The Effects of Object Shape, Fidelity, Color, and Luminance on Depth Perception in Handheld Mobile Augmented Reality

Depth perception of objects can greatly affect a user's experience of an augmented reality (AR) application. Many AR applications require depth matching of real and virtual objects and have the possibility to be influenced by depth cues. Color and luminance are depth cues that have been traditionally studied in two-dimensional (2D) objects. However, there is little research investigating how the properties of three-dimensional (3D) virtual objects interact with color and luminance to affect depth perception, despite the substantial use of 3D objects in visual applications. In this paper, we present the results of a paired comparison experiment that investigates the effects of object shape, fidelity, color, and luminance on depth perception of 3D objects in handheld mobile AR. The results of our study indicate that bright colors are perceived as nearer than dark colors for a high-fidelity, simple 3D object, regardless of hue. Additionally, bright red is perceived as nearer than any other color. These effects were not observed for a low-fidelity version of the simple object or for a more-complex 3D object. High-fidelity objects had more perceptual differences than low-fidelity objects, indicating that fidelity interacts with color and luminance to affect depth perception. These findings reveal how the properties of 3D models influence the effects of color and luminance on depth perception in handheld mobile AR and can help developers select colors for their applications.Comment: 9 pages, In proceedings of IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) 202

VALID: A perceptually validated Virtual Avatar Library for Inclusion and Diversity

As consumer adoption of immersive technologies grows, virtual avatars will play a prominent role in the future of social computing. However, as people begin to interact more frequently through virtual avatars, it is important to ensure that the research community has validated tools to evaluate the effects and consequences of such technologies. We present the first iteration of a new, freely available 3D avatar library called the Virtual Avatar Library for Inclusion and Diversity (VALID), which includes 210 fully rigged avatars with a focus on advancing racial diversity and inclusion. We present a detailed process for creating, iterating, and validating avatars of diversity. Through a large online study (n=132) with participants from 33 countries, we provide statistically validated labels for each avatar's perceived race and gender. Through our validation study, we also advance knowledge pertaining to the perception of an avatar's race. In particular, we found that avatars of some races were more accurately identified by participants of the same race

VALID: a perceptually validated Virtual Avatar Library for Inclusion and Diversity

As consumer adoption of immersive technologies grows, virtual avatars will play a prominent role in the future of social computing. However, as people begin to interact more frequently through virtual avatars, it is important to ensure that the research community has validated tools to evaluate the effects and consequences of such technologies. We present the first iteration of a new, freely available 3D avatar library called the Virtual Avatar Library for Inclusion and Diversity (VALID), which includes 210 fully rigged avatars with a focus on advancing racial diversity and inclusion. We also provide a detailed process for creating, iterating, and validating avatars of diversity. Through a large online study (n = 132) with participants from 33 countries, we provide statistically validated labels for each avatar’s perceived race and gender. Through our validation study, we also advance knowledge pertaining to the perception of an avatar’s race. In particular, we found that avatars of some races were more accurately identified by participants of the same race

Defining Advance Care Planning for Adults: A Consensus Definition From a Multidisciplinary Delphi Panel

Despite increasing interest in advance care planning (ACP) and prior ACP descriptions, a consensus definition does not yet exist to guide clinical, research, and policy initiatives

Is variety the spice of life? An experimental investigation into the effects of species richness on self-reported mental well-being.

<div><p>Losses in biodiversity and trends toward urbanisation have reduced people’s contact with biodiverse nature, yet the consequences for mental well-being are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that greater plant and animal species richness in isolation causes an improvement in mental well-being. To do so, the present research experimentally manipulated species richness and assessed widely-used indicators of mental well-being. Participants viewed short videos of either high or low tree (Study 1) or bird (Study 2) species richness and reported on positive (i.e., vitality, positive affect) and negative (i.e., anxiety) indicators of mental well-being. Building on Study 1, Study 2 included an urban environment as a reference treatment and explored the role of giving participants information on the presented environment. We find that, in line with expectations, watching videos containing greater species richness consistently leads to higher mental well-being. We discuss findings in light of the importance of connecting people to biodiverse environments.</p></div

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016