Purpose: The purpose was to contribute to increased understanding on the use of VR, where integration is an essential and crucial part of whether it is an effective tool. The aim is to investigate VR as a tool between architect, client and engineer from sketch to planning permission, as well as to investigate applications from an engineering perspective. Method: Data has been collected through action research with the VR-hardware HTC Vive and interviews with architects, engineers and clients within the AEC-industry. A parallel literature study has been conducted. The three methods do thereafter make it possible to answer the questions and fulfill the goal. Findings: By communicating information through VR, a common ground is created, whereby different parties can work from. Coordination is facilitated when decisionmaking can be carried out on the same basis. The use of VR therefore promotes communication between involved parties. However, the tool is limited by its availability and due to the fact that it is new a technology which does not yet permit multiple users. I addition, the compatibility of the tool varies depending on the choice of plug-ins. IrisVR was noted to support all CAD programs, which means increased usability. Furthermore, the evaluated plug-ins have similar features. Implementation of VR can support building decisions by communicating how these affect other design aspects. As BIM is used to a greater extent, this imposes higher standards on the model. VR can thus serve as a tool for self-monitoring. Implications: The tool has been shown to provide increased understanding of volume, scale and concept, which can result in improved communication opportunities. Improved communication enables coordination between professional groups, which in turn provides better decision making. Despite advantages, there are limiting factors that cause VR not to be used to a greater extent. As a recommendation, VR should be integrated through appropriate evaluation of functions as well as a complement to today's tools. Limitations: This study was limited to the architecture office on which it was carried out and to selected hardware and software. The technology is developing at a high pace, which causes problems regarding the relevance of the results. Despite method triangulation, difficulties arise in maintaining objectivity when researchers are partly participating. Furthermore, the role of the client is less represented because of them not having as much experience in using VR. Keywords: Building Information Model (BIM), Computer Aided Design (CAD), Virtual Reality (VR), Information Communication Technology (ICT), Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Content is described in Swedish below.

Virtual Reality offers the possibility for humans to interact in a more natural way with the computer and its applications. Currently, Virtual Reality is used mainly in the field of visualisation where 3D graphics allow users to more easily view complex sets of data or structures. The field of interaction in Virtual Reality has been largely neglected due mainly to problems with input devices and equipment costs. Recent research has aimed to overcome these interaction problems, thereby creating a usable interaction platform for Virtual Reality. This thesis presents a background into the field of interaction in Virtual Reality. It goes on to propose a generic framework for the implementation of common interaction techniques into a homogeneous application development environment. This framework adds a new layer to the standard Virtual Reality toolkit – the interaction abstraction layer, or interactor layer. This separation is in line with current HCI practices. The interactor layer is further divided into specific sections – input component, interaction component, system component, intermediaries, entities and widgets. Each of these performs a specific function, with clearly defined interfaces between the different components to promote easy objectoriented implementation of the framework. The validity of the framework is shown in comparison with accepted taxonomies in the area of Virtual Reality interaction. Thus demonstrating that the framework covers all the relevant factors involved in the field. Furthermore, the thesis describes an implementation of this framework. The implementation was completed using the Rhodes University CoRgi Virtual Reality toolkit. Several postgraduate students in the Rhodes University Computer Science Department utilised the framework implementation to develop a set of case studies. These case studies demonstrate the practical use of the framework to create useful Virtual Reality applications, as well as demonstrating the generic nature of the framework and its extensibility to be able to handle new interaction techniques. Finally, the generic nature of the framework is further demonstrated by moving it from the standard CoRgi Virtual Reality toolkit, to a distributed version of this toolkit. The distributed implementation of the framework utilises the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) to implement the distribution of the objects in the system. Using this distributed implementation, we are able to ascertain that CORBA is useful in the field of distributed real-time Virtual Reality, even taking into account the extra overhead introduced by the additional abstraction layer. We conclude from this thesis that it is important to abstract the interaction layer from the other layers of a Virtual Reality toolkit in order to provide a consistent interface to developers. We have shown that our framework is implementable and useful in the field, making it easier for developers to include interaction in their Virtual Reality applications. Our framework is able to handle all the current aspects of interaction in Virtual Reality, as well as being general enough to implement future interaction techniques. The framework is also applicable to different Virtual Reality toolkits and development platforms, making it ideal for developing general, cross-platform interactive Virtual Reality applications.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MSc (Computer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Computer Science / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitude of potential customers towards marketing of tourism through virtual reality. Since it is considered a risk to purchase a service it was interesting to see if the implementation of VR could lower the uncertainty. The study was conducted through a qualitative methodology consisting of 15 user tests. The result shows that the market has a positive attitude towards the marketing method since it was considered an exciting way to get information and gave a more honest image of the destination. It was more appreciated to experience a hotel in VR than a destination. However, VR-marketing was not considered necessary but rather a pleasant complement. The result of the study led to a few recommendations to any touristic company aiming to produce a VR-video for marketing purposes.

Many practical applications of Virtual Reality (VR) technology rely on adequate immersive representations of 3D spaces and support of embodied, dynamic interactions with the virtual world. Evaluation of these properties remains an important research problem. This thesis aims at developing a method of conducting user evaluations of dynamic, full-body interactions in VR systems based on using support for perception and action coupling as a criterion for comparison. The thesis has three main components. First, the thesis starts by presenting an experimental perceptual evaluation study looking at distance perception in real and virtual environments. The results indicate that the choice of the method to report perceived distances (i. e. the type of action used to express perceptual variable of interest) may have a significant effect on the outcome of the study. We argue for the need to develop an approach to VR evaluation that holistically considers both perception and action. Second, we propose a theoretical framework to conduct such user evaluations based on the notion of affordances. The thesis presents the second experimental study that explores perception of affordances in a complex, realistic task of bicycling across two lanes of opposing traffic in a VR simulator. This experiments highlights methodological approach to studies of user's perception of dynamic affordances. Finally, we present an experimental study that builds on theoretical and methodological frameworks developed in the thesis to explore the effects of display type and locomotion modality on user performance in a dynamic VR task that involves synchronization of self-motion with motion of virtual objects. The results inform our understanding of the trade-offs involved in selecting major components of the VR system.

This thesis explores the history of virtual reality and how the medium can help make psychological horror adventure games become a more immersive experience. Project Labyrinth takes inspiration from psychological horror adventure games, Greek mythology, and experimental music to immerse the player in a VR dream/nightmare. Appealing to the senses of sight and sound, the moody visual effects and haunting music, along with the use of procedural generation, create an eerie atmosphere in which the player must explore and problem-solve in order to find their way through the labyrinthine game. The environment changes and evolves as the game is replayed, creating a dream or nightmare-like setting, stirring the sensation of déjà vu. The game was developed in VR using the Oculus Quest, a device that allows the player to freely move about without being tethered to a computer. The Quest’s ability to use hand, body, and room tracking significantly improves an already immersive experience. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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New technologies, such as virtual reality, often draw to itself myths from other fields of interest and discourses. One such myth that has attached itself to virtual reality is the notion that virtual reality can provide a utopia for the mind, or true self, if the body can be cast off. It is this discarding of the body that my thesis aims to investigate in terms of Girardian sacrifice. Girard?s notion of sacrifice is built upon the observation of various cultures throughout history. It stands to reason that in our contemporary, digitally influenced, society, sacrifice, in some form, still persists. I argue that the body, when viewed as disposable, through the use of virtual reality, exhibits the same traits as the selected sacrificial victim. As the myth of a utopia for the mind, or true self, exists prior to the advent of virtual reality, traces of it, as well as the sacrifice I argue it entails, can be found in other texts as well. One such a text is The Chrysalids (Wyndham 1955). This text presents the reader with characters which I argue represent both the mind and body separately. The Chrysalids culminates in the characters representing the mind leaving for a utopian city whilst the character who, I argue, is most strongly associated with the body, Sophie Wender, is killed. It is also argued here in that the notion of abandoning the body is simply a myth since the inability to abandon the body is also discussed in terms of phenomenology, pointing out that the body can ultimately not be completely removed from the making of meaning. This phenomenological acknowledgement of the body, along with a critique The Chrysalids and cyber-utopia?s view of the body, forms the basis of my practical body of work. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Visual Arts / MA / Unrestricted

Vortrag UNIX-Stammtisch 10/97