Guiding navigation in virtual environments (VEs) is a challenging task. A key issue in the navigation of a virtual environment is to be able to strike a balance between the user's need to explore the environment freely and the designer's need to ensure that the user experiences all the important events in the VE. This thesis reports on a study aimed at comparing the effectiveness of various navigation cues that are used to motivate users towards a specific target location. The results of this study indicate some significant differences in how users responded to the various cues.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This thesis investigates user interfaces for locomotion in virtual environments (VEs). It looks initially at virtual environments and user interfaces, then concentrates on locomotion interfaces, specifically on the Omni-Directional Treadmill (ODT) (Darken and Cockayne, 1997) and a new virtual walking device, LocoX, which was developed at the MOVES Institute, Naval Postgraduate School. It analyzes and compares the ODT and LocoX in terms of the application of human ability requirements (HARs). Afterwards, it compares the results of the analysis of the ODT and LocoX to real-world locomotion. The analysis indicates that LocoX, a new way of exploring virtual environments (VEs), provides a close match to real locomotion on some subtasks in VEs-- compared to the ODT--and produces relatively closer representation on some subtasks of real world locomotion. This thesis concludes that LocoX has great potential and that the locomotion provided is realistic enough to simulate certain kinds of movements inherent to real-world locomotion. LocoX still requires maturation and development, but is nonetheless a viable locomotion technique for VEs and future game-based simulations. / Lieutenant Junior Grade, Turkish Navy

Development of intelligent virtual agents is a complex task. One of the im- portant sub-tasks is creation of behaviors. It is highly desirable to test behaviors of intelligent virtual agents in an actual virtual world, not in a simplified sub- stitute. Over the past several years the Pogamut platform has been developed, which allows intelligent virtual agent behaviors to be tested in several gaming worlds, but none combines complexity, dynamicity and extensibility. It was de- cided to fill the gap by creating the EmohawkVille virtual world. EmohawkVille is a first-person virtual world in a day-to-day life setting. The purpose of this thesis is to explain why is EmohawkVille needed and to document features, de- sign and development of EmohawkVille and its Pogamut module. The thesis also presents results of a case study that confirms the EmohawkVille's suitability for experiments concerning intelligent virtual agent behaviors.

This thesis is concerned with shared virtual environmentsfor collaborative work. An important aspect of shared virtualenvironments is the avatar, the representation of the user inthe virtual world. The proper design of the avatar has been thesubject of considerable research, aimed at allowing the avatarsto express as much as possible of human non-verbalcommunication and, as it were, tie the user closer to thevirtual world. I will go through the historical development of sharedvirtual environments and how the design principles for avatarshave followed the available technology over time. I describeearlier research on extending avatars and environments in orderto better support collaboration in virtual spaces. I will thendescribe a user study where pairs of subjects cooperated on aconstruction task, and the implications for design ofcollaborative applications in VEs that can be drawn from thisstudy. In particular I show how the subjects used the availableresources in the environment to negotiate a sharedunderstanding of the environment and the task. Some of thesubjects had no visible avatars, but still solved the task byusing the environment itself to orient themselves and drawattention to important features of the environment. Following this, I and co-workers have designed virtualenvironments which have had no explicit avatars, nor have usedtraditional methods for navigation in 3D space, but ratherrelied on task-oriented features of the space, such asagglomerations of other users or interesting objects in orderto present a relevant view of the environment. A view positionmay be shared by several users, or be“unoccupied”,merely representing a potential site for interaction. Based on these experiences, I make the claim that atraditional anthropomorphic avatar is neither necessary norsuffcient for successful collaboration in virtual spaces, butthe design of navigation and user representation is contingenton the specific application, some reasonable applications notutilising a user representation at all. / <p>QC 20161027</p>

360º videos have emerged as a technology that providesnew possibilities for filmmakers and users alike. Thisresearch study will look at 360º videos and the level ofspatial immersion that users can achieve while viewingthem in different contexts. A number of studies havelooked at immersion in virtual environment. However, thesame does not apply to 360º videos. The paper willintroduce related work in the areas of 360º as well asimmersion and spatial immersion in virtual realityenvironments in order to provide a background for theresearch question. The process of answering this researchquestion is conducted through showing test subjects fivedifferent videos in set in different locations andinterviewing them as well as asking them to take part in aquestionnaire. The study analyses the findings that emergefrom the interviews and questionnaire in relation to thespatial immersion dimensions that are presented in background literature. Among the study's findings is that the potential movements and actions that users feel theycan perform in the virtual environment is a significantfactor when it comes to achieving spatial immersion. Thestudy also concludes that movement is another factor thathelp users achieve spatial immersion.

[pt] O sucesso de diversas tarefas de teleoperacao depende muito da habilidade do operador e de sua capacidade de perceber o ambiente de trabalho. A realimentacao visual em muitos casos nao e suficiente, por exemplo quando a qualidade da imagem do ambiente de trabalho e baixa, quando ocorrem oclusoes na visualizacao, ou quando a tarefa envolve forcas de contato associadas a folgas pequenas visualmente imperceptıveis. Para compensar essas deficiencias, os dispositivos hapticos surgem como uma alternativa a realimentacao visual, ao interagir com o usuario atraves do tato, produzindo uma sensacao de forca. Esta dissertacao apresenta o desenvolvimento e modelagem de um sistema de interface haptica de cinco graus de liberdade para a teleoperacao de robos manipuladores, com foco naqueles que realizam trabalhos em ambientes perigosos ou hostis ao ser humano. A interface e desenvolvida a partir do acoplamento de dois dispositivos hapticos comerciais Novint Falcon, de tres graus de liberdade cada. O sistema resultante do acoplamento e modelado como um manipulador paralelo, capaz de fornecer ao operador, realimentacao de forca 3D (em tres direcoes) e realimentacao de torque em duas direcoes. Para demonstrar a eficiencia do sistema haptico desenvolvido, um ambiente virtual e implementado com o auxılio de tecnicas de computacao grafica e bibliotecas como OpenGL, ODE e Chai3D. Os modelos cinematico e dinamico de um manipulador serial Schilling Titan IV, de seis graus de liberdade, sao implementados no ambiente virtual, incluindo sua interacao com objetos (virtuais) do ambiente de teleoperacao. Controladores nao lineares sao implementados no manipulador serial virtual, incluindo controle de torque computado, robusto, e por modos deslizantes. / [en] The success of many teleoperation tasks depends heavily on the skills of the operator and his ability to perceive the work environment. Visual feedback, in many cases, is not sufficient e.g. when the image quality of the work environment is low, occlusions occur in the display, or when the task involves contact forces associated with visually unnoticeable small clearances. To compensate for these shortcomings, haptic devices emerge as an alternative to visual feedback, in which touch interaction with the user produces force-feedback. This thesis presents the development and modeling of a haptic interface system of five degrees of freedom for the teleoperation of robot manipulators, focusing on those that work in hazardous or hostile environments for humans. The interface is developed from the coupling of two commercial haptic devices Novint Falcon, with three degrees of freedom each. The system resulting from the coupled devices is modeled as a parallel manipulator capable of providing the operator with 3D force feedback (in three dimensions) and torque feedback in two directions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed haptic system, a virtual environment is implemented with the aid of computer graphics techniques and libraries such as OpenGL, ODE and Chai3D. The kinematic and dynamic models of a serial manipulator Schilling Titan IV, with six degrees of freedom, are implemented in the virtual environment, including its interaction with virtual objects for the evaluation of typical teleoperation tasks. Nonlinear controllers are implemented in the virtual serial manipulator, including computed torque and sliding mode control.

Considerando as tecnologias digitais de comunicação como parte condicionante do ambiente social contemporâneo, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo realizar um estudo exploratório sobre a sociabilidade no e do ambiente virtual, através do cruzamento entre a experiência narrada e vivida pela pesquisadora nesses ambientes e diferentes teorias sociais. Através da imersão em dois tipos distintos de agrupamento virtual, Second Life e BarCamp, buscou-se encontrar elementos que possibilitassem um diálogo entre a concepção de situação social e como ela se apresenta em ambientes virtuais. Para tanto, procurou-se considerar a discussão acerca da dualidade entre conceitos de real e virtual, que muitas vezes pode invalidar a importância de novos tipos de relações sociais, simplificando sua complexidade e impedindo melhor análise de suas especificidades. / Considering digital technology for communication as a conditioning factor of contemporary social environment, this research is seeking to perform an exploring study about sociability within and from virtual environment, through the intersection between the experiences narrated and lived by the researcher and different social theories. Elements which could enable a dialog between the conception of social situation and how it is displayed in virtual environments were examined through immersion in two distinct types of virtual groups, Second Life and BarCamp. In that direction, the discussion concerning duality of concepts about real and virtual was considered, although that might invalidate the importance of new types of social relationship, oversimplifying its complexity and obstructing better analysis of its specificity.

A presença das tecnologias digitais e da Internet vem se intensificando em diferentes contextos de nossas vidas: pessoal, profissional e acadêmico. Isso vem trazendo mudanças nas práticas sociais, e nos traz questionamentos, particularmente, sobre as influências das Tecnologias Digitais da Informação e da Comunicação (TDIC) e da Internet no processo de ensino-aprendizagem e nas práticas profissionais do professor. No contexto educacional, observamos a adoção de modalidades híbridas no ensino-aprendizagem, pela associação de aulas presenciais a Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem (AVA), o que traz para o professor o desafio de configurar sua sala virtual, de definir as atividades a serem realizadas com o uso de ferramentas e recursos do ambiente assim como a inclusão de tecnologias. Considerando todos esses aspectos, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi o de investigar como se deu a articulação das duas modalidades de ensino, presencial e virtual através das atividades propostas; a relação entre as atividades e o uso de ferramentas e participação dos alunos em relação ao uso do ambiente associado às aulas presenciais. Nossas reflexões se basearam no referencial teórico que discute a evolução das (Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação (TIC) (MONEREO; COLL, 2010); as características das TDIC (LÉVY, 1999; GABRIEL, 2013) e da Internet (CASTELLS, 2003); as orientações teórico-metodológicas que norteiam os cursos on-line (KENSKI; SCHULTZ, 2015); as características das ferramentas digitais e dos AVA (MONEREO; COLL, 2010; TORI 2010; FILATRO, 2008); as características do ensino híbrido (MORAN, 2015; VALENTE, 2014; NISSEN, 2007; STAKER; HORN, 2012; BACICH; TANZI NETO; TREVISAN, 2015) e a formação do professor para atuar nesses contextos (PERRENOUD, 2002, 2010; MAYRINK; ALBUQUERQUE-COSTA, 2013, 2017; MORAN, 2015). Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, realizamos um estudo do caso, de natureza qualitativa-interpretativista, que considera as especificidades do contexto, ou seja, a observação da sala virtual na Plataforma Moodle de uma disciplina de formação inicial de professores, de um curso de Graduação em Letras Francês/Português de uma universidade pública do estado de São Paulo. Os dados que constituem o corpus de análise desta pesquisa foram coletados por meio de anotações de observações das aulas presenciais; registros das telas do curso no Moodle; entrevista com a professora responsável pela disciplina; dois questionários com os alunos, o primeiro para constituição do perfil do grupo, e segundo para conhecer seu ponto de vista sobre a disciplina desenvolvida na modalidade híbrida. Os resultados de nossas análises mostraram que a modalidade híbrida pode ser concebida sob diferentes aspectos segundo o contexto no qual ele é proposto. No caso desta pesquisa, as particularidades da disciplina e da sala virtual conferiram ao trabalho realizado características voltadas à organização e funcionalidade dos dois espaços presencial e virtual assim como a valorização dos aspectos interativos e de autonomia dos alunos quando utilizaram as ferramentas do Moodle. A noção de híbrido permaneceu geral, de acordo com a definição de Tori (2015). A contribuição da pesquisa se dá no âmbito da formação de professores para atuar em contextos híbridos, na medida em que, é necessário reconhecer que cada vez mais as TDIC, estão integradas ao cotidiano do ensino-aprendizagem tornando possível o desenvolvimento de novas maneiras de ensinar e aprender próprias ao século XXI. / The presence of digital technologies and Internet has been intensifying in diferente contexts of our lives: personal, professional and academic. This has brought changes in social practices, and brings us questions, particularly, about the influences of Digital Technologies of Information and Communication (DTIC) and about the Internet in the teaching-learning process and in the professional practices of a teacher. In the educational context, we observe the adoption of blended-learning programs, by the association of in-person classes to Virtual Learning Environments (VLE), which brings to the teacher the challenge of configuring his virtual room, of defining the activities to be performed with the use of environmental tools and resources, as well as the inclusion of technologies. Considering all these aspects, the objective of this research was to investigate the articulation of two blended-learning programs, in-person and virtual, through the proposed activities; the relationship between the activities and use of tools and the participation of students in relation to the use of this kind of environment associated to in-person lessons. Our reflections were based on the theoretical framework that discusses the evolution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) (MONEREO; COLL, 2010); the characteristics of DTIC (LÉVY, 1999; GABRIEL, 2013) and Internet (CASTELLS, 2003); the theoretical-methodological guidelines that guide the online courses (KENSKI; SCHULTZ, 2015); the characteristics of the digital tools and LVE (MONEREO; COLL, 2010; TORI, 2010; FILATRO, 2008); the characteristics of blended learning (MORAN, 2015; VALENTE, 2014; NISSEN, 2007; STAKER; HORN, 2012; BACICH; TANZI NETO; TREVISAN, 2015) and teacher training to work in these contexts (PERRENOUD, 2002, 2010; MAYRINK; ALBUQUERQUE-COSTA, 2013, 2015, 2017; MORAN, 2015). For the development of the research, we carried out a qualitative-interpretive nature case study that considers the particularities of the context, that is, the observation of the virtual room in the Moodle Platform of an initial teacher training course, from a Bachelor\'s degree in Language and Literature qualification in French and Portuguese at a public university in the state of São Paulo. The data that constitute the corpus of analysis of this research were collected through annotations and observations of in-person classes; prints of course screens in Moodle; interview with the responsible teacher for the discipline; two questionnaires with the students, the first one to form the profile of the group, and the second one to know their point of view about the discipline developed in the blendedlearning programs. The results of our analyzes point out that the blended-learning.

A geração de ambientes virtuais de áreas urbanas ou cenas naturais coloca um grande número de problemas no âmbito da Computação Gráfica, dado que a quantidade de informação necessária para a criação de modelos realistas é dependente da dimensão e complexidade da área a modelar. A construção de um grande número de modelos de objetos naturais de forma detalhada é extremamente trabalhosa. Enquanto os modelos de estruturas artificiais, tais como máquinas ou edifícios podem ser obtidos a partir de fontes CAD, o mesmo não ocorre as plantas e outros fenômenos naturais. Embora muitos ambientes virtuais sejam criados por modelagem manual e individual de cada um dos seus componentes, os processos automáticos e semi-automáticos de reconstrução de ambientes naturais 3D provaram que podem ser muito mais eficientes, reduzindo a duração, o custo e a alocação de recursos humanos. A integração entre diferentes tecnologias e ferramentas que possibilitem a identificação de elementos em um cenário agrícola, modelagem de objetos 3D e a posterior apresentação e utilização do ambiente virtual em um sistema do tipo CAVE não é uma tarefa trivial. Dessa forma, o objetivo desta pesquisa é desenvolver uma metodologia de montagem automática de ambientes virtuais agrícolas baseada na extração de objetos de cenas naturais reais a partir de imagens de vídeo para utilização no sistema de multiprojeção imersivo do Laboratório Multiusuário de Visualização 3D Imersiva de São Carlos (LMVI). A partir de um modelo de dados 3D projetado em um sistema que oferece um alto grau de imersão e interação como o LMVI, pode-se fazer comparações com outros modelos de dados ou com o mesmo modelo em épocas diferentes. Através da comparação entre modelos é possível identificar alterações que ocorreram no ambiente ao longo do tempo (tanto naturais como causadas pelo homem) auxiliando na tomada de decisão em processos agrícolas. / The generation of virtual environments for urban or natural scenes poses a number of problems within the Computer Graphics, since the amount of information needed to create realistic models is dependent on the size and complexity of the area to be modeled.The construction of a large number of natural object models in detail is extremely laborious. While the models of artificial structures, such as machines or buildings can be obtained from CAD sources, the same is not true plants and other natural phenomena. Although many virtual environments are created by individual and manual modeling of each of their components, the processes of automatic and semi-automatic 3D reconstruction of natural environments have proved to be much more efficient, reducing duration, cost and allocation of human resources.The integration between different technologies and tools that enable the identication of elements in an agricultural setting, modeling of 3D objects and the subsequent presentation and use of virtual environment in a CAVE-like system is not a trivial task. Thus, the objective of this research is to develop a methodology for automatic mounting of agricultural virtual environments based on the extraction of objects of natural scenes from real video images for use in the immersive multiprojection system of the Multiuser Laboratory of 3D Immersive Visualization of Sao Carlos (MLIV). From a 3d data model projected in a system that offers a high degree of immersion and interaction as MLIV, one can make comparisons with other data models or with the same model at different periods. Through the comparison between models is possible to identify changes that occurred in the environment over time (both natural and manmade) assisting the decision making in agricultural processes.

Inspired by the baroque prose of Melissa Pritchard, The Animalcules of Adam: & Other Small Tales is a genre-bending short story collection that incorporates elements of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and translation. Spanning in subject and setting, from the primitive bear rituals of Finland to the coroner’s inquests of 19th century England, the purpose of this thesis project is to develop a uniquely immersive voice, while ostensibly investigating the origins of curious inventions, including the microscope, the kaleidoscope, and the first English dictionary. This collection borrows from, and deliberately manipulates, the texts of important historical figures, such as Walt Whitman, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Robert Cawdrey, in an effort to make a home in the voice of another. It is a playful and linguistically sensitive study of the nature of invention; a meta-fictional commentary on the anxiety (and ecstasy) of influence; and above all else, a celebration of the written word. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014.. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection