| Storytelling in Virtual Environments | | BIB | Full-Text | 1 | |
| L. Schäfer | |||
| Towards a narrative theory of virtual reality | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 2-9 | |
| R. Aylett; S. Louchart | |||
| Virtual Reality (VR), by its nature and characteristics, is of specific
interest to the AI community, particularly in the domains of Storytelling and
Intelligent Characters. We argue that VR must be considered a particular
narrative medium alongside Theatre, Literature or Cinema. This paper reviews
relevant work in narrative theory from Plato onwards, including the work and
theories of literary critics [1], cinema critics [2-4] and theatrical
dramaturges [5], and analyses the specific characteristics of VR relevant to
this theory. Less studied media such as Live Role Playing Games,
improvisational drama and participatory drama are also considered. Finally,
this document argues for a participatoryprocess-oriented narrative, with
particular attention to the specificities and particularities of stories and
their possible representation, adapted to the narrative medium Virtual Reality. Keywords: Emergent narrative; Interactivity; Narrative theory; Storytelling; User
experience; Virtual reality | |||
| Single-narrative, multiple point-of-view dramatic experiences in augmented reality | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 10-16 | |
| B. MacIntyre; J. D. Bolter | |||
| Researchers and practitioners working on story-based experiences in virtual
environments often make two assumptions. One assumption is that, to be
compelling, such experiences must enable the user to make significant choices
that alter the outcome of the story. Another is that virtual environments
constitute a revolutionary new medium, and therefore that the techniques of
earlier media, such as film and stage production, are no longer relevant. In
designing story-based experiences in augmented reality, we have come to
question these two assumptions. Three Angry Men, based on the teleplay and
movie Twelve Angry Men, is an example of an augmented reality, dramatic
experience with a fixed plot but multiple points of view. Keywords: Augmented reality; Aura; Interactive drama; Point-of-view drama; Remediation | |||
| Staging exhibitions: methods and tools for modelling narrative structure to produce interactive performances with virtual actors | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 17-29 | |
| M. Klesen; M. Kipp; P. Gebhard; T. Rist | |||
| CrossTalk is a self-explaining virtual character exhibition for public
spaces. This paper presents the CrossTalk system, including its authoring tool
SceneMaker and the CarSales exhibit. CrossTalk extends the commonplace
human-to-screen interaction to an interaction triangle. The user faces two
separated screens inhabited with virtual characters and interacts through a
frontal touch screen. One screen features the exhibition's hostess, an agent
who explains exchangeable exhibits located in the opposing screen. The current
exhibit is CarSales, a demonstration of automatically generated dialogue,
performed by virtual actors. The physical presence of the characters is
established through the separation of screens and intensified by
inter-character conversations across screens, tying hostess and exhibit
together. CrossTalk utilises a combination of both automatically generated and
pre-scripted scenes, and a context memory to adapt to the user and the
environment. CrossTalk's authoring tool SceneMaker, in a strict separation of
narrative structure and content, provides non-experts with a screenplay-like
language to create installations for staging exhibitions. Keywords: Authoring; Believability; Embodied agents; User adaptivity; Virtual theater | |||
| Storytelling in virtual environments from a virtual guide perspective | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 30-42 | |
| J. Ibanez; R. Aylett; R. Ruiz-Rodarte | |||
| This paper describes our proposal for storytelling in virtual environments
from a virtual guide perspective, detailing the involved knowledge
representation and algorithms. In our model the guide begins at a particular
location and starts to navigate the world telling the user stories related to
the places she visits. Our guide tries to emulate a real guide's behaviour in
such a situation. In particular, she behaves as a spontaneous real guide who
knows stories about the places in the virtual world but has not prepared an
exhaustive tour nor a storyline. Keywords: Digital storytelling; Narrative construction; Virtual environments; Virtual
heritage | |||
| DocuDrama | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 43-53 | |
| L. Schäfer; U. Pankoke-Babatz; W. Prinz; A. Fatah gen. Schieck | |||
| This paper presents an approach combining concepts of virtual storytelling
with cooperative processes. We describe why storytelling is relevant in
cooperation support applications, and outline how storytelling concepts provide
a new quality for groupware applications. Different prototypes illustrate a
combination of a groupware application with various storytelling components in
a Theatre of Work. Keywords: Awareness; Collaborative work; CSCW; Groupware; Project workflow;
Storytelling; Virtual environments | |||
| Mixed reality storytelling environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 54-63 | |
| V. Bayon; J. R. Wilson; D. Stanton; A. Boltman | |||
| The focus of this paper is the collaborative storytelling environments
created as part of a three-year multi-disciplinary research project, KidStory.
The project team, from the UK, Sweden and the USA, developed a series of story
creation and telling tools and virtual environments for children aged 5-7
years. This paper concerns work with a Nottingham primary school to design and
develop collaborative storytelling tools, including tangible interfaces devices
and reactive spaces, with the aim of integrating these within the school
context. The final set-up allowed children to dynamically produce story
content, to create basic narrative structures and to retell their stories in a
collaborative and adaptable physical space. Keywords: Children; Classroom performance; Mixed reality; Storytelling | |||
| Online First publication | | BIB | Full-Text | 65 | |
| Daniel Ballin; Rae E. Earnshaw; Robert D. Macredie; John A. Vince | |||
| Mediating the expression of emotion in educational collaborative virtual environments: an experimental study | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 66-81 | |
| Marc Fabri; David Moore; Dave Hobbs | |||
| The use of avatars with emotionally expressive faces is potentially highly
beneficial to communication in collaborative virtual environments (CVEs),
especially when used in a distance learning context. However, little is known
about how, or indeed whether, emotions can effectively be transmitted through
the medium of a CVE. Given this, an avatar head model with limited but
human-like expressive abilities was built, designed to enrich CVE
communication. Based on the facial action coding system (FACS), the head was
designed to express, in a readily recognisable manner, the six universal
emotions. An experiment was conducted to investigate the efficacy of the model.
Results indicate that the approach of applying the FACS model to virtual face
representations is not guaranteed to work for all expressions of a particular
emotion category. However, given appropriate use of the model, emotions can
effectively be visualised with a limited number of facial features. A set of
exemplar facial expressions is presented. Keywords: Avatar; Collaborative virtual environment; Emotion; Facial expression | |||
| A CAVE-like environment as a tool for full-size train design | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 82-93 | |
| Francisco J. Seron; Diego Gutierrez; Juan A. Magallon | |||
| Simulations of models, in all different areas, is an expanding, attractive
line of work. More and more applications are taking advantage of the
improvements in technology and knowledge in this field, thus achieving results
that would have been impossible to achieve with a real model, or foreseeing
facts that otherwise would have been encountered too late in the production
process. The rail industry is one possible beneficiary of this approach.
Usually, before commencing the fabrication process of a new train, the
construction of a full-size model is mandatory. Instead of building this
full-size real model, which leaves little room for later, last-minute
modifications, a virtual model can be built in the digital realm, thus offering
a new platform for easier interaction with it. In this article, a simulation of
a train is presented in order to tackle visual, aesthetic and ergonomic issues.
The simulation runs on a PC-based CAVE-like architecture, offering a certain
degree of interaction to the user, and combines static and dynamic
computer-generated imagery, both with and without stereoscopy for 3D
visualisation, as well as augmented virtuality techniques for the integration
of the train with its environment. Keywords: CAVE; Industrial design; Simulator; Stereoscopy; Virtual prototyping | |||
| The implementation and evaluation of a virtual haptic back | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 94-102 | |
| Kerry L. Holland; Robert L., II Williams; Robert R., Jr. Conatser | |||
| A virtual haptic back (VHB) model has been developed by a cross-disciplinary
team of researchers at Ohio University. Haptics give the human the sense of
touch and force from virtual computer models. The objective is to create a tool
for medical and related education whereby students can train in the difficult
art of palpation using virtual reality before approaching human subjects.
Palpation is the art of medical diagnosis through the sense of touch. Haptic
anatomy could be a key area in the future of medical school training; our goal
is to add science to the art of palpation to improve osteopathic, physical
therapy and massage therapy training for students and practitioners. Modelling
of the VHB took place in two steps. First, Cartesian back data was collected
via the Metrecom Skeletal Analysis System (SAS) digitiser. The back of a prone
human subject was digitised, giving an array of three-dimensional points.
Several methods were considered to smooth out the back data. Spline fitting
with matched first and second derivates was the chosen method. Once an
acceptable graphical model was created, haptic feedback was added using the
PHANToM haptic interface, allowing the human user to explore and feel the
virtual back. Experienced and novice palpators formally evaluated the VHB to
give us feedback for improvements. In addition, four Doctors of Osteopathy
informally interacted with our model and gave verbal feedback. Our experts all
suggested modelling underlying muscles and skeletal structure in addition to
the skin layer for more realism. Once this is accomplished we will further
program somatic dysfunction of various types in the VHB for students to
diagnose. This article contributes to the state of the art in virtual haptic
anatomy. While other research groups are working in this area, our work is the
first specifically aimed towards osteopathic medicine, physical therapy, and
massage therapy students and practitioners. Keywords: Haptics; Haptic interface; Haptics-augmented training; Virtual haptic
anatomy; Virtual haptic back | |||
| Flexible bones for the haptic prototyping of deformable objects | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 103-111 | |
| Robert L. Blanding; George M. Turkiyyah | |||
| Accurate modelling of the compliance characteristics of solid models is an
important rendering task for increasing the realism of virtual environments.
The ability to feel the force and moment stress resultants that cause the
bending, twisting, shearing and/or fracture of physically-based models is
useful for a large number of application areas including medical training, CAD
environments, computer animation and games. An important element of compliance
rendering is the mechanics engine that solves the equations governing the
deformations and stresses in solid models. The development of such engines has
to carefully balance the needs for haptic (not just graphical) realism with the
needs for real time processing at rates in the range of 500-1000 Hz. In this
paper we describe methods and techniques we have developed for such an engine,
and demonstrate their characteristics in a number of applications including
design of compliant mechanisms, animation and solid modelling. Keywords: Compliant mechanisms; Finite element analysis; Haptic feedback; Medial axis;
3D solid deformation; Virtual prototyping | |||
| The use of force feedback and auditory cues for performance of an assembly task in an immersive virtual environment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 112-119 | |
| Gregory W. Edwards; Woodrow Barfield; Maury A. Nussbaum | |||
| Using an immersive virtual environment, this study investigated whether the
inclusion of force feedback or auditory cues improved manipulation performance
and subjective reports of usability for an assembly task. Twenty-four
volunteers (12 males and 12 females) were required to assemble and then
disassemble five interconnecting virtual parts with either auditory, force, or
no feedback cues provided. Performance for the assembly task was measured using
completion time and number of collisions between parts, while the users'
preferences across conditions were evaluated using subjective reports of
usability. The results indicated that the addition of force feedback slowed
completion time and led to more collisions between parts for males. In
contrast, females exhibited no change in the mean completion time for the
assembly task but did show an increase in collision counts. Despite these
negative performance findings when adding force feedback, users did report
perceived increases in realism, helpfulness and utility towards the assembly
task when force feedback was provided. Unlike force feedback, the results
showed that auditory feedback, indicating that parts had collided during the
assembly task, had no negative performance effects on the objective measures
while still increasing perceived realism and overall user satisfaction. When
auditory cues and force feedback were presented together, performance times,
number of collisions, and usability were not improved compared to conditions
containing just auditory cues or force feedback alone. Based on these results,
and given the task and display devices used in the present study, the less
costly option of excluding auditory and force feedback cues would produce the
best performance when measured by the number of collisions and completion time.
However, if increased ratings of usability for an assembly task are desired
while maintaining objective performance levels and reduced cost, then the
inclusion of auditory feedback cues is best. Keywords: Force Feedback; Virtual environment; Auditory cues; Haptics; Gender
differences | |||
| Real exhibitions in a virtual museum | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 120-128 | |
| G. Lepouras; A. Katifori; C. Vassilakis; D. Charitos | |||
| When creating a virtual environment open to the public a number of
challenges have to be addressed. The equipment has to be chosen carefully in
order to be able to withstand hard everyday usage, and the application has not
only to be robust and easy to use, but has also to be appealing to the user,
etc. The current paper presents findings gathered from the creation of a
multi-thematic virtual museum environment to be offered to visitors of real
world museums. A number of design and implementation aspects are described
along with an experiment designed to evaluate alternative approaches for
implementing the navigation in a virtual museum environment. The paper is
concluded with insights gained from the development of the virtual museum and
portrays future research plans. Keywords: Evaluation; Interaction design; Virtual environment; Virtual museum | |||
| Special issue on 'Interacting with desktop virtual environments: Perception and navigation' | | BIB | Full-Text | 129-130 | |
| Sonali S. Morar; Robert D. Macredie | |||
| Navigational tools for desktop virtual environment interfaces | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 131-139 | |
| H. M. Sayers; S. Wilson; M. D. J. McNeill | |||
| Desktop systems typically rely on a two-dimensional (2D) software interface
and general purpose hardware (mouse, keyboard) for interaction with a
three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment. These interfaces must provide all
the functionality required to navigate through and interact with the virtual
environment, yet research into the usability aspects of the tools presented on
these software interfaces indicates that the majority of users experience some
degree of frustration when using them to perform even relatively simple tasks.
This paper begins with a study of usability issues for interfaces to virtual
environments on desktop systems, and details a series of experiments performed
to evaluate the usability of a number of navigational tools. Participants were
tested on the time taken to complete a number of navigational tasks with a
series of interfaces presenting different navigational tools. The tools
presented were a speed control function, a you-are-here (YAH) map, a function
enabling the user to mark and teleport to any location within the presented
environment, and an undo function. Results indicate that the visual
presentation of navigational aids improves navigation performance, in terms of
the time taken to complete tasks, and also improves user satisfaction with the
desktop system. Keywords: Usability; Virtual environments; Visual navigation tools | |||
| A comparison of guidance cues in desktop virtual environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 140-147 | |
| Karl E. Steiner; Lavanya Voruganti | |||
| Designers of educational and entertainment desktop virtual environments
(VEs) have employed a variety of cues for motivating users to perform actions
or adopt particular viewpoints. However, there has been little formal study
comparing user responses to such cues. This paper reports the results of a
preliminary study of five cues (agents, signs, man-made landmarks,
environmental landmarks, and trails) for motivating actions in virtual
environments. Given a sample task of navigating to a target destination, no
significant differences between the cues were observed in terms of overall
success or speed. However, significant differences between the cues were found
on other measures, including minimization of detours (trails) and awareness of
guidance (agents, signs, trails). Frequency of desktop VE usage was also found
to influence performance. Keywords: Desktop virtual environment; Virtual reality; Navigation; Guidance cues;
User motivation | |||
| Comparing the roles of 3D representations in audio and audio-visual collaborations | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 148-163 | |
| Martin Hicks; Sarah Nichols; Claire O'Malley | |||
| This study investigates the effects of performance and communication within
audio-visual (shared representations) and audio-only conditions. Two
three-dimensional (3D) representations were presented in each communication
condition. The goal of the study was to examine both explicit and implicit
references made during verbal interactions, and to gather subjective usability
evaluations of each representation. Sixty dyads performed a series of problem
solving tasks in three experimental conditions: mixed, 3D cylinder and 3D helix
representations. Assessment measures included overall performance time and
accuracy, and user attitudes pertaining to the usability of the displays.
Although no differences in task performance were observed, qualitative measures
revealed differences between representation and communication groups. User
preferences for 3D cylinder and 3D helix representations were observed, with
disparate strategies being adopted between groups. In general, the analyses
indicated that the presence of shared visual information enhances collaborative
problem solving. Keywords: 3D representations; Information visualisation; Collaborative problem solving | |||
| Evaluating the effects of frame of reference on spatial collaboration using desktop collaborative virtual environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 164-174 | |
| Wendy A. Schafer; Doug A. Bowman | |||
| Spatial collaboration is an everyday activity in which people work together
to solve a spatial problem. For example, a group of people will often arrange
furniture together or exchange directions with one another. Collaborative
virtual environments using desktop PCs are particularly useful for spatial
activities when the participants are distributed. This work investigates ways
to enhance distributed, collaborative spatial activities. This paper explores
how different frames of reference affect spatial collaboration. Specifically,
it reports on an experiment that examines different combinations of exocentric
and egocentric frames of reference with two users. Tasks involve manipulating
an object, where one participant knows the objective (director) and the other
performs the interactions (actor). It discusses the advantages and
disadvantages of the different combinations for a spatial collaboration task.
Findings from this study demonstrate that frames of reference affect
collaboration in a variety of ways and simple exocentric-egocentric
combinations do not always provide the most usable solution. Keywords: Awareness; Collaborative virtual environment (CVE); Multiple perspectives | |||
| Usability issues of desktop virtual environment applications | | BIB | Full-Text | 175-176 | |
| Sonali S. Morar; Robert D. Macredie | |||
| Context analysis to support development of virtual reality applications | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 177-186 | |
| Henriette S. M. Cramer; V. Evers; E. V. Zudilova; P. M. A. Sloot | |||
| To develop a usable Virtual Reality system, the prospective context of use
of such a system may need to be considered in order to make sure it meets the
requirements and restrictions of that context. In this paper, a contextual
analysis is described for a virtual reality system to aid medical diagnosis and
treatment planning of vascular disorders. Semi-structured interviews were
coupled with observations in an ethnographic approach to requirements gathering
in the daily work environment of (interventional) radiologists and vascular
surgeons. The identified potential usability problems of a fully immersive
prototype, coupled with the needs, requirements and real-life environment of
the end-users lead to guidelines for the development of a VR application on a
semi-immersive desktop environment. The findings lead us to believe that
contextual analysis can be a powerful way to inform the design of a VR
application by offering an understanding of the context of use and to inform
developers of the most appropriate degree of immersiveness of the VR
environment. Keywords: Desktop virtual reality; Usability; Contextual design; Ethnography | |||
| A desktop VR prototype for industrial training applications | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 187-197 | |
| Q. H. Wang; J. R. Li | |||
| The recent advances in computer graphics has spurred interest from both
academics and industries in virtual reality (VR) enabled training applications.
This paper presents a desktop VR prototype for industrial training
applications. It is designed and implemented as a general shell by providing
the data interface to import both the virtual environment models and specific
domain knowledge. The geometric models of the virtual environment are
constructed using feature-based modelling and assembly function by external CAD
tools, and then transferred into the prototype through a conversion module. A
hierarchical structure is proposed to partition and organise these imported
virtual environment models. Based on this structure, a visibility culling
approach is developed for fast rendering and user interaction. The case study
has demonstrated the functionality of the proposed prototype system by applying
it to a maintenance training application for a refinery bump system, which, in
general, has a large number of polygons and a certain depth complexity.
Significant speedup in both context rendering and response to user
manipulations has been achieved to provide the user with a fast system response
within the desktop virtual environment. Compared with the immersive VR system,
the proposed system has offered an affordable and portable training media for
industrial applications. Keywords: Virtual reality; Desktop virtual environment; Computer-based training;
Visibility culling | |||
| A system for desktop conceptual 3D design | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 198-211 | |
| Ji-Young Oh; Wolfgang Stuerzlinger | |||
| In the traditional design process for a 3D environment, people usually
depict a rough prototype to verify their ideas, and iteratively modify its
configuration until they are satisfied with the general layout. In this
activity, one of the main operations is the rearrangement of single and
composite parts of a scene. With current desktop virtual reality (VR) systems,
the selection and manipulation of arbitrary objects in 3D is still difficult.
In this work, we present new and efficient techniques that allow even novice
users to perform meaningful rearrangement tasks with traditional input devices.
The results of our work show that the presented techniques can be mastered
quickly and enable users to perform complex tasks on composite objects.
Moreover, the system is easy to learn, supports creativity, and is fun to use. Keywords: Conceptual 3D design; Interactive 3D environment; 3D manipulation | |||
| Usability issues in the design of an intuitive interface for planning and simulating maintenance interventions using a virtual environment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 212-221 | |
| Angélica de Antonio; Ricardo Imbert; Jaime Ramírez; Xavier Ferré | |||
| This paper presents some of the results obtained in the VRIMOR project
(virtual reality for inspection, maintenance, operation and repair of nuclear
power plants). The general aim was to integrate environmental scanning
technologies with human modelling and radiological dose estimation tools, and
to deliver an intuitive and cost-effective system for use by operators involved
with interventions in radiologically controlled areas. The usability of the
resulting products was one of the main success criteria. This paper describes
the general approach and design mechanisms used in the HeSPI (HeSPI stands for
the Spanish for Herramienta para la Simulación y Planificación de
Intervenciones, or tool for the simulation and planning of interventions) tool
that has been developed by one of the teams. The tool provides the designer of
an intervention with a humanoid 3D model, or mannequin, that can be loaded into
the desired environment and will be used by the designer as if he was
manipulating a puppet, making it move around the environment and perform
different kinds of actions, adopting varied postures, interacting with the
objects in the environment and manipulating tools and equipment. A combination
of a graphical user interface (GUI) and a voice recognition system, together
with the selected design mechanisms, has proven to offer good enough
interaction possibilities for this kind of desktop virtual environment. Keywords: Planning and design of interventions; Object manipulation; Voice
recognition; Generic actions; Usability of desktop virtual environments | |||