@article{SteinhaeusserOberdoerfervonMammenetal.2022, author = {Steinhaeusser, Sophia C. and Oberd{\"o}rfer, Sebastian and von Mammen, Sebastian and Latoschik, Marc Erich and Lugrin, Birgit}, title = {Joyful adventures and frightening places - designing emotion-inducing virtual environments}, series = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, volume = {3}, journal = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, issn = {2673-4192}, doi = {10.3389/frvir.2022.919163}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284831}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Virtual environments (VEs) can evoke and support emotions, as experienced when playing emotionally arousing games. We theoretically approach the design of fear and joy evoking VEs based on a literature review of empirical studies on virtual and real environments as well as video games' reviews and content analyses. We define the design space and identify central design elements that evoke specific positive and negative emotions. Based on that, we derive and present guidelines for emotion-inducing VE design with respect to design themes, colors and textures, and lighting configurations. To validate our guidelines in two user studies, we 1) expose participants to 360° videos of VEs designed following the individual guidelines and 2) immerse them in a neutral, positive and negative emotion-inducing VEs combining all respective guidelines in Virtual Reality. The results support our theoretically derived guidelines by revealing significant differences in terms of fear and joy induction.}, language = {en} } @article{PrantlZeckBaueretal.2022, author = {Prantl, Thomas and Zeck, Timo and Bauer, Andre and Ten, Peter and Prantl, Dominik and Yahya, Ala Eddine Ben and Ifflaender, Lukas and Dmitrienko, Alexandra and Krupitzer, Christian and Kounev, Samuel}, title = {A Survey on Secure Group Communication Schemes With Focus on IoT Communication}, series = {IEEE Access}, volume = {10}, journal = {IEEE Access}, doi = {10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3206451}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-300257}, pages = {99944 -- 99962}, year = {2022}, abstract = {A key feature for Internet of Things (IoT) is to control what content is available to each user. To handle this access management, encryption schemes can be used. Due to the diverse usage of encryption schemes, there are various realizations of 1-to-1, 1-to-n, and n-to-n schemes in the literature. This multitude of encryption methods with a wide variety of properties presents developers with the challenge of selecting the optimal method for a particular use case, which is further complicated by the fact that there is no overview of existing encryption schemes. To fill this gap, we envision a cryptography encyclopedia providing such an overview of existing encryption schemes. In this survey paper, we take a first step towards such an encyclopedia by creating a sub-encyclopedia for secure group communication (SGC) schemes, which belong to the n-to-n category. We extensively surveyed the state-of-the-art and classified 47 different schemes. More precisely, we provide (i) a comprehensive overview of the relevant security features, (ii) a set of relevant performance metrics, (iii) a classification for secure group communication schemes, and (iv) workflow descriptions of the 47 schemes. Moreover, we perform a detailed performance and security evaluation of the 47 secure group communication schemes. Based on this evaluation, we create a guideline for the selection of secure group communication schemes.}, language = {en} } @article{LohWamserPoigneeetal.2022, author = {Loh, Frank and Wamser, Florian and Poign{\´e}e, Fabian and Geißler, Stefan and Hoßfeld, Tobias}, title = {YouTube Dataset on Mobile Streaming for Internet Traffic Modeling and Streaming Analysis}, series = {Scientific Data}, volume = {9}, journal = {Scientific Data}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1038/s41597-022-01418-y}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-300240}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Around 4.9 billion Internet users worldwide watch billions of hours of online video every day. As a result, streaming is by far the predominant type of traffic in communication networks. According to Google statistics, three out of five video views come from mobile devices. Thus, in view of the continuous technological advances in end devices and increasing mobile use, datasets for mobile streaming are indispensable in research but only sparsely dealt with in literature so far. With this public dataset, we provide 1,081 hours of time-synchronous video measurements at network, transport, and application layer with the native YouTube streaming client on mobile devices. The dataset includes 80 network scenarios with 171 different individual bandwidth settings measured in 5,181 runs with limited bandwidth, 1,939 runs with emulated 3 G/4 G traces, and 4,022 runs with pre-defined bandwidth changes. This corresponds to 332 GB video payload. We present the most relevant quality indicators for scientific use, i.e., initial playback delay, streaming video quality, adaptive video quality changes, video rebuffering events, and streaming phases.}, language = {en} } @article{CaliskanCrouchGiddinsetal.2022, author = {Caliskan, Aylin and Crouch, Samantha A. W. and Giddins, Sara and Dandekar, Thomas and Dangwal, Seema}, title = {Progeria and aging — Omics based comparative analysis}, series = {Biomedicines}, volume = {10}, journal = {Biomedicines}, number = {10}, issn = {2227-9059}, doi = {10.3390/biomedicines10102440}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-289868}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Since ancient times aging has also been regarded as a disease, and humankind has always strived to extend the natural lifespan. Analyzing the genes involved in aging and disease allows for finding important indicators and biological markers for pathologies and possible therapeutic targets. An example of the use of omics technologies is the research regarding aging and the rare and fatal premature aging syndrome progeria (Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, HGPS). In our study, we focused on the in silico analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in progeria and aging, using a publicly available RNA-Seq dataset (GEO dataset GSE113957) and a variety of bioinformatics tools. Despite the GSE113957 RNA-Seq dataset being well-known and frequently analyzed, the RNA-Seq data shared by Fleischer et al. is far from exhausted and reusing and repurposing the data still reveals new insights. By analyzing the literature citing the use of the dataset and subsequently conducting a comparative analysis comparing the RNA-Seq data analyses of different subsets of the dataset (healthy children, nonagenarians and progeria patients), we identified several genes involved in both natural aging and progeria (KRT8, KRT18, ACKR4, CCL2, UCP2, ADAMTS15, ACTN4P1, WNT16, IGFBP2). Further analyzing these genes and the pathways involved indicated their possible roles in aging, suggesting the need for further in vitro and in vivo research. In this paper, we (1) compare "normal aging" (nonagenarians vs. healthy children) and progeria (HGPS patients vs. healthy children), (2) enlist genes possibly involved in both the natural aging process and progeria, including the first mention of IGFBP2 in progeria, (3) predict miRNAs and interactomes for WNT16 (hsa-mir-181a-5p), UCP2 (hsa-mir-26a-5p and hsa-mir-124-3p), and IGFBP2 (hsa-mir-124-3p, hsa-mir-126-3p, and hsa-mir-27b-3p), (4) demonstrate the compatibility of well-established R packages for RNA-Seq analysis for researchers interested but not yet familiar with this kind of analysis, and (5) present comparative proteomics analyses to show an association between our RNA-Seq data analyses and corresponding changes in protein expression.}, language = {en} } @article{LatoschikWienrich2022, author = {Latoschik, Marc Erich and Wienrich, Carolin}, title = {Congruence and plausibility, not presence: pivotal conditions for XR experiences and effects, a novel approach}, series = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, volume = {3}, journal = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, issn = {2673-4192}, doi = {10.3389/frvir.2022.694433}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284787}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Presence is often considered the most important quale describing the subjective feeling of being in a computer-generated and/or computer-mediated virtual environment. The identification and separation of orthogonal presence components, i.e., the place illusion and the plausibility illusion, has been an accepted theoretical model describing Virtual Reality (VR) experiences for some time. This perspective article challenges this presence-oriented VR theory. First, we argue that a place illusion cannot be the major construct to describe the much wider scope of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR, AR, MR: or XR for short). Second, we argue that there is no plausibility illusion but merely plausibility, and we derive the place illusion caused by the congruent and plausible generation of spatial cues and similarly for all the current model's so-defined illusions. Finally, we propose congruence and plausibility to become the central essential conditions in a novel theoretical model describing XR experiences and effects.}, language = {en} } @article{LandeckAlvarezIgarzabalUnruhetal.2022, author = {Landeck, Maximilian and Alvarez Igarz{\´a}bal, Federico and Unruh, Fabian and Habenicht, Hannah and Khoshnoud, Shiva and Wittmann, Marc and Lugrin, Jean-Luc and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, title = {Journey through a virtual tunnel: Simulated motion and its effects on the experience of time}, series = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, volume = {3}, journal = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, issn = {2673-4192}, doi = {10.3389/frvir.2022.1059971}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301519}, year = {2022}, abstract = {This paper examines the relationship between time and motion perception in virtual environments. Previous work has shown that the perception of motion can affect the perception of time. We developed a virtual environment that simulates motion in a tunnel and measured its effects on the estimation of the duration of time, the speed at which perceived time passes, and the illusion of self-motion, also known as vection. When large areas of the visual field move in the same direction, vection can occur; observers often perceive this as self-motion rather than motion of the environment. To generate different levels of vection and investigate its effects on time perception, we developed an abstract procedural tunnel generator. The generator can simulate different speeds and densities of tunnel sections (visibly distinguishable sections that form the virtual tunnel), as well as the degree of embodiment of the user avatar (with or without virtual hands). We exposed participants to various tunnel simulations with different durations, speeds, and densities in a remote desktop and a virtual reality (VR) laboratory study. Time passed subjectively faster under high-speed and high-density conditions in both studies. The experience of self-motion was also stronger under high-speed and high-density conditions. Both studies revealed a significant correlation between the perceived passage of time and perceived self-motion. Subjects in the virtual reality study reported a stronger self-motion experience, a faster perceived passage of time, and shorter time estimates than subjects in the desktop study. Our results suggest that a virtual tunnel simulation can manipulate time perception in virtual reality. We will explore these results for the development of virtual reality applications for therapeutic approaches in our future work. This could be particularly useful in treating disorders like depression, autism, and schizophrenia, which are known to be associated with distortions in time perception. For example, the tunnel could be therapeutically applied by resetting patients' time perceptions by exposing them to the tunnel under different conditions, such as increasing or decreasing perceived time.}, language = {en} } @article{ObremskiFriedrichHaaketal.2022, author = {Obremski, David and Friedrich, Paula and Haak, Nora and Schaper, Philipp and Lugrin, Birgit}, title = {The impact of mixed-cultural speech on the stereotypical perception of a virtual robot}, series = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI}, volume = {9}, journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI}, issn = {2296-9144}, doi = {10.3389/frobt.2022.983955}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-293531}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Despite the fact that mixed-cultural backgrounds become of increasing importance in our daily life, the representation of multiple cultural backgrounds in one entity is still rare in socially interactive agents (SIAs). This paper's contribution is twofold. First, it provides a survey of research on mixed-cultured SIAs. Second, it presents a study investigating how mixed-cultural speech (in this case, non-native accent) influences how a virtual robot is perceived in terms of personality, warmth, competence and credibility. Participants with English or German respectively as their first language watched a video of a virtual robot speaking in either standard English or German-accented English. It was expected that the German-accented speech would be rated more positively by native German participants as well as elicit the German stereotypes credibility and conscientiousness for both German and English participants. Contrary to the expectations, German participants rated the virtual robot lower in terms of competence and credibility when it spoke with a German accent, whereas English participants perceived the virtual robot with a German accent as more credible compared to the version without an accent. Both the native English and native German listeners classified the virtual robot with a German accent as significantly more neurotic than the virtual robot speaking standard English. This work shows that by solely implementing a non-native accent in a virtual robot, stereotypes are partly transferred. It also shows that the implementation of a non-native accent leads to differences in the perception of the virtual robot.}, language = {en} } @article{TsouliasJoerissenNuechter2022, author = {Tsoulias, Nikos and J{\"o}rissen, Sven and N{\"u}chter, Andreas}, title = {An approach for monitoring temperature on fruit surface by means of thermal point cloud}, series = {MethodsX}, volume = {9}, journal = {MethodsX}, issn = {2215-0161}, doi = {10.1016/j.mex.2022.101712}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-300270}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Heat and excessive solar radiation can produce abiotic stresses during apple maturation, resulting fruit quality. Therefore, the monitoring of temperature on fruit surface (FST) over the growing period can allow to identify thresholds, above of which several physiological disorders such as sunburn may occur in apple. The current approaches neglect spatial variation of FST and have reduced repeatability, resulting in unreliable predictions. In this study, LiDAR laser scanning and thermal imaging were employed to detect the temperature on fruit surface by means of 3D point cloud. A process for calibrating the two sensors based on an active board target and producing a 3D thermal point cloud was suggested. After calibration, the sensor system was utilised to scan the fruit trees, while temperature values assigned in the corresponding 3D point cloud were based on the extrinsic calibration. Whereas a fruit detection algorithm was performed to segment the FST from each apple. • The approach allows the calibration of LiDAR laser scanner with thermal camera in order to produce a 3D thermal point cloud. • The method can be applied in apple trees for segmenting FST in 3D. Whereas the approach can be utilised to predict several physiological disorders including sunburn on fruit surface.}, language = {en} } @article{SeufertPoigneeHossfeldetal.2022, author = {Seufert, Anika and Poign{\´e}e, Fabian and Hoßfeld, Tobias and Seufert, Michael}, title = {Pandemic in the digital age: analyzing WhatsApp communication behavior before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown}, series = {Humanities and Social Sciences Communications}, volume = {9}, journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences Communications}, doi = {10.1057/s41599-022-01161-0}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-300261}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The strict restrictions introduced by the COVID-19 lockdowns, which started from March 2020, changed people's daily lives and habits on many different levels. In this work, we investigate the impact of the lockdown on the communication behavior in the mobile instant messaging application WhatsApp. Our evaluations are based on a large dataset of 2577 private chat histories with 25,378,093 messages from 51,973 users. The analysis of the one-to-one and group conversations confirms that the lockdown severely altered the communication in WhatsApp chats compared to pre-pandemic time ranges. In particular, we observe short-term effects, which caused an increased message frequency in the first lockdown months and a shifted communication activity during the day in March and April 2020. Moreover, we also see long-term effects of the ongoing pandemic situation until February 2021, which indicate a change of communication behavior towards more regular messaging, as well as a persisting change in activity during the day. The results of our work show that even anonymized chat histories can tell us a lot about people's behavior and especially behavioral changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and thus are of great relevance for behavioral researchers. Furthermore, looking at the pandemic from an Internet provider perspective, these insights can be used during the next pandemic, or if the current COVID-19 situation worsens, to adapt communication networks to the changed usage behavior early on and thus avoid network congestion.}, language = {en} } @article{HentschelKobsHotho2022, author = {Hentschel, Simon and Kobs, Konstantin and Hotho, Andreas}, title = {CLIP knows image aesthetics}, series = {Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence}, volume = {5}, journal = {Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence}, issn = {2624-8212}, doi = {10.3389/frai.2022.976235}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-297150}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Most Image Aesthetic Assessment (IAA) methods use a pretrained ImageNet classification model as a base to fine-tune. We hypothesize that content classification is not an optimal pretraining task for IAA, since the task discourages the extraction of features that are useful for IAA, e.g., composition, lighting, or style. On the other hand, we argue that the Contrastive Language-Image Pretraining (CLIP) model is a better base for IAA models, since it has been trained using natural language supervision. Due to the rich nature of language, CLIP needs to learn a broad range of image features that correlate with sentences describing the image content, composition, environments, and even subjective feelings about the image. While it has been shown that CLIP extracts features useful for content classification tasks, its suitability for tasks that require the extraction of style-based features like IAA has not yet been shown. We test our hypothesis by conducting a three-step study, investigating the usefulness of features extracted by CLIP compared to features obtained from the last layer of a comparable ImageNet classification model. In each step, we get more computationally expensive. First, we engineer natural language prompts that let CLIP assess an image's aesthetic without adjusting any weights in the model. To overcome the challenge that CLIP's prompting only is applicable to classification tasks, we propose a simple but effective strategy to convert multiple prompts to a continuous scalar as required when predicting an image's mean aesthetic score. Second, we train a linear regression on the AVA dataset using image features obtained by CLIP's image encoder. The resulting model outperforms a linear regression trained on features from an ImageNet classification model. It also shows competitive performance with fully fine-tuned networks based on ImageNet, while only training a single layer. Finally, by fine-tuning CLIP's image encoder on the AVA dataset, we show that CLIP only needs a fraction of training epochs to converge, while also performing better than a fine-tuned ImageNet model. Overall, our experiments suggest that CLIP is better suited as a base model for IAA methods than ImageNet pretrained networks.}, language = {en} } @article{GuptaMinochaThapaetal.2022, author = {Gupta, Shishir K. and Minocha, Rashmi and Thapa, Prithivi Jung and Srivastava, Mugdha and Dandekar, Thomas}, title = {Role of the pangolin in origin of SARS-CoV-2: an evolutionary perspective}, series = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, volume = {23}, journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, number = {16}, issn = {1422-0067}, doi = {10.3390/ijms23169115}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-285995}, year = {2022}, abstract = {After the recent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, unanswered questions remain related to its evolutionary history, path of transmission or divergence and role of recombination. There is emerging evidence on amino acid substitutions occurring in key residues of the receptor-binding domain of the spike glycoprotein in coronavirus isolates from bat and pangolins. In this article, we summarize our current knowledge on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. We also analyze the host ACE2-interacting residues of the receptor-binding domain of spike glycoprotein in SARS-CoV-2 isolates from bats, and compare it to pangolin SARS-CoV-2 isolates collected from Guangdong province (GD Pangolin-CoV) and Guangxi autonomous regions (GX Pangolin-CoV) of South China. Based on our comparative analysis, we support the view that the Guangdong Pangolins are the intermediate hosts that adapted the SARS-CoV-2 and represented a significant evolutionary link in the path of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus. We also discuss the role of intermediate hosts in the origin of Omicron.}, language = {en} } @article{FathyDarwishAbdelhamidetal.2022, author = {Fathy, Moustafa and Darwish, Mostafa A. and Abdelhamid, Al-Shaimaa M. and Alrashedy, Gehad M. and Othman, Othman Ali and Naseem, Muhammad and Dandekar, Thomas and Othman, Eman M.}, title = {Kinetin ameliorates cisplatin-induced hepatotoxicity and lymphotoxicity via attenuating oxidative damage, cell apoptosis and inflammation in rats}, series = {Biomedicines}, volume = {10}, journal = {Biomedicines}, number = {7}, issn = {2227-9059}, doi = {10.3390/biomedicines10071620}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-281686}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Though several previous studies reported the in vitro and in vivo antioxidant effect of kinetin (Kn), details on its action in cisplatin-induced toxicity are still scarce. In this study we evaluated, for the first time, the effects of kinetin in cisplatin (cp)- induced liver and lymphocyte toxicity in rats. Wistar male albino rats were divided into nine groups: (i) the control (C), (ii) groups 2,3 and 4, which received 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg kinetin for 10 days; (iii) the cisplatin (cp) group, which received a single intraperitoneal injection of CP (7.0 mg/kg); and (iv) groups 6, 7, 8 and 9, which received, for 10 days, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg kinetin or 200 mg/kg vitamin C, respectively, and Cp on the fourth day. CP-injected rats showed a significant impairment in biochemical, oxidative stress and inflammatory parameters in hepatic tissue and lymphocytes. PCR showed a profound increase in caspase-3, and a significant decline in AKT gene expression. Intriguingly, Kn treatment restored the biochemical, redox status and inflammatory parameters. Hepatic AKT and caspase-3 expression as well as CD95 levels in lymphocytes were also restored. In conclusion, Kn mitigated oxidative imbalance, inflammation and apoptosis in CP-induced liver and lymphocyte toxicity; therefore, it can be considered as a promising therapy.}, language = {en} } @article{Puppe2022, author = {Puppe, Frank}, title = {Gesellschaftliche Perspektiven einer fachspezifischen KI f{\"u}r automatisierte Entscheidungen}, series = {Informatik Spektrum}, volume = {45}, journal = {Informatik Spektrum}, number = {2}, issn = {0170-6012}, doi = {10.1007/s00287-022-01443-6}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-324197}, pages = {88-95}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Die k{\"u}nstliche Intelligenz (KI) entwickelt sich rasant und hat bereits eindrucksvolle Erfolge zu verzeichnen, darunter {\"u}bermenschliche Kompetenz in den meisten Spielen und vielen Quizshows, intelligente Suchmaschinen, individualisierte Werbung, Spracherkennung, -ausgabe und -{\"u}bersetzung auf sehr hohem Niveau und hervorragende Leistungen bei der Bildverarbeitung, u. a. in der Medizin, der optischen Zeichenerkennung, beim autonomen Fahren, aber auch beim Erkennen von Menschen auf Bildern und Videos oder bei Deep Fakes f{\"u}r Fotos und Videos. Es ist zu erwarten, dass die KI auch in der Entscheidungsfindung Menschen {\"u}bertreffen wird; ein alter Traum der Expertensysteme, der durch Lernverfahren, Big Data und Zugang zu dem gesammelten Wissen im Web in greifbare N{\"a}he r{\"u}ckt. Gegenstand dieses Beitrags sind aber weniger die technischen Entwicklungen, sondern m{\"o}gliche gesellschaftliche Auswirkungen einer spezialisierten, kompetenten KI f{\"u}r verschiedene Bereiche der autonomen, d. h. nicht nur unterst{\"u}tzenden Entscheidungsfindung: als Fußballschiedsrichter, in der Medizin, f{\"u}r richterliche Entscheidungen und sehr spekulativ auch im politischen Bereich. Dabei werden Vor- und Nachteile dieser Szenarien aus gesellschaftlicher Sicht diskutiert.}, subject = {K{\"u}nstliche Intelligenz}, language = {de} } @article{RiedmannSchaperLugrin2022, author = {Riedmann, Anna and Schaper, Philipp and Lugrin, Birgit}, title = {Integration of a social robot and gamification in adult learning and effects on motivation, engagement and performance}, series = {AI \& Society}, journal = {AI \& Society}, issn = {0951-5666}, doi = {10.1007/s00146-022-01514-y}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-324208}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Learning is a central component of human life and essential for personal development. Therefore, utilizing new technologies in the learning context and exploring their combined potential are considered essential to support self-directed learning in a digital age. A learning environment can be expanded by various technical and content-related aspects. Gamification in the form of elements from video games offers a potential concept to support the learning process. This can be supplemented by technology-supported learning. While the use of tablets is already widespread in the learning context, the integration of a social robot can provide new perspectives on the learning process. However, simply adding new technologies such as social robots or gamification to existing systems may not automatically result in a better learning environment. In the present study, game elements as well as a social robot were integrated separately and conjointly into a learning environment for basic Spanish skills, with a follow-up on retained knowledge. This allowed us to investigate the respective and combined effects of both expansions on motivation, engagement and learning effect. This approach should provide insights into the integration of both additions in an adult learning context. We found that the additions of game elements and the robot did not significantly improve learning, engagement or motivation. Based on these results and a literature review, we outline relevant factors for meaningful integration of gamification and social robots in learning environments in adult learning.}, language = {en} } @article{LohPoigneeWamseretal.2021, author = {Loh, Frank and Poign{\´e}e, Fabian and Wamser, Florian and Leidinger, Ferdinand and Hoßfeld, Tobias}, title = {Uplink vs. Downlink: Machine Learning-Based Quality Prediction for HTTP Adaptive Video Streaming}, series = {Sensors}, volume = {21}, journal = {Sensors}, number = {12}, issn = {1424-8220}, doi = {10.3390/s21124172}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-241121}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Streaming video is responsible for the bulk of Internet traffic these days. For this reason, Internet providers and network operators try to make predictions and assessments about the streaming quality for an end user. Current monitoring solutions are based on a variety of different machine learning approaches. The challenge for providers and operators nowadays is that existing approaches require large amounts of data. In this work, the most relevant quality of experience metrics, i.e., the initial playback delay, the video streaming quality, video quality changes, and video rebuffering events, are examined using a voluminous data set of more than 13,000 YouTube video streaming runs that were collected with the native YouTube mobile app. Three Machine Learning models are developed and compared to estimate playback behavior based on uplink request information. The main focus has been on developing a lightweight approach using as few features and as little data as possible, while maintaining state-of-the-art performance.}, language = {en} } @article{HalbigLatoschik2021, author = {Halbig, Andreas and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, title = {A systematic review of physiological measurements, factors, methods, and applications in virtual reality}, series = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, volume = {2}, journal = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, doi = {10.3389/frvir.2021.694567}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260503}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Measurements of physiological parameters provide an objective, often non-intrusive, and (at least semi-)automatic evaluation and utilization of user behavior. In addition, specific hardware devices of Virtual Reality (VR) often ship with built-in sensors, i.e. eye-tracking and movements sensors. Hence, the combination of physiological measurements and VR applications seems promising. Several approaches have investigated the applicability and benefits of this combination for various fields of applications. However, the range of possible application fields, coupled with potentially useful and beneficial physiological parameters, types of sensor, target variables and factors, and analysis approaches and techniques is manifold. This article provides a systematic overview and an extensive state-of-the-art review of the usage of physiological measurements in VR. We identified 1,119 works that make use of physiological measurements in VR. Within these, we identified 32 approaches that focus on the classification of characteristics of experience, common in VR applications. The first part of this review categorizes the 1,119 works by field of application, i.e. therapy, training, entertainment, and communication and interaction, as well as by the specific target factors and variables measured by the physiological parameters. An additional category summarizes general VR approaches applicable to all specific fields of application since they target typical VR qualities. In the second part of this review, we analyze the target factors and variables regarding the respective methods used for an automatic analysis and, potentially, classification. For example, we highlight which measurement setups have been proven to be sensitive enough to distinguish different levels of arousal, valence, anxiety, stress, or cognitive workload in the virtual realm. This work may prove useful for all researchers wanting to use physiological data in VR and who want to have a good overview of prior approaches taken, their benefits and potential drawbacks.}, language = {en} } @article{CarolusWienrichToerkeetal.2021, author = {Carolus, Astrid and Wienrich, Carolin and T{\"o}rke, Anna and Friedel, Tobias and Schwietering, Christian and Sperzel, Mareike}, title = {'Alexa, I feel for you!' Observers' empathetic reactions towards a conversational agent}, series = {Frontiers in Computer Science}, volume = {3}, journal = {Frontiers in Computer Science}, doi = {10.3389/fcomp.2021.682982}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258807}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Conversational agents and smart speakers have grown in popularity offering a variety of options for use, which are available through intuitive speech operation. In contrast to the standard dyad of a single user and a device, voice-controlled operations can be observed by further attendees resulting in new, more social usage scenarios. Referring to the concept of 'media equation' and to research on the idea of 'computers as social actors,' which describes the potential of technology to trigger emotional reactions in users, this paper asks for the capacity of smart speakers to elicit empathy in observers of interactions. In a 2 × 2 online experiment, 140 participants watched a video of a man talking to an Amazon Echo either rudely or neutrally (factor 1), addressing it as 'Alexa' or 'Computer' (factor 2). Controlling for participants' trait empathy, the rude treatment results in participants' significantly higher ratings of empathy with the device, compared to the neutral treatment. The form of address had no significant effect. Results were independent of the participants' gender and usage experience indicating a rather universal effect, which confirms the basic idea of the media equation. Implications for users, developers and researchers were discussed in the light of (future) omnipresent voice-based technology interaction scenarios.}, language = {en} } @article{ObremskiLugrinSchaperetal.2021, author = {Obremski, David and Lugrin, Jean-Luc and Schaper, Philipp and Lugrin, Birgit}, title = {Non-native speaker perception of Intelligent Virtual Agents in two languages: the impact of amount and type of grammatical mistakes}, series = {Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces}, volume = {15}, journal = {Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces}, number = {2}, issn = {1783-8738}, doi = {10.1007/s12193-021-00369-9}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-269984}, pages = {229-238}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Having a mixed-cultural membership becomes increasingly common in our modern society. It is thus beneficial in several ways to create Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVAs) that reflect a mixed-cultural background as well, e.g., for educational settings. For research with such IVAs, it is essential that they are classified as non-native by members of a target culture. In this paper, we focus on variations of IVAs' speech to create the impression of non-native speakers that are identified as such by speakers of two different mother tongues. In particular, we investigate grammatical mistakes and identify thresholds beyond which the agents is clearly categorised as a non-native speaker. Therefore, we conducted two experiments: one for native speakers of German, and one for native speakers of English. Results of the German study indicate that beyond 10\% of word order mistakes and 25\% of infinitive mistakes German-speaking IVAs are perceived as non-native speakers. Results of the English study indicate that beyond 50\% of omission mistakes and 50\% of infinitive mistakes English-speaking IVAs are perceived as non-native speakers. We believe these thresholds constitute helpful guidelines for computational approaches of non-native speaker generation, simplifying research with IVAs in mixed-cultural settings.}, language = {en} } @article{WamserSeufertHalletal.2021, author = {Wamser, Florian and Seufert, Anika and Hall, Andrew and Wunderer, Stefan and Hoßfeld, Tobias}, title = {Valid statements by the crowd: statistical measures for precision in crowdsourced mobile measurements}, series = {Network}, volume = {1}, journal = {Network}, number = {2}, issn = {2673-8732}, doi = {10.3390/network1020013}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284154}, pages = {215 -- 232}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Crowdsourced network measurements (CNMs) are becoming increasingly popular as they assess the performance of a mobile network from the end user's perspective on a large scale. Here, network measurements are performed directly on the end-users' devices, thus taking advantage of the real-world conditions end-users encounter. However, this type of uncontrolled measurement raises questions about its validity and reliability. The problem lies in the nature of this type of data collection. In CNMs, mobile network subscribers are involved to a large extent in the measurement process, and collect data themselves for the operator. The collection of data on user devices in arbitrary locations and at uncontrolled times requires means to ensure validity and reliability. To address this issue, our paper defines concepts and guidelines for analyzing the precision of CNMs; specifically, the number of measurements required to make valid statements. In addition to the formal definition of the aspect, we illustrate the problem and use an extensive sample data set to show possible assessment approaches. This data set consists of more than 20.4 million crowdsourced mobile measurements from across France, measured by a commercial data provider.}, language = {en} } @article{DoellingerWienrichLatoschik2021, author = {D{\"o}llinger, Nina and Wienrich, Carolin and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, title = {Challenges and opportunities of immersive technologies for mindfulness meditation: a systematic review}, series = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, volume = {2}, journal = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality}, doi = {10.3389/frvir.2021.644683}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259047}, pages = {644683}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Mindfulness is considered an important factor of an individual's subjective well-being. Consequently, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has investigated approaches that strengthen mindfulness, i.e., by inventing multimedia technologies to support mindfulness meditation. These approaches often use smartphones, tablets, or consumer-grade desktop systems to allow everyday usage in users' private lives or in the scope of organized therapies. Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality (VR, AR, MR; in short: XR) significantly extend the design space for such approaches. XR covers a wide range of potential sensory stimulation, perceptive and cognitive manipulations, content presentation, interaction, and agency. These facilities are linked to typical XR-specific perceptions that are conceptually closely related to mindfulness research, such as (virtual) presence and (virtual) embodiment. However, a successful exploitation of XR that strengthens mindfulness requires a systematic analysis of the potential interrelation and influencing mechanisms between XR technology, its properties, factors, and phenomena and existing models and theories of the construct of mindfulness. This article reports such a systematic analysis of XR-related research from HCI and life sciences to determine the extent to which existing research frameworks on HCI and mindfulness can be applied to XR technologies, the potential of XR technologies to support mindfulness, and open research gaps. Fifty papers of ACM Digital Library and National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (PubMed) with and without empirical efficacy evaluation were included in our analysis. The results reveal that at the current time, empirical research on XR-based mindfulness support mainly focuses on therapy and therapeutic outcomes. Furthermore, most of the currently investigated XR-supported mindfulness interactions are limited to vocally guided meditations within nature-inspired virtual environments. While an analysis of empirical research on those systems did not reveal differences in mindfulness compared to non-mediated mindfulness practices, various design proposals illustrate that XR has the potential to provide interactive and body-based innovations for mindfulness practice. We propose a structured approach for future work to specify and further explore the potential of XR as mindfulness-support. The resulting framework provides design guidelines for XR-based mindfulness support based on the elements and psychological mechanisms of XR interactions.}, language = {en} }