A Compositional Model for the Formal Specification of User Interface Software

Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosoph

Mental Health Practitioners Perceptions’ of Presence in a Virtual Reality Therapy Environment for Use for Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) think and understand social contexts primarily from a visual stand point. Feelings of being present in their social environment are a key component to their development (Strickland, Marcus, Mesibov, & Hogan, 1996). A virtual reality environment (VRE) can provide a therapeutic setting for children with ASD to learn social skills (Ehrlich & Munger, 2012). In the present research, a pilot study was used to assess the validity of a Second Life VRE developed by the researcher (Markopoulos, 2016b) by comparing the VRE to a real life film by The National Autistic Society (2016) in the United Kingdom. Feedback from the pilot study was used to make revisions to the VRE. The validated virtual reality therapy environment (VRTE) was used in the main research study. Twenty-eight Louisiana mental health practitioners’ perceptions of the VRTE were assessed using two random order conditions. Condition A required participation in the VRTE twice, first using a laptop computer only and then using the laptop with the new 2016 Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD, Oculus VR, LLC, 2016). Condition B required participation in the VRTE twice, first using a laptop with the new 2016 Oculus Rift HMD and then using a Laptop alone. Four out of eight subscales from the Temple Presence Inventory (TPI) (Lombard, Weinstein, & Ditton, 2011) were used to assess practitioners’ perceptions of presence in the VRTE. Results of a repeated-measures MANOVA showed that the order of the conditions were not significantly different. Additionally, participants’ TPI total and subscales scores were significantly higher when using the HMD than when using the Laptop, as well as their likelihood of using the HMD with children diagnosed with ASD than using the Laptop. All of the correlations for participants’ age and experience with technology were insignificant except for the subscale III, engagement was significant for participants’ age. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, therapy, virtual reality environment, head-mounted display, temple presence inventory, presenc

Gamification in a Democratic Pro-Environmental Behaviour Model towards achieving effective ESG corporate strategies

This paper aims to analyze the extent to which gamification is an effective alternative to promote the adoption of democratic pro-environmental behaviors and contribute towards the creation of the relative organization culture. The accepted definition of gamification for this paper is the process of enhancing a service with affordances for gameful experiences to support users’ overall value creation. This marketing perspective approach focuses more on the effects obtained as a consequence of activating intrinsic and extrinsic motivation through gamified systems rather than the analysis of the characteristics of the game design elements and the incentives for its practical and actual adaptation and utilization within organizations. Furthermore, the proposed model is linked with the ESG criteria to further incentivize its organization’s adaptation from theory to practice. Finally, the paper indicates limitations and areas of further research towards green ocean strategies that can maximize its applications and impact

Advances in CAD/CAM/CAE Technologies

CAD/CAM/CAE technologies find more and more applications in today’s industries, e.g., in the automotive, aerospace, and naval sectors. These technologies increase the productivity of engineers and researchers to a great extent, while at the same time allowing their research activities to achieve higher levels of performance. A number of difficult-to-perform design and manufacturing processes can be simulated using more methodologies available, i.e., experimental work combined with statistical tools (regression analysis, analysis of variance, Taguchi methodology, deep learning), finite element analysis applied early enough at the design cycle, CAD-based tools for design optimizations, CAM-based tools for machining optimizations

A Certification Framework for Virtual Reality and Metaverse Training Scenarios in the Maritime and Shipping industry

The Covid-19 pandemic enable advanced technologies to find areas of application that significantly eliminate physical presence. This paper presents an analysis of the maritime and shipping VR and Metaverse training certification demand, the requirements that need to be fulfilled for VR training scenarios to be certified, and the overall certification process that can be followed. The research is based on primary and secondary research with an extensive academic literature review, a survey with 80 maritime participants, three interviews with industry experts in maritime VR training and certification, case studies on the maturity and the readiness on the VR training in maritime and shipping, and the presentation of the latest virtual training certification standards from a leading maritime classification organization. The research results indicate an initial VR training certification process that can be used as a guide for VR training organizations on their efforts to certify their professional training applications and technologies

The use of metaverse in maritime sector – a combination of social communication, hands on experiencing and digital twins

COVID-19 has caused challenges in traveling, sales activities, and teleconferencing is at the moment the main communication tool in industry. Various technologies have been introduced during the last a couple of years to increase the immersion of remote presence. Technologies, that can be called as a virtual reality social platform (VRSP) such as Glue, MootUp, Breakroom, LearnBrite, Virtway Events, Engage, AltspaceVR, and VirBELA are robust solutions for a small group of people to participate in the same event. In July 2021, both Microsoft CEO and Facebook CEO published their visions for remote presence, teleconferencing, and much more. Microsoft plans to build an enterprise metaverse (combining technologies such as AltspaceVR, Mesh, Teams, and HoloLens). Facebook in turn intends to transit their business from social media platform to metaverse provider. In February 2021, much before the metaverse enhancement of the big tech giants, Turku University of Applied Sciences started the development of its own metaverse technology. According to Nevelsteen (2018) metaverse is a virtual universe shared amongst its users allowing them to interact with each other within the boundaries of the platform. For TUAS the metaverse concept is a combination of social communication, hands on experiencing and digital twin integration. None of the mentioned VRSP technologies include all these three features neither Microsoft or Facebook have this type of vision. Moreover existing VRSP technologies typically have challenges such as update management, number of simultaneous users, usability, user experience, license policies, customization but also limited user interaction and user data gathering. In this paper, we will introduce our own metaverse technology. Research conducted at TUAS tested existing VRSPs, compared Unity and Unreal game engines in metaverse development and based on industry trend analysis revealed that Epic Games intends to focus on metaverse software development tools. On the other hand the use of Unreal limits user groups for VR and PC users. This research approach presented in this paper provides metaverse experiences to be used with various ways from VR/AR/XR to PCs and mobile phones. This way, users who have limited resources available are able to participate in metaverse applications where the user experience will vary based the available device. This paper introduces the TUAS metaverse technology, the first experiences of developing it and how the first prototype version of this technology has been used in various maritime sector projects. To demonstrate the technology a harbor area has been selected as a test environment. In the first test, AltspaceVR technology was used to develop the environment itself with features needed in virtual exhibition called Match XR. This will be followed by an experiment where the harbor environment with same functionalities will be moved to the TUAS metaverse technology. Finally, the paper reports how multiplayer concepts such as MarISOT command bridge training scenarios can be developed utilizing the TUAS metaverse technology

FEM based investigation on thrust force and torque during Al7075-T6 drilling

As modern industry advances, the demand for more time and cost effective machining is rising. In order to achieve high levels of standard during machining it is necessary to employ sophisticated techniques for precise prediction of various important parameters that relate to the machining processes. Such technique is the implementation of finite element modelling (FEM) which can become a valuable tool for researchers and industry engineers alike. In this work, the 3D modelling of Al7075-T6 drilling process with solid carbide tooling is being presented. DEFORM3D™ finite element analysis (FEA) software was utilized for simulating the drilling process based on frequently used cutting conditions; cutting speed of 100m/min and feed of 0.15mm/rev, 0.20mm/rev and 0.25mm/rev respectively. In order to approximate the complex phenomena that occur during drilling, the most critical factors were considered in the presented model such as the developed friction, heat transfer and damage interaction between the tool and the workpiece. Additionally, a validation of the generated results for thrust force and torque was performed by comparing the simulated results with experimental data. Three drilling experiments were carried out with the aid of a CNC machining center and a four component dynamometer in order to acquire the experimental values of thrust force and torque. Most of the simulations yielded results in accordance to the experimental ones with the agreement percentage reaching 95% in most cases for both the thrust force and torque, confirming the validity of the models and the accuracy of the simulated results