The Augurscope: Refining its Design

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Schnädelbach ◽  
Boriana Koleva ◽  
Mark Paxton ◽  
Mike Twidale ◽  
Steve Benford ◽  
...  

In this paper we explore the iterative design of the Augurscope, a mobile mixed reality device for open-air museum experiences. It allows a 3D virtual environment to be viewed as if overlaid on an outdoor physical environment. While exploring a heritage site, groups of visitors can experience simulated scenes from the past from a dynamic user-controlled viewpoint by moving, rotating, and tilting the device. The development focused on creating an interface to a visualization of a medieval castle as it used to appear in relation to its current, quite different site. We describe the development and application of the Augurscope through two iterative design stages. We discuss the issues revealed through public trials with the first prototype and how they informed the design of the Augurscope 2. The deployment of this second prototype then enables us to offer insights into what makes such a novel presentation device successful in an outdoor museum environment.

Author(s):  
Noha Saleeb

Previous research tests and experiments have provided evidence for the disparity between human perception of space in the physical environment and the 3D virtual environment. This could have dire effects on the decision-making process throughout the whole construction lifecycle of an asset due to non-precision of perceived spaces. Results have shown an infidelity in displaying the actual dimensions of the space in the 3D virtual environment, and previous research by the author has identified the magnitude of this disparity. However, there has been inconclusive reasoning behind the causes for this disparity. This chapter aims to investigate and highlight different psychophysical factors that might cause this difference in perception, and compare these factors with previously investigated research.


Author(s):  
E. W. Nikdel

With the advent of online distribution and the rise of multiple media devices, claims of the cinema’s imminent death have surfaced with greater intensity than ever before. Of course, with an ever-widening array of platforms these accounts have placed a newfound emphasis on the cinema as a distinctive physical space, one that plays host to a very particular and much cherished cultural activity. This article considers the substance of these claims by tracing a very particular historical route. Firstly, be revisiting Baudry’s notion of the dispositif, this article detects the importance of the physical environment in the process of film consumption. Secondly, I relate this emphasis on the physical to the traditional notion of the cinephile, a practice that ritualises the cinema experience. Many accounts across the spectrum of film history will attest to the profound ways in which the physical experience of the cinema summons a rich emotional response. Lastly, I consider how the cinema and the collective nature of film consumption provides an authentic trace to the past and a very certain time and place in history. In turn, despite competition from cheaper and more convenient platforms, this article will endeavour to show how the cinema retains its place at the centre of contemporary film culture. KEYWORDS Cinema, dispositif, cinephilia, cultural memory.


Author(s):  
Prof. Ph.D. Jacques COULARDEAU ◽  

Over the last two decades, we seem to have been confronted with a tremendous number of books, films, TV shows, or series that deal with the past and the present, not to mention the future, as if it were all out of time, timeless, even when it is history. We have to consider our present world as the continuation and the result of the long evolution our species has gone through since we emerged from our ancestors 300,000 years ago. Julien d’Huy is a mythologist who tries to capture the phylogeny of myths, and popular or folkloric stories that have deep roots in our past and have been produced, changed and refined over many millennia. Can he answer the question about how we have become what we are by studying the products of our past and present imagination? But confronted to the prediction of Y.N. Harari that our species will simply disappear as soon as the intelligent machines we are inventing and producing take over our bodies, brains, and minds in just a few decades, Julien d’Huy sure sounds like the antidote because at every turn in our long history we have been able, collectively, to seize the day, and evolve into a new stage in our life, both biological and mental, not to mention spirituality. Let’s enter Julien d’Huy’s book and find out the power and the energy that will enable us to short-circuit and avoid Yuval’s nightmare.


Author(s):  
Stefan Bittmann

Virtual reality (VR) is the term used to describe representation and perception in a computer-generated, virtual environment. The term was coined by author Damien Broderick in his 1982 novel “The Judas Mandala". The term "Mixed Reality" describes the mixing of virtual reality with pure reality. The term "hyper-reality" is also used. Immersion plays a major role here. Immersion describes the embedding of the user in the virtual world. A virtual world is considered plausible if the interaction is logical in itself. This interactivity creates the illusion that what seems to be happening is actually happening. A common problem with VR is "motion sickness." To create a sense of immersion, special output devices are needed to display virtual worlds. Here, "head-mounted displays", CAVE and shutter glasses are mainly used. Input devices are needed for interaction: 3D mouse, data glove, flystick as well as the omnidirectional treadmill, with which walking in virtual space is controlled by real walking movements, play a role here.


Author(s):  
Delvin L. Krause

Stairways, steps, curbs and landings all relate to the pedestrian changing his respective elevation. The usual expectation is that this maneuver will occur as a result of a step up or down. When the physical environment deviates from the expected and/or standard dimensions a fall can occur, This monograph concerns itself with what exposures are generated when landing areas for stairs, steps and curbs and NOT STANDARD or as expected. Investigation of falls during the past thirty years indicates that the landing zone is an important element to consider in an accident investigation. Stairs, steps, curbs and ramps are all elements of our everyday lives. People manage to negotiate them with a high degree of success. They also manage to fall up them, down them and over them with an impressive rate of success as well. Stairs, steps, curbs and ramps sometimes exist in various combination with each other. This situation often results in an unsafe or accident producing condition.


2013 ◽  
Vol 144 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-323
Author(s):  
Youcef Bouchekioua ◽  
Holly C. Miller ◽  
Paul Craddock ◽  
Aaron P. Blaisdell ◽  
Mikael Molet

Author(s):  
Randall Spain ◽  
Benjamin Goldberg ◽  
Jeffrey Hansberger ◽  
Tami Griffith ◽  
Jeremy Flynn ◽  
...  

Recent advances in technology have made virtual environments, virtual reality, augmented reality, and simulations more affordable and accessible to researchers, companies, and the general public, which has led to many novel use cases and applications. A key objective of human factors research and practice is determining how these technology-rich applications can be designed and applied to improve human performance across a variety of contexts. This session will demonstrate some of the distinct and diverse uses of virtual environments and mixed reality environments in an alternative format. The session will begin with each demonstrator providing a brief overview of their virtual environment (VE) and a description of how it has been used to address a particular problem or research need. Following the description portion of the session, each VE will be set-up at a demonstration station in the room, and session attendees will be encouraged to directly interact with the virtual environment and ask demonstrators questions about their research and inquire about the effectiveness of using VE for research, training, and evaluation purposes. The overall objective of this alternative session is to increase the awareness of how human factors professionals use VE technologies and increase the awareness of the capabilities and limitations of VE in supporting the work of HF professionals.


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