| Passive Viewpoints in a Collaborative Immersive Environment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 3-12 | |
| Sarah Coburn; Lisa Rebenitsch; Charles Owen | |||
| Widespread acceptance of virtual reality has been partially handicapped by
the inability of current systems to accommodate multiple viewpoints, thereby
limiting their appeal for collaborative applications. We are exploring the
ability to utilize passive, untracked participants in a powerwall environment.
These participants see the same image as the active, immersive participant.
This does present the passive user with a varying viewpoint that does not
correspond to their current position. We demonstrate the impact this will have
on the perceived image and show that human psychology is actually well adapted
to compensating for what, on the surface, would seem to be a very drastic
distortion. We present some initial guidelines for system design that minimize
the negative impact of passive participation, allowing two or more
collaborative participants. We then outline future experimentation to measure
user compensation for these distorted viewpoints. Keywords: virtual reality; passive participation; immersion; perception | |||
| Virtual Reality Based Interactive Conceptual Simulations | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 13-22 | |
| Holger Graf; André Stork | |||
| This paper presents a new approach for the design and realization of a
Virtual Reality (VR) based engineering front end that enables engineers to
combine post processing tasks and finite element methods for linear static
analyses at interactive rates. "What-if-scenarios" have become a widespread
methodology in the CAE domain. Here, designers and engineers interact with the
virtual mock-up, change boundary conditions (BC), variate geometry or BCs and
simulate and analyze its impact on the CAE mock-up. The potential of VR for
post-processing engineering data enlightened ideas to deploy it for interactive
investigations at conceptual stage. While it is a valid hypothesis, still many
challenges and problems remain due to the nature of the "change'n play"
paradigm imposed by conceptual simulations as well as the non-availability of
accurate, interactive FEM procedures. Interactive conceptual simulations (ICS)
require new FEM approaches in order to expose the benefit of VR based front
ends. Keywords: Computer Aided Engineering; Interactive Conceptual Simulations; VR
environments for engineering | |||
| Enhancing Metric Perception with RGB-D Camera | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 23-31 | |
| Daiki Handa; Hirotake Ishii; Hiroshi Shimoda | |||
| Metric measurement of environment has fundamental role in tasks such as
interior design and plant maintenance. Conventional methods for these tasks
suffer from high development cost or unstability. We propose a mobile metric
perception enhancement system which focuses on interactivity through user
locomotion. The proposed system overlays geometric annotations in real-time on
a tablet device. The annotation is generated from RGB-D camera in per-frame
basis, alleviating the object recognition problem by effectively utilizing
processing power of human. We show a few illustrative cases where the system is
tested, and discuss correctness of annotations. Keywords: Augmented Reality; Augmented Human; Mobile Device; RGB-D Camera; Geometric
Annotation; Per-frame Processing | |||
| Painting Alive: Handheld Augmented Reality System for Large Targets | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 32-38 | |
| Jae-In Hwang; Min-Hyuk Sung; Ig-Jae Kim; Sang Chul Ahn; Hyoung-Gon Kim; Heedong Ko | |||
| This paper presents a handheld augmented reality (AR) system and an
authoring method which provides alive contents in large targets. In the general
augmented reality tools, they are not designed for large targets but for only
adequate size of target which fits in the screen. Therefore we designed and
built a vision-based AR system and an authoring method that can handle much
larger targets than the view frustum. Keywords: augmented reality | |||
| VWSocialLab: Prototype Virtual World (VW) Toolkit for Social and Behavioral Science Experimental Set-Up and Control | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 39-48 | |
| Lana Jaff; Austen Hayes; Amy Ulinski Banic | |||
| There are benefits for social and behavioral researchers to conduct studies
in online virtual worlds. However, typically learning scripting takes
additional time or money to hire a consultant. We propose a prototype Virtual
World Toolkit for to help researchers design, set up, and run experiments in
Virtual Worlds, with little coding or scripting experience needed. We explored
three types of prototype designs, focused on a traditional interface with pilot
results. We also present results of initial expert user study of our toolkit to
determine the learnability, usability, and feasibility of our toolkit to
conduct experiments. Results suggest that our toolkit requires little training
and sufficient capabilities for a basic experiment. The toolkit received a
great feedback from a number of expert users who thought that it is a promising
first version that lays the foundation to more future improvements. This
toolkit prototype contributes to enhancing researchers' capabilities in
conducting social/behavioral studies in virtual worlds and hopefully will
empower social and behavioral researchers by proving a toolkit prototype that
requires less time, efforts and costs to setup stimulus responses types of
human subject studies in virtual worlds. Keywords: Virtual Humans; Online Virtual Worlds; Virtual Environments; Social Science;
Psychology; Behavioral Science; Human Experiments; Toolkit; Evaluation;
Prototype Experimental Testbed | |||
| Controlling and Filtering Information Density with Spatial Interaction Techniques via Handheld Augmented Reality | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 49-57 | |
| Jens Keil; Michael Zoellner; Timo Engelke; Folker Wientapper; Michael Schmitt | |||
| In our paper we are proposing a method for contextual information filtering
based on the user's movement and location in order to enable the intuitive
usage of an "internet of things" via augmented reality (AR) without information
overload. Similar to Ray & Charles Eames' "Power of Ten" and Jef Raskin's
"Zooming Interface" we are displaying seamless information layers by simply
moving around a Greek statue or a miniature model of an Ariane-5 space rocket.
Therefore we are employing concepts of camera- and motion-based interaction
techniques and use the metaphors of "investigation" and "exploration" to
control the way augmented and visually superimposed elements are presented in
order to mediate information in an enhanced and engaging manner with aspects of
digital storytelling techniques. Keywords: Adaptive and personalized interfaces; Human Centered Design; Information
visualization; Interaction design; New Technology and its Usefulness | |||
| Development of Multiview Image Generation Simulator for Depth Map Quantization | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 58-64 | |
| Minyoung Kim; Ki-Young Seo; Seokhwan Kim; Kyoung Shin Park; Yongjoo Cho | |||
| This study presents the novel multiview image generation simulator system
based on the Depth Image-Based Rendering (DIBR) technique. This system supports
both actual photographs and computer graphics scenes. It also provides the
simple plug-in for pre-processing of depth map or post-processing of
hole-filling algorithm. We intended to make this system as a platform to
conduct various experiments such as the number of cameras, a depth map
precision, etc. In this paper, we explain the design and the development of
this simulator and give a brief comparative evaluation on linear and non-linear
depth quantization method for computer graphics 3D scenes. The results showed
that non-linear depth quantization method produced better performance on 7- to
3-bit depth levels. Keywords: Depth Image Based Rendering; Multiview System; Depth Map Quantization;
Hole-Filling | |||
| Authoring System Using Panoramas of Real World | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 65-72 | |
| Hee Jae Kim; Jong Weon Lee | |||
| A panorama is a wide-angle view of a real world. Panoramas provide users
real world information as the component of map services. Recently researchers
try to augment additional information on panoramas to extend the usefulness of
panoramas. However, the existing researches and applications provide users
inconsistent experience by augmenting information on a single panorama. To
solve this inconsistency, we present an authoring system helping users create
contents on panoramas. Users create contents by augmenting virtual information
on panoramas using the authoring system that propagates virtual information
augmented on one panorama to neighboring panoramas. The resulting contents
provide users consistent viewing experiences. Users can experience the contents
on their desktop or they can view the contents on a smartphone display at the
locations near to the locations panoramas were captured. Keywords: Panoramas; Authoring; Augmenting; Consistent Experience | |||
| Integrated Platform for an Augmented Environment with Heterogeneous Multimodal Displays | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 73-78 | |
| Jaedong Lee; Sangyong Lee; Gerard Jounghyun Kim | |||
| With the recent advances and ubiquity of various display systems, one may
configure an augmented space with a variety of display systems, such as 3D
monitors, projectors, mobile devices, holographic displays, and even non-visual
displays such as speakers and haptic devices. In this paper, we present a
software support platform for representing and executing a dynamic augmented 3D
scene with heterogeneous display systems. We extend the conventional scene
graph so that a variety of modal display rendering (aside from just visual
projection) can be supported. The execution environment supports
multi-threading of the rendering processes for the multiple display systems and
their synchronization. As multiple and heterogeneous displays, in effect
representing a particular set objects in the augmented environment, are
scattered in the environment, additional perception based spatial calibration
method is also proposed. Keywords: Augmented space; Extended scene graph; Multiple displays; Calibration;
Floating image display | |||
| Optimal Design of a Haptic Device for a Particular Task in a Virtual Environment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 79-85 | |
| Jose San Martin; Loic Corenthy; Luis Pastor; Marcos Garcia | |||
| When we create an environment of virtual reality based training that
integrates one or several haptic devices sometimes the first choice to make is
the device to use. This paper introduces an algorithm that allows us, for a
particular task to be simulated in a virtual environment, to find key data for
the design of appropriate haptic device, or to select the clues in order to get
optimum performance for that environment and that particular task. Keywords: Virtual Reality; Haptics workspace; Manipulability; Optimal designing | |||
| Real-Time Dynamic Lighting Control of an AR Model Based on a Data-Glove with Accelerometers and NI-DAQ | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 86-93 | |
| Alex Rodiera Clarens; Isidro Navarro | |||
| The lighting of models displayed in Augmented Reality (AR) is now one of the
most studied techniques and is in constant development. Dynamic control of
lighting by the user can improve the transmission of information displayed to
enhance the understanding of the project or model presented. The project shows
the development of a dynamic control of lighting based on a data-glove with
accelerometers and A/D NI-DAQ converter. This device transmits
(wired/wirelessly) the signal into the AR software simulating the keystrokes
equivalent to lighting control commands of the model. The system shows how fast
and easy it is to control the lighting of a model in real-time following user
movements, generating great expectations of the transmission of information and
dynamism in AR. Keywords: Real-time lighting; NI-DAQ; Accelerometers; Xbee; Data-glove; augmented
reality | |||
| Ultra Low Cost Eye Gaze Tracking for Virtual Environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 94-102 | |
| Matthew Swarts; Jin Noh | |||
| In this paper we present an ultra-low cost eye gaze tracker specifically
aimed at studying visual attention in 3D virtual environments. We capture
camera view and user eye gaze for each frame and project vectors back into the
environment to visualize where and what subjects view over time. Additionally
we show one measure of calculating the accuracy in 3D space by creating vectors
from the stored data and projecting them onto a fixed sphere. The ratio of hits
to non-hits provides a measure of 3D sensitivity of the setup. Keywords: Low Cost; Eye Tracking; Virtual Environments | |||
| Real-Time Stereo Rendering Technique for Virtual Reality System Based on the Interactions with Human View and Hand Gestures | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 103-110 | |
| Viet Tran Hoang; Anh Nguyen Hoang; Dongho Kim | |||
| This paper proposes the methods of generating virtual reality system with
stereo vision, simple and widely used 3D stereoscopic displays. However, we are
motivated by not only 3D stereo display but also realistic rendered scenes
popped out of screen which can be thought of as an interactive system
addressing the human-to-virtual-objects manipulation. The user of the system
can observe the objects in the scene in 3D stereoscopy and can manipulate
directly by using hand gestures. We present the technique to render the 3D
scene out of the screen and use KINECT device to keep track of user's hand
movement to render the objects according to the user's view. Keywords: virtual reality; stereoscopy; real-time rendering; head tracking | |||
| Information Management for Multiple Entities in a Remote Sensor Environment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 111-117 | |
| Peter Venero; Allen Rowe; Thomas Corretta; James Boyer | |||
| Current remote piloted aircraft (RPA) operations typically have one sensor
operator dedicated to a single sensor, but this may change in the future. To
maintain a clear line of sight, the operator must know which sensor to switch
to, especially for a moving target. We researched whether using augmented
reality and presenting obstruction information helped operators maintain good
situational awareness about sensor target relationships. This study had two
independent variables: predictive interface (three levels -- none, predictive
only, and predictive with rays) and interface configuration (two levels -- with
and without dedicated sensor screens). The results of this study showed that
the predictive interface did not increase the operators' performance; however,
their performance did increase when we added the dedicated screens. Keywords: augmented reality; sensor management; RPA; control station | |||
| Tactile Apparent Motion Presented from Seat Pan Facilitates Racing Experience | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 121-128 | |
| Tomohiro Amemiya; Koichi Hirota; Yasushi Ikei | |||
| When moving through the world, humans receive a variety of sensory cues
involved in self-motion. In this study, we clarified whether a tactile flow
created by a matrix of vibrators in a seat pan simultaneously presented with a
car-racing computer game enhances the perceived forward velocity of
self-motion. The experimental results show that the forward velocity of
self-motion is significantly overestimated for rapid tactile flows and
underestimated for slow ones, compared with only optical flow or non-motion
vibrotactile stimulation conditions. Keywords: Tactile flow; Optic flow; Multisensory integration | |||
| Predicting Navigation Performance with Psychophysiological Responses to Threat in a Virtual Environment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 129-138 | |
| Christopher G. Courtney; Michael E. Dawson; Albert A. Rizzo; Brian J. Arizmendi; Thomas D. Parsons | |||
| The present study examined the physiological responses collected during a
route-learning and subsequent navigation task in a novel virtual environment.
Additionally, participants were subjected to varying levels of environmental
threat during the route-learning phase of the experiment to assess the impact
of threat on consolidating route and survey knowledge of the directed path
through the virtual environment. Physiological response measures were then
utilized to develop multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural
network (ANN) models for prediction of performance on the navigation task.
Comparisons of predictive abilities between the developed models were performed
to determine optimal model parameters. The ANN models were determined to better
predict navigation performance based on psychophysiological responses gleaned
during the initial tour through the city. The selected models were able to
predict navigation performance with better than 80% accuracy. Applications of
the models toward improved human-computer interaction and
psychophysiologically-based adaptive systems are discussed. Keywords: Psychophysiology; Threat; Simulation; Navigation; Route-Learning | |||
| A Study of Navigation and Selection Techniques in Virtual Environments Using Microsoft Kinect® | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 139-148 | |
| Peter Dam; Priscilla Braz; Alberto Raposo | |||
| This work proposes and studies several navigation and selection techniques
in virtual environments using Microsoft Kinect®. This device was chosen
because it allows the user to interact with the system without need of
hand-held devices or having a device attached to the body. This way we intend
to increase the degree of virtual presence and, possibly, reduce the distance
between the virtual world and the real world. Through these techniques we
strive to allow the user to move and interact with objects in the virtual world
in a way similar to how s/he would do so in the real physical world. For this
work three navigation and three selection techniques were implemented. A series
of tests were undertaken to evaluate aspects such as ease of use, mental
effort, time spent to complete tasks, fluidity of navigation, amongst other
factors for each proposed technique and the combination of them. Keywords: 3D Interaction; Virtual Reality; Gesture Recognition; HCI | |||
| Legibility of Letters in Reality, 2D and 3D Projection | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 149-158 | |
| Elisabeth Dittrich; Stefan Brandenburg; Boris Beckmann-Dobrev | |||
| Virtual prototypes are essential for engineers to understand the complex
structures and arrangements of mechatronic products like automobiles.
Currently, Virtual Environments (VE) are used for visual analysis and
interaction with virtual models. In the next years more supplementary
information will be integrated in the VE, completing the 3D-model. This
includes names of single parts, corresponding materials or masses. However, up
till now there is little explicit research on the psychological effects of
additional text visualization in VE's. For example it unclear if it is possible
to visualize the textual information like on paper prints or on 2D displays.
The current study empirically compares these types of different output mediums
to advise rules for visualization of text in 3D Virtual Environments. Results
show, that textual information has to be slightly enlarged for the 3D Virtual
Environment. In addition, subjects performed better in conditions with
projected textual information compared to real text. Keywords: 2D and 3D text; Virtual Environments; legibility of letters; information
visualization | |||
| The Visual, the Auditory and the Haptic -- A User Study on Combining Modalities in Virtual Worlds | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 159-168 | |
| Julia Fröhlich; Ipke Wachsmuth | |||
| In order to make a step further towards understanding the impact of
multi-modal stimuli in Virtual Reality we conducted a user study with 80
participants performing tasks in a virtual pit environment. Participants were
divided into four groups, each presented a different combination of
multi-sensory stimuli. Those included real-time 3D graphics, audio stimuli
(ambient, static and event sounds), and haptics consisting of wind and tactile
feedback when touching objects. A presence questionnaire was used to evaluate
subjectively reported presence on the one hand, and on the other physiological
sensors were used to measure heart rate and skin conductance as an objective
measure. Results strongly indicate that an increase of modalities does not
automatically result in an increase of presence. Keywords: Presence; User Study; Multi-modal Feedback; Virtual Reality | |||
| Spatial Augmented Reality on Person: Exploring the Most Personal Medium | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 169-174 | |
| Adrian S. Johnson; Yu Sun | |||
| Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR) allows users to collaborate without need for
see-through screens or head-mounted displays. We explore natural on-person
interfaces using SAR. Spatial Augmented Reality on Person (SARP) leverages
self-based psychological effects such as Self-Referential Encoding (SRE) and
ownership by intertwining augmented body interactions with the self.
Applications based on SARP could provide powerful tools in education, health
awareness, and medical visualization. The goal of this paper is to explore
benefits and limitations of generating ownership and SRE using the SARP
technique. We implement a hardware platform which provides a Spatial Augmented
Game Environment to allow SARP experimentation. We test a STEM educational game
entitled 'Augmented Anatomy' designed for our proposed platform with experts
and a student population in US and China. Results indicate that learning of
anatomy on-self does appear correlated with increased interest in STEM and is
rated more engaging, effective and fun than textbook-only teaching of
anatomical structures. Keywords: spatial augmented reality; self-referential encoding; education | |||
| Parameter Comparison of Assessing Visual Fatigue Induced by Stereoscopic Video Services | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 175-183 | |
| Kimiko Kawashima; Jun Okamoto; Kazuo Ishikawa; Kazuno Negishi | |||
| A number of three-dimensional (3D) video services have already been rolled
out over IPTV. In 3D video services, there are concerns that visual fatigue
still exists, so evaluation of visual fatigue induced by video compression and
delivery factors is necessary to guarantee the safety of 3D video services. To
develop an assessment method of visual fatigue, we conducted evaluation
experiments designed for 3D videos in which the quality of the left and right
frames differ due to encoding. We explain the results from our evaluation
experiments of visual fatigue, that is, results of specific parameters of
visual fatigue biomedical assessment methods. Keywords: 3D video; quality assessment; visual fatigue; encoding | |||
| Human Adaptation, Plasticity and Learning for a New Sensory-Motor World in Virtual Reality | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 184-191 | |
| Michiteru Kitazaki | |||
| Human perception and action adaptively change depending on everyday
experiences of or exposures to sensory information in changing environments. I
aimed to know how our perception-action system adapts and changes in modified
virtual-reality (VR) environments, and investigated visuo-motor adaptation of
position constancy in a VR environment, visual and vestibular postural control
after 7-day adaptation to modified sensory stimulation, and learning of event
related cortical potential during motor imagery for application to a
brain-machine interface. I found that human perception system,
perception-action coordination system, and underlying neural system could
change to adapt a new environment with considering quantitative sensory-motor
relationship, reliability of information, and required learning with real-time
feedback. These findings may contribute to develop an adaptive VR system in a
future, which can change adaptively and cooperatively with human perceptual
adaptation and neural plasticity. Keywords: Adaptation; Plasticity; Position constancy; Galvanic vestibular stimulation;
ERD/ERS | |||
| An Asymmetric Bimanual Gestural Interface for Immersive Virtual Environments | | BIBA | Full-Text | 192-201 | |
| Julien-Charles Lévesque; Denis Laurendeau; Marielle Mokhtari | |||
| In this paper, a 3D bimanual gestural interface using data gloves is presented. We build upon past contributions on gestural interfaces and bimanual interactions to create an efficient and intuitive gestural interface that can be used in a wide variety of immersive virtual environments. Based on real world bimanual interactions, the proposed interface uses the hands in an asymmetric style, with the left hand providing the mode of interaction and the right hand acting on a finer level of detail. To validate the efficiency of this interface design, a comparative study between the proposed two-handed interface and a one-handed variant was conducted on a group of right-handed users. The results of the experiment support the bimanual interface as more efficient than the unimanual one. It is expected that this interface and the conclusions drawn from the experiments will be useful as a guide for efficient design of future bimanual gestural interfaces. | |||
| A New Approach for Indoor Navigation Using Semantic Webtechnologies and Augmented Reality | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 202-210 | |
| Tamás Matuszka; Gergo Gombos; Attila Kiss | |||
| Indoor navigation is an important research topic nowadays. The complexity of
larger buildings, supermarkets, museums, etc. makes it necessary to use
applications which can facilitate the orientation. While for outdoor navigation
already exist tried and tested solutions, but few reliable ones are available
for indoor navigation. In this paper we investigate the possible technologies
for indoor navigation. Then, we present a general, cost effective system as a
solution. This system uses the advantages of semantic web to store data and to
compute the possible paths as well. Furthermore it uses Augmented Reality
techniques and map view to provide interaction with the users. We made a
prototype based on client-server architecture. The server runs in a cloud and
provides the appropriate data to the client, which can be a smartphone or a
tablet with Android operation system. Keywords: Indoor Navigation; Augmented Reality; Semantic Web; Ontology; Mobile
Application | |||
| Assessing Engagement in Simulation-Based Training Systems for Virtual Kinesic Cue Detection Training | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 211-220 | |
| Eric Ortiz; Crystal Maraj; Julie Salcedo; Stephanie Lackey; Irwin Hudson | |||
| Combat Profiling techniques strengthen a Warfighter's ability to quickly
react to situations within the operational environment based upon observable
behavioral identifiers. One significant domain-specific skill researched is
kinesics, or the study of body language. A Warfighter's ability to distinguish
kinesic cues can greatly aid in the detection of possible threatening
activities or individuals with harmful intent. This paper describes a research
effort assessing the effectiveness of kinesic cue depiction within
Simulation-Based Training (SBT) systems and the impact of engagement levels
upon trainee performance. For this experiment, live training content served as
the foundation for scenarios generated using Bohemia Interactive's Virtual
Battlespace 2 (VBS2). Training content was presented on a standard desktop
computer or within a physically immersive Virtual Environment (VE). Results
suggest that the utilization of a highly immersive VE is not critical to
achieve optimal performance during familiarization training of kinesic cue
detection. While there was not a significant difference in engagement between
conditions, the data showed evidence to suggest decreased levels of engagement
by participants using the immersive VE. Further analysis revealed that temporal
dissociation, which was significantly lower in the immersive VE condition, was
a predictor of simulation engagement. In one respect, this indicates that
standard desktop systems are suited for transitioning existing kinesic
familiarization training content from the classroom to a personal computer.
However, interpretation of the results requires operational context that
suggests the capabilities of high-fidelity immersive VEs are not fully utilized
by existing training methodologies. Thus, this research serves as an
illustration of technology advancements compelling the SBT community to evolve
training methods in order to fully benefit from emerging technologies. Keywords: Kinesic cues; Engagement; Simulation-Based Training | |||
| Development of Knife-Shaped Interaction Device Providing Virtual Tactile Sensation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 221-230 | |
| Azusa Toda; Kazuki Tanaka; Asako Kimura; Fumihisa Shibata; Hideyuki Tamura | |||
| We have been developing "ToolDevice," a set of devices to help novice users
in performing various operations in a mixed reality (MR) space. ToolDevice
imitates the familiar shapes, tactile sensation, and operational feedback
sounds of hand tools that are used in everyday life. For example, we developed
BrushDevice, KnifeDevice, TweezersDevice, and HammerDevice. Currently,
KnifeDevice is insufficiency in force feedback. This paper proposes a tactile
feedback model for cutting a virtual object utilizing two vibration motors and
the principles of phantom sensation. We built a prototype to implement the
proposed feedback model, and confirmed the usability of our model through an
experiment. Finally, we redesigned KnifeDevice and implemented the tactile
sensation on the basis of the results of the experiment. Keywords: Mixed Reality; ToolDevice; phantom sensation; tactile sensation | |||
| GUI Design Solution for a Monocular, See-through Head-Mounted Display Based on Users' Eye Movement Characteristics | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 231-240 | |
| Takahiro Uchiyama; Kazuhiro Tanuma; Yusuke Fukuda; Miwa Nakanishi | |||
| A monocular, see-through head-mounted display (HMD) enables users to view
digital images superimposed on the real world. Because they are hands-free and
see-through, HMDs are expected to be introduced in the industry as task support
tools. In this study, we investigate how the characteristics of users' eye
movements and work performance are affected by different brightness levels of
images viewed with an HMD as the first step to establish a content design
guideline for see-through HMDs. From the results, we propose specific cases
based on the users' preferences for the brightness level of the image contents
depending on the use of the HMD and the work environment. In one case, the
users prefer low brightness levels, and in the other case, they prefer high
brightness levels. Keywords: Monocular; see-through head-mounted display; characteristics of users' eye
movements; brightness of images | |||
| Visual, Vibrotactile, and Force Feedback of Collisions in Virtual Environments: Effects on Performance, Mental Workload and Spatial Orientation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 241-250 | |
| Bernhard Weber; Mikel Sagardia; Thomas Hulin; Carsten Preusche | |||
| In a laboratory study with N = 42 participants (thirty novices and twelve
virtual reality (VR) specialists), we evaluated different variants of collision
feedback in a virtual environment. Individuals had to perform several object
manipulations (peg-in-hole, narrow passage) in a virtual assembly scenario with
three different collision feedback modalities (visual vs. vibrotactile vs.
force feedback) and two different task complexities (small vs. large peg or
wide vs. narrow passage, respectively). The feedback modalities were evaluated
in terms of assembly performance (completion time, movement precision) and
subjective user ratings. Altogether, results indicate that high resolution
force feedback provided by a robotic arm as input device is superior in terms
of movement precision, mental workload, and spatial orientation compared to
vibrotactile and visual feedback systems. Keywords: Virtual environments; virtual prototyping; virtual assembly; haptic
feedback; sensory substitution; usability; user study Note: Best paper award | |||
| What Will You Do Next? A Cognitive Model for Understanding Others' Intentions Based on Shared Representations | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 253-266 | |
| Haris Dindo; Antonio Chella | |||
| Goal-directed action selection is the problem of what to do next in order to
progress towards goal achievement. This problem is computationally more complex
in case of joint action settings where two or more agents coordinate their
actions in space and time to bring about a common goal: actions performed by
one agent influence the action possibilities of the other agents, and
ultimately the goal achievement. While humans apparently effortlessly engage in
complex joint actions, a number of questions remain to be solved to achieve
similar performances in artificial agents: How agents represent and understand
actions being performed by others? How this understanding influences the choice
of agent's own future actions? How is the interaction process biased by prior
information about the task? What is the role of more abstract cues such as
others' beliefs or intentions?
In the last few years, researchers in computational neuroscience have begun investigating how control-theoretic models of individual motor control can be extended to explain various complex social phenomena, including action and intention understanding, imitation and joint action. The two cornerstones of control-theoretic models of motor control are the goal-directed nature of action and a widespread use of internal modeling. Indeed, when the control-theoretic view is applied to the realm of social interactions, it is assumed that inverse and forward internal models used in individual action planning and control are re-enacted in simulation in order to understand others' actions and to infer their intentions. This motor simulation view of social cognition has been adopted to explain a number of advanced mindreading abilities such as action, intention, and belief recognition, often in contrast with more classical cognitive theories -- derived from rationality principles and conceptual theories of others' minds -- that emphasize the dichotomy between action and perception. Here we embrace the idea that implementing mindreading abilities is a necessary step towards a more natural collaboration between humans and robots in joint tasks. To efficiently collaborate, agents need to continuously estimate their teammates' proximal goals and distal intentions in order to choose what to do next. We present a probabilistic hierarchical architecture for joint action which takes inspiration from the idea of motor simulation above. The architecture models the casual relations between observables (e.g., observed movements) and their hidden causes (e.g., action goals, intentions and beliefs) at two deeply intertwined levels: at the lowest level the same circuitry used to execute my own actions is re-enacted in simulation to infer and predict (proximal) actions performed by my interaction partner, while the highest level encodes more abstract task representations which govern each agent's observable behavior. Here we assume that the decision of what to do next can be taken by knowing 1) what the current task is and 2) what my teammate is currently doing. While these could be inferred via a costly (and inaccurate) process of inverting the generative model above, given the observed data, we will show how our organization facilitates such an inferential process by allowing agents to share a subset of hidden variables alleviating the need of complex inferential processes, such as explicit task allocation, or sophisticated communication strategies. Keywords: joint action; motor simulation; shared representations; human-robot
collaboration | |||
| Toward Task-Based Mental Models of Human-Robot Teaming: A Bayesian Approach | | BIBA | Full-Text | 267-276 | |
| Michael A. Goodrich; Daqing Yi | |||
| We consider a set of team-based information tasks, meaning that the team's goals are to choose behaviors that provide or enhance information available to the team. These information tasks occur across a region of space and must be performed for a period of time. We present a Bayesian model for (a) how information flows in the world and (b) how information is altered in the world by the location and perceptions of both humans and robots. Building from this model, we specify the requirements for a robot's computational mental model of the task and the human teammate, including the need to understand where and how the human processes information in the world. The robot can use this mental model to select its behaviors to support the team objective, subject to a set of mission constraints. | |||
| Assessing Interfaces Supporting Situational Awareness in Multi-agent Command and Control Tasks | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 277-284 | |
| Donald Kalar; Collin Green | |||
| Here, we describe our efforts to uncover design principles for multi-agent
supervision, command, and control by using real-time strategy (RTS) video games
as a source of data and an experimental platform. Previously, we have argued
that RTS games are an appropriate analog for multi-agent command and control
[3] and that publicly-available data from gaming tournaments can be mined and
analyzed to investigate human performance in such tasks [5]. We outline
additional results produced by mining public game data and describe our first
foray into using RTS games as an experimental platform where game actions
(e.g., clicks, commands) are logged and integrated with eye-tracking data
(e.g., saccades, fixations) to provide a more complete picture of human
performance and a means to assess user interfaces for multi-agent command and
control. We discuss the potential for this method to inform UI design and
analysis for these and other tasks. Keywords: Situation Awareness; Automation; RTS; Gaze Tracking; User Interfaces | |||
| Cognitive Models of Decision Making Processes for Human-Robot Interaction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 285-294 | |
| Christian Lebiere; Florian Jentsch; Scott Ososky | |||
| A fundamental aspect of human-robot interaction is the ability to generate
expectations for the decisions of one's teammate(s) in order to coordinate
plans of actions. Cognitive models provide a promising approach by allowing
both a robot to model a human teammate's decision process as well as by
modeling the process through which a human develops expectations regarding its
robot partner's actions. We describe a general cognitive model developed using
the ACT-R cognitive architecture that can apply to any situation that could be
formalized using decision trees expressed in the form of instructions for the
model to execute. The model is composed of three general components:
instructions on how to perform the task, situational knowledge, and past
decision instances. The model is trained using decision instances from a human
expert, and its performance is compared to that of the expert. Keywords: Human-robot interaction; shared mental models; cognitive modeling; cognitive
architectures; ACT-R; decision trees | |||
| Human Considerations in the Application of Cognitive Decision Models for HRI | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 295-303 | |
| Scott Ososky; Florian Jentsch; Elizabeth Phillips | |||
| In order for autonomous robots to succeed as useful teammates for humans, it
is necessary to examine the lens through which human users view, understand,
and predict robotic behavior and abilities. To further study this, we conducted
an experiment in which participants viewed video segments of a robot in a
task-oriented environment, and were asked to explain what the robot was doing,
and would likely do next. Results showed that participants' perceived knowledge
of the robot increased with additional exposures over time; however participant
responses to open-ended questions about the robot's behavior and functions
remained divergent over multiple scenarios. A discussion of the implications of
apparent differences in human interpretation and prediction of robotic behavior
and functionality is presented. Keywords: human-robot interaction; mental models; perception of behavior | |||
| Computational Mechanisms for Mental Models in Human-Robot Interaction | | BIBA | Full-Text | 304-312 | |
| Matthias Scheutz | |||
| Mental models play an important and sometimes critical role in human-human interactions, in particular, in the context of human team tasks where humans need to interact with each other to achieve common goals. In this paper, we will describe some of the challenges involved in developing general computational mechanisms for mental models and their applications in the context human-robot interactions in mixed initiative tasks. | |||
| Increasing Robot Autonomy Effectively Using the Science of Teams | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 313-320 | |
| David Schuster; Florian Jentsch | |||
| Even as future robots grow in intelligence and autonomy, they may continue
to face uncertainty in their decision making and sensing. A critical issue,
then, is designing future robots so that humans can work with them
collaboratively, thereby creating effective human-robot teams. Operators of
robot systems can mitigate the problems of robot uncertainty by maintaining
awareness of the relevant elements within the mission and their
interrelationships, a cognitive state known as situation awareness (SA).
However, as evidenced in other complex systems, such as aircraft, this is a
difficult task for humans. In this paper, we consider how application of the
science of human teaming, specifically task design and task interdependence in
human teams, can be applied to human-robot teams and how it may improve
human-robot interaction by maximizing situation awareness and performance of
the human team member. Keywords: Human-robot interaction; system design; situation awareness | |||
| Cybernetic Teams: Towards the Implementation of Team Heuristics in HRI | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 321-330 | |
| Travis J. Wiltshire; Dustin C. Smith; Joseph R. Keebler | |||
| This paper examines a future embedded with "cybernetic teams": teams of
physical, biological, social, cognitive, and technological components; namely,
humans and robots that communicate, coordinate, and cooperate as teammates to
perform work. For such teams to be realized, we submit that these robots must
be physically embodied, autonomous, intelligent, and interactive. As such, we
argue that use of increasingly social robots is essential for shifting the
perception of robots as tools to robots as teammates and these robots are the
type best suited for cybernetic teams. Building from these concepts, we attempt
to articulate and adapt team heuristics from research in human teams to this
context. In sum, research and technical efforts in this area are still quite
novel and thus warranted to shape the teams of the future. Keywords: Human-robot interaction; team heuristics; cybernetic teams; social robots | |||
| Embodiment and Embodied Cognition | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 333-342 | |
| Mark R. Costa; Sung Yeun Kim; Frank Biocca | |||
| Progressive embodiment and the subsequent enhancement of presence have been
important goals of VR researchers and designers for some time (Biocca, 1997).
Consequently, researchers frequently explore the relationship between
increasing embodiment and presence yet rarely emphasize the ties between their
work and other work on embodiment. More specifically, we argue that experiments
manipulating or implementing visual scale, avatar customization, sensory
enrichment, and haptic feedback, to name a few examples, all have embodiment as
their independent variable. However, very few studies explicitly frame their
work as an exploration of embodiment. In this paper we will leverage the field
of Embodied Cognition to help clarify the concept of embodiment. Keywords: human-computer interaction; presence; embodied cognition; virtual reality | |||
| DigiLog Space Generator for Tele-Collaboration in an Augmented Reality Environment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 343-350 | |
| Kyungwon Gil; Taejin Ha; Woontack Woo | |||
| Tele-collaboration can allow users to connect with a partner or their family
in a remote place. Generally, tele-collaborations are performed in front of a
camera and screen. Due to their fixed positions, these systems have limitations
for users who are moving. This paper proposes an augmented-reality-based
DigiLog Space Generator. We can generate interested space and combine remote
space in real time ensuring movement. And our system uses reference object to
calculate scale of space and coordinates. Scale and coordinates are saved at
Database (DB) and used for realistic combination of space. DigiLog Space
Generator is applicable to many AR applications. We discuss the experiences and
limitations of our system. Future research is also described. Keywords: Augmented Reality; Tele-collaboration; Human-Computer Interaction | |||
| Onomatopoeia Expressions for Intuitive Understanding of Remote Office Situation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 351-358 | |
| Kyota Higa; Masumi Ishikawa; Toshiyuki Nomura | |||
| This paper proposes a system for intuitive understanding of remote office
situation using onomatopoeia expressions. Onomatopoeia (imitative word) is a
word that imitates sound or movement. This system detects office events such as
"conversation" or "human movement" from audio and video signals of remote
office, and converts them to onomatopoeia texts. Onomatopoeia texts are
superimposed on the office image, and sent to the remote office. By using
onomatopoeia expressions, the office event such as "conversation" and "human
movement" can be compactly expressed as just one word. Thus, people can
instantly understand remote office situation without watching the video for a
while. Subjective experimental results show that easiness of event
understanding is statistically significantly improved by the onomatopoeia
expressions compared to the video at 99% confidence level. We have developed a
prototype system with two cameras and eight microphones, and then have
exhibited it at ultra-realistic communications forum in Japan. In the
exhibition, the concept of this system was favorably accepted by visitors. Keywords: onomatopoeia; audio/video signal; remote office situation; collaborative
work | |||
| Enhancing Social Presence in Augmented Reality-Based Telecommunication System | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 359-367 | |
| Jea In Kim; Taejin Ha; Woontack Woo; Chung-Kon Shi | |||
| The main contribution of this paper is to examine the new method of
augmented reality from a telecommunication point of view. Then, we tried to
present the fact that the concept of social presence is an important cue for
developing telecommunication system based on augmented reality technology. The
evaluation was conducted with 32 participants. According to the questionnaires
results, the augmented reality based telecommunication system was better than 2
dimensional based display telecommunication system. To develop our concept, we
should closely analyze communication patterns and improve our augmented reality
based communication system. Keywords: Telecommunication; Augmented Reality; Social Presence | |||
| How Fiction Informed the Development of Telepresence and Teleoperation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 368-377 | |
| Gordon M. Mair | |||
| This paper shows that many telepresence and teleoperation innovations and
patents actually had their precursors in fiction and that this led the way for
technological developments. This suggests justification for those companies
that have invested, or are considering investing, in funding science fiction
writers to provide future scenarios for their respective products and
industries. The research leading to this conclusion has involved a search of
patents, technical and scientific publications, and fictional works. The paper
is mainly concerned with telepresence and teleoperation but aspects of virtual
reality are included where the technological and literary concepts are
relevant. Keywords: Virtual reality; presence; teleoperation; science-fiction; telepresence
history | |||
| High Presence Communication between the Earth and International Space Station | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 378-387 | |
| Tetsuro Ogi; Yoshisuke Tateyama; Yosuke Kubota | |||
| In this study, in order to realize high presence communication with the
astronaut who is staying on the ISS, the experiment on remote communication
using the technologies of 2D/3D conversion, immersive dome display, and sharing
space among multiple sites were conducted. In this case, biological information
such as electrocardiogram, thermal image, and eye movement were measured to
evaluate the sense of presence, and the tendency that the user felt the high
presence sensation when experiencing the high resolution three-dimensional
stereo image. From these results, we can understand that high presence
communication between the earth and the ISS was realized. Keywords: Tele-immersion; High Presence Sensation; Biological Information; 2D/3D
Conversion; International Space Station | |||
| Effects of Visual Fidelity on Biometric Cue Detection in Virtual Combat Profiling Training | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 388-396 | |
| Julie Salcedo; Crystal Maraj; Stephanie Lackey; Eric Ortiz; Irwin Hudson; Joy Martinez | |||
| Combat Profiling involves observation of humans and the environment to
identify behavioral anomalies signifying the presence of a potential threat.
Desires to expand accessibility to Combat Profiling training motivate the
training community to investigate Virtual Environments (VEs). VE design
recommendations will benefit efforts to translate Combat Profiling training
methods to virtual platforms. Visual aspects of virtual environments may
significantly impact observational and perceptual training objectives. This
experiment compared the effects of high and low fidelity virtual characters for
biometric cue detection training on participant performance and perceptions.
Results suggest that high fidelity virtual characters promote positive training
perceptions and self-efficacy, but do not significantly impact overall
performance. Keywords: Biometric Cue Detection; Visual Fidelity; Virtual Training | |||