Music Gatherings Grow Strands of Connectivity

User Experience and Engagement in the Reality–Virtuality Continuum: A Special Issue Guest Editorial

Entertainment such as live music performances (live performances) and events are often held in urban centers for reasons such as transportation accessibility and venue size, resulting in regional disparities in entertainment. On the other hand, recent years have seen the emergence of virtual reality (VR)-based live performances, which could solve regional disparities in entertainment. VR live performances can provide many opportunities for people who are unable to attend live performances due to location and time constraints.However, the quality of the experience is expected to deteriorate due to the sense of realism and other sensations that are difficult to reproduce in Reality live performances. However, few studies have compared real-life live performances with VR live performances and examined the effects of factors such as the sense of presence on the audience. In this study, an experiment was conducted with the aim of constructing a system to support the improvement of the sense of presence in VR live music performances. In the experiment, we experienced an on-demand VR live performance and investigated the degree of realism and the differences from a real live performance. From the results, we analyzed the factors that are important for improving the realism of VR live performances. The system is then constructed and evaluated.Ten male participants (23.6±1.8 years old) who had participated in a live concert in the past and remembered the sensation were asked to experience a VR music concert in a standing position for 5 minutes, and a post-experience questionnaire was administered to compare the realism of the actual concert and the VR concert.The post-experience questionnaire consisted of a subjective questionnaire and open-ended questions regarding the sense of presence and the five senses. The subjective questionnaire used a 5-point Likert scale. The items related to the sense of presence consisted of 13 items, which were added by the researcher based on previous studies that have analyzed the sense of presence. 3 was used as the standard for the 5-point scale, based on the comparison with previous real-live experiences. The higher the value, the higher the evaluation of each element in the VR experience.According to the results of the post-experience questionnaire, the vibration and communication elements were rated low. The VR live experience and its components in this experiment did not reproduce the vibrations from the large speakers and communication with other people, such as the performers and the surrounding audience, that are felt in a real live performance. Therefore, the experience tended to feel like a one-way live performance, and the quality of the experience was considered to be compromised. In addition, factor analysis of the questionnaire results showed that among the body perception factors with the highest contribution rate, the values of dynamism, vibration, and sense of self-presence were the most significant, and thus had a large impact on the sense of presence in the live performance.

Extended-Reality Technologies: An Overview of Emerging Applications in Medical Education and Clinical Care.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are increasingly becoming integral to educational and training contexts, yet comparative analyses of their effects on simulator sickness and user experience remain limited. Recent advancements in AR/VR headsets, such as the Meta Quest 3, now allow virtual and augmented reality experiences to be delivered through a single device. However, previous research comparing user experiences between virtual and augmented reality did not account for the use of a unified headset in their investigation. This study aims to investigate the differential effects of AR and VR on users’ simulator sickness, engagement, mental workload, and performance, and usability of the training environment. A training module was developed in Unity 3D for both AR and VR focusing on 3D printing using a powder bed fusion (PBF) printer. A within-subject assignment of factors explored the comparison of ten participants’ experiences regarding simulation sickness and printing experiences and performances. Each participant went through the same tasks under simulated environments to explore the implications of AR and VR on user experience. The study found that there was no statistically significant difference in motivation and user experiences between AR and VR using Meta Quest 3. Moreover, the users experienced comparatively higher simulator sickness in VR than in AR. These findings will not only help to fill the gaps in comparative studies of AR and VR but will also help to inform future technological deployments in educational and professional training scenarios.

A user-centric design approach for smart product-service systems using virtual reality: A case study

Lower body tracking and user experience analysis are ongoing challenges in immersive technologies and biomechanics research, respectively. Particularly, in immersive technologies like mixed reality, there are limited research applications in user comfort and experience, and locomotion. In this paper, we aimed to conduct a cross-disciplinary research (by combining the elements of Biomechanics and human–computer interaction) in understanding the impact of user experience and immersive technologies induced symptoms in virtual and mixed reality environments for obstacle clearance tasks. For this, we created obstacle clearance applications for Oculus Quest and Microsoft HoloLens. Also, we conducted a user study with 12 participants under two conditions (virtual reality and mixed reality) in obstacle clearance behavior of varying heights. The results from our study indicated that the levels of immersion and enjoyment were significantly higher in virtual reality compared to mixed reality. In terms of virtual reality-induced symptoms, the participants found the mixed reality environment to be slightly more comfortable than virtual reality.

Review: <i>Explosions in the Mind: Composing Psychedelic Sounds and Visualisations</i>, by Jonathan Weinel

With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, theatre and performing artists needed to find creative and safe solutions for continuing to do their work. Online video conference tools and virtual reality (VR) platforms seemed like good opportunities to explore new ways of connecting their art with their audiences. In this emergent ecosystem, there has been a specific interest in experimenting with VR social platforms given that its inherent technologies enable profoundly interactive experiences. Theatre companies and other creative projects like the Royal Shakespeare Company, Double Eye Productions or La Cuarta Pared VR have been producing cutting-edge live theatre experiences in VR that question the very essence of what live performance is all about. Triggered by the need to understand what is conceptually and artistically involved in these emergent experiences, the authors outlined an in-conversation piece combining both academic insight and reflective and creative writing. Drawing from netnographical and arts-based fieldwork in VR platforms, as well as key studies in theatre, performance, immersive media, gaming and other related fields, the goal of this paper is to present a gateway for a conceptual framework consisting of a series of foundational features and practical guidelines that define live theatre and performance in VR.

Fragments on New Media Arts and Science

The recent resurgence of interest in and widespread availability of virtual reality (VR) technology have paved the way for the use of VR systems as a gaming console. With the incessant popularity of VR gaming, the question then arises as to which input method affords the most intuitive interactive experience and provides the most enjoyable gaming user experience (UX). In an attempt to address these questions, the current study examined the impact of controller type (native VR controller vs. traditional gamepad controller) on video game UX in VR while playing a strategy game and an FPS game. Using both the native VR controller and traditional gamepad controller in a counterbalanced order, participants played a strategy and FPS game in VR and provided video game UX satisfaction ratings. Results of the strategy game experiment indicated that the two controllers were comparable in terms of perceived controller naturalness, sense of presence, and video game UX satisfaction during the gameplay, indicating that using a more natural input device did not lead to a superior VR gaming UX. Results of the FPS game experiment indicated that the two controllers were comparable in terms of, sense of presence and video game UX satisfaction during the gameplay, indicating that using a more natural input device did not lead to a superior VR gaming UX. However, results indicated that perceived controller naturalness was rated higher in the Oculus controllers than in the Xbox controllers, exhibiting that the Oculus controllers felt more natural.

Virtual reality (VR) is receiving enough attention to be regarded as a revival era and technologies related to the implementation of VR systems continue to evolve. VR systems are applied not only in entertainment but also in various fields such as medicine, rehabilitation, education, engineering, and military (Aïm, Lonjon, Hannouche, &amp; Nizard, 2016; Howard, 2017; Lele, 2013). In particular, low-cost and immersive VR systems are commercialized to the general public, accelerating the revival of VR (Wang &amp; Lindeman, 2015). In VR system, the research from the viewpoint of human–computer interaction and user experience (UX) is required to provide a high sense of immersion to the user. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a structural methodology for classifying current VR researches and to review UX evaluation of VR systems systematically to identify research trends and to clarify future research directions. This study followed systematic review protocol of (PRISMA) (Liberati et al., 2009). To cover a broad spectrum of perspectives of engineering and medical fields, six web databases were selected: Scopus, Web of Science, Science direct, IEEE Xplore, EBSCO, and ProQuest. The main search keywords were virtual reality and user experience. These two words can be used in acronyms or other words. As a result, four and three words were chosen for virtual reality and user experience, respectively (‘virtual reality’, ‘virtual environment’, ‘VR,’ and ‘VE’ were chosen as keywords for virtual reality, ‘user experience’, ‘UX,’ and ‘human experience’). In addition, the journal articles in English were searched only. After the screening process was completed, final articles were selected based on the full-text. In this process, there were two essential selection conditions. The selected articles should use VR system and evaluate UX component. No restrictions other than these conditions were made. As a result, 78 articles were found to be consistent with the purpose of this study. As a result, there were two main points of discussion about UX studies in a VR system. The first is related to the implementation of equipment and technology including input devices, output devices, feedback forms, platforms, and applications. The other is related to research methods including user characteristics, interactions, and evaluation method. With respect to hand input devices, conventional input devices such as keyboards and game pads were used in many cases compared to trackable devices. However, as implementation techniques for natural interaction such as gesture recognition or real-time tracking of the body parts have been extensively developed, UX research needs to be conducted on VR systems that apply these techniques. In relation to feedback, stimuli other than visual stimuli were not frequently provided. Since providing multiple types of stimuli simultaneously may increase the user’s immersion and sense of reality, it is necessary to intensively study the effect of multi-sensory feedback in the future. In addition, there is a lack of academic research on CAVE and motion platforms. Though CAVE and motion platforms are difficult to set up for experimentation because they are expensive to build and require large space, there is a need to continually expand the UX research on this platform since the public will have more opportunities to access these platforms. Regarding research methods, most of the studies have focused on subjective measurements, quantitative research, laboratory experiments, and episode UX. To comprehensively understand the overall UX, it is necessary to conduct a qualitative study such as observation of subjects experiencing a VR system, think aloud, or deep interview with them, rather than evaluating UX only through a questionnaire. In addition, there was no case in which UX was evaluated in terms of momentary UX. However, there is a limit to evaluating the subjective measurement such as immersion, presence, and motion sickness during usage by directly asking the user, since the VR system provides an immersive environment to the user. Thus, behavioral characteristic or physiological signal of users can be used as one of the evaluation indicators of these measurements. Today, new VR systems are emerging and VR-related technologies are expected to evolve steadily. In this context, the findings can contribute to future research directions and provide insights into conducting UX evaluation in VR system.

The fast growth of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) head-mounted displays provides a new medium for interactive visualisations and visual analytics. Presence is the experience of consciousness within extended reality, and it has the potential to increase task performance. This project studies the impact that a sense of presence has on data visualisation performance and user experience under AR and VR conditions. A within-subjects design recruited 38 participants to complete interactive visualisation tasks within the novel immersive data analytics system for genomic data in AR and VR, and measured speed, accuracy, preference, presence, and user satisfaction. Open-ended user experience responses were also collected. The results implied that VR was more conducive to efficiency, effectiveness, and user experience as well as offering insight into possible cognitive load benefits for VR users.

In the field of surgery, major changes that have occurred include the advent of minimally invasive surgery and the realization of the importance of the ‘systems’ in the surgical care of the patient (Pierorazio &amp; Allaf, 2009). Challenges in surgical training are two-fold: (i) to train the surgical residents to manage a patient clinically (ii) to train them in operative skills (Singh &amp; Darzi,2013). In Pakistan, another issue with surgical training is&#x0D; that we have the shortest duration of surgical training in general surgery of four years only, compared to six to eight years in Europe and America (Zafar &amp; Rana, 2013). Along with it, the smaller number of patients to surgical residents’ ratio is also an issue in surgical training. This warrants formal training outside the operation room. It has been reported by many authors that changes are required in the current surgical training system due to the significant deficiencies in the graduating surgeon (Carlsen et al., 2014; Jarman et al., 2009; Parsons, Blencowe, Hollowood, &amp; Grant, 2011). Considering surgical training, it is imperative that a surgeon is competent in clinical management and operative skills at the end of the surgical training. To achieve this outcome in this challenging scenario, a resident surgeon should be provided with the opportunities of training outside the operation theatre, before s/he can perform procedures on a real patient. The need for this training was felt more when the Institute of Medicine in the USA published a report, ‘To Err is Human’ (Stelfox, Palmisani, Scurlock, Orav, &amp; Bates, 2006), with an aim to reduce medical errors. This is required for better training and objective assessment of the surgical residents. The options for this training include but are not limited to the use of mannequins, virtual patients, virtual simulators, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. Simulation is a technique to substitute or add to real experiences with guided ones, often immersive in nature, that reproduce substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive way. Mannequins, virtual simulators are in use for a long time now. They are available in low fidelity to high fidelity mannequins and virtual simulators and help residents understand the surgical anatomy, operative site and practice their skills. Virtual patients can be discussed with students in a simple format of the text, pictures, and videos as case files available online, or in the form of customized software applications based on algorithms. In a study done by Courtielle et al, they reported that knowledge retention is increased in residents when it is delivered through virtual patients as compared to lecturing (Courteille et al., 2018).But learning the skills component requires hands-on practice. This gap can be bridged with virtual, augmented, or mixed reality. There are three types of virtual reality (VR) technologies: (i) non-immersive, (ii) semi-immersive, and (iii) fully immersive. Non-immersive (VR) involves the use of software and computers. In semi-immersive and immersive VR, the virtual image is presented through the head-mounted display(HMD), the difference being that in the fully immersive type, the virtual image is completely obscured from the actual world. Using handheld devices with haptic feedback the trainee can perform a procedure in the virtual environment (Douglas, Wilke, Gibson, Petricoin, &amp; Liotta, 2017). Augmented reality (AR) can be divided into complete AR or mixed reality (MR). Through AR and MR, a trainee can see a&#x0D; virtual and a real-world image at the same time, making it easy for the supervisor to explain the steps of the surgery. Similar to VR, in AR and MR the user wears an HMD that shows both images. In AR, the virtual image is transparent whereas, in MR, it appears solid (Douglas et al., 2017). Virtual augmented and mixed reality has more potential to train surgeons as they provide fidelity very close to the real situation and require fewer physical resources and space compared to the simulators. But they are costlier, and affordability is an issue. To overcome this, low-cost solutions to virtual reality have been developed. It is high time that we also start thinking on the same lines and develop this means of training our surgeons at an affordable cost.

Emerging technological innovations offer the potential for experiential engagement through virtual scenarios, yet the viability of this approach for educational purposes remains significantly underexplored. This study aims to assess the feasibility of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in providing users with aesthetic experiences when visiting digital exhibitions. A total of 190 students participated in this investigation. The control group visited traditional exhibits at the Palace Museum in Beijing. This group underwent a survey to evaluate their acquired aesthetic experience. In contrast, the experimental group, comprising 96 students, engaged with VR/AR scenarios at the Palace Museum in Beijing. Accordingly, students in the experimental group were also surveyed to evaluate both their aesthetic experiences and, additionally, their user experiences. The survey results unveiled significant distinctions in aesthetic experiences between students in the control and experimental groups. Moreover, there were notable correlations between individual variables related to user and aesthetic experiences within the experimental group. Furthermore, the study revealed disparities in both user and aesthetic experiences among male and female students. The findings have implications for aesthetic education teachers and officials in the context of developing sound strategies for providing aesthetic experiences to their students. This information is also of interest to employees of museums, exhibitions, and other cultural facilities, who are interested in holding or hold digital exhibitions.

The ergonomic design of control elements in real life has been researched in detail. Various studies exist on the optimal dimensioning, their haptic and acoustic feedback to achieve high control accuracy and user experience. But the development of products is increasingly done with virtual prototypes. Virtual reality (VR) allows these prototypes to be tested in a highly immersive environment. However, the findings from reality cannot be transferred to VR directly. For example, users in VR interact with the prototypes using controllers, which affects haptic feedback. This study investigates how rotary dials and joysticks must be designed and programmed in VR so that control tasks can be performed efficiently and generate a high user experience and perceived presence.In user tests, subjects (n = 25) evaluate the control of a joystick and a rotary dial in VR. In a virtual crane operator's cabin or at a virtual table, the subjects (f = 10, m = 15, age: 24 +- 3) perform four predefined tasks per control element. On two screens in VR, subjects see a vertical bar graph with a scale from 0 to 100 % controlled by the joystick and separately a numerical value between 0 and 100 % which is controlled by the rotary dial. The screens display the task to the subjects, e.g., "Set the value from 0 % to 42 %". According to the method “design of experiments”, 14 factors, such as vibration feedback, acoustic feedback, position of the subject or the sensitivity of the control element are systematically varied on two respectively three levels (e.g., diameter of actuator 40 mm, 80 mm or 110 mm). For each trial, the control accuracy and the time required to complete the task are determined. In addition, the perceived presence is assessed using the Slater-Usoh-Steed-Questionnaire and the user experience is surveyed using the User Experience Questionnaire. The effect of a change of level on the response parameters is investigated using multifactorial ANOVA (α = .05). Linear regression is used to calculate a mathematical relationship between factor and response parameter. These mathematical models are used to calculate which factor values can be used to achieve a high level of control accuracy with a low time requirement and a high level of user experience and perceived presence. The factors angular resolution, inclination, shape of the rotary dial and position of the subject have a highly significant effect (p ≤ .001) on the time required to complete the tasks with the rotary dial. On the control accuracy of the rotary dial, the angular resolution, the VR-controller and the interaction of angular resolution and diameter of the rotary dial have a significant effect. On the user experience, a total of six factors and two interactions have a significant effect. On the perceived presence of the subjects, the VR environment and the diameter of the rotary dial have a significant effect. The calculated optimized design is a rotary dial with vibration feedback, without acoustic feedback, with visualization of a rough knurling, an angular resolution of 10-12 degree/value, a 40 mm diameter and no inclination. Visualization of the hand should be avoided.Sensitivity, size, subject position, VR environment, and the interaction of subject position and VR environment have a significant effect on the time required to perform the control tasks with the joystick. Three factors and one interaction have a significant effect on the control accuracy of the joystick. The interaction of the factors vibration feedback and visualization of the hand has a significant effect on the perceived presence of the subjects. On user experience, nine factors and five interactions have a significant effect. The calculated optimized levels of factors for the joystick are vibration and acoustic feedback, no visual feedback, vertical handle with a height of 20-24 cm, a five-level angular resolution, a maximum deflection angle of +- 15°, a sensitivity of 8 %/sec and a visualization of the hand.The trials show a high degree of scatter. The residuals show outliers in the experiments. These deviations are mainly due to the individual previous experience of the test subjects in handling VR systems. Nevertheless, significant effects could be identified. A screening experimental design was used in this study. In a follow-up study, detailed investigations with a full factorial experimental design must be performed with the significant factors. The factors will be tested at multiple levels and with a significantly increased number of trials to further increase the accuracy of the mathematical models.