the level of immersion in the system, who can interact simultaneously – what we call a tri-collaboration. For the three types, we provide a solution to navigate, point at objects/locations and make annotations, while users are able to see a virtual representation of the rest of users. Additionally, the total number of users that can simultaneously interact with the system is only restricted by the available hardware, i.e., various users of the same type can be simultaneously connected to the system. We have conducted a preliminary study at the laboratory level, showing that MIME is a promising tool that can be used in many real cases for different purposes

Improving Awareness for 3D Virtual Collaboration by Embedding the Features of Users' Physical Environments and by Augmenting Interaction Tools with Cognitive Feedback Cues

International audienceThe feeling of presence is essential for efficient interaction within Virtual Environments (VEs). When a user is fully immersed within a VE through a large immersive display system, his/her feeling of presence can be altered because of disturbing interactions with his/her physical environment, such as collision with hardware parts of the system or loss of tracking. This alteration can be avoided by taking into account the physical features of the user as well as those of the system hardware and embedding them in the VE. Moreover, the 3D abstract representation of these physical features can also be useful for collaboration between distant users because they can make a user aware of the physical limitations of the others he/she is collaborating with. In this paper we present how we use the Immersive Interactive Virtual Cabin (IIVC) model to obtain this virtual representation of the user's physical environment and we illustrate how this representation can be used in a collaborative navigation task in a VE. We also present how we can add 3D representations of 2D interaction tools in order to cope with asymmetrical collaborative configurations, providing 3D cues for a user to understand the actions of the others even if he/she is not fully immersed in the shared VE. Last, we briefly explain how we plan to enhance 3D interaction and collaboration by embedding a symbolic 3D user representation that will give 3D information about his/her posture

The Effects of Sharing Awareness Cues in Collaborative Mixed Reality

Augmented and Virtual Reality provide unique capabilities for Mixed Reality collaboration. This paper explores how different combinations of virtual awareness cues can provide users with valuable information about their collaborator's attention and actions. In a user study (n = 32, 16 pairs), we compared different combinations of three cues: Field-of-View (FoV) frustum, Eye-gaze ray, and Head-gaze ray against a baseline condition showing only virtual representations of each collaborator's head and hands. Through a collaborative object finding and placing task, the results showed that awareness cues significantly improved user performance, usability, and subjective preferences, with the combination of the FoV frustum and the Head-gaze ray being best. This work establishes the feasibility of room-scale MR collaboration and the utility of providing virtual awareness cues

Phénoménologie au Palais de l'Intendant de Québec : l'archéologie numérique comme nouvelle méthode de recherche

Ce projet de mémoire s'intéresse à une toute nouvelle approche d'analyse du site archéologique de l'Îlot des Palais en basse-ville de Québec : la phénoménologie en contexte numérique. À la suite de l'élaboration de l'environnement virtuel qui représente une première hypothèse du site en 1719, l'environnement est adapté à un système de réalité virtuelle. Ce contexte d'immersion et d'interaction permet une analyse de phénoménologie dépouillée des obstacles sensoriels du contexte urbain contemporain. Ce mémoire présente un article sur la méthodologie d'acquisition des informations brutes, leurs traitements en données archéologiques 3D et la production de l'environnement virtuel. Les résultats de l'analyse sont ensuite abordés en comparaison avec l'analyse de phénoménologie du site in situ. Enfin, nous terminons avec une discussion critique sur la démarche d'archéologie numérique qui pourrait être appliquée à d'autres cas d'études, les perspectives pour l'intégration en milieu professionnel et une réflexion sur l'utilisation comme outil de médiation grand public.This dissertation project is interested in a new approach to analyze the archaeological site of the Îlot des Palais in the City of Quebec: phenomenology in a digital context. Following the development of the virtual environment which represents a first hypothesis of the site in 1719, the environment is adapted to a virtual reality system. This context of immersion and interaction allows an analysis of phenomenology stripped of the sensory obstacles of the contemporary urban context. This document presents an article on the methodology of raw information acquisition, their processing in 3D archaeological data and the production of the virtual environment. The results of the analysis are then discussed in comparison with the analysis of phenomenology of the site in situ. Finally, we end with a critical examination of the digital archaeology approach for scientific research that could be applied to other case studies, the prospect for integration in the private sector and a reflection on public mediation through this medium

Génération des séquences de désassemblage et leur évaluation : Intégration dans un environnement de réalité virtuelle

Integration of disassembly operations during product design is an important issue today. It is estimated that at the earliest stages of product design, the cost of disassembly operations almost represents 30 % of its total cost. Nowadays, disassembly operation simulation of industrial products finds a strong interest in interactive simulations through immersive and real-time schemes. In this context, in the first place, this thesis presents a method for generating the feasible disassembly sequences for selective disassembly. The method is based on the lowest levels of a disassembly product graph. Instead of considering the geometric constraints for each pair of components, the proposed method considers the geometric contact and collision relationships among the components in order to generate the so-called Disassembly Geometry Contacting Graph (DGCG). The latter is then used for disassembly sequence generation thus allowing the number of possible sequences to be reduced by ignoring any components which are unrelated to the target. A simulation framework was developed integrated in a Virtual reality environment thus allowing generating the minimum number of possible disassembly sequences. Secondly, a method for disassembly operation evaluation by 3D geometric removability analysis in a Virtual environment is proposed. It is based on seven new criteria which are: visibility of a part, disassembly angles, number of tools' changes, path orientation changing, sub-assembly stability, neck score and bending score. All criteria are presented by dimensionless coefficients automatically calculated, thus allowing evaluating disassembly sequences complexity. For this purpose, a mixed virtual reality disassembly environment (VRDE) is developed based on Python programming language, utilizing VTK (Visualization Toolkit) and ODE (Open Dynamics Engine) libraries. The framework is based on STEP, WRL and STL exchange formats. The analysis results and findings demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach thus providing significant assistance for the evaluation of disassembly sequences during Product Development Process (PDP). Further consequences of the present work consist in ranking the criteria according to their importance. For this purpose, moderation coefficients may be allocated to each of them thus allowing a more comprehensive evaluating method.De nos jours, l'intégration des opérations de désassemblage lors de la conception des produits est un enjeu crucial. On estime que dans la phase initiale de la conception d'un produit, le coût des opérations de désassemblage représente environ 30% de son coût total. Ainsi, la simulation des opérations de désassemblage de produits industriels trouve un fort intérêt pour des simulations interactives grâce à des programmes d'immersion et en temps réel. Dans ce contexte, dans un premier temps, cette thèse présente une méthode de génération des séquences de désassemblage possibles pour le désassemblage sélectif. La méthode est basée sur les niveaux les plus bas du graphe de désassemblage des produits. Au lieu de considérer les contraintes géométriques pour chaque paire de composants, la méthode proposée tient compte des contacts (relations géométriques entre les composants) et des collisions afin de générer le Graphe Géométrique de Contacts et de Désassemblage (DGCG). Celui-ci est ensuite utilisé pour la génération des séquences de désassemblage permettant ainsi de réduite le nombre de séquences possibles en ignorant les composants non liés avec la cible. Une application de simulation a été développée, intégrée dans un environnement de réalité virtuelle (RV) permettant ainsi la génération du nombre minimum de séquences possibles de désassemblage.Dans un second temps, une méthode d'évaluation des opérations de désassemblage par analyse géométrique 3D de l'amovibilité dans un environnement RV est proposée. Elle est basée sur sept nouveaux critères qui sont: la visibilité d'une pièce, les angles de désassemblage, le nombre des changements d'outils, le changement d'orientation des trajectoires, la stabilité des sous-ensembles, les angles de rotation du cou et flexion du corps. Tous ces critères sont présentés par des coefficients sans dimension calculés automatiquement par l'application développée, permettant ainsi d'évaluer la complexité des séquences de désassemblage. A cet effet, un environnement mixte de réalité virtuelle pour le désassemblage (VRDE) est développé, basé sur le langage de programmation Python, en utilisant deux bibliothèques : VTK (Visualisation Toolkit) et ODE (Open Dynamics Engine), les formats d'échange étant fichiers: STEP, WRL et STL. L'analyse des résultats obtenus démontrent la fiabilité de l'approche proposée fournissant ainsi une aide non négligeable pour l'évaluation des séquences de désassemblage lors de processus de développement de produits (PDP). Les autres conséquences de ce travail consistent à classer les critères en fonction de leur importance. A cet effet, des coefficients de modération peuvent être attribués à chacun d'eux permettant ainsi une méthode d'évaluation plus complète