scholarly journals Social Interaction With Agents and Avatars in Immersive Virtual Environments: A Survey

2022 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Kyrlitsias ◽  
Despina Michael-Grigoriou
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Humans ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environments ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range

Immersive virtual reality technologies are used in a wide range of fields such as training, education, health, and research. Many of these applications include virtual humans that are classified into avatars and agents. An overview of the applications and the advantages of immersive virtual reality and virtual humans is presented in this survey, as well as the basic concepts and terminology. To be effective, many virtual reality applications require that the users perceive and react socially to the virtual humans in a realistic manner. Numerous studies show that people can react socially to virtual humans; however, this is not always the case. This survey provides an overview of the main findings regarding the factors affecting the social interaction with virtual humans within immersive virtual environments. Finally, this survey highlights the need for further research that can lead to a better understanding of human–virtual human interaction.

scholarly journals Cartographic Scale in Immersive Virtual Environments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Hruby ◽  
Irma Castellanos ◽  
Rainer Ressl
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Temporal Scale ◽  
Level Of Detail ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Conceptual Integration ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environments ◽  
High Level ◽  
Immersive Visualization

Abstract Scale has been a defining criterion of mapmaking for centuries. However, this criterion is fundamentally questioned by highly immersive virtual reality (VR) systems able to represent geographic environments at a high level of detail and, thus, providing the user with a feeling of being present in VR space. In this paper, we will use the concept of scale as a vehicle for discussing some of the main differences between immersive VR and non-immersive geovisualization products. Based on a short review of diverging meanings of scale we will propose possible approaches to the issue of both spatial and temporal scale in immersive VR. Our considerations shall encourage a more detailed treatment of the specific characteristics of immersive geovisualization to facilitate deeper conceptual integration of immersive and non-immersive visualization in the realm of cartography.

scholarly journals Place illusion and plausibility can lead to realistic behaviour in immersive virtual environments

2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1535) ◽  
pp. 3549-3557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mel Slater
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Reality System ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environments ◽  
Real Place ◽  
Orthogonal Components ◽  
Sensorimotor Contingencies ◽  
Being There

In this paper, I address the question as to why participants tend to respond realistically to situations and events portrayed within an immersive virtual reality system. The idea is put forward, based on the experience of a large number of experimental studies, that there are two orthogonal components that contribute to this realistic response. The first is ‘being there’, often called ‘presence’, the qualia of having a sensation of being in a real place. We call this place illusion (PI). Second, plausibility illusion (Psi) refers to the illusion that the scenario being depicted is actually occurring. In the case of both PI and Psi the participant knows for sure that they are not ‘there’ and that the events are not occurring. PI is constrained by the sensorimotor contingencies afforded by the virtual reality system. Psi is determined by the extent to which the system can produce events that directly relate to the participant, the overall credibility of the scenario being depicted in comparison with expectations. We argue that when both PI and Psi occur, participants will respond realistically to the virtual reality.

A Kinematic Evaluation of Linear and Parabolic Pointing in Virtual Reality

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-90
Author(s):  
John Sermarini ◽  
Joseph T. Kider ◽  
Joseph J. LaViola ◽  
Daniel S. McConnell
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Movement Time ◽  
Interaction Style ◽  
Task Constraint ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environments ◽  
Pointing Task ◽  
Pointing Movements ◽  
Movement Distance ◽  
Kinematic Evaluation

We present the results of a study investigating the influence of task and effector constraints on the kinematics of pointing movements performed in immersive virtual environments. We compared the effect of target width, as a task constraint, to the effect of movement distance, as an effector constraint, in terms of overall effect on movement time in a pointing task. We also compared a linear ray-cast pointing technique to a parabolic pointing technique to understand how interaction style may be understood in the context of task and effector constraints. The effect of target width as an information constraint on pointing performance was amplified in VR. Pointing technique acted as an effector constraint, with linear ray-cast pointing resulting in faster performance than parabolic pointers.

Immersive Virtual Reality as a Non-Pharmacological Analgesic for Pain Management

2018 ◽  
pp. 1176-1199
Author(s):  
Diane Gromala ◽  
Xin Tong ◽  
Chris Shaw ◽  
Weina Jin
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Acute Pain ◽  
Term Treatment ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Effective Form ◽  
Long Term Treatment ◽  
Difficult Challenge

In the 1990s, when immersive Virtual Reality (VR) was first popular, researchers found it to be an effective intervention in reducing acute pain. Since that time, VR technologies have been used for treating acute pain. Although the exact mechanism is unclear, VR is thought to be an especially effective form of pain distraction. While pain-related virtual environments have built upon pain distraction, a handful of researchers have focused on a more difficult challenge: VR for long-term chronic pain. Because the nature of chronic pain is complex, pharmacological analgesics are often insufficient or unsustainable as an ideal long-term treatment. In this chapter, the authors explore how VR can be used as a non-pharmacological adjuvant for chronic pain. Two paradigms for virtual environments built for addressing chronic pain have emerged – Pain Distraction and what we term Pain Self-modulation. We discuss VR's validation for mitigating pain in patients who have acute pain, for those with chronic pain, and for addressing “breakthrough” periods of higher pain in patients with chronic pain.

Visiting Tourist Landmarks in Virtual Reality Systems by Real-Walking

2010 ◽  
pp. 180-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Steinicke ◽  
G. Bruder ◽  
J. Jerald ◽  
H. Frenz
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Interaction Space ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environments ◽  
Redirected Walking ◽  
Virtual City

In recent years virtual environments (VEs) have become more and more popular and widespread due to the requirements of numerous application areas in particular in the 3D city visualization domain. Virtual reality (VR) systems, which make use of tracking technologies and stereoscopic projections of three-dimensional synthetic worlds, support better exploration of complex datasets. However, due to the limited interaction space usually provided by the range of the tracking sensors, users can explore only a portion of the virtual environment (VE). Redirected walking allows users to walk through large-scale immersive virtual environments (IVEs) such as virtual city models, while physically remaining in a reasonably small workspace by intentionally injecting scene motion into the IVE. With redirected walking users are guided on physical paths that may differ from the paths they perceive in the virtual world. The authors have conducted experiments in order to quantify how much humans can unknowingly be redirected. In this chapter they present the results of this study and the implications for virtual locomotion user interfaces that allow users to view arbitrary real world locations, before the users actually travel there in a natural environment.

scholarly journals Using 3D Worlds in Prison: Driving, Learning and Escape

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Sara Farley
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
General Population ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environments ◽  
Prison Setting ◽  
Processing Power ◽  
Prison Environment ◽  
The One

Affordable hardware and increased processing power have resulted in a surge in the number and adoption of virtual reality applications and immersive virtual environments. These applications are able to immerse the user in an environment other than that of their immediate geographical location. The one population that is unable to move even within their own geographical location are prisoners. Prisoners are secluded away from the general population, unable to travel, attend education beyond the prison walls or interact with a wide variety of people. At least to a certain extent, these constraints are able to be overcome with the use of virtual reality and immersive virtual environments.This paper briefly examines the constraints experienced by prisoners and the technical limitations of the prison environment. It explores the very few cases where these technologies are already used within the prison setting. A number of potential uses for virtual reality within prisons are proposed, including the justification for these approaches and a description of how these technologies are being used outside of the prison setting.

Social Interaction and Social Development in Virtual Environments

1993 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie E. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Social Skills ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
The Subject

Like most new technologies, virtual reality (VR) has been the subject of a great deal of idealization. This paper both debunks that idealization by discussing some problems that certain types of VR could cause and emphasizes how other types of VR could bring the technology closer to its ideal. Virtual reality is divided into four types: social (there are real other people to interact with), nonsocial (other interactants are simulations of people), creative (users can create elements in the virtual environment), and noncreative (users interact with a fixed environment created for them). Nonsocial VR may cause problems by making it difficult for children and adolescents to learn social skills. Noncreative VR is problematic because it places limits on users' creativity and freedom. Engineers developing VR technology are encouraged to develop social and creative VR.

scholarly journals Multimodality with Eye tracking and Haptics: A New Horizon for Serious Games?

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shujie Deng ◽  
Julie A. Kirkby ◽  
Jian Chang ◽  
Jian Jun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Haptic Feedback ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environments ◽  
New Applications ◽  
And Training

The goal of this review is to illustrate the emerging use of multimodal virtual reality that can benefit learning-based games. The review begins with an introduction to multimodal virtual reality in serious games and we provide a brief discussion of why cognitive processes involved in learning and training are enhanced under immersive virtual environments. We initially outline studies that have used eye tracking and haptic feedback independently in serious games, and then review some innovative applications that have already combined eye tracking and haptic devices in order to provide applicable multimodal frameworks for learning-based games. Finally, some general conclusions are identified and clarified in order to advance current understanding in multimodal serious game production as well as exploring possible areas for new applications.

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