Si « la réalité virtuelle ne fait que généraliser ce principe qui consiste à offrir un produit privé de sa substance, privé de son noyau de réel, de résistance matérielle : tel le café décaféiné qui a le goût et l'odeur du café sans en être vraiment, la réalité virtuelle est une réalité qui ne l'est pas vraiment. » comme l'écrit Slavoj Zizek (2002, p. 31), comment expliquer la présence ?La question de la présence entendue comme la sensation d'être dans un environnement qui n'est pas l'environnement réel ne peut être abordée qu'à condition de prendre conscience des présupposés qu'elle comporte même si ces présupposés semblent paradoxaux. Par conséquent, il s'agit, dans un premier temps, d’analyser une série d'immersions menées au Centre de Réalité Virtuelle de la Méditerranée (Crvm). C'est sur la base des résultats de l'étude menée au Crvm en recourant à des entretiens en profondeur que, dans un deuxième temps, une étude empirique utilisant un recueil de données parquestionnaire, sera proposée afin d'examiner les relations entre les dimensions de la présence. Pour le dire clairement, la problématique de ce travail prend pour origine une question qui n'a pas été, selon nous, suffisamment examinée : qu’est-ce que la présence dans un environnement immersif ? Les paradoxes de la présence dans les environnements immersifssont-ils d’authentiques paradoxes où ne sont-ils pas seulement les conséquences de présupposés insuffisamment interrogés ? Le cas échéant, la présence dans les environnements immersifs est-elle encore paradoxale ? Et si, malgré tout, elle le demeure, quelle est la nature des paradoxes qui la caractérisent ? Et, en dépit de l'apparente solitude du sujet en immersion, la présence dans les environnements immersifs ne révèle-t-elle pas l'essence communicationnelle de l'homme ? / The question of the presence -i.e. the feeling of being in an environment which is not the real environment - can be understood only if we are aware of presence presuppositions, even if these presuppositions seems to be paradoxical. Consequently, on the one hand, we have analyzed immersive experiences at the Centre de Réalité virtuelle de la Méditerranée (Crvm). On the second hand, an empirical study, using a data collection by questionnaire, has been achieved in order to examine the relations between the dimensions of the presence.The problem of the presence in immersive environments takes for origin a question which was not enough examined. The question is the following : are the paradoxes of the presence in immersive environments authentic paradoxes? In spite of the loneliness of the subject experiencing immersion, is the presence in the immersive environments able to reveal that the essence of human being is communication?

This thesis examines the design and implementation of an extensible objectoriented physics engine framework. The design and implementation consolidates concepts from the wide literature in the field and clearly documents the procedures and methods. Two primary dynamic behaviors are explored: rigid body dynamics and articulated dynamics. A generalized collision response model is built for rigid bodies and articulated structures which can be adapted to other types of behaviors. The framework is designed around the use of interfaces for modularity and easy extensibility. It supports both a standalone physics engine and a supplement to a distributed immersive rendering environment. We present our results as a number of scenarios that demonstrate the viability of the framework. These scenarios include rigid bodies and articulated structures in free-fall, collision with dynamic and static bodies, resting contact, and friction. We show that we can effectively combine different dynamics into one cohesive structure. We also explain how we can efficiently extend current behaviors to develop new ones, such as altering rigid bodies to produce different collision responses or flocking behavior. Additionally, we demonstrate these scenarios in both the standalone and the immersive environment.

This thesis examines the design and implementation of an extensible objectoriented physics engine framework. The design and implementation consolidates concepts from the wide literature in the field and clearly documents the procedures and methods. Two primary dynamic behaviors are explored: rigid body dynamics and articulated dynamics. A generalized collision response model is built for rigid bodies and articulated structures which can be adapted to other types of behaviors. The framework is designed around the use of interfaces for modularity and easy extensibility. It supports both a standalone physics engine and a supplement to a distributed immersive rendering environment. We present our results as a number of scenarios that demonstrate the viability of the framework. These scenarios include rigid bodies and articulated structures in free-fall, collision with dynamic and static bodies, resting contact, and friction. We show that we can effectively combine different dynamics into one cohesive structure. We also explain how we can efficiently extend current behaviors to develop new ones, such as altering rigid bodies to produce different collision responses or flocking behavior. Additionally, we demonstrate these scenarios in both the standalone and the immersive environment.

Sensemaking of large textual information is a cognitively intensive task. Prior work has shown the value of large 2D high-resolution-display spaces in supporting the sensemaking process, by providing a "Space to Think" in which analysts can organize information and externalize their thought process. In this paper, we investigate how analysts use 3D immersive spaces for the same task. To this end, we conducted a user study where participants were asked to solve an intelligence analysis task using an Immersive Space to Think (IST) in a 3D virtual environment using an HMD. The study results show that the concepts of Space to Think extend naturally to 3D immersive space and that the 3D space offers some additional opportunities. With immersive space, analysts i) organized in a surrounding virtual sphere, ii) exploited the depth dimension for encoding relevance, and iii) traded-off between physical navigation and occlusion. / Master of Science / Sensemaking of large textual information is a cognitively intensive task. Prior work has shown the value of large 2D high-resolution-display spaces in supporting the sensemaking process, by providing a "Space to Think" in which analysts can organize information and externalize their thought process. In this paper, we investigate how analysts use 3D immersive spaces for the same task. To this end, we conducted a user study where participants were asked to solve an intelligence analysis task using an Immersive Space to Think (IST) in a 3D virtual environment using an HMD. The study results show that the concepts of Space to Think extend naturally to 3D immersive space and that the 3D space offers some additional opportunities. With immersive space, analysts i) organized in a surrounding virtual sphere, ii) exploited the depth dimension for encoding relevance, and iii) traded-off between physical navigation and occlusion.

Calvary is a 3D fictional cathedral that is based around Christian beliefs. It is a new way to experience spiritual landmarks, fictional or nonfictional, using virtual reality. The goal is to allow the viewer to experience this space wherever they are located and to create a dialogue about who God is to them. / Master of Fine Arts

"Fabricated Preservation" aims to push the boundaries with traditional theses, creating a multi-layered experience that blends fact and fiction through a performance that centers around environmental storytelling in virtual reality. The experience questions the balance of theatrical elements in traditional storytelling which forefront text and human characters over architecture, props, and environment, and critically examines how an environment can play a crucial role in a narrative. The narrative itself focuses on one question: if a genealogy company had access to past environments via time travel, what new information could we learn about our ancestors?  The normal perceptions of a "game" are challenged, introducing real world elements to trick the audience and subtly influence how they navigate a virtual space. A complex fictional character is introduced through the performance and developed through the environment, with the hopes that the audience will gain some emotion toward them: either connecting with the character as if they were a close friend, or feeling unsettled that they observed the character's realistic personal space. This voyeuristic theme weaves its way through each layer of the storytelling, poking at the audience's morals with the hopes that they will question the experience around them.  Above all, the main goal of Fabricated Preservation is to challenge the audience to mentally engage with the virtual experience, by paying attention to the details of their environment and constructing their own version of a narrative from those details. / Master of Fine Arts / Fabricated Preservation examines how an environment can play a crucial role in a narrative. An environmental story was created that centers around a fictional character, influenced by a close friend's life. Virtual reality was used to allow the audience to immerse themselves more within a virtual bedroom environment, using virtual props to convey the personality of the character. A fictional genealogy company called The Fifth Turning was also created to convey that environmental story through a different perspective to the audience. There are two main stories that go hand in hand with this experience: the primary story is the life of a college girl in the 1990s. The secondary story is of the fictional company, the Fifth Turning, which uses time travel technology to access the bedroom environment of the college girl to obtain more personalized genealogy information.

Os avanços tecnológicos trouxeram novos recursos e meios pelos quais o homem pode se expressar de maneiras diferentes, através de linguagens visuais, sonoras, gestuais, tácteis, e outras, que se complementam. Estes meios abrem um leque maior de oportunidades para o homem usar a sua a capacidade criativa, explorar mundos, conceitos e experiências, aprender e construir conhecimento. Porém esta tecnologia ainda é pouco ou mal utilizada nos estabelecimentos de ensino neste país e no resto do mundo. A tecnologia existe e avança a cada momento, mas ainda se encontra dificuldade em construir e manipular mundos virtuais em ambientes imersivos com múltiplas projeções. Este trabalho propõe o sistema FADAS, um sistema de autoria para ambientes imersivos de múltiplas projeções, para estudantes, professores e pesquisadores utilizarem a Realidade Virtual como mecanismo facilitador e enriquecedor do processo de aprendizagem e pesquisa. Por meio de várias tecnologias, fornece uma ferramenta, tanto para o "usuário-autor", que constrói cenários virtuais, baseados ou não na realidade, quanto para o "usuário-explorador", que navega e interage com os mundos virtuais, criando suas próprias experiências. O sistema FADAS pode ser utilizado em ambiente imersivo de múltiplas projeções estereoscópicas, disponibilizando uma linguagem de programação, que encapsula as complexidades das tecnologias envolvidas, e permite a criação e manipulação de mundos virtuais por usuários não especialistas. / Technological advances brought new resources and means where man can express himself in several ways, through languages of several types: visual, sonorous, gesture, tactile, and others that complement each other. These means open up a bigger span of opportunities for man to use his creative capacity, to explore worlds, concepts and experiences, learn and build up knowledge. Nevertheless this technology is still limited or badly used in education in this country and in the rest of the world. Technology exists and advances at every moment, but there is still difficulty in building up and manipulating virtual worlds in multiprojection immersive environments. This work proposes the FADAS system, an authorship system for multiprojection immersive environments, for students, teachers and researches to use Virtual Reality as a facilitating and enriching mechanism of the learning process and research. Through several technologies, it provides a tool to build up scenarios, based, or not, in real worlds, and to explore, navigate and interact with them, creating their own experiences. The FADAS system can be used in a stereo immersive multiprojection environment. The system provides a programming language, which encapsulates technology complexities, allowing users, who are not specialists, to create and manipulate virtual worlds.

Os avanços tecnológicos trouxeram novos recursos e meios pelos quais o homem pode se expressar de maneiras diferentes, através de linguagens visuais, sonoras, gestuais, tácteis, e outras, que se complementam. Estes meios abrem um leque maior de oportunidades para o homem usar a sua a capacidade criativa, explorar mundos, conceitos e experiências, aprender e construir conhecimento. Porém esta tecnologia ainda é pouco ou mal utilizada nos estabelecimentos de ensino neste país e no resto do mundo. A tecnologia existe e avança a cada momento, mas ainda se encontra dificuldade em construir e manipular mundos virtuais em ambientes imersivos com múltiplas projeções. Este trabalho propõe o sistema FADAS, um sistema de autoria para ambientes imersivos de múltiplas projeções, para estudantes, professores e pesquisadores utilizarem a Realidade Virtual como mecanismo facilitador e enriquecedor do processo de aprendizagem e pesquisa. Por meio de várias tecnologias, fornece uma ferramenta, tanto para o "usuário-autor", que constrói cenários virtuais, baseados ou não na realidade, quanto para o "usuário-explorador", que navega e interage com os mundos virtuais, criando suas próprias experiências. O sistema FADAS pode ser utilizado em ambiente imersivo de múltiplas projeções estereoscópicas, disponibilizando uma linguagem de programação, que encapsula as complexidades das tecnologias envolvidas, e permite a criação e manipulação de mundos virtuais por usuários não especialistas. / Technological advances brought new resources and means where man can express himself in several ways, through languages of several types: visual, sonorous, gesture, tactile, and others that complement each other. These means open up a bigger span of opportunities for man to use his creative capacity, to explore worlds, concepts and experiences, learn and build up knowledge. Nevertheless this technology is still limited or badly used in education in this country and in the rest of the world. Technology exists and advances at every moment, but there is still difficulty in building up and manipulating virtual worlds in multiprojection immersive environments. This work proposes the FADAS system, an authorship system for multiprojection immersive environments, for students, teachers and researches to use Virtual Reality as a facilitating and enriching mechanism of the learning process and research. Through several technologies, it provides a tool to build up scenarios, based, or not, in real worlds, and to explore, navigate and interact with them, creating their own experiences. The FADAS system can be used in a stereo immersive multiprojection environment. The system provides a programming language, which encapsulates technology complexities, allowing users, who are not specialists, to create and manipulate virtual worlds.

Forbidden City is a 3D virtual tour of an ancient Chinese architectural masterpiece, first of the world's top five palaces -The Imperial Palace in Beijing, China. This travel guide is designed to give you useful information that will greatly enhance your experience, and it will bring you into an immersive virtual world by using the device of the HTC VIVE rather than static texts and images. This 3D guide integrates cultural and historical information, which is practical and informative. You can get a comprehensive understanding of the palace history, architectural characteristics and Chinese culture through interaction within the immersive experience. Forbidden City travel guide 3D virtual tour provides all the necessary functions and information for planning a visit to the Forbidden Cty palace in the capital of Beijing, China. With the tour guide character "Doctor Guider" within this experience/game, your tour to this Forbidden City will be purposeful and fun. / Master of Fine Arts

With the rise of big data, it is becoming increasingly important to educate students about data analytics. In particular, students without a strong mathematical background usually have an unenthusiastic attitude towards high-dimensional data and find it challenging to understand relevant complex analytical methods, such as dimension reduction. In this thesis, we present an embodied approach for visual analytics designed to teach students exploring alternative 2D projections of high dimensional data points using weighted multidimensional scaling. We proposed a novel application, <i>Be the Data</i>, to explore the possibilities of using human's embodied resources to learn from high dimensional data. In our system, each student embodies a data point and the position of students in a physical space represents a 2D projection of the high-dimensional data. Students physically moves in a room with respect to others to interact with alternative projections and receive visual feedback. We conducted educational workshops with students inexperienced in relevant data analytical methods. Our findings indicate that the students were able to learn about high-dimensional data and data analysis process despite their low level of knowledge about the complex analytical methods. We also applied the same techniques into social meetings to explain social gatherings and facilitate interactions. / Master of Science