{"title":"Managing Level of Detail in Virtual Environments: A Perceptual Framework","authors":"M. Reddy, B. Watson, N. Walker, L. Hodges","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.658","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.658","url":null,"abstract":"In the companion paper, Watson et al. (1997), we demonstrated the effectiveness of using perceptual criteria to select the amount of detail that is displayed in an immersive virtual reality (VR) system. Based upon this determination, we will now attempt to develop a principled, perceptually oriented framework to automatically select the appropriate level of detail (LOD) for each object in a scene, taking into consideration the limitations of the human visual system. We apply knowledge and theories from the domain of visual perception to the field of VR, thus optimizing the visual information presented to the user based upon solid metrics of human vision. Through a series of contrast grating experiments, a user's visual acuity may be assessed in terms of spatial frequency (c/deg) and contrast. The results of these tests can be modeled mathematically using a contrast sensitivity function (CSF). Therefore, we can use the CSF results to estimate how much visual detail the user can perceive in an object at any instant. Then, if we could describe this object in terms of its spatial frequencies, this would enable us to select the lowest LOD available without the user being able to perceive any visual change.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"48 1","pages":"658-666"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81781045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Framework for Immersive Virtual Environments (FIVE): Speculations on the Role of Presence in Virtual Environments","authors":"M. Slater, S. Wilbur","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.603","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.603","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reviews the concepts of immersion and presence in virtual environments (VEs). We propose that the degree of immersion can be objectively assessed as the characteristics of a technology, and has dimensions such as the extent to which a display system can deliver an inclusive, extensive, surrounding, and vivid illusion of virtual environment to a participant. Other dimensions of immersion are concerned with the extent of body matching, and the extent to which there is a self-contained plot in which the participant can act and in which there is an autonomous response. Presence is a state of consciousness that may be concomitant with immersion, and is related to a sense of being in a place. Presence governs aspects of autonomie responses and higher-level behaviors of a participant in a VE. The paper considers single and multiparticipant shared environments, and draws on the experience of ComputerSupported Cooperative Working (CSCW) research as a guide to understanding presence in shared environments. The paper finally outlines the aims of the FIVE Working Group, and the 1995 FIVE Conference in London, UK.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"5 1","pages":"603-616"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79760542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Speech-based Multimodal Interaction in Virtual Environments: Research at the Thomson-CSF Corporate Research Laboratories","authors":"V. Normand, Didier Pernel, Béatrice Bacconnet","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.687","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.687","url":null,"abstract":"The Thomson-CSF Corporate Research Laboratories are investigating the issues of user-interface design, spoken and multimodal interaction design and realization in virtual environments. This paper describes our technical approach to speech-enabled multimodal virtual environments, based on our past achievements in the multimodal interaction domain, and presents our main supporting projects in this area. These projects involve augmented reality for maintenance, military situation building and assessment, and collaborative virtual environments.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"64 1","pages":"687-700"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84728026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Geist, Todd Stinson, R. Schalkoff, Sabri Gurbuz
{"title":"Autonomous Visualization of Real Environments for Telepresence Applications","authors":"R. Geist, Todd Stinson, R. Schalkoff, Sabri Gurbuz","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.645","url":null,"abstract":"The autonomous, noncontact creation of virtual environments from existing, real environments is described. The technique uses structured light to provide direct estimation of 3D surface patch parameters. Active (laser) cameras are used to determine 3D object models, and passive camera images are used to generate color and texture. This process, termed virtualization, has immediate application to providing telepresence in previously unmodeled or unstructured environments. An example of the process is shown and directions for future research are indicated.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"33 1","pages":"645-657"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76132190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Thermal Feedback in Virtual Environments","authors":"M. Bergamasco, A. A. Alessi, M. Calcara","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.617","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.617","url":null,"abstract":"This work refers to the study of thermal contact phenomena modeling for tactile feedback in virtual environments applications. The results of the modeling aspects for thermal replication are collected in specific functions that are used by the renderer of a virtual application. The finger temperature distribution versus time and contacted object temperature are the fundamental ways to approach, according to a specific modeling technique, the computation of the contact temperature occurring at the interface between the virtual hand and virtual object. Finger temperature distribution is then used for the control of thermal effectors. The modeling of the spatial and temporal distribution of the temperature in the human finger, when contact occurs with an external object at a defined temperature, is carried out in two phases: (a) determination of the temperature distribution in the finger when no contact is detected; and (b) determination of the temperature distribution in the finger when contact is detected. Results of the modeling are given and a procedure describing how these results can be used in the framework of a real application is presented.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"29 1","pages":"617-629"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81224407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Evaluation of Level of Detail Degradation in Head-Mounted Display Peripheries","authors":"B. Watson, N. Walker, L. Hodges, M. Reddy","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.630","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.630","url":null,"abstract":"A paradigm for the design of systems that manage level of detail in virtual environments is proposed. As an example of the prototyping step in this paradigm, a user study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of high-detail insets used with head-mounted displays. Ten subjects were given a simple search task that required the location and identification of a single target object. All subjects used seven different displays (the independent variable), varying in inset size and peripheral detail, to perform this task Frame rate, target location, subject input method, and order of display use were all controlled. Primary dependent measures were search time on trials with correct identification, and the percentage of all trials correctly identified. ANOVAs of the results showed that insetless, high-detail displays did not lead to significantly different search times or accuracies than displays with insets. In fact, only the insetless, low-detail display returned significantly different results. Further research is being performed to examine the effect of varying task complexity, inset size, and level of detail.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"92 6 1","pages":"630-637"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88380527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Kennedy, D. Lanham, Julie M. Drexler, C. Massey, M. Lilienthal
{"title":"A Comparison of Cybersickness Incidences, Symptom Profiles, Measurement Techniques, and Suggestions for Further Research","authors":"R. Kennedy, D. Lanham, Julie M. Drexler, C. Massey, M. Lilienthal","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.638","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.638","url":null,"abstract":"The widespread use of virtual environment (VE) systems in a variety of applications has serious implications for the user. Users with access to these sophisticated interactive immersions in multisensory, three-dimensional (3D) synthetic environments have been shown to experience motion sickness-like symptoms (i.e., eyestrain, ataxia, fatigue, drowsiness) and aftereffects such as visual flashbacks, disorientation, and balance disturbances occasionally occurring up to 12 hours after VE exposure. This is a significant health and safety concern. Technical improvements of VE systems need to be initiated to reduce these potential aftereffects that could result in adverse legal, economic, individual, and social consequences. Many different types of symptoms have been reported that appear to make up the cybersickness syndrome. From our extensive database of virtual environment and flight simulator exposures, we offer examples of these symptoms profiles along with suspected mechanisms and origins. We discuss these issues as well as various assessment techniques and methods used to determine the presence of VE sickness in individuals.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"8 1","pages":"638-644"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80871504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Health and Safety Implications of Virtual Environments: Measurement Issues","authors":"S. Nichols, S. Cobb, John R. Wilson","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.667","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.667","url":null,"abstract":"Investigations of the potential impact of virtual environments on user health and safety require a methodological framework to identify both the effects of VE participation and the role of influential factors in causing those effects. This first in a series of 12 experiments was designed to evaluate methods, but also provided preliminary data regarding psychological and physiological effects. This discussion centers upon the value of self-reports and performance measures and the general methodological problems of evaluating participation in virtual environments.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"53 1","pages":"667-675"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90877699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
I. Pandzic, T. Çapin, N. Magnenat-Thalmann, D. Thalmann
{"title":"Virtual Life Network: A Body-Centered Networked Virtual Environment","authors":"I. Pandzic, T. Çapin, N. Magnenat-Thalmann, D. Thalmann","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.676","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.6.676","url":null,"abstract":"In order to feel the sense of presence in a virtual environment, it is important for the participants to become a part of this environment and interact with it through natural behaviors. This interaction is even more important in networked collaborative virtual environments, in which the participants need to see and interact with each other. We present the Virtual Life Network (VLNET), a joint research effort in the field of networked collaborative virtual environments at MIRALab of the University of Geneva and the Computer Graphics Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne. In VLNET each participant is represented by a virtual human actor with realistic appearance and movements similar to the actual body. Interacting with the environment through his virtual body, the participant is perceived by himself and others in a natural way. Since it is generally not possible to track all degrees of freedom of the human body in order to reproduce realistic body motion, we introduce the motor functions that generate natural motion for standard tasks such as walking and arm motion; they are based on limited tracked information (hand and head positions). By using the same virtual human representation, but with the addition of high-level control, autonomous virtual actors can be introduced into the environment to perform some useful tasks or simply to make the environment more appealing. To further enhance the realistic feel of the virtual environment and to simplify object manipulation we provide the facility of defining object behaviors by attaching motor functions to the objects.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"58 1","pages":"676-686"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88053519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"EEG Measurements in a Virtual Reality Headset","authors":"Dorothy C. Strickland, D. Chartier","doi":"10.1162/pres.1997.6.5.581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.1997.6.5.581","url":null,"abstract":"While virtual reality systems are used in training and in mental health treatment to simulate real-world environments, understanding the mental processing differences between artificial and real scenes has been difficult to substantiate. The ability to compare brain processing in virtual and real exposures could provide an objective quantitative comparison. In this paper, we demonstrate that verifiable EEG measurements of mental activity can be obtained while subjects are immersed in a virtual reality headset. Using standard commercial EEG measuring equipment, we recorded EEG activity in similar virtual and real scenes for 14 people encountering four different test conditions. We discuss the systematic exploration of the recording problems and the steps taken to verify the data. This data is further analyzed to conclude that differences do exist between real and virtual image processing, with variations affected more by subject and task than by which area of the brain is processing the image. We discuss some possible reasons for these findings.","PeriodicalId":54588,"journal":{"name":"Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments","volume":"56 1","pages":"581-589"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"1997-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83559284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}