Tidigare forskning påvisar att individer som lever ett rikt liv fyllt av upplevelser, skattar sitt upplevda välmående högre. Individer som av olika orsaker blir isolerade på boenden som äldre, går miste om upplevelser de tidigare berikat sina liv med. Ett sätt att tillgodose att dessa isolerade individer kan fortsätta uppleva nya saker, så som konst, är genom att erbjuda immersiva upplevelser i VR. Pilotprojektet anses till stor del lyckats med att uppfylla syftet att finna gemensamma faktorer att bygga ett eventuellt samarbete på mellan Kommunens (pseudonym) olika förvaltningar. Detta med målsättning att kunna skapa något påminnande om ett projekt som genomförts i Halmstad. Pilotprojektet har även lyckats fånga upp vad som i dagsläget görs för att aktivera äldre, vilka nuvarande planer som finns, och visioner om hur immersiv VR skulle kunna användas i framtiden. Slutligen har också projektet lyckats ringa in några av de utmaningar och eventuella svårigheter som implementerandet av ett liknande projekt skulle kunna påverkas av. För att göra detta har intervjuer genomförts ett flertal nyckelpersoner inom kommunens olika förvaltningar för att undersöka intresse, möjligheter, förutsättningar och eventuella uppfattade begränsningar. Svaren har sedan tematiserats och analyserats för att kunna utröna resultatet. Den tydligast framträdande utmaningen med en sådan implementering, uttryckte samtliga förvaltningar vara begränsade resurser vad gäller ekonomi, personal samt tid. Slutsatsen pekar dock mot att det finns både vilja och goda möjligheter till samarbete mellan de olika förvaltningarna inom Kommunen för att skapa immersiva upplevelser i VR. / Previous research shows that individuals who live a rich life filled with experiences rate their perceived well-being higher. Individuals who, for various reasons, become isolated in care homes as elderly, miss out on experiences they previously enriched their lives with. One way to ensure that these isolated individuals can continue to experience new things, such as art, is by offering immersive experiences in VR.  This pilot project is considered to have largely succeeded in fulfilling its purpose of finding common factors on which to build a possible collaboration between the different administrations of Kommunen (pseudonym). This with the aim of being able to create something reminiscent of a project carried out in Halmstad. The pilot project has also managed to capture what is currently being done to activate older people, which the current plans are, and what visions of how immersive VR could be used in the future exists. Finally, the project has also managed to identify some of the challenges and possible difficulties that the implementation of a similar project could be affected by. To do this, a number of key people within Kommunen's various operations have been interviewed to examine interests, opportunities, conditions and perceived limitations. The responses have then been thematized and analyzed in order to ascertain the results. The most obvious challenge with such an implementation was expressed by all administrations to be limited resources in terms of finances, personnel and time. However, the conclusion indicates that there is both willingness and good opportunities for collaboration between the various administrations within Kommunen to create immersive experiences in VR.

It is perceived that Moore's Law will prevail at least for the next decade, with continuous advancements of processing technologies for very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits. Nano technology is driving VLSI circuits in a path of greater transistor integration, faster clock frequency, and lower operation voltage. This has imposed a new challenge for delivering high- quality power to modern processors. Power management technology is critical for transferring the required high current in a highly efficient way, and accurately regulating the sub-1V voltage in very fast dynamic transient response conditions. Furthermore, the VRs are limited in a given area and the power density is important to save the precious real estate of the motherboard. Based on the power delivery path model, the analysis results show that as long as the bandwidth can reach around 350 kHz, the bulk capacitor of the VR can be completely eliminated, which means significant savings in cost and real estate. Analysis also indicates that 650kHz bandwidth can reduce the number of the decoupling capacitor from 230 to 50 for future microprocessor case. Beyond 650kHz, the reduction is not obvious any more due to the parasitic components along the power delivery path. Following the vision of high bandwidth, the VRs need to operate at much higher frequency than today's practice. Unfortunately, the multiphase buck converter cannot benefit from it due to the low efficiency at high switching frequency. The extreme duty is the bottleneck. The extreme duty cycle increases VR switching loss, reverse recovery loss, and conduction loss; therefore makes the 12V-input VR efficiency drop a good deal when compared with 5V-input VR efficiency. Two-stage approach is proposed in this dissertation to solve this issue. The analysis shows that the two-stage conversion has much better high frequency capability than the conventional single stage VRs. Based on today's commercial devices, 2-MHz is realized by the hardware and 350kHz bandwidth is achieved to eliminate the output bulk capacitors. Further improvement based on future devices and several proposed methods of reducing switching loss and body diode loss can push the switching frequency up to 4MHz while maintaining good efficiency. Such a high frequency makes the high bandwidth design (650kHz) feasible. Hence, the output capacitance can be significantly reduced to save cost and real estate. The two-stage concept is also effective in laptop computer and 48V DPS applications. It has been experimentally proved that two-stage VR is able to achieve higher switching frequency than single stage not only at full load condition but also at light load condition by the proposed ABVP and AFP concept based on two-stage configuration. These unique control strategies make the two-stage approach even more attractive. As the two-stage approach is applied to 48V DPS applications, such as telecommunication system and server systems, more efficient and higher power density power supply can be achieved while greatly cut down the cost. Therefore, after the two-stage approach is proposed, it has been widely adopted by the industry. In order to further reduce the output capacitance, the power architecture of computer needs to be modified. Based on two-stage approach, one possible solution is to move the second stage VR up to the OLGA board. Based on this structure, the parasitics can be dramatically reduced and the number of the cavity capacitor is reduced from 50 to 14. By reducing ESL of the capacitor, the output capacitance could be further reduced. After that and based on two-stage approach again, VR+LR structure is discussed, which provides the opportunity to reduce the output capacitance and integrate the power supply with CPU. The feasibility is studied in this dissertation from both power loss reduction and output capacitance reduction perspectives. Experimental results prove that LR can significantly reduce the voltage spike while minimizing the output capacitance. As a conclusion, the two-stage approach is a promising solution for powering future processors. It is widely effective in computer and communication systems. Far beyond that, it provides a feasible platform for new architectures to power the future microprocessors. / Ph. D.

Recent hand tracking systems have contributed to enhancing user experience in the virtual environment (VE) due to its natural and intuitive interaction. In addition, wearable haptic devices are another approach to provide engaging and immersive experiences. However, controllers are still prevalent in VR (Virtual Reality) games as a main interaction device. Also, haptic devices are rare and not widely accepted by users because they get bulky to implement sophisticated haptic sensation. To overcome this issue, I conducted experiments (Study 1 and Study 2 of this Thesis) to investigate the effect of interaction method (controller and whole-hand interaction using hand tracking) and vibrotactile feedback on user experience in the VR game. In Study 1 of this Thesis, I recruited 36 participants and compared the user's sense of presence, engagement, usability, and task performance under three different conditions: (1) VR controllers, (2) hand tracking without vibrotactile feedback, and (3) hand tracking with vibrotactile feedback at fingertips through the gloves I developed. The gloves deliver vibrotactile feedback at each fingertip by vibration motors. I observed that whole-hand interaction using hand tracking enhanced the user's sense of presence, engagement, usability, and task performance. Further vibrotactile feedback increased the presence and engagement more clearly. Based on the participants' feedback, I could further modify the form factor to make it more usable in the VR game and comfortable to wear on a regular basis. In this sense, in Study 2 of this Thesis, I developed a new thimble-shape device to deliver vibrotactile feedback only at one fingertip rather than ten fingertips. Further, social VR is an emerging VR platform where multiple users can interact with one another. However, most social VR applications have not provided a sense of touch. I recruited 24 participants and conducted an experiment that explored the effects of interaction method and fingertip vibrotactile feedback on the user's sense of social presence, presence, engagement, and task performance in a cooperative VR game under four different conditions: (1) VR controllers without vibrotactile feedback, (2) VR controllers with vibrotactile feedback, (3) hand tracking without vibrotactile feedback, and (4) hand tracking with vibrotactile feedback with the fingertip vibrotactile device. The results showed that whole-hand interaction using hand tracking increased the level of presence. In addition, multiple items in the presence questionnaire indicated that vibrotactile feedback enhanced the level of presence as well. However, I could not observe the significant difference in social presence due to the unique setting of this experiment. Unlike the previous studies, my task was sufficiently cooperative, and thus, the participants felt high level of social presence regardless the conditions, which led to the ceiling effect. I also observed that there was no significant difference in engagement. Controller conditions had higher performance than hand tracking due to the technological limitations in hand tracking. Results are discussed in terms of implications for the components of interaction in the VR with hands, a touch in social VR, cooperative VR game, and practical design guidelines. / Master of Science / Recent hand tracking systems have contributed to enhancing user experience in the virtual environment (VE) due to its natural and intuitive interaction. In addition, wearable haptic devices are another approach to provide engaging and immersive experiences. However, controllers are still prevalent in VR (Virtual Reality) games as a main interaction device. Also, haptic devices are rare and not widely accepted by users because they get bulky to implement sophisticated haptic sensation. To overcome this issue, I conducted experiments (Study 1 and Study 2 of this Thesis) to investigate the effect of interaction method (controller and whole-hand interaction using hand tracking) and vibrotactile feedback on user experience in the VR game. In Study 1 of this Thesis, I recruited 36 participants and compared the user's sense of presence, engagement, usability, and task performance under three different conditions: (1) VR controllers, (2) hand tracking without vibrotactile feedback, and (3) hand tracking with vibrotactile feedback at fingertips through the gloves I developed. The gloves deliver vibrotactile feedback at each fingertip by vibration motors. I observed that whole-hand interaction using hand tracking enhanced the user's sense of presence, engagement, usability, and task performance. Further vibrotactile feedback increased the presence and engagement more clearly. Based on the participants' feedback, I could further modify the form factor to make it more usable in the VR game and comfortable to wear on a regular basis. In this sense, in Study 2 of this Thesis, I developed a new thimble-shape device to deliver vibrotactile feedback only at one fingertip rather than ten fingertips. Further, social VR is an emerging VR platform where multiple users can interact with one another. However, most social VR applications have not provided a sense of touch. I recruited 24 participants and conducted an experiment that explored the effects of interaction method and fingertip vibrotactile feedback on the user's sense of social presence, presence, engagement, and task performance in a cooperative VR game under four different conditions: (1) VR controllers without vibrotactile feedback, (2) VR controllers with vibrotactile feedback, (3) hand tracking without vibrotactile feedback, and (4) hand tracking with vibrotactile feedback with the fingertip vibrotactile device. The results showed that whole-hand interaction using hand tracking increased the level of presence. In addition, multiple items in the presence questionnaire indicated that vibrotactile feedback enhanced the level of presence as well. However, I could not observe the significant difference in social presence due to the unique setting of this experiment. Unlike the previous studies, my task was sufficiently cooperative, and thus, the participants felt high level of social presence regardless the conditions, which led to the ceiling effect. I also observed that there was no significant difference in engagement. Controller conditions had higher performance than hand tracking due to the technological limitations in hand tracking. Results are discussed in terms of implications for the components of interaction in the VR with hands, a touch in social VR, cooperative VR game, and practical design guidelines.

Content 01. Prototypen im Design Anwendung im Designprozess Einordnung und Kategorisierung 02. Hybride Prototypen Beschreibung Potenziale Einordnung Fragestellungen 03. Aktuelle Projekte Interdisziplinäres Sommerprojekt 2015 VR Concept Cab Interfaceprototypen Agrar 04. Untersuchungen Anwendung Forschung

The overall purpose of the project is to develop a prototype for a web application that will be able to display office landscapes in VR. The prototype will convey a sense of how the web application will look and feel. The focus will be on the VR experience and the purpose of it is to see what the limitations and benefits are with that technology. VR contains 3D graphics and all browser engines are currently collaborating to create WebGL, which is the standard for creating 3D graphics on the web. WebGL is based on OpenGL, which is one of the largest 3D graphics APIs for desktop applications. A comparison of these techniques will be performed in order to show how much functionality the web is missing compared to desktop applications, regarding 3D development. The goal will be to develop a website that contains an embedded VR experience and then perform user tests on it, to find shortcomings in the implementation. Another goal is to produce a quantitative content analysis that compares WebGL and OpenGL to see which functionality WebGL lacks. To succeed, the framework A-frame has been used, which is used to create VR experience in the browser and has been selected because it is open source and has a simple HTML syntax. The prototype was successfully produced, and the user tests show several shortcomings that were later fixed. The quantitative content analysis shows that WebGL lacks 74% of all functionality that OpenGL has and therefore 3D in the browser has long way to go to reach the same quality as for desktop applications. The conclusion is that A-frame is a nice framework with great potential but has shortcomings since HTML is not an object-oriented programing language. / Projektets övergripande syfte är att utveckla en prototyp, till en webbapplikation som ska kunna visa kontorslandskap i VR. Prototypen ska förmedla en känsla för hur webbapplikationen kan se ut och fungera. Fokus kommer ligga på VR-upplevelsen och syftet med det är att se vad det finns för begränsningar och fördelar med den teknologin. VR innehåller 3D-grafik och alla webbläsarmotorer samarbetar i dagsläget för att skapa WebGL, som är standarden för att skapa 3D-grafik på webben. Det API: et är i sin tur baserat på OpenGL som är en av de största 3D-grafik API: er för skrivbordsapplikationer. En jämförelse mellan dessa tekniker kommer utföras i syfte om att se hur mycket 3D på webben saknar jämfört med 3D för skrivbordsapplikationer. Målet kommer vara att utveckla en hemsida som innehåller en inbäddad VR upplevelse och därefter utföra användartester på det för att hitta brister i implementationen. Ett till mål är att ta fram en kvantitativ innehållsanalys som jämför WebGL och OpenGL för att se vilken funktionalitet WebGL saknar. För att lyckas med detta har ramverket A-frame använts, som är till för att skapa VR-upplevelse i webbläsaren och har valts på grund utav att det är open source och har en simpel HTML-syntax. Prototypen togs fram med lyckat resultat och användartesterna visar på ett antal brister som senare åtgärdades. Den kvantitativa innehållsanalysen visar att WebGL saknar 74% av all funktionalitet som OpenGL har och 3D i webbläsaren har en bit kvar att gå. Slutsatsen är att A-frame är ett trevligt ramverk med stor potential men har brister då HTML inte är ett objektorienterat språk

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This study has been a co-production between Mälardalen university and a company to see how a project can work with Virtual Reality (VR). The purpose of the report is to help develop a method proposal for virtual assembly in VR in the early stages of the product development process at the company and to help other companies in similar situations. The aim was how the new technology shall be incorporated into a process for the company through an effective and systematic approach. To get there, it needs to develop a work method in the processes for when, how and why the technology should be used and who should use it.Therefore, three research questions (RQ:s) were formulated; RQ1: How does the process look like today regarding virtual assembly in VR at the early stages of product development? RQ2: What prerequisites must exist to be able to implement Virtual assembly at the early stages of product development? RQ3: What can be tested using virtual assembly in VR at the early stages of product development? To answer these questions, observations, interviews and a literature study from relevant articles on the subject were used. These articles were found by searching in various scientific databases with different search terms. The interviews were used to gain insight into how the company is working with VR now and what prerequisites would be needed to implement VR into the projects. In this study, direct observations in meetings, tutoring and conversations were used both in physical and virtual environments to get a deeper understanding of the company's problem. The report resulted in these conclusions:The company did not have a work method for virtual assembly with VR at the early stages. However, there were no description for virtual assembly with VR in any part of the company's product development process. If there is no work method about virtual assembly with VR in the company's product development process can these identified preconditions support; understanding the gain with VR, educated workers, the workers having an interest, having room for VR with hardware and software. These preconditions can facilitate the work, which could reduce time and save money for the project. This investigation show that a project can test seven VR variables. These variables are assembly, assembly complications, accessibility, risks, quality, visualisation and does it fit in the factory. All these variables show that VR has great protentional but how much VR can test depends on the company’s prerequisites. Finally, based on the findings in this study and in order to facilitate work with virtual assembly in VR in the early stages of product development, the report presents a prototype checklist with three steps. The data gathered in the study only comes from one company, so the proposal for further research include validation of the checklist in several industries.

Content 01. Prototypen im Design Anwendung im Designprozess Einordnung und Kategorisierung 02. Hybride Prototypen Beschreibung Potenziale Einordnung Fragestellungen 03. Aktuelle Projekte Interdisziplinäres Sommerprojekt 2015 VR Concept Cab Interfaceprototypen Agrar 04. Untersuchungen Anwendung Forschung

Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Virtual Reality (VR) are two of the main directions in the BIM-strategy of the Swedish Transport Administration. Starting from the year 2015 it is a requirement to use BIM even in tenders. In order to meet these requirements WSP developed their own product Open VR - a data platform for visualization, communication, planning, designing as well as a tool for documentation of new and existing environments. Geotechnical analysis is an important part in most of the projects and affects the economy, the projects timeframes and further projects design greatly. Availability of good quality basic data is a requirement to succeed in a project.  Inaccurate and late delivered rock and soil 3D models cause the problems at the design stage. A completely or partially automated process for creating 3D soil models using geotechnical database and models presentation in Open VR would provide both economic benefits and reduce the amount of repetitive work in the CAD environment. One of the biggest issues is to combine data coming from different sources and therefore clear standards on how different fields of technology should prepare their information are needed. The goal of this master thesis is to develop a guideline how to prepare geotechnical objects for Open-VR. Firstly software that could be used for preparing geotechnical data for Open VR were identified and described. Three products were chosen: NovaPoint, Civil3D, Power Civil. After that data were processed using the software chosen for comparison. Geotechnical objects (3D models of soil layers and 3D boreholes) were prepared for Open VR using these three products. The results were evaluated. Finally a guideline for preparing geotechnical data for Open VR was written. This guideline can be used not only for preparing the geotechnical data for Open VR but for any other product which can be used for the model coordination (for example, NavisWorks etc). This guideline can be used in any geotechnical project where geotechnical data of Swedish standard are used. This guideline can be used as it is in order to create 3D models of soil layers and rock surfaces with help of Civil3D. In case that another kind of software should be used, this guideline can be used as a basis, because the workflow is the same, but some correction can be done concerning what “button should be pressed”. Recommendations were given depending on the project requirements and application area. Taking into account that WSP decided to not continue with NovaPoint and use Civil 3D and Power Civil instead, then it is recommended to use Civil 3D when it is necessary to create soil layers using field investigations. Results of 3D modelling can be used in NovaPoint, loaded to Open VR and, if necessary, even be imported into Power Civil. Power Civil can be used in large-scale projects where advanced 3D modelling is required or when all other area of technology use Power Civil for project design. Even though NovaPoint does not have priority at WSP it should not be out of the game, it can be very useful in projects where the usage of BIM is a requirement. Considering that NovaPoint has good communication with GeoSuite and can produce smart 3D models it is recommended to have a license of NovaPoint at WSP in order being able to follow software development.

Bakgrund: Det är vanligt att barn upplever smärta och ångest i samband med venösa stick. Virtuell verklighet, VR, kan användas som en distraktionsmetod under omvårdnadsprocedurer för att reducera smärta och ångest. Att få en samlad och ökad kunskap om användning av VR under venösa stick kan bidra till att minska barns lidande under proceduren. Syfte: Att undersöka användandet av VR som distraktion för att minska smärta och ångest hos barn som får venösa stick.  Metod: Artikelsökningar har gjorts i databaserna Cinahl och PubMed. I studien inkluderades 10 empiriska kvantitativa artiklar som har kvalitetsgranskats, analyserats och sammanställts. Resultat: VR som distraktionsmetod i samband med venösa stick kan minska barns upplevda smärta och ångest. Av de 10 studierna kunde 8 identifiera en signifikant lägre nivå av upplevd smärta. Även barnens upplevda ångest under proceduren minskade. Konklusion: Oavsett vilken typ av VR som använts eller i vilken vårdmiljö det venösa sticket skett har VR haft positiva effekter för barn mellan 4–18 år. Vidare forskning på ämnet är nödvändigt för att visa hur VR kan användas som distraktionsmetod i praktiken. / Background: It is normal for children to experience pain and anxiety during venipuncture. Virtual Reality, VR can be used to distract children from pain and anxiety during caring procedures. Summarizing these studies and increased knowledge of how VR can be used during venipuncture could help relieve children from the experience of pain and anxiety. Aim: To examine the use of VR as a distraction from pain and anxiety during venipuncture. Methods: The article search was conducted in the databases Cinahl and PubMed. 10 quantitative empirical studies were quality controlled, analysed and compiled. Result: VR as a distraction during venipuncture can relieve children of experienced pain and anxiety. 8 out of 10 studies showed a significant decrease in pain. Children’s experienced anxiety were also significantly decreased. Conclusion: Positive effects for children ages 4-18 can be seen in all studied care environments and with all studied types of VR. More research is needed to show how VR can be used in a practical setting.