Le concept de « motivation » se distingue par une multitude d’approches et d’études déterminant ses aspects et ses impacts dans le champ des sciences humaines et sociales. Il se présente comme un élément important pour mobiliser le facteur humain et stimuler son niveau de performance. En référence aux sciences de l’information et de la communication et aux sciences de l’éducation, la motivation, de type intrinsèque ou extrinsèque, se manifeste dans un environnement qui favorise, parmi d’autres, l’expression, l’interaction et l’engagement. Dans une vision d’apprentissage, les pratiques de formation évoluent introduisant de nouvelles techniques sophistiquées, plus efficaces, telles que l’usage de dispositifs immersifs de formation à distance. Dès lors, notre thèse se penche sur l’étude du phénomène de la motivation au sein d’un dispositif sociotechnique animé par des avatars. Ceci va montrer la force de l’immersion dans le monde virtuel et son impact sur la motivation de l’usager de ce système de communication. Il s’agit donc de traiter une problématique traduisant les ambitions de l’apprenant de réussir son concours de Ma thèse en 180 secondes en combinant les pratiques et l’environnement qui stimulent son comportement au cours de sa formation. Un apprentissage favorisant la motivation par l’usage des personnages virtuels reproduisant les mouvements et les émotions de l’usager est un nouveau modèle de médiation porteur dans les sciences de l’information et de la communication.Notre thèse est d’avancer un outil de formation à distance qui optimise la communication entre les apprenants et leurs enseignants et développe un cercle d’apprentissage basé sur la motivation. Notre choix méthodologique est fondé sur une approche compréhensive permettant d’élucider la nature des liens conçus entre le monde réel et le monde virtuel mettant en interaction un sujet et son avatar. Pour ce faire, une expérimentation est engagée sur notre terrain de recherche, balisée par des techniques d’observations et d’entretiens qualitatifs afin de comprendre la nature des liens forgés entre les acteurs du système immersif et de saisir les stimuli de la motivation de l’apprenant dans une mise en situation de formation à distance. / The concept of “motivation” can be characterized by several approaches and studies that determine its aspects and its impacts in the fields of human and social science. It constitutes an important element that mobilizes human factors and stimulates performance level. In reference to information, communication and education science, intrinsic or extrinsic types of motivation can manifest in an environment that promotes expression, interaction and engagement. In a learning outlook, learning practices evolve introducing new and more efficient sophisticated techniques, such as the usage of immersive e-learning systems. Our research studies motivation phenomena through a sociotechnical protocol, animated by avatars. This will show immersion strength in the virtual environment and its impact on the motivation of the user of that communication system. The main point is to analyze a problematic that determines the ambitions of the trainee associated with winning the competition “My thesis in three minutes”, by combining practices and an environment that stimulates his behavior during the course. A learning process favoring motivation by the usage of virtual characters who reproduce the user’s movements and emotions is a new promising model of mediation in information and communication science.Our thesis is to present an e-learning tool that optimizes communication between teachers and learners and develops a learning circle based on motivation. Our methodology choice is based on a comprehensive approach that allows clarifying the nature of the actual links between the real and the virtual worlds, which creates an interaction between an individual and his avatar. To accomplish this, an experiment was set up and performed in our research field using observation techniques and qualitative interviews in order to understand the nature of the links existing between actors of the immersive system and to unravel the stimuli of the trainee’s motivation in an e-leaning situation.

Detta arbete undersöker hur User Experience Design-utvärderingsmetoden heuristisk utvärdering kunde anpassas till utvärderingen av TV-spel inom kontexten av immersive Virtual Reality. Rapporten börjar med att redogöra för TV-spel, Virtual Reality och User Experience som fält, med särskild fokus på utvärderingsmetoder. En genomgång av tidigare, relevant litteratur och utförandet av heuristiska utvärderingar ledde till skapandet av en lista med heuristiker utformade för immersive Virtual Reality-spel. En manual med riktlinjer för utförandet av utvärderingar inom en Virtual Reality-kontext skapades också. Både heuristikerna och manualen validerades och reviderades utefter resultaten av de heuristiska utvärderingar som utfördes under arbetets gång. Resultaten visade på att heuristisk utvärdering går att använda inom en VR-spelskontext, men att det kräver vissa modifikationer. Detta har implikationer för användandet av andra utvärderingsmetoder i samma kontext.

Le système Catopsys est un système projecteur-miroir-caméra à placer dans une pièce d'habitation quelconque. Il constitue un moyen abordable (coût, installation, utilisation) de réaliser toutes sortes d'applications de réalité mixte immersives. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier et d'optimiser la chaîne de traitement radiométrique mise en oeuvre à travers ce système. Tout d'abord, les perturbations radiométriques de la caméra sont étudiées puis une méthode de correction, applicable au système Catopsys, est mise au point. Ceci permet, de façon relativement fidèle, d'acquérir l'environnement réel et d'estimer les perturbations issues du projecteur et de la pièce. L'influence du projecteur et de la pièce, utilisée comme écran de projection, sur l'image visible par l'utilisateur, est ensuite étudiée. Une méthode de compensation de la projection, permettant de rendre l'image visible plus proche de l'image voulue, est proposée. Après une étude de la géométrie du système Catopsys, des méthodes de simulation d'éclairage spécifiques, dérivées de la méthode de lancer de rayons, sont proposées. Enfin, les possibilités fournies par le système pour des applications de réalité mixte ainsi que leur intégration dans la chaîne de traitement sont étudiées. Les travaux réalisés dans le cadre de cette thèse ont permis de participer à la mise au point du système Catopsys, d'étudier la faisabilité de différentes fonctionnalités et d'en réaliser certaines. Ils ont également donné lieu à la publication de plusieurs papiers (une conférence internationale, une revue nationale, une conférence nationale).

With increasing access to powerful computer processing and broadband Internet connectivity, persistent immersive worlds like Second Life are being adopted for use as virtual learning environments. The flexibility of these spaces, however, offers little innate direction for educators in terms of design and pedagogy considerations, creating a space for research, shared experience, and possibly the development of “best practices” literature. This multiple-case study explores the unique affordances of immersive environments for distance education with reference to the design, pedagogy, and student experience of two university-accredited courses taught entirely “in-world” on the Second Life platform.

With increasing access to powerful computer processing and broadband Internet connectivity, persistent immersive worlds like Second Life are being adopted for use as virtual learning environments. The flexibility of these spaces, however, offers little innate direction for educators in terms of design and pedagogy considerations, creating a space for research, shared experience, and possibly the development of “best practices” literature. This multiple-case study explores the unique affordances of immersive environments for distance education with reference to the design, pedagogy, and student experience of two university-accredited courses taught entirely “in-world” on the Second Life platform.

Remodelage et Ré-éclairage Pour La Création et Manipulation de Contenu Interactif Resumé Ces dernières années, les outils et techniques d'infographie sont devenus accessibles à un public plus large, permettant á des non-spécialistes de créer du contenu numérique 2D ou 3D par eux-mêmes. Cependant, la plupart des utilisateurs n'ont pas les compétences nécessaires pour créer du contenu qui soit à la fois esthétique et utile. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons de combler cette lacune en fournissant des outils qui peuvent être employés par des utilisateurs non-experts pour aider dans la création de contenu numérique pour des mondes virtuels. Nous examinons d'abord la complexité des outils de modélisation 3D actuels, qui sont conçus pour des utilisateurs expérimentés. Notre approche permet aux utilisa- teurs de simplement déplacer les sommets d'un modèle architectural pour effectuer les changements souhaités, tout en adaptant les textures du modèle. Nous avons posé le problème comme un système d'équations linéaires représentant la structure du modèle 3D. A l'exécution, les équations sont résolues selon la méthode des moindres carrés, per- mettant à l'utilisateur de modifier le modèle 3D tout en préservant la forme générale et la texture. Nous adaptons ensuite cette approche à un environnement virtuel 3D immersif. L'utilisateur peut interagir avec le système de modélisation en utilisant des gestes, étant immergé dans un système de projection avec 4 murs. Nous étendons notre approche avec des capacités d'éclairage basiques, permettant à l'utilisateur de changer le jour de l'année et l'heure pour visualiser la distribution de la lumière à l'intérieur du modèle architectural. La dernière partie de cette thèse présente une solution qui permet aux utilisateurs de modifier l'éclairage d'une photo d'un arbre. Nous adoptons une approche de rendu volumique à un rebond pour estimer la répartition de la lumière dans le feuillage des arbres. Avec quelques photos prises à un seul moment de la journée comme entrée, notre solution permet à l'utilisateur de changer l'heure de la journée à laquelle la photo d'origine à été prise, et ce avec un éclairage cohérent.

Denna studie bygger på en fallstudie där filmen Pool, regisserad av Anders Lennberg mixas i bioljudsformatet Dolby Atmos. Syftet är att få fördjupad kunskap om de processer och den potential för immersion och filmberättande som ingår i filmmixning i det objektbaserade ljudformatet Dolby Atmos. Studien har utgått från tre stycken forskningsfrågor: 1) Vilka kreativa och tekniska mixningsstrategier används i filmen Pool för att förhöja den potentiella graden av immersion? 2) Hur kan olika mixningsstrategier, specifika för det objektbaserade ljudformatet Dolby Atmos, utformas för att bidra till filmljudets berättande funktioner? Och 3) Hur ser produktionsprocesserna ut vid filmmixning i Dolby Atmos? I studien har metodansatsen forskning genom design, tillsammans med autoetnografi använts. Undersökningen har alltså varit att mixa filmen i två iterationer, studera mixningsprocesserna och valen som görs. Extern värdering har sedan gjorts av regissören samt en fokusgruppintervju med personer från ljud- och musikproduktionsprogrammet vid Högskolan Dalarna. Resultatet har blivit ett antal mixningsstrategier som applicerats för att förhöja immersion i filmen och bidra till ljudets berättande funktioner. Med panoreringsmöjligheterna och möjligheten att placera ljud i höjdled i Dolby Atmos har studien lyckats visa ett större kreativt utrymme för filmmixaren att skapa immersion och bidra till ljudets berättande funktioner.

A inclusão das pessoas com deficiência no mercado de trabalho pode ser um diferencial na qualidade de vida desses indivíduos, sendo que a participação de forma igualitária em sociedade, respeitando os direitos e obrigações ainda é um desafio. Diante disso, houve o surgimento de uma legislação mais voltada a inclusão, podendo citar a lei 8213, criada em 1991, a Lei de Cotas iniciou um processo de maior valorização dessa parte da população, em relação ao mercado de trabalho. O desafio das empresas não é simples, já que falamos de incluir uma parcela da população que, historicamente, foi socialmente marginalizada, muitas vezes se apresentando sem qualificação para ocupar os postos de trabalho. Esta tese apresenta o desenvolvimento de um sistema imersivo e a avaliação do mesmo focando na capacitação das pessoas com deficiência intelectual para inclusão laboral. A pesquisa é de cunho tecnológico-qualitativo, sendo que o objetivo principal é demonstrar como um sistema que se utiliza dos conceitos de Ambientes Imersivos pode através do processo de mediação, na perspectiva sócio-histórica, ajudar a capacitar e a eliminar barreiras no aprendizado laboral desses estudantes. O Ambiente Imersivo Solassist Virtual foi desenvolvido utilizando o motor de jogo UDK e validado em uma empresa participante da pesquisa. O estudo foi realizado com 11 alunos, com deficiência intelectual, parcela mais excluída do mercado de trabalho. O uso do sistema desenvolvido, acompanhado da análise das mediações, evidenciou categorias que demonstraram a viabilidade do uso, sendo uma Tecnologia Assistiva para sua inserção laboral. Este trabalho também apresenta contribuições para a Ciência da Computação através do desenvolvimento de um Ambiente Imersivo, projetado para possibilitar as mediações das pessoas com deficiência intelectual, visando sua inclusão laboral. / The inclusion of people with deficiency in the work market can be a differential in the life quality of these individuals, being the participation on an equal way in the society, respecting the rights and obligations is still a challenge. Before that, there was the emerging of a legislation turned more to the inclusion, we can cite the Law 8213, created in 1991, the Quotes' Law began a process of more valuation of this part of the population in relation to the work market. The challenge of the companies is not easy, as we talk about including an amount of the population that, historically, was socially marginalized, many times presenting without qualification to work on the jobs places. This thesis presents the development of an immersive system and its evaluation focusing on making people with intellectual deficiency able to the work inclusion. The research is technological-qualitative, and the main goal is to show how a system that uses the Immersive Environment concepts can, through the mediation process, in the social-historical perspective, help to make it able and to eliminate boundaries in these students' learning. The Virtual Solassist Immersive Environment was developed using an engine of an UDK game and it was validated in a company that participates in the research. The study was performed with 11 students, with intellectual deficiency, the most excluded amount of the work market. The usage of the developed system, followed by the analysis of the mediations, highlighted categories that showed the viability of its usage, being an Assistive Technology for its labor insertion. This paper also presents contributions to the Computer Science through the development of an Immersive Environment, projected to make possible the mediation of people with intellectual deficiency, aiming their labor inclusion.

A inclusão das pessoas com deficiência no mercado de trabalho pode ser um diferencial na qualidade de vida desses indivíduos, sendo que a participação de forma igualitária em sociedade, respeitando os direitos e obrigações ainda é um desafio. Diante disso, houve o surgimento de uma legislação mais voltada a inclusão, podendo citar a lei 8213, criada em 1991, a Lei de Cotas iniciou um processo de maior valorização dessa parte da população, em relação ao mercado de trabalho. O desafio das empresas não é simples, já que falamos de incluir uma parcela da população que, historicamente, foi socialmente marginalizada, muitas vezes se apresentando sem qualificação para ocupar os postos de trabalho. Esta tese apresenta o desenvolvimento de um sistema imersivo e a avaliação do mesmo focando na capacitação das pessoas com deficiência intelectual para inclusão laboral. A pesquisa é de cunho tecnológico-qualitativo, sendo que o objetivo principal é demonstrar como um sistema que se utiliza dos conceitos de Ambientes Imersivos pode através do processo de mediação, na perspectiva sócio-histórica, ajudar a capacitar e a eliminar barreiras no aprendizado laboral desses estudantes. O Ambiente Imersivo Solassist Virtual foi desenvolvido utilizando o motor de jogo UDK e validado em uma empresa participante da pesquisa. O estudo foi realizado com 11 alunos, com deficiência intelectual, parcela mais excluída do mercado de trabalho. O uso do sistema desenvolvido, acompanhado da análise das mediações, evidenciou categorias que demonstraram a viabilidade do uso, sendo uma Tecnologia Assistiva para sua inserção laboral. Este trabalho também apresenta contribuições para a Ciência da Computação através do desenvolvimento de um Ambiente Imersivo, projetado para possibilitar as mediações das pessoas com deficiência intelectual, visando sua inclusão laboral. / The inclusion of people with deficiency in the work market can be a differential in the life quality of these individuals, being the participation on an equal way in the society, respecting the rights and obligations is still a challenge. Before that, there was the emerging of a legislation turned more to the inclusion, we can cite the Law 8213, created in 1991, the Quotes' Law began a process of more valuation of this part of the population in relation to the work market. The challenge of the companies is not easy, as we talk about including an amount of the population that, historically, was socially marginalized, many times presenting without qualification to work on the jobs places. This thesis presents the development of an immersive system and its evaluation focusing on making people with intellectual deficiency able to the work inclusion. The research is technological-qualitative, and the main goal is to show how a system that uses the Immersive Environment concepts can, through the mediation process, in the social-historical perspective, help to make it able and to eliminate boundaries in these students' learning. The Virtual Solassist Immersive Environment was developed using an engine of an UDK game and it was validated in a company that participates in the research. The study was performed with 11 students, with intellectual deficiency, the most excluded amount of the work market. The usage of the developed system, followed by the analysis of the mediations, highlighted categories that showed the viability of its usage, being an Assistive Technology for its labor insertion. This paper also presents contributions to the Computer Science through the development of an Immersive Environment, projected to make possible the mediation of people with intellectual deficiency, aiming their labor inclusion.

abstract: This dissertation describes the development of a state-of-the-art immersive media environment and its potential to motivate high school youth with autism to vocally express themselves. Due to the limited availability of media environments in public education settings, studies on the use of such systems in special education contexts are rare. A study called Sea of Signs utilized the Situated Multimodal Art Learning Lab (SMALLab), to present a custom-designed conversational scenario for pairs of youth with autism. Heuristics for building the scenario were developed following a 4-year design-based research approach that fosters social interaction, communication, and self-expression through embodied design. Sea of Signs implemented these heuristics through an immersive experience, supported by spatial and audio-visual feedback that helped clarify and reinforce students' vocal expressions within a partner-based conversational framework. A multiple-baseline design across participants was used to determine the extent to which individuals exhibited observable change as a result of the activity in SMALLab. Teacher interviews were conducted prior to the experimental phase to identify each student's pattern of social interaction, communication, and problem-solving strategies in the classroom. Ethnographic methods and video coding were used throughout the experimental phase to assess whether there were changes in (a) speech duration per session and per turn, (b) turn-taking patterns, and (c) teacher prompting per session. In addition, teacher interviews were conducted daily after every SMALLab session to further triangulate the nature of behaviors observed in each session. Final teacher interviews were conducted after the experimental phase to collect data on possible transfer of behavioral improvements into students' classroom lives beyond SMALLab. Results from this study suggest that the activity successfully increased independently generated speech in some students, while increasing a focus on seeking out social partners in others. Furthermore, the activity indicated a number of future directions in research on the nature of voice and discourse, rooted in the use of aesthetics and phenomenology, to augment, extend, and encourage developments in directed communication skills for youth with autism. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Media Arts and Sciences 2013