Designing a 3D Gestural Interface to Support User Interaction with Time-Oriented Data as Immersive 3D Radar Chart

The design of intuitive three-dimensional user interfaces is vital for interaction in virtual reality, allowing to effectively close the loop between a human user and the virtual environment. The utilization of 3D gestural input allows for useful hand interaction with virtual content by directly grasping visible objects, or through invisible gestural commands that are associated with corresponding features in the immersive 3D space. The design of such interfaces remains complex and challenging. In this article, we present a design approach for a three-dimensional user interface using 3D gestural input with the aim to facilitate user interaction within the context of Immersive Analytics. Based on a scenario of exploring time-oriented data in immersive virtual reality using 3D Radar Charts, we implemented a rich set of features that is closely aligned with relevant 3D interaction techniques, data analysis tasks, and aspects of hand posture comfort. We conducted an empirical evaluation (n=12), featuring a series of representative tasks to evaluate the developed user interface design prototype. The results, based on questionnaires, observations, and interviews, indicate good usability and an engaging user experience. We are able to reflect on the implemented hand-based grasping and gestural command techniques, identifying aspects for improvement in regard to hand detection and precision as well as emphasizing a prototype's ability to infer user intent for better prevention of unintentional gestures.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

User Preferences of Spatio-Temporal Referencing Approaches For Immersive 3D Radar Charts

The use of head-mounted display technologies for virtual reality experiences is inherently single-user-centred, allowing for the visual immersion of its user in the computer-generated environment. This isolates them from their physical surroundings, effectively preventing external visual information cues, such as the pointing and referral to an artifact by another user. However, such input is important and desired in collaborative scenarios when exploring and analyzing data in virtual environments together with a peer. In this article, we investigate different designs for making spatio-temporal references, i.e., visually highlighting virtual data artifacts, within the context of Collaborative Immersive Analytics. The ability to make references to data is foundational for collaboration, affecting aspects such as awareness, attention, and common ground. Based on three design options, we implemented a variety of approaches to make spatial and temporal references in an immersive virtual reality environment that featured abstract visualization of spatio-temporal data as 3D Radar Charts. We conducted a user study (n=12) to empirically evaluate aspects such as aesthetic appeal, legibility, and general user preference. The results indicate a unified favour for the presented location approach as a spatial reference while revealing trends towards a preference of mixed temporal reference approaches dependent on the task configuration: pointer for elementary, and outline for synoptic references. Based on immersive data visualization complexity as well as task reference configuration, we argue that it can be beneficial to explore multiple reference approaches as collaborative information cues, as opposed to following a rather uniform user interface design.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

The mosaic oat genome gives insights into a uniquely healthy cereal crop

Cultivated oat (Avena sativa L.) is an allohexaploid (AACCDD, 2n = 6x = 42) thought to have been domesticated more than 3,000 years ago while growing as a weed in wheat, emmer and barley fields in Anatolia1,2. Oat has a low carbon footprint, substantial health benefits and the potential to replace animal-based food products. However, the lack of a fully annotated reference genome has hampered efforts to deconvolute its complex evolutionary history and functional gene dynamics. Here we present a high-quality reference genome of A. sativa and close relatives of its diploid (Avena longiglumis, AA, 2n = 14) and tetraploid (Avena insularis, CCDD, 2n = 4x = 28) progenitors. We reveal the mosaic structure of the oat genome, trace large-scale genomic reorganizations in the polyploidization history of oat and illustrate a breeding barrier associated with the genome architecture of oat. We showcase detailed analyses of gene families implicated in human health and nutrition, which adds to the evidence supporting oat safety in gluten-free diets, and we perform mapping-by-sequencing of an agronomic trait related to water-use efficiency. This resource for the Avena genus will help to leverage knowledge from other cereal genomes, improve understanding of basic oat biology and accelerate genomics-assisted breeding and reanalysis of quantitative trait studies

Supporting Data Interaction and Hybrid Asymmetric Collaboration Using Virtual Reality Within the Context of Immersive Analytics

Immersive display and interaction technologies have rapidly evolved in recent years, offering advanced techniques compared to traditional Human-Computer Interaction. Computer-generated Virtual Environments viewed with stereoscopic depth perception and explored using 3D spatial interaction can represent more accurately how humans naturally interact in the real world. Data analysis is a promising area of application for such technologies, holding potential to promote intuitive interaction, user engagement, collaboration, and data curiosity, as well as to foster appropriate contextual visualization. Even when techniques such as Machine Learning and Data Mining assist with the analysis of data, human interpretation, contextualization, and meaning making are still needed. The design of immersive data visualization and interaction is challenging due to the complexity of the involved technologies and human factors, which calls for an interdisciplinary research effort. The focus of this thesis is to investigate means of exploration, interaction, and collaboration using Virtual Reality and 3D gestural input in immersive environments within the context of spatio-temporal data analysis. Based on existing literature as well as following an applied and interdisciplinary research approach, a design space for this type of Immersive Analytics is defined. The emphasis on spatio-temporal data is relevant across various real-world contexts and scenarios, such as sociolinguistics and climate analysis, given that data collected nowadays commonly feature descriptors of where and when they were captured. An immersive data analysis system has been implemented and evaluated across three virtual environment iterations. Two core themes from a user-centered perspective are interaction and collaboration. The design of useful and engaging 3D gestural interaction techniques support the conduction of typical analytical tasks that aid the data exploration and thus the discovery of insights. Furthermore, data analysis is seldom a solitary activity, but can be conducted in collaboration with multiple analysts, who combine their knowledge to interpret and discuss the discoveries. For this purpose, the concept of Hybrid Asymmetric Collaboration is defined, aiming to facilitate an envisioned broader analytical workflow that assumes a mixture of immersive and non-immersive interfaces (hybrid) as well as distinct user roles (asymmetric). To bridge data analysis across heterogeneous interface types, the design of visual information cues is investigated to support foundational aspects of collaboration, such as awareness, common ground, reference, and deixis. The conducted research has been empirically evaluated using a combination of standardized and custom methods in a total of six main studies. The outcomes of these studies allow for reflections and the proposal of design guidelines for collaborative data interaction in immersive spaces.De senaste åren har så kallade immersiva skärm- och interaktionsteknologier utvecklas i snabb takt. Sådana teknologier erbjuder mer avancerade tekniska lösningar jämfört med mer traditionell människa-datorinteraktion. Immersiva inslag som datorgenererade virtuella miljöer med stereoskopisk djupuppfattning och 3D-interaktion kan på ett mer exakt och naturligt sätt representera de interaktioner vi utför i den verkliga världen. Dataanalys är ett lovande användningsområde för immersiva teknologier, med potential att underlätta intuitiv interaktion, skapa och uppmuntra engagemang, samarbete och nyfikenhet för data, samt främja relevant kontextuell visualisering. Även när teknologier som maskininlärning och datautvinning används är det fortfarande nödvändigt att komplettera resultatet med en överordnad mänsklig nivå av tolkning, kontextualisering och meningsskapande för att göra analyserna kompletta och användbara. Designen av immersiv visualisering och interaktion är en krävande utmaning på grund av de teknologiska och mänskliga aspekternas komplexitet och fordrar därför en tvärvetenskaplig forskningsmetod. Avhandlingens syfte är att utforska metoder som kan stödja undersökning, interaktion och samarbete med hjälp av Virtual Reality och 3D-handinteraktioner i immersiva miljöer inom ramen för analys av datamängder som innehåller rumsliga och tidsmässiga data. Denna typ av Immersive Analytics baseras på teoretiska utgångspunkter från tidigare forskning, samt en tillämpad, tvärvetenskaplig forskningsmetod. Fokuset på datamängder som innehåller rumsliga och tidsmässiga data är relevant för flera olika ämnesområden och sammanhang, som till exempel sociolingvistik och klimatanalys, eftersom data som samlas in i nu för tiden ofta innehåller beskrivningar av var och när de mättes eller observerades. Ett immersivt datanalys-system har för detta arbete implementerats och utvärderats i tre iterationer. Två grundläggande områden för ett användarcentrerat perspektiv är interaktion och samarbete. Designen av användbara och engagerande interaktionstekniker via 3D-handinteraktioner stödjer utförandet av typiska analytiska uppgifter och underlättar undersökningen av data och därmed upptäckten av nya insikter. Dataanalys är sällan en aktivitet som utförs ensam, utan sker snarare i ett samarbete där flera analytiker med sin kombinerade kunskap tolkar och diskuterar upptäckter tillsammans. För detta ändamål har begreppet Hybrid Asymmetric Collaboration definierats, vilket syftar till att beskriva ett betydligt bredare analytiskt arbetsflöde som förutsätter och omfattar en blandning av nya immersiva och nuvarande icke-immersiva gränssnitt (hybrid) såväl som distinkta användarroller (asymmetric). För att kombinera och integrera dataanalys mellan heterogena typer av användargränssnitt utforskas designen av visuella informationssignaler med syfte att stödja grundläggande samarbetsaspekter såsom medvetenhet, gemensam grund, referens och kontext. Den genomförda forskningen har utvärderats empiriskt med en kombination av standardiserade och anpassade metoder i totalt sex större studier. Resultatet av dessa studier möjliggör reflektioner kring samt förslag på olika designriktlinjer för interaktion och samarbete i immersiva miljöer

Change your Perspective : Exploration of a 3D Network created with Open Data in an Immersive Virtual Reality Environment using a Head-mounted Display and Vision-based Motion Controls

Year after year, technologies are evolving in an incredible rapid pace, becoming faster, more complex, more accurate and more immersive. Looking back just a decade, especially interaction technologies have made a major leap. Just two years ago in 2013, after being researched for quite some time, the hype around virtual reality (VR) arouse renewed enthusiasm, finally reaching mainstream attention as the so called head-mounted displays (HMD), devices worn on the head  to grant a visual peek into the virtual world, gain more and more acceptance with the end-user. Currently, humans interact with computers in a very counter-intuitive two dimensional way. The ability to experience digital content in the humans most natural manner, by simply looking around and perceiving information from their surroundings, has the potential to be a major game changer in how we perceive and eventually interact with digital information. However, this confronts designers and developers with new challenges of how to apply these exciting technologies, supporting interaction mechanisms to naturally explore digital information in the virtual world, ultimately overcoming real world boundaries. Within the virtual world, the only limit is our imagination. This thesis investigates an approach of how to naturally interact and explore information based on open data within an immersive virtual reality environment using a head-mounted display and vision-based motion controls. For this purpose, an immersive VR application visualizing information as a network of European capital cities has been implemented, offering interaction through gesture input. The application lays a major focus on the exploration of the generated network and the consumption of the displayed information. While the conducted user interaction study with eleven participants investigated their acceptance of the developed prototype, estimating their workload and examining their explorative behaviour, the additional dialog with five experts in the form of explorative discussions provided further feedback towards the prototype’s design and concept. The results indicate the participants’ enthusiasm and excitement towards the novelty and intuitiveness of exploring information in a less traditional way than before, while challenging them with the applied interface and interaction design in a positive manner. The design and concept were also accepted through the experts, valuing the idea and implementation. They provided constructive feedback towards the visualization of the information as well as emphasising and encouraging to be even bolder, making more usage of the available 3D environment. Finally, the thesis discusses these findings and proposes recommendations for future work

Supporting Data Interaction and Hybrid Asymmetric Collaboration Using Virtual Reality Within the Context of Immersive Analytics

Immersive display and interaction technologies have rapidly evolved in recent years, offering advanced techniques compared to traditional Human-Computer Interaction. Computer-generated Virtual Environments viewed with stereoscopic depth perception and explored using 3D spatial interaction can represent more accurately how humans naturally interact in the real world. Data analysis is a promising area of application for such technologies, holding potential to promote intuitive interaction, user engagement, collaboration, and data curiosity, as well as to foster appropriate contextual visualization. Even when techniques such as Machine Learning and Data Mining assist with the analysis of data, human interpretation, contextualization, and meaning making are still needed. The design of immersive data visualization and interaction is challenging due to the complexity of the involved technologies and human factors, which calls for an interdisciplinary research effort. The focus of this thesis is to investigate means of exploration, interaction, and collaboration using Virtual Reality and 3D gestural input in immersive environments within the context of spatio-temporal data analysis. Based on existing literature as well as following an applied and interdisciplinary research approach, a design space for this type of Immersive Analytics is defined. The emphasis on spatio-temporal data is relevant across various real-world contexts and scenarios, such as sociolinguistics and climate analysis, given that data collected nowadays commonly feature descriptors of where and when they were captured. An immersive data analysis system has been implemented and evaluated across three virtual environment iterations. Two core themes from a user-centered perspective are interaction and collaboration. The design of useful and engaging 3D gestural interaction techniques support the conduction of typical analytical tasks that aid the data exploration and thus the discovery of insights. Furthermore, data analysis is seldom a solitary activity, but can be conducted in collaboration with multiple analysts, who combine their knowledge to interpret and discuss the discoveries. For this purpose, the concept of Hybrid Asymmetric Collaboration is defined, aiming to facilitate an envisioned broader analytical workflow that assumes a mixture of immersive and non-immersive interfaces (hybrid) as well as distinct user roles (asymmetric). To bridge data analysis across heterogeneous interface types, the design of visual information cues is investigated to support foundational aspects of collaboration, such as awareness, common ground, reference, and deixis. The conducted research has been empirically evaluated using a combination of standardized and custom methods in a total of six main studies. The outcomes of these studies allow for reflections and the proposal of design guidelines for collaborative data interaction in immersive spaces.De senaste åren har så kallade immersiva skärm- och interaktionsteknologier utvecklas i snabb takt. Sådana teknologier erbjuder mer avancerade tekniska lösningar jämfört med mer traditionell människa-datorinteraktion. Immersiva inslag som datorgenererade virtuella miljöer med stereoskopisk djupuppfattning och 3D-interaktion kan på ett mer exakt och naturligt sätt representera de interaktioner vi utför i den verkliga världen. Dataanalys är ett lovande användningsområde för immersiva teknologier, med potential att underlätta intuitiv interaktion, skapa och uppmuntra engagemang, samarbete och nyfikenhet för data, samt främja relevant kontextuell visualisering. Även när teknologier som maskininlärning och datautvinning används är det fortfarande nödvändigt att komplettera resultatet med en överordnad mänsklig nivå av tolkning, kontextualisering och meningsskapande för att göra analyserna kompletta och användbara. Designen av immersiv visualisering och interaktion är en krävande utmaning på grund av de teknologiska och mänskliga aspekternas komplexitet och fordrar därför en tvärvetenskaplig forskningsmetod. Avhandlingens syfte är att utforska metoder som kan stödja undersökning, interaktion och samarbete med hjälp av Virtual Reality och 3D-handinteraktioner i immersiva miljöer inom ramen för analys av datamängder som innehåller rumsliga och tidsmässiga data. Denna typ av Immersive Analytics baseras på teoretiska utgångspunkter från tidigare forskning, samt en tillämpad, tvärvetenskaplig forskningsmetod. Fokuset på datamängder som innehåller rumsliga och tidsmässiga data är relevant för flera olika ämnesområden och sammanhang, som till exempel sociolingvistik och klimatanalys, eftersom data som samlas in i nu för tiden ofta innehåller beskrivningar av var och när de mättes eller observerades. Ett immersivt datanalys-system har för detta arbete implementerats och utvärderats i tre iterationer. Två grundläggande områden för ett användarcentrerat perspektiv är interaktion och samarbete. Designen av användbara och engagerande interaktionstekniker via 3D-handinteraktioner stödjer utförandet av typiska analytiska uppgifter och underlättar undersökningen av data och därmed upptäckten av nya insikter. Dataanalys är sällan en aktivitet som utförs ensam, utan sker snarare i ett samarbete där flera analytiker med sin kombinerade kunskap tolkar och diskuterar upptäckter tillsammans. För detta ändamål har begreppet Hybrid Asymmetric Collaboration definierats, vilket syftar till att beskriva ett betydligt bredare analytiskt arbetsflöde som förutsätter och omfattar en blandning av nya immersiva och nuvarande icke-immersiva gränssnitt (hybrid) såväl som distinkta användarroller (asymmetric). För att kombinera och integrera dataanalys mellan heterogena typer av användargränssnitt utforskas designen av visuella informationssignaler med syfte att stödja grundläggande samarbetsaspekter såsom medvetenhet, gemensam grund, referens och kontext. Den genomförda forskningen har utvärderats empiriskt med en kombination av standardiserade och anpassade metoder i totalt sex större studier. Resultatet av dessa studier möjliggör reflektioner kring samt förslag på olika designriktlinjer för interaktion och samarbete i immersiva miljöer

Using Mobile Augmented Reality to Facilitate Public Engagement

This paper presents our initial efforts towards the development of a framework for facilitating public engagement through the use of mobile Augmented Reality (mAR), that fall under the overall project title "Augmented Reality for Public Engagement" (PEAR). We present the concept, implementation, and discuss the results from the deployment of a mobile phone app (PEAR 4 VXO). The mobile app was used for a user study in conjunction with a campaign carried out by Växjö municipality (Sweden) while exploring how to get citizens more engaged in urban planning actions and decisions. These particular activities took place during spring 2016.One of the salient features of our approach is that it combines novel ways of using mAR together with social media, online databases, and sensors, to support public engagement. In addition, the data collection process and audience engagement were tested in a follow-up limited deployment.The analysis and outcomes of our initial results validate the overall concept and indicate the potential usefulness of the app as a tool, but also highlight the need for an active campaign from the part of the stakeholders.Our future efforts will focus on addressing some of the problems and challenges that we have identified during the different phases of this user study.Augmented Reality for Public Engagement (PEAR

Open data exploration in virtual reality : a comparative study of input technology

In this article, we compare three different input technologies (gamepad, vision-based motion controls, room-scale) for an interactive virtual reality (VR) environment. The overall system is able to visualize (open) data from multiple online sources in a unified interface, enabling the user to browse and explore displayed information in an immersive VR setting. We conducted a user interaction study (n=24; n=8 per input technology, between-group design) to investigate experienced workload and perceived flow of interaction. Log files and observations allowed further insights and comparison of each condition. We have identified trends that indicate user preference of a visual (virtual) representation, but no clear trends regarding the application of physical controllers (over vision-based controls), in a scenario that encouraged exploration with no time limitations.Open Data Exploration in Virtual Reality (ODxVR

An Empirical Evaluation of Asymmetric Synchronous Collaboration Combining Immersive and Non-Immersive Interfaces Within the Context of Immersive Analytics

Collaboration is an essential part of data analysis, allowing multiple users to combine their expertise and to debate about the interpretation of data discoveries using their contextual knowledge. The design of collaborative interfaces within the context of Immersive Analytics remains challenging, particularly due to the various user-centered characteristics of immersive technologies. In this article, we present the use case of a system that enables multiple users to synchronously explore the same data in a collaborative scenario that combines immersive and non-immersive interfaces in an asymmetric role setup. Such a setup allows for bridging the gap when applying heterogeneous display and interaction technologies, enabling each analyst to have an independent and different view of the data, while maintaining important collaborative aspects during the joint data exploration. We developed an immersive VR environment (head- mounted display, 3D gestural input) and a non-immersive desktop terminal (monitor, keyboard and mouse) centered around spatio-temporal data exploration. Supported through a real-time communication interface, synchronous collaborative features are integrated in both interfaces, facilitating the users in their ability to establish a shared context and to make spatio-temporal references. We conducted an empirical evaluation with five participant pairs (within-subject design) to investigate aspects of usability, user engagement, and collaboration during a confirmative analysis task. Synthesis of questionnaire results in combination with additional log file analysis, audio activity analysis, and observations, revealed good usability scores, high user engagement, as well as overall close and balanced collaboration of enthusiastic pairs during the task completion independent of their interface type, validating our system approach in general. Further supported through the self-constructed Spatio-Temporal Collaboration Questionnaire, we are able to contribute with discussion and considerations of the presented scenario and the synchronous collaborative features for the design of similar applications

Viral suppressor of RNA silencing in vascular plants also interferes with the development of the bryophyte Physcomitrella patens

Plant viruses are important pathogens able to overcome plant defense mechanisms using their viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSR). Small RNA pathways of bryophytes and vascular plants have significant similarities, but little is known about how viruses interact with mosses. This study elucidated the responses of Physcomitrella patens to two different VSRs. We transformed P. patens plants to express VSR P19 from tomato bushy stunt virus and VSR 2b from cucumber mosaic virus, respectively. RNA sequencing and quantitative PCR were used to detect the effects of VSRs on gene expression. Small RNA (sRNA) sequencing was used to estimate the influences of VSRs on the sRNA pool of P. patens. Expression of either VSR-encoding gene caused developmental disorders in P. patens. The transcripts of four different transcription factors (AP2/erf, EREB-11 and two MYBs) accumulated in the P19 lines. sRNA sequencing revealed that VSR P19 significantly changed the microRNA pool in P. patens. Our results suggest that VSR P19 is functional in P. patens and affects the abundance of specific microRNAs interfering with gene expression. The results open new opportunities for using Physcomitrella as an alternative system to study plant-virus interactions.Peer reviewe