Immersive Devices Research Articles

Multi-Robot Interfaces and Operator Situational Awareness: Study of the Impact of Immersion and Prediction

Multi-robot missions are a challenge for operators in terms of workload and situational awareness. These operators have to receive data from the robots, extract information, understand the situation properly, make decisions, generate the adequate commands, and send them to the robots. The consequences of excessive workload and lack of awareness can vary from inefficiencies to accidents. This work focuses on the study of future operator interfaces of multi-robot systems, taking into account relevant issues such as multimodal interactions, immersive devices, predictive capabilities and adaptive displays. Specifically, four interfaces have been designed and developed: a conventional, a predictive conventional, a virtual reality and a predictive virtual reality interface. The four interfaces have been validated by the performance of twenty-four operators that supervised eight multi-robot missions of fire surveillance and extinguishing. The results of the workload and situational awareness tests show that virtual reality improves the situational awareness without increasing the workload of operators, whereas the effects of predictive components are not significant and depend on their implementation.

Exploring the design space of immersive urban analytics

Recent years have witnessed the rapid development and wide adoption of immersive head-mounted devices, such as HTC VIVE, Oculus Rift, and Microsoft HoloLens. These immersive devices have the potential to significantly extend the methodology of urban visual analytics by providing critical 3D context information and creating a sense of presence. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model to characterize the visualizations in immersive urban analytics. Furthermore, based on our comprehensive and concise model, we contribute a typology of combination methods of 2D and 3D visualizations that distinguishes between linked views, embedded views, and mixed views. We also propose a supporting guideline to assist users in selecting a proper view under certain circumstances by considering visual geometry and spatial distribution of the 2D and 3D visualizations. Finally, based on existing work, possible future research opportunities are explored and discussed.

Interactive and immersive devices with perceptual computing technologies

ABSTRACTIn the recent years, we are increasingly endowing devices and machines with the abilities to “sense”, “understand”, and “interact” with us and the physical world, aided by the rapid advances in natural sensing and perceptual computing technologies. In this article, we describe a new class of intelligent systems and immersive applications based on real-time 3D sensing, including interactive computing devices, autonomous robots and drones, as well as augmented and virtual reality systems, blurring the border between the real and the virtual words.

Removal of Cd(II), Zn(II), and Cu(II) from aqueous solutions using humic-modified moss (Polytrichum Comm.)

Natural moss Polytrichum Comm. (RM) was modified by simple one-step method in order to prepare a new hybrid humic-modified biosorbent (MH) with a higher content of surface functional groups (SFGs). Among various raw biosorbents, this moss has branched durable frame, which is a potential advantage for the design and optimization of the immersion and flowing devices. Both adsorbents were characterized using elemental analysis, surface area analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and acid-base titrations. After modification RM with humic acid, the total concentration of SFGs increased from 1.45mmol/g in RM to 2.06mmol/g in MH. The adsorption capacity of the RM and MH towards Cd(II), Zn(II) and Cu(II) was studied in the isothermal experiments at different pH. The metal uptake capacity by both biosorbents increased with increasing pH values and sorption capacity of MH was much higher compared to RM. A high efficiency of multi-metal removal and recovery by large aggregates of RM and MH remains at least in five consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles. The results obtained show that humic-modified moss has potential for removal and recovery of Cd(II), Zn(II) and Cu(II) from wastewater. In addition, preliminary full-scale experiment demonstrates the possibility of using MH as immersion device for remediation of polluted water body.

The effects of immersiveness and future VR expectations on subjec-tive-experiences during an educational 360° video

Virtual reality may potentially create immersive experiences compelling people to believe they are physically present in a virtual space. This may augment learning by increasing interest in the learning content. However, not all technology is equal. Current devices range from limited devices to next generation technology. At the extremes, devices may distract users from learning content by presenting a sub-optimal learning experience which may be affected by expectations of VR. Participants viewed a 360-degree educational video with the goal of learning as much as possible. Each participant used one of three devices: a smartphone, Google Card-board, or Oculus Rift DK2. Overall, more immersive devices induced greater feelings of presence. However, we failed to support the sub-optimal experience hypothesis. We also found that greater expectations and reported feelings of presence led to less information recalled during the simulation, potentially indicating the novelty of VR experiences may overwhelm learners.

35-1:Invited Paper: Real-Time 3D-Sensing Technologies and Applications in Interactive and Immersive Devices

We present recent advances in real-time 3D-sensing technologies provided by the Intel® RealSense™ cameras and software development kits including a number of middleware libraries. We describe a range of novel systems applications, including a new class of interactive and immersive mixed-reality devices.

Evaluating the Authenticity of Virtual Environments: Comparison of Three Devices

Immersive virtual environments (VEs) have the potential to provide novel cost effective ways for evaluating not only new environments and usability scenarios, but also potential user experiences. To achieve this, VEs must be adequately realistic. The level of perceived authenticity can be ascertained by measuring the levels of immersion people experience in their VE interactions. In this paper the degree of authenticity is measured via anauthenticity indexin relation to three different immersive virtual environment devices. These devices include (1) a headband, (2) 3D glasses, and (3) a head-mounted display (HMD). A quick scale for measuring immersion, feeling of control, and simulator sickness was developed and tested. The HMD proved to be the most immersive device, although the headband was demonstrated as being a more stable environment causing the least simulator sickness. The results have design implication as they provide insight into specific factors which make experience in a VE seem more authentic to users. The paper emphasizes that, in addition to the quality of the VE, focus needs to be placed on ergonomic factors such as the weight of the devices, as these may compromise the quality of results obtained when examining studying human-technology interaction in a VE.

The body electric in the age of virtual reality and transhumanism: Forces changing the West’s notions of self, identity and humanness

Abstract This article begins by exploring the relationships connecting Walt Whitman’s ‘body electric’, Marshall McLuhan’s ‘discarnate man [sic]’ and Neil Postman’s ‘citizen of technopoly’. It then examines the disruptive effects that electric technologies have had on western culture’s notions of ‘self’, ‘identity’ and particularly ‘the body’, especially the development of Virtual Reality systems, social networking and transhuman technologies over the past three decades. A survey of new wearable and immersive devices, advances in artificial intelligence, and invasive biotechnical procedures reveals increasingly questionable attempts to replace the human body by machines. These endeavours are supported, notably, by some of the world’s wealthiest investors in artificial intelligence and biotechnology, statesmen, media barons and members of the military – the forces of technopoly. The article concludes that, despite the efforts to replicate, improve or even replace it, the body is essential to our humanness.

Radiographie de l’immersion dans l’enseignement supérieur en Suisse et à l’Université de Fribourg : les pré-requis nécessaires

De nos jours, la notion d’immersion est le plus souvent liée à celle d’éducation bilingue, proposant des dispositifs qui réinventent en quelque sorte l’appropriation naturelle d’une langue étrangère ou seconde dans le cadre de politiques linguistiques officielles. Toutefois l’immersion naturelle en langues existe depuis le Moyen-Âge en Europe, notamment en Suisse, surtout dans les régions frontalières. Que s’est-il passé entre-temps pour que le dispositif de l’immersion soit devenu l’atout majeur au service de cette éducation bilingue ? Après avoir brièvement rappelé les différentes conceptions et réalisations de l’immersion, nous examinerons les dispositifs existants de l’immersion dans l’enseignement supérieur en Suisse. Nous nous arrêterons à l’Université officiellement bilingue de Fribourg (français–allemand) où nous analyserons les offres d’immersion, plus spécifiquement le programme Bilingue Plus. Enfin nous nous demanderons quels sont les pré-requis de cette éducation au bi/plurilinguisme à l’heure où les apprenants pourraient simplement se contenter de l’apprentissage d’une seule langue, l’anglais.

Inducción de craving por comida mediante realidad virtual no inmersiva

La terapia de exposicion a senales se ha propuesto como un tratamiento eficaz para las conductas de atracon al propiciar la extincion de la asociacion entre los estimulos relacionados con la ingesta compulsiva y la respuesta de craving. El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar si la exposicion a alimentos en entornos de realidad virtual (RV) es capaz de producir niveles de craving consistentes con diferencias individuales en craving-rasgo y craving-estado, de manera que puedan ser utilizados en programas de tratamiento basados en exposicion a senales. Los participantes fueron expuestos a 10 alimentos en cuatro entornos virtuales. Las personas que presentaban mayores niveles de craving-rasgo y cravig-estado mostraron mayores deseos de comer durante la exposicion a los entornos virtuales. Estos resultados constituyen un indicador de validez del uso de procedimientos basados en la exposicion virtual a comida para llevar a cabo intervenciones basadas en tecnicas de exposicion a senales.

Implementation of an Immersive Videogame

Legends of Girona is a serious game which can be used to teach local history to students in the province of Girona in Spain. The game is a graphic adventure taking place in both present-day and medieval Girona. The authors describe in this paper the design of the game, including aspects related to artificial intelligence, advanced computer graphics, exergaming, mobile platforms and immersive devices. A collection of different devices is supported, including input devices such as head trackers and output devices such as cylindrical and spherical domes, immersapods, and 3D helmets. The authors provide an overview of all the stages required for the configuration of immersive devices (calibration procedure, adaptation and rendering). They also present some directions of future work.

Predictive ethoinformatics reveals the complex migratory behaviour of a pelagic seabird, the Manx Shearwater

Understanding the behaviour of animals in the wild is fundamental to conservation efforts. Advances in bio-logging technologies have offered insights into the behaviour of animals during foraging, migration and social interaction. However, broader application of these systems has been limited by device mass, cost and longevity. Here, we use information from multiple logger types to predict individual behaviour in a highly pelagic, migratory seabird, the Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus). Using behavioural states resolved from GPS tracking of foraging during the breeding season, we demonstrate that individual behaviours can be accurately predicted during multi-year migrations from low cost, lightweight, salt-water immersion devices. This reveals a complex pattern of migratory stopovers: some involving high proportions of foraging, and others of rest behaviour. We use this technique to examine three consecutive years of global migrations, revealing the prominence of foraging behaviour during migration and the importance of highly productive waters during migratory stopover.

COULD AN INTERACTIVE AND TOTAL IMMERSIVE DEVICE WITH HMD IMPROVE MEMORY AND GIVE THE PRESENCE SENSATION?

We studied two interactive (functional and intentional interactivity) and immersive (technical and psychological immersion) devices with a personal 3D viewer (360° vision and environmentally ego-centered) and their effects on the explicit long-term memories of the subjects (4 groups of 30 students for a total of 120 subjects) (2007 and 2012). We have tested memory, communication and feeling of presence in our virtual environment with a canonic test of presence (Witmer and Singer, 1998). In our first experiment (2007), the results showed that there was no improvement in mnemonic performances compared with other types of media (PowerPoint classes without taking notes, with the taking of notes and a lecture class with no other medium). Our second experiment (2012) used a total-immersion device with the ability for the subjects to share their emotions and sensations through a network, results in progress). This article is a reflection on immersion and the presence sensation in a virtual environment in these 3D devices.

Система корозійного моніторингу трубопроводів

A system of corrosion monitoring of pipelines comprises connected together a measuring block, portable copper-copper sulfate comparison electrodes, a set of sensors for measurement of potentials, corrosion rate, corrosion potential, Tafel slope of polarization curve and GPS coordinates, an immersion device and standard station connected to measuring unit. Between the standard station and measuring unit off-line interrupters of cathodic protection circuit are installed in addition, and the measuring unit is made with possibility to calculate the aggressivity of soil.

The Design of a Graphics Engine for the Development of Virtual Reality Applications

This work presents the design and the features of a flexible realtime 3D graphics engine aimed at the development of multimedia applications and collaborative virtual environments. The engine, called EnCIMA (Engine for Collaborative and Immersive Multimedia Applications), enables a fast development process of applications by providing a high level interface, which has been implemented using the C++ object-oriented programming paradigm. The main features of the proposed engine are the support to scene management, ability to load static and animated 3D models, particle system effects, network connection management to support collaboration, and collision detection. In addition, the engine supports several specialized interaction devices such as 3D mice, haptic devices, 3D motion trackers, data-gloves, and joysticks with and without force feedback. The engine also enables the developer to choose the way the scene should be rendered to, i.e. using standard display devices, stereoscopy, or even several simultaneous projection for spatially immersive devices. As part of the evaluation process, we have compared the performance of EnCIMA to a game engine and two scene graph toolkits, through the use of a testbed application. The performance results and the wide variety of non-conventional interaction devices supported are evidences that EnCIMA can be considered a real time virtual reality engine.

Stainless steel ennoblement in freshwater: From exposure tests to mechanisms

This work confirms the systematic character of the open circuit potential (OCP) ennoblement for stainless steels immersed in natural freshwater, and highlights the mechanism(s) responsible for this evolution. To achieve these results, electrochemical measurements and analysis/observations of the surface were realized in situ during exposure tests in the river Seine on two exposition sites using an original immersion device. Electrochemical results show that on both immersion sites a new oxidizing compound is produced close to the surface and that its reduction, occurring at potentials higher than the initial OCP value, leads systematically to the ennoblement phenomenon. Surface analysis, electrochemical and chemical tests show that the oxidizing compound is not the same on both sites: on one site hydrogen peroxide is produced within the biofilm, while on the second one oxidized manganese is deposited on the surface. Thus the two mechanisms mentioned in the literature can occur on stainless steels immersed in the same water and lead to similar evolutions of the electrochemical behaviour. These two mechanisms are not specific of a type of water and seem to be complementary rather than opposed. They are both based on enzymatic processes.

Influence of Dynamic Flow Speed on Bonelike Apatite Formation in Porous Calcium Phosphate Ceramic in RSBF

A revised dynamic immersion device was designed, and the effects of flowing speed of SBF in inner pores of ceramics on the formation of apatite in the pores were investigated in this study. The results showed some crystals were overlaid on the walls of inner pores. The crystal shape changed with flow rate of RSBF. When flow rates of RSBF were 2 ml/min, some stamen-like crystals formed on the inner walls of ceramics. In the ceramics in RSBF with flow rate of 5ml/min, besides more stamen -like crystals, a thin layer of fine deposits was overlaid on the walls of inner holes and the surface of the stamen -like crystals. But when the flow rate was 8 ml/min, only a thick layer of fine deposits on the walls of inner pores could be found. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results revealed the deposits obtained in this study are carbonate hydroxyapatite (CHA).

Ultrasonic Study of Elastic Anisotropy of Material Composite

The anisotropic elastic properties of two Aluminium Matrix Composites (AMC) were characterised using an ultrasonic method. The composite materials, fabricated by squeeze casting included aluminium matrix reinforced by alumina fibre and carbon fibre, respectively. The elastic constants were determined using an optimisation method associated to a classical ultrasonic immersion device. The methodology to recover the elastic constants consists in minimising the square deviation between calculated velocities and the experimental ones, measured under variable incidence from a computer controlled ultrasonic immersion device. The method of optimisation we use in this work is based on Levenberg–Marquard algorithm allowing a better convergence to the physical solution of the inverse problem. The elastic anisotropy of the two materials is discussed and the results are compared to experimental data taken from tensile tests and to values obtained by two models: the rule of mixture and a simplified Eshelby model.

Fuzzy system method for the design of a jointed rock slope

The wetting-induced collapse of loess strata affects tunnel structures and is a key challenge in geotechnical engineering. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms that influence wetting-induced collapse/deformation of loess strata on the lining structure of a subway tunnel. First, a centrifugal field immersion unit and a monitoring system were developed based on the centrifuge working platform. The immersion device was composed of two sub-systems including a water supply system and a diffusion system. Subsequently, centrifugal model tests were performed under different wetting conditions to explore the impact of wetting-induced collapse of loess strata on the structure of the subway tunnel. The testing results showed that the non-uniform subsidence of the tunnel base induced by non-uniform wetting was the major cause of the collapse and deformation of the tunnel structure. The axial bending moment of the tunnel was found to be largest in the middle of the tunnel and decreased toward both ends. In addition, a layer of non-collapsible soil or properly treated collapsible soil with a certain thickness could effectively resist deformation induced by the subsidence of wetted loess. With an improved immersion simulation unit design and measurement device configuration, after being wetted, the pressure arch in the soil strata became weaker and gradually disappeared, resulting in a reduced range of the pressure arch on the side wall of the tunnel and complete elimination of the pressure arch effect on the top of the tunnel.

Monitoring deformation and damage on rock structures with distributed fiber optical sensing

The wetting-induced collapse of loess strata affects tunnel structures and is a key challenge in geotechnical engineering. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms that influence wetting-induced collapse/deformation of loess strata on the lining structure of a subway tunnel. First, a centrifugal field immersion unit and a monitoring system were developed based on the centrifuge working platform. The immersion device was composed of two sub-systems including a water supply system and a diffusion system. Subsequently, centrifugal model tests were performed under different wetting conditions to explore the impact of wetting-induced collapse of loess strata on the structure of the subway tunnel. The testing results showed that the non-uniform subsidence of the tunnel base induced by non-uniform wetting was the major cause of the collapse and deformation of the tunnel structure. The axial bending moment of the tunnel was found to be largest in the middle of the tunnel and decreased toward both ends. In addition, a layer of non-collapsible soil or properly treated collapsible soil with a certain thickness could effectively resist deformation induced by the subsidence of wetted loess. With an improved immersion simulation unit design and measurement device configuration, after being wetted, the pressure arch in the soil strata became weaker and gradually disappeared, resulting in a reduced range of the pressure arch on the side wall of the tunnel and complete elimination of the pressure arch effect on the top of the tunnel.