Hybrid spaces arise when virtual communities (chats, multiuser domains, and massively multi-player online role-playing games), previously enacted in what was conceptualized as cyberspace, migrate t...

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From Cyber to Hybrid Mobile Technologies as Interfaces of Hybrid Spaces

A critical review of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) applications in construction safety

Virtual Reality (VR) has been rapidly recognized and implemented in construction engineering education and training (CEET) in recent years due to its benefits of providing an engaging and immersive environment. The objective of this review is to critically collect and analyze the VR applications in CEET, aiming at all VR-related journal papers published from 1997 to 2017. The review follows a three-stage analysis on VR technologies, applications and future directions through a systematic analysis. It is found that the VR technologies adopted for CEET evolve over time, from desktop-based VR, immersive VR, 3D game-based VR, to Building Information Modelling (BIM)-enabled VR. A sibling technology, Augmented Reality (AR), for CEET adoptions has also emerged in recent years. These technologies have been applied in architecture and design visualization, construction health and safety training, equipment and operational task training, as well as structural analysis. Future research directions, including the integration of VR with emerging education paradigms and visualization technologies, have also been provided. The findings are useful for both researchers and educators to usefully integrate VR in their education and training programs to improve the training performance.

A critical review of the use of virtual reality in construction engineering education and training

Symbiotic human-robot collaborative assembly

The goal of this article is to present a first list of ethical concerns that may arise from research and personal use of virtual reality (VR) and related technology, and to offer concrete recommendations for minimizing those risks. Many of the recommendations call for focused research initiatives. In the first part of the article, we discuss the relevant evidence from psychology that motivates our concerns. In section 1.1, we cover some of the main results suggesting that one’s environment can influence one’s psychological states, as well as recent work on inducing illusions of embodiment. Then, in section 1.2, we go on to discuss recent evidence indicating that immersion in VR can have psychological effects that last after leaving the virtual environment. In the second part of the article we turn to the risks and recommendations. We begin, in section 2.1, with the research ethics of VR, covering six main topics: the limits of experimental environments, informed consent, clinical risks, dual-use, online research, and a general point about the limitations of a code of conduct for research. Then, in section 2.2, we turn to the risks of VR for the general public, covering four main topics: long-term immersion, neglect of the social and physical environment, risky content, and privacy. We offer concrete recommendations for each of these ten topics, summarized in Table 1.

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Real Virtuality: A Code of Ethical Conduct. Recommendations for Good Scientific Practice and the Consumers of VR-Technology

A Taxonomy of Real and Virtual World Display Integration

The Head Mounted Display (HMD) is discussed as a subset of Mixed Reality (MR) displays. A definition of MR is given, in terms of image mixtures along a Reality-Virtuality (RV) Continuum, including the subclasses of augmented reality (AR) and augmented virtuality (AV). In relation to actual task execution, the relative need for local guidance information versus more global planning and navigational information is discussed. A taxonomic framework for classifying MR systems is presented, in terms of not only the RV continuum, but also the degree of centricity of the observer relative to a nominal viewpoint and the extent of control-display congruence. Several practical examples of MR systems are presented, all from the domain of surgery, and for each a volume within the MR design space is proposed.

A Framework for Relating Head-Mounted Displays to Mixed Reality Displays

Misalignments between display and control reference frames complicate execution of many remote control tasks by loading the operator's attentional resources with mental transformations. It is thus important to maintain alignment between an operator's controls and her view of the controlled object or task space. Maximising the operator's situational awareness within this task space by providing an optimal frame of reference also simplifies task execution. Traditional rigid tethering integrates desirable egocentric and exocentric aspects of a display by connecting an exocentric view of the task space to the system being controlled. This paper introduces the concept of dynamic tethering (a superset of rigid tethering) which also preserves the principle of the moving part while maintaining control-display motion compatibility. Two experiments are presented, which show that compliance with these principles decreases the frequency of control reversals, improves reaction times, and decreases the RMS error associ...

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Herman W. Colquhoun

Papers

A Taxonomy of Real and Virtual World Display Integration

A Framework for Relating Head-Mounted Displays to Mixed Reality Displays

Dynamic Tethering for Enhanced Remote Control and Navigation