Virtual Environments Research in the Air Force Institute of Technology Virtual Environments, 3-D Medical Imaging, and Computer Graphics Laboratory

The Air Force Institute of Technology Virtual Environments, 3-D Medical Imaging, and Computer Graphics Laboratory is investigating the 3-D computer graphics, user-interface design, networking protocol, and software architecture aspects of distributed virtual environments. In this paper we describe the research projects that are underway in the laboratory. These projects include the development of an aircraft simulator for a distributed virtual environment, projects for observing, analyzing, and understanding virtual environments, a space virtual environment, a project that incorporates “live” aircraft range data into a distributed virtual environment, a virtual environment application framework, and a project for use in a hospital emergency department. We also discuss the research equipment infrastructure in the laboratory, recent publications, and the educational services we provide

Concept Inventory Development Reveals Common Student Misconceptions about Microbiology

Misconceptions, or alternative conceptions, are incorrect understandings that students have incorporated into their prior knowledge. The goal of this study was the identification of misconceptions in microbiology held by undergraduate students upon entry into an introductory, general microbiology course. This work was the first step in developing a microbiology concept inventory based on the American Society for Microbiology’s Recommended Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Microbiology. Responses to true/false (T/F) questions accompanied by written explanations by undergraduate students at a diverse set of institutions were used to reveal misconceptions for fundamental microbiology concepts. These data were analyzed to identify the most difficult core concepts, misalignment between explanations and answer choices, and the most common misconceptions for each core concept. From across the core concepts, nineteen misconception themes found in at least 5% of the coded answers for a given question were identified. The top five misconceptions, with coded responses ranging from 19% to 43% of the explanations, are described, along with suggested classroom interventions. Identification of student misconceptions in microbiology provides a foundation upon which to understand students’ prior knowledge and to design appropriate tools for improving instruction in microbiology

The Physical-Virtual Table: Exploring The Effects Of A Virtual Human’S Physical Influence On Social Interaction

In this paper, we investigate the effects of the physical influence of a virtual human (VH) in the context of face-to-face interaction in augmented reality (AR). In our study, participants played a tabletop game with a VH, in which each player takes a turn and moves their own token along the designated spots on the shared table. We compared two conditions as follows: the VH in the virtual condition moves a virtual token that can only be seen through AR glasses, while the VH in the physical condition moves a physical token as the participants do; therefore the VH’s token can be seen even in the periphery of the AR glasses. For the physical condition, we designed an actuator system underneath the table. The actuator moves a magnet under the table which then moves the VH’s physical token over the surface of the table. Our results indicate that participants felt higher co-presence with the VH in the physical condition, and participants assessed the VH as a more physical entity compared to the VH in the virtual condition. We further observed transference effects when participants attributed the VH’s ability to move physical objects to other elements in the real world. Also, the VH’s physical influence improved participants’ overall experience with the VH. We discuss potential explanations for the findings and implications for future shared AR tabletop setups