Characteristics of Visual Fidelity in the Virtual Environment

1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward J. Rinalducci
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Visual Characteristics ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Vertical Development ◽  
Visual Fidelity

This paper provides an overview of the literature on the visual system, placing special emphasis on those visual characteristics regarded as necessary to produce adequate visual fidelity in virtual environments. These visual cues apply to the creation of various virtual environments including those involving flying, driving, sailing, or walking. A variety of cues are examined, in particular, motion, color, stereopsis, pictorial and secondary cues, physiological cues, texture, vertical development, luminance, field-of-view, and spatial resolution. Conclusions and recommendations for research are also presented.

Presence within Virtual Environments as a Function of Visual Display Parameters

1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Hendrix ◽  
Woodrow Barfield
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Visual Image ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Head Tracking ◽  
The Third ◽  
Sense Of Presence ◽  
Being There

This paper reports the results of three studies, each of which investigated the sense of presence within virtual environments as a function of visual display parameters. These factors included the presence or absence of head tracking, the presence or absence of stereoscopic cues, and the geometric field of view used to create the visual image projected on the visual display. In each study, subjects navigated a virtual environment and completed a questionnaire designed to ascertain the level of presence experienced by the participant within the virtual world. Specifically, two aspects of presence were evaluated: (1) the sense of “being there” and (2) the fidelity of the interaction between the virtual environment participant and the virtual world. Not surprisingly, the results of the first and second study indicated that the reported level of presence was significantly higher when head tracking and stereoscopic cues were provided. The results from the third study showed that the geometric field of view used to design the visual display highly influenced the reported level of presence, with more presence associated with a 50 and 90° geometric field of view when compared to a narrower 10° geometric field of view. The results also indicated a significant positive correlation between the reported level of presence and the fidelity of the interaction between the virtual environment participant and the virtual world. Finally, it was shown that the survey questions evaluating several aspects of presence produced reliable responses across questions and studies, indicating that the questionnaire is a useful tool when evaluating presence in virtual environments.

scholarly journals The Effects of Higher Levels of Immersion on Procedure Memorization Performance and Implications for Educational Virtual Environments

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 527-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric D. Ragan
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Spatial Cues ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Conceptual Information ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
Head Mounted Displays ◽  
Display Walls

Researchers have proposed that immersion could have advantages for tasks involving abstract mental activities, such as conceptual learning; however, there are few empirical results that support this idea. We hypothesized that higher levels of immersion would benefit such tasks if the mental activity could be mapped to objects or locations in a 3D environment. To investigate this hypothesis, we performed an experiment in which participants memorized procedures in a virtual environment and then attempted to recall those procedures. We aimed to understand the effects of three components of immersion on performance. The results demonstrate that a matched software field of view (SFOV), a higher physical field of view (FOV), and a higher field of regard (FOR) all contributed to more effective memorization. The best performance was achieved with a matched SFOV and either a high FOV or a high FOR, or both. In addition, our experiment demonstrated that memorization in a virtual environment could be transferred to the real world. The results suggest that, for procedure memorization tasks, increasing the level of immersion even to moderate levels, such as those found in head mounted displays (HMDs) and display walls, can improve performance significantly compared to lower levels of immersion. Hypothesizing that the performance improvements provided by higher levels of immersion can be attributed to enhanced spatial cues, we discuss the values and limitations of supplementing conceptual information with spatial information in educational VR.

Spatial Perception in Desktop Virtual Environments

1996 ◽  
Vol 40 (22) ◽  
pp. 1117-1121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis C. Neale
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Spatial Ability ◽  
Spatial Perception ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Cognitive Errors ◽  
Basic Space ◽  
Virtual Office

This study investigated perceptual and cognitive issues relating to manipulations of geometric field of view (GFOV) in three-dimensional perspective displays and the effects of incorporating virtual environment enhancements in the interface based on visual momentum (VM) techniques. Sixty participants, who were pretested for spatial ability, were required to navigate through a virtual office building while estimating space dimensions and performing spatial orientation tasks. A 3 − 2 − 2 mixed-subjects design compared three levels of GFOV, two levels of VM, and two levels of Difficulty. This study effectively demonstrates that the spatial characteristics of architectural representations in perspective displays are not always accurately perceived. Furthermore, the results indicate that manipulations in GFOV can produce perceptual and cognitive errors for the basic space dimensions in perspective displays; however, VM can be used to compensate for many of the biases shown to occur.

Factors Influencing Spatial Awareness and Orientation in Desktop Virtual Environments

1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 1278-1282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis C. Neale
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Spatial Orientation ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Spatial Awareness ◽  
Virtual Office ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
The Impact

This study investigated influences on human spatial orientation and representation resulting from manipulations in the geometric field of view (GFOV) of a perspective display. Also examined was the impact of incorporating symbolic virtual environment enhancements in the interface based on visual momentum (VM) techniques. Sixty participants, pretested for spatial ability, were required to navigate through a virtual office building while performing a variety of spatial orientation tasks. A 3 × 2 × 2 mixed-subjects design compared three levels of GFOV, two levels of VM, and two levels of Difficulty. The findings indicate that decreases in GFOV produce spatial orientation and representation errors, and as task difficulty increases, errors are more pronounced. Furthermore, VM was shown to alleviate errors in spatial orientation and representation, especially when task difficulty was increased. Design recommendations are discussed based on the implications of the results.

Factors Affecting the Perception of Interobject Distances in Virtual Environments

1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 657-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Waller
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Distance Perception ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Exponential Model ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Display Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Feedback Display

Two experiments collectively explored four factors that may influence people's judgments of exocentric (interobject) distances in virtual environments. Participants freely navigated in a simple virtual environment and repeatedly made magnitude estimations of exocentric distances. Distances were generally overestimated. An exponential model (Stevens' power law) fit the data, and exponent estimates were generally less than unity. Geometric field of view (GFOV) and the presence of error-corrective feedback were found to have the strongest effect on accuracy. In fact, distance perception was nearly veridical when made with an 80 deg. GFOV and when receiving feedback. Display type (head-mounted versus desktop) and the presence of additional perspective cues were less influential.

scholarly journals Looking for Image Statistics: Active Vision With Avatars in a Naturalistic Virtual Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Straub ◽  
Constantin A. Rothkopf
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Image Databases ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Natural Image ◽  
Image Statistics ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Visual Behaviors

The efficient coding hypothesis posits that sensory systems are tuned to the regularities of their natural input. The statistics of natural image databases have been the topic of many studies, which have revealed biases in the distribution of orientations that are related to neural representations as well as behavior in psychophysical tasks. However, commonly used natural image databases contain images taken with a camera with a planar image sensor and limited field of view. Thus, these images do not incorporate the physical properties of the visual system and its active use reflecting body and eye movements. Here, we investigate quantitatively, whether the active use of the visual system influences image statistics across the visual field by simulating visual behaviors in an avatar in a naturalistic virtual environment. Images with a field of view of 120° were generated during exploration of a virtual forest environment both for a human and cat avatar. The physical properties of the visual system were taken into account by projecting the images onto idealized retinas according to models of the eyes' geometrical optics. Crucially, different active gaze behaviors were simulated to obtain image ensembles that allow investigating the consequences of active visual behaviors on the statistics of the input to the visual system. In the central visual field, the statistics of the virtual images matched photographic images regarding their power spectra and a bias in edge orientations toward cardinal directions. At larger eccentricities, the cardinal bias was superimposed with a gradually increasing radial bias. The strength of this effect depends on the active visual behavior and the physical properties of the eye. There were also significant differences between the upper and lower visual field, which became stronger depending on how the environment was actively sampled. Taken together, the results show that quantitatively relating natural image statistics to neural representations and psychophysical behavior requires not only to take the structure of the environment into account, but also the physical properties of the visual system, and its active use in behavior.

scholarly journals Visual representation of emotions in Virtual Reality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Pinilla ◽  
Jaime Garcia ◽  
William Raffe ◽  
Jan-Niklas Voigt-Antons ◽  
Sebastian Möller
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Motion Patterns

One of the challenges during the post-COVID pandemic era will be to foster social connections between people. Previous research suggests that people who is able to regulate their emotions tends to have better social connections with others. Additional studies indicate that it is possible to train the ability to regulate emotions voluntarily, using a procedure that involves three steps: (1) asking participants to evoke an autobiographical memory associated with a positive emotion; (2) analyze participants’ brain activity in real-time to estimate their emotional state; and (3) provide visual feedback about the emotions evoked with the autobiographical memory. However, there is not enough research on how to provide the visual feedback required for the third step. Therefore, this manuscript introduces five virtual environments that can be used to provide emotional visual feedback. Each virtual environment was designed based on evidence found in previous studies, suggesting that there are visual cues, such as colors, shapes and motion patterns, that tend to be associated with emotions. In each virtual environment, the visual cues changed, intending to represent five emotional categories. An experiment was conducted to analyze the emotions that participants associated with the virtual environments. The results indicate that each environment is associated with the emotional categories that they were meant to represent.

scholarly journals Continuity in intuition and insight: from real to naturalistic virtual environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Eskinazi ◽  
I. Giannopulu
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Initiation Phase ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Real Environment ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
Phenomenological Interview ◽  
Healthy Participants

AbstractIntuition and insight can be deployed on the same continuum. Intuition is the unconscious ability to create links between information; insight is a process by which a sudden comprehension and resolution of a situation arises (i.e. euréka). In the present study, real and virtual environments were used to trigger intuition and insight. The study hypothesised that immersion in real primed environments would facilitate the emergence of intuition and insight in a virtual environment. Forty nine healthy participants were randomly assigned to two groups: “primed” and “non primed.” “Primed” participants were immersed in a real environment with olfactory and visual cues; “non primed” participants did not receive any cues. All participants were exposed to a 3D naturalistic virtual environment which represented a district in Paris via a Head Mounted Display (HMD). Locations presented in the virtual scene (i.e. café places) were related to both olfactory and visual primes (i.e. café) and were based on the continuity between real and virtual environments. Once immersed in the virtual environment, all participants were instructed to use their intuition to envision the selected locations during which Skin Conductance Responses (SCRs) and verbal declarations were recorded. When initiation (a) and immersion (b) phases in the virtual environment were considered, “primed” participants had higher SCRs during the immersion phase than the initiation phase in the virtual environment. They showed higher SRCs during the first part of the virtual immersion than “non primed” participants. During the phenomenological interview, “primed” participants reported a higher number of correct intuitive answers than “non primed” participants. Moreover, “primed” participants “with” insight had higher SCRs during real environment immersion than “primed” participants “without” insight. The findings are consistent with the idea that intuitive decisions in various tasks are based on the activation of pre-existing knowledge, which is unconsciously retrieved, but nevertheless can elicit an intuitive impression of coherence and can generate insight.

scholarly journals Virtual-Audio Aided Visual Search on a Desktop Display

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clayton Rothwell ◽  
Griffin Romigh ◽  
Brian Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Frontal Region ◽  
Auditory Cues ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Virtual Audio

As visual display complexity grows, visual cues and alerts may become less salient and therefore less effective. Although the auditory system’s resolution is rather coarse relative to the visual system, there is some evidence for virtual spatialized audio to benefit visual search on a small frontal region, such as a desktop monitor. Two experiments examined if search times could be reduced compared to visual-only search through spatial auditory cues rendered using one of two methods: individualized or generic head-related transferfunctions. Results showed the cue type interacted with display complexity, with larger reductions compared to visual-only search as set size increased. For larger set sizes, individualized cues were significantly better than generic cues overall. Across all set sizes, individualized cues were better than generic cues for cueing eccentric elevations (>±8°). Where performance must be maximized, designers should use individualized virtual audio if at all possible, even in small frontal region within the field of view.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document