Virtual Reality Software and Technology 

About: Virtual Reality Software and Technology is an academic conference. The conference publishes majorly in the area(s): Virtual reality & Augmented reality. Over the lifetime, 1477 publications have been published by the conference receiving 26225 citations.

Taking steps: the influence of a walking technique on presence in virtual reality

Abstract: This article presents an interactive technique for moving through an immersive virtual environment (or “virtual reality”). The technique is suitable for applications where locomotion is restricted to ground level. The technique is derived from the idea that presence in virtual environments may be enhanced the stronger the match between proprioceptive information from human body movements and sensory feedback from the computer-generated displays. The technique is an attempt to simulate body movements associated with walking. The participant “walks in place” to move through the virtual environment across distances greater than the physical limitations imposed by the electromagnetic tracking devices. A neural network is used to analyze the stream of coordinates from the head-mounted display, to determine whether or not the participant is walking on the spot. Whenever it determines the walking behavior, the participant is moved through virtual space in the direction of his or her gaze. We discuss two experimental studies to assess the impact on presence of this method in comparison to the usual hand-pointing method of navigation in virtual reality. The studies suggest that subjective rating of presence is enhanced by the walking method provided that participants associate subjectively with the virtual body provided in the environment. An application of the technique to climbing steps and ladders is also presented.

VRPN: a device-independent, network-transparent VR peripheral system

Abstract: The Virtual-Reality Peripheral Network (VRPN) system provides a device-independent and network-transparent interface to virtual-reality peripherals. VRPN's application of factoring by function and of layering in the context of devices produces an interface that is novel and powerful. VRPN also integrates a wide range of known advanced techniques into a publicly-available system. These techniques benefit both direct VRPN users and those who implement other applications that make use of VR peripherals.

MASSIVE: a collaborative virtual environment for teleconferencing

Abstract: We describe a prototype virtual reality teleconferencing system called MASSIVE which has been developed as part of our on-going research into collaborative virtual environments. This system allows multiple users to communicate using arbitrary combinations of audio, graphics, and text media over local and wide area networks. Communication is controlled by a so-called spatial model of interaction so that one user's perception of another user is sensitive to their relative positions and orientations. The key concept in this spatial model is the (quantitative) awareness which one object has of another. This is controlled by the observing object's focus and the observed object's nimbus, which describe regions of interest and projection, respectively. Each object's aura defines the total region within which it interacts. This is applied independently in each medium. The system (and the spatial model which it implements) is intended to provide a flexible and natural environment for the spatial mediation of conversation. The model also provides a basis for scaling to relatively large numbers of users. Our design goals include supporting heterogeneity, scalability, spatial mediation, balance of power, and multiple concurrent meetings; MASSIVE meets all of these goals. Our initial experiences show the importance of audio in collaborative VR, and they raise issues about field of view for graphical users, speed of navigation, quality of embodiment, varying perceptions of space, and scalability.

Immersion, presence and performance in virtual environments: an experiment with tri-dimensional chess

Abstract: This paper describes an experiment to assess the influence of immersion on performance in immersive virtual environments. The task involved Tri-Dimensional Chess, and required subjects to reproduce on a real chess board the state of board learned from a sequence of moves witnessed in a virtual environment. Twenty four subjects were allocated to a factorial design consisting of two levels of immersion (exocentric screen based, and egocentric HMD based), and two kinds of environment (plain and realistic). The results suggest that egocentric subjects performed better than exocentric, and those in the more realistic environment performed better than those in the less realistic environment. Previous knowledge of chess, and amount of virtual practice were also significant, and may be considered as control variables to equalise these factors amongst the subjects. Other things being equal, males remembered the moves better than females, although female performance improved with higher spatial ability test score. The paper also attempts to clarify the relationship between immersion, presence and performance, and locates the experiment within such a theoretical framework.

Testbed evaluation of virtual environment interaction techniques

Abstract: As immersive virtual environment (VE) applications become more complex, it is clear that we need a firm understanding of the principles of VE interaction. In particular, designers need guidance in choosing three-dimensional interaction techniques. In this paper, we present a systematic approach, testbed evaluation, for the assessment of interaction techniques for VEs. Testbed evaluation uses formal frameworks and formal experiments with multiple independent and dependent variables in order to obtain a wide range of performance data for VE interaction techniques. We present two testbed experiments, covering techniques for the common VE tasks of travel and object selection/manipulation. The results of these experiments allow us to form general guidelines for VE interaction, and to provide an empirical basis for choosing interaction techniques in VE applications. This has been shown to produce measurable usability gains in a real-world VE application.