Quality Assessment of Virtual Human Assistants for Elder Users

Virtual humans (VHs) are gaining increasing attention in various fields, including games and cultural heritage and technological contexts including virtual reality and augmented reality. Recently, since VHs can simulate human-like behavior, VHs have been proposed as virtual assistants (VAs) for all sorts of education and training applications, including applications focused on the improvement of quality of life (QoL) and well-being. In this research work, we consider the quality and efficiency of VHs implemented as part of the MyHealthWatcher project, which focuses on the monitoring of health-related parameters of elder users to improve their QoL and self-management of chronic conditions. To validate our hypothesis that the increased quality of the VH has a positive effect on user satisfaction and user quality of interaction with the system, we developed and integrated into the MyHealthWatcher system two VH variations. The first was developed with mainstream technologies and the second was developed using a professional pipeline. The two variations developed were assessed by representative target users through a between-subject focus group study. The development and validation process of the two variations allowed us to draw valuable conclusions, which are discussed in this paper

Quality Assessment of Virtual Human Assistants for Elder Users

Virtual humans (VHs) are gaining increasing attention in various fields, including games and cultural heritage and technological contexts including virtual reality and augmented reality. Recently, since VHs can simulate human-like behavior, VHs have been proposed as virtual assistants (VAs) for all sorts of education and training applications, including applications focused on the improvement of quality of life (QoL) and well-being. In this research work, we consider the quality and efficiency of VHs implemented as part of the MyHealthWatcher project, which focuses on the monitoring of health-related parameters of elder users to improve their QoL and self-management of chronic conditions. To validate our hypothesis that the increased quality of the VH has a positive effect on user satisfaction and user quality of interaction with the system, we developed and integrated into the MyHealthWatcher system two VH variations. The first was developed with mainstream technologies and the second was developed using a professional pipeline. The two variations developed were assessed by representative target users through a between-subject focus group study. The development and validation process of the two variations allowed us to draw valuable conclusions, which are discussed in this paper

A Web-Based Platform for Traditional Craft Documentation

A web-based authoring platform for the representation of traditional crafts is proposed. This platform is rooted in a systematic method for craft representation, the adoption, knowledge, and representation standards of the cultural heritage (CH) domain, and the integration of outcomes from advanced digitization techniques. In this paper, we present the implementation of this method by an online, collaborative documentation platform where digital assets are curated into digitally preservable craft representations. The approach is demonstrated through the representation of three traditional crafts as use cases, and the lessons learned from this endeavor are presented

Representation and Presentation of Culinary Tradition as Cultural Heritage

This paper presents a knowledge representation framework and provides tools to allow the representation and presentation of the tangible and intangible dimensions of culinary tradition as cultural heritage including the socio-historic context of its evolution. The representation framework adheres to and extends the knowledge representation standards for the Cultural Heritage (CH) domain while providing a widely accessible web-based authoring environment to facilitate the representation activities. In strong collaboration with social sciences and humanities, this work allows the exploitation of ethnographic research outcomes by providing a systematic approach for the representation of culinary tradition in the form of recipes, both in an abstract form for their preservation and in a semantic representation of their execution captured on-site during ethnographic research

Realistic Virtual Humans for Cultural Heritage Applications

Virtual Humans are becoming a commodity in computing technology and lately have been utilized in the context of interactive presentations in Virtual Cultural Heritage environments and exhibitions. To this end, this research work underlines the importance of aligning and fine-tuning Virtual Humans’ appearance to their roles and highlights the importance of affective components. Building realistic Virtual Humans was traditionally a great challenge requiring a professional motion capturing studio and heavy resources in 3D animation and design. In this paper, a workflow for their implementation is presented, based on current technological trends in wearable mocap systems and advancements in software technology for their implementation, animation, and visualization. The workflow starts from motion recording and segmentation to avatar implementation, retargeting, animation, lip synchronization, face morphing, and integration to a virtual or physical environment. The testing of the workflow occurs in a use case for the Mastic Museum of Chios and the implementation is validated both in a 3D virtual environment accessed through Virtual Reality and on-site at the museum through an Augmented Reality application. The findings, support the initial hypothesis through a formative evaluation, and lessons learned are transformed into a set of guidelines to support the replication of this work

Realistic Virtual Humans for Cultural Heritage Applications

Virtual Humans are becoming a commodity in computing technology and lately have been utilized in the context of interactive presentations in Virtual Cultural Heritage environments and exhibitions. To this end, this research work underlines the importance of aligning and fine-tuning Virtual Humans’ appearance to their roles and highlights the importance of affective components. Building realistic Virtual Humans was traditionally a great challenge requiring a professional motion capturing studio and heavy resources in 3D animation and design. In this paper, a workflow for their implementation is presented, based on current technological trends in wearable mocap systems and advancements in software technology for their implementation, animation, and visualization. The workflow starts from motion recording and segmentation to avatar implementation, retargeting, animation, lip synchronization, face morphing, and integration to a virtual or physical environment. The testing of the workflow occurs in a use case for the Mastic Museum of Chios and the implementation is validated both in a 3D virtual environment accessed through Virtual Reality and on-site at the museum through an Augmented Reality application. The findings, support the initial hypothesis through a formative evaluation, and lessons learned are transformed into a set of guidelines to support the replication of this work

Traditional Craft Training and Demonstration in Museums

International audienceThis work regards the representation of handicrafts for craft training and demonstration in the environment of an ethnographic heritage museum. The craft of mastic cultivation is chosen as a use case. This paper presents the process of representation and presentation of this craft, following an articulated pipeline approach for data collection, annotation, and semantic representation. The outcomes were used to implement an exhibition that targets the presentation of craft context and craft training, through interactive experiences, mobile applications, and a hands-on training where users reenact the gestures of a mastic cultivator. Preliminary evaluation results show high acceptance for the installation and increased user interest

Multimodal Narratives for the Presentation of Silk Heritage in the Museum

International audienceIn this paper, a representation based on digital assets and semantic annotations is established for Traditional Craft instances, in a way that captures their socio-historic context and preserves both their tangible and intangible Cultural Heritage dimensions. These meaningful and documented experiential presentations are delivered to the target audience through narratives that address a range of uses, including personalized storytelling, interactive Augmented Reality (AR), augmented physical artifacts, Mixed Reality (MR) exhibitions, and the Web. The provided engaging cultural experiences have the potential to have an impact on interest growth and tourism, which can support Traditional Craft communities and institutions. A secondary impact is the attraction of new apprentices through training and demonstrations that guarantee long-term preservation. The proposed approach is demonstrated in the context of textile manufacturing as practiced by the community of the Haus der Seidenkultur, a former silk factory that was turned into a museum where the traditional craft of Jacquard weaving is still practiced

Representation and Preservation of Heritage Crafts

This work regards the digital representation of tangible and intangible dimensions of heritage crafts, towards craft preservation. Based on state-of-the-art digital documentation, knowledge representation and narrative creation approach are presented. Craft presentation methods that use the represented content to provide accurate, intuitive, engaging, and educational ways for HC presentation and appreciation are proposed. The proposed methods aim to contribute to HC preservation, by adding value to the cultural visit, before, and after it