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Virtual reality (VR) technology presents users with virtual environments to experience various interactive, immersive, and imaginary experiences. While traditional perspective-taking exercises rely...

City dashboard websites are a common modality for bringing open-government philosophies into the public domain. Yet, there has been little research concerning the optimum design for city dashboards that takes account of users’ expectations and skills. Indeed, there has been minimal exploration of user-centered design (UCD) to improve the usability and utility of smart city technologies in general. This study sought to conduct a user evaluation analysis to inform a UCD approach to city dashboards. Interviews with different types of users were conducted that applied a protocol analysis to gain insight into user perspectives and experiences of city dashboards. Along with critical incident technique procedures, interaction data of critical significance to the user was collected and a content analysis was conducted. These qualitative data were used to determine representations of users, as identified through observed behaviors, attitudes, needs, and goals. Targeted-scope user experience personas for the design process were then constructed to represent and build empathy towards three potential users of city dashboard systems: novices, end-users, and advanced users. The collected user requirements and the personas formulated are underpinning the re-design of an existing city dashboard.

Cloud computing, big data, wearables, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, robotics, and virtual reality (VR), when seamlessly combined, will create the healthcare of the future. In the presented study, the authors aim to provide tools and methodologies to efficiently create 3D virtual learning environments (VLEs) to immerse participants in 3600, six degrees of freedom (6DoF) patient examination simulations. Furthermore, the authors will discuss specific methods and features to improve visual realism in VR, such as post-processing effects (ambient occlusion, bloom, depth of field, anti-aliasing), texturing (normal maps, transparent, and reflective materials), and realistic lighting (spotlights and custom lights). The presented VLE creation techniques will be used as a testbed for medical simulation, created using the Unity game engine.

For three decades the case has been made for the development and adoption of digital tools that better support spatial decision-making in planning using 3D information. Here we report on a study that interviewed planners from local authorities in Ireland concerning their knowledge and experience of 3D spatial media. We consider the potential uses of these tools in planning, and the prospects for their adoption within local government planning departments. The interviews reveal that the planning system, as currently resourced and operated in Ireland, provides significant challenges and few incentives for the adoption of 3D spatial media.

Crowd simulation is the act of simulating and controlling the dynamic movement of large groups of virtual characters. Crowd simulation is traditionally a complex and time-consuming process, requiring extensive manual effort to achieve. On the one hand, commercial and liberally licensed tools tend to have many aspects of simulation tightly integrated which can be prohibitively difficult to re-configure, on the other, paying extras can be far more costly. In this context, the re-use of existing simulated crowds has been identified as a valuable cost-saving approach to crowd simulations. Previous approaches have investigated the use of environment semantics, but they have not been integrated with a commonly used simulation platform, rendering their usefulness limited. We present a novel approach to crowd simulation using an emergent system for re-targeting autonomous crowds and report on the findings of a problem discovery study, analyzing and establishing key aspects of functionality, usability, and user experience. Our results provide a breakdown of the crowd simulation process with corresponding time-on-task metrics to provide a reference point for future scientific research into crowd simulation systems. Furthermore, we report on how users react to a system that involves the use of semantic data to facilitate the re-use of existing crowd simulations. We anticipate that other researchers will follow suit, to develop tools that are both innovative and usable in crowd simulation practices.

Interest in the use of augmented reality (AR) is currently growing alongside advances in visual display and 3D reconstruction technologies. With the integration of volumetric video (VV), AR can be enhanced with representations of live-action actors. In this paper, we present an exploratory case-study of a museologically focused AR application that evaluated various parameters affecting the overall experience for visitors of the Long Room in the Old Library at Trinity College Dublin. Employing a volumetric 3D representation of Jonathan Swift, the benefits of applying VV in AR for a cultural heritage use-case scenario were explored. Moreover, we compared two AR platforms for this prototype application: a tablet and an HMD. For this purpose, we collected post-task opinions of the application and processed quantitative and qualitative data. The results highlighted differences between the two platforms and showed how the developed VV AR application was initially received by the users.

irtual reality (VR), as an informative medium, possesses the potential to engage students with immersive, interactive, and informative experiences. When presented in VR, immersive virtual environments (IVEs) can provide three-dimensional visual simulations that can be used to inform students about concepts in specific contexts that would be near impossible to achieve with more traditional teaching methodologies. It is proposed that existing learning frameworks can benefit from exploring the modalities of interaction that are presently afforded via VR from the experiential perspectives of the students. An evaluation is presented that focused on the appraisal of student experiences of immersive technologies as applied in a higher education context, specifically in the use of VR for the exploration of geomorphology theory by physical geography students. This research supports further development of the immersive learning discipline from three different perspectives. First, an empathy mapping method was applied to visualize student experiences and externalize our observed knowledge of student users for creating a shared understanding of their needs and to aid in lesson planning decision making when using VR in the classroom. Second, student experiences were captured using a technology-focused user experience questionnaire to obtain student attitudes immediately post-task. Finally, to assist teachers with the creation of a student-centered lesson plans that incorporate VR in the classroom, eight heuristic guidelines (focus, provocation, stimulation, collaboration, control, digital life, learner skills, multimodal experience) were developed. It is proposed that these findings can be used to provide support for the use of mixed reality and immersive virtual environments in learning that encompass the challenges faced by students and the interdisciplinary education community at large.

This workshop will provide iLRN 2020 delegates with an opportunity to extend their knowledge of shared immersive virtual environments (IVEs) in the context of teaching and learning through co-creation. The workshop will begin by outlining methods for capturing digital media in-situ, establishing the ‘ground truth’ of a place as both teaching preparation and as a learning activity in its own right. The workshop will then demonstrate how data captured in physical locations can be incorporated into online 3D models that can be experienced as a ‘virtual field trip’ in social virtual reality (VR). This activity highlights the student’s constitutive role in the selection and capture of data representing their environment and encourages active learning through engagement with the creation of IVEs. Workshop participants will be taken on a virtual expedition into one such model to stimulate further discussion about how these environments can be used to promote active learning. While the session focuses on the use of captured media to establish the ground truth of a location, the session will also consider the further potential of social IVEs as opportunities for storytelling, repositories of shared experience, and as a means for imagining and experimenting with counter-factual histories and alternative futures.

We present advancements in the design and development of in-vehicle infotainment systems that utilize gesture input and ultrasonic mid-air haptic feedback. Such systems employ state-of-the-art hand tracking technology and novel haptic feedback technology and promise to reduce driver distraction while performing a secondary task therefore cutting the risk of road accidents. In this paper, we document design process considerations during the development of a mid-air haptic gesture-enabled user interface for human-vehicle-interactions. This includes an online survey, business development insights, background research, and an agile framework component with three prototype iterations and user-testing on a simplified driving simulator. We report on the reasoning that led to the convergence of the chosen gesture-input and haptic-feedback sets used in the final prototype, discuss the lessons learned, and give hints and tips that act as design guidelines for future research and development of this technology in cars., 22 pages, 11 figures

City dashboards are increasingly becoming a tool of urban management and governance, used by administrations to monitor key urban metrics and the performance of services and policy. To date, however, there has been little research done from a users perspective of what constitutes a good or bad city dashboard and to establish essential user-centered design principles. In this foundational study, we examine four city dashboards with respect to their design, content, usability, and utility as experienced by existing dashboard users. The study presented was undertaken using a protocol analysis that elicited verbal reports through concurrent think-aloud sessions. In addition, critical incident technique procedures were followed to collect interaction data of critical significance to the users. A content analysis was then conducted on transcripts from these sessions. The research identified specific areas of concern to current dashboard users and led to the creation of new and informed guidelines for producing a dashboard system for Dublin, Ireland.

Mixed reality (MR) technology is currently growing in popularity for applications in the cultural heritage domain. Furthermore, with the ability to be viewed with six degrees of freedom, volumetric video (VV) is presently being explored as a viable approach to content creation within this area. When combined, MR technology and VV present both practitioners and audiences with innovative approaches to the creation and consumption of both tangible and intangible representations of cultural significance. While there are some existing quantitative studies appraising these new technologies, the precise effects of MR in a cultural heritage context have yet to be fully explored. Here we show the results of a systematic evaluation of MR technology as applied in a cultural heritage context, where subject matter expert interviews were conducted to identify how virtual reality and augmented reality technologies are influencing the creative practices of domain experts and audience engagements with modern dramatic literature. Gathered from high-level stakeholders within the cultural heritage domain, our results highlighted the problems, concerns, and desires of users who must consider this technology in practice. We found that MR and VV content were considered by many to be disruptive technologies for the future of film, theater, and performance practice from the perspectives of both practitioners and audiences. We anticipate that these results will help future MR and VV projects to create meaningful content that is sympathetic to the needs and requirements of creators and audiences.

If planning is an activity that attempts to mediate market effects in land use and resource distribution, then the revolution from digital tech is fundamentally changing the planning landscape. In ...

An experiment is presented that measured aspects of functionality, usability and user experience for four distinct types of device feedback. The goal was to analyse the role of haptic feedback in functional digital musical instrument (DMI) interactions. Quantitative and qualitative human–computer interaction analysis techniques were applied in the assessment of prototype DMIs that displayed unique elements of haptic feedback; specifically, full haptic (constant-force and vibrotactile) feedback, constant-force only, vibrotactile only and no feedback. From the analysis, data are presented that comprehensively quantify the effects of feedback in haptic interactions with DMI devices. The investigation revealed that the various types of haptic feedback applied had no significant functional effect upon device performance in pitch selection tasks; however, a number of significant effects were found upon the users’ perception of usability and their experiences with each of the different feedback types.

We present an experiment that investigated the effect of vibrotactile stimulation in auditory pitch discrimination tasks. Extra-auditory information was expected to have some influence upon the frequency discrimination of auditory Just Noticeable Difference (JND) detection levels at 160 Hz. To measure this, the potential to correctly identified positive and negative frequency changes for two randomly divided groups was measured and then compared. The first group was given an audio only JND test and the second group was given the same test, but with additional vibrotactile stimulus delivered via a vibrating glove device. The results of the experiment suggest that in musical interactions involving the selection of specific pitches, or the detection of pitch variation, vibrotactile feedback may have some advantageous effect upon a musician's ability to perceive changes when presented in synchrony with auditory stimulus.