1,617 research outputs found
A VR-enhanced rollover car simulator and edutainment application for increasing seat belt use awareness
Most countries have active road safety policies that seek the objective of reducing deaths in traffic accidents. One of the main factors in this regard is the awareness of the safety measures, one of the most important being the correct usage of the seat belt, a device that is known to save thousands of lives every year. The presented work shows a VR-enhanced edutainment application designed to increase awareness on the use of seat belts. For this goal, a motorized rollover system was developed that, synchronized with a VR application (shown in a head-mounted display for each user inside a real car), rolls over this car with up to four passengers inside. This way, users feel the sensations of a real overturn and therefore they realize the consequences and the results of not wearing a seat belt. The system was tested for a month in the context of a road safety exhibition in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, one of the leading countries in car accidents per capita. More than 500 users tested and assessed the usefulness of the system. We measured, before and after the rollover experience, the perception of risk of not using the seat belt. Results show that awareness regarding the use of seat belts increases very significantly after using the presented edutainment tool
Actors in VR storytelling
Virtual Reality (VR) storytelling enhances the immersion of users into
virtual environments (VE). Its use in virtual cultural heritage presentations
helps the revival of the genius loci (the spirit of the place) of cultural
monuments. This paper aims to show that the use of actors in VR storytelling
adds to the quality of user experience and improves the edutainment value of
virtual cultural heritage applications. We will describe the Baiae dry visit
application which takes us to a time travel in the city considered by the Roman
elite as "Little Rome (Pusilla Roma)" and presently is only partially preserved
under the sea.Comment: Pre-print versio
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Art museums and the incorporation of virtual reality: Examining the impact of VR on spatial and social norms
Art museums implicate established spatial and social norms. The norms that shape these behaviours are not fixed, but rather subject to change as the sociality and physicality of these spaces continues to develop. In recent years, the re-emergence of virtual reality (VR) has led to this technology being incorporated into art museums in the form of VR-based exhibits. While a growing body of research now explores the various applications, uses and effects of VR, there is a notable dearth of studies examining the impact VR might be having on the spatial and social experience of art museums. This article, therefore, reports on an original research project designed to address these concerns. The project was conducted at Anise Gallery in London, United Kingdom, between June and July 2018 and focused on the multisensory, and VR-based, exhibition, Scents of Shad Thames. The research involved 19 semi-structured interviews with participants who had just experienced this exhibition. Drawing on scholarly literature that surrounds the spatial and social norms pertaining to art museums, this study advances along three lines. First, the research explores whether the inclusion of VR might alter the practice of people watching, which is endemic of this setting. Second, the research explores whether established ways of navigating the physical setting of art museums might influence how users approach the digital space of VR. Third, the research examines whether the incorporation of VR might produce a qualitatively different experience of the art museum as a shared social space
A framework study on the use of immersive XR technologies in the cultural heritage domain
Most cultural promotion and dissemination are nowadays performed through the digitization of heritage
sites and museums, a necessary requirement to meet the new needs of the public. Augmented Reality
(AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR) have the potential to improve the experience quality
and educational effect of these sites by stimulating users’ senses in a more natural and vivid way. In this
respect, head-mounted display (HMD) devices allow visitors to enhance the experience of cultural sites
by digitizing information and integrating additional virtual cues about cultural artifacts, resulting in a
more immersive experience that engages the visitor both physically and emotionally.
This study contributes to the development and incorporation of AR, MR, and VR applications in the
cultural heritage domain by providing an overview of relevant studies utilizing fully immersive systems,
such as headsets and CAVE systems, emphasizing the advantages that they bring when compared to
handheld devices. We propose a framework study to identify the key features of headset-based Extended
Reality (XR) technologies used in the cultural heritage domain that boost immersion, sense of presence,
and agency. Furthermore, we highlight core characteristics that favor the adoption of these systems over
more traditional solutions (e.g., handheld devices), as well as unsolved issues that must be addressed to
improve the guests’ experience and the appreciation of the cultural heritage.
An extensive search of Google Scholar, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and Wiley Online
Library databases was conducted, including papers published from January 2018 to September 2022.
To improve review reporting, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
(PRISMA) guidelines were used. Sixty-five papers met the inclusion criteria and were classified depending
on the study’s purpose: education, entertainment, edutainment, touristic guidance systems, accessibility,
visitor profiling, and management.
Immersive cultural heritage systems allow visitors to feel completely immersed and present in the
virtual environment, providing a stimulating and educational cultural experience that can improve the
quality and learning purposes of cultural visits. Nonetheless, the analyzed studies revealed some limitations that must be faced to give a further impulse to the adoption of these technologies in the cultural
heritage domain
Virtual and Augmented Reality in Finance: State Visibility of Events and Risk
International audienceThe recent financial crisis and its aftermath motivate our re-thinking of the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a driver for change in global finance and a critical factor for success and sustainability. We attribute the recent financial crisis that hit the global market, causing a drastic economic slowdown and recession, to a lack of state visibility of risk, inadequate response to events, and a slow dynamic system adaptation to events. There is evidence that ICT is not yet appropriately developed to create business value and business intelligence capable of counteracting devastating events. The aim of this chapter is to assess the potential of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR / AR) technologies in supporting the dynamics of global financial systems and in addressing the grand challenges posed by unexpected events and crises. We overview, firstly, in this chapter traditional AR/VR uses. Secondly, we describe early attempts to use 3D/ VR / AR technologies in Finance. Thirdly, we consider the case study of mediating the visibility of the financial state and we explore the various dimensions of the problem. Fourthly, we assess the potential of AR / VR technologies in raising the perception of the financial state (including financial risk). We conclude the chapter with a summary and a research agenda to develop technologies capable of increasing the perception of the financial state and risk and counteracting devastating events
Perceiving Mass in Mixed Reality through Pseudo-Haptic Rendering of Newton's Third Law
In mixed reality, real objects can be used to interact with virtual objects.
However, unlike in the real world, real objects do not encounter any opposite
reaction force when pushing against virtual objects. The lack of reaction force
during manipulation prevents users from perceiving the mass of virtual objects.
Although this could be addressed by equipping real objects with force-feedback
devices, such a solution remains complex and impractical.In this work, we
present a technique to produce an illusion of mass without any active
force-feedback mechanism. This is achieved by simulating the effects of this
reaction force in a purely visual way. A first study demonstrates that our
technique indeed allows users to differentiate light virtual objects from heavy
virtual objects. In addition, it shows that the illusion is immediately
effective, with no prior training. In a second study, we measure the lowest
mass difference (JND) that can be perceived with this technique. The
effectiveness and ease of implementation of our solution provides an
opportunity to enhance mixed reality interaction at no additional cost
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