Since the popularisation of the Internet in the 1990s, the cyberspace has kept evolving. We have created various computer-mediated virtual environments including social networks, video conferencing, virtual 3D worlds (e.g., VR Chat), augmented reality applications (e.g., Pokemon Go), and Non-Fungible Token Games (e.g., Upland). Such virtual environments, albeit non-perpetual and unconnected, have bought us various degrees of digital transformation. The term `metaverse' has been coined to further facilitate the digital transformation in every aspect of our physical lives. At the core of the metaverse stands the vision of an immersive Internet as a gigantic, unified, persistent, and shared realm. While the metaverse may seem futuristic, catalysed by emerging technologies such as Extended Reality, 5G, and Artificial Intelligence, the digital `big bang' of our cyberspace is not far away. This survey paper presents the first effort to offer a comprehensive framework that examines the latest metaverse development under the dimensions of state-of-the-art technologies and metaverse ecosystems, and illustrates the possibility of the digital `big bang'. First, technologies are the enablers that drive the transition from the current Internet to the metaverse. We thus examine eight enabling technologies rigorously - Extended Reality, User Interactivity (Human-Computer Interaction), Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Computer Vision, IoT and Robotics, Edge and Cloud computing, and Future Mobile Networks. In terms of applications, the metaverse ecosystem allows human users to live and play within a self-sustaining, persistent, and shared realm. Therefore, we discuss six user-centric factors -- Avatar, Content Creation, Virtual Economy, Social Acceptability, Security and Privacy, and Trust and Accountability. Finally, we propose a concrete research agenda for the development of the metaverse.

All One Needs to Know about Metaverse: A Complete Survey on Technological Singularity, Virtual Ecosystem, and Research Agenda

In 1965 Ivan E. Sutherland envisioned the Ultimate Display, a room in which a computer can directly control the existence of matter.
This type of display would merge the digital and the physical world, dramatically changing how people interact with computers.
This thesis explores flat displays, deformable displays, flexible materials, static, and mobile projection displays in dynamic environments. 
%Dynamic environments are inherent to human behavior, but pose big problems to Human-Computer Interaction since computing devices rely on many assumptions of the interaction.
Two aspects of the dynamic environment are considered. One is mobile human nature -- a person moving through or inside an environment. The other is the change or movement of the environment itself.

The initial study consisted of a mixed reality application, based on recent motor learning research. It tested if a performer's attentional focus on markers external to the body improves the accuracy and duration of acquiring a motor skill, as compared with the performer focusing on their own body accompanied by verbal instructions. This experiment showed the need for displays that resemble physical reality. 


Deformable displays and Organic User Interfaces (OUIs) leverage shape, material, and the inherent properties of matter in order to create natural, intuitive forms of interaction. We suggested designing OUIs employing depth sensors as 3D input, deformable displays as 3D output, and identifying attributes that couple matter to human perception and motor skills. 

Flexible materials were explored by developing a soft gripper able to hold everyday objects of various shapes and sizes. It did not use complex hardware or control algorithms, but rather combined sheets of flexible plastic materials and a single servo motor.
The gripper showed how a simple design with a minimal control mechanism can solve a complex problem in a dynamic environment.
It serves as an example application for merging the digital and the physical through flexible materials, embodied computation, and actuation.

The next two experiments merge digital information with the physical dynamic environment by using mobile and static projectors.
The mobile projector experiment consisted of GPS navigation using a bike-mounted projector, displaying a map on the pavement in front of the bike. We found out that if compared with a bike-mounted smartphone, the mobile projector yields a lower cognitive load for the map navigation task. 
A dynamic space emerges from the navigation task requirements, and the projected display becomes a part of the physical environment. 

In the final experiment, a person interacts with a changing, growing environment, on which digital information is projected from above using a static projector. The interactive space consists of cardboard building blocks, the arrangement of which are limited by the area of projection. The user adds cardboard blocks to the cluster based upon feedback projected from above.
Concepts from artificial intelligence and architecture were applied for understanding the interaction between the environment, the user, the morphology, and the material of the physical building system.

https://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/198101/198101.pdf

The Ultimate Display

Remote collaboration in maintenance contexts using augmented reality: insights from a participatory process

A critical analysis on remote collaboration mediated by Augmented Reality: Making a case for improved characterization and evaluation of the collaborative process

How Can Collaborative Augmented Reality Support Operative Work in the Facility Management Industry

Beyond the pandemic, organizations need to recognize what digital assets, interactions, and communication processes reap the most benefits from virtual reality.

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3440868

Six reasons why virtual reality is a game-changing computing and communication platform for organizations

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), collectively referred to as "extended reality" (XR), have begun to diffuse in industry. However, the current levels of awareness, perceived limitations, and use of AR and VR, as well as the potential differences on these aspects between these technologies are still not well known. Moreover, it is unknown whether small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) differ from large companies on these issues. This research employed a mixed methods research design to address this gap by carrying out a cross-sectional survey (n = 208) to gauge European industrial companies' level of AR and VR awareness and adoption, and by interviewing 45 companies in nine European countries in order to identify critical enabling factors in the adoption of XR for SMEs. Results show no statistical difference between the respondents' perceptions toward AR and VR or in their use levels. Thus, examining AR and VR under the umbrella term XR seems justified, especially in the context of their organizational use. However, larger companies were found to be using XR more than SMEs. Analysis of interviews based on the technology-organization-environment framework also yielded several enabling factors affecting XR adoption and specified whether they are particularly highlighted in the SME context. Overall, this paper contributes to XR research by providing a holistic multi-country overview that highlights key issues for managers aiming to invest in these technologies, as well as critical organizational perspectives to be considered by scholars. 

/pdf/extended-reality-technologies-in-small-and-medium-sized-j1i2mt6x.pdf

Extended reality technologies in small and medium-sized European industrial companies: level of awareness, diffusion and enablers of adoption

https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=ecis2020_rp

Enabling Factors of Social Virtual Reality diffusion in Organizations.

Although the large majority of costs of buildings incur in the later operation and maintenance phase, major decisions affecting these costs are made in the early design and construction phases. Virtual Reality (VR) and Collaborative Virtual Reality (CVR) have been noticed to have significant potential in involving the expertise and needs of various stakeholders into the early design phases, increasing the quality of building designs and reducing related costs. Boundary Object Theory has been noticed useful in better understanding and improving the knowledge transfer of actors with different backgrounds and expertise. VR and CVR remain yet little studied as boundary objects. We will address this research gap in this study by aiming to understand how CVR can act as an adaptable boundary object in the building design phase of the facility life cycle. We have made use of a qualitative approach, consisting of a multiple case study approach and semi-structured interviews in Finnish AEC industry companies and organisations. We contribute to academic research by providing a deeper understanding of how CVR functions as a boundary object, which enhances the transfer of knowledge in new ways between various stakeholders in the building design phase.

/pdf/collaborative-virtual-reality-as-an-adaptable-boundary-4mjy5g4i93.pdf

Henri Jalo

Papers

How Can Collaborative Augmented Reality Support Operative Work in the Facility Management Industry

Six reasons why virtual reality is a game-changing computing and communication platform for organizations

Extended reality technologies in small and medium-sized European industrial companies: level of awareness, diffusion and enablers of adoption

Enabling Factors of Social Virtual Reality diffusion in Organizations.

Collaborative Virtual Reality as an Adaptable Boundary Object in the Design Phase of Facility Life Cycle