VR står för Virtual Reality och används idag ofta för utbildning, både inom skola och yrkesgrupper då det har uppvisat goda resultat och är relativt billigt att utföra jämfört med att träna till exempel personal inom brandkår, sjukhus och polis. Finns det en applikation där flera användare inklusive en instruktör kan samverka oberoende plats och plattform blir det bättre ur både logistiskt och ekonomiskt perspektiv. Det finns idag ingen standardiserad modell för notifikationer inom VR och därför finns det en mängd olika modeller för att fånga användarens uppmärksamhet. Det här arbetet handlar om att undersöka webbläsaren som verktyg för en Virtual Reality- applikation där flera användare samtidigt kan använda applikationen oberoende av vilken plattform som används. Anledningen till att det skall fungera för flera användare samtidigt är för att applikationen är till för träning inför akuta situationer och då skall både instruktör och användare kunna vara i applikationen samtidigt.  Arbetet handlar också om att ta reda på vilken av de två notifikationsmodeller som i det här arbetet testas är det mest tidseffektiva vid träning av brandkår med hjälp av VR-teknik. Resultatet har framkommit genom utförda användartester genomförda med hjälp av en prototyp som har utvecklats; samt intervjuer av de testpersoner som har deltagit i användartester. Testpersonerna delades upp i två lika stora grupper på 10 st i varje grupp för att testa två olika notifikationsmodeller. De testade notifikationsmodeller är en statisk nödutgångsskylt och en visuell vägvisare i form av en pil i golvet som rör sig i för scenariots uppgift rätt riktning. Uppgiften som testpersonerna fick var att ta sig från en punkt till en annan i en rökfylld lokal på så snabb tid som möjligt, med hjälp av den notifikation som tilldelades. Testpersonerna rangordnades efter att samtliga test var genomförda. Den som klarat sig bäst i den ena gruppen jämfördes med den som klarat sig bäst i den andra gruppen och så vidare. Resultatet visar tendenser åt att den visuella vägvisaren var den mest effektiva av de två notifikationsmodeller som testades. Deltagarna i gruppen som använde den visuella sökvägen presterade något bättre, vilket indikerar en trend mot preferenser för den notifikations modellen framför den statiska nödutgångsskylten.

El presente trabajo promueve un nuevo modelo de negocio orientado a una industria nacional que empieza a ganar fuerza en el mercado. El proyecto presentado hace referencia a una plataforma web que fomenta la conectividad entre gamers, y ayuda a fortalecer el desarrollo de una comunidad por medio de una red de contacto. Esta plataforma web ofrece diferentes funciones, entre las cuales resaltan, actualización de noticias y eventos importantes publicados por los usuarios pertenecientes a la comunidad, ofrecer disponibilidad de acceso a torneos publicados por academias de e-Sports para captar competidores y espectadores. Por otro lado, también ofrece un canal de coaching siendo un vínculo entre gamer aficionados en búsqueda de capacitación y gamer con mejores destrezas de juego que necesitan o desean monetizar sus habilidades. Para poder validar todas las hipótesis previamente mencionadas se realizaron una serie de experimentos que nos ayudarán a entender mejor el mercado objetivo y poder adaptar nuestro modelo de negocio. Posteriormente a la validación, se realizaron ventas concretando con éxito el desarrollo de la plataforma y de tal manera poder evaluar si nuestro proyecto será sostenible en el tiempo. / The present work promotes a new business model oriented to a national industry that is beginning to gain strength in the market. The project presented refers to a web platform that encourages connectivity between gamers, and helps to strengthen the development of a community through a contact network. This web platform offers different functions, among which they stand out, updating important news and events published by users belonging to the community, offering availability of access to tournaments published by e-Sports academies to attract competitors and spectators. On the other hand, it also offers a coaching channel being a link between amateur gamer in search of training and gamer with better gaming skills who need or want to monetize them. In order to validate all the previously mentioned hypotheses, a series of experiments were carried out that will help us better understand the target market and be able to adapt our business model. After validation, sales were made, successfully specifying the development of the platform and in such a way being able to assess whether our project will be sustainable over time. / Trabajo de investigación

<p>Crowd simulations have been a part of crowd research since the 1980s. This document focuses on understanding how study participants interact and perceive a virtual crowd in an immersive virtual environment. Specifically, avoidance proximity variations (i.e., low, medium, and high avoidance proximity [defined as avoidance radius]) were explored when assigned to crowd agents impacted participants’ interaction with the virtual crowd. During the study, participants were instructed to walk in a virtual environment. At the same time, a virtual crowd was scripted to move toward participants’ starting position following a straight path. During the participants’ walking task, movement data was collected (i.e., trajectory length and completion time) and immediately after each experimental condition, participants were asked to self-report their experience (i.e., presence, co-presence, behavioral independence, crowd realism, crowd interaction realism, perceived politeness, and emotional reactivity). Based on the collected data, it was found that when participants were exposed to the high avoidance proximity condition, they: 1) followed longer paths, 2) spent more time reaching the target goal, 3) rated the virtual crowd less polite, 4) rated the virtual crowd and their interaction with the virtual crowd less realistic, 5) rated the behavior independence of the virtual crowd lower, 6) self-reported higher emotional reactivity, and 7) positive correlations were found between trajectory length and behavioral independence, trajectory length and crowd interaction realism, and completion time and perceived politeness. Suggestions for further research on human-virtual crowd interaction are also discussed.</p>

The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of virtual character design on user emotional experience and user behavior in a simulated environment. With simulation training increasing in popularity as a tool for teaching social skills, it is essential that social interactions in virtual environments provide authentic opportunities for practice (Swartout et al., 2006). This study used Interactive Performance Theory (Wirth, 2012) to examine the effect of designing a virtual buddy character with ineffective traits instead of effective or expert traits. The sample population for this study (n = 145) consisted of first year university students enrolled in courses in the fall of 2013 at the University of Central Florida. Data on participant emotional experience and behavior were collected through questionnaires, researcher observations, and physiological signal recording that included participant heart rate and galvanic skin response. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance, and qualitative thematic coding of participant verbal behavior and written responses. Results of the analysis revealed that participants who interacted with an ineffective virtual buddy character had statistically significant higher averages of verbal statements to the antagonist in the simulated environment and statistically significant lower perceptions of antagonist amiability than participants who interacted with an effective virtual buddy. Additionally, participants who interacted with a virtual buddy of the opposite gender gave statistically significant higher ecological validity scores to the simulated environment than participants who interacted with a virtual buddy of the same gender. Qualitative analysis also revealed that participants tended to describe the female buddy character with more ineffective traits than the male buddy character even though effective and ineffective design conditions were equally divided for both groups. Further research should be conducted on the effect of virtual buddy character design in different types of simulation environments and with different target audiences.

One of the biggest issues facing VR as a platform is the limitation of the user’s physical space. Not everyone has a lab, empty warehouse, or open space in their home or office, and even if they do, the hardware also limits the physical space the user can take advantage of. Fitting the entirety of the environment within few square meters is a strict limitation for many applications. A method of moving the user within a larger space is needed, but current methods come with drawbacks. Developing a new movement method that avoids these drawbacks will help ensure a better experience for the user.

Virtual reality is a technology that has seen unprecedented growth since the turn of the century with increasing applications within business, entertainment, and educational applications. As virtual reality technologies continue to develops and markets expand, the world may see an increased demand for virtual classrooms: virtual environments (VEs) that students may access through immersive virtual reality technologies to receive guided instruction, conduct simulations, or perform tasks typical in a classroom setting. While many studies document how virtual reality is beneficial to educational processes, there is little discussion on how virtual environments should be architecturally designed. Thus one may hypothesize that physical design strategies translated to virtual environments may have similar results. This thesis investigates virtual environments for education by creating several virtual classrooms embedded within a selective digital twin of the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. The design of the virtual classrooms was influenced by current architectural trends in classroom design while capturing unique abilities present within a virtual context. A physical teaching module was also designed to create a platform for educators within the university to deliver instruction within the virtual campus.

Virtual reality is a medium where both visual and aural fidelity strive to be comparable to real life. However, effective sound localization is an important part of many virtual game environments. Previous studies on virtual acoustic environments suggest that acoustic fidelity may be at odds with effective sound localization. Therefore, this study examines how one of the more computationally demanding acoustic processes affects sound localization performance in virtual reality. This study compares three different conditions with varying amounts of early reflections in a virtual reality environment. The results showed no statistically significant difference in azimuth errors, elevation errors or response times.

The EU funded HAPTEX project aimed to create a virtual reality system that allowed a user to explore and manipulate a suspended virtual textile with the thumb and index finger. This was achieved through a combination of a tactile renderer on the fingertips for surface textures and a force feedback system for deformation of the virtual material. This project focuses on the tactile rendering component of this system, which uses a tactile display developed at the University of Exeter. The 24 pin display is driven by piezoelectric bimorphs. Each of the pins can be driven independently, allowing for a variety of different sensations to be transmitted to the fingertip. The display is driven by rendering software that uses a spatial spectrum of the intended surface, in combination with the frequency response of touch receptors in the skin, position on the surface, and exploration velocity to produce a signal that is intended to recreate the sensation of exploring the surface texture. The output signal on each of the 24 contactors is a combination of high (320 Hz) and low (40 Hz) frequency sine waves. In this project, the tactile renderer is initially evaluated based on its ability to recreate the sensations of exploring particular textured surfaces. The users were asked to rank virtual textures in order of similarity to a real target texture. The results of the initial test were disappointingly low, with a 38.1±3.1% correct identification rate. However, feedback from this initial test was used to make improvements to the rendering strategy. These improvements did not give a significant improvement in identification (41.3±1.6%). Finally, the tests were repeated with a target virtual texture instead of the real one used in previous tests. This test yielded a higher identification rate (64.1±5.5%). This increase in identification suggests that the virtual textures are distinguishable but that they not always accurate recreations of the real textures they are mimicking.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Test and training ranges have sought the holy grail of large-scale range interconnectivity for many years. The ability to test at any range and transmit the information to the engineers at the home base and control the mission without sending the entire test team to a remote location improves the test schedules, reduces the cost of testing and improves the testing capabilities. New opportunities of interconnecting ranges are changing the business of open air range testing and the resulting capabilities. Two predominant opportunities will be discussed in this paper. First, is taking advantage of the fiber glut that the US is currently experiencing along with opportunities for government-acquired assets to service the testing community. This approach provides the government the ability to fiber-optically create a virtual test range and provide full interconnectivity of all data. Second is to take advantage of the existing networks such as the Defense Research Engineering Network (DREN) to make efficient on-demand type connectivity where, otherwise, it would be cost prohibitive.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / A PC-based space channel error simulator that includes differing forward and return data links, independent statistical characterization of the data links, and link propagation delay has been developed. The LabVIEW programming language has been used to configure this containing all of the error generation and processing in software. The simulator is used for testing networking protocols in a simulated space channel environment and can be used for other types of channels as well. This paper describes the design goals, hardware configuration, software, and testing of the simulator. This technique allows for rapid development and validation of the simulator.