Perceived synchronization of mulsemedia services

Multimedia synchronization involves a temporal relationship between audio and visual media components. The presentation of "in-sync" data streams is essential to achieve a natural impression, as "out-of-sync" effects are often associated with user quality of experience (QoE) decrease. Recently, multi-sensory media (mulsemedia) has been demonstrated to provide a highly immersive experience for its users. Unlike traditional multimedia, mulsemedia consists of other media types (i.e., haptic, olfaction, taste, etc.) in addition to audio and visual content. Therefore, the goal of achieving high quality mulsemedia transmission is to present no or little synchronization errors between the multiple media components. In order to achieve this ideal synchronization, there is a need for comprehensive knowledge of the synchronization requirements at the user interface. This paper presents the results of a subjective study carried out to explore the temporal boundaries within which haptic and air-flow media objects can be successfully synchronized with video media. Results show that skews between sensorial media and multimedia might still give the effect that the mulsemedia sequence is "in-sync" and provide certain constraints under which synchronization errors might be tolerated. The outcomes of the paper are used to provide recommendations for mulsemedia service providers in order for their services to be associated with acceptable user experience levels, e.g. haptic media could be presented with a delay of up to 1 s behind video content, while air-flow media could be released either 5 s ahead of or 3 s behind video content

La experiencia de beber cerveza: definiendo el concepto de consumo experiencial en la cerveza industrial y artesanal

The are a of stud y of this thesis is sensory and consumer science, with a strong influence of the fi eld of cognitive and social psychology. The thesis focus is on the study of the experience of drinking (consumption experience or product experience). With the objective to contribute to the understanding of food choice processes and consumption of food an d beverages. As well as to develop a tool (methodology) capable of measuring the experience of drinking threw a set of human systems (affects, senses and cognition). The case study used in this thesis to measure the experience of drinking is beer, comparin g through different studies the similarities and differences between craft and industrial beer. Product experience refers to all the effects the product has on consumers, they can be emotional, sensory or cognitive. Although this concept is not new in the fiel d of consumer psychology, it has been less explored in the food and beverage domain. In the past years, the concept of consumer experience and product experience has been used in services (e.g. tourism), material objects (e.g. cell phones). Today we do not know the differences that may exist in the use of the concept of product for material products compared to food and beverages . The thesis throughout five ch apters raises a study of the experience of drinking, more specifically the experience of drinki ng beer. The first chapter has for objective to understand the beer consumer in Mexico in respect to the habits of consumption, attitudes, brands usage more often, and to find a typology of industrial and craft consumers. Additionally, the results of a qua litative study are exposed (consumer ethnographies) to have a deep dive in the motivations towards the consumption of craft beer in the Mexican consumer. The second chapter explores the variables associated to the experience of drinking beer, also via a qu alitative study (contextual focus groups) and put in evidence the differences between the experience of using a material object and the experience of drinking a beverage (or a food). The results of this study show that the experience of drinking beer is re lated to: habits of consumption, attitudes, sensory experience, affective experience (emotional), cognitive experience, shopping, individual vs social consumption and the specific benefits searched by consumption. The third and fourth chapter deepen in the mental and social representation of beer. In first place, the mental representation of beer is perceived differently according to the gender and type of consumption (industrial or craft beer). To access to the mental representation, a sorting task was use d. The results show that women categorize the beers based on their attitudes while men make the categories based on their previous experience or information of the beer. On the other hand, by studying the social representation of beer, using the methodolog y of the social representation from social psychology, it was evidenced the cultural differences existing between the consumers of two countries: Mexico and France. The results manifest that the way in which the representation of the craft beer is made is different between the two countries, having as an axe the description of the beer in France, and hedonics in Mexico . In the case of the French consumers, the representation of the craft beer is shared across industrial and craft consumers, while in Mexico both types of consumers do not share the same representation . Finally, in chapter fi ve the information from the prev ious chapters is condensed into one methodology to measure the drinking experience of beer that can take into consideration the three humans systems: affects, senses and cognition. The study performed in this chapter was done in two basic steps: visual evaluation and product test. The results put forth that it is possible to measure the experience of drinking beer and identify which is the sal ient system or dimension used during the consumption. In the study it was found that the craft beers evoke a more cognitive experience, while industrial beers evoke a more emotional or sensory experience. The thesis concludes with the results of the exper ience measurement, exhibiting the different paths to follow for a better understanding and research on the experience concept, which can be in beverages or foods.El área de estudio de esta tesis es el análisis sensorial y estudios con consumidores, con una fuerte influencia del campo de la psicología cognitiva y social. La tesis se enfoca en el estudio de la experiencia de consumo , con el objetivo de profundizar en el entendimiento de los proceso s de elección y consumo de alimentos y bebidas, así como desarrollar una herramienta capaz de medir la experiencia de consumo a través de los diferentes sistemas que tiene el ser humano (sensorial, afectivo y cognitivo). El caso de estudio utilizado para medir la ex periencia de consumo es la cerveza, comparando a través de la tesis las relaciones y diferencias que existen entre el consumo de cerveza artesanal e industrial. La experiencia de un producto se refiere a todos los efectos emocionales, sensoriales y cogniti vos que un producto puede tener sobre una persona. Sin embargo, este concepto, aunque no es nuevo en el área de la psicología del consumidor, ha sido poco estudiado con respecto a su relación con alimentos y bebidas. En los últimos treinta años, el concep to de consumo experie ncial, experiencia de producto ha sido utilizado en servicios ( ej. turismo), objetos materiales ( ej. celulares, tasas, etc.). Pero, n o se conoce las diferencias que podrían existir con respecto al consumo de alimento s y bebidas. La tes is a lo largo de cinco capítulos plantea un estudio de la experiencia de consumo de bebidas, más específicamente del consumo de cerveza. El primer capítulo tiene por objetivo conocer al consumidor de cerveza en México con respecto a los hábitos de consumo, actitudes, macas de cerveza que más se consumen y encontrar una tipología de los consumidores. Adicionalmente se profundiza en los resultados de un estudio cualitativo (etnografías con consumidores) para profundizar en las motivaciones , variables involucr adas y actitudes hacia el consumo de cerveza artesanal. El segundo capítulo explora las variables asociadas a la experiencia de tomar cerveza, utilizando un estudio también cualitativo (sesiones de grupo contextuales) y pone en evidencia las diferencias en tre la experiencia de consumo en un objeto material versus una bebida. Los resultados de este estudio muestran que la experiencia de tomar cerveza está relacionada con: los hábitos de consumo, actitudes, la experiencia sensorial, la experiencia afectiva (o emocional), la experiencia cognitiva, la experiencia de compra del producto, el consumo individual versus social, y los beneficios específicos buscados en el consumo de cerveza . El tercer y cuarto capítulo profundiza n en la representación mental y social de la cerveza. En primer lugar, la representación mental de la cerveza es percibida diferente de acuerdo al género y tipo de consumidor (cerveza industrial o artesanal). Para obtener la representación mental se realizó una prueba de categorización ( sortin g task ) en done los resultados muestran que las mujeres categorizan las cervezas basadas en las actitudes hacia la cerveza, mientras que los hombres realizan la categorización basados en su experiencia previa o información sobre las cervezas. Por otro lado , al estudiar la representación social de la cerveza, usando la metodología estructural de las representaciones en psicología social se ponen en evidencia las diferencias culturales que existen en el consumidor en dos países: México y Francia. Los resultad os muestran que la forma en la que se construye la representación es diferente entre países, teniendo como eje la descripción de la cerveza en Francia, y como aspectos hedónicos en el caso del consumidor mexicano . En el caso del consumidor francés , la repr esentación de la cerveza artesanal es más compartida entre consumidores de cerveza industrial y artesanal, mientras que los diferentes tipos de consumidores en México no comparten una misma representación social. Finalmente, el capítulo cinco muestra cómo se utilizó la información de los estudios precedentes de la tesis para diseñar un estudio cuantitativo en donde se midiera la experiencia de tomar cerveza. El estudio constaba de dos condiciones: evaluación visual y prueba de producto. Los resultados muest ran que es posible medir la experiencia de tomar cerveza con base en las dimensiones más relevantes durante el consumo, más afectiva , cognitiva o sensorial. En el estudio se encontró que las cervezas artesanales tienen una experiencia de consumo más cognit iva, mientras que las cervezas industriales son más emocionales y sensoriales. La tesis concluye con los resultados de la medición de la experiencia de consumo en las cervezas y muestra que los caminos para una mayor investigación de l concepto de experien cia pueden ser en alimentos y otras bebidas, con el objetivo de validar el uso del concepto y las variables relacionadas con el mismo

Examining the role of smart TVs and VR HMDs in synchronous at-a-distance media consumption

This article examines synchronous at-a-distance media consumption from two perspectives: How it can be facilitated using existing consumer displays (through TVs combined with smartphones), and imminently available consumer displays (through virtual reality (VR) HMDs combined with RGBD sensing). First, we discuss results from an initial evaluation of a synchronous shared at-a-distance smart TV system, CastAway. Through week-long in-home deployments with five couples, we gain formative insights into the adoption and usage of at-a-distance media consumption and how couples communicated during said consumption. We then examine how the imminent availability and potential adoption of consumer VR HMDs could affect preferences toward how synchronous at-a-distance media consumption is conducted, in a laboratory study of 12 pairs, by enhancing media immersion and supporting embodied telepresence for communication. Finally, we discuss the implications these studies have for the near-future of consumer synchronous at-a-distance media consumption. When combined, these studies begin to explore a design space regarding the varying ways in which at-a-distance media consumption can be supported and experienced (through music, TV content, augmenting existing TV content for immersion, and immersive VR content), what factors might influence usage and adoption and the implications for supporting communication and telepresence during media consumption

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Metaverse

Non peer reviewe

On the influence of individual characteristics and personality traits on the user experience with multi-sensorial media: an experimental insight

Recent studies encourage the development of sensorially-enriched media to enhance the user experience by stimulating senses other than sight and hearing. Sensory effects as odor, wind, vibration and light effects, as well as an enhanced audio quality, have been found to favour media enjoyment and to have a positive influence on the sense of Presence and on the perceived quality, relevance and reality of a multimedia experience. In particular, sports is among the genres that could benefit the most from these solutions. Several works have demonstrated also the technical feasibility of implementing and deploying end-to-end solutions integrating sensory effects into a legacy system. Thus, multi-sensorial media emerges as a mean to deliver a new form of immersive experiences to the mass market in a non-disruptive manner. However, many questions remain concerning issues as the sensory effects that can better complement a given audiovisual content or the best way in which to integrate and combine them to enhance the user experience of a target audience segment. The work presented in this paper aims to gain insight into the impact of binaural audio and sensory (light and olfactory) effects on the sports media experience, both at the overall level (average effect) and as a function of users? characteristics (heterogeneous effects). To this aim, we conducted an experimental study exploring the influence of these immersive elements on the quality and Presence dimensions of the media experience. Along the quality dimension, we look for possible variations on the quality scores assigned to the overall media experience and to the media components content, image, audio and sensory effects. The potential impact on Presence is analyzed in terms of Spatial Presence and Engagement. The users? characteristics considered encompass specific personal affective, cognitive and behavioral attributes. We found that, on average, participants preferred binaural audio than standard stereo audio. The audio quality was found to have a heterogeneous impact on the quality of experience, on the perceived quality of content and image and on the levels of Spatial Presence and Engagement. Furthermore, the presence of sensory effects increased significantly the level of Spatial Presence. Additionally, highly conscious participants reported a significantly higher image quality when sensory effects were present in comparison to those conditions in which sensory effects were not administered. Personal characteristics explained most of the variation in the dependent variables, being individuals? preferences in relation to the content, knowledge of involved technologies, tendency to emotional involvement and conscientiousness among the user variables with the most generalized influence

Olfactory-tactile interactions and their implications for retailing

While research suggests that sensory modalities, such as olfaction or touch, influence consumer evaluations and behavior, the interaction of these sensory modalities are not well investigated. Focusing on the interaction of ambient scent and tactile input, this research explores the effect of ambient scent on consumers' perceptions of tactile product properties in terms of softness and temperature. Scent and tactile input are manipulated in a 5 (scent: cinnamon, pine, jasmine, eucalyptus) between-participants lab experiment with replication across selected product categories differing in tactile characteristics. Ambient scent did not significantly enhance the tactile perceptions, willingness to pay, and purchase intentions. Tactile perceptions, willingness to pay, and purchase intentions were influenced by product, however. Implications for marketing and retailing are discussed

Processing epistemic modality in a second language : a self-paced reading study

The current study brings together two novel perspectives: one is concerned with second language acquisition of complex modal semantics by learners of a Slavic (Croatian) language, and the other relates to online processing of modal auxiliary verbs in L2 English. The study sought to examine how English L2 learners process modal verbs can and may in their epistemic, deontic, and dynamic meaning, referring to epistemic possibility (e.g. He may come to the party), to giving or asking permission (You may/can come in), or to the expression of ability (He can speak four languages). Participants were a group of Croatian university students majoring in English (N=12) and a group of English L1 speakers studying at a UK university (N=8). They all completed a self-paced reading task which is thought to be tapping into implicit linguistic knowledge. Results suggest that Croatian native speakers acquire the dynamic and deontic modal meaning up to the native level, but they differ from English native speakers as far as epistemic modal semantics is concerned. The results are in line with previous studies in L1 and L2 research which demonstrated delayed acquisition of epistemic modality in comparison with non-epistemic modality. However, the findings also contribute to research on cross-linguistic influences and L1 concept transfer, suggesting that features and their related concepts which are not instantiated in one’s L1 may not be fully acquired even at more advanced levels