The research presented in this thesis concerns the contribution of virtual human (or avatar) fidelity to social interaction in virtual environments (VEs) and how sensory fusion can improve these interactions. VEs present new possibilities for mediated communication by placing people in a shared 3D context. However, there are technical constraints in creating photo realistic and behaviorally realistic avatars capable of mimicking a person's actions or intentions in real time. At the same time, previous research findings indicate that virtual humans can elicit social responses even with minimal cues, suggesting that full realism may not be essential for effective social interaction. This research explores the impact of avatar behavioral realism on people's experience of interacting with virtual humans by varying the interaction fidelity. This is accomplished through the creation of Cinemacraft, a technology-mediated immersive platform for collaborative human-computer interaction in a virtual 3D world and the incorporation of sensory fusion to improve the fidelity of interactions and realtime collaboration. It investigates interaction techniques within the context of a multiplayer sandbox voxel game engine and proposes how interaction qualities of the shared virtual 3D space can be used to further involve a user as well as simultaneously offer a stimulating experience. The primary hypothesis of the study is that embodied interactions result in a higher degree of presence and co-presence, and that sensory fusion can improve the quality of presence and co-presence. The argument is developed through research justification, followed by a user-study to demonstrate the qualitative results and quantitative metrics.This research comprises of an experiment involving 24 participants. Experiment tasks focus on distinct but interrelated questions as higher levels of interaction fidelity are introduced.The outcome of this research is the generation of an interactive and accessible sensory fusion platform capable of delivering compelling live collaborative performances and empathetic musical storytelling that uses low fidelity avatars to successfully sidestep the 'uncanny valley'. This research contributes to the field of immersive collaborative interaction by making transparent the methodology, instruments and code. Further, it is presented in non-technical terminology making it accessible for developers aspiring to use interactive 3D media to pro-mote further experimentation and conceptual discussions, as well as team members with less technological expertise. / Master of Science / The work presented in this thesis explores social interactions and collaboration between users within the context of an immersive game platform. Improving the quality of these interactions is often challenging in terms of creating relatable virtual representations of the user that can also accurately capture user performances and behavioral intentions in real time. This research focuses on changing modes of performance capture to affect the quality of interactions between users. The immersive game platform, Cinemacraft, uses a Minecraft style game engine to propose how interaction qualities of a shared virtual space can be used to further involve a user as well as simultaneously offer a stimulating experience. The platform can accurately capture the users’ posture, limb movement, facial expressions and lip-synced mouth states and comes with an array of live cinematic production tools. The primary hypothesis of the study is that more natural modes of performance capture would result in a higher quality of interaction. Also, an additional level of intelligence to incorporate voice capture to improve tracking of users’ facial performance would yield the highest quality of interactions.
The argument is developed through research justification, followed by a user-study involving 24 participants, to demonstrate the qualitative results and quantitative metrics. The outcome of this research is the generation of an interactive and accessible immersive game platform capable of delivering compelling live collaborative performances and empathetic musical storytelling. This research contributes to the field of immersive collaborative interaction by making transparent the methodology, instruments and code. Further, it is presented in non-technical terminology making it accessible for developers aspiring to use interactive 3D media to promote further experimentation and conceptual discussions, as well as team members with less technological expertise.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/82142 |
| Date | 15 February 2018 |
| Creators | Narayanan, Siddharth |
| Contributors | Electrical and Computer Engineering, Abbott, A. Lynn, Polys, Nicholas F., Bukvic, Ivica Ico, Tokekar, Pratap |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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