Media Presence and Inner Presence: The Sense of Presence in Virtual Reality Technologies

Abstract. Presence is widely accepted as the key concept to be considered in any research involving human interaction with Virtual Reality (VR). Since its original description, the concept of presence has developed over the past decade to be considered by many researchers as the essence of any experience in a virtual environment. The VR generating systems comprise two main parts: a technological component and a psychological experience. The different relevance given to them produced two different but coexisting visions of presence: the rationalist and the psychological/ecological points of view. The rationalist point of view considers a VR system as a collection of specific machines with the necessity of the inclusion \ud of the concept of presence. The researchers agreeing with this approach describe the sense of presence as a function of the experience of a given medium (Media Presence). The main result of this approach is the definition of presence as the perceptual illusion of non-mediation produced by means of the disappearance of the medium from the conscious attention of the subject. At the other extreme, there \ud is the psychological or ecological perspective (Inner Presence). Specifically, this perspective considers presence as a neuropsychological phenomenon, evolved from the interplay of our biological and cultural inheritance, whose goal is the control of the human activity. \ud Given its key role and the rate at which new approaches to understanding and examining presence are appearing, this chapter draws together current research on presence to provide an up to date overview of the most widely accepted approaches to its understanding and measurement

Editorial: Teaching and learning between virtuality and reality

Discussions about the digitisation of the professional and working world assume that virtual teaching and learning will increasingly merge with real teaching and learning which will result in new, innovative technology-based teaching and learning approaches. Against this background, this article addresses technology-based realms of experience and considers the challenges associated with the use of virtual teaching and learning environments in vocational education and training.Keywords: Virtual reality, professionalisation, teacher training, digitalisatio

Evaluating Mandarin language students’ online experience during Covid-19: A case study from London

Given the impact of coronavirus, all schools across all sectors public and private, in the United Kingdom closed at the end of March 2020. Closures affected every type of establishment across the UK as well as private language schools. Our case study takes place in London and looks into the student experience in a language Mandarin Chinese school. These language students, as very many across the globe, who attended face-to-face sessions up until that point, have since been studying remotely and joining virtual classrooms via Zoom, one of the multiple video conferencing platforms available. To better evaluate students’ online learning experience of remote learning, this study examines the teacherstudent interactions that take place via online means and the students’ sense of ‘presence’ (i.e., cognitive, social, and teaching presence) in order to evaluate the lessons we can learn from the online learning experience, going forward in terms of teaching and learning. This study also presents how meaningful and worthwhile the experience has been and how the sense of ‘presence’ plays a significant role in the process of online teaching and learning

Learning in a Mixed Reality System in the Context of ‚Industrie 4.0‘

This contribution in the field of innovative approaches to training and education in technical subjects focuses on the potential of modern teaching and learning environments. The contribution is based on a theoretical introduction to Mixed Reality Systems and virtual teaching and learning systems, and as such provides an overview of current research regarding modern learning environments. In particular, it takes a close look at motivational effects in the context of web-based learning structures, human-object interactions, gamification and immersion. The article discusses both technical, user-relevant and pedagogical aspects as well as suggestions for further research in the context of Ausbildung 4.0.Keywords: Industry 4.0, Vocational Training 4.0, Mixed Reality System, virtual learning AcknowledgementThe author would like to thank the ChinaScholarshipCouncil(CSC) for the financial support (No. 201406030091)

Editorial: Lehren und Lernen zwischen Virtualität und Realität

In der Diskussion zur Digitalisierung der Berufs- und Arbeitswelt wird davon ausgegangen, dass virtuelle Lehr- und Lernwelten zunehmend mit realen Lehr- und Lernwelten verschmelzen und neue innovative technologiebasierte Lehr- und Lernarrangements prägen. Im Kontext dessen, beschäftigt sich der vorliegende Beitrag mit technologiebasierten Erfahrungswelten und wirft dabei einen Blick auf die Herausforderungen, die mit der Nutzung von virtuellen Lehr- und Lernumgebungen in der beruflichen Bildung verbunden sind.Schlüsselwörter: Virtuelle Realität, Professionalisierung, Lehrerbildung Digitalisierung In der Diskussion zur Digitalisierung der Berufs- und Arbeitswelt wird davon ausgegangen, dass virtuelle Lehr- und Lernwelten zunehmend mit realen Lehr- und Lernwelten verschmelzen und neue innovative technologiebasierte Lehr- und Lernarrangements prägen. Im Kontext dessen, beschäftigt sich der vorliegende Beitrag mit technologiebasierten Erfahrungswelten und wirft dabei einen Blick auf die Herausforderungen, die mit der Nutzung von virtuellen Lehr- und Lernumgebungen in der beruflichen Bildung verbunden sind

Entwicklung und Evaluation der virtuellen Lern- und Arbeitsumgebung VILA

Im Beitrag wird von der theoriegestützten Entwicklung und Evaluation der virtuellen Lern- und Arbeitsumgebung VILA berichtet. VILA wurde für die berufliche Aus- und Weiter­bildung von Fachkräften im industriellen Dienstleistungsbereich entwickelt. Die Ergebnisse der mit (angehenden) Servicetechnikern in gewerblich-technischen Domänen (n = 62) und Berufs- und Technikpädagogen (n = 72) durchgeführte Evaluation lassen darauf schließen, dass die virtuelle Lern- und Arbeitsumgebung VILA mit ihren technologischen und funktionalen Optionen sowie ihrem methodisch-didaktischen Konzept zentrale Anforderun­gen an ein situiertes und flexibles Lernen erfüllt und von den Befragten im Hinblick auf Usability, räumliche Präsenz und Flow-Erleben positiv wahrgenommen wird. In einem Strukturmodell zeigt sich, dass vor allem die wahrgenommene räumliche Präsenz das Flow-Erleben im virtuellen Setting determiniert.Schlüsselwörter: Virtuelles Lernen, Usability, räumliche Präsenz, Flow-Erleben, Evaluatio

Re-evaluating the role of innovation in education: a living social process

Education is a social process, ‘a process of living and not a preparation for future living’ (Dewey: 1916). It requires educators to interact with other people in real time with the hope to bring out their full potential. It is grounded in collaboration, mutual respect and inclusive practices. If education is a process of living and not a preparation for it, it should then reflect what happens in life and it should emerge and evolve from any circumstances. Including the most unprecedented one

Work machine simulator in a virtual environment: immersion level, sense of presence and user performance

Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksen kautta, millä tavalla virtuaaliympäristöissä koettua läsnäolon tunnetta voidaan mitata. Lisäksi tutkittiin virtuaalitilaan rakennetulla kaivoskonesimulaattorilla suoritettujen käyttäjäkokeiden avulla, miten virtuaaliympäristön immersiotaso vaikuttaa koehenkilöiden kokemaan läsnäolon tunteeseen sekä suoritusten tasoon. Tutkimus on osa laajempaa kokonaisuutta, jossa kehitetään työkonesimulaattoria työkaluksi, jolla koneen käyttäjät pääsevät mukaan koneensuunnitteluprosessiin jo varhaisessa vaiheessa. Yleisimmiksi menetelmiksi läsnäolon tunteen mittaamiseen havaittiin kyselylomakkeen avulla tehtävään itsearviointiin perustuvat menetelmät. Muut menetelmät perustuivat lähinnä joko jatkuvaan itsearviointiin, käyttäjän reaktioiden tarkkailuun tai fysiologisten reaktioiden mittaamiseen. Käyttäjäkokeisiin osallistui 25 henkilöä. Tutkittavina immersiokomponentteina olivat kuvan kolmiulotteisuus, pään paikannus sekä liikealusta. Läsnäolon tunnetta mitattiin kyselylomakkeella. Koehenkilöiden suorituksista mitattiin kuormaajan kauhaan nostettujen kivien määrä, lastauspaikalle kuljetettujen kivien määrä sekä kaivoskäytävän seiniin törmäysten lukumäärä. Tulokset osoittivat, että liikealustan aktivoiminen lisää läsnäolon tunnetta, mutta kuvan kolmiulotteisuudella ja pään paikannuksella ei ollut vaikutusta. Kokeneet työkonekuljettajat raportoivat vähemmän läsnäolon tunnetta kuin muut. Liikealusta osoittautui ratkaisevan tärkeäksi simulaattorin realistisuudelle myös sitä kautta, että juuri liikealustan käyttö sai kokeneet kuljettajat suoriutumaan paremmin käyttäjäkokeissa.This research contained a review of methods used for measuring the sense of presence in virtual environments. In addition, user tests conducted with a mining machine simulator built in a virtual environment was used for investigating how the immersion level of the virtual environment affects the sense of presence experienced by the test users as well as their task performance. This research is a part of a larger process for developing a work machine simulator to be used as a tool with which machine operators can participate in the machine design process in an early phase. It was found that the most common methods for measuring the sense of presence were questionnaire-based self-assessment methods. Other methods were mostly based on continuous self-assessment, observing the users’ reactions, or measuring their physiological reactions. A total of 25 persons took part in the user tests. The immersion components under study were stereoscopic imaging, head tracking, and a motion platform. A questionnaire was used for measuring presence. The following task performance metrics were investigated: the amount of rock lifted with the bucket, the amount of rock successfully transported to the unloading zone, and the number of times the machine collided with the walls of the mine corridor. The results indicated, that activating the motion platform increases the sense of presence, whereas steroscopy or head tracking had no significant effect. Experienced work machine drivers reported lower scores on the presence scale than other test users. The importance of the motion platform to the reality of the simulator was indicated also by the fact that the motion platform made the experienced drivers perform better in the user tests

Is it worthwhile going immersive? : evaluating the performance of virtual simulated stores for shopper research : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Listed in 2020 Dean's List of Exceptional ThesesAdvances in simulation technology offer the possibility of more authentic shopper environments for virtual store experiments. Criticisms of subjective measures of consumer behavior previously led to the use of test markets or simulated stores for consumer experimental research. As cost implications made such experiments unavailable to the wider market research community, virtual simulated stores (VSSs) were developed as an alternative. However, the adoption of VSSs has been slow as traditional desktop-operated VSSs do not provide an authentic multicategory shopper experience. New simulation technologies offer the opportunity for more immersive and authentic VSS environments. Yet there has been little research on how authenticity of VSSs is impacted by newly available technology such as head-mounted displays, motion tracking, force feedback controllers, and application of place and plausibility cues. Thus, this dissertation asks whether immersive technologies have potential to provide highly authentic VSS environments. Of the many factors that may determine authenticity, this dissertation examines three; participants’ sense of telepresence, the realism of shopper behaviour, and the effects of shopper locomotion alternatives. An immersive VSS incorporating new virtual technologies was specifically designed and built for this research. Three studies were undertaken. The first compared perceived telepresence and usability between a desktop-operated VSS and an equivalent immersive walk-around VSS. The second examined the authenticity of shopper behaviour in the immersive walk-around VSS by comparing observed shopping patterns to those previously reported in the marketing literature. The third tested whether walk-around locomotion was necessary for authenticity, or whether a simpler teleportation method would result in equivalent shopper behaviour and emotions. Results showed that immersive VSS systems are preferable to traditional desktop-operated systems with regards to telepresence and usability. Further, authentic behavioural patterns can be found in immersive walk-around store experiments, including plausibility of private label shares, pack inspection times, shelf-height effects and impulse purchases. Lastly, there were no differences in shopper emotions and purchase behaviour between walk-around locomotion and controller-based instant teleportation, implying that the teleportation technique can be used, thereby reducing the required physical footprint for immersive VSS simulations. Collectively, the findings imply that marketers who study in-store shopper behavior can be confident using immersive VSS for their research as opposed to outdated desktop VSS technology