INDCOR White Paper 2: Interactive Narrative Design for Representing Complexity

This white paper was written by the members of the Work Group focusing on design practices of the COST Action 18230 - Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representation (INDCOR, WG1). It presents an overview of Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs) design for complexity representations through IDN workflows and methodologies, IDN authoring tools and applications. It provides definitions of the central elements of the IDN alongside its best practices, designs and methods. Finally, it describes complexity as a feature of IDN, with related examples. In summary, this white paper serves as an orienting map for the field of IDN design, understanding where we are in the contemporary panorama while charting the grounds of their promising futures.Comment: 11 pages, This whitepaper was produced by members of the COST Action 18230 - Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representation (INDCOR - https://indcor.eu

INDCOR white paper on the Design of Complexity IDNs

This white paper was written by the members of the Work Group focusing on design practices of the COST Action 18230 - Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representation (INDCOR, WG1). It presents an overview of Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs) design for complexity representations through IDN workflows and methodologies, IDN authoring tools and applications. It provides definitions of the central elements of the IDN alongside its best practices, designs and methods. Finally, it describes complexity as a feature of IDN, with related examples. In summary, this white paper serves as an orienting map for the field of IDN design, understanding where we are in the contemporary panorama while charting the grounds of their promising futures

A DESIGN AND EVALUATION FRAMEWORK FOR ENHANCING USER EXPERIENCE OF MOBILE AUGMENTED REALITY

Augmented Reality (AR) is a cutting-edge technology that provides a digitally enhanced view of the real world, connecting users with meaningful and useful content in differ ent situations. When AR experiences start to deliver on mobile devices it is termed as Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR). One limitation in the path of revolutionizing MAR is the lack of research understanding of the User Experience (UX) resulting from the unique interaction style and the mixing of real and virtual environments that MAR embodies. Few studies depict information about the user-related challenges of MAR technology. However, because of the increasing importance of UX as a quality attribute in products and services, there is a need to understand the UX in specific emerging fields like MAR. The research study presents a conceptual UX framework for MAR services

Increasing User Engagement in Virtual Reality:The Role of Interactive Digital Narratives to Trigger Emotional Responses

Immersive multimedia technologies such as virtual reality (VR) create narrative experiences in the digital medium, thus revolutionizing how people communicate, learn, and think. These Interactive Digital Narratives (IDN) shape end-users’ experience with a broad potential for various applications. A fundamental aspect of achieving this potential is the establishment of a positive and engaging user experience. This study investigates how enabling the interactive narrative in a VR setting affects the engagement of the users. The study we base this work on involved thirty-two participants in a controlled experiment where they were asked to explore a designed VR environment, with and without a digital narrative. We observed a significant increase in the participants’ level of engagement in the narrative-based environment compared to the non-narrative VR environment. The results showed how the IDN in VR generates an increased emotional response, strengthening the users’ engagement, showing that IDN can be considered an essential factor in shaping the positive experience of end-users, thus shaping a better society

Wayfinding in Virtual Reality Serious Game: An Exploratory Study in the Context of User Perceived Experiences

Extended reality (XR) technologies such as virtual reality (VR) provide a promising alternative for training users through serious games (SGs). VR SGs allow people to train in emergency scenarios and improve their likelihood of survival in high-risk situations. Studies have shown that incorporating design elements such as wayfinding cues enhances the spatial knowledge of users in VR. However, the impact of these wayfinding cues on users’ psychological and psychometric behaviors needs thorough investigation. An SG was designed to investigate wayfinding cues’ psychological and psychometric effects on user-perceived experiences in an immersive VR environment. Thirty-nine participants experienced three variants of the VR SG using Oculus Rift- S. Participants in the control condition were exposed to the VR with no wayfinding cues, and the experimental groups were exposed to VR with static and dynamic wayfinding cues. Results showed that VR SG with wayfinding cues induced less tension, challenge, and negative affects in users’ overall perceived experience. Similarly higher positive affects were observed for the experimental groups with wayfinding cues. It was interesting to observe that there were no significant effects of wayfinding on competence, flow, and immersion; however, heart rate was significantly high in the control group. These findings suggest that wayfinding cues can promote the users perceived quality of experience in the VR

Wayfinding in virtual reality serious game: An exploratory study in the context of user perceived experiences

Extended reality (XR) technologies such as virtual reality (VR) provide a promising alternative for training users through serious games (SGs). VR SGs allow people to train in emergency scenarios and improve their likelihood of survival in high-risk situations. Studies have shown that incorporating design elements such as wayfinding cues enhances the spatial knowledge of users in VR. However, the impact of these wayfinding cues on users’ psychological and psychometric behaviors needs thorough investigation. An SG was designed to investigate wayfinding cues’ psychological and psychometric effects on user-perceived experiences in an immersive VR environment. Thirty-nine participants experienced three variants of the VR SG using Oculus Rift- S. Participants in the control condition were exposed to the VR with no wayfinding cues, and the experimental groups were exposed to VR with static and dynamic wayfinding cues. Results showed that VR SG with wayfinding cues induced less tension, challenge, and negative affects in users’ overall perceived experience. Similarly higher positive affects were observed for the experimental groups with wayfinding cues. It was interesting to observe that there were no significant effects of wayfinding on competence, flow, and immersion; however, heart rate was significantly high in the control group. These findings suggest that wayfinding cues can promote the users perceived quality of experience in the V

Realistic visualization of debris flow type landslides through virtual reality

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INDCOR white paper on Complexity IDNs

This white paper was written by the members of the Work Group focusing on design practices of the COST Action 18230 - Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representation (INDCOR, WG1). It presents an overview of Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs) design for complexity representations through IDN workflows and methodologies, IDN authoring tools and applications. It provides definitions of the central elements of the IDN alongside its best practices, designs and methods. Finally, it describes complexity as a feature of IDN, with related examples. In summary, this white paper serves as an orienting map for the field of IDN design, understanding where we are in the contemporary panorama while charting the grounds of their promising futures

An update of pathogenic variants in ASPM, WDR62, CDK5RAP2, STIL, CENPJ, and CEP135 underlying autosomal recessive primary microcephaly in 32 consanguineous families from Pakistan

Background: Primary microcephaly (MCPH) is a congenital neurodevelopmental disorder manifesting as small brain and intellectual disability. It underlies isolated reduction of the cerebral cortex that is reminiscent of early hominids which makes it suitable model disease to study the hominin-specific volumetric expansion of brain. Mutations in 25 genes have been reported to cause this disorder. Although majority of these genes were discovered in the Pakistani population, still a significant proportion of these families remains uninvestigated. Methods: We studied a cohort of 32 MCPH families from different regions of Pakistan. For disease gene identification, genome-wide linkage analysis, Sanger sequencing, gene panel, and whole-exome sequencing were performed. Results: By employing these techniques individually or in combination, we were able to discern relevant disease-causing DNA variants. Collectively, 15 novel mutations were observed in five different MCPH genes; ASPM (10), WDR62 (1), CDK5RAP2 (1), STIL (2), and CEP135 (1). In addition, 16 known mutations were also verified. We reviewed the literature and documented the published mutations in six MCPH genes. Intriguingly, our cohort also revealed a recurrent mutation, c.7782_7783delGA;p.(Lys2595Serfs*6), of ASPM reported worldwide. Drawing from this collective data, we propose two founder mutations, ASPM:c.9557C>G;p. (Ser3186*) and CENPJ:c.18delC;p.(Ser7Profs*2), in the Pakistani population. Conclusions: We discovered novel DNA variants, impairing the function of genes indispensable to build a proper functioning brain. Our study expands the mutational spectra of known MCPH genes and also provides supporting evidence to the pathogenicity of previously reported mutations. These novel DNA variants will be helpful for the clinicians and geneticists for establishing reliable diagnostic strategies for MCPH families