1,294 research outputs found
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
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
A HCI principles based framework to assess the user perception of web based Virtual Research Environments. Special issue on Capacity building for post disaster infrastructure development and management
Due to various challenges and opportunities such as globalisation of research agenda and advancements in information and communication technologies, research collaborations (both international and national) have become popular during the last decade more than ever before. Within this context, the concept of Virtual Research environments(VRE) is an emerging concept looking at addressing the complex challenges associated with conducting collaborative research. Even though concept of VRE is at its infancy, it is important to assess user perception
about those, both to establish its success of uptake and future development strategies. However, to date, there is no formal method established to evaluate VREs .This paper reports a strategy adopted within an international collaborative research project (EURASIA) to evaluate
its custom built VRE, VEBER, using the well known Computer Human Interaction principles
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