Design of a Virtual Reality Scenario and Scent Generator for Sensory Training

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Elmer R. Smith College of Business and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Yosselin Castro Islas on November 15, 2019

Potential applications for virtual and augmented reality technologies in sensory science

peer-reviewedSensory science has advanced significantly in the past decade and is quickly evolving to become a key tool for predicting food product success in the marketplace. Increasingly, sensory data techniques are moving towards more dynamic aspects of sensory perception, taking account of the various stages of user-product interactions. Recent technological advancements in virtual reality and augmented reality have unlocked the potential for new immersive and interactive systems which could be applied as powerful tools for capturing and deciphering the complexities of human sensory perception. This paper reviews recent advancements in virtual and augmented reality technologies and identifies and explores their potential application within the field of sensory science. The paper also considers the possible benefits for the food industry as well as key challenges posed for widespread adoption. The findings indicate that these technologies have the potential to alter the research landscape in sensory science by facilitating promising innovations in five principal areas: consumption context, biometrics, food structure and texture, sensory marketing and augmenting sensory perception. Although the advent of augmented and virtual reality in sensory science offers new exciting developments, the exploitation of these technologies is in its infancy and future research will understand how they can be fully integrated with food and human responses. Industrial relevance: The need for sensory evaluation within the food industry is becoming increasingly complex as companies continuously compete for consumer product acceptance in today's highly innovative and global food environment. Recent technological developments in virtual and augmented reality offer the food industry new opportunities for generating more reliable insights into consumer sensory perceptions of food and beverages, contributing to the design and development of new products with optimised consumer benefits. These technologies also hold significant potential for improving the predictive validity of newly launched products within the marketplace

Multisensory Integration as per Technological Advances: A Review

Multisensory integration research has allowed us to better understand how humans integrate sensory information to produce a unitary experience of the external world. However, this field is often challenged by the limited ability to deliver and control sensory stimuli, especially when going beyond audio–visual events and outside laboratory settings. In this review, we examine the scope and challenges of new technology in the study of multisensory integration in a world that is increasingly characterized as a fusion of physical and digital/virtual events. We discuss multisensory integration research through the lens of novel multisensory technologies and, thus, bring research in human–computer interaction, experimental psychology, and neuroscience closer together. Today, for instance, displays have become volumetric so that visual content is no longer limited to 2D screens, new haptic devices enable tactile stimulation without physical contact, olfactory interfaces provide users with smells precisely synchronized with events in virtual environments, and novel gustatory interfaces enable taste perception through levitating stimuli. These technological advances offer new ways to control and deliver sensory stimulation for multisensory integration research beyond traditional laboratory settings and open up new experimentations in naturally occurring events in everyday life experiences. Our review then summarizes these multisensory technologies and discusses initial insights to introduce a bridge between the disciplines in order to advance the study of multisensory integration

Conceitos e métodos para apoio ao desenvolvimento e avaliação de colaboração remota utilizando realidade aumentada

Remote Collaboration using Augmented Reality (AR) shows great potential to establish a common ground in physically distributed scenarios where team-members need to achieve a shared goal. However, most research efforts in this field have been devoted to experiment with the enabling technology and propose methods to support its development. As the field evolves, evaluation and characterization of the collaborative process become an essential, but difficult endeavor, to better understand the contributions of AR. In this thesis, we conducted a critical analysis to identify the main limitations and opportunities of the field, while situating its maturity and proposing a roadmap of important research actions. Next, a human-centered design methodology was adopted, involving industrial partners to probe how AR could support their needs during remote maintenance. These outcomes were combined with literature methods into an AR-prototype and its evaluation was performed through a user study. From this, it became clear the necessity to perform a deep reflection in order to better understand the dimensions that influence and must/should be considered in Collaborative AR. Hence, a conceptual model and a humancentered taxonomy were proposed to foster systematization of perspectives. Based on the model proposed, an evaluation framework for contextualized data gathering and analysis was developed, allowing support the design and performance of distributed evaluations in a more informed and complete manner. To instantiate this vision, the CAPTURE toolkit was created, providing an additional perspective based on selected dimensions of collaboration and pre-defined measurements to obtain “in situ” data about them, which can be analyzed using an integrated visualization dashboard. The toolkit successfully supported evaluations of several team-members during tasks of remote maintenance mediated by AR. Thus, showing its versatility and potential in eliciting a comprehensive characterization of the added value of AR in real-life situations, establishing itself as a generalpurpose solution, potentially applicable to a wider range of collaborative scenarios.Colaboração Remota utilizando Realidade Aumentada (RA) apresenta um enorme potencial para estabelecer um entendimento comum em cenários onde membros de uma equipa fisicamente distribuídos precisam de atingir um objetivo comum. No entanto, a maioria dos esforços de investigação tem-se focado nos aspetos tecnológicos, em fazer experiências e propor métodos para apoiar seu desenvolvimento. À medida que a área evolui, a avaliação e caracterização do processo colaborativo tornam-se um esforço essencial, mas difícil, para compreender as contribuições da RA. Nesta dissertação, realizámos uma análise crítica para identificar as principais limitações e oportunidades da área, ao mesmo tempo em que situámos a sua maturidade e propomos um mapa com direções de investigação importantes. De seguida, foi adotada uma metodologia de Design Centrado no Humano, envolvendo parceiros industriais de forma a compreender como a RA poderia responder às suas necessidades em manutenção remota. Estes resultados foram combinados com métodos da literatura num protótipo de RA e a sua avaliação foi realizada com um caso de estudo. Ficou então clara a necessidade de realizar uma reflexão profunda para melhor compreender as dimensões que influenciam e devem ser consideradas na RA Colaborativa. Foram então propostos um modelo conceptual e uma taxonomia centrada no ser humano para promover a sistematização de perspetivas. Com base no modelo proposto, foi desenvolvido um framework de avaliação para recolha e análise de dados contextualizados, permitindo apoiar o desenho e a realização de avaliações distribuídas de forma mais informada e completa. Para instanciar esta visão, o CAPTURE toolkit foi criado, fornecendo uma perspetiva adicional com base em dimensões de colaboração e medidas predefinidas para obter dados in situ, que podem ser analisados utilizando o painel de visualização integrado. O toolkit permitiu avaliar com sucesso vários colaboradores durante a realização de tarefas de manutenção remota apoiada por RA, permitindo mostrar a sua versatilidade e potencial em obter uma caracterização abrangente do valor acrescentado da RA em situações da vida real. Sendo assim, estabelece-se como uma solução genérica, potencialmente aplicável a uma gama diversificada de cenários colaborativos.Programa Doutoral em Engenharia Informátic

Διερεύνηση της εφαρμογής συστημάτων επαυξημένης πραγματικότητας στο θέατρο

Το θέατρο, από τη γέννησή του μέχρι και σήμερα, αξιοποιεί την τεχνολογία, άλλοτε απλώς ως μέρος τη σκηνογραφίας και άλλοτε ως κύριο συστατικό μίας πολυμεσικής θεατρικής εμπειρίας. Ένα νέο είδος πειραματικού θεάτρου που εμφανίστηκε την τελευταία δεκαετία είναι αυτό που αναφέρεται ως θέατρο μεικτής πραγματικότητας και στο οποίο γίνεται χρήση των πρόσφατων τεχνολογιών εικονικής και επαυξημένης πραγματικότητας προκειμένου να δημιουργηθούν θεατρικές εμπειρίες που θολώνουν τα όρια μεταξύ πραγματικού και φανταστικού κόσμου. Παρόλο που οι εν λόγω τεχνολογίες υπάρχουν εδώ και δεκαετίες, δεν ήταν έτοιμες μέχρι πρόσφατα να αξιοποιηθούν στο χώρο του θέατρου. Συγκεκριμένα, η τεχνολογία της επαυξημένης πραγματικότητας, αναμένεται να φτάσει σε ένα ιδανικό σημείο εμπορευσιμότητας και αξιοποίησης σε οποιοδήποτε πεδίο, στα επόμενα χρόνια, πράγμα που την κάνει ιδανική για πειραματισμό και ανάπτυξη νέων τρόπων αξιοποίησής της για το άμεσο μέλλον. Σε αυτή́ την εργασία μελετάται η ιστορία της αξιοποίησης νέων τεχνολογιών στις παραστατικές τέχνες, αξιολογείται η εφαρμοσιμότητα των συστημάτων επαυξημένης πραγματικότητας στο χώρο του θεάτρου, και τέλος, προτείνεται η σχεδίαση ενός συστήματος υποστήριξης για την παραγωγή και την εκτέλεση παραστάσεων που αξιοποιούν τεχνολογίες επαυξημένης πραγματικότητας.Theatre, since its appearance, has made extensive use of technology, some times as means of the overall scenography and others as a main feature on a mixed media theatrical experience. Lately, we witness virtual and augmented reality technologies finding their way into new experimental artistic performances blurring the boundaries between the real and the virtual. Although these technologies have been around for decades, they were not ready to be used in a theatre setting, until recently. The augmented reality technology, specifically, is expected to reach an ideal point of marketability and exploitation in any field in the years to come, which makes it ideal for experimentation and development of new ways to use it for the foreseeable future. This work explores the history of technology usage in performative arts, investigates the applicability of current augmented reality systems in theatre and finally, proposes the design of a system that will support the production of theatrical plays that utilise augmented reality technologies

Arguably augmented reality : relationships between the virtual and the real

This thesis is about augmented reality (AR). AR is commonly considered a technology that integrates virtual images into a user’s view of the real world. Yet, this thesis is not about such technologies. We believe a technology-based notion of AR is incomplete. In this thesis, we challenge the technology-oriented view, provide new perspectives on AR and propose a different understanding. We argue that AR is characterized by the relationships between the virtual and the real and approach AR from a fundamental, experience-focused view. By doing so, we create an unusually broad and diverse image of what AR is, or arguably could be. We discuss the fundamental characteristics of AR and the many possible manifestations it can take and propose new, imaginative AR environments that have no counterpart in a purely physical world. Computer Systems, Imagery and Medi