The benefit of being physically present: A survey of experimental works comparing copresent robots,telepresent robots and virtual agents

The effects of physical embodiment and physical presence were explored through a survey of 33 experimental works comparing how people interacted with physical robots and virtual agents. A qualitative assessment of the direction of quantitative effects demonstrated that robots were more persuasive and perceived more positively when physically present in a user׳s environment than when digitally-displayed on a screen either as a video feed of the same robot or as a virtual character analog; robots also led to better user performance when they were collocated as opposed to shown via video on a screen. However, participants did not respond differently to physical robots and virtual agents when both were displayed digitally on a screen – suggesting that physical presence, rather than physical embodiment, characterizes people׳s responses to social robots. Implications for understanding psychological response to physical and virtual agents and for methodological design are discussed.     

Evaluating autostereoscopic 3D baseball games using signal detection theory and receiver operating characteristic space

This study investigates the effects of display technique (2D, autostereoscopic 3D), ball speed (138, 140 km/h), and operation time (5, 10, 15 min) on the four outcomes of signal detection theory (SDT) (i.e., hit, miss, false alarm, correct rejection), β, d’, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) space, Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), and the iGroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ). The results indicated that the display technique was significant on the hit rate, SSQ, and IPQ, where a higher hit rate, visual fatigue, and IPQ were found in the 3D technique. The results also showed that the ball speed was significant on the miss rate and d’, where a low miss rate and high d’ were found in the higher speed of 138 km/h. The results further demonstrated that the operation time was significant on the false alarm rate, correct rejection rate, d’, SSQ, and IPQ, with a long operation time being associated with a better performance for every variable, except the SSQ.Relevance to industryFrom the results obtained regarding the ROC space, this study found that the possibility of participants’ misjudgements was low, and the accuracy of this research is considered reliable. The results of this study could serve as a reference for N3DS and game manufacturers in designing future products.     

The impact of a 360° virtual tour on the reduction of psychological stress caused by COVID-19

The continuous spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is causing people to feel anxiety and stress. This study constructs a four-layer research model to examine how a 360° virtual tour can reduce people's psychological stress through two types of presence (the sense of presence and telepresence) and affective-motivational states (enjoyment and involvement) in this extraordinary period of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to test the moderating effect of involvement, partial least squares (PLS) analysis is employed to analyse valid data collected from 235 individuals. The results of this study indicate that telepresence has a higher impact in generating affective-motivational states than the sense of presence. Among the factors, enjoyment shows the highest effect on satisfaction with the 360° virtual tour experience and stress reduction; involvement moderates the effect of telepresence on satisfaction with the 360° virtual tour experience. This study also contributes to virtual reality research by distinguishing the concepts of ‘sense of presence’ and ‘telepresence’ as well as demonstrating the mechanisms whereby virtual reality technology influences people's psychological well-being. Timely recommendations are provided for people in order to reduce psychological stress during and after COVID-19 pandemic.     

Playing with power: Power poses affect enjoyment,presence, controller responsiveness,and arousal when playing natural motion-controlled video games

Though playing with natural versus traditional game controllers affects game experiences, studies have not investigated how power poses affect the experience of playing natural controlled video games. Participants keeping powerful poses experienced increased enjoyment, presence, and controller responsiveness compared with those holding powerless poses. Congruent with self-perception and automatic activation models, mediation analyses uncovered direct effects of power poses and also indirect effects in which power poses increased power feelings, which in turn were associated with higher enjoyment, presence, and controller responsiveness but reduced arousal. This provides initial evidence for how physical poses affect people's experiences with natural game interfaces, and highlight basic self-perception and automatic activation mechanisms behind the effect.     

Ozonation/Post-Chlorination of Humic Acid: A Model for Predicting Drinking Water Disinfection By-Products

Experiments were performed to evaluate disinfection by-products in model humic acid solutions which were ozonated at three different ozone to carbon levels and then chlorinated. These experiments were conducted in order to help understand whether the ozone/post-chlorination process alters the amount and type of mutagenic by-products formed, from those produced by chlorination of humic acid alone. Disinfection by-products were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Samples of clarified and sand-filtered Mississippi River water at a pilotscale drinking water treatment plant in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, that were ozonated and post-disinfected with chlorine, also were analyzed by GC/MS. A comparison of the by-products in the pilot plant study versus those in our laboratory study showed that similar compounds were produced. The effect of bromide ion in the pilot plant water on by-product formation also is discussed.     

Effect of the absence of lipoxygenase isoenzymes on the storage characteristics of rice grains

Three varieties of paddy rice with and three varieties without lipoxygenase (LOX) isoenzymes were stored at room temperature, in dark conditions for 42 months. Insect damage and viability were investigated during that time. Varieties without LOX-1,2 and their offspring were screened with a rapid method of estimating LOX isoenzymes, and subjected to an accelerated-ageing experiment. The results indicated that in varieties without LOX-1,2, after long storage, rice quality was normal, but for varieties with LOX-1,2, rice quality deteriorated. With increase of storage time, the germination rate of the seed of most varieties decreased greatly except for varieties without LOX-1,2 where there was almost no change in the germination rate. In varieties without LOX-1,2 and their offspring, after an accelerated ageing experiment the germination rate of some varieties changed slowly, but with others, the germination rate changed quickly. This indicated that a definitive factor, which influenced the life of seeds, may be the loss of LOX-1,2. During storage, there was also a significant difference in the degree of insect damage. In varieties without LOX-3 insect damage was lower, but in varieties with LOX-3 insect damage was higher. Therefore, the absence of LOX-3 may be very important in insect resistance in rice grain.     

基于SIP/SIMPLE协议实现在席服务

本文提出了如何利用SIMPLE／SIP协议实现未来的在席和即时消息服务，通过分析SIP技术的优势和SIMPLE实现的机理，提出了较为健壮、安全、灵活的在席服务程序模型。     

A Wireless Instructor System for Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Requiring Immersive Presence (CSCLIP)

The Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Requiring Immersive Presence (CSCLIP) concept has been established with the objective of extending and enhancing thee-learning experience of distance education, especially for classes that involve laboratory (lab) experiments. The CSCLIP concept defines immersive presence as an inherent requirement that enables cognitive, affective, and most importantly psychomotor learning objectives to integrate into designs and concepts for next generation e-learning systems (Sharda et~al., 2003). Within the CSCLIP architectural framework, the Wireless Instructor (WI) system has been conceptualized and developed as an essential device to effectively support teaching while roaming instructional features for both local and distance students. The WI system provides cost effective means to establish a real-time immersive presence for the distance learning (DL) student and his/her lab group peers. The technical design and system architecture to create a WI system are introduced in this paper. The objective of the WI system is to make the learning experience more vivid and interactive by enabling the DL students, as well as the local students that are not in the same room with the instructor(s) at the same time, to be able to flexibly interact with the instructor(s) in real-time. With this system the students can experience real-time or non-real-time virtual tours with the instructor(s), enabling the students to visit places that may not be easily accessible due to distance, limited space and/or time, cost, or possible danger. The WI system consists of two major sub-components. First is a wireless audio and video (AV) system, which transfers real-time AV signals to and from the instructor(s) to all students. Second is the wireless instructor locator & data assistant system. These two systems can be combined into one WI unit, but as the applied development technologies are somewhat distinct, their features and architectural designs will be described separately throughout this paper. Integration of the two systems will enable further capabilities.This revised version was published online in March 2005 with corrections to the cover dateThis project was funded by the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) award no. P116Z020042 project titled Telecommunications Virtual Laboratory Development.     

状态服务在SIP协议中的应用研究

会话初始协议(SIP)是IETF提出的IP网络多媒体通信控制协议,具有简单灵活、易于同因特网集成等诸多优点,是目前VoIP技术中被广泛接受的两种信令控制协议之一,应用前景广阔。在简述SIP协议特征与其即时消息和状态信息扩展功能的基础上,提出一种通过请求/应答方式实现状态服务的方法。     

Is cheating a human function? The roles of presence,state hostility,and enjoyment in an unfair video game

In sports and board games, when an opponent cheats, the other players typically greet it with disdain, anger, and disengagement. However, work has yet to fully address the role of the computer cheating in video games. In this study, participants played either a cheating or a non-cheating version of a modified open-source tower-defense game. Results indicate that when a computer competitor cheats, players perceive the opponent as being more human. Cheating also increases player aggravation and presence, but does not affect enjoyment of the experience. Additionally, players that firmly believed that their opponent was controlled by the computer exhibited significantly less state hostility compared to players that were less certain of the nature of their competitor. Game designers can integrate subtle levels of cheating into computer opponents without any real negative responses from the players. The results indicate that minor levels of cheating might also increase player engagement with video games.