Characters In Virtual Environments Research Articles

Abstract P171: Patient and Interdisciplinary HIV Care Experts Illness Representations on HIV Comorbidities and Usability of a Virtual Environment as Heart Disease Prevention Education in Ethnic and Racial Sexual Minority Men With HIV

Background: Black and Latinx sexual minority men with HIV are at increased risk of CVD and have been underrepresented in clinical trials. The American Heart Association has called for an increase in interventions that focus on enhancing cardiovascular health in underserved communities by addressing social determinants and modifiable risk factors of CVD. Objective: To explore patient and HIV care experts’ perceptions about HIV comorbidities and assess usability of a virtual environment as CVD prevention education in Black and Latinx sexual minority men with HIV. Methods: This two-phase study is part of a pilot behavioral clinical trial informed by the American Heart Association’s metrics for cardiovascular health. Qualitative Phase 1 data were collected June 2021 to May 2022. Phase 2 data were collected August 2022 to October 2022. Using convenience sampling, we recruited a) Black and Latinx sexual minority men with HIV, and b) interdisciplinary HIV care experts. Eligibility criteria for non-HIV care experts were: 1) self-identify as gay or bisexual; 2) HIV serostatus positive; 3) ages 30 to 65; 4) access to a laptop or desktop. We explored HIV comorbidities of concern and conducted usability testing of the virtual environment. Eighty-four pages of interview data were analyzed using NVivo 12. Results: Phase 1 themes included: Mixed Perceptions about Health, High Risk for Comorbidities, and Virtual Environment Features. CVD risk factors were consistently expressed in relation to HIV, including hypertension, heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. Additionally, kidney, and liver disease were identified as important. Cancer was a common concern and so were the development of mental health conditions. All participants in Phase 2 completed the usability checklist with favorable feedback. Conclusions: We identified hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and cancer were comorbidities of concern. These findings carry significant implications for mitigating barriers to preventative health screenings in Black and Latinx sexual minority men with HIV, given shared risk factors between HIV, CVD, and cancer. We also found that usability of a virtual environment as CVD prevention education was promising as it offered anonymity and access to reliable health information that traverses geography. A virtual environment may serve as a novel modality for extending the reach of prevention education and clinical trials into the hands of ethnic and racial, sexual minoritized individuals that have been underrepresented in advancements in health equity.

Perceptions of HIV-Related Comorbidities and Usability of a Virtual Environment for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Education in Sexual Minority Men With HIV: Formative Phases of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Sexual minority men with HIV are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and have been underrepresented in behavioral research and clinical trials. This study aims to explore perceptions of HIV-related comorbidities and assess the interest in and usability of a virtual environment for CVD prevention education in Black and Latinx sexual minority men with HIV. This is a 3-phase pilot behavioral randomized controlled trial. We report on formative phases 1 and 2 that informed virtual environment content and features using qualitative interviews, usability testing, and beta testing with a total of 25 individuals. In phase 1, a total of 15 participants completed interviews exploring HIV-related illnesses of concern that would be used to tailor the virtual environment. In phase 2, usability testing and beta testing were conducted with 10 participants to assess interest, features, and content. In phase 1, we found that CVD risk factors included high blood pressure, myocardial infarction, stroke, and diabetes. Cancer (prostate, colon, and others) was a common concern, as were mental health conditions. In phase 2, all participants completed the 12-item usability checklist with favorable feedback within 30 to 60 minutes. Beta-testing interviews suggested (1) mixed perceptions of health and HIV, (2) high risk for comorbid conditions, (3) virtual environment features were promising, and (4) the need for diverse avatar representations. We identified several comorbid conditions of concern, and findings carry significant implications for mitigating barriers to preventive health screenings, given the shared risk factors between HIV and related comorbidities. Highly rated aspects of the virtual environment were anonymity; meeting others with HIV who identify as gay or bisexual; validating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and others (LGBTQ+) images and content; and accessibility to CVD prevention education. Critical end-user feedback from beta testing suggested more options for avatar customization in skin, hair, and body representation. Our next phase will test the virtual environment as a new approach to advancing cardiovascular health equity in ethnic and racial sexual minority men with HIV. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04061915; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05242952. RR2-10.2196/38348.

Research on the legibility of Chinese display character sizes in virtual environments

Whether in the real world or VEs (virtual environments), text reading is one of the fundamental ways for individuals to acquire information. In VEs relying on head-mounted displays, users often encounter difficulties in reading text, particularly when it involves languages with higher complexity, such as Chinese. In light of this, this paper focuses on Chinese display character sizes in VEs and explores the factors and size thresholds that affect text legibility. Using parameter adjustment, two ergonomic experiments were designed to investigate the minimum legibility and preference thresholds of Chinese character sizes in VEs. The minimum legibility reading experiment employed two different-resolution virtual reality devices, including five levels of Chinese character complexity and four text rendering distances. The comfort reading experiment involved four levels of Chinese character complexity and three text rendering distances. The experimental results validate the impact of hardware resolution and Chinese character complexity on the minimum legibility and size preference of Chinese text. Based on these findings, the minimum legibility and preference size thresholds in VEs were determined for Chinese characters. These research outcomes can be applied to the setting of Chinese display characters in VEs.

Creating Playable Social Experiences through Whole-Body Interaction with Virtual Characters

This paper describes work towards the goal of enabling unscripted interaction with non-player characters in virtual environments. We hypothesize that we can define a layer of social affordances, based on physical and non-verbal signals exchanged between individuals and groups, which can be reused across games. We have implemented a first version of that substrate that employs whole body interaction with virtual characters and generates nuanced, real-time character performance in response. We describe the playable experience produced by the system, the implementation architecture (based on the behavior specification technology used in Façade, the social model employed in Prom Week, and gesture recognition technology), and illustrate the key behaviors and programming idioms that enable character performance. These idioms include orthogonal coding of attitudes and activities, use of relational rules to nominate social behavior, use of volition rules to rank options, and priority based interleaving of character animations.

A systematic literature review of factors that moderate bystanders’ actions in cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is an incipient phenomenon which occurs by means of digital devices, in virtual environments, which often overlaps with traditional bullying. Research reveals the relevant role played by bystanders in stopping bullying and cyberbullying. The aim of this work is to identify those factors which encourage or hamper the mobilisation of young bystanders under 20 years of age in instances of cyberbullying, through a systematic literature review spanning 2005 to 2016 in the databases Web of Science Core Collection and SciELO Citation Index. A total of 19 articles were analysed. We identified two types of factors. Firstly, there are contextual factors, which refer to the relationships at play, the interactions and the environment, and are grouped into the following categories: friendship, social environment, bystander effect, incident severity, action of other bystanders, request for assistance, evaluation of the situation, knowledge of effective strategies, characteristics of virtual environments, and fear of retaliation. Secondly, there are personal factors, referring to individual traits, categorised into: empathy, moral disengagement, self-efficacy, behavioural determinants, previous experience of bullying and cyberbullying, and demographic and socio-economic data. Of particular influence seem to be the factors of friendship and social context, as well as empathy, moral disengagement and self-efficacy. To formulate practical recommendations to guide the development of educational programmes aimed at preventing cyberbullying using the bystander approach, further evidence is needed in relation to all factors, although certain general directions can be discerned even at this early stage. This is a new and exciting field of research which carries the hope of eradicating bullying in all its forms.

Research on Proactive Services Based on Context Rules in Virtual Environment

The issues of Human–Machine Interface (HMI) of Virtual Environment (VE) are discussed in view of users' potential application requirements in VE. The Human-centered HMI containing rich context information is proposed by taking the advantage of the abundant research findings of artificial intelligence and pervasive computing. The technology of context-aware computing is introduced in this study for providing initiative services mode as well. First, in view of the characteristics of VE, the Web Ontology Language (OWL) is adopted to model the context information. Second, the modified ID3 decision-tree algorithm is applied to automatically generate the context rules of VE. Third, the polymorphic proactive services model based on context rules is designed. Finally, an example is given to illustrate how to apply context rule-inference to realize proactive services. The experiment demonstrates the correctness and effectiveness of the above mentioned algorithm and model.

Visualizing the third dimension in virtual training environments for neurologically impaired persons: beneficial or disruptive?

BackgroundMany contemporary systems for neurorehabilitation utilize 3D virtual environments (VEs) that allow for training patients’ hand or arm movements. In the current paper we comparatively test the effectiveness of two characteristics of VEs in rehabilitation training when utilizing a 3D haptic interaction device: Stereo Visualization (monoscopic vs stereoscopic image presentation) and Graphic Environment (2.5D vs 3D).MethodAn experimental study was conducted using a factorial within-subjects design. Patients (10 MS, 8 CVA) completed three tasks, each including a specific arm-movement along one of three directional axes (left-right, up-down and forward-backward).ResultsThe use of stereoscopy within a virtual training environment for neurorehabilitation of CVA and MS patients is most beneficial when the task itself requires movement in depth. Further, the 2.5D environment yields the highest efficiency and accuracy in terms of patients’ movements. These findings were, however, dependent on participants’ stereoscopic ability.ConclusionDespite the performance benefits of stereoscopy, our findings illustrate the non-triviality of choices of using stereoscopy, and the type of graphic environment implemented. These choices should be made with the task and target group, and even the individual patient in mind.

Internationalization: the nexus of virtual worlds and reality

PurposeThis paper aims to describe the characteristics of virtual environments (VEs) that reinforce internationalization and to explore further implications for their utilization. Internationalization at universities is often argued as being key to developing global citizens. The use of VEs for global experiences is a relatively new phenomenon for universities. Understanding the aspects of VEs that develop global citizens will assist in their further development for internationalization.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a case study comparison of students and their experiences in the real world and VEs used in the Monash University Chinese Studies program. The student participants were interviewed using semi‐structured questions to establish the elements of the Monash Secondlife© Island contributing to their understanding of internationalization.FindingsThe case study concludes that students perceived the Monash Secondlife© Island useful for basic interactions in language learning and for students less confident with social interaction. Another outcome is the indication that students desire more technology (e.g. voice) to be used in subsequent developments.Originality/valueThe paper provides a unique analysis of the utilization of VEs to develop internationalization at university. It outlines the characteristics expected as part of internationalization, the current usage of VEs to develop internationalization, and articulates the specific characteristics that VEs enable as part of the internationalization process.

Inferring interaction to support collaborative learning in 3D virtual environments through the user's avatar Non-Verbal Communication

When a group of students, placed around a shared workspace and working on a predefined task, is observed, the teacher can intuitively, to a certain extent, understand the collaboration that is taking place within the group without listening to the students' discourse. Following this analogy, we propose that some Non-Verbal Communication (NVC) cues, adapted to 3D virtual environment features, could be useful to infer the quality of collaborative interaction to such an extent that collaborative learning can be automatically fostered. The NVC cues that have been selected for that purpose and the related collaborative learning indicators that can be inferred will be discussed in this paper.

The Potential and Uniqueness of Virtual Environments for Education

Virtual environments (VEs) are growing in popularity among educators and have unique potential for online learning. This paper describes the unique characteristics of VEs that make them an effective venue for online learning due to increased environmental presence. Unique characteristics of VEs include nature of visual stimuli, control of the environment, amount and variety of sensory information utilized by the learner, and level of immersion by the learner. Examples of learning opportunities in VEs are explored. Current disadvantages are also discussed.

A taxonomy for the design and evaluation of Networked Virtual Environments: its application to collaborative design

Networked Virtual Environments (NVEs) are virtual environments that are distributed across two or more physical locations and connected over a network, thereby forming one virtual shared workspace. In the past decade, research in the field of networked virtual environments has become active, quickly growing out of infancy into a diversity of applications. As is common in any new field, this growing assortment of applications lacks an overall classification, making the design of NVEs cumbersome and the comparison of existing environments difficult at best. The goal of this paper is to provide a means of classification through the development of a taxonomy of NVEs. First, an extensive literature review is conducted investigating the characteristics of virtual environments in general, as well as issues specific to networked virtual environments. This search leads to the development of a taxonomy for describing NVEs, which is used to compare current NVE systems and applications and find weak areas in which future work might be most beneficial. Finally, the taxonomy is used for the development of networked virtual environments for collaborative mechanical engineering design.

LEARNING BY FEELING: EVOKING EMPATHY WITH SYNTHETIC CHARACTERS

ABSTRACT Virtual environments (VEs) are now becoming a promising new technology to be used in the development of interactive learning environments for children. Perhaps triggered by the success of computer games, VEs are seen as an emergent and engaging new way by which children can learn experimental sciences and other disciplines. Inhabiting these IVEs can be agents or intelligent characters that are responsible for events that happen in the environment and make it not predictive or completely controlled. However, to build such environments, in particular, if populated by synthetic characters, one needs to carefully address the problem of how do the learners respond to the characters in the virtual environment. Do learners like the characters? Do learners identify themselves with characters in virtual environments? This relation between learners and characters in virtual environments can be studied in several perspectives. In this paper, we will focus primarily on the issue of empathy as one desirable aspect of the affective interaction between learners and synthetic characters. In particular, we will defend that in order for such affective relations to happen, characters should be created and designed taking into account what we call the proximity factor. This is based on the fact that children are found to respond more empathically to those that are perceived as similar to the self than those who are perceived as dissimilar (Barnett 1987). This appears to be the case when similarity is defined in terms of a shared characteristic, such as sex (Bryant 1982), race or in terms of shared personal experiences (Bryant 1982). Thus, designing characters aiming at pedagogical empathic interactions, we should carefully address how close the learner will feel with the synthetic characters developed in terms of situation, behavior or even physical appearance. In order to illustrate this factor in eliciting emotional reactions to synthetic characters, we will present a specific system called FearNot!. FearNot! was developed to address the difficult and often devastating problem of bullying in schools. By using role-playing and synthetic characters in a 3D environment, FearNot! allows children from age 8 to 12 to experience a virtual scenario where they can witness (in a third-person perspective) bullying situations. To build empathy into FearNot, we have considered the following components: agent's architecture, the characters' embodiment, the environment itself, and emotionally charged situations. All these elements were built to allow for a stronger proximity with the user and the system. In this paper, we will focus primarily on this problem and report some results achieved in the evaluation executed with 127 children and 95 adults on the system.

Dynamically simulated characters in virtual environments

Animated characters can play the role of teachers or guides, team mates or competitors, or just provide a source of interesting motion in virtual environments. Characters in a compelling virtual environment must have a variety of complex and interesting behaviors, and be responsive to the user's actions. The difficulty of constructing such synthetic characters currently hinders the development of these environments, particularly when realism is required. The authors present one approach to populating virtual environments-using dynamic simulation to generate the motion of characters. They explore this approach's effectiveness with two virtual environments: the border collie environment, in which the user acts as a border collie to herd robots into a corral, and the Olympic bicycle race environment, in which the user participates in a bicycle race with synthetic competitors.