User experience of panoramic video in CAVE-like and head mounted display viewing conditions

Panoramic 360 video is a rapidly growing part of interactive TV viewing experience due to the increase of both production by consumers and professionals and the availability of consumer headsets used to view it. Recent years have also seen proposals for the development of home systems that could ultimately approximate CAVE-like experiences. The question arises as to the nature of the user experience of viewing panoramic video in head mounted displays compared to CAVE-like systems. User preference seems hard to predict. Accordingly, this study took a qualitative approach to describing user experience of viewing a panoramic video on both platforms, using a thematic analysis. Sixteen users tried both viewing conditions and equal numbers expressed preferences for each display system. The differences in user experience by viewing condition are discussed in detail via themes emerging from the analysis

Photorealistic True-Dimensional Visualization of Remote Panoramic Views for VR Headsets

© 2023 IEEE. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Virtual Reality headsets have evolved to include unprecedented display quality. Meantime, they have become light-weight, wireless and low-cost, which has opened to new applications and a much wider audience. Photo-based omnidirectional imaging has also developed, becoming directly exploitable for VR, with their combination proven suitable for: remote visits and realistic scene reconstruction, operator’s training and control panels, surveillance and e-tourism. There is however a limited amount of scientific work assessing VR experience and user’s performance in photo-based environment representations. This paper focuses on assessing the effect of photographic realism in VR when observing real places through a VR headset, for two different pixel-densities of the display, environment types and familiarity levels. Our comparison relies on the observation of static three-dimensional and omnidirectional photorealistic views of environments. The aim is to gain an insight about how photographic texture can affect perceived realness, sense of presence and provoked emotions, as well as perception of image-lighting and actual space dimension (true-dimension). Two user studies are conducted based on subjective rating and measurements given by users to a number of display and human factors. The display pixel-density affected the perceived image-lighting and prevailed over better lighting specs. The environment illumination and distance to objects generally played a stronger role than display. The environment affected the perceived image-lighting, spatial presence, depth impression and specific emotions. Distances to a set of objects were generally accurately estimated. Place familiarity enhanced perceived realism and presence. They confirmed some previous studies, but also introduced new elements.Peer reviewe

Remote Visual Observation of Real Places Through Virtual Reality Headsets

Virtual Reality has always represented a fascinating yet powerful opportunity that has attracted studies and technology developments, especially since the latest release on the market of powerful high-resolution and wide field-of-view VR headsets. While the great potential of such VR systems is common and accepted knowledge, issues remain related to how to design systems and setups capable of fully exploiting the latest hardware advances. The aim of the proposed research is to study and understand how to increase the perceived level of realism and sense of presence when remotely observing real places through VR headset displays. Hence, to produce a set of guidelines that give directions to system designers about how to optimize the display-camera setup to enhance performance, focusing on remote visual observation of real places. The outcome of this investigation represents unique knowledge that is believed to be very beneficial for better VR headset designs towards improved remote observation systems. To achieve the proposed goal, this thesis presents a thorough investigation of existing literature and previous researches, which is carried out systematically to identify the most important factors ruling realism, depth perception, comfort, and sense of presence in VR headset observation. Once identified, these factors are further discussed and assessed through a series of experiments and usability studies, based on a predefined set of research questions. More specifically, the role of familiarity with the observed place, the role of the environment characteristics shown to the viewer, and the role of the display used for the remote observation of the virtual environment are further investigated. To gain more insights, two usability studies are proposed with the aim of defining guidelines and best practices. The main outcomes from the two studies demonstrate that test users can experience an enhanced realistic observation when natural features, higher resolution displays, natural illumination, and high image contrast are used in Mobile VR. In terms of comfort, simple scene layouts and relaxing environments are considered ideal to reduce visual fatigue and eye strain. Furthermore, sense of presence increases when observed environments induce strong emotions, and depth perception improves in VR when several monocular cues such as lights and shadows are combined with binocular depth cues. Based on these results, this investigation then presents a focused evaluation on the outcomes and introduces an innovative eye-adapted High Dynamic Range (HDR) approach, which the author believes to be of great improvement in the context of remote observation when combined with eye-tracked VR headsets. Within this purpose, a third user study is proposed to compare static HDR and eye-adapted HDR observation in VR, to assess that the latter can improve realism, depth perception, sense of presence, and in certain cases even comfort. Results from this last study confirmed the author expectations, proving that eye-adapted HDR and eye tracking should be used to achieve best visual performances for remote observation in modern VR systems

Evaluating 360° media experiences

360° media experiences have existed for centuries. Viewing painted panoramas, such as those displayed in the 18th-century rotunda in Leicester Square, was a popular Georgian pastime. Recent advances in capture, processing and display technology have created a surge of interest in the medium, with millions of people now viewing captured 360° media immersively. Despite the popularity of 360° media experiences, there are still substantial technical issues associated with production and distribution, and little research has been done that explores the end-user experience. As these experiences become commonplace, understanding the impact of such media becomes critical. In this work, two user studies were conducted that investigated the effects of 360° media of different forms. The first study looked at the impact of the display type when viewing cinematic virtual reality captured as 360° video. The study used three display types: a head-mounted display (HMD); a standard 16:9 TV; and a focus-plus-context display. Several metrics were explored, including spatial awareness, memory and narrative engagement. The second study investigated the impact of different transition types when exploring static scenes captured as multi-view 360° images in a HMD. The three transitions investigated were a linear movement through a 3D model of the scene, an instantaneous teleportation, and an image-based warp using Möbius transformations. Metrics investigated included spatial awareness, preference, and several subjective qualities such as the feeling of moving through the space. Additionally, an enabling technology for such experiences was investigated. Object removal in 360° images was explored in detail, with extensions for video described for simple cases. Taken together, these three projects further our current understanding of how 360° media can be implemented, and examine some of the most critical aspects of how users engage with these experiences

360 Cinematic literacy: a case study

360 degree film making necessitates a new language for storytelling. We investigate this issue from the point of view of the user, inferring 360 literacy from what users say about their viewing experiences. The case study is based on material from two user studies on a 360 video profile of an artist. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis to understand how users made sense of the video. The sense of presence had a strong impact on the experience, while the ability to look around meant new skills had to be developed to try to make sense of 360 video. Viewers had most to say about a few particular shots, and some themes of note emerge: such as being in unusual places, certainty about what should be attended to and focus points, switches between first and third person views, and close-ups and interest

Videos in Context for Telecommunication and Spatial Browsing

The research presented in this thesis explores the use of videos embedded in panoramic imagery to transmit spatial and temporal information describing remote environments and their dynamics. Virtual environments (VEs) through which users can explore remote locations are rapidly emerging as a popular medium of presence and remote collaboration. However, capturing visual representation of locations to be used in VEs is usually a tedious process that requires either manual modelling of environments or the employment of specific hardware. Capturing environment dynamics is not straightforward either, and it is usually performed through specific tracking hardware. Similarly, browsing large unstructured video-collections with available tools is difficult, as the abundance of spatial and temporal information makes them hard to comprehend. At the same time, on a spectrum between 3D VEs and 2D images, panoramas lie in between, as they offer the same 2D images accessibility while preserving 3D virtual environments surrounding representation. For this reason, panoramas are an attractive basis for videoconferencing and browsing tools as they can relate several videos temporally and spatially. This research explores methods to acquire, fuse, render and stream data coming from heterogeneous cameras, with the help of panoramic imagery. Three distinct but interrelated questions are addressed. First, the thesis considers how spatially localised video can be used to increase the spatial information transmitted during video mediated communication, and if this improves quality of communication. Second, the research asks whether videos in panoramic context can be used to convey spatial and temporal information of a remote place and the dynamics within, and if this improves users' performance in tasks that require spatio-temporal thinking. Finally, the thesis considers whether there is an impact of display type on reasoning about events within videos in panoramic context. These research questions were investigated over three experiments, covering scenarios common to computer-supported cooperative work and video browsing. To support the investigation, two distinct video+context systems were developed. The first telecommunication experiment compared our videos in context interface with fully-panoramic video and conventional webcam video conferencing in an object placement scenario. The second experiment investigated the impact of videos in panoramic context on quality of spatio-temporal thinking during localization tasks. To support the experiment, a novel interface to video-collection in panoramic context was developed and compared with common video-browsing tools. The final experimental study investigated the impact of display type on reasoning about events. The study explored three adaptations of our video-collection interface to three display types. The overall conclusion is that videos in panoramic context offer a valid solution to spatio-temporal exploration of remote locations. Our approach presents a richer visual representation in terms of space and time than standard tools, showing that providing panoramic contexts to video collections makes spatio-temporal tasks easier. To this end, videos in context are suitable alternative to more difficult, and often expensive solutions. These findings are beneficial to many applications, including teleconferencing, virtual tourism and remote assistance

The effect of chair type on users' viewing experience for 360-degree video

The consumption of 360-degree videos with head-mounted displays (HMDs) is increasing rapidly. A large number of HMD users watch 360-degree videos at home, often on non-swivel seats; however videos are frequently designed to require the user to turn around. This work explores how the difference in users’ chair type might influence their viewing experience. A between-subject experiment was conducted with 41 participants. Three chair conditions were used: fixed, half-swivel and full-swivel. A variety of measures were explored using eye-tracking, questionnaires, tasks and semi-structured interviews. Results suggest that the fixed and half-swivel chairs discouraged exploration for certain videos compared with the full-swivel chair. Additionally, participants in the fixed chair had worse spatial awareness and greater concern about missing something for certain video than those in the full-swivel chair. No significant differences were found in terms of incidental memory, general engagement and simulator sickness among the three chair conditions. Furthermore, thematic analysis of post-experiment interviews revealed four themes regarding the restrictive chairs: physical discomfort, difficulty following moving objects, reduced orientation and guided attention. Based on the findings, practical implications, limitations and future work are discussed

Utilization of viewer location based projection effects on ODV video display in CAVE like environments

The thesis work provides an overview of the CAVE-like virtual environments by describing and comparing different kinds of virtual environments and the technologies behind them. It provides through information about presence, immersion and user experience of a virtual environment. It also explains the concept of omni directional videos, which are used in CAVE virtual environment. The study involves a CAVE-like virtual environment hardware setup situated at University of Tampere. The system is evaluated by conducting an experiment where the participants are viewing objects in omni directional (360-degree) videos (ODV). The participants were asked to perform certain tasks within virtual environments. The study objective is to understand how adjusting virtual camera parameters based on the user’s physical head location effects the user experience of viewing 360-degree videos in a CAVE-like environment. Three conditions are tested which are termed as scaling conditions. In each scaling condition, the virtual camera moved differently based on the user’s head movements. The results are collected through questionnaires, observations and interviews. The questionnaire data is compiled using statistical analysis. The results describe the overall user experience of CAVE-like virtual environment, the level of immersion and presence felt by the user and any possible cyber-sickness. The study conducted paves way to explore different dimensions of CAVE-based ODV viewing and how to improve it

Design and creation of a virtual world of Petra, Jordan

Includes bibliographical references.This thesis presents the design and creation of a 3D virtual world of Petra, Jordan, based on the digital spatial documentation of this UNESCO World Heritage Site by the Zamani project. Creating digital records of the spatial domain of heritage sites is a well-established practice that employs the technologies of laser scanning, GPS and traditional surveys, aerial and close range photogrammetry, and 360-degree panorama photography to capture spatial data of a site. Processing this data to produce textured 3D models, sections elevations, GISs, and panorama tours to has led to the establishment of the field of virtual heritage. Applications to view this spatial data are considered too specialised to be used by the general public with only trained heritage practitioners being able to use the data. Additionally, data viewing platforms have not been designed to allow for the viewing of combinations of 3D data in an intuitive and engaging manner as currently each spatial data type must be viewed by independent software. Therefore a fully integrated software platform is needed which would allow any interested person, without prior training, easy access to a combination of spatial data, from anywhere in the world. This study seeks to provide a solution to the above requirement by using a game engine to assimilate spatial data of heritage sites in a 3D virtual environment where a virtual visitor is able to interactively engage with combinations of spatial data. The study first begins with an analysis of what virtual heritage applications, in the form of virtual environments, have been created, and the elements that were used in their creation. These elements are then applied to the design and creation of the virtual world of Petra