Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (3)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (3)
Document Type
- Journal article (2)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Language
- English (3) (remove)
Keywords
- avatars (2)
- Avatar <Informatik> (1)
- Künstliche Intelligenz (1)
- Mensch-Maschine-Kommunikation (1)
- Virtuelle Realität (1)
- affective computing (1)
- agency (1)
- augmented reality (1)
- collaborative interaction (1)
- embodiment (1)
- emotions (1)
- human-computer interaction (1)
- hybrid avatar-agent systems (1)
- immersive classroom (1)
- immersive classroom management (1)
- immersive interfaces (1)
- social artificial intelligence (1)
- student simulation (1)
- virtual agent interaction (1)
- virtual body ownership (1)
- virtual embodiment (1)
- virtual reality (1)
- virtual reality training (1)
- virtual social interaction (1)
Institute
Modulating emotional responses to virtual stimuli is a fundamental goal of many immersive interactive applications. In this study, we leverage the illusion of illusory embodiment and show that owning a virtual body provides means to modulate emotional responses. In a single-factor repeated-measures experiment, we manipulated the degree of illusory embodiment and assessed the emotional responses to virtual stimuli. We presented emotional stimuli in the same environment as the virtual body. Participants experienced higher arousal, dominance, and more intense valence in the high embodiment condition compared to the low embodiment condition. The illusion of embodiment thus intensifies the emotional processing of the virtual environment. This result suggests that artificial bodies can increase the effectiveness of immersive applications psychotherapy, entertainment, computer-mediated social interactions, or health applications.
This article presents an immersive virtual reality (VR) system for training classroom management skills, with a specific focus on learning to manage disruptive student behavior in face-to-face, one-to-many teaching scenarios. The core of the system is a real-time 3D virtual simulation of a classroom populated by twenty-four semi-autonomous virtual students. The system has been designed as a companion tool for classroom management seminars in a syllabus for primary and secondary school teachers. This will allow lecturers to link theory with practice using the medium of VR. The system is therefore designed for two users: a trainee teacher and an instructor supervising the training session. The teacher is immersed in a real-time 3D simulation of a classroom by means of a head-mounted display and headphone. The instructor operates a graphical desktop console, which renders a view of the class and the teacher whose avatar movements are captured by a marker less tracking system. This console includes a 2D graphics menu with convenient behavior and feedback control mechanisms to provide human-guided training sessions. The system is built using low-cost consumer hardware and software. Its architecture and technical design are described in detail. A first evaluation confirms its conformance to critical usability requirements (i.e., safety and comfort, believability, simplicity, acceptability, extensibility, affordability, and mobility). Our initial results are promising and constitute the necessary first step toward a possible investigation of the efficiency and effectiveness of such a system in terms of learning outcomes and experience.
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.