| Introduction to Volume 10 | | BIB | Full-Text | 1 | |
| Daniel Ballin; Robert Macredie; John Vince | |||
| Special Issue Editorial: Multisensory interaction in virtual environments | | BIB | Full-Text | 2-3 | |
| Antonio Frisoli; Antonio Camurri | |||
| Affordances in the design of enactive systems | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 4-10 | |
| Thomas A. Stoffregen; Benoît G. Bardy; Bruno Mantel | |||
| Enactive interfaces must incorporate intuitive activity that characterizes
naturalistic perception. However, the manner in which information is presented
is not more important than the contents: what information is presented. In this
contribution, we address the contents of perception. We argue that people
perceive affordances, that is, the possible actions that are available in any
given situation. We further argue that enactive interfaces should be designed
to optimize presentation of information about the possible actions that are
available to a person using the enactive interface. The design of enactive
interfaces might be guided by an extension of the theory of ecological
interface design (Vicente in Hum Factors 44:62-78, 2002) to include multimodal
information that is accessed through fast, intuitive exploratory movement. We
review two empirical studies that illustrate our arguments. Careful analysis of
affordances, together with our increasing understanding of the enactive
perception of affordances, should influence the design of enactive interfaces. Keywords: Affordances; Perception-action; Multimodal perception; Enactive perception | |||
| A mobile platform for haptic grasping in large environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 11-23 | |
| Maurizio de Pascale; Allesandro Formaglio; Domenico Prattichizzo | |||
| This paper presents methodologies and technologies that are exploited to
design and implement the mobile haptic grasper (MHG), i.e. an integrated system
consisting of a mobile robot and two grounded haptic devices (HD) fixed on it.
This system features two-point contact kinaesthetic interactions while
guaranteeing full user's locomotion in large virtual environment. The workspace
of haptic interaction is indefinitely extended, and this is extremely relevant
for applications such as virtual grasping, where the global workspace is
typically reduced with respect to those of the single-point contact devices.
Regarding software architecture, we present the Haptik Library, an open source
library developed at the University of Siena which allows to uniformly access
HD, that has been used to implement the MHG software. Keywords: Haptics; Grasping; Mobile robotics | |||
| Interaction with co-located haptic feedback in virtual reality | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 24-30 | |
| David Swapp; Vijay Pawar; Céline Loscos | |||
| This paper outlines a study into the effects of co-location (the term
'co-location' is used throughout to refer to the co-location of haptic and
visual sensory modes, except where otherwise specified) of haptic and visual
sensory modes in VR simulations. The study hypothesis is that co-location of
these sensory modes will lead to improved task performance within a VR
environment. Technical challenges and technological limitations are outlined
prior to a description of the implementation adopted for this study.
Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect on user performance of
co-located haptics (force feedback) in a 3D virtual environment. Results show
that co-location is an important factor, and when coupled with haptic feedback
the performance of the user is greatly improved. Keywords: Haptics; Co-location | |||
| Influence of multisensory feedback on haptic accessibility tasks | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 31-40 | |
| Iñaki Díaz; Josune Hernantes; Ignacio Mansa; Alberto Lozano; Diego Borro | |||
| Environments of a certain nature, such as those related to maintenance tasks
can benefited from haptic stimuli by performing accessibility simulation in a
realistic manner. Accessibility is defined as the physical feasibility of
accessing an element of a 3D model avoiding undesirable collisions. This paper
studies the benefits that multisensory systems can provide in performing this
kind of tasks. The research is specially focused on the improvements provided
by auditory feedback to the user's performance. We have carried out a user
study where participants had to perform an accessibility task with the aid of
different combinations of sensorial stimuli. A large haptic interface for
aeronautic maintainability has been extended with real-time sound generation
capabilities to study this issue. The results of these experiments show that
auditory stimuli provide with useful cues to the users helping them to correct
trajectories and hence improving their performance. Keywords: Haptics; Accessibility; Force feedback; Auditory; Virtual environments;
Synchronization; Multisensory interaction; Multimodal | |||
| Virtual Bounds: a teleoperated mixed reality | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 41-47 | |
| Kevin Ponto; Falko Kuester; Robert Nideffer; Simon Penny | |||
| This paper introduces a mixed reality workspace that allows users to combine
physical and computer-generated artifacts, and to control and simulate them
within one fused world. All interactions are captured, monitored, modeled and
represented with pseudo-real world physics. The objective of the presented
research is to create a novel system in which the virtual and physical world
would have a symbiotic relationship. In this type of system, virtual objects
can impose forces on the physical world and physical world objects can impose
forces on the virtual world. Virtual Bounds is an exploratory study allowing a
physical probe to navigate a virtual world while observing constraints, forces,
and interactions from both worlds. This scenario provides the user with the
ability to create a virtual environment and to learn to operate real-life
probes through its virtual terrain. Keywords: Augmented reality; Mixed reality; Tangible bits; Analog gaming; Remote
control | |||
| Evaluation of on-line analytic and numeric inverse kinematics approaches driven by partial vision input | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 48-61 | |
| Ronan Boulic; Javier Varona; Luis Unzueta; Manuel Peinado; Angel Suescun | |||
| Despite its central role in the constitution of a truly enactive interface,
3D interaction through human full body movement has been hindered by a number
of technological and algorithmic factors. Let us mention the cumbersome
magnetic equipments, or the under-determined data set provided by less invasive
video-based approaches. In the present paper, we explore the recovery of the
full body posture of a standing subject in front of a stereo camera system. The
3D position of the hands, the head and the center of the trunk segment are
extracted in real-time and provided to the body posture recovery algorithmic
layer. We focus on the comparison between numeric and analytic inverse
kinematics approaches in terms of performances and overall quality of the
reconstructed body posture. Algorithmic issues arise from the very partial and
noisy input and the singularity of the human standing posture. Despite
stability concerns, results confirm the pertinence of this approach in this
demanding context. Keywords: Inverse kinematics; Motion capture; On-line image analysis | |||
| Analysis of expression in simple musical gestures to enhance audio in interfaces | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 62-70 | |
| Luca Mion; Gianluca D'Incà | |||
| Expression could play a key role in the audio rendering of virtual reality
applications. Its understanding is an ambitious issue in the scientific
environment, and several studies have investigated the analysis techniques to
detect expression in music performances. The knowledge coming from these
analyses is widely applicable: embedding expression on audio interfaces can
drive to attractive solutions to emphasize interfaces in mixed-reality
environments. Synthesized expressive sounds can be combined with real stimuli
to experience augmented reality, and they can be used in multi-sensory
stimulations to provide the sensation of first-person experience in virtual
expressive environments. In this work we focus on the expression of violin and
flute performances, with reference to sensorial and affective domains. By means
of selected audio features, we draw a set of parameters describing performers'
strategies which are suitable both for tuning expressive synthesis instruments
and enhancing audio in human-computer interfaces. Keywords: Expression; Audio interfaces; Sonification | |||
| Special Issue: Editorial | | BIB | Full-Text | 71-72 | |
| Leonie Schäfer; Steffi Beckhaus | |||
| Collaborative virtual sculpting with haptic feedback | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 73-83 | |
| Chris Gunn | |||
| This paper introduces a haptic virtual environment in which two users can
collaboratively sculpt a virtual clay model, working from different physical
locations connected by the internet. They view their virtual sculpting tools
and the clay model in 3D, feel the tool's pressure on the clay as they work,
and have their hands co-located with the view of the tool and model. Since the
sculptors have independent views of the same logical environment, they can work
at different zoom levels, and be in different coordinate systems, even spinning
ones, at the same time. This provides them with the capability to explore new
styles of collaborative creativity, working off each other's initiative where
appropriate. The system was designed to allow unrestrained, asynchronous
behaviour by the collaborating sculptors. The paper describes the hardware as
well as the algorithms behind the deformability of the clay surface and the
communications model enabling the distance collaboration. It gives an
explanation of the simple conflict resolution mechanism that haptic feedback
facilitates and also reports on the results of a qualitative study into the
creativity benefits of such a collaborative system. Keywords: Haptics; Collaboration; Sculpting; Virtual environments | |||
| Virtual environments for creative work in collaborative music-making | | BIBA | Full-Text | 85-94 | |
| Michael F. Schober | |||
| Virtual environments are beginning to allow musicians to perform collaboratively in real time at a distance, coordinating on timing and conceptualization. The development of virtual spaces for collaboration necessitates more clearly specified theorizing about the nature of physical copresence in music-making: how the available communicative cues are likely to affect the nature of visually mediated rehearsal and performance. Pilot data for a project carried out at the New School for Social Research demonstrate some important factors relevant to designing remote spaces for musical collaboration, and suggest that virtual environments for musical collaboration could actually enhance the feeling of being together that creative musical expression requires. | |||
| Carpeno: interfacing remote collaborative virtual environments with table-top interaction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 95-107 | |
| Holger Regenbrecht; Michael Haller; Joerg Hauber; Mark Billinghurst | |||
| Creativity is enhanced by communication and collaboration. Thus, the
increasing number of distributed creative tasks requires better support from
computer-mediated communication and collaborative tools. In this paper we
introduce "Carpeno", a new system for facilitating intuitive face-to-face and
remote collaboration on creative tasks. Normally the most popular and efficient
way for people to collaborate is face-to-face, sitting around a table. Computer
augmented surface environments, in particular interactive table-top
environments, are increasingly used to support face-to-face meetings. They help
co-located teams to develop new ideas by facilitating the presentation,
manipulation, and exchange of shared digital documents displayed on the
table-top surface. Users can see each other at the same time as the information
they are talking about. In this way the task space and communication space can
be brought together in a more natural and intuitive way. The discussion of
digital content is redirected from a computer screen, back to a table where
people can gather around. In contrast, collaborative virtual environments (CVE)
are used to support remote collaboration. They frequently create familiar
discussion scenarios for remote interlocutors by utilizing room metaphors.
Here, virtual avatars and table metaphors are used, where the participants can
get together and communicate with each other in a way that allows behaviour
that is as close to face-to-face collaboration as possible. The Carpeno system
described here combines table-top interaction with a CVE to support intuitive
face-to-face and remote collaboration. This allows for simultaneous co-located
and remote collaboration around a common, interactive table. Keywords: Collaborative work; CSCW; Virtual environments; Table-top interfaces;
Teleconferencing | |||
| Multi-user mixed reality system 'Gulliver's World': a case study on collaborative edutainment at the intersection of material and virtual worlds | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 109-118 | |
| Christopher Lindinger; Roland Haring; Horst Hörtner; Daniela Kuka | |||
| This case study is about 'Gulliver's World', a multi-user mixed reality
environment that functions simultaneously as interactive edutainment platform
and learning environment as well as flexible infrastructure for the expansion
of mixed reality environments via innovations in technology and media art. As
an exhibition project, the installation is characterized by a nonlinear
exhibition concept that activates interaction between individual users and
different modes of virtual reality as well as collaboration among the users
themselves. At seven workstations, people of all age groups range along the
Reality-Virtuality continuum while collaboratively creating 3D worlds. Results
of these creation activities are interactive worlds at the nexus of theatre,
digital film production and game environment. As a research project,
'Gulliver's World' features multilevel infrastructure with exemplary content in
which the latest insights and models to emerge from HCI research as well as
concepts of mixed reality and virtual environments and their supporting
technology are brought together and developed further. Keywords: Collaborative virtual environment; Multi-user mixed reality system;
Nonlinear exhibition; Edutainment; Virtuality-Reality continuum; Physical-based
interaction | |||
| Factors influencing flow of object focussed collaboration in collaborative virtual environments | | BIBA | Full-Text | 119-133 | |
| David Roberts; Ilona Heldal; Oliver Otto; Robin Wolff | |||
| Creativity is believed to be helped by an uncluttered state of mind known as flow and as the trend grows towards less immersive displays to produce an uncluttered workplace, we ask the question "Does immersion matter to the flow of distributed group work?". The aim of this work is to study the impact of level of immersion on workflow and presence during object focussed distributed group work, and to discuss the relevance of these and other factors to supporting flow and creativity. This is approached through a comprehensive literature survey and significant new results. The study attempts to introduce a breadth of factors and relationships as opposed to proving a hypothesis and thus takes a wide qualitative rather than deep quantitative approach to testing and analysis. | |||
| The design and realization of CoViD: a system for collaborative virtual 3D design | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 135-147 | |
| Wolfgang Stuerzlinger; Loutfouz Zaman; Andriy Pavlovych; Ji-Young Oh | |||
| Many important decisions in the design process are made during fairly early
on, after designers have presented initial concepts. In many domains, these
concepts are already realized as 3D digital models. Then, in a meeting, the
stakeholders for the project get together and evaluate these potential
solutions. Frequently, the participants in this meeting want to interactively
modify the proposed 3D designs to explore the design space better. Today's
systems and tools do not support this, as computer systems typically support
only a single user and computer-aided design tools require significant
training. This paper presents the design of a new system to facilitate a
collaborative 3D design process. First, we discuss a set of guidelines which
have been introduced by others and that are relevant to collaborative 3D design
systems. Then, we introduce the new system, which consists of two main parts.
The first part is an easy-to-use conceptual 3D design tool that can be used
productively even by naive users. The tool provides novel interaction
techniques that support important properties of conceptual design. The user
interface is non-obtrusive, easy-to-learn, and supports rapid creation and
modification of 3D models. The second part is a novel infrastructure for
collaborative work, which offers an interactive table and several large
interactive displays in a semi-immersive setup. It is designed to support
multiple users working together. This infrastructure also includes novel
pointing devices that work both as a stylus and a remote pointing device. The
combination of the (modified) design tool with the collaborative infrastructure
forms a new platform for collaborative virtual 3D design. Then, we present an
evaluation of the system against the guidelines for collaborative 3D design.
Finally, we present results of a preliminary user study, which asked naive
users to collaborate in a 3D design task on the new system. Keywords: Collaborative design; 3D design; Collaborative virtual reality | |||
| Musical creativity in collaborative virtual environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 149-157 | |
| Stephen Barrass; Tim Barrass | |||
| A review of musical creativity in collaborative virtual environments (CVE)
shows recurring interaction metaphors that tend from precise control of
individual parameters to higher level gestural influence over whole systems.
Musical performances in CVE also show a consistent re-emergence of a unique
form of collaboration called "melding" in which individual virtuosity is
subsumed to that of the group. Based on these observations, we hypothesized
that CVE could be a medium for creating new forms of music, and developed the
audiovisual augmented reality system (AVIARy) to explore higher level metaphors
for composing spatial music in CVE. This paper describes the AVIARy system, the
initial experiments with interaction metaphors, and the application of the
system to develop and stage a collaborative musical performance at a sound art
concert. The results from these experiments indicate that CVE can be a medium
for new forms of musical creativity and distinctive forms of music. Keywords: CVE; Creativity; Music; Sound art; Interaction; Performance | |||
| Guest Editorial EA Nick Hedley | | BIB | Full-Text | 159-161 | |
| "Making it real": exploring the potential of augmented reality for teaching primary school science | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 163-174 | |
| Lucinda Kerawalla; Rosemary Luckin; Simon Seljeflot; Adrian Woolard | |||
| The use of augmented reality (AR) in formal education could prove a key
component in future learning environments that are richly populated with a
blend of hardware and software applications. However, relatively little is
known about the potential of this technology to support teaching and learning
with groups of young children in the classroom. Analysis of teacher-child
dialogue in a comparative study between use of an AR virtual mirror interface
and more traditional science teaching methods for 10-year-old children,
revealed that the children using AR were less engaged than those using
traditional resources. We suggest four design requirements that need to be
considered if AR is to be successfully adopted into classroom practice. These
requirements are: flexible content that teachers can adapt to the needs of
their children, guided exploration so learning opportunities can be maximised,
in a limited time, and attention to the needs of institutional and curricular
requirements. Keywords: Augmented reality; Educational dialogue; Primary classroom; Design
requirements | |||
| Gender differences in spatial navigation in virtual space: implications when using virtual environments in instruction and assessment | | BIB | Full-Text | 175-184 | |
| Shelley P. Ross; Ronald W. Skelton; Sven C. Mueller | |||
| Applying virtual reality in medical communication education: current findings and potential teaching and learning benefits of immersive virtual patients | | BIBA | Full-Text | 185-195 | |
| Benjamin Lok; Richard E. Ferdig; Andrew Raij; Kyle Johnsen | |||
| The purpose of this paper is, first, to summarize a theoretical perspective toward the development of a virtual reality innovation in education. Next, we will describe a virtual character project that is impacting the training of medical students in two institutions. In doing so, we will present a summary of three studies completed over the last 2 years, highlighting specific results from the research. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the impact of these findings on the development and implementation of virtual reality systems for teaching and learning. It is our hope that through providing this study of a virtual reality scenario -- experienced by over 100 end-users -- from an educational concepts perspective will help others aiming to apply virtual reality to education. | |||
| Presence: a unique characteristic in educational virtual environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 197-206 | |
| Tassos A. Mikropoulos | |||
| This article investigates the effect of presence on learning outcomes in
educational virtual environments (EVEs) in a sample of 60 pupils aged between
11 and 13 years. We study the effect of personal presence, social presence and
participant's involvement on certain learning outcomes. We also investigate if
the combination of the participant's representation model in the virtual
environment (VE) with the way it is presented gives a higher sense of presence
that contributes to learning outcomes. Our results show that the existence of
an avatar as the pupils' representation enhanced presence and helped them to
successfully perform their learning tasks. The pupils had a high sense of
presence for both cases of the EVE presentation, projection on a wall and
through a head mounted display (HMD). Our socialized virtual environment seems
to play an important role in learning outcomes. The pupils had a higher sense
of presence and completed their learning tasks more easily and successfully in
the case of their egocentric representation model using the HMD. Keywords: Educational virtual environments; Personal presence; Social presence;
Involvement; Learning outcomes | |||
| Multi-modal virtual environments for education with haptic and olfactory feedback | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 207-225 | |
| E. Richard; A. Tijou; P. Richard; J.-L. Ferrier | |||
| It has been suggested that immersive virtual reality (VR) technology allows
knowledge-building experiences and in this way provides an alternative
educational process. Important key features of constructivist educational
computer-based environments for science teaching and learning, include
interaction, size, transduction and reification. Indeed, multi-sensory VR
technology suits very well the needs of sciences that require a higher level of
visualization and interaction. Haptics that refers to physical interactions
with virtual environments (VEs) may be coupled with other sensory modalities
such as vision and audition but are hardly ever associated with other feedback
channels, such as olfactory feedback. A survey of theory and existing VEs
including haptic or olfactory feedback, especially in the field of education is
provided. Our multi-modal human-scale VE VIREPSE (virtual reality platform for
simulation and experimentation) that provides haptic interaction using a
string-based interface called SPIDAR (space interface device for artificial
reality), olfactory and auditory feedbacks is described. An application that
allows students experiencing the abstract concept of the Bohr atomic model and
the quantization of the energy levels has been developed. Different
configurations that support interaction, size and reification through the use
of immersive and multi-modal (visual, haptic, auditory and olfactory) feedback
are proposed for further evaluation. Haptic interaction is achieved using
different techniques ranging from desktop pseudo-haptic feedback to human-scale
haptic interaction. Olfactory information is provided using different fan-based
olfactory displays (ODs). Significance of developing such multi-modal VEs for
education is discussed. Keywords: Virtual Environment; Haptic interaction; Olfaction; Multi-modal feedback;
Human scale; Education | |||
| The virtual playground: an educational virtual reality environment for evaluating interactivity and conceptual learning | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 227-240 | |
| Maria Roussou; Martin Oliver; Mel Slater | |||
| The research presented in this paper aims at investigating user interaction
in immersive virtual learning environments, focusing on the role and the effect
of interactivity on conceptual learning. The goal has been to examine if the
learning of young users improves through interacting in (i.e. exploring,
reacting to, and acting upon) an immersive virtual environment (VE) compared to
non-interactive or non-immersive environments. Empirical work was carried out
with more than 55 primary school students between the ages of 8 and 12, in
different between-group experiments: an exploratory study, a pilot study, and a
large-scale experiment. The latter was conducted in a virtual environment
designed to simulate a playground. In this "Virtual Playground," each
participant was asked to complete a set of tasks designed to address
arithmetical "fractions" problems. Three different conditions, two experimental
virtual reality (VR) conditions and a non-VR condition, that varied the levels
of activity and interactivity, were designed to evaluate how children
accomplish the various tasks. Pre-tests, post-tests, interviews, video, audio,
and log files were collected for each participant, and analysed both
quantitatively and qualitatively. This paper presents a selection of case
studies extracted from the qualitative analysis, which illustrate the variety
of approaches taken by children in the VEs in response to visual cues and
system feedback. Results suggest that the fully interactive VE aided children
in problem solving but did not provide a strong evidence of conceptual change
as expected; rather, it was the passive VR environment, where activity was
guided by a virtual robot, that seemed to support student reflection and
recall, leading to indications of conceptual change. Keywords: Virtual learning environments; Interactivity; Conceptual learning;
Evaluation | |||
| Virtual reality and its role in removing the barriers that turn cognitive impairments into intellectual disability | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 241-252 | |
| P. J. Standen; D. J. Brown | |||
| Early expectations of the contribution that virtual reality (VR) could make
to education far exceeded actual applications. This was largely due to the
initial immaturity of the technology and a lack of evidence base on which to
base design and utilisation. While the early developments in computer based
learning largely concentrated on mainstream education, leaving those with
special needs behind, the potential of VR as an educational tool was exploited
for those with intellectual disabilities right from the start. This paper
describes the empirical evidence that has contributed to the development of
educational virtual reality for those with intellectual disabilities: studies
on transfer of learning from the virtual to the real world; how teachers might
support those using VR; the design of virtual environments and what
input/control devices best facilitate use of desktop VR. Future developments
and ethical issues are also considered. Keywords: Virtual reality; Education; Intellectual disability; Cognitive impairments;
Tutor; User sensitive inclusive design | |||
| A model of (en)action to approach embodiment: a cornerstone for the design of virtual environments for learning | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 253-269 | |
| Daniel Mellet-d'Huart | |||
| This paper presents a model of (en)action from a conceptual and theoretical
point of view. This model is used to provide solid bases to overcome the
complexity of designing virtual environments for learning (VEL). It provides a
common grounding for trans-disciplinary collaborations where embodiment can be
perceived as the cornerstone of the project. Where virtual environments are
concerned, both computer scientists and educationalists have to deal with the
learner/user's body; therefore the model provides tools with which to approach
both human actions and learning processes within a threefold model. It is
mainly based on neuroscientific research, including enaction and the
neurophysiology of action. Keywords: Virtual environment for learning; Virtual reality; Learning; Design method;
Model of action | |||
| The gain and pain in taking the pilot seat: learning dynamics in a non immersive virtual solar system | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 271-282 | |
| Elhanan Gazit; Yoav Yair; David Chen | |||
| This study describes and analyzes the learning interactions of nine
high-school students' free exploration of a virtual solar system (VSS). The VSS
is a non-immersive three dimensional virtual environment based on real NASA
planetary images. The computer screen serves as a "spacecraft's window" for the
learner to "fly" between objects, to change the system's frame of reference and
its pace. A systematic analysis of participants' real-time observable
interactions together with what they said revealed that each of them created an
unique learning pattern within at least five different dimensions: (1) the
cognitive dimension, (2) the affective dimension, (3) the navigation dimension,
(4) the interface dimension, and (5) the assistance seeking dimension. The
construction of meaning emerged as a non-linear process, which includes
transitions between and within these dimensions. Three different styles of
learning interactions were identified, suggesting that individual differences
might be enhanced due to the unique VSS' features. Overall, the VSS served as
an enriching and motivational learning experience. The design of additional
navigation tools and content scaffolding might help participants' in building a
sustained deep scientific understanding. Keywords: Virtual reality environments; Learning interactions | |||
| Virtual realia: maneuverable computer 3D models and their use in learning assembly skills | | BIBA | Full-Text | 283-292 | |
| William A. Kealy; Chitra P. Subramaniam | |||
| Two experiments compared real and virtual models as aids for learning assembly skills. In Experiment 1, ten participants individually studied either a fully assembled model, or a computer-generated one, in exploded view, that could be spatially manipulated in any direction. Participants then assembled the object in front of a video camera. ANOVA indicated virtual model are studied significantly longer but yield faster assembly than a real model. Experiment 2 used the same treatments plus a fully assembled virtual mode, randomly assigned to 28 participants who studied the aid, assembled the model, and then repeated the task from memory 3 days later. ANOVA indicated no differences between the three groups in assembly speed or accuracy. However, participants studied the exploded virtual model significantly longer than the two intact views of the model suggesting the former may impose a greater cognitive load due to the additional visual information it provides. | |||
| The impact of haptic augmentation on middle school students' conceptions of the animal cell | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 293-305 | |
| James Minogue; M. Gail Jones; Bethany Broadwell; Tom Oppewall | |||
| Of the five sensory channels -- sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch, it is
only our sense of touch that enables us to modify and manipulate the world
around us. This article reports the preliminary findings of a systematic study
investigating the efficacy of adding haptic feedback to a desktop virtual
reality program for use in middle school science instruction. Current
technology allows for the simulation of tactile and kinesthetic sensations via
sophisticated haptic devices and a computer interface. This research, conducted
with 80 middle school students, examined the cognitive and affective impact of
this technology on students' understandings of the structure and function of an
animal cell. The results of this work offer valuable insights into the
theoretical and practical considerations involved in the development and
implementation of haptically augmented virtual reality instructional programs. Keywords: Haptics; Virtual reality; Science instruction | |||