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Abstract Title: Business of “another World” – Virtual Reality (VR): Influence of Virtual Reality on consumer experience, co-creation and competitive advantage Course: Thesis for Master Degree in Business Administration Authors: Dominik Ruggenthaler and Maximilian Waidhofer Supervisor: Maria Fregidou-Malama, PhD Examiner: Akmal S. Hyder, PhD Date: 2017/06/01   Purpose: This study’s aim is to examine the influence of VR in the field of architecture and its contribution to create competitive advantages. Methodology: To collect empirical data, the research applied a qualitative and inductive approach. Semi-structured interviews with ten participants with different backgrounds are conducted. Furthermore, primary and secondary data obtained from existing scientific resources built the base for argumentation. Findings & Conclusion: The main findings of the research are clustered in four groups. (1) VR planning creates a new service system and has an influence on the project performance; (2) VR experience and (3) co-creation contributes to generate new competitive advantages; (4) the use of the technology is a trigger for architect companies to differentiate compared to their competitors. Theoretical contribution: This is one of the few studies that combines VR planning with customer experience and co-creation. Furthermore, previous researches do focus on competitive advantages in this context. The developed conceptual model identifies the impact of VR on competitive advantage generation within the architecture business. Managerial implications: The implication of VR leads to both new opportunities and new problems. On one hand, architects can embed their clients better in the planning stage, but on the other hand, customers might become overwhelmed by the multisided VR opportunities. Also, it is outlined that a form of virtual planning will probably become an industry standard, which has to be adopted by architects. Limitations: Cost Leadership, one element of competitive advantages, is not explored through this study. Also, customer response of VR services has to be evaluated more deeply. Therefore we suggest further research in those fields. Keywords: VR planning, co-creation, experience, competitive advantage, architecture

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・論文博士 / 博士(工学) / 乙第12484号 / 論工博第4044号 / 新制||工||1498(附属図書館) / 28157 / (主査)教授 角 哲也, 教授 堀 智晴, 准教授 立川 康人 / 学位規則第4条第2項該当

Detta examensarbete är utfört för att generellt beskriva VR och ge underlag för Skymaps tillämpning om att i ett ombyggnadsskede visa ATA Timbers sågverk i VR. Modellen skall vara tilltalande för kunden i VR. Under modelleringen har hänsyn tagits till Skymaps önskemål om vilka programvaror som skall användas. Utformningen av sågverket är redan fastställt och därför kommer underlag endast användas för att ritas av. Resultatet uppnås genom att granska, utreda och tillämpa tekniken. Resultatet av examensarbetet blev som förväntat, en 3D-modell av sågverket i Sandsjöfors finns nu att använda sig av vid ATA Timbers om- och tillbyggnadsprocess.

Virtual Reality provides the ability to immerse users in realistic environments, which makes it possible to utilize the technology as an educational tool. The EIT Raw Materials Project MireBooks intend to teach mining students by simulating a VR mine and recreating learning experiences in it. With this comes challenges with regards to the networking performance and user experience. / MiReBooks

Syftet med denna masteruppsats var att undersöka skillnaden i Game User Experience Satisfaction (GUESS) vid användning av SimProv, både i VR (Oculus Rift) och på skärm. SimProv är en spelliknande klassrumssimulation. Studien avsåg även finna potentiella problem som användaren kunde stöta på under testsessionen. För att kunna undersöka och utvärdera detta behövde SimProv vidareutvecklas. Vidareutvecklingen utfördes genom att använda spelmotorn Unity med PlayMaker, som är ett visual scripting språk, tillsammans med att följa rekommendationer som finns för UI- och User experience-design för VR-spel. Inomgruppsdesign med 30 deltagare användes som testmetod. Hälften av deltagarna fick antingen börja med att spela på skärm eller i VR med Oculus Rift. Efter varje spelsession fick deltagarna fylla i den nya psykometrisk validerade skalan Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS), som består av nio subskalor. Avslutningsvis kunde deltagarna fylla i två fritextfrågor genom ett digitalt formulär, om de potentiella problem de stött på vid respektive spelsession. Då GUESS är en ny skala har få studier av denna typ utförts. De få studier som har utförts pekar åt olika håll i frågan om spel bör utvecklas i VR eller inte. Resultaten från denna studie, som utfördes med tvåsidig hypotesprövning med t-test, visade inga signifikanta skillnader mellan VR och skärm. Endast en subskala, Play Engrossment, visade signifikant skillnad för VR. De textbaserade resultaten som analyserades med tematisk analys visade att majoriteten av deltagarna föredrog VR, men att alternativen i spelet upplevdes som begränsande. / The aim of this Master’s Thesis was to find out the difference in Game User Experience Satisfaction (GUESS) when using SimProv, both in VR (Oculus Rift) and on monitor. SimProv is a game-like classroom simulation. The purpose of this thesis was also to find potential problems that users may encounter during the test sessions. To assess and evaluate this, SimProv had to be furthered developed. This development was done using the game engine Unity and the visual scripting language PlayMaker in combination with following UI and UX design recommendations for VR games. A within subjects design with 30 participants was conducted. The users played either the monitor version or the VR version first, with no particular order. After each play session participants were asked to fill in the GUESS-scale, which is a newly developed and psychometrically validated scale that consists of 9 subscales. At the end of the play sessions participants could choose to answer two questions, through a digital form, about potential problems they may have encountered in both modalities. Since GUESS is a new scale few studies of evaluating VR versus monitor, using GUESS, have been conducted. The few studies that have been conducted showed no consensus in whether games should or should not be developed for VR. The inferential analysis with two-tailed paired samples t-tests in this study showed no significant difference between VR and monitor. The subscale Play Engrossment showed significant differences for VR. The text-based questions, that were analyzed with a thematic analysis, showed that the majority of the participants preferred VR. However, many participants felt that the answer options in the game where restricted.

Through qualitative and exploratory research, this thesis project investigates how body stimulation from haptic feedback affects user’s feeling of presence in VR environments. It identifies that in current time,the development of haptic feedback in VR lags severely behind the advancements made in visual and auditory feedback, and that somecompanies disregard its importance. Simultaneously, new companies are emerging which focus entirely on haptics in VR. Since development is still an early stage, this thesis highlights now as a unique opportunity to explore the thoughts professionals have on the topic, as well as try to find out which exact haptics are important for feeling presence to serve as a guide to those developing such systems.Finally, to tackle this issue, it is imperative to understand certain theoretical concepts such as affordances and embodiment, and how they change in the world of VR. This understanding can contribute to Interaction Design knowledge.

Cybersjuka, vilket är en undertyp till rörelsesjuka uppstår när personer använder sig utav ett Virtual Reality headset. Denna studie undersöker de tre olika rörelsesystemen som spel brukar använda sig utav för att förflytta sig i virtuella världar. De tre rörelsesystemen är teleportering, rälssystemet och kontinuerliga rörelsesystemet. Dessa tre system undersöktes sedan för att se hur stor påverkan de har för den upplevda symptom av cybersjuka hos spelaren. Undersökningen skedde genom ett att en artefakt skapades, vilket gavs ut tillsammans med ett frågeformulär till deltagare. Genom att analysera den insamlade datan kan slutsatsen att teleporteringssystemet orsakar ingeneller extremt lite symptom av cybersjuka dras. Medan rälssystemet orsakar inte alltför stark cybersjuka och att det kontinuerliga rörelsesystemet orsakar starkast symptom av cybersjuka. Dock är det kontinuerliga rörelsesystemet det mest föredragna rörelsesystemet för de flesta användarna. / <p>Det finns övrigt digitalt material (t.ex. film-, bild- eller ljudfiler) eller modeller/artefakter tillhörande examensarbetet som ska skickas till arkivet.</p>

Research has shown that exposure to green, natural environments can help the body recover from stress. Because of this effect, stress alleviation is considered an ecosystem service provided by nature for the benefit of human health and well-being. But is this effect equal when viewing natural environments with different levels of biodiversity? For example, is a natural forest with higher visual biodiversity better at alleviating stress than a low biodiversity spruce plantation, or an urban city? This question was tested in an experiment using virtual reality (VR). Test participants (n=31) were divided into three groups, induced with stress from a stressor, and then exposed to images of either natural forest, spruce plantation, or urban city in VR. Heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and skin conductance level (SCL) were used as physiological measurements for stress. SCL and HR showed a significant decrease in stress for the natural forest, but not in the spruce plantation or the urban city. The results for HRV were inconclusive. The results suggest that the stress alleviation is stronger when exposed to a natural forest, indicating that visual experience of biodiversity may have an important role in stress alleviation, and further stress its value as an ecosystem service.

Working with the public benefit corporation SURVIVR, I conducted a user experience study to determine how effective the Summer 2019 build of the virtual reality (VR) police training tool SurviVR was at meeting the product's goal of providing officers-in-training with realistic, immersive training experience. Two virtual training scenarios, entitled Active Shooter and Emotionally Disturbed Person (EDP), were the focal points of the study. At two of the product's pilot demonstration locations over eleven total sessions, I gathered observational data and audiovisual recordings and administered paper surveys based in qualitative methods (with a few quantitative elements). Using these data collection tools and techniques, I inquired into the themes of immersion and realism in the virtual scenarios and what design features the participants felt positively or negatively impacted their experiences of these themes. SurviVR's nature of containing both real-world and virtual elements that are pertinent to user experience necessitated a framework that addresses ethnography of virtual worlds, hybrid ethnography, and design anthropology. This study contributes to the expanding field of VR applications and understanding how improved immersion and realism can aid in the effectiveness of VR as a training tool.