SPACE PERCEPTION IN ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION THROUGH IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL REALITY

[EN] Immersive virtual reality constitutes a powerful tool for the vivid exploration of virtual spaces. The feeling of presence produced in the user by the action of seeing the digital space just pointing the view in any direction is greatly enhanced when adding the capability of walking physically during the experience. This paper describes aspects related with the experimentation of this hybrid space, real and virtual at the same time, that was implemented by the authors in an immersive virtual reality museum installation called ¿The Empty Museum¿.[ES] La realidad virtual inmersiva constituye una herramienta poderosa para la exploración vívida del espacio virtual. La sensación de presencia que provoca en el usuario la capacidad de observar el entorno digital dirigiendo su mirada en cualquier dirección se ve potenciada grandemente si se le añade la posibilidad real de caminar físicamente por él. En este artículo se describen aspectos relacionados con la experimentación de este espacio híbrido entre los dos mundos, implementado por los autores en la instalación museística de realidad virtual inmersiva y transitable denominada ¿El Museo Vacío¿.Hernández, L.; Taibo, J.; Seoane, A.; Jaspe, A. (2011). LA PERCEPCIÓN DEL ESPACIO EN LA VISUALIZACIÓN DE ARQUITECTURA MEDIANTE REALIDAD VIRTUAL INMERSIVA. EGA. Revista de Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica. 16(18):252-261. doi:10.4995/ega.2011.1110SWORD252261161

Galicia Dixital. Una exposición de patrimonio e-tangible. El Museo Vacío

[ES] Galicia Dixital es una exposición que abrió sus puertas en Santiago de Compostela para mostar a sus visitantes, a través de las nuevas tecnologías audiovisuales la cultura y el patrimonio de esta comunidad autónoma, a la vez que se les ilustra en el uso y aplicaciones de tecnologías de vanguardia. Este artículo describe algunas de sus instalaciones y en especial el Museo Vacío, un entorno de realidad virtual completamente inmersiva donde el usuario puede caminar físicamente visitando mundos virtuales, describiendo algunos de los ejemplos de aplicación del mismo dentro de la exposición.[EN] Galicia Dixital is an exhibition located in Santiago de Compostela whith the mission to show the culture and heritage of this region through the use of new audiovisual technologies, whilst to demonstrate the use and applications of avant-garde technology. This paper describes some of the installations present there with special emphasis in The Empty Museum, a fully immersive virtual reality installation where the user can walk physically visiting virtual worlds. A group of examples of contents designed for this medium will be also described.Hernández Ibáñez, LA. (2010). Galicia Dixital. Una exposición de patrimonio e-tangible. El Museo Vacío. Virtual Archaeology Review. 1(1):39-43. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2010.4765OJS394311OTERO, A. ; MARTÍN, R.; GUTIERREZ, E.; FLORES, J. (2007) Simulación virtual de una tradición medieval: O 'Botafumeiro'. I Simposio de Informática Gráfica y Patrimonio Histórico (SIGPHI), 2007HERNÁNDEZ, Luis; TAIBO, Javier; SEOANE, Antonio. (1999) Una Aplicación para la Navegación en Tiempo Real sobre Grandes Modelos Topográficos. Actas del IX Congreso Español de Informática Gráfica CEIG. Jaen, Julio 1999.MILEKIC, S. (2006) Magic and Multimedia. Actas de Archives and Museums Informatics: Museums & The Web 2006.JOCH, A. (2004) In museums, no stodginess on display. Architectural Record Digital. Versión en línea http://nano.arts.ucla.edu/nano_pub_updates04/2004_archrec/arch/features/digital/archives/0401da-1.html.HERNÁNDEZ, Luis, TAIBO, Javier, SEOANE, (2001) Antonio Immersive video for virtual tourism. Proc. SPIE Vol. 4520, p. 63-73, Video Technologies for Multimedia Applications, 2001HERNÁNDEZ, Luis, TAIBO, Javier, SEOANE, Antonio, LÓPEZ, Ruben, LÓPEZ, Rocío. (2003) The Empty Museum: Multi-user Interaction in an Immersive and Physically Walkable VR Space. International Conference on CYBERWORLS. 2003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/cyber.2003.1253488HERNANDEZ, Luis, TAIBO, Javier, BLANCO, David, IGLESIAS, José, SEOANE, Antonio, JASPE, Alberto. (2007) Physically Walking in Digital Spaces - A Virtual Reality Installation for Exploration of Historical Heritage International Journal of Architectural Computing, Volume 5, Number 3, September 200

Interfacce uomo-macchina nella realtà virtuale

Questo capitolo fornisce una descrizione dei principali elementi che influenzano l'interazione uomo-macchina in riferimento alla realtà virtuale, per come si configurano attualmente, e per come si prevede si svilupperanno in un prossimo futuro. Il capitolo è organizzato nel modo seguente: la sezione 1.1 presenta il concetto di realtà virtuale soprattutto in relazione alle possibilità offerte per quanto riguarda l’interazione tra uomo e macchina, ed alle applicazioni di nuova generazione. La sezione successiva descrive i principali requisiti ed i vincoli che un sistema di realtà virtuale deve soddisfare per riuscire a fornire all’utente un’impressione convincente e delle esperienze realmente immersive. La sezione 1.3 si concentra sul feedback sensoriale principale, descrivendo le principali tecnologie di nuova generazione per la realizzazione di dispositivi in grado di fornire delle sensazioni visive e tattili estremamente realistiche. Infine la sezione 1.4 descrive brevemente alcuni esempi di applicazioni di realtà virtuale realizzate dagli autori, nel campo della simulazione chirurgica, dei musei virtuali e dei sistemi di visualizzazione autostereoscopici multiutente, e la sezione 1.5 discute brevemente la situazione attuale ed il potenziale futuro della disciplina.289-33

Ambiente de realidade virtual para visitas imersivas e interação

Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e TelemáticaComo solução para visitas virtuais imersivas a museus, propomos uma extensão à plataforma previamente desenvolvida para efectuar a configuração de ambientes virtuais imersivos (pSIVE), mantendo todas as funcionalidades de criação de ambientes virtuais e de associação de conteúdos (PDF, videos, texto), mas também permitindo interações baseadas em gestos e navegação. Para isso, propomos navegação um para um usando rastreamento do esqueleto com uma Kinect que é calibrada no espaço do mundo real em que o utilizador se situa, assim como métodos de interação por gestos. Para validar os métodos propostos de navegação e interação, foi efetuado um estudo comparativo entre a interação e navegação à base de gestos e em botões. Com os resultados desse estudo em mente, desenvolvemos novos métodos de interação com seleção via direção do olhar. A aplicação desenvolvida foi testada num cenário real, como parte de uma instalação artística no museu da cidade de Aveiro, onde os visitantes podiam navegar uma sala virtual do museu e manipular objetos de maneira a criar a sua própria exposição.Como solução para visitas virtuais imersivas a museus, propomos uma extensão à plataforma previamente desenvolvida para efectuar a configuração de ambientes virtuais imersivos (pSIVE), mantendo todas as funcionalidades de criação de ambientes virtuais e de associação de conteúdos (PDF, videos, texto), mas também permitindo interações baseadas em gestos e navegação. Para isso, propomos navegação um para um usando rastreamento do esqueleto com uma Kinect que é calibrada no espaço do mundo real em que o utilizador se situa, assim como métodos de interação por gestos. Para validar os métodos propostos de navegação e interação, foi efetuado um estudo comparativo entre a interação e navegação à base de gestos e em botões. Com os resultados desse estudo em mente, desenvolvemos novos métodos de interação com seleção via direção do olhar. A aplicação desenvolvida foi testada num cenário real, como parte de uma instalação artística no museu da cidade de Aveiro, onde os visitantes podiam navegar uma sala virtual do museu e manipular objetos de maneira a criar a sua própria exposição

Touch- and Walkable Virtual Reality to Support Blind and Visually Impaired Peoples‘ Building Exploration in the Context of Orientation and Mobility

Der Zugang zu digitalen Inhalten und Informationen wird immer wichtiger für eine erfolgreiche Teilnahme an der heutigen, zunehmend digitalisierten Zivilgesellschaft. Solche Informationen werden meist visuell präsentiert, was den Zugang für blinde und sehbehinderte Menschen einschränkt. Die grundlegendste Barriere ist oft die elementare Orientierung und Mobilität (und folglich die soziale Mobilität), einschließlich der Erlangung von Kenntnissen über unbekannte Gebäude vor deren Besuch. Um solche Barrieren zu überbrücken, sollten technische Hilfsmittel entwickelt und eingesetzt werden. Es ist ein Kompromiss zwischen technologisch niedrigschwellig zugänglichen und verbreitbaren Hilfsmitteln und interaktiv-adaptiven, aber komplexen Systemen erforderlich. Die Anpassung der Technologie der virtuellen Realität (VR) umfasst ein breites Spektrum an Entwicklungs- und Entscheidungsoptionen. Die Hauptvorteile der VR-Technologie sind die erhöhte Interaktivität, die Aktualisierbarkeit und die Möglichkeit, virtuelle Räume und Modelle als Abbilder von realen Räumen zu erkunden, ohne dass reale Gefahren und die begrenzte Verfügbarkeit von sehenden Helfern auftreten. Virtuelle Objekte und Umgebungen haben jedoch keine physische Beschaffenheit. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es daher zu erforschen, welche VR-Interaktionsformen sinnvoll sind (d.h. ein angemessenes Verbreitungspotenzial bieten), um virtuelle Repräsentationen realer Gebäude im Kontext von Orientierung und Mobilität berührbar oder begehbar zu machen. Obwohl es bereits inhaltlich und technisch disjunkte Entwicklungen und Evaluationen zur VR-Technologie gibt, fehlt es an empirischer Evidenz. Zusätzlich bietet diese Arbeit einen Überblick über die verschiedenen Interaktionen. Nach einer Betrachtung der menschlichen Physiologie, Hilfsmittel (z.B. taktile Karten) und technologischen Eigenschaften wird der aktuelle Stand der Technik von VR vorgestellt und die Anwendung für blinde und sehbehinderte Nutzer und der Weg dorthin durch die Einführung einer neuartigen Taxonomie diskutiert. Neben der Interaktion selbst werden Merkmale des Nutzers und des Geräts, der Anwendungskontext oder die nutzerzentrierte Entwicklung bzw. Evaluation als Klassifikatoren herangezogen. Begründet und motiviert werden die folgenden Kapitel durch explorative Ansätze, d.h. im Bereich 'small scale' (mit sogenannten Datenhandschuhen) und im Bereich 'large scale' (mit einer avatargesteuerten VR-Fortbewegung). Die folgenden Kapitel führen empirische Studien mit blinden und sehbehinderten Nutzern durch und geben einen formativen Einblick, wie virtuelle Objekte in Reichweite der Hände mit haptischem Feedback erfasst werden können und wie verschiedene Arten der VR-Fortbewegung zur Erkundung virtueller Umgebungen eingesetzt werden können. Daraus werden geräteunabhängige technologische Möglichkeiten und auch Herausforderungen für weitere Verbesserungen abgeleitet. Auf der Grundlage dieser Erkenntnisse kann sich die weitere Forschung auf Aspekte wie die spezifische Gestaltung interaktiver Elemente, zeitlich und räumlich kollaborative Anwendungsszenarien und die Evaluation eines gesamten Anwendungsworkflows (d.h. Scannen der realen Umgebung und virtuelle Erkundung zu Trainingszwecken sowie die Gestaltung der gesamten Anwendung in einer langfristig barrierefreien Weise) konzentrieren.Access to digital content and information is becoming increasingly important for successful participation in today's increasingly digitized civil society. Such information is mostly presented visually, which restricts access for blind and visually impaired people. The most fundamental barrier is often basic orientation and mobility (and consequently, social mobility), including gaining knowledge about unknown buildings before visiting them. To bridge such barriers, technological aids should be developed and deployed. A trade-off is needed between technologically low-threshold accessible and disseminable aids and interactive-adaptive but complex systems. The adaptation of virtual reality (VR) technology spans a wide range of development and decision options. The main benefits of VR technology are increased interactivity, updatability, and the possibility to explore virtual spaces as proxies of real ones without real-world hazards and the limited availability of sighted assistants. However, virtual objects and environments have no physicality. Therefore, this thesis aims to research which VR interaction forms are reasonable (i.e., offering a reasonable dissemination potential) to make virtual representations of real buildings touchable or walkable in the context of orientation and mobility. Although there are already content and technology disjunctive developments and evaluations on VR technology, there is a lack of empirical evidence. Additionally, this thesis provides a survey between different interactions. Having considered the human physiology, assistive media (e.g., tactile maps), and technological characteristics, the current state of the art of VR is introduced, and the application for blind and visually impaired users and the way to get there is discussed by introducing a novel taxonomy. In addition to the interaction itself, characteristics of the user and the device, the application context, or the user-centered development respectively evaluation are used as classifiers. Thus, the following chapters are justified and motivated by explorative approaches, i.e., in the group of 'small scale' (using so-called data gloves) and in the scale of 'large scale' (using an avatar-controlled VR locomotion) approaches. The following chapters conduct empirical studies with blind and visually impaired users and give formative insight into how virtual objects within hands' reach can be grasped using haptic feedback and how different kinds of VR locomotion implementation can be applied to explore virtual environments. Thus, device-independent technological possibilities and also challenges for further improvements are derived. On the basis of this knowledge, subsequent research can be focused on aspects such as the specific design of interactive elements, temporally and spatially collaborative application scenarios, and the evaluation of an entire application workflow (i.e., scanning the real environment and exploring it virtually for training purposes, as well as designing the entire application in a long-term accessible manner)

Assessing User Experience in A Virtual Reality Crowd Simulation

Agent-based crowd simulations are used for modelling building and space usage, allowing designers to explore hypothetical real-world scenarios, including extraordinary events such as evacuations. Existing work which engages Virtual Reality (VR) as a platform for crowd simulations has been primarily focussed on the validation of simulation models through observation; that is the use of embellishments to enhance a sense of immersion or constrained studies of proxemics. However, human participation in crowd simulations also has the potential to provide richer and more informative simulation outcomes. This issue has not yet been widely considered by researchers and warrants further study of user experience and behaviour. This work examines VR crowd simulation through the lens of user experience and simulation outcomes. A task-based simulation scenario has been created in which a participant walks freely, and interacts with agents using the same social-force model which mediates agent-to-agent interactions. It examines and reports the effects of crowd density on both the users affective state and behaviour, also comparing it with that of simulated agents. The results gained from this study indicate a significant increase in negative affect with density, measured using a self-report scale, it also shows significant differences in some aspects of user behaviour, such as increased instinctive reactions during high-density situations. This work then discusses how the results relate to VR simulation design for mixed human-agent scenarios

Understanding Context to Capture when Reconstructing Meaningful Spaces for Remote Instruction and Connecting in XR

Recent technological advances are enabling HCI researchers to explore interaction possibilities for remote XR collaboration using high-fidelity reconstructions of physical activity spaces. However, creating these reconstructions often lacks user involvement with an overt focus on capturing sensory context that does not necessarily augment an informal social experience. This work seeks to understand social context that can be important for reconstruction to enable XR applications for informal instructional scenarios. Our study involved the evaluation of an XR remote guidance prototype by 8 intergenerational groups of closely related gardeners using reconstructions of personally meaningful spaces in their gardens. Our findings contextualize physical objects and areas with various motivations related to gardening and detail perceptions of XR that might affect the use of reconstructions for remote interaction. We discuss implications for user involvement to create reconstructions that better translate real-world experience, encourage reflection, incorporate privacy considerations, and preserve shared experiences with XR as a medium for informal intergenerational activities.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures, 4 table