883 research outputs found
Breaking Virtual Barriers : Investigating Virtual Reality for Enhanced Educational Engagement
Virtual reality (VR) is an innovative technology that has regained popularity in recent years. In the field of education, VR has been introduced as a tool to enhance learning experiences. This thesis presents an exploration of how VR is used from the context of educators and learners. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, including surveying and interviewing educators, and conducting empirical studies to examine engagement, usability, and user behaviour within VR. The results revealed educators are interested in using VR for a wide range of scenarios, including thought exercises, virtual field trips, and simulations. However, they face several barriers to incorporating VR into their practice, such as cost, lack of training, and technical challenges. A subsequent study found that virtual reality can no longer be assumed to be more engaging than desktop equivalents. This empirical study showed that engagement levels were similar in both VR and non-VR environments, suggesting that the novelty effect of VR may be less pronounced than previously assumed. A study against a VR mind mapping artifact, VERITAS, demonstrated that complex interactions are possible on low-cost VR devices, making VR accessible to educators and students. The analysis of user behaviour within this VR artifact showed that quantifiable strategies emerge, contributing to the understanding of how to design for collaborative VR experiences. This thesis provides insights into how the end-users in the education space perceive and use VR. The findings suggest that while educators are interested in using VR, they face barriers to adoption. The research highlights the need to design VR experiences, with understanding of existing pedagogy, that are engaging with careful thought applied to complex interactions, particularly for collaborative experiences. This research contributes to the understanding of the potential of VR in education and provides recommendations for educators and designers to enhance learning experiences using VR
An End, Once and for All: Mass Effect 3, Video Game Controversies, and the Fight for Player Agency
Since the success of the player-led Mass Effect 3 ending controversy, player-led video game controversies have become mainstream sites of industrial and ideological contention between developers, players, and the culture itself. This dissertation focuses on the history of the Mass Effect 3 ending controversy, the gameâs specific textual qualities that encouraged player protest, and the negotiations between players and developers in online spaces that persuaded developers to alter the gameâs ending based on player demands. Using the Mass Effect 3 as its primary object, this dissertation argues this controversyâas well as subsequent player-led video game controversiesâwas not simply the result of dissatisfaction with a single plot point or representation in the text or video game community, but the complex negotiation of creative differences between players and developers over the production and control of video game texts and culture. Video games and their controversies are rooted in the medium\u27s intrinsic qualities of interactivity, choice, labor and the need for shared production between developers and players to progress and produce a video game text, which encourages the development of a sense of agency and ownership over the text for both groups. This dissertation argues that video games are not just texts that developers create and that players play, but rather texts produced through the co-creative production practice that Axel Bruns has defined as âprodusageââtexts where producers act in dual roles as users while users to also act as producersâthat allow players a creative stake in the outcome of a video game text, encourages a sense of agency and ownership, and collapses traditional boundaries between developers and players. Video game controversies naturally arise when players perceive a loss of agency and control over the video game text and attempt to reclaim control over ownership of the text through controversy
Narrative Potential of Menus in Video Games
openNei videogiochi, il menu principale è la casella degli strumenti del giocatore. Lo scopo del menu principale di un videogioco si trova anche nella nostra realtà per cose come una borsa personale o una casa. La struttura e il contenuto di questi oggetti raccontano la vita di una persona. Queste sono cassette degli attrezzi che descrivono gli obiettivi, le azioni e gli elementi importanti di come uno sceglie vivere la sua vita. Comparativamente, il layout e il contenuto del menu principale raccontano la storia del giocatore nel gioco. Il menu principale può anticipare la narrazione e può indicizzare l'interazione con il mondo di gioco. Dimostra i controlli di base del gioco e la logica dell'interfaccia. Per questi motivi, il menu principale può essere considerato l'offerta principale del gioco. Questo estratto è legato a una tesi finale che esaminerà le narrazioni, l'importanza e la presenza di come i menu principali sono organizzati, presentati e utilizzati.
Il menu principale è un elemento visivo e narrativo che è all'interno dell'interfaccia non limitato ad essere parte del codice di programmazione di un gioco. Gli obiettivi principali e lo scopo del gioco saranno presenti nel menu principale, indipendentemente se il giocatore sceglie di giocare il gioco come previsto. Quali sono le opzioni identificano gli elementi importanti del gioco. Dove e come gli elementi sono posizionati identificano la loro gerarchia e le relazioni. Come vengono utilizzate le opzioni, facendo riferimento all'input dell'utente, sono collegate all'hardware del gioco e a come il giocatore si muove all'interno del gioco. La forma del funzionamento del menu principale rifletterà e dimostrerà come viene utilizzato l'hardware e la logica dell'interfaccia. Queste considerazioni possono dimostrare come il menu principale funge da guida al gioco come offerta primaria dimostrando come giocare il gioco. Il menu principale come elemento visivo e narrativo si trova in tutti i giochi moderni, con alcune eccezioni, perchÊ è parte integrante dell'interfaccia e della storia del gioco.
La mia tesi introdurrĂ la mia metodologia e lo stato dell'arte sui principali menu nel campo interdisciplinare degli studi di gioco. Gli studi di casi includeranno giochi digitali del franchise PokĂŠmon, la saga di The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing e Katamari Damaci. Questo studio spera di portare consapevolezza allo studio del menu principale come piĂš di una semplice interfaccia. Si tratta di un elemento narrativo importante di un gioco che dovrebbe essere un argomento ben studiato all'interno di studi di gioco. I videogiochi possono essere classificati in base al menu principale e l'interfaccia, aggiungendo ai generi tradizionali che vengono utilizzati. Può essere possibile che le recenti tendenze e cambiamenti nei videogiochi che vengono creati dalla tecnologia piĂš recente non sono del tutto nuovi. Questi giochi potrebbero essere realizzando modi che i vecchi giochi erano originariamente destinati ad essere giocato.In videogames, the main menu is the playerâs toolbox. The purpose of the main menu to a video game is also found in our reality to things such as a personal bag or a home. The structure and contents of these objects both tell a story of a personâs life. These are toolboxes that outline the goals, actions, and important elements of how one chooses to live his life. Comparatively, the layout and contents of the main menu tell the story of the player in the game. The main menu can anticipate narrative and it can index interaction with the game-world. It demonstrates the basic controls of the game and the interfaceâs logic. For these reasons, the main menu can be considered the gameâs primary affordance. This abstract is related of a final thesis which will look at the narratives, importance, and presence of how main menus are organized, presented, and used.
The main menu is a visual and narrative element that is within the interface not limited to being part of a gameâs programming code. The main objectives and purpose of play will be present in the main menu regardless if the player chooses to play the game as intended. What the options are identify the important elements of play. Where and how the elements are placed identify their hierarchy and relationships. How the options are used, referring to user input, are linked to the gameâs hardware and how the player is moving within the game. The form of the main menuâs operation will reflect and demonstrate how the hardware is used and the interfaceâs logic. These considerations can prove how the main menu acts as a guide to the game as primary affordance by demonstrating how to play the game. The main menu as a visual and narrative element is found in all modern games, with some exceptions, because it is an integral part of the game's interface and story.
My thesis will introduce my methodology and the state of art about main menus in the interdisciplinary field of game studies. Case studies will include digital games from the PokĂŠmon franchise, the saga of The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Katamari Damaci. This study hopes to bring awareness to studying the main menu as more than just an interface. It is an important narrative element of a game that should be a well-studied topic within game studies. Videogames can be categorized based on main menu and interface, adding to the traditional genres that are used. It may be possible that recent trends and changes in videogames that are created from newer technology are not entirely new. These games could be realizing ways that older games were originally intended to be played
Blending the Material and Digital World for Hybrid Interfaces
The development of digital technologies in the 21st century is progressing continuously and new device classes such as tablets, smartphones or smartwatches are finding their way into our everyday lives. However, this development also poses problems, as these prevailing touch and gestural interfaces often lack tangibility, take little account of haptic qualities and therefore require full attention from their users. Compared to traditional tools and analog interfaces, the human skills to experience and manipulate material in its natural environment and context remain unexploited. To combine the best of both, a key question is how it is possible to blend the material world and digital world to design and realize novel hybrid interfaces in a meaningful way. Research on Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) investigates the coupling between physical objects and virtual data. In contrast, hybrid interfaces, which specifically aim to digitally enrich analog artifacts of everyday work, have not yet been sufficiently researched and systematically discussed.
Therefore, this doctoral thesis rethinks how user interfaces can provide useful digital functionality while maintaining their physical properties and familiar patterns of use in the real world. However, the development of such hybrid interfaces raises overarching research questions about the design: Which kind of physical interfaces are worth exploring? What type of digital enhancement will improve existing interfaces? How can hybrid interfaces retain their physical properties while enabling new digital functions? What are suitable methods to explore different design? And how to support technology-enthusiast users in prototyping?
For a systematic investigation, the thesis builds on a design-oriented, exploratory and iterative development process using digital fabrication methods and novel materials. As a main contribution, four specific research projects are presented that apply and discuss different visual and interactive augmentation principles along real-world applications. The applications range from digitally-enhanced paper, interactive cords over visual watch strap extensions to novel prototyping tools for smart garments. While almost all of them integrate visual feedback and haptic input, none of them are built on rigid, rectangular pixel screens or use standard input modalities, as they all aim to reveal new design approaches. The dissertation shows how valuable it can be to rethink familiar, analog applications while thoughtfully extending them digitally. Finally, this thesisâ extensive work of engineering versatile research platforms is accompanied by overarching conceptual work, user evaluations and technical experiments, as well as literature reviews.Die Durchdringung digitaler Technologien im 21. Jahrhundert schreitet stetig voran und neue Geräteklassen wie Tablets, Smartphones oder Smartwatches erobern unseren Alltag. Diese Entwicklung birgt aber auch Probleme, denn die vorherrschenden berĂźhrungsempfindlichen Oberflächen berĂźcksichtigen kaum haptische Qualitäten und erfordern daher die volle Aufmerksamkeit ihrer Nutzer:innen. Im Vergleich zu traditionellen Werkzeugen und analogen Schnittstellen bleiben die menschlichen Fähigkeiten ungenutzt, die Umwelt mit allen Sinnen zu begreifen und wahrzunehmen. Um das Beste aus beiden Welten zu vereinen, stellt sich daher die Frage, wie neuartige hybride Schnittstellen sinnvoll gestaltet und realisiert werden kĂśnnen, um die materielle und die digitale Welt zu verschmelzen. In der Forschung zu Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) wird die Verbindung zwischen physischen Objekten und virtuellen Daten untersucht. Noch nicht ausreichend erforscht wurden hingegen hybride Schnittstellen, die speziell darauf abzielen, physische Gegenstände des Alltags digital zu erweitern und anhand geeigneter Designparameter und Entwurfsräume systematisch zu untersuchen.
In dieser Dissertation wird daher untersucht, wie Materialität und Digitalität nahtlos ineinander ßbergehen kÜnnen. Es soll erforscht werden, wie kßnftige Benutzungsschnittstellen nßtzliche digitale Funktionen bereitstellen kÜnnen, ohne ihre physischen Eigenschaften und vertrauten Nutzungsmuster in der realen Welt zu verlieren. Die Entwicklung solcher hybriden Ansätze wirft jedoch ßbergreifende Forschungsfragen zum Design auf: Welche Arten von physischen Schnittstellen sind es wert, betrachtet zu werden? Welche Art von digitaler Erweiterung verbessert das Bestehende? Wie kÜnnen hybride Konzepte ihre physischen Eigenschaften beibehalten und gleichzeitig neue digitale Funktionen ermÜglichen? Was sind geeignete Methoden, um verschiedene Designs zu erforschen? Wie kann man Technologiebegeisterte bei der Erstellung von Prototypen unterstßtzen?
Fßr eine systematische Untersuchung stßtzt sich die Arbeit auf einen designorientierten, explorativen und iterativen Entwicklungsprozess unter Verwendung digitaler Fabrikationsmethoden und neuartiger Materialien. Im Hauptteil werden vier Forschungsprojekte vorgestellt, die verschiedene visuelle und interaktive Prinzipien entlang realer Anwendungen diskutieren. Die Szenarien reichen von digital angereichertem Papier, interaktiven Kordeln ßber visuelle Erweiterungen von Uhrarmbändern bis hin zu neuartigen Prototyping-Tools fßr intelligente Kleidungsstßcke. Um neue Designansätze aufzuzeigen, integrieren nahezu alle visuelles Feedback und haptische Eingaben, um Alternativen zu Standard-Eingabemodalitäten auf starren Pixelbildschirmen zu schaffen. Die Dissertation hat gezeigt, wie wertvoll es sein kann, bekannte, analoge Anwendungen zu ßberdenken und sie dabei gleichzeitig mit Bedacht digital zu erweitern. Dabei umfasst die vorliegende Arbeit sowohl realisierte technische Forschungsplattformen als auch ßbergreifende konzeptionelle Arbeiten, Nutzerstudien und technische Experimente sowie die Analyse existierender Forschungsarbeiten
WearPut : Designing Dexterous Wearable Input based on the Characteristics of Human Finger Motions
Department of Biomedical Engineering (Human Factors Engineering)Powerful microchips for computing and networking allow a wide range of wearable devices to be miniaturized with high fidelity and availability. In particular, the commercially successful smartwatches placed on the wrist drive market growth by sharing the role of smartphones and health management. The emerging Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) also impact various application areas in video games, education, simulation, and productivity tools. However, these powerful wearables have challenges in interaction with the inevitably limited space for input and output due to the specialized form factors for fitting the body parts. To complement the constrained interaction experience, many wearable devices still rely on other large form factor devices (e.g., smartphones or hand-held controllers). Despite their usefulness, the additional devices for interaction can constrain the viability of wearable devices in many usage scenarios by tethering users' hands to the physical devices. This thesis argues that developing novel Human-Computer interaction techniques for the specialized wearable form factors is vital for wearables to be reliable standalone products.
This thesis seeks to address the issue of constrained interaction experience with novel interaction techniques by exploring finger motions during input for the specialized form factors of wearable devices. The several characteristics of the finger input motions are promising to enable increases in the expressiveness of input on the physically limited input space of wearable devices. First, the input techniques with fingers are prevalent on many large form factor devices (e.g., touchscreen or physical keyboard) due to fast and accurate performance and high familiarity. Second, many commercial wearable products provide built-in sensors (e.g., touchscreen or hand tracking system) to detect finger motions. This enables the implementation of novel interaction systems without any additional sensors or devices. Third, the specialized form factors of wearable devices can create unique input contexts while the fingers approach their locations, shapes, and components. Finally, the dexterity of fingers with a distinctive appearance, high degrees of freedom, and high sensitivity of joint angle perception have the potential to widen the range of input available with various movement features on the surface and in the air. Accordingly, the general claim of this thesis is that understanding how users move their fingers during input will enable increases in the expressiveness of the interaction techniques we can create for resource-limited wearable devices.
This thesis demonstrates the general claim by providing evidence in various wearable scenarios with smartwatches and HMDs. First, this thesis explored the comfort range of static and dynamic touch input with angles on the touchscreen of smartwatches. The results showed the specific comfort ranges on variations in fingers, finger regions, and poses due to the unique input context that the touching hand approaches a small and fixed touchscreen with a limited range of angles. Then, finger region-aware systems that recognize the flat and side of the finger were constructed based on the contact areas on the touchscreen to enhance the expressiveness of angle-based touch input. In the second scenario, this thesis revealed distinctive touch profiles of different fingers caused by the unique input context for the touchscreen of smartwatches. The results led to the implementation of finger identification systems for distinguishing two or three fingers. Two virtual keyboards with 12 and 16 keys showed the feasibility of touch-based finger identification that enables increases in the expressiveness of touch input techniques. In addition, this thesis supports the general claim with a range of wearable scenarios by exploring the finger input motions in the air. In the third scenario, this thesis investigated the motions of in-air finger stroking during unconstrained in-air typing for HMDs. The results of the observation study revealed details of in-air finger motions during fast sequential input, such as strategies, kinematics, correlated movements, inter-fingerstroke relationship, and individual in-air keys. The in-depth analysis led to a practical guideline for developing robust in-air typing systems with finger stroking. Lastly, this thesis examined the viable locations of in-air thumb touch input to the virtual targets above the palm. It was confirmed that fast and accurate sequential thumb touch can be achieved at a total of 8 key locations with the built-in hand tracking system in a commercial HMD. Final typing studies with a novel in-air thumb typing system verified increases in the expressiveness of virtual target selection on HMDs.
This thesis argues that the objective and subjective results and novel interaction techniques in various wearable scenarios support the general claim that understanding how users move their fingers during input will enable increases in the expressiveness of the interaction techniques we can create for resource-limited wearable devices. Finally, this thesis concludes with thesis contributions, design considerations, and the scope of future research works, for future researchers and developers to implement robust finger-based interaction systems on various types of wearable devices.ope
Proceedings of the 25th Bilateral Student Workshop CTU Prague and HTW Dresden - User Interfaces & Visualization
This technical report publishes the proceedings of the 25th Bilateral Student Workshop CTU Prague and HTW Dresden - User Interfaces & Visualization -, which was held on the 25th and 26th November 2021. The workshop offers a possibility for young scientists to present their current research work in the fields of computer graphics, human-computer-interaction, robotics and usability. The works is meant as a platform to bring together researchers from both the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) and the University of Applied Sciences Dresden (HTW). The German Academic Exchange Service offers its financial support to allow student participants the bilateral exchange between Prague and Dresden.:1) Multiprojection of Langweil´s model, p.4
2) Design of an assistant for persons interested in study at CTU FEE, p.8
3) Sonification of a juggling performance, p.12
4) Investigating the Role of Usability User Experience and Aesthetics for Industrial HumanâMachine Interfaces, p.16
5) Using optically illusive architecture to navigate users in Virtual Reality, p.23
6) Speed and Required Precision of Grabbing Physical Spheres in VR, p.27
7) ReFlex - A Framework for Research on Elastic Displays, p.32
8) Digital Reading Stand (DRS), p.38
9) IDOVIR â Infrastructure for Documentation of Virtual Reconstructions, p.45
10) Tracking multiple VR users in a shared physical space, p.50
11) Towards Aesthetics of Subjectivity in InfoVis, p.53
12) VentConnect: live to life and the octopus in the hospital server room, p.60
13) Nice noise: background noise enhancement with generated musical content, p.66
14) Parametric Curve Labeling, p.7
New interactive interface design for STEM museums: a case study in VR immersive technology
Novel technologies are used to develop new museum exhibits, aiming to attract visitorsâ 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 exhibitâs 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 playerâs 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 frameworkâs 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
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