TY - JOUR A1 - Kammerer, Klaus A1 - Göster, Manuel A1 - Reichert, Manfred A1 - Pryss, Rüdiger T1 - Ambalytics: a scalable and distributed system architecture concept for bibliometric network analyses JF - Future Internet N2 - A deep understanding about a field of research is valuable for academic researchers. In addition to technical knowledge, this includes knowledge about subareas, open research questions, and social communities (networks) of individuals and organizations within a given field. With bibliometric analyses, researchers can acquire quantitatively valuable knowledge about a research area by using bibliographic information on academic publications provided by bibliographic data providers. Bibliometric analyses include the calculation of bibliometric networks to describe affiliations or similarities of bibliometric entities (e.g., authors) and group them into clusters representing subareas or communities. Calculating and visualizing bibliometric networks is a nontrivial and time-consuming data science task that requires highly skilled individuals. In addition to domain knowledge, researchers must often provide statistical knowledge and programming skills or use software tools having limited functionality and usability. In this paper, we present the ambalytics bibliometric platform, which reduces the complexity of bibliometric network analysis and the visualization of results. It accompanies users through the process of bibliometric analysis and eliminates the need for individuals to have programming skills and statistical knowledge, while preserving advanced functionality, such as algorithm parameterization, for experts. As a proof-of-concept, and as an example of bibliometric analyses outcomes, the calculation of research fronts networks based on a hybrid similarity approach is shown. Being designed to scale, ambalytics makes use of distributed systems concepts and technologies. It is based on the microservice architecture concept and uses the Kubernetes framework for orchestration. This paper presents the initial building block of a comprehensive bibliometric analysis platform called ambalytics, which aims at a high usability for users as well as scalability. KW - system architecture design KW - bibliometric analysis KW - community detection Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-244916 SN - 1999-5903 VL - 13 IS - 8 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 - Nagler, Matthias A1 - Nägele, Thomas A1 - Gilli, Christian A1 - Fragner, Lena A1 - Korte, Arthur A1 - Platzer, Alexander A1 - Farlow, Ashley A1 - Nordborg, Magnus A1 - Weckwerth, Wolfram T1 - Eco-Metabolomics and Metabolic Modeling: Making the Leap From Model Systems in the Lab to Native Populations in the Field JF - Frontiers in Plant Science N2 - Experimental high-throughput analysis of molecular networks is a central approach to characterize the adaptation of plant metabolism to the environment. However, recent studies have demonstrated that it is hardly possible to predict in situ metabolic phenotypes from experiments under controlled conditions, such as growth chambers or greenhouses. This is particularly due to the high molecular variance of in situ samples induced by environmental fluctuations. An approach of functional metabolome interpretation of field samples would be desirable in order to be able to identify and trace back the impact of environmental changes on plant metabolism. To test the applicability of metabolomics studies for a characterization of plant populations in the field, we have identified and analyzed in situ samples of nearby grown natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana in Austria. A. thaliana is the primary molecular biological model system in plant biology with one of the best functionally annotated genomes representing a reference system for all other plant genome projects. The genomes of these novel natural populations were sequenced and phylogenetically compared to a comprehensive genome database of A. thaliana ecotypes. Experimental results on primary and secondary metabolite profiling and genotypic variation were functionally integrated by a data mining strategy, which combines statistical output of metabolomics data with genome-derived biochemical pathway reconstruction and metabolic modeling. Correlations of biochemical model predictions and population-specific genetic variation indicated varying strategies of metabolic regulation on a population level which enabled the direct comparison, differentiation, and prediction of metabolic adaptation of the same species to different habitats. These differences were most pronounced at organic and amino acid metabolism as well as at the interface of primary and secondary metabolism and allowed for the direct classification of population-specific metabolic phenotypes within geographically contiguous sampling sites. KW - eco-metabolomics KW - in situ analysis KW - metabolomics KW - metabolic modeling KW - SNP KW - natural variation KW - Jacobian matrix KW - green systems biology Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-189560 SN - 1664-462X VL - 9 IS - 1556 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Petschke, Danny A1 - Staab, Torsten E.M. T1 - DLTPulseGenerator: a library for the simulation of lifetime spectra based on detector-output pulses JF - SoftwareX N2 - The quantitative analysis of lifetime spectra relevant in both life and materials sciences presents one of the ill-posed inverse problems and, hence, leads to most stringent requirements on the hardware specifications and the analysis algorithms. Here we present DLTPulseGenerator, a library written in native C++ 11, which provides a simulation of lifetime spectra according to the measurement setup. The simulation is based on pairs of non-TTL detector output-pulses. Those pulses require the Constant Fraction Principle (CFD) for the determination of the exact timing signal and, thus, the calculation of the time difference i.e. the lifetime. To verify the functionality, simulation results were compared to experimentally obtained data using Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS) on pure tin. KW - lifetime spectroscopy KW - signal processing KW - pulse simulation Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-176883 VL - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Osmanoglu, Özge A1 - Khaled AlSeiari, Mariam A1 - AlKhoori, Hasa Abduljaleel A1 - Shams, Shabana A1 - Bencurova, Elena A1 - Dandekar, Thomas A1 - Naseem, Muhammad T1 - Topological Analysis of the Carbon-Concentrating CETCH Cycle and a Photorespiratory Bypass Reveals Boosted CO\(_2\)-Sequestration by Plants JF - Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology N2 - Synthetically designed alternative photorespiratory pathways increase the biomass of tobacco and rice plants. Likewise, some in planta–tested synthetic carbon-concentrating cycles (CCCs) hold promise to increase plant biomass while diminishing atmospheric carbon dioxide burden. Taking these individual contributions into account, we hypothesize that the integration of bypasses and CCCs will further increase plant productivity. To test this in silico, we reconstructed a metabolic model by integrating photorespiration and photosynthesis with the synthetically designed alternative pathway 3 (AP3) enzymes and transporters. We calculated fluxes of the native plant system and those of AP3 combined with the inhibition of the glycolate/glycerate transporter by using the YANAsquare package. The activity values corresponding to each enzyme in photosynthesis, photorespiration, and for synthetically designed alternative pathways were estimated. Next, we modeled the effect of the crotonyl-CoA/ethylmalonyl-CoA/hydroxybutyryl-CoA cycle (CETCH), which is a set of natural and synthetically designed enzymes that fix CO₂ manifold more than the native Calvin–Benson–Bassham (CBB) cycle. We compared estimated fluxes across various pathways in the native model and under an introduced CETCH cycle. Moreover, we combined CETCH and AP3-w/plgg1RNAi, and calculated the fluxes. We anticipate higher carbon dioxide–harvesting potential in plants with an AP3 bypass and CETCH–AP3 combination. We discuss the in vivo implementation of these strategies for the improvement of C3 plants and in natural high carbon harvesters. KW - CO2-sequestration KW - photorespiration KW - elementary modes KW - synthetic pathways KW - carboxylation KW - metabolic modeling KW - CETCH cycle Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-249260 SN - 2296-4185 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - von Mammen, Sebastian Albrecht A1 - Wagner, Daniel A1 - Knote, Andreas A1 - Taskin, Umut T1 - Interactive simulations of biohybrid systems JF - Frontiers in Robotics and AI N2 - In this article, we present approaches to interactive simulations of biohybrid systems. These simulations are comprised of two major computational components: (1) agent-based developmental models that retrace organismal growth and unfolding of technical scaffoldings and (2) interfaces to explore these models interactively. Simulations of biohybrid systems allow us to fast forward and experience their evolution over time based on our design decisions involving the choice, configuration and initial states of the deployed biological and robotic actors as well as their interplay with the environment. We briefly introduce the concept of swarm grammars, an agent-based extension of L-systems for retracing growth processes and structural artifacts. Next, we review an early augmented reality prototype for designing and projecting biohybrid system simulations into real space. In addition to models that retrace plant behaviors, we specify swarm grammar agents to braid structures in a self-organizing manner. Based on this model, both robotic and plant-driven braiding processes can be experienced and explored in virtual worlds. We present an according user interface for use in virtual reality. As we present interactive models concerning rather diverse description levels, we only ensured their principal capacity for interaction but did not consider efficiency analyzes beyond prototypic operation. We conclude this article with an outlook on future works on melding reality and virtuality to drive the design and deployment of biohybrid systems. KW - biohybrid systems KW - augmented reality KW - virtual reality KW - user interfaces KW - biological development KW - generative systems Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-195755 SN - 2296-9144 VL - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Appel, Mirjam A1 - Scholz, Claus-Jürgen A1 - Müller, Tobias A1 - Dittrich, Marcus A1 - König, Christian A1 - Bockstaller, Marie A1 - Oguz, Tuba A1 - Khalili, Afshin A1 - Antwi-Adjei, Emmanuel A1 - Schauer, Tamas A1 - Margulies, Carla A1 - Tanimoto, Hiromu A1 - Yarali, Ayse T1 - Genome-Wide Association Analyses Point to Candidate Genes for Electric Shock Avoidance in Drosophila melanogaster JF - PLoS ONE N2 - Electric shock is a common stimulus for nociception-research and the most widely used reinforcement in aversive associative learning experiments. Yet, nothing is known about the mechanisms it recruits at the periphery. To help fill this gap, we undertook a genome-wide association analysis using 38 inbred Drosophila melanogaster strains, which avoided shock to varying extents. We identified 514 genes whose expression levels and/or sequences covaried with shock avoidance scores. We independently scrutinized 14 of these genes using mutants, validating the effect of 7 of them on shock avoidance. This emphasizes the value of our candidate gene list as a guide for follow-up research. In addition, by integrating our association results with external protein-protein interaction data we obtained a shock avoidance- associated network of 38 genes. Both this network and the original candidate list contained a substantial number of genes that affect mechanosensory bristles, which are hairlike organs distributed across the fly's body. These results may point to a potential role for mechanosensory bristles in shock sensation. Thus, we not only provide a first list of candidate genes for shock avoidance, but also point to an interesting new hypothesis on nociceptive mechanisms. KW - functional analysis KW - disruption project KW - natural variation KW - complex traits KW - networks KW - behavior KW - flies KW - temperature KW - genetics KW - painful Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-152006 VL - 10 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fisseler, Denis A1 - Müller, Gerfrid G. W. A1 - Weichert, Frank T1 - Web-Based scientific exploration and analysis of 3D scanned cuneiform datasets for collaborative research JF - Informatics N2 - The three-dimensional cuneiform script is one of the oldest known writing systems and a central object of research in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Hittitology. An important step towards the understanding of the cuneiform script is the provision of opportunities and tools for joint analysis. This paper presents an approach that contributes to this challenge: a collaborative compatible web-based scientific exploration and analysis of 3D scanned cuneiform fragments. The WebGL -based concept incorporates methods for compressed web-based content delivery of large 3D datasets and high quality visualization. To maximize accessibility and to promote acceptance of 3D techniques in the field of Hittitology, the introduced concept is integrated into the Hethitologie-Portal Mainz, an established leading online research resource in the field of Hittitology, which until now exclusively included 2D content. The paper shows that increasing the availability of 3D scanned archaeological data through a web-based interface can provide significant scientific value while at the same time finding a trade-off between copyright induced restrictions and scientific usability. KW - cuneiform KW - 3D viewer KW - WebGL KW - Hittitology KW - 3D collation Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-197958 SN - 2227-9709 VL - 4 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Petschke, Danny A1 - Staab, Torsten E.M. T1 - DDRS4PALS: a software for the acquisition and simulation of lifetime spectra using the DRS4 evaluation board JF - SoftwareX N2 - Lifetime techniques are applied to diverse fields of study including materials sciences, semiconductor physics, biology, molecular biophysics and photochemistry. Here we present DDRS4PALS, a software for the acquisition and simulation of lifetime spectra using the DRS4 evaluation board (Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland) for time resolved measurements and digitization of detector output pulses. Artifact afflicted pulses can be corrected or rejected prior to the lifetime calculation to provide the generation of high-quality lifetime spectra, which are crucial for a profound analysis, i.e. the decomposition of the true information. Moreover, the pulses can be streamed on an (external) hard drive during the measurement and subsequently downloaded in the offline mode without being connected to the hardware. This allows the generation of various lifetime spectra at different configurations from one single measurement and, hence, a meaningful comparison in terms of analyzability and quality. Parallel processing and an integrated JavaScript based language provide convenient options to accelerate and automate time consuming processes such as lifetime spectra simulations. KW - Lifetime spectroscopy KW - Positron annihilation spectroscopy KW - Simulation KW - Time resolved measurements Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202276 VL - 10 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Davies, Richard A1 - Dewell, Nathan A1 - Harvey, Carlo T1 - A framework for interactive, autonomous and semantic dialogue generation in games T2 - Proceedings of the 1st Games Technology Summit N2 - Immersive virtual environments provide users with the opportunity to escape from the real world, but scripted dialogues can disrupt the presence within the world the user is trying to escape within. Both Non-Playable Character (NPC) to Player and NPC to NPC dialogue can be non-natural and the reliance on responding with pre-defined dialogue does not always meet the players emotional expectations or provide responses appropriate to the given context or world states. This paper investigates the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing to generate dynamic human-like responses within a themed virtual world. Each thematic has been analysed against humangenerated responses for the same seed and demonstrates invariance of rating across a range of model sizes, but shows an effect of theme and the size of the corpus used for fine-tuning the context for the game world. KW - natural language processing · · · KW - interactive authoring system KW - semantic understanding KW - artificial intelligence Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-246023 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Sanusi, Khaleel Asyraaf Mat A1 - Klemke, Roland T1 - Immersive Multimodal Environments for Psychomotor Skills Training T2 - Proceedings of the 1st Games Technology Summit N2 - Modern immersive multimodal technologies enable the learners to completely get immersed in various learning situations in a way that feels like experiencing an authentic learning environment. These environments also allow the collection of multimodal data, which can be used with artificial intelligence to further improve the immersion and learning outcomes. The use of artificial intelligence has been widely explored for the interpretation of multimodal data collected from multiple sensors, thus giving insights to support learners’ performance by providing personalised feedback. In this paper, we present a conceptual approach for creating immersive learning environments, integrated with multi-sensor setup to help learners improve their psychomotor skills in a remote setting. KW - immersive learning technologies KW - multimodal learning KW - sensor devices KW - artificial intelligence KW - psychomotor training Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-246016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Nogatz, Falco T1 - Defining and Implementing Domain-Specific Languages with Prolog T1 - Definition und Implementierung domänenspezifischer Sprachen mit Prolog N2 - The landscape of today’s programming languages is manifold. With the diversity of applications, the difficulty of adequately addressing and specifying the used programs increases. This often leads to newly designed and implemented domain-specific languages. They enable domain experts to express knowledge in their preferred format, resulting in more readable and concise programs. Due to its flexible and declarative syntax without reserved keywords, the logic programming language Prolog is particularly suitable for defining and embedding domain-specific languages. This thesis addresses the questions and challenges that arise when integrating domain-specific languages into Prolog. We compare the two approaches to define them either externally or internally, and provide assisting tools for each. The grammar of a formal language is usually defined in the extended Backus–Naur form. In this work, we handle this formalism as a domain-specific language in Prolog, and define term expansions that allow to translate it into equivalent definite clause grammars. We present the package library(dcg4pt) for SWI-Prolog, which enriches them by an additional argument to automatically process the term’s corresponding parse tree. To simplify the work with definite clause grammars, we visualise their application by a web-based tracer. The external integration of domain-specific languages requires the programmer to keep the grammar, parser, and interpreter in sync. In many cases, domain-specific languages can instead be directly embedded into Prolog by providing appropriate operator definitions. In addition, we propose syntactic extensions for Prolog to expand its expressiveness, for instance to state logic formulas with their connectives verbatim. This allows to use all tools that were originally written for Prolog, for instance code linters and editors with syntax highlighting. We present the package library(plammar), a standard-compliant parser for Prolog source code, written in Prolog. It is able to automatically infer from example sentences the required operator definitions with their classes and precedences as well as the required Prolog language extensions. As a result, we can automatically answer the question: Is it possible to model these example sentences as valid Prolog clauses, and how? We discuss and apply the two approaches to internal and external integrations for several domain-specific languages, namely the extended Backus–Naur form, GraphQL, XPath, and a controlled natural language to represent expert rules in if-then form. The created toolchain with library(dcg4pt) and library(plammar) yields new application opportunities for static Prolog source code analysis, which we also present. N2 - Die Landschaft der heutigen Programmiersprachen ist vielfältig. Mit ihren unterschiedlichen Anwendungsbereichen steigt zugleich die Schwierigkeit, die eingesetzten Programme adäquat anzusprechen und zu spezifizieren. Immer häufiger werden hierfür domänenspezifische Sprachen entworfen und implementiert. Sie ermöglichen Domänenexperten, Wissen in ihrem bevorzugten Format auszudrücken, was zu lesbareren Programmen führt. Durch ihre flexible und deklarative Syntax ohne vorbelegte Schlüsselwörter ist die logische Programmsprache Prolog besonders geeignet, um domänenspezifische Sprachen zu definieren und einzubetten. Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit den Fragen und Herausforderungen, die sich bei der Integration von domänenspezifischen Sprachen in Prolog ergeben. Wir vergleichen die zwei Ansätze, sie entweder extern oder intern zu definieren, und stellen jeweils Hilfsmittel zur Verfügung. Die Grammatik einer formalen Sprache wird häufig in der erweiterten Backus–Naur–Form definiert. Diesen Formalismus behandeln wir in dieser Arbeit als eine domänenspezifische Sprache in Prolog und definieren Termexpansionen, die es erlauben, ihn in äquivalente Definite Clause Grammars für Prolog zu übersetzen. Durch das Modul library(dcg4pt) werden sie um ein zusätzliches Argument erweitert, das den Syntaxbaum eines Terms automatisch erzeugt. Um die Arbeit mit Definite Clause Grammars zu erleichtern, visualisieren wir ihre Anwendung in einem webbasierten Tracer. Meist können domänenspezifische Sprachen jedoch auch mittels passender Operatordefinitionen direkt in Prolog eingebettet werden. Dies ermöglicht die Verwendung aller Werkzeuge, die ursprünglich für Prolog geschrieben wurden, z.B. zum Code-Linting und Syntax-Highlighting. In dieser Arbeit stellen wir den standardkonformen Prolog-Parser library(plammar) vor. Er ist in Prolog geschrieben und in der Lage, aus Beispielsätzen automatisch die erforderlichen Operatoren mit ihren Klassen und Präzedenzen abzuleiten. Um die Ausdruckskraft von Prolog noch zu erweitern, schlagen wir Ergänzungen zum ISO Standard vor. Sie erlauben es, weitere Sprachen direkt einzubinden, und werden ebenfalls von library(plammar) identifiziert. So ist es bspw. möglich, logische Formeln direkt mit den bekannten Symbolen für Konjunktion, Disjunktion, usw. als Prolog-Programme anzugeben. Beide Ansätze der internen und externen Integration werden für mehrere domänen-spezifische Sprachen diskutiert und beispielhaft für GraphQL, XPath, die erweiterte Backus–Naur–Form sowie Expertenregeln in Wenn–Dann–Form umgesetzt. Die vorgestellten Werkzeuge um library(dcg4pt) und library(plammar) ergeben zudem neue Anwendungsmöglichkeiten auch für die statische Quellcodeanalyse von Prolog-Programmen. KW - PROLOG KW - Domänenspezifische Sprache KW - logic programming KW - knowledge representation KW - definite clause grammars Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301872 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Loh, Frank A1 - Geißler, Stefan A1 - Hoßfeld, Tobias T1 - LoRaWAN Network Planning in Smart Environments: Towards Reliability, Scalability, and Cost Reduction T2 - Würzburg Workshop on Next-Generation Communication Networks (WueWoWas'22) N2 - The goal in this work is to present a guidance for LoRaWAN planning to improve overall reliability for message transmissions and scalability. At the end, the cost component is discussed. Therefore, a five step approach is presented that helps to plan a LoRaWAN deployment step by step: Based on the device locations, an initial gateway placement is suggested followed by in-depth frequency and channel access planning. After an initial planning phase, updates for channel access and the initial gateway planning is suggested that should also be done periodically during network operation. Since current gateway placement approaches are only studied with random channel access, there is a lot of potential in the cell planning phase. Furthermore, the performance of different channel access approaches is highly related on network load, and thus cell size and sensor density. Last, the influence of different cell planning ideas on expected costs are discussed. KW - Datennetz KW - LoRaWan Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-280829 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Loh, Frank A1 - Mehling, Noah A1 - Hoßfeld, Tobias T1 - Towards LoRaWAN without data loss: studying the performance of different channel access approaches JF - Sensors N2 - The Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) is one of the fastest growing Internet of Things (IoT) access protocols. It operates in the license free 868 MHz band and gives everyone the possibility to create their own small sensor networks. The drawback of this technology is often unscheduled or random channel access, which leads to message collisions and potential data loss. For that reason, recent literature studies alternative approaches for LoRaWAN channel access. In this work, state-of-the-art random channel access is compared with alternative approaches from the literature by means of collision probability. Furthermore, a time scheduled channel access methodology is presented to completely avoid collisions in LoRaWAN. For this approach, an exhaustive simulation study was conducted and the performance was evaluated with random access cross-traffic. In a general theoretical analysis the limits of the time scheduled approach are discussed to comply with duty cycle regulations in LoRaWAN. KW - LoRaWAN KW - IoT KW - channel management KW - scheduling KW - collision Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-302418 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 22 IS - 2 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 - Bartl, Andrea A1 - Wenninger, Stephan A1 - Wolf, Erik A1 - Botsch, Mario A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - Affordable but not cheap: a case study of the effects of two 3D-reconstruction methods of virtual humans JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Realistic and lifelike 3D-reconstruction of virtual humans has various exciting and important use cases. Our and others’ appearances have notable effects on ourselves and our interaction partners in virtual environments, e.g., on acceptance, preference, trust, believability, behavior (the Proteus effect), and more. Today, multiple approaches for the 3D-reconstruction of virtual humans exist. They significantly vary in terms of the degree of achievable realism, the technical complexities, and finally, the overall reconstruction costs involved. This article compares two 3D-reconstruction approaches with very different hardware requirements. The high-cost solution uses a typical complex and elaborated camera rig consisting of 94 digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras. The recently developed low-cost solution uses a smartphone camera to create videos that capture multiple views of a person. Both methods use photogrammetric reconstruction and template fitting with the same template model and differ in their adaptation to the method-specific input material. Each method generates high-quality virtual humans ready to be processed, animated, and rendered by standard XR simulation and game engines such as Unreal or Unity. We compare the results of the two 3D-reconstruction methods in an immersive virtual environment against each other in a user study. Our results indicate that the virtual humans from the low-cost approach are perceived similarly to those from the high-cost approach regarding the perceived similarity to the original, human-likeness, beauty, and uncanniness, despite significant differences in the objectively measured quality. The perceived feeling of change of the own body was higher for the low-cost virtual humans. Quality differences were perceived more strongly for one’s own body than for other virtual humans. KW - virtual humans KW - 3D-reconstruction methods KW - avatars KW - agents KW - user study Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260492 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Latoschik, Marc Erich T1 - eXtended Artificial Intelligence: New Prospects of Human-AI Interaction Research JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Artificial Intelligence (AI) covers a broad spectrum of computational problems and use cases. Many of those implicate profound and sometimes intricate questions of how humans interact or should interact with AIs. Moreover, many users or future users do have abstract ideas of what AI is, significantly depending on the specific embodiment of AI applications. Human-centered-design approaches would suggest evaluating the impact of different embodiments on human perception of and interaction with AI. An approach that is difficult to realize due to the sheer complexity of application fields and embodiments in reality. However, here XR opens new possibilities to research human-AI interactions. The article’s contribution is twofold: First, it provides a theoretical treatment and model of human-AI interaction based on an XR-AI continuum as a framework for and a perspective of different approaches of XR-AI combinations. It motivates XR-AI combinations as a method to learn about the effects of prospective human-AI interfaces and shows why the combination of XR and AI fruitfully contributes to a valid and systematic investigation of human-AI interactions and interfaces. Second, the article provides two exemplary experiments investigating the aforementioned approach for two distinct AI-systems. The first experiment reveals an interesting gender effect in human-robot interaction, while the second experiment reveals an Eliza effect of a recommender system. Here the article introduces two paradigmatic implementations of the proposed XR testbed for human-AI interactions and interfaces and shows how a valid and systematic investigation can be conducted. In sum, the article opens new perspectives on how XR benefits human-centered AI design and development. KW - human-artificial intelligence interface KW - human-artificial intelligence interaction KW - XR-artificial intelligence continuum KW - XR-artificial intelligence combination KW - research methods KW - human-centered, human-robot KW - recommender system Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260296 VL - 2 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Carolus, Astrid T1 - Development of an Instrument to Measure Conceptualizations and Competencies About Conversational Agents on the Example of Smart Speakers JF - Frontiers in Computer Science N2 - The concept of digital literacy has been introduced as a new cultural technique, which is regarded as essential for successful participation in a (future) digitized world. Regarding the increasing importance of AI, literacy concepts need to be extended to account for AI-related specifics. The easy handling of the systems results in increased usage, contrasting limited conceptualizations (e.g., imagination of future importance) and competencies (e.g., knowledge about functional principles). In reference to voice-based conversational agents as a concrete application of AI, the present paper aims for the development of a measurement to assess the conceptualizations and competencies about conversational agents. In a first step, a theoretical framework of “AI literacy” is transferred to the context of conversational agent literacy. Second, the “conversational agent literacy scale” (short CALS) is developed, constituting the first attempt to measure interindividual differences in the “(il) literate” usage of conversational agents. 29 items were derived, of which 170 participants answered. An explanatory factor analysis identified five factors leading to five subscales to assess CAL: storage and transfer of the smart speaker’s data input; smart speaker’s functional principles; smart speaker’s intelligent functions, learning abilities; smart speaker’s reach and potential; smart speaker’s technological (surrounding) infrastructure. Preliminary insights into construct validity and reliability of CALS showed satisfying results. Third, using the newly developed instrument, a student sample’s CAL was assessed, revealing intermediated values. Remarkably, owning a smart speaker did not lead to higher CAL scores, confirming our basic assumption that usage of systems does not guarantee enlightened conceptualizations and competencies. In sum, the paper contributes to the first insights into the operationalization and understanding of CAL as a specific subdomain of AI-related competencies. KW - artificial intelligence literacy KW - artificial intelligence education KW - voice-based artificial intelligence KW - conversational agents KW - measurement Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260198 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Reitelbach, Clemens A1 - Carolus, Astrid T1 - The Trustworthiness of Voice Assistants in the Context of Healthcare Investigating the Effect of Perceived Expertise on the Trustworthiness of Voice Assistants, Providers, Data Receivers, and Automatic Speech Recognition JF - Frontiers in Computer Science N2 - As an emerging market for voice assistants (VA), the healthcare sector imposes increasing requirements on the users’ trust in the technological system. To encourage patients to reveal sensitive data requires patients to trust in the technological counterpart. In an experimental laboratory study, participants were presented a VA, which was introduced as either a “specialist” or a “generalist” tool for sexual health. In both conditions, the VA asked the exact same health-related questions. Afterwards, participants assessed the trustworthiness of the tool and further source layers (provider, platform provider, automatic speech recognition in general, data receiver) and reported individual characteristics (disposition to trust and disclose sexual information). Results revealed that perceiving the VA as a specialist resulted in higher trustworthiness of the VA and of the provider, the platform provider and automatic speech recognition in general. Furthermore, the provider’s trustworthiness affected the perceived trustworthiness of the VA. Presenting both a theoretical line of reasoning and empirical data, the study points out the importance of the users’ perspective on the assistant. In sum, this paper argues for further analyses of trustworthiness in voice-based systems and its effects on the usage behavior as well as the impact on responsible design of future technology. KW - voice assistant KW - trustworthiness KW - trust KW - anamnesis tool KW - expertise framing (Min5-Max 8) Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260209 VL - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienrich, Carolin A1 - Komma, Philipp A1 - Vogt, Stephanie A1 - Latoschik, Marc E. T1 - Spatial Presence in Mixed Realities – Considerations About the Concept, Measures, Design, and Experiments JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Plenty of theories, models, measures, and investigations target the understanding of virtual presence, i.e., the sense of presence in immersive Virtual Reality (VR). Other varieties of the so-called eXtended Realities (XR), e.g., Augmented and Mixed Reality (AR and MR) incorporate immersive features to a lesser degree and continuously combine spatial cues from the real physical space and the simulated virtual space. This blurred separation questions the applicability of the accumulated knowledge about the similarities of virtual presence and presence occurring in other varieties of XR, and corresponding outcomes. The present work bridges this gap by analyzing the construct of presence in mixed realities (MR). To achieve this, the following presents (1) a short review of definitions, dimensions, and measurements of presence in VR, and (2) the state of the art views on MR. Additionally, we (3) derived a working definition of MR, extending the Milgram continuum. This definition is based on entities reaching from real to virtual manifestations at one time point. Entities possess different degrees of referential power, determining the selection of the frame of reference. Furthermore, we (4) identified three research desiderata, including research questions about the frame of reference, the corresponding dimension of transportation, and the dimension of realism in MR. Mainly the relationship between the main aspects of virtual presence of immersive VR, i.e., the place-illusion, and the plausibility-illusion, and of the referential power of MR entities are discussed regarding the concept, measures, and design of presence in MR. Finally, (5) we suggested an experimental setup to reveal the research heuristic behind experiments investigating presence in MR. The present work contributes to the theories and the meaning of and approaches to simulate and measure presence in MR. We hypothesize that research about essential underlying factors determining user experience (UX) in MR simulations and experiences is still in its infancy and hopes this article provides an encouraging starting point to tackle related questions. KW - mixed reality KW - virtual-reality-continuum KW - spatial presence KW - place-illusion KW - plausibility-illusion KW - transportation KW - realism Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260328 VL - 2 ER -