Navigation and interaction in a real-scale digital mock-up using natural language and user gesture

This paper tries to demonstrate a very new real-scale 3D system and sum up some firsthand and cutting edge results concerning multi-modal navigation and interaction interfaces. This work is part of the CALLISTO-SARI collaborative project. It aims at constructing an immersive room, developing a set of software tools and some navigation/interaction interfaces. Two sets of interfaces will be introduced here: 1) interaction devices, 2) natural language (speech processing) and user gesture. The survey on this system using subjective observation (Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, SSQ) and objective measurements (Center of Gravity, COG) shows that using natural languages and gesture-based interfaces induced less cyber-sickness comparing to device-based interfaces. Therefore, gesture-based is more efficient than device-based interfaces.FUI CALLISTO-SAR

De/construction sites: Romans and the digital playground

The Roman world as attested to archaeologically and as interacted with today has its expression in a great many computational and other media. The place of visualisation within this has been paramount. This paper argues that the process of digitally constructing the Roman world and the exploration of the resultant models are useful methods for interpretation and influential factors in the creation of a popular Roman aesthetic. Furthermore, it suggests ways in which novel computational techniques enable the systematic deconstruction of such models, in turn re-purposing the many extant representations of Roman architecture and material culture

Beyond the Electronic Connection: The Technologically Manufactured Cyber-Human and Its Physical Human Counterpart in Performance: A Theory Related to Convergence Identities

This thesis is an investigation of the complex processes and relationships between the physical human performer and the technologically manufactured cyber-human counterpart. I acted as both researcher and the physical human performer, deeply engaged in the moment-to-moment creation of events unfolding within a shared virtual reality environment. As the primary instigator and activator of the cyber-human partner, I maintained a balance between the live and technological performance elements, prioritizing the production of content and meaning. By way of using practice as research, this thesis argues that in considering interactions between cyber-human and human performers, it is crucial to move beyond discussions of technology when considering interactions between cyber-humans and human performers to an analysis of emotional content, the powers of poetic imagery, the trust that is developed through sensory perception and the evocation of complex relationships. A theoretical model is constructed to describe the relationship between a cyber-human and a human performer in the five works created specifically for this thesis, which is not substantially different from that between human performers. Technological exploration allows for the observation and analysis of various relationships, furthering an expanded understanding of ‘movement as content’ beyond the electronic connection. Each of the works created for this research used new and innovative technologies, including virtual reality, multiple interactive systems, six generations of wearable computers, motion capture technology, high-end digital lighting projectors, various projection screens, smart electronically charged fabrics, multiple sensory sensitive devices and intelligent sensory charged alternative performance spaces. They were most often collaboratively created in order to augment all aspects of the performance and create the sense of community found in digital live dance performances/events. These works are identified as one continuous line of energy and discovery, each representing a slight variation on the premise that a working, caring, visceral and poetic content occurs beyond the technological tools. Consequently, a shift in the physical human’s psyche overwhelms the act of performance. Scholarship and reflection on the works have been integral to my creative process throughout. The goals of this thesis, the works created and the resulting methodologies are to investigate performance to heighten the multiple ways we experience and interact with the world. This maximizes connection and results in a highly interactive, improvisational, dynamic, non-linear, immediate, accessible, agential, reciprocal, emotional, visceral and transformative experience without boundaries between the virtual and physical for physical humans, cyborgs and cyber-humans alike.College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Texas at Austi

Digital architecture and designing architecture space and ITS effect on future life strategy

Technological advancements have altered nearly every aspect of individuals’ existence and operation in society. When technologies develop, architecture evolves as well: the architectural techniques change, as does the architectural outcome. The digital revolution reflected on architecture, as did other scientific and life fields. Its impact on the work and architectural space was evident. The architectural production became not limited to designing in traditional ways and directing it as computer drawings. Still, it went beyond that, as the designs produced became the product of an intelligent design process directly influenced by the digital community in general. Architectural space has gone through many developments throughout history influenced by technology and building techniques on the one hand and by functional and environmental issues and human factors on the other hand. The architectural space appeared in the form of a living being that grows over time and is influenced by all the variables of the times and expresses the personality of its inhabitants. If the architect determines space and its composition according to human needs, it is also influenced by the imagination of architecture and its vision of freedom. Therefore, the problem of research was determined by "the lack of a clear vision of the development of architectural space and how it is affected by the digital revolution," where the research aims to identify indicators of the development of architectural space in light of digital development and how architectural thought deals with the changes brought about by information technology, and how it was expressed in the form of areas that meet the needs of users, which in turn changed in terms of sensory needs or physical needs. The research thus assumed "the existence of mechanisms, strategies, levels, and degrees of digital use within the process of designing architectural and urban space to generate digital space," and to achieve this will begin to learn about the evolution of space and what it is over time with a quick presentation of the most prominent developments in the architectural and urban space, especially in the recent years, to a final formulation of the characteristics of knowledge of digital areas

Generative sound art as poeitic poetry for an information society

This paper considers computer music in relation to broader society and asks what algorithmic composition can learn from the metaphysical shift which is happening in the so-called information societies. This is explored by taking the mapping problem inherent in the use of extra- musical models in generative composition and presenting a simple generative schema which prioritises sound, ex- ploiting the generative potential of digital audio. It is sug- gested that the exploration of such models has more than aesthetic relevance and that the interdisciplinary nature of digital sound art represents a microcosm of an emerging reality, thereby constituting a poietic playground for com- ing to terms with the implications and challenges of the information age

Extended Reality and Internet of Things for Hyper-Connected Metaverse Environments

The Metaverse encompasses technologies related to the internet, virtual and augmented reality, and other domains toward smart interfaces that are hyper-connected, immersive, and engaging. However, Metaverse applications face inherent disconnects between virtual and physical components and interfaces. This work explores how an Extended Metaverse framework can be used to increase the seamless integration of interoperable agents between virtual and physical environments. It contributes an early theory and practice toward the synthesis of virtual and physical smart environments anticipating future designs and their potential for connected experiences.Comment: In Proceedings of 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), Christchurch, New Zealand, 202

Mood Worlds: A Virtual Environment for Autonomous Emotional Expression

Immersive interactive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) have the potential to foster well-being. While VR applications have been successfully used to evoke positive emotions through the presetting of light, colour and scenery, the experiential potential of allowing users to independently create a virtual environment (VE) has not yet been sufficiently addressed. To that end, we explore how the autonomous design of a VE can affect emotional engagement and well-being. We present Mood Worlds - a VR application allowing users to visualise their emotions by self-creating a VE. In an exploratory evaluation (N=16), we found that Mood Worlds is an effective tool supporting emotional engagement. Additionally, we found that an autonomous creation process in VR increases positive emotions and well-being. Our work shows that VR can be an effective tool to visualise emotions, thereby increasing positive affect. We discuss opportunities and design requirements for VR as positive technology

When Windmills Turn Into Giants: The Conundrum of Virtual Places

While many papers may claim that virtual environments have much to gain from architectural and urban planning theory, few seem to specify in any verifiable or falsifiable way, how notions of place and interaction are best combined and developed for specific needs. The following is an attempt to summarize a theory of place for virtual environments and explain both the shortcomings and the advantages of this theory

Master of Fine Arts

thesisThe questions posed in this research involve the massive effects of the cyberrevolution on the human experience of embodiment and identity formation. Our technologies have begun to merge with the human body in new and unforeseen ways, from the development of smartphones, to new advances in Internet technologies, to the motion capture gaming systems of KINECT infrared cameras. This revolution has affected fields as wide-ranging as dance, gender studies, digital technologies, media studies, music, the visual arts, economics, and socio-anthropology. The hybridity of digital self and corporeality is permeating all aspects of life, from the growing use of projections in music and dance performances to the many permutations of human identity online on sites like Facebook or Twitter. For this research, I have focused on the effect of digitally interactive performance media in the field of dance, and how the performing human body-mind is impacted by virtual spaces and digital performance practice. With a focus on my own work (from digitally integrated live performances like the words we missed to screendance films like we walk blood earth) and the creative work of other dance artists, I've tried to investigate this constantly shifting dialogue between the human body and our digital counterparts. In my creative research with dancers, I've become aware that the ripples of what might be called "active digital translation" are being felt across disciplines and impacting human race, the spiraling, outward momentum of technological innovation. I've posed the questions: can the integration of digital technologies in the practice and performance of dance result in a different kind of embodiment and identity formation, one that meshes the physical and the virtual into an aesthetically, politically, and kinesthetically new sensation? What are the implications of this for the dance field, for performers of the physical arts, and for our corporal bodies within society? I have found that this newfound potential for identity formation, virtuosic transformation, and digital embodiment in the cyber age has put forth many exciting and challenging prospects for the human body