3D Immersive Environment Research Articles

Imagining technology-enhanced learning with heritage artefacts: teacher-perceived potential of 2D and 3D heritage site visualisations

Background: There is much to be realised in the educational potential of national and world heritage sites. Such sites need to be supported in sharing their resources with a wide and international public, especially within formal education. Two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) heritage site visualisations could serve this need. Our study focuses on the teacher-perceived possibilities and benefits for education around such visualisations.Purpose: We describe how a group of UK teachers perceive the potential of cross-curricular learning that could arise from an Italian world heritage site. The teachers commented on 2D visualisations of artefacts from this site, as well as the design of a 3D immersive environment to serve educational purposes. We consider as follows: (1) how the cross-curricular teaching potential of such resources is perceived, and (2) what design features of a 3D immersive environment teachers suggest are needed for educational explorations.Sample: We recruited 10 teachers from the Midlands region of the UK and carried out semi-structured interviews.Methods: Interviews were transcribed and a thematic analysis applied to the conversations. Questioning was grounded in the examination of 2D and 3D visual resources. This provoked cross-curricular and educational design thinking.Results: Teacher responses highlighted a wide range of cross-curricular possibilities. However, they expressed a more ‘assimilative’ than ‘accommodative’ approach when relating resources to the curriculum. Such ‘assimilation’ involved seeing the site artefacts as raw material for more instrumental ‘curriculum activities’ (e.g. within art and design, geography, maths or literacy) rather than a more accommodative approach whereby curricular disciplines were exercised to make new meaning from the artefacts. In relation to 3D technology design, most teachers highlighted three technology features that would render it well matched to educational practice and three educational benefits over non-3D immersive environments.Conclusions: Teachers can easily imagine a rich range of opportunities to utilise 2D and 3D heritage site artefacts within the curriculum. However, the largely assimilative nature of this cross-curricular appropriation suggests the value of providing more guidance and support to teachers in the interpretation and application of artefacts. Their design suggestions can usefully inform construction of educational features within 3D immersive technologies that support heritage site experiences.

Authoring, deploying, and managing dynamic Virtual Patients in Virtual Clinical Environments

Abstract Following their introduction at the beginning of the 21st century, interactive or dynamic Virtual Patients are beginning to be used more widely in clinical education. They can be seen as being at the end of a continuum of simulation technical complexity, having been earlier developed on a wide range of “media”: human actors, paper, video, physical mannequins, etc. This paper focuses on the current emergent more complex Virtual Patients in three-dimensional (3D) immersive clinical environments. In these environments, in silico 3D patient avatars interact directly in response to virtual clinical interventions undertaken by avatars, each of which is controlled by one or more users. The paper explores the issues of authoring, deploying, and managing these real-time, dynamic Virtual Patients using as an example the immersive clinical environment CliniSpace. As clinician-accessible Virtual Patient authoring is now becoming available in immersive clinical environments, so these wider clinical and managerial non-technical issues are coming rapidly to the fore.

3D immersive environment as a psychological training tool to enhance self-confidence and reduce competitive anxiety for Malaysian volleyball athletes

<p>Currently, great emphasis is placed on the development and intervention of psychology in sports in order to address the problem of athletes’ failure to achieve peak performance in actual competitions. This problem is primarily due to internal factors, such as anxieties, as well as external factors, such as the high pressure of the competitive environments athletes encounter. In this study, the cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self confidence levels amongst elite and sub-elite Malaysian volleyball players are defined (male sample n = 50; female sample n = 35; age range between 17 to 25 years). These parameters were measured using the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2), in which the questionnaires were completed by all respondents 30 minutes prior to the start of a competition. The findings indicated that there was a significant difference (p < 0.005) in cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self-confidence among elite and sub-elite Malaysian (male and female) volleyball athletes. According to the findings, the competitive anxiety levels of the sub-elite athletes were higher than the elite, mainly due to the inability of the sub-elite athletes to control their emotions using psychological skills. In order to minimize this problem, a novel approach that involves using virtual reality to reduce the athletes’ competitive anxiety was proposed. This approach utilizes a 3D immersive environment that was developed based on the challenging real-world situations encountered during a volleyball match. The design and development of this approach is predicted to enhance athletes’ psychological skills, and in turn ensure that they can achieve peak performance under high pressure conditions.</p>

3D Immersive Environment as A Psychological Training Tool to Enhance Self-Confidence and Reduce Competitive Anxiety For Malaysian Volleyball Athletes

3D Immersive Environment as A Psychological Training Tool to Enhance Self-Confidence and Reduce Competitive Anxiety For Malaysian Volleyball Athletes

Qualitative analysis of user experience in a 3D virtual environment

ABSTRACTThis paper describes elements of user experience of a collaborative 3D immersive virtual information management environment. We detail those elements that are seen to both improve and deteriorate user experience, and provide design guidance for researchers and designers. We designed the 3D virtual environment in the Virtual Collaboration Arena (VirCA) collaborative space specifically to study the collaborative information retrieval and management behaviors of users. We conducted 117 interviews and then analyzed the data using a qualitative content analysis to identify the main elements of user experience. While participants generally reacted positively to the environment, they also mentioned a few distracting usability problems. Applying the results in the further development of VirCA can create a higher level of user experience and more effective collaboration.

Collaboration Through Simulation

Background It has been suggested in the literature that virtual worlds can be an environment in which informal learning by participants can succeed through communication and collaboration, and that it would be valuable to investigate the extent to which the processes and principles underpinning this informal learning can be transferred to a formal learning context. The literature shows, however, a wide evidence gap. Aim This article reports on the initial findings from empirical research currently in progress using a specific immersive online 3D environment, UNITE, to enhance collaboration and communication among tertiary students and which is guided by constructivist learning principles. Method UNITE was constructed using Open Wonderland, an open source toolkit for creating 3D virtual worlds. Within the context of a particular set of constructivist principles, discussed in this article, which guided the development of UNITE, a more active approach to learning was adopted by the students, as compared with more passive traditional teaching methods. Following their use of UNITE, focus group discussion with participants was analyzed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) framework. Results Thematic analysis using IPA resulted in the identification of 11 themes: Technical Limitations and Problems, Importance of Avatar Representation, Use of Virtual Worlds in Formal Education, Communication and Collaboration, Building Confidence, Importance of Voice Communication, Participant Interest, Previous Exposure to Virtual Worlds, Participant Apprehension, Desired Improvements, and Absence of Non-Verbal Communication. All participants regarded their experience of using UNITE as a positive one. Focus group participants expressed a unanimous view that the use of virtual worlds within tertiary education is of educational benefit and should be more widely used to complement traditional teaching methods. Conclusion In using UNITE, students were cognitively engaged, learning was hands-on, and the social component of learners interacting and supporting each other was emphasized in undertaking the learning activities. Results from this pilot study have provided an interesting insight into the potential of using 3D learning spaces for enhancing communication, collaboration, and teamwork. A more substantial and detailed implementation is now being planned across the tertiary education sector. This will involve students from a number of institutions, educational levels, and cognate areas.

SciEthics Interactive: science and ethics learning in a virtual environment

Learning in immersive 3D environments allows students to collaborate, build, and interact with difficult course concepts. This case study examines the design and development of the TransGen Island within the SciEthics Interactive project, a National Science Foundation-funded, 3D virtual world emphasizing learning science content in the context of ethical dilemmas. The 2 year development process is examined through the lens of the rapid prototyping instructional design model, following the project from conceptualization to implementation of a 3D simulation. Through expert interviews, focus groups, and working groups, we were able to determine critical scientific and ethical issues to present to learners in the virtual world. We collected data on 53 students using the simulation at universities in the United States and South Africa and evaluated their experience using qualitative and quantitative methods. Results showed that student participants were engaged and motivated by the simulation. The students reported an increase in science knowledge and ethical understanding, but individual experiences varied.

The development of an interactive virtual environment for Hisham Palace in Jericho, Palestine

This study aims to introduce Virtual Reality (VR) techniques as a tool to develop an interactive environment for cultural heritage sites in Palestine; these sites have their own specific problems and challenges, which have significantly affected most of the existing sites and cause their continuous deterioration. The virtual replicas of these sites and landscapes can act as a medium for their preservation, documentation, interpretation and intervention, assisting in education, tourism and an increase in public awareness regarding their significant value. For this purpose, Hisham Palace in Jericho was chosen as a case study. The historical layers of Hisham Palace were studied and visualized using advanced 3D visualization techniques by applying a five-step approach to analyze and model different elements of the palace to assemble them at a later stage. This approach was implemented due to the critical condition of the physical remains and the insufficient literature on the history of the palace. As a result, a initial 3D virtual reality model was obtained, presented and discussed in a 3D immersive environment at the Virtual Reality Lab (VR Lab) at Birzeit University.

Factors Affecting Development of Communities in 3D Immersive Learning Environments

This study is based on survey research conducted in 2010 and 2011, involving graduate students using a 3D immersive environment for their coursework. Investigators examined students’ perceptions of community and presence via coursework offered in the immersive world. Utilizing the Sense of Community II index and the Communities of Inquiry survey, variables examined include students’ time within their graduate programs, time spent in the 3D environment, and their levels of immersion, as well as the relationship between the two instruments. Analysis showed significant results for each of the research questions for both instruments.

Mining interactions in immersive learning environments for real-time student feedback

<p>The analysis and use of data generated by students’ interactions with learning systems or programs – learning analytics – has recently gained widespread attention in the educational technology community. Part of the reason for this interest is based on the potential of learning analytic techniques such as data mining to find hidden patterns in students’ online interactions that can be meaningfully interpreted and then fed back to students in a way that supports their learning. In this paper we present an investigation of how the digital data records of students’ interactions within an immersive 3D environment can be mined, modeled and analysed, to provide real-time formative feedback to students as they complete simulated surgical tasks. The issues that emerged in this investigation as well as areas for further research and development are discussed.</p>

Advancing the Playing Field. A look at how virtual reality can change the future of anatomy teaching learning process

Play combines all three aspects of learning: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Visual learners have a preference for seeing. Auditory learners’ best learn through listening. kinesthetic learners prefer to learn via experience—moving, touching, and doing. Through play, children learn a set of skills such as social skills, creativity, handto‐eye coordination, problem solving, and imagination. It is argued that these skills are better learned through play rather than through flashcards or academic drills. An element of “play” is an essential condition for perennial learning to occur in all individuals. So why should we leave this tool behind while learning medicine? Commonly, lectures are designed to favor one or maybe two types of learning styles, usually leaving gaps within medical education. Play is more than simply having a good time; it is about working out rules, understanding constraints, being absorbed by novelty, using imagination and innovating. It is also about extending, modifying and augmenting learning activities. This project brings an overt element of play to the representation of fundamental anatomical concepts and thus engages students more strongly in the learning process. The “Microsoft Kinect™ gesture recognition device” enables users to simultaneously stimulate all three learning styles at once leading to the most profound learning experience. With the Kinect you experience an immersive 3D environment, with auditory commands coupled with kinesthetic control. Theoretically providing a learning machine that can be utilized in labs, tutorials, lectures, and even at home. This project brings the element of play to the representation of fundamental anatomical concepts, and thus engages students more strongly in the learning process.

The experiences of learning in a 3D immersive learning environment

The experiences of learning in a 3D immersive learning environment

Tobacco craving and eyeblink startle modulation using 3D immersive environments: A pilot study.

Both the cue reactivity and startle reflex modulation paradigms have been used in addiction research to investigate the motivational mechanism of craving. However, while there is a growing body of literature that indicates the utility of 3D technology in addiction-relevant cue reactivity research, no study has been reported on its utility using the startle reflex modulation paradigm. The aim of the present study was to extend the 3D technology to research on tobacco craving using the startle reflex methodology. Participants were 32 university students who smoked more than 10 cigarettes daily. They participated in a psychophysiological testing to assess the modulation of the startle reflex induced by viewing pleasant, unpleasant, and tobacco-related 3D immersive environment stimuli (3D-IEs). Results confirmed that 3D-IEs were effective in inducing emotional states to modulate the startle response. Pleasant and unpleasant 3D-IEs modulated the startle response, as expected: The reflex was increased while viewing unpleasant stimuli and decreased while viewing pleasant ones. Tobacco-related 3D-IEs were similar to unpleasant stimuli in increasing the startle response. However, they were subjectively evaluated as positive, which suggests that the mechanism underlying craving coactivates both aversive and appetitive motivational tendencies.

Iterative design of a collaborative 3D virtual information management environment

AbstractThe goal of this paper is to describe the design of a collaborative 3D immersive virtual information management environment. This environment was developed in order to study collaborative information retrieval behavior by users. In the first phase of research we designed and developed this environment in the Virtual Collaboration Arena (VirCA) collaborative space.

Increasing Precision for Extended Reach 3D Manipulation

Object selection and manipulation in 3D immersive environments generally suffers from a lack of precision, primarily due to hand instability and tracking noise. Typically the lack of precision is exacerbated as the user begins to use techniques that allow distant interaction, such as Ray Casting, HOMER, and Go-Go. This problem can be addressed using velocity-based hand scaling such as PRISM, which has been applied to Ray Casting and HOMER previously. We present a study of the combination of Go-Go and PRISM. In our research, we have found that Go-Go + PRISM yields a nearly 2:1 improvement in precision over traditional Go-Go interaction when attempting to align two objects at a distance under time constraints

New immersive worlds for educators and librarians: beyond Second Life

PurposeSecond Life has provided educators and librarians with a place to experiment with a 3D immersive environment. Avatars represent the user and users can interact real‐time in text chat and/or voice. Users can create environments that persist over time. Second Life has attracted users from around the world, providing wonderful opportunities to collaborate. However, Second Life is not the only virtual world used for educational purposes. The purpose of this paper is to examine some options.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examine other online virtual worlds which educators and librarians can use in addition to Second Life.FindingsIt is found that there are many other virtual worlds which educators and librarians can explore.Originality/valueThis paper is useful to anyone looking for alternatives to using the virtual world Second Life.

Virtual Acropolis. Digital recreation of a Sicilian Archaic sanctuary

<p>This paper deals with a project of virtual reconstruction of an entire archaeological site, the Sicilian Archaic sanctuary on the acropolis of Polizzello Mountain. This research program, called ’Virtual Acropolis’ has been developed in order to allow the experience of visiting an interactive and immersive 3D environments reconstructed in all and set in a realistic landscape. A visit that in the reality is currently impossible due to the still ongoing restoration works. For improving the archaeologist’s hypotheses about rituals and performances that were carried out in the sanctuary, all votive objects and offerings were digitally recreated and located in their original position and an avatar of a worshipper was implemented within the interactive model in order to directly experience, thanks to the archaeological and literary sources collected, how was one ordinary day in an Archaic sanctuary. Furthermore, the application of this technique represents the more recent frontier in the policies aimed to promotion of cultural and archaeological heritage.</p>

SkinExplorerTM: a new high‐tech platform to interact inside the skin by immersive virtual 3D cutaneous environment

The confocal laser scanning microscope allows performing acquisition of several histological sections with precise visual morphological landmarks and their reconstruction. A powerful and modern confocal microscope enables to quickly reconstruct virtual 3D models. The main goal was to develop a new platform to reconstruct complex mosaic serial data, interact with it in an immersive 3D environment, and give to the observers a feeling of 'presence' inside the skin. We have developed novel methods that transform the data into alternative representation, well-suited to explore cutaneous structures in detail and to observe fields of data from different points of view. This new way of data reconstruction in volume requires optimization of intensities, automatic matching algorithms and depth alignment. The new platform - SkinExplorer evolves as a 3D exploration prototype. This technology provides an immersive virtual environment to explore cutaneous microstructures. Several serial histological sections can be matched by stacks, aligned in depth by sections and merged together to be visualized as a whole. All these time-consuming steps have been dramatically speed-up using rapid image processing. The advantages of using virtual reality technologies such as the ones used in the SkinExplorer platform are automatic matching, precise alignment, better data perception, lower memory requirement, and higher quantity of simultaneously displayed data. This platform can render volumetric data and isosurfaces, separately or both at the same time. Lighting and depth perception are enhanced using 'Sphere Mapping', 'Ambient Occlusion', and 'Halo' methods when displaying iso-surfacic volume models with high complexity depth. The assets of the platform are to interpret complex three-dimensional data, to observe and explore 3D virtual models, and to show effects of cosmetic treatments.

Understanding Immersivity: Image Generation and Transformation Processes in 3D Immersive Environments

Most research on three-dimensional (3D) visual-spatial processing has been conducted using traditional non-immersive 2D displays. Here we investigated how individuals generate and transform mental images within 3D immersive (3DI) virtual environments, in which the viewers perceive themselves as being surrounded by a 3D world. In Experiment 1, we compared participants’ performance on the Shepard and Metzler (1971) mental rotation (MR) task across the following three types of visual presentation environments; traditional 2D non-immersive (2DNI), 3D non-immersive (3DNI – anaglyphic glasses), and 3DI (head mounted display with position and head orientation tracking). In Experiment 2, we examined how the use of different backgrounds affected MR processes within the 3DI environment. In Experiment 3, we compared electroencephalogram data recorded while participants were mentally rotating visual-spatial images presented in 3DI vs. 2DNI environments. Overall, the findings of the three experiments suggest that visual-spatial processing is different in immersive and non-immersive environments, and that immersive environments may require different image encoding and transformation strategies than the two other non-immersive environments. Specifically, in a non-immersive environment, participants may utilize a scene-based frame of reference and allocentric encoding whereas immersive environments may encourage the use of a viewer-centered frame of reference and egocentric encoding. These findings also suggest that MR performed in laboratory conditions using a traditional 2D computer screen may not reflect spatial processing as it would occur in the real world.

Navigating in 3D Immersive Environments: a VirCa usability study

Abstract Navigation in 3D environment encounters more challenges than in 2D case. While there exist well established framework, tested solutions for 2D environment these solution usually fail in 3D. In the recent years immersive 3D environments are becoming more common in research and also in education. This tool helps to visualize information simpler and more understandable way as any other solution. For human beings the feeling of depth is a unique feature and this is the most appropriate way to take advantage out of it. The goal of this study is to investigate the problem of navigation in 3D immersive environment and propose solution to it with carrying out usability study in a software solution called VirCa (Virtual Collaboration Arena). Total 6 Master level students have participated in the test. They have carried out simple navigation and manipulation tasks in the immersive environment and had to fill in different questionnaires. Methodology and results are also presented in the paper.