TY - THES A1 - Busch, Marlene Corinna T1 - Developing a virtual Control Room for future satellite missions T1 - Entwicklung eines virtuellen Kontrollraums für künftige Satellitenmissionen N2 - This thesis deals with the first part of a larger project that follows the ultimate goal of implementing a software tool that creates a Mission Control Room in Virtual Reality. The software is to be used for the operation of spacecrafts and is specially developed for the unique real-time requirements of unmanned satellite missions. Beginning from launch, throughout the whole mission up to the recovery or disposal of the satellite, all systems need to be monitored and controlled in continuous intervals, to ensure the mission’s success. Mission Operation is an essential part of every space mission and has been undertaken for decades. Recent technological advancements in the realm of immersive technologies pave the way for innovative methods to operate spacecrafts. Virtual Reality has the capability to resolve the physical constraints set by traditional Mission Control Rooms and thereby delivers novel opportunities. The paper highlights underlying theoretical aspects of Virtual Reality, Mission Control and IP Communication. However, the focus lies upon the practical part of this thesis which revolves around the first steps of the implementation of the virtual Mission Control Room in the Unity Game Engine. Overall, this paper serves as a demonstration of Virtual Reality technology and shows its possibilities with respect to the operation of spacecrafts. N2 - Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit dem ersten Teil eines größeren Projekts, das das Ziel verfolgt, eine Software zu implementieren, die einen Missionskontrollraum in der virtuellen Realität erstellt. Die Software soll zum Einsatz für den Betrieb von Raumfahrzeugen eingesetzt werden und wurde speziell für die besonderen Echtzeitanforderungen von unbemannten Satellitenmissionen entwickelt. Vom Start über die gesamte Mission bis hin zur Entsorgung des Satelliten, müssen alle Systeme kontinuierlich überwacht und gesteuert werden, um den Erfolg der Mission zu gewährleisten. Der Missionsbetrieb ist ein wesentlicher Bestandteil jeder Weltraum Mission und wird seit Jahrzehnten durchgeführt. Die jüngsten technologischen Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der immersiven Technologien ebnen den Weg für innovative Methoden zum Betrieb von Raumfahrzeugen. Virtuelle Realität ist in der Lage, die physischen Beschränkungen traditioneller Missionskontrollräume zu überwinden und bietet dadurch neue Möglichkeiten. Der Beitrag beleuchtet die grundlegenden theoretischen Aspekte von Virtual Reality, Missionskontrolle und IP-Kommunikation. Der Schwerpunkt liegt jedoch auf dem praktischen Teil der dieser Arbeit, der sich um die ersten Schritte der Implementierung des virtuellen Missionskontrollraums Raumes in der Unity Game Engine. Insgesamt dient diese Arbeit als Demonstration der Virtual Reality Technologie und zeigt deren Möglichkeiten im Hinblick auf den Betrieb von Raumschiffen. KW - Control room KW - virtual reality KW - spacecrarft control Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258261 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Glémarec, Yann A1 - Lugrin, Jean-Luc A1 - Bosser, Anne-Gwenn A1 - Buche, Cédric A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Controlling the stage: a high-level control system for virtual audiences in Virtual Reality JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - This article presents a novel method for controlling a virtual audience system (VAS) in Virtual Reality (VR) application, called STAGE, which has been originally designed for supervised public speaking training in university seminars dedicated to the preparation and delivery of scientific talks. We are interested in creating pedagogical narratives: narratives encompass affective phenomenon and rather than organizing events changing the course of a training scenario, pedagogical plans using our system focus on organizing the affects it arouses for the trainees. Efficiently controlling a virtual audience towards a specific training objective while evaluating the speaker’s performance presents a challenge for a seminar instructor: the high level of cognitive and physical demands required to be able to control the virtual audience, whilst evaluating speaker’s performance, adjusting and allowing it to quickly react to the user’s behaviors and interactions. It is indeed a critical limitation of a number of existing systems that they rely on a Wizard of Oz approach, where the tutor drives the audience in reaction to the user’s performance. We address this problem by integrating with a VAS a high-level control component for tutors, which allows using predefined audience behavior rules, defining custom ones, as well as intervening during run-time for finer control of the unfolding of the pedagogical plan. At its core, this component offers a tool to program, select, modify and monitor interactive training narratives using a high-level representation. The STAGE offers the following features: i) a high-level API to program pedagogical narratives focusing on a specific public speaking situation and training objectives, ii) an interactive visualization interface iii) computation and visualization of user metrics, iv) a semi-autonomous virtual audience composed of virtual spectators with automatic reactions to the speaker and surrounding spectators while following the pedagogical plan V) and the possibility for the instructor to embody a virtual spectator to ask questions or guide the speaker from within the Virtual Environment. We present here the design, and implementation of the tutoring system and its integration in STAGE, and discuss its reception by end-users. KW - virtual reality KW - virtual agent KW - behavior perception KW - public speaking KW - education Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284601 SN - 2673-4192 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hein, Rebecca M. A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich A1 - Wienrich, Carolin T1 - Inter- and transcultural learning in cocial virtual reality: a proposal for an inter- and transcultural virtual object database to be used in the implementation, reflection, and evaluation of virtual encounters JF - Multimodal Technologies and Interaction N2 - Visual stimuli are frequently used to improve memory, language learning or perception, and understanding of metacognitive processes. However, in virtual reality (VR), there are few systematically and empirically derived databases. This paper proposes the first collection of virtual objects based on empirical evaluation for inter-and transcultural encounters between English- and German-speaking learners. We used explicit and implicit measurement methods to identify cultural associations and the degree of stereotypical perception for each virtual stimuli (n = 293) through two online studies, including native German and English-speaking participants. The analysis resulted in a final well-describable database of 128 objects (called InteractionSuitcase). In future applications, the objects can be used as a great interaction or conversation asset and behavioral measurement tool in social VR applications, especially in the field of foreign language education. For example, encounters can use the objects to describe their culture, or teachers can intuitively assess stereotyped attitudes of the encounters. KW - virtual stimuli KW - implicit association test KW - virtual reality KW - social VR KW - InteractionSuitcase Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-278974 SN - 2414-4088 VL - 6 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oberdörfer, Sebastian A1 - Schraudt, David A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Embodied gambling — investigating the influence of level of embodiment, avatar appearance, and virtual environment design on an online VR slot machine JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Slot machines are one of the most played games by players suffering from gambling disorder. New technologies like immersive Virtual Reality (VR) offer more possibilities to exploit erroneous beliefs in the context of gambling. Recent research indicates a higher risk potential when playing a slot machine in VR than on desktop. To continue this investigation, we evaluate the effects of providing different degrees of embodiment, i.e., minimal and full embodiment. The avatars used for the full embodiment further differ in their appearance, i.e., they elicit a high or a low socio-economic status. The virtual environment (VE) design can cause a potential influence on the overall gambling behavior. Thus, we also embed the slot machine in two different VEs that differ in their emotional design: a colorful underwater playground environment and a virtual counterpart of our lab. These design considerations resulted in four different versions of the same VR slot machine: 1) full embodiment with high socio-economic status, 2) full embodiment with low socio-economic status, 3) minimal embodiment playground VE, and 4) minimal embodiment laboratory VE. Both full embodiment versions also used the playground VE. We determine the risk potential by logging gambling frequency as well as stake size, and measuring harm-inducing factors, i.e., dissociation, urge to gamble, dark flow, and illusion of control, using questionnaires. Following a between groups experimental design, 82 participants played for 20 game rounds one of the four versions. We recruited our sample from the students enrolled at the University of Würzburg. Our safety protocol ensured that only participants without any recent gambling activity took part in the experiment. In this comparative user study, we found no effect of the embodiment nor VE design on neither the gambling frequency, stake sizes, nor risk potential. However, our results provide further support for the hypothesis of the higher visual angle on gambling stimuli and hence the increased emotional response being the true cause for the higher risk potential. KW - virtual reality KW - virtual environments KW - immersion KW - gambling KW - risks KW - embodiment KW - avatars Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284662 SN - 2673-4192 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Halbig , Andreas A1 - Babu , Sooraj K. A1 - Gatter , Shirin A1 - Latoschik , Marc Erich A1 - Brukamp, Kirsten A1 - von Mammen , Sebastian T1 - Opportunities and challenges of Virtual Reality in healthcare – a domain experts inquiry JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - In recent years, the applications and accessibility of Virtual Reality (VR) for the healthcare sector have continued to grow. However, so far, most VR applications are only relevant in research settings. Information about what healthcare professionals would need to independently integrate VR applications into their daily working routines is missing. The actual needs and concerns of the people who work in the healthcare sector are often disregarded in the development of VR applications, even though they are the ones who are supposed to use them in practice. By means of this study, we systematically involve health professionals in the development process of VR applications. In particular, we conducted an online survey with 102 healthcare professionals based on a video prototype which demonstrates a software platform that allows them to create and utilise VR experiences on their own. For this study, we adapted and extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The survey focused on the perceived usefulness and the ease of use of such a platform, as well as the attitude and ethical concerns the users might have. The results show a generally positive attitude toward such a software platform. The users can imagine various use cases in different health domains. However, the perceived usefulness is tied to the actual ease of use of the platform and sufficient support for learning and working with the platform. In the discussion, we explain how these results can be generalized to facilitate the integration of VR in healthcare practice. KW - virtual reality KW - healthcare KW - therapy KW - rehabilitation KW - ethics KW - technology acceptance KW - authoring platform KW - healthcare professionals Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284752 SN - 2673-4192 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Döllinger, Nina A1 - Wolf, Erik A1 - Mal, David A1 - Wenninger, Stephan A1 - Botsch, Mario A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich A1 - Wienrich, Carolin T1 - Resize Me! Exploring the user experience of embodied realistic modulatable avatars for body image intervention in virtual reality JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Obesity is a serious disease that can affect both physical and psychological well-being. Due to weight stigmatization, many affected individuals suffer from body image disturbances whereby they perceive their body in a distorted way, evaluate it negatively, or neglect it. Beyond established interventions such as mirror exposure, recent advancements aim to complement body image treatments by the embodiment of visually altered virtual bodies in virtual reality (VR). We present a high-fidelity prototype of an advanced VR system that allows users to embody a rapidly generated personalized, photorealistic avatar and to realistically modulate its body weight in real-time within a carefully designed virtual environment. In a formative multi-method approach, a total of 12 participants rated the general user experience (UX) of our system during body scan and VR experience using semi-structured qualitative interviews and multiple quantitative UX measures. Using body weight modification tasks, we further compared three different interaction methods for real-time body weight modification and measured our system’s impact on the body image relevant measures body awareness and body weight perception. From the feedback received, demonstrating an already solid UX of our overall system and providing constructive input for further improvement, we derived a set of design guidelines to guide future development and evaluation processes of systems supporting body image interventions. KW - virtual reality KW - avatar embodiment KW - user experience KW - body awareness KW - body weight perception KW - body weight modification KW - body image disturbance KW - eating and body weight disorders Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-292940 SN - 2673-4192 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steinhaeusser, Sophia C. A1 - Oberdörfer, Sebastian A1 - von Mammen, Sebastian A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich A1 - Lugrin, Birgit T1 - Joyful adventures and frightening places – designing emotion-inducing virtual environments JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - 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. KW - virtual reality KW - virtual environments KW - immersion KW - emotions KW - design Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284831 SN - 2673-4192 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Landeck, Maximilian A1 - Alvarez Igarzábal, Federico A1 - Unruh, Fabian A1 - Habenicht, Hannah A1 - Khoshnoud, Shiva A1 - Wittmann, Marc A1 - Lugrin, Jean-Luc A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Journey through a virtual tunnel: Simulated motion and its effects on the experience of time JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - 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. KW - passage of time KW - illusion of self-motion KW - vection KW - virtual tunnel KW - therapeutic application KW - virtual reality KW - extended reality (XR) Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301519 SN - 2673-4192 VL - 3 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Epplée, Rafael A1 - Langbehn, Eike T1 - Overlapping Architecture: Implementation of Impossible Spaces in Virtual Reality Games N2 - Natural walking in virtual reality games is constrained by the physical boundaries defined by the size of the player’s tracking space. Impossible spaces, a redirected walking technique, enlarge the virtual environment by creating overlapping architecture and letting multiple locations occupy the same physical space. Within certain thresholds, this is subtle to the player. In this paper, we present our approach to implement such impossible spaces and describe how we handled challenges like objects with simulated physics or precomputed global illumination. KW - virtual reality KW - games KW - locomotion Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-246045 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Halbig, Andreas A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - A systematic review of physiological measurements, factors, methods, and applications in virtual reality JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - 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. KW - virtual reality KW - use cases KW - sesnsors KW - tools KW - biosignals KW - psychophyisology KW - HMD (Head-Mounted Display) KW - systematic review Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260503 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Döllinger, Nina A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Challenges and opportunities of immersive technologies for mindfulness meditation: a systematic review JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - 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. KW - virtual reality KW - augmented reality KW - mindfulness KW - XR KW - meditation Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259047 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Unruh, Fabian A1 - Landeck, Maximilian A1 - Oberdörfer, Sebastian A1 - Lugrin, Jean-Luc A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - The Influence of Avatar Embodiment on Time Perception - Towards VR for Time-Based Therapy JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Psycho-pathological conditions, such as depression or schizophrenia, are often accompanied by a distorted perception of time. People suffering from this conditions often report that the passage of time slows down considerably and that they are “stuck in time.” Virtual Reality (VR) could potentially help to diagnose and maybe treat such mental conditions. However, the conditions in which a VR simulation could correctly diagnose a time perception deviation are still unknown. In this paper, we present an experiment investigating the difference in time experience with and without a virtual body in VR, also known as avatar. The process of substituting a person’s body with a virtual body is called avatar embodiment. Numerous studies demonstrated interesting perceptual, emotional, behavioral, and psychological effects caused by avatar embodiment. However, the relations between time perception and avatar embodiment are still unclear. Whether or not the presence or absence of an avatar is already influencing time perception is still open to question. Therefore, we conducted a between-subjects design with and without avatar embodiment as well as a real condition (avatar vs. no-avatar vs. real). A group of 105 healthy subjects had to wait for seven and a half minutes in a room without any distractors (e.g., no window, magazine, people, decoration) or time indicators (e.g., clocks, sunlight). The virtual environment replicates the real physical environment. Participants were unaware that they will be asked to estimate their waiting time duration as well as describing their experience of the passage of time at a later stage. Our main finding shows that the presence of an avatar is leading to a significantly faster perceived passage of time. It seems to be promising to integrate avatar embodiment in future VR time-based therapy applications as they potentially could modulate a user’s perception of the passage of time. We also found no significant difference in time perception between the real and the VR conditions (avatar, no-avatar), but further research is needed to better understand this outcome. KW - virtual reality KW - time perception KW - avatar embodiment KW - immersion KW - human computer interaction (HCI) Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259076 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oberdörfer, Sebastian A1 - Birnstiel, Sandra A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich A1 - Grafe, Silke T1 - Mutual Benefits: Interdisciplinary Education of Pre-Service Teachers and HCI Students in VR/AR Learning Environment Design JF - Frontiers in Education N2 - The successful development and classroom integration of Virtual (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) learning environments requires competencies and content knowledge with respect to media didactics and the respective technologies. The paper discusses a pedagogical concept specifically aiming at the interdisciplinary education of pre-service teachers in collaboration with human-computer interaction students. The students’ overarching goal is the interdisciplinary realization and integration of VR/AR learning environments in teaching and learning concepts. To assist this approach, we developed a specific tutorial guiding the developmental process. We evaluate and validate the effectiveness of the overall pedagogical concept by analyzing the change in attitudes regarding 1) the use of VR/AR for educational purposes and in competencies and content knowledge regarding 2) media didactics and 3) technology. Our results indicate a significant improvement in the knowledge of media didactics and technology. We further report on four STEM learning environments that have been developed during the seminar. KW - interdisciplinary education KW - virtual reality KW - augmented reality KW - serious games KW - learning environments KW - teacher education Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-241612 SN - 2504-284X VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kern, Florian A1 - Kullmann, Peter A1 - Ganal, Elisabeth A1 - Korwisi, Kristof A1 - Stingl, René A1 - Niebling, Florian A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Off-The-Shelf Stylus: Using XR Devices for Handwriting and Sketching on Physically Aligned Virtual Surfaces JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - This article introduces the Off-The-Shelf Stylus (OTSS), a framework for 2D interaction (in 3D) as well as for handwriting and sketching with digital pen, ink, and paper on physically aligned virtual surfaces in Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality (VR, AR, MR: XR for short). OTSS supports self-made XR styluses based on consumer-grade six-degrees-of-freedom XR controllers and commercially available styluses. The framework provides separate modules for three basic but vital features: 1) The stylus module provides stylus construction and calibration features. 2) The surface module provides surface calibration and visual feedback features for virtual-physical 2D surface alignment using our so-called 3ViSuAl procedure, and surface interaction features. 3) The evaluation suite provides a comprehensive test bed combining technical measurements for precision, accuracy, and latency with extensive usability evaluations including handwriting and sketching tasks based on established visuomotor, graphomotor, and handwriting research. The framework’s development is accompanied by an extensive open source reference implementation targeting the Unity game engine using an Oculus Rift S headset and Oculus Touch controllers. The development compares three low-cost and low-tech options to equip controllers with a tip and includes a web browser-based surface providing support for interacting, handwriting, and sketching. The evaluation of the reference implementation based on the OTSS framework identified an average stylus precision of 0.98 mm (SD = 0.54 mm) and an average surface accuracy of 0.60 mm (SD = 0.32 mm) in a seated VR environment. The time for displaying the stylus movement as digital ink on the web browser surface in VR was 79.40 ms on average (SD = 23.26 ms), including the physical controller’s motion-to-photon latency visualized by its virtual representation (M = 42.57 ms, SD = 15.70 ms). The usability evaluation (N = 10) revealed a low task load, high usability, and high user experience. Participants successfully reproduced given shapes and created legible handwriting, indicating that the OTSS and it’s reference implementation is ready for everyday use. We provide source code access to our implementation, including stylus and surface calibration and surface interaction features, making it easy to reuse, extend, adapt and/or replicate previous results (https://go.uniwue.de/hci-otss). KW - virtual reality KW - augmented reality KW - handwriting KW - sketching KW - stylus KW - user interaction KW - usability evaluation KW - passive haptic feedback Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260219 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Madeira, Octavia A1 - Gromer, Daniel A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich A1 - Pauli, Paul T1 - Effects of Acrophobic Fear and Trait Anxiety on Human Behavior in a Virtual Elevated Plus-Maze JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - The Elevated Plus-Maze (EPM) is a well-established apparatus to measure anxiety in rodents, i.e., animals exhibiting an increased relative time spent in the closed vs. the open arms are considered anxious. To examine whether such anxiety-modulated behaviors are conserved in humans, we re-translated this paradigm to a human setting using virtual reality in a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) system. In two studies, we examined whether the EPM exploration behavior of humans is modulated by their trait anxiety and also assessed the individuals’ levels of acrophobia (fear of height), claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), sensation seeking, and the reported anxiety when on the maze. First, we constructed an exact virtual copy of the animal EPM adjusted to human proportions. In analogy to animal EPM studies, participants (N = 30) freely explored the EPM for 5 min. In the second study (N = 61), we redesigned the EPM to make it more human-adapted and to differentiate influences of trait anxiety and acrophobia by introducing various floor textures and lower walls of closed arms to the height of standard handrails. In the first experiment, hierarchical regression analyses of exploration behavior revealed the expected association between open arm avoidance and Trait Anxiety, an even stronger association with acrophobic fear. In the second study, results revealed that acrophobia was associated with avoidance of open arms with mesh-floor texture, whereas for trait anxiety, claustrophobia, and sensation seeking, no effect was detected. Also, subjects’ fear rating was moderated by all psychometrics but trait anxiety. In sum, both studies consistently indicate that humans show no general open arm avoidance analogous to rodents and that human EPM behavior is modulated strongest by acrophobic fear, whereas trait anxiety plays a subordinate role. Thus, we conclude that the criteria for cross-species validity are met insufficiently in this case. Despite the exploratory nature, our studies provide in-depth insights into human exploration behavior on the virtual EPM. KW - elevated plus-maze KW - EPM KW - anxiety KW - virtual reality KW - translational neuroscience KW - acrophobia KW - trait anxiety Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258709 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oberdörfer, Sebastian A1 - Heidrich, David A1 - Birnstiel, Sandra A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Enchanted by Your Surrounding? Measuring the Effects of Immersion and Design of Virtual Environments on Decision-Making JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Impaired decision-making leads to the inability to distinguish between advantageous and disadvantageous choices. The impairment of a person’s decision-making is a common goal of gambling games. Given the recent trend of gambling using immersive Virtual Reality it is crucial to investigate the effects of both immersion and the virtual environment (VE) on decision-making. In a novel user study, we measured decision-making using three virtual versions of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). The versions differed with regard to the degree of immersion and design of the virtual environment. While emotions affect decision-making, we further measured the positive and negative affect of participants. A higher visual angle on a stimulus leads to an increased emotional response. Thus, we kept the visual angle on the Iowa Gambling Task the same between our conditions. Our results revealed no significant impact of immersion or the VE on the IGT. We further found no significant difference between the conditions with regard to positive and negative affect. This suggests that neither the medium used nor the design of the VE causes an impairment of decision-making. However, in combination with a recent study, we provide first evidence that a higher visual angle on the IGT leads to an effect of impairment. KW - virtual reality KW - virtual environments KW - immersion KW - decision-making KW - iowa gambling task Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260101 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Winter, Carla A1 - Kern, Florian A1 - Gall, Dominik A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich A1 - Pauli, Paul A1 - Käthner, Ivo T1 - Immersive virtual reality during gait rehabilitation increases walking speed and motivation: a usability evaluation with healthy participants and individuals with multiple sclerosis and stroke JF - Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation N2 - Background: The rehabilitation of gait disorders in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and stroke is often based on conventional treadmill training. Virtual reality (VR)-based treadmill training can increase motivation and improve therapy outcomes. The present study evaluated an immersive virtual reality application (using a head-mounted display, HMD) for gait rehabilitation with patients to (1) demonstrate its feasibility and acceptance and to (2) compare its short-term effects to a semi-immersive presentation (using a monitor) and a conventional treadmill training without VR to assess the usability of both systems and estimate the effects on walking speed and motivation. Methods: In a within-subjects study design, 36 healthy participants and 14 persons with MS or stroke participated in each of the three experimental conditions (VR via HMD, VR via monitor, treadmill training without VR). Results: For both groups, the walking speed in the HMD condition was higher than in treadmill training without VR and in the monitor condition. Healthy participants reported a higher motivation after the HMD condition as compared with the other conditions. Importantly, no side effects in the sense of simulator sickness occurred and usability ratings were high. No increases in heart rate were observed following the VR conditions. Presence ratings were higher for the HMD condition compared with the monitor condition for both user groups. Most of the healthy study participants (89%) and patients (71%) preferred the HMD-based training among the three conditions and most patients could imagine using it more frequently. Conclusions For the first time, the present study evaluated the usability of an immersive VR system for gait rehabilitation in a direct comparison with a semi-immersive system and a conventional training without VR with healthy participants and patients. The study demonstrated the feasibility of combining a treadmill training with immersive VR. Due to its high usability and low side effects, it might be particularly suited for patients to improve training motivation and training outcome e. g. the walking speed compared with treadmill training using no or only semi-immersive VR. Immersive VR systems still require specific technical setup procedures. This should be taken into account for specific clinical use-cases during a cost-benefit assessment. KW - rehabilitation KW - gait disorder KW - virtual reality KW - multiple sclerosis KW - stroke KW - head-mounted display KW - motivation Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258698 SN - 1743-0003 VL - 18 IS - 1 ER - TY - THES A1 - Roth, Daniel T1 - Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Hybrid Interactions in Virtual Reality T1 - Intrapersonelle, Interpersonelle und Hybride Interaktionen in Virtual Reality N2 - Virtual reality and related media and communication technologies have a growing impact on professional application fields and our daily life. Virtual environments have the potential to change the way we perceive ourselves and how we interact with others. In comparison to other technologies, virtual reality allows for the convincing display of a virtual self-representation, an avatar, to oneself and also to others. This is referred to as user embodiment. Avatars can be of varying realism and abstraction in their appearance and in the behaviors they convey. Such userembodying interfaces, in turn, can impact the perception of the self as well as the perception of interactions. For researchers, designers, and developers it is of particular interest to understand these perceptual impacts, to apply them to therapy, assistive applications, social platforms, or games, for example. The present thesis investigates and relates these impacts with regard to three areas: intrapersonal effects, interpersonal effects, and effects of social augmentations provided by the simulation. With regard to intrapersonal effects, we specifically explore which simulation properties impact the illusion of owning and controlling a virtual body, as well as a perceived change in body schema. Our studies lead to the construction of an instrument to measure these dimensions and our results indicate that these dimensions are especially affected by the level of immersion, the simulation latency, as well as the level of personalization of the avatar. With regard to interpersonal effects we compare physical and user-embodied social interactions, as well as different degrees of freedom in the replication of nonverbal behavior. Our results suggest that functional levels of interaction are maintained, whereas aspects of presence can be affected by avatar-mediated interactions, and collaborative motor coordination can be disturbed by immersive simulations. Social interaction is composed of many unknown symbols and harmonic patterns that define our understanding and interpersonal rapport. For successful virtual social interactions, a mere replication of physical world behaviors to virtual environments may seem feasible. However, the potential of mediated social interactions goes beyond this mere replication. In a third vein of research, we propose and evaluate alternative concepts on how computers can be used to actively engage in mediating social interactions, namely hybrid avatar-agent technologies. Specifically, we investigated the possibilities to augment social behaviors by modifying and transforming user input according to social phenomena and behavior, such as nonverbal mimicry, directed gaze, joint attention, and grouping. Based on our results we argue that such technologies could be beneficial for computer-mediated social interactions such as to compensate for lacking sensory input and disturbances in data transmission or to increase aspects of social presence by visual substitution or amplification of social behaviors. Based on related work and presented findings, the present thesis proposes the perspective of considering computers as social mediators. Concluding from prototypes and empirical studies, the potential of technology to be an active mediator of social perception with regard to the perception of the self, as well as the perception of social interactions may benefit our society by enabling further methods for diagnosis, treatment, and training, as well as the inclusion of individuals with social disorders. To this regard, we discuss implications for our society and ethical aspects. This thesis extends previous empirical work and further presents novel instruments, concepts, and implications to open up new perspectives for the development of virtual reality, mixed reality, and augmented reality applications. N2 - Virtual Reality und weitere Medien- und Kommunikationstechnologien haben einen wachsenden Einfluss auf professionelle Anwendungsbereiche und unseren Alltag. Virtuelle Umgebungen haben das Potenzial, Einfluss darauf zu nehmen, wie Mensche sich selbst wahrnehmen und wie sie mit anderen umgehen. Im Vergleich zu anderen Technologien ermöglicht Virtual Reality die überzeugende Visualisierung einer virtuellen Selbstdarstellung, eines Avatars, sichtbar für den Nutzer/die Nutzerin selbst aber auch für andere. Dies bezeichnet man als Nutzerverk¨orperung. Avatare können von unterschiedlichem Realismus und Abstraktion in Bezug auf ihr Aussehen sowie der Darstellung von Verhaltensweisen geprägt sein. Solche nutzerverkörpernde Schnittstellen wiederum können die Wahrnehmung des Selbst sowie die Wahrnehmung von Interaktionen beeinflussen. Für Forscher/-innen, Designer/-innen und Entwickler/-innen ist es von besonderem Interesse, diese Wahrnehmungseffekte zu verstehen, um sie beispielsweise auf Therapie, assistive Anwendungen, soziale Plattformen oder Spiele anzuwenden. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht und bezieht sich auf diese Auswirkungen in drei Bereichen: intrapersonelle Effekte, zwischenmenschliche Effekte sowie Effekte durch soziale Augmentierungen, die durch die Simulation bereitgestellt werden. Im Hinblick auf intrapersonelle Effekte widmet sich die vorliegende Arbeit insbesondere der Frage, welche Simulationseigenschaften die Illusion des Besitzens/Innehabens und der Kontrolle eines virtuellen Körpers sowie eine wahrgenommene Veränderung des Körperschemas beeinflussen. Die vorgestellten Studien führen zur Konstruktion eines Instruments zur Erfassung dieser Dimensionen und die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die empfundene Verkörperung besonders von dem Grad der Immersion, der Simulationslatenz sowie dem Grad der Personalisierung des Avatars abhängt. Im Hinblick auf zwischenmenschliche Effekte vergleicht diese Dissertation physische (realweltliche) und virtuelle soziale Interaktionen sowie unterschiedliche Freiheitsgrade in der Replikation nonverbalen Verhaltens. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die funktionalen Ebenen der Interaktion aufrechterhalten werden, während Aspekte der Präsenz durch avatarvermittelte Interaktionen beeinflusst werden und die kollaborative motorische Koordination durch immersive Simulationen gestört werden kann. Die soziale Interaktion besteht aus vielen unbekannten Symbolen und harmonischen Mustern, die das menschliche Verst¨andnis und zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen definieren. Für erfolgreiche virtuelle soziale Interaktionen mag eine bloße Replikation von physikalischenWeltverhaltensweisen auf virtuelle Umgebungen m¨oglich erscheinen. Das Potenzial computervermittelter sozialer Interaktionen geht jedoch über diese bloße Replikation hinaus. Im dritten Bereich dieser Arbeit werden alternative Konzepte vorgeschlagen und evaluiert, wie Computer genutzt werden können, um eine aktive Rolle in sozialen Interaktionen einzunehmen. Diese Technologien werden als hybride Avatar-Agenten-Technologien definiert. Insbesondere wird untersucht, welche Möglichkeiten das soziale Verhalten zu erweitern emtstehen, indem die Verhaltensweisen der Benutzer/-innen entsprechend sozialer Ph¨anomene und Verhaltensweisen modifiziert und transformiert werden. Beispiele sind die nonverbale Spiegelung, der Fokus des Blicks, eine gemeinsame Aufmerksamkeit und die Gruppenbildung. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen argumentiert diese Arbeit, dass solche Technologien für computervermittelte soziale Interaktionen von Vorteil sein könnten, beispielsweise zum Ausgleich fehlender Sensorik, Störungen bei der Datenübertragung oder zur Verbesserung sozialer Präsenz durch visuelle Substitution oder Verstärkung des sozialen Verhaltens. Basierend auf verwandten Arbeiten und präsentierten Ergebnissen wird abgeleitet, dass Computer als soziale Mediatoren fungieren können. Ausgehend von Prototypen und empirischen Studien kann das Potenzial der Technologie, ein aktiver Vermittler in Bezug auf dieWahrnehmung des Selbst sowie dieWahrnehmung sozialer Interaktionen zu sein, unserer Gesellschaft zugutekommen. Dadurch können beispielsweise weitere Methoden zur Diagnose, der Behandlung und Ausbildung sowie der Inklusion von Menschen mit sozialen Störungen ermöglicht werden. In diesem Zusammenhang werden die Auswirkungen auf unsere Gesellschaft und ethische Aspekte diskutiert. Diese Arbeit erweitert frühere empirische Arbeiten und präasentiert darüber hinaus neue Instrumente, Konzepte und Implikationen, um neue Perspektiven für die Entwicklung von Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality und Augmented Reality Anwendungen zu beleuchten. KW - Virtuelle Realität KW - Mensch-Maschine-Kommunikation KW - virtual embodiment KW - virtual social interaction KW - hybrid avatar-agent systems KW - collaborative interaction KW - avatars KW - virtual reality KW - augmented reality KW - social artificial intelligence KW - Avatar KW - Künstliche Intelligenz Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-188627 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stauffert, Jan-Philipp A1 - Niebling, Florian A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Latency and Cybersickness: Impact, Causes, and Measures. A Review JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Latency is a key characteristic inherent to any computer system. Motion-to-Photon (MTP) latency describes the time between the movement of a tracked object and its corresponding movement rendered and depicted by computer-generated images on a graphical output screen. High MTP latency can cause a loss of performance in interactive graphics applications and, even worse, can provoke cybersickness in Virtual Reality (VR) applications. Here, cybersickness can degrade VR experiences or may render the experiences completely unusable. It can confound research findings of an otherwise sound experiment. Latency as a contributing factor to cybersickness needs to be properly understood. Its effects need to be analyzed, its sources need to be identified, good measurement methods need to be developed, and proper counter measures need to be developed in order to reduce potentially harmful impacts of latency on the usability and safety of VR systems. Research shows that latency can exhibit intricate timing patterns with various spiking and periodic behavior. These timing behaviors may vary, yet most are found to provoke cybersickness. Overall, latency can differ drastically between different systems interfering with generalization of measurement results. This review article describes the causes and effects of latency with regard to cybersickness. We report on different existing approaches to measure and report latency. Hence, the article provides readers with the knowledge to understand and report latency for their own applications, evaluations, and experiments. It should also help to measure, identify, and finally control and counteract latency and hence gain confidence into the soundness of empirical data collected by VR exposures. Low latency increases the usability and safety of VR systems. KW - virtual reality KW - latency KW - cybersickness KW - jitter KW - simulator sickness Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236133 VL - 1 ER -