Research has shown that head-mounted displays can produce greater presence in a virtual environment than direct-view displays. It has also been shown that after vision, haptic response is one of the most important inputs for humans in a simulated environment. This research was designed primarily to determine the performance differences associated with different display types, levels of steering force feedback, and the interaction between these two factors in a low-to-medium fidelity, PC-based driving simulator. Participants drove on a simulated driving course during which both objective driving performance data were collected (lane deviation, speed control, steering wheel angle variance, and time to the complete course) as well as subjective self-report measures including questionnaires designed to tap immersive tendencies and perceived levels of presence. Results of the research show that the use of a head-mounted display can significantly impact driving performance in terms of speed control and lane deviation. Speed control was significantly improved (increased) and lane deviation was significantly improved (decreased) in three of the four roadway segments with the use of an HMD. Results for active steering force feedback, however, showed a significantly negative effect on driving performance with an increase in average lane deviation. Descriptive statistics showed that participants preferred the HMD and D-V equally and all but one participant preferred active steering force feedback. / Master of Science

Virtual Reality has been growing in popularity and demand as technology has been substantially improved and become more readily available to the general public in the recent years. Similarly, the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industries have benefited from these advances and extensive research has been performed to adopt and streamline its utilization. An example of this adoption has been the use of Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE) as a representation of the built environment for different purposes such as building design and occupant behavior studies in the post construction stage – i.e., Human Building Interaction. This research has investigated a workflow for different alternatives of reality-capturing-based technologies that have been tested to generate a more realistic representation of the built environment regarding HBI. One of these alternatives considered was 360-image based IVEs. This alternative in particular was tested and compared by the means of a preliminary user study in order to evaluate whether it is an adequate representation of the built environment regarding HBI, and how it is compared to commonly used benchmarked Graphical based IVEs. Ultimately, participants of this user study reported a strong feeling of immersion and presence in the 360-image based IVE and showed a better performance in cognitive tasks such as reading speed and comprehension. In contrast, participants showed a better performance in object identification and finding in the Graphical based IVE. The results of our preliminary user study indicate that 360-image based IVEs could potentially be an adequate representation in the study of Human Building Interaction based on these metrics. Further research with a larger sample size should be done in performed in order to generalize any findings. / Master of Science / Virtual Reality has been growing in popularity and demand as technology has substantially improved and become more available to the general public in the recent years. Similarly, the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industries have benefited from these advances and extensive research has been performed to utilize this technology. An example of this adoption has been the use of Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE) as a representation of a building for different purposes such as design and understanding of the way occupants interact with a building. IVEs rely on using special digital goggles (called head mounted displays or HMDs) that help users immerse in a virtual environment and experience it. For this reason, our research has sought to explore different alternatives to possibly generate a more realistic immersive virtual environment that relies on immersive image-based technologies to test how humans behave, respond, and interact with a building. One of these alternatives considered was 360-degree cameras and their associated images. We sought to study whether these technologies provide an improved experience for users compared to the environments that are created through computer graphics. This thesis explains the processes that were investigated to understand the creation of an IVE, and the different alternatives available in the market to generate a 360-degree image based IVE. Then, one of these alternatives was tested and compared to a classic IVE through an experiment in order to evaluate whether 360-degree image based IVEs can be an adequate representation for building occupant interaction studies.

Recent technology developments have made possible the creation of several commercial devices and a selected number of development platforms for the inclusion of haptics (the sense of touch) in virtual environments (VE). This thesis sought to investigate and develop a better understanding of whether or not haptics or sound substitutions improved manipulation performance or usability in VE applications. Twenty-four volunteers (12 males and 12 females) participated in a 2 (haptics) x 2 (sound) x 2 (gender) mixed factorial experiment in which they completed a VE manipulation task involving the assembly and disassembly of 5 interconnecting parts. Performance for the manipulation task was measured through completion time and the number of collisions made, as well as subjective measures of usability. Results indicated that completion times were slower and collision counts were higher for males with the addition of haptics (ptime = 0.03; pcollisions<0.05), while females exhibited a smaller increase in collision counts and no increase in completion time with the addition of haptics. Nonetheless, there were improved usability attributes when haptics were incorporated, more specifically, an increased sense of realism, perceived helpfulness and perceived utility in a design task (p<0.05 for all). Sound was found to be an effective substitute for haptics in most measures taken while the combination of sound and haptics versus either alone, did not demonstrate any signs of improving performance or any usability attributes. It is therefore recommended that sound substitution be used in VE manipulation tasks where the extra haptic information is desired, and minimizing completion time or collisions are the overall goal. Finally, for the utility of the feedback towards a design task, users ranked haptics as being more useful than sound, but ranked the combination of sound and haptics as being the best feedback condition (p<0.05). Further research is required to determine whether this belief is consistent with objective measures. / Master of Science

在多人虛擬環境系統的設計上，讓使用者能自行設計化身的行為，並即時以動畫元件的形式安裝到虛擬世界中，是3D內容能否達到共享的關鍵。本論文主要研究的部分包含三個部分：第一個部分是提供虛擬環境系統動態載入動畫元件的機制，使得虛擬環境系統可以動態加入客製化之化身行為；第二個部分是在現有的虛擬環境系統中加入語意的描述，並增加互動訊息傳送時的彈性；第三個部分是實現可客製化的動畫元件，分別以化身和環境間以及化身彼此間的互動，來說明上述機制的可行性。在動態的載入動畫元件的部分，客製化的動畫元件在系統上得以即時安裝並執行。動畫元件在安裝上可使用XML片段，並交由OSGi Framework中的服務來處理此XML標籤。另外，在加入物件的語意描述後，使得這些動畫元件可以取得世界的資訊，並進一步產生符合當時環境限制或應用需求的動畫。我們以Ontology來描述環境和化身的資訊，並實際製作路徑規劃器元件和化身間互動元件兩個範例。我們利用動態安裝及語意資訊兩個機制，以實例說明如何達到實現化身可客製化行為之目的。 / In the design of multi-user virtual environments, in order to share 3D contents designed by users, it is crucial to allow the behaviors of an avatar to be designed as animation components and loaded at the run time. In this thesis, we attempt to address the problem of designing a semantic virtual environment by considering the following three parts. First, we have designed a mechanism for user-designed animation procedures to be installed and loaded at run time. Second, we have augmented our virtual environment system with semantic descriptions and enhanced the flexibility of message interchange. Third, we have used two types of interaction scenarios, avatar-environment and avatar-avatar, to illustrate how customized animation components can be designed to enhance the functionality of a virtual environment. In our system, we allow users to design their own XML tags and the corresponding animation components managed in the OSGi framework. These components can acquire world information and generate appropriate animations according to application requirements and environment constraints. We have used ontology to describe the semantics of environments and avatars. Two example components: the motion planner and the avatar-avatar interaction have been designed to illustrate the dynamic installation process and the retrieval of semantic information for the realization of customizing avatar behaviors.

We have designed a simulation that can be used to train police officers. Digital simulations are more cost-effective than a human role play. Use of force decisions are complex and made quickly, so there is a need for better training and innovative methods. Using this simulation, we are measuring the degree of presence that a human experience in a virtual environment. More presence implies better training. Participants are divided into two groups in which one group performs the experiment using a screen, keyboard, and mouse, and another uses virtual reality controls. In this experiment, we use subjective measurements and physiological measurements. We offer a questionnaire to participants before and after play. We also record the participants change in heart rate, skin conductivity and skin temperature using Empatica device. By comparing the data collected from both groups, we prove that people experience more presence in the virtual environment.

Le jeu vidéo est une activité de loisir particulièrement répandue auprès des adolescents. Néanmoins, pour certains, une conduite addictive peut se mettre en place, remplissant une fonction précise et nécessaire à l'équilibre du sujet. L'objectif de ce travail de thèse est d'amorcer la construction d'un modèle explicatif de ce processus addictif. L'opérationnalisation de cette recherche repose sur une méthodologie quantitative permettant de mesurer le poids et l'implication de variables psychopathologiques, cognitivo-émotionnelles et de personnalité dans la mise en place de cette conduite addictive. Le monde virtuel et l'avatar sont les deux constituants majeurs de tout jeu vidéo. Ils permettent au sujet de mettre en scène et médiatiser son Soi Emotionnel. Le processus addictif résulte d'une cristallisation de cette dynamique, ne permettant pas au sujet de se réapproprier son expérience émotionnelle. Par ailleurs, ce travail a permis de mettre en avant l'existence d'une utilisation addictive des jeux vidéo en ligne et hors ligne. Ces deux formats se différencient dans la mise en scène d'aspects du Soi Identitaire qu'ils impliquent. Pour finir, ce travail nous amène à questionner la frontière entre une utilisation régulière et addictive/pathogène des jeux vidéo. / Video games cover preferential activity of adolescents. But for some, the practice becomes an addictive behavior, playing an important role in psychological functioning of adolescents. The global aim is to establish a comprehensive model of this addictive process. This research is based on a quantitative methodology in order to assess the weight and the involvement of psychopathological, emotional and personality variables in this addictive process. Avatar and virtual world are the two essential components of any video game. They allow subject to mediatize and enact his Emotional Self. The addiction process is the result of crystallization of this dynamic which does not allow the subject to reappropriate his emotional experience. Furthermore, the research puts the light on two different types of addictive processes with on line or outline video games. These two formats differ in the enacting of aspects of the Self Identity they imply. Finally, this work leads us to question the boundary between regular and addictive / pathogen use of video games.

Les travaux de recherche menés dans le domaine des environnements virtuels pour l’apprentissage humain permettent aujourd’hui d’envisager leur utilisation à des fins d’entraînement à la prise de décision en situation de crise. Le problème de ce type d’application est qu’il nécessite pour les concepteurs et les programmeurs un travail d’écriture lourd et une programmation exhaustive de l’état du monde. Notre hypothèse est de mobiliser les principes existants du récit interactif afin de proposer un design de scénarisation qui prenne en compte les aspects temporels, critiques et complexes des actions de l’apprenant. Nous proposons une approche réflexive de l’apprentissage en fondant notre scénarisation sur l’uchronie et en intégrant des notions philosophiques comme le simulacre et le rhizome dans le parcours d’apprentissage. L’apprenant pourrait revenir en arrière au sein du même scénario initié par le formateur, et le système informatique informerait ce scénario en fonction des décisions et erreurs faites par l’apprenant. Une partie de notre contribution est la conception d’une scénarisation pour un entraînement en environnement virtuel. Il respecte la réalité des experts du cas d’application concret sur lequel s’adossent nos travaux de recherches, un projet de formation de leaders médicaux au sauvetage de blessés suite à un afflux massif de blessés. / This thesis presents a story-based approach in a simulation-based learning environment in the context of crisis management. The domain of application is the management of mass casualties in the context of medical emergencies. To efficiently train medical staff, live simulations are organized, in which an entire rescue team is re-enacted. Each simulation session takes place in a pre-established pattern and includes three distinct phases : the briefing provides a framework, the scenario puts the learner in a practice of situation, and the debriefing involves the learner reflexivity with the help of the trainer’s feedback.Those simulation sessions mobilize a lot of professionals and equipment. Therefore, they cannot be used on a large scale and research is conducted to develop those trainings in virtual environments, in which the phase of debriefing is often missing while it is a crucial part in learning. Our case of application aims at creating a virtual environment for training rescue team leaders during crisis situations. In this environment, the user is a medical team leader who interacts with a team of virtual autonomous first-aid workers. In this thesis, we propose a user experience that includes both the scenario and the debriefing part of a simulation. We focus on decision making in crisis management. We suggest that the learner should reconsider his decisions if he becomes aware of a mistake he did not avoid: he could change what he has done. In the debriefing, he could visualize the consequences of those errors : he could see what he had not seen. Reflexivity of learning is an integral part of our approach. We propose a reflexive approach to learning by grounding our scenarisation on uchronia, a fiction genre consisting in stories containing "what if" scenarios at crucial points in history and present an outcome of events alternative to historical record. Our game design is based on the uchronia : when the learner becomes aware of his mistakes, he has the opportunity to go back and make a new decision. Our system will change the plot of the story by changing the occurrence probabilities of events based on a past choices of the learner, but without changing the frame or the characters in the story. Our game design offers two phases of simulation. During the scenario, the learner will explore several possible worlds. During the debrieng, he may view several possible alternatives to the scenario as a timeline.

Nesta pesquisa analisamos como ocorrem as interações discursivas entre estudantes de licenciatura em Química e alunos do Ensino Médio mediadas por um sistema de tutoria estabelecido na internet. Estas interações ocorreram por meio do ambiente virtual Tutor em Rede, no qual os alunos enviam dúvidas a respeito do conteúdo de Química e estas são respondidas por um tutor. Os dados foram coletados entre alunos de licenciatura em Química de universidades públicas brasileiras e professores da rede pública de ensino de São Paulo. Para estas análises, fazemos uma discussão sobre algumas das principais idéias relativas ao histórico e importância da educação a distância, às interações pela internet e aos processos e sistemas de tutoria. Aliado a isto, realizamos um estudo sobre as propriedades dualísticas do enunciado as funções unívoca e dialógica e elaboramos quatro categorias de análises engajamento, problematização, retomada da fala do outro e referência a outros interlocutores. A aplicação destas categorias aos dados coletados, permite-nos classificar as interações em função do seu grau de dialogia. / In this research we analyze the development of discursive interactions between students of a Chemistry teaching course and pupils of secondary school mediated by a tutoring system designed to the internet. These interactions had occurred through the Tutor em Rede virtual environment, in which pupils sent queries regarding Chemistry content to be answered by a tutor. The data had been collected among students of Chemistry teaching courses of Brazilian public universities and teachers of the public education system in São Paulo. For these analyses, we present some of the main ideas about distance education, interactions through the internet and processes and systems of tutoring. We also carry through a study on the dualistic properties of the utterance - the functions univocal and dialogic -, from whose, we elaborate four categories of analyses - enrollment, problematization, retaken of say of the other and reference to other interlocutors. Applying these categories to the collected data, we classify the interactions in terms of their dialogic degree.

Ce travail de thèse s’inscrit dans un projet de conception de plate-forme d’apprentissage financé par la société STDI, société spécialisée dans le développement d’applications numériques à vocation pédagogique. Ce projet s’est déroulé au CERV (Centre Européen de Réalité Virtuelle) avec pour vocation de s’appuyer sur l’apport offert par les technologies liées à la réalité virtuelle.Dans la continuité de plusieurs travaux préalablement réalisés au CERV, notre démarche scientifique s’est attachée à introduire l’analyse de l’activité humaine en situation réelle de formation dans les boucles de conception d’une plate-forme de formation collaborative. Ce travail d’analyse a pu être réalisé en collaboration avec le SDIS 56 dans le cadre de la formation pratique des chefs d’agrès chez les sapeurs-pompiers. Ce travail s’est articulé autour de trois objets de recherche soulevant chacun des enjeux scientifiques spécifiques : étudier la complexité de l’activité décisionnelle des chefs d’agrès en situation d’intervention ; la coordination des équipes en intervention ; et l’activité des formateurs dans des situations de formation à risques.En faisant des choix méthodologiques s’inspirant de l’approche naturaliste, nos différents niveaux d’analyse ont pu mettre en évidence plusieurs résultats. L’analyse individuelle souligne pour le chef d’agrès l’alternance décisionnelle entre analyse de la situation et mise en place de l’intervention ainsi que l’importance des processus d’anticipation et de planification. L’analyse collective met en évidence l’articulation en cours d’intervention des activités individuelles de construction de signification en fonction des objectifs personnels et de la configuration spatiale et fonctionnelle de l’équipe. Enfin, l’analyse de l’activité des formateurs permet de préciser leur rôle de gestionnaire des situations de simulation ainsi que celui de facilitateur au cours des débriefings permettant une construction de connaissance a posteriori.La prise en compte de nos différents résultats a permis une prise en considération globale de l’environnement virtuel de formation et a ouvert certaines pistes de développement des outils pédagogiques déjà existants. / This thesis is part of a project to design a learning platform funded by STDI, a company specialized in the development of digital applications for teaching purposes. This project took place at the CERV (European Center for Virtual Reality) with the aim of relying on technologies related to virtual reality.In continuity with several works previously carried out at the CERV, our scientific approach has focused on introducing the analysis of human activity into a real training situation in the design loops of a collaborative training platform. This work of analysis was carried out in collaboration with the SDIS 56 in the framework of the practical training of chiefs in a fire brigade. This work was based on three research subjects, each of which raised specific scientific issues : studying the complexity of the decision-making activity of the operators in the situation of intervention ; the coordination of the crew in intervention ; and the activity of trainers in situations of risk training.By making methodological choices inspired by the naturalistic approach, our different levels of analysis have revealed several results. The individual analysis emphasizes the decision-making alternation between analysis of the situation and implementation of the intervention, as well as the importance of the anticipation and planning processes. The collective analysis reveals the articulation during the intervention of the individual sense-making activities according to the personal objectives and the spatial and functional configuration of the team. Finally, the analysis of the activity of trainers make it possible to specify their role as simulations managers and that of facilitators during the debriefings allowing a construction of knowledge a posteriori.Taking into account our different results, we have considered the global nature of the virtual training environment and developed some ideas for the improvement of existing teaching tools.

Submitted by Alisson Mota (alisson.davidbeckam@gmail.com) on 2015-06-22T21:00:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Maria Lélia da silva Torquato Costa.pdf: 890881 bytes, checksum: 83f95034982a0c4bbf6876c4c1a2e815 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2015-06-29T21:38:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Maria Lélia da silva Torquato Costa.pdf: 890881 bytes, checksum: 83f95034982a0c4bbf6876c4c1a2e815 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Divisão de Documentação/BC Biblioteca Central (ddbc@ufam.edu.br) on 2015-06-29T21:46:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Maria Lélia da silva Torquato Costa.pdf: 890881 bytes, checksum: 83f95034982a0c4bbf6876c4c1a2e815 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-29T21:46:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Maria Lélia da silva Torquato Costa.pdf: 890881 bytes, checksum: 83f95034982a0c4bbf6876c4c1a2e815 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-26 / This study has as objective investigates as the subje ct of the learning they build concepts and discovery processes in moderated learning atmosphere for the advanced technology of digital communication, tends for empiric field the pedagogic actions developed in the project “Technology, work and education in net of social and digital inclusion” of the Federal University of Amazon. The research uses an approach of qualitative cut of the research in education. The used technique was the focal group. We used the tools participant observation, glimpsed, questionna ire and discussion forum for collection, registration and analyze of the data. They were interviewed the teacher that worked in the project and thirteen students of the group. Some obtained results signal, for the learning colaborativa as the most appropri ate for the construction of the knowledge in moderated learning atmosphere for the World Net of Computers, the Internet. The work approached Moodle, used in the course “Introduction to the work and digital inclusion”, as well as the construction of the moderated knowledge for a Virtual Atmosphere of Learning, customizado in Moodle. / Este estudo tem por objetivo investigar de que forma os sujeitos da aprendizagem constroem conceitos e processos de conhecimento em ambiente de aprendizagem mediado pela tecnologia avançada de comunicação digital, tendo por campo empírico as ações pedagógicas desenvolvidas no projeto “Tecnologia, trabalho e educação em rede de inclusão social e digital” da Universidade Federal do Amazonas. A pesquisa utiliza uma abordagem de corte qualitativo da pesquisa em educação. A técnica utilizada foi o grupo focal. Empregamos as ferramentas observação, entrevista, questionário e fórum de discussão para coleta, registro e analise dos dados. Foram entrevistadas a professora que trabalhou no projeto e dezesseis estudantes da turma. Alguns resultados obtidos sinalizam, para a aprendizagem colaborativa como a mais apropriada para a construção do conhecimento em ambiente de aprendizagem mediado pela Rede Mundial de Computadores, a Internet. O trabalho abordou o Moodle, utilizado no curso “Introdução ao trabalho e inclusão digital”, bem como a construção do conhecimento mediado por um Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem, customizado no Moodle.