851 research outputs found

    The efficacy of virtual reality in professional soccer

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    Professional soccer clubs have taken an interest to virtual reality, however, only a paucity of evidence exists to support its use in the soccer training ground environment. Further, several soccer virtual reality companies have begun providing solutions to teams, claiming to test specific characteristics of players, yet supportive evidence for certain measurement properties remain absent from the literature. The aims of this thesis were to explore the efficacy of virtual reality being used in the professional football training ground environment. To do so, this thesis looked to explore the fundamental measurement properties of soccer specific virtual reality tests, along with the perceptions of professional coaches, backroom staff, and players that could use virtual reality. The first research study (Chapter 3) aimed to quantify the learning effect during familiarisation trials of a soccer-specific virtual reality task. Thirty-four professional soccer players age, stature, and body mass: mean (SD) 20 (3.4) years; 180 (7) cm; 79 (8) kg, participated in six trials of a virtual reality soccer passing task. The task required participants to receive and pass 30 virtual soccer balls into highlighted mini-goals that surrounded the participant. The number of successful passes were recorded in each trial. The one-sided Bayesian paired samples t-test indicated very strong evidence in favour of the alternative hypothesis (H1)(BF10 = 46.5, d = 0.56 [95% CI = 0.2 to 0.92]) for improvements in total goals scored between trial 1: 13.6 (3.3) and trial 2: 16 (3.3). Further, the Bayesian paired-samples equivalence t-tests indicated strong evidence in favour of H1 (BF10 = 10.2, d = 0.24 [95% CI = -0.09 to 0.57]) for equivalence between trial 4: 16.7 (3.7) and trial 5: 18.2 (4.7); extreme evidence in favour of H1 (BF10 = 132, d = -0.02 [95% CI = -0.34 to 0.30]) for equivalence between trials 5 and 6: 18.1 (3.5); and moderate evidence in favour of H1 (BF10 = 8.4, d = 0.26 [95% CI = -0.08 to 0.59]) for equivalence between trials 4 and 6. Sufficient evidence indicated that a learning effect took place between the first two trials, and that up to five trials might be necessary for performance to plateau in a specific virtual reality soccer passing task.The second research study (Chapter 4) aimed to assess the validity of a soccer passing task by comparing passing ability between virtual reality and real-world conditions. A previously validated soccer passing test was replicated into a virtual reality environment. Twenty-nine soccer players participated in the study which required them to complete as many passes as possible between two rebound boards within 45 s. Counterbalancing determined the condition order, and then for each condition, participants completed four familiarisation trials and two recorded trials, with the best score being used for analysis. Sense of presence and fidelity were also assessed via questionnaires to understand how representative the virtual environments were compared to the real-world. Results showed that between conditions a difference was observed (EMM = -3.9, 95% HDI = -5.1 to -2.7) with the number of passes being greater in the real-world (EMM = 19.7, 95% HDI = 18.6 to 20.7) than in virtual reality (EMM = 15.7, 95% HDI = 14.7 to 16.8). Further, several subjective differences for fidelity between the two conditions were reported, notably the ability to control the ball in virtual reality which was suggested to have been more difficult than in the real-world. The last research study (Chapter 5) aimed to compare and quantify the perceptions of virtual reality use in soccer, and to model behavioural intentions to use this technology. This study surveyed the perceptions of coaches, support staff, and players in relation to their knowledge, expectations, influences, and barriers of using virtual reality via an internet-based questionnaire. To model behavioural intention, modified questions and constructs from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology were used, and the model was analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling. Respondents represented coaches and support staff (n = 134) and players (n = 64). All respondents generally agreed that virtual reality should be used to improve tactical awareness and cognition, with its use primarily in performance analysis and rehabilitation settings. Generally, coaches and support staff agreed that monetary cost, coach buy-in and limited evidence base were barriers towards its use. In a sub-sample of coaches and support staff without access to virtual reality (n = 123), performance expectancy was the strongest construct in explaining behavioural intention to use virtual reality, followed by facilitating conditions (i.e., barriers) construct which had a negative association with behavioural intention. This thesis aimed to explore the measurement properties of soccer specific virtual reality tests, and the perceptions of staff and players who might use the technology. The key findings from exploring the measurement properties were (1) evidence of a learning curve, suggesting the need for multiple familiarisation trials before collecting data, and (2) a lack of evidence to support the validity of a virtual reality soccer passing test as evident by a lack of agreement to a real-world equivalent. This finding raises questions on the suitability for virtual reality being used to measure passing skill related performance. The key findings from investigating the perceptions of users included, using the technology to improve cognition and tactical awareness, and using it in rehabilitation and performance analysis settings. Future intention to use was generally positive, and driven by performance related factors, yet several barriers exist that may prevent its widespread use. In Chapter 7 of the thesis, a reflective account is presented for the reader, detailing some of the interactions made with coaches, support staff and players in relation to the personal, moral, and ethical challenges faced as a practitioner-researcher, working and studying, respectively, in a professional soccer club

    Developing a Governance Framework for a Commercially Successful, Inclusive, and Safe Metaverse

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    This study aimed to fill a significant gap in the literature on empirical research on the governance structure of the Metaverse. The purpose of this study was to describe Metaverse strategy and innovation management experts’ views on how business leaders and policymakers may collaborate on shaping a governance structure for the Metaverse. This study used a multiple case study design to collect data from a purposeful sample of eight Metaverse experts using a semistructured interview format. This study was framed by three key concepts: Rogers’s concept of diffusion of innovations, Ball’s concept of the Metaverse, and Fernandez and Hiu’s concept of privacy, ethics, and governance in the Metaverse. Twelve themes emerged from the analysis of the data: (a) the Metaverse as disruptors across all industries, (b) human adoption and collaboration as drivers of future business innovation in the Metaverse, (c) the challenge of interoperability across public and private platforms, (d) global network of stakeholders that fosters a holistic and innovative approach to data governance, (e) governance framework that creates value for the consumer, (f) centralized and decentralized options for governance, (g), advantages and challenges of user control over personal data, (h) collaborative policies as regulators of human behavior in the Metaverse, (i) multi-stakeholder generated Metaverse security and privacy policy, (j) policies that regulate user-generated content, (k) incorporation of diversity, equity, and inclusion principles for organizations operating in the Metaverse, and (l) accessibility to all consumers. This study’s result may drive positive social change by presenting practical information on developing a governance framework to regulate the Metaverse

    Second-Person Surveillance: Politics of User Implication in Digital Documentaries

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    This dissertation analyzes digital documentaries that utilize second-person address and roleplay to make users feel implicated in contemporary refugee crises, mass incarceration in the U.S., and state and corporate surveillances. Digital documentaries are seemingly more interactive and participatory than linear film and video documentary as they are comprised of a variety of auditory, visual, and written media, utilize networked technologies, and turn the documentary audience into a documentary user. I draw on scholarship from documentary, game, new media, and surveillance studies to analyze how second-person address in digital documentaries is configured through user positioning and direct address within the works themselves, in how organizations and creators frame their productions, and in how users and players respond in reviews, discussion forums, and Let’s Plays. I build on Michael Rothberg’s theorization of the implicated subject to explore how these digital documentaries bring the user into complicated relationality with national and international crises. Visually and experientially implying that users bear responsibility to the subjects and subject matter, these works can, on the one hand, replicate modes of liberal empathy for suffering, distant “others” and, on the other, simulate one’s own surveillant modes of observation or behavior to mirror it back to users and open up one’s offline thoughts and actions as a site of critique. This dissertation charts how second-person address shapes and limits the political potentialities of documentary projects and connects them to a lineage of direct address from educational and propaganda films, museum exhibits, and serious games. By centralizing the user’s individual experience, the interventions that second-person digital documentaries can make into social discourse change from public, institution-based education to more privatized forms of sentimental education geared toward personal edification and self-realization. Unless tied to larger initiatives or movements, I argue that digital documentaries reaffirm a neoliberal politics of individual self-regulation and governance instead of public education or collective, social intervention. Chapter one focuses on 360-degree virtual reality (VR) documentaries that utilize the feeling of presence to position users as if among refugees and as witnesses to refugee experiences in camps outside of Europe and various dwellings in European cities. My analysis of Clouds Over Sidra (Gabo Arora and Chris Milk 2015) and The Displaced (Imraan Ismail and Ben C. Solomon 2015) shows how these VR documentaries utilize observational realism to make believable and immersive their representations of already empathetic refugees. The empathetic refugee is often young, vulnerable, depoliticized and dehistoricized and is a well-known trope in other forms of humanitarian media that continues into VR documentaries. Forced to Flee (Zahra Rasool 2017), I am Rohingya (Zahra Rasool 2017), So Leben Flüchtlinge in Berlin (Berliner Morgenpost 2017), and Limbo: A Virtual Experience of Waiting for Asylum (Shehani Fernando 2017) disrupt easy immersions into realistic-looking VR experiences of stereotyped representations and user identifications and, instead, can reflect back the user’s political inaction and surveillant modes of looking. Chapter two analyzes web- and social media messenger-based documentaries that position users as outsiders to U.S. mass incarceration. Users are noir-style co-investigators into the crime of the prison-industrial complex in Fremont County, Colorado in Prison Valley: The Prison Industry (David Dufresne and Philippe Brault 2009) and co-riders on a bus transporting prison inmates’ loved ones for visitations to correctional facilities in Upstate New York in A Temporary Contact (Nirit Peled and Sara Kolster 2017). Both projects construct an experience of carceral constraint for users to reinscribe seeming “outside” places, people, and experiences as within the continuation of the racialized and classed politics of state control through mass incarceration. These projects utilize interfaces that create a tension between replicating an exploitative hierarchy between non-incarcerated users and those subject to mass incarceration while also de-immersing users in these experiences to mirror back the user’s supposed distance from this mode of state regulation. Chapter three investigates a type of digital game I term dataveillance simulation games, which position users as surveillance agents in ambiguously dystopian nation-states and force users to use their own critical thinking and judgment to construct the criminality of state-sanctioned surveillance targets. Project Perfect Citizen (Bad Cop Studios 2016), Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You (Osmotic Studios 2016), and Papers, Please (Lucas Pope 2013) all create a dual empathy: players empathize with bureaucratic surveillance agents while empathizing with surveillance targets whose emails, text messages, documents, and social media profiles reveal them to be “normal” people. I argue that while these games show criminality to be a construct, they also utilize a racialized fear of the loss of one’s individual privacy to make players feel like they too could be surveillance targets. Chapter four examines personalized digital documentaries that turn users and their data into the subject matter. Do Not Track (Brett Gaylor 2015), A Week with Wanda (Joe Derry Hall 2019), Stealing Ur Feelings (Noah Levenson 2019), Alfred Premium (Joël Ronez, Pierre Corbinais, and Émilie F. Grenier 2019), How They Watch You (Nick Briz 2021), and Fairly Intelligent™ (A.M. Darke 2021) track, monitor, and confront users with their own online behavior to reflect back a corporate surveillance that collects, analyzes, and exploits user data for profit. These digital documentaries utilize emotional fear- and humor-based appeals to persuade users that these technologies are controlling them, shaping their desires and needs, and dehumanizing them through algorithmic surveillance

    Desired sensory branding strategies in-store versus online: the skincare industry

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    Modern shoppers are inundated with purchasing options in every product category, with thousands of brands competing for their patronage. It has therefore become increasingly important for organisations to differentiate product offerings in the market if they want to be competitive. It has further been highlighted that an individual’s experience of a brand is of paramount importance, as it is directly linked to brand loyalty. A vehicle for creating memorable brand experiences is the utilisation of multi-sensory experiences or sensory branding. Within the context of traditional or in-store shopping, sensory branding encompasses the use of visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile and gustatory stimuli to adjust consumer purchasing behaviour. However, more and more consumers are opting for online shopping, spurred on by the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and are no less demanding of brands online than they would be in-store. The cosmetics and personal care industry is one of the more predominant gainers from e-commerce. The skincare industry exhibited one of the largest growth rates from 2019 – 2025 and had an estimated market value of 155.8billionin2022.WhenconsideringtheSouthAfricanskincareindustryinisolation,thereisnoexception,categorisedbyhighaveragegrowthratesandmanycompetitiveplayersinthemarket.ThisisapparentwhenconsideringthattheskincareindustrywithinSouthAfricaisexpctedtogrowannuallyby5.48155.8 billion in 2022. When considering the South African skincare industry in isolation, there is no exception, categorised by high average growth rates and many competitive players in the market. This is apparent when considering that the skincare industry within South Africa is expcted to grow annually by 5.48% from 2023 to 2027, translating to an industry value of 788.4 million by 2027 (Statista 2023). With reference to in-store shopping for skincare products, sensory marketing strategies have been known to be heavily relied on. Therefore, with consumers moving towards online shopping, it is essential for skincare businesses to consider how to deliver sensory experiences online as well as in-store. Whilst the importance of the use of sensory branding and marketing in the skincare industry is notable, both in-store and online, it was established that while there is research available on sensory branding, there is very limited academic research on digital sensory branding and the sensory branding of v skincare products. Moreover, to the researcher’s knowledge, no academic literature specifically investigates the digital sensory branding of skincare brands. Therefore, this study will contribute not only by adding academic research to the topic being investigated but also through rreccomendations made based on the outcomes of this study to skincare brands in South Africa. From the comprehensive literature review, a conceptual model was constructed to investigate the relationship between traditional and digital sensory branding strategies (independent variables) and brand loyalty (dependent variable). Two sets of hypotheses were formulated relating to the identified variables of this study and the empirical research conducted was utilised to deduce whether these hypotheses should be rejected or supported. To conduct the empirical research needed for this study, certain research methodology was employed. This study made use of a positivistic paradigm and a quantitative approach. The target population of this study constituted consumers who had purchased skincare products in-store as well as online and, as no true sample frame existed, respondents were selected through the use of non-probability sampling, more specifically, convenience sampling. To collect the data, an online survey was used, with the specific data collection instrument being a web-based self-administered questionnaire, which was distributed via social media platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as via email. Section A of the questionnaire focused on the demographic details of the respondents, while Section B – Section F related to the variables of the study. A total of 372 potential respondents started the questionnaire, however only 321 questionnaires were deemed usable after the data had been coded and cleaned, indicating a response rate of 86.3%. This study made use of both descriptive (measures of central tendency as well as standard deviation and skewness) and inferential (SEM Models, Primary Models, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, Chi-Square test of Association, ANOVAs and Welch Robust test, Tukey test and Games Howell Test as well as Cohen’s d) statistics to interpret the data, which was graphically illustrated. vi The empirical investigation conducted in this study between the variables and sub-variables revealed that significant relationships exist between traditional sensory branding strategies (traditional olfactory and tactile stimuli) and digital sensory branding strategies (digital visual, olfactory and tactile stimuli) and brand loyalty, with refence to the skincare industry. It was further notable that, with specific reference to the skincare industry, the sense of sight, smell and touch are key factors for sensory branding, whereas auditory stimuli were found to only be useful when used in unison with the other senses. Moreover, with reference to in-store shopping, it was deduced that consumers shop for skincare mostly via retail outlets, which could lead to sensory overload. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that younger consumers are price sensitive. Based on the pertinent empirical results, and corresponding literature findings, of this study, recommendations were provided to businesses operating in the skincare industry. With reference to in-store trading, it was recommended that because skincare is mostly sold via retail outlets, the brand itself does not have control over all sensory stimuli to which the consumer is exposed. As a result, consumers may be subject to sensory overload and skincare brands should keep their sensory branding in-store simple. Moreover, skincare brands could make use of an in-store aesthetician or beautician, which would facilitate consumer-product interaction. With regards to online trading, a recommendation for skincare brands would be to use moving images or GIFs, which will allow the consumer to more easily imagine the feel of the product. Moreover, skincare brands can make use of brand ambassadors to create “unboxing” videos, which will convey more clearly the sensory information of the product and instil confidence in consumers. Reccomendations were also made with reference to the financial state of consumers, as the financial position of the respondents could influence their decision making. The limitations of this study comprised the availability of reliable existing sources to support the study as the concept of digital sensory branding is still relatively new and, due to the study being focused on the skincare industry, taste stimuli were excluded as they were found to have no relevance. Finally, vii based on all the literature findings and empirical results, recommendations for future areas of study were made. This study provides evidence that both traditional and digital sensory branding strategies have an influence on, or relationship with, brand loyalty. Through this study, the importance of sensory branding, with specific reference to the skincare industry, is brought to light. Furthermore, skincare brands can utilise the information provided to improve the experience of their consumers when shopping in-store, as well as online, thereby increasing their base of brand loyal consumers.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, 202

    A Comprehensive Review of Data-Driven Co-Speech Gesture Generation

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    Gestures that accompany speech are an essential part of natural and efficient embodied human communication. The automatic generation of such co-speech gestures is a long-standing problem in computer animation and is considered an enabling technology in film, games, virtual social spaces, and for interaction with social robots. The problem is made challenging by the idiosyncratic and non-periodic nature of human co-speech gesture motion, and by the great diversity of communicative functions that gestures encompass. Gesture generation has seen surging interest recently, owing to the emergence of more and larger datasets of human gesture motion, combined with strides in deep-learning-based generative models, that benefit from the growing availability of data. This review article summarizes co-speech gesture generation research, with a particular focus on deep generative models. First, we articulate the theory describing human gesticulation and how it complements speech. Next, we briefly discuss rule-based and classical statistical gesture synthesis, before delving into deep learning approaches. We employ the choice of input modalities as an organizing principle, examining systems that generate gestures from audio, text, and non-linguistic input. We also chronicle the evolution of the related training data sets in terms of size, diversity, motion quality, and collection method. Finally, we identify key research challenges in gesture generation, including data availability and quality; producing human-like motion; grounding the gesture in the co-occurring speech in interaction with other speakers, and in the environment; performing gesture evaluation; and integration of gesture synthesis into applications. We highlight recent approaches to tackling the various key challenges, as well as the limitations of these approaches, and point toward areas of future development.Comment: Accepted for EUROGRAPHICS 202

    An exploratory investigation on HOT English university courses during 2020 and 2021

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    openMany researchers have claimed that Here or There (HOT) Instruction might be a useful medium for educational purposes, such as English language classes. This dissertation tries to build a theoric framework within the HOT studies, and a questionnaire for both students and teachers was delivered to unveil new aspects of this medium

    Movement compression, sports and eSports

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    In this paper I argue for the usefulness of the concept of ‘movement compression’ for understanding sport and games, and particularly the differences between traditional sport and eSport (as currently practised). I suggest that movement compression allows us to distinguish between different activities in terms of how movement quality (in the sense of the qualities the movement possesses, rather than that the movement is of ‘high quality’) affects outcome. While it applies widely, this concept can in particular help us to understand the persistent idea that eSports are in some key way distinct from traditional sports

    Moving usable security research out of the lab: evaluating the use of VR studies for real-world authentication research

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    Empirical evaluations of real-world research artefacts that derive results from observations and experiments are a core aspect of usable security research. Expert interviews as part of this thesis revealed that the costs associated with developing and maintaining physical research artefacts often amplify human-centred usability and security research challenges. On top of that, ethical and legal barriers often make usability and security research in the field infeasible. Researchers have begun simulating real-life conditions in the lab to contribute to ecological validity. However, studies of this type are still restricted to what can be replicated in physical laboratory settings. Furthermore, historically, user study subjects were mainly recruited from local areas only when evaluating hardware prototypes. The human-centred research communities have recognised and partially addressed these challenges using online studies such as surveys that allow for the recruitment of large and diverse samples as well as learning about user behaviour. However, human-centred security research involving hardware prototypes is often concerned with human factors and their impact on the prototypes’ usability and security, which cannot be studied using traditional online surveys. To work towards addressing the current challenges and facilitating research in this space, this thesis explores if – and how – virtual reality (VR) studies can be used for real-world usability and security research. It first validates the feasibility and then demonstrates the use of VR studies for human-centred usability and security research through six empirical studies, including remote and lab VR studies as well as video prototypes as part of online surveys. It was found that VR-based usability and security evaluations of authentication prototypes, where users provide touch, mid-air, and eye-gaze input, greatly match the findings from the original real-world evaluations. This thesis further investigated the effectiveness of VR studies by exploring three core topics in the authentication domain: First, the challenges around in-the-wild shoulder surfing studies were addressed. Two novel VR shoulder surfing methods were implemented to contribute towards realistic shoulder surfing research and explore the use of VR studies for security evaluations. This was found to allow researchers to provide a bridge over the methodological gap between lab and field studies. Second, the ethical and legal barriers when conducting in situ usability research on authentication systems were addressed. It was found that VR studies can represent plausible authentication environments and that a prototype’s in situ usability evaluation results deviate from traditional lab evaluations. Finally, this thesis contributes a novel evaluation method to remotely study interactive VR replicas of real-world prototypes, allowing researchers to move experiments that involve hardware prototypes out of physical laboratories and potentially increase a sample’s diversity and size. The thesis concludes by discussing the implications of using VR studies for prototype usability and security evaluations. It lays the foundation for establishing VR studies as a powerful, well-evaluated research method and unfolds its methodological advantages and disadvantages

    New interactive interface design for STEM museums: a case study in VR immersive technology

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    Novel technologies are used to develop new museum exhibits, aiming to attract visitors’ attention. However, using new technology is not always successful, perhaps because the design of a new exhibit was inappropriate, or users were unfamiliar with interacting with a new device. As a result, choosing alternative technology to create a unique interactive display is critical. The results of using technology best practices enable the designer to help reduce failures. This research uses virtual reality (VR) immersive technology as a case study to explore how to design a new interactive exhibit in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) museums. VR has seen increased use in Thailand museums, but people are unfamiliar with it, and few use it daily. It had problems with health concerns such as motion sickness, and the virtual reality head-mounted display (VR HMD) restricts social interaction, which is essential for museum visitors. This research focuses on improving how VR is deployed in STEM museums by proposing a framework for designing a new VR exhibit that supports social interaction. The research question is, how do we create a new interactive display using VR immersive technology while supporting visitor social interaction? The investigation uses mixed methods to construct the proposed framework, including a theoretical review, museum observational study, and experimental study. The in-the-wild study and workshop were conducted to evaluate the proposed framework. The suggested framework provides guidelines for designing a new VR exhibit. The component of a framework has two main parts. The first part is considering factors for checking whether VR technology suit for creating a new exhibit. The second part is essential components for designing a new VR exhibit includes Content Design, Action Design, Social Interaction Design, System Design, and Safety and Health. Various kinds of studies were conducted to answer the research question. First, a museum observational study led to an understanding of the characteristics of interactive exhibits in STEM museums, the patterns of social interaction, the range of immersive technology that museums use and the practice of using VR technology in STEM museums. Next, the alternative design for an interactive exhibit study investigates the effect on the user experience of tangible, gesture and VR technologies. It determines the factors that make the user experience different and suggests six aspects to consider when choosing technology. Third, social interaction design in VR for museum study explores methods to connect players; single player, symmetric connection (VR HMD and VR HMD) and asymmetric connection (VR HMD and PC), to provide social interaction while playing the VR exhibit and investigates social features and social mechanics for visitors to communicate and exchange knowledge. It found that the symmetric connection provides better social interaction than others. However, the asymmetric link is also a way for visitors to exchange knowledge. The study recommends using mixed symmetric and asymmetric connections when deploying VR exhibits in a museum. This was confirmed by the in-the-wild research and validated the framework that indicated it helped staff manage the VR exhibit and provided a co-presence and co-player experience. Fourth, the content design of a display in the virtual environment study examines the effect of design content between 2D and 3D on visitors' learning and memory. It showed that content design with 2D and 3D did not influence visitors to gain knowledge and remember the exhibit’s story. However, the 3D view offers more immersion and emotion than the 2D view. The research proposes using 3D when designing content to evoke a player’s emotion; designing content for a VR exhibit should deliver experience rather than text-based learning. Furthermore, the feedback on the qualitative results of each study provided insight into the design user experience. Evaluation of the proposed framework is the last part of this research. A study in the wild was conducted to validate the proposed framework in museums. Two VR exhibits were adjusted with features that matched the proposed framework’s suggested components and were deployed in the museum to gather visitors' feedback. It received positive feedback from the visitors, and visitors approved of using VR technology in the museum. The results of user feedback from a workshop to evaluate the helpfulness of the framework showed that the framework's components are appropriate, and the framework is practical when designing a new VR exhibit, particularly for people unfamiliar with VR technology. In addition, the proposed framework of this research may be applied to study emerging technology to create a novel exhibit

    Bonding Over Distances: Building Social Presence Using Mixed Reality for Transnational Families

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    Sparked by the frustrations experienced in transnational family communication and inspired by an interest in exploring the potentials of a mixed reality (MR) future landscape, this study investigates the primary research question: how can we use mixed reality to build social presence for transnational family communication? This study reviews literature and contextual works from relevant fields, including presence and social presence, mixed reality, transnational relationships (inter-family and human-space relationships), and technology for social presence for transnational families. Then, the researcher situates this study at the intersection of the before mentioned categories. Utilizing the Research through Design methodology and paired user testing methods, this study describes 4 iterative MR prototypes for building social presence for transnational families, highlighting each prototype’s relation to a secondary research question, exploration goals, features, performance evaluation, and takeaways for the next iteration. Then, it documents and analyzes data collected from in-depth user testing sessions with 6 transnational family pairs totaling 12 participants, each with one member living locally (in Toronto), and the other overseas. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected from different components of the user testing, including observation notes from paired-up live connection sessions for collaborative tasks, interviews, and online surveys. This study contributes to theory at the overlapping fields of social presence, mixed reality research, transnational family relationship, and human-space relationship. The mixed reality prototypes, design frameworks, and evaluation criteria for designing mixed reality spaces to build social presence for transnational families also provide significance to design practice
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