Immersive Whiteboard Collaborative System

An immersive whiteboard system is presented where users at multiple locations can communicate with each other. The system features a virtual environment with vivid avatars, stroke compression and streaming technology to effectively deliver stroke data across meeting participants, friendly human interaction and navigation, virtual and physical whiteboard. The whiteboard is both a physical platform for our input/output interfaces and a virtual screen for sharing common multimedia. It is this whiteboard correspondence that allows the user to physically write on the virtual whiteboard. In addition to drawing on the shared virtual board, the immersive whiteboard in our setup permits users to control the application menus, insert multimedia objects into the world, and navigate around the virtual environment. By integrating multimedia objects and avatar representations into an immersive environment, we provide the users with a more transparent medium so that they feel as if they are communicating and interacting face-to-face. The whiteboard efficiently pulls all the collaboration technologies together. The goal of this collaborative system is to provide a convenient environment for participants to interact with each other and support collaborative applications such as instant messaging, distance learning and conferencing.     

虚拟教室中的共享电子白板的设计和实现

电子白板是虚拟教室中的一个重要工具。该文介绍了基于JAVA语言设计的一个电子白板系统,并对电子白板的设计与实现过程当中的各种关键技术进行了讨论。     

虚拟教室中的共享电子白板的设计和实现

电子白板是虚拟教室中的一个重要工具。该文介绍了基于JAVA语言设计的一个电子白板系统,并对电子白板的设计与实现过程当中的各种关键技术进行了讨论。     

基于Internet的多用户共享虚拟环境框架的研究

多用户共享虚拟环境是指网络化的协同虚拟现实系统，在该环境中多个用户之间通过各自的三维图形表示实现在虚拟环境中的多人感知，用户之间的交互以及对虚拟对象的协同操纵，在综合分析现有系统以及Internet的开放性标准化需求基础上，提出了一种基于Internet的多用户共享虚拟环境解决方案，即多用户共享虚拟环境框架（multi-user shared virtual envitonment framework,MSVEF)，该框架描述了多用户虚拟环境的体系结构，定义了基于XML的相关交互协议，通过在原型系统中的初步应用，证明该框架可以支持不同网络平台的用户在同一个虚拟场景中的再现与交互。     

A transatlantic research and development environment [3D virtualgraphics]

Distributed 3D virtual environments can help researchers conduct experiments globally with remotely located participants. We discuss challenges and opportunities for the shared work environment. Our world is entering an age where our current understanding of telecommunications and graphics computing is constantly challenged. With the availability of global information highways, 3D graphical intercontinental collaboration will become a part of our daily work routine. Already, world class auto makers are attempting to reduce car development time to two-year cycles, enlisting global engineering teams. However, this process requires new tools such as shared 3D CAD and distributed product data management systems. The Fraunhofer Center for Research in Computer Graphics (CRCG) in the United States and the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics (IGD) in Germany, are looking ahead into this new age by establishing a transcontinental computer graphics research effort and a proposed G-7 testbed. We are studying how 3D computer graphics and virtual environments can aid global collaborative work. We have focused our research efforts on determining how computer networks can transform the distributed workplace into a shared environment, allowing real time interaction among people and processes without regard to their location     

Influence of contextual objects on spatial interactions and viewpoints sharing in virtual environments

Collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) are 3D spaces in which users share virtual objects, communicate, and work together. To collaborate efficiently, users must develop a common representation of their shared virtual space. In this work, we investigated spatial communication in virtual environments. In order to perform an object co-manipulation task, the users must be able to communicate and exchange spatial information, such as object position, in a virtual environment. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the contents of the shared virtual space to understand how users verbally construct a common spatial representation of their environment. Forty-four students participated in the experiment to assess the influence of contextual objects on spatial communication and sharing of viewpoints. The participants were asked to perform in dyads an object co-manipulation task. The results show that the presence of a contextual object such as fixed and lateralized visual landmarks in the virtual environment positively influences the way male operators collaborate to perform this task. These results allow us to provide some design recommendations for CVEs for object manipulation tasks.     

A multiuser 3D Web browsing system

The Virtual Realty Modeling Language sets an open-standard file format for designing 3D multimedia and shared virtual worlds on the Internet. VRML was originally designed to support the interaction of multiple participants in the World Wide Web environment, that is, to network virtual worlds via hyperlinks. The development of VRML has spurred broad research on distributed multiuser VR systems. We describe SharedWeb, a 3D Web browsing system that was designed and implemented to support interaction among clients in the existing Web environment. We begin by describing the methodologies and mechanisms used to achieve seamless integration with the Web environment, then we summarize the SharedWeb system implementation. We present some experimental results that show the effects of different frame rates and threshold values on system performance, and conclude with discussions of two virtual worlds currently supported by the system     

Approximate resolution of asynchronous conflicts among sequential collaborations in dynamic virtual environments

Asynchronous collaboration for a networked virtual environment (NVE) has emerged as a promising area in collaborative computer‐aided design applications. The concept of asynchronous collaboration is a sequential collaboration of temporal processes in an NVE where the participants are not required to be present at the time of the collaboration. Conflicts in asynchronous collaboration occur because the preceding task of a participant can influence the output of the ensuing task of another participant. The conflicted tasks must be modified manually. However, it requires considerable time and effort to resolve conflicts in a sequential collaboration. In this paper, we present an asynchronous collaborative framework that converts the conflict states of the shared objects into approximately resolved states. We develop a novel approximate resolution algorithm using a task‐based modeling mechanism to resolve the asynchronous conflicts with their corresponding tasks. Moreover, we propose a visual relation editor for convenient management. The participants can set flexible relations among shared objects using the proposed visual editor. The proposed approximate resolution approach can significantly reduce the average resolution time and the number of required manual task resolutions in a virtual environment compared to a manual resolution approach. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Virtual team collaboration: building shared meaning, resolving breakdowns and creating translucence

Managing international teams with geographically distributed participants is a complex task. The risk of communication breakdowns increases due to cultural and organizational differences grounded in the geographical distribution of the participants. Such breakdowns indicate general misunderstandings and a lack of shared meaning between participants. In this paper, we address the complexity of building shared meaning. We examine the communication breakdowns that occurred in two globally distributed virtual teams by providing an analytical distinction of the organizational context as the foundation for building shared meaning at three levels. Also we investigate communication breakdowns that can be attributed to differences in lifeworld structures, organizational structures, and work process structures within a virtual team. We find that all communication breakdowns are manifested and experienced by the participants at the work process level; however, resolving breakdowns may require critical reflection at other levels. Where previous research argues that face-to-face interaction is an important variable for virtual team performance, our empirical observations reveal that communication breakdowns related to a lack of shared meaning at the lifeworld level often becomes more salient when the participants are co-located than when geographically distributed. Last, we argue that creating translucence in communication structures is essential for building shared meanings at all three levels.     

A real-time interactive nonverbal communication system through semantic feature extraction as an interlingua

There has been a growing interest in the use of networked virtual environment (NVE) technology to implement telepresence that allows participants to interact with each other in shared cyberspace. In addition, nonverbal language has attracted increased attention because of its association with more natural human communication, and especially sign languages play an important role for the hearing impaired. This paper proposes a novel real-time nonverbal communication system by introducing an artificial intelligence method into the NVE. We extract semantic information as an interlingua from the input text through natural language processing, and then transmit this semantic feature extraction (SFE) to the three-dimensional (3-D) articulated humanoid models prepared for each client in remote locations. Once the SFE is received, the virtual human is animated by the synthesized SFE. Experiments with Japanese and Chinese sign languages show this system makes the real-time animation of avatars available for the participants when chatting with each other. The communication is more natural since it is not just based on text or predefined gesture icons. This proposed system is suitable for sign language distance training as well.     

Sharing attractions on the Net with VPark

We present a networked virtual environment (NVE) system and an attraction building system based on Windows NT that enables users to introduce their own scenario-based applications into a shared virtual environment. Our goal was to develop and integrate several modules into a system capable of animating realistic virtual humans in a real-time performance. This includes modeling and representing virtual humans with high realism and simulating human face and body movements in real time. Realism becomes quite important in NVEs, where the communication among participants is crucial for their sense of presence     

一个基于Java3D的协同虚拟环境工作平台

协同虚拟环境为多用户构造一个可以沉浸其中漫游的虚拟空间,并支持用户之间的协同活动。在军事模拟、远程教育、娱乐等领域有广泛的应用。Java3D是一种高层3D API,可用于快速构建虚拟现实系统。尝试用Java3D技术构造一个协同虚拟环境工作平台原型系统,重点介绍了开发中的技术问题, 讨论了场景建模、消息通信、人机交互、化身控制、白板管理和视频显示等主要功能,并给出了一些具有较高参考价值的代码。     

Comparing effects of 2-D and 3-D visual cues during aurally aided target acquisition

The aim of the present study was to investigate interactions between vision and audition during a visual target acquisition task performed in a virtual environment. In two experiments, participants were required to perform an acquisition task guided by auditory and/or visual cues. In both experiments the auditory cues were constructed using virtual 3-D sound techniques based on nonindividualized head-related transfer functions. In Experiment 1 the visual cue was constructed in the form of a continuously updated 2-D arrow. In Experiment 2 the visual cue was a nonstereoscopic, perspective-based 3-D arrow. The results suggested that virtual spatial auditory cues reduced acquisition time but were not as effective as the virtual visual cues. Experiencing the 3-D perspective-based arrow rather than the 2-D arrow produced a faster acquisition time not only in the visually aided conditions but also when the auditory cues were presented in isolation. Suggested novel applications include providing 3-D nonstereoscopic, perspective-based visual information on radar displays, which may lead to a better integration with spatial virtual auditory information.     

A domain-oriented end-user design environment for generating interactive 3D virtual chemistry experiments

Three-dimensional virtual worlds are potentially feasible for building virtual educational environments. However, educators face technical challenges to apply these technologies because creating virtual educational environments based on virtual worlds demands 3D modeling and programming skills. This paper proposes a method to lower the technical barriers through domain-oriented interfaces with languages and environments that are familiar to educators. A domain-oriented end-user design environment, iVirtualWorld, is designed and developed to implement the proposed method in a specific educational domain, namely introductory chemistry experiments. This web-based environment provides end-users with domain-oriented building blocks, which can be assembled to create 3D virtual chemistry experiments. A usability evaluation and a comparative case study are designed to evaluate the system among chemistry educators, who are the target audience. The usability evaluation contains a task requiring participants to create a 3D virtual chemistry experiment and a voluntary semi-structured interview. The case study compares a virtual experiment generated using iVirtualWorld with an experiment in a commercial virtual chemistry laboratory system. The results show that 1) the domain-oriented end-user design environment enables participants to generate the 3D virtual chemistry experiment within 30 min; 2) participants gain confidence on creating 3D virtual experiments by themselves using iVirtualWorld; 3) participants confirm the usefulness of applying the system in introductory chemistry education; and 4) iVirtualWorld is considered more intuitive and straightforward for students to focus on finishing the experiment without being distracted than the commercial virtual chemistry laboratory system. Areas that can benefit from the system most and areas where the system is less effective are identified by participants. The responses also reveal the limitations of the current system and suggest directions for future improvement.     

多媒体会议系统共享白板工具的设计与实现

本文从分析共享白板的功能入手,探讨了共享白板涉及的关键技术,如何可靠传输、发言权控制和远程指针技术。在此基础上,论述了义了共享白板的主要数据结构和信息分组格式,最后给出了共享白板工具ＳＷＢ的主要实现。     

Virtual world teaching,experiential learning,and assessment: An interdisciplinary communication course in Second Life

While many reports espouse the potential impact that 3-D virtual worlds are expected to have on teaching and learning in higher education in a few years, there are few empirical studies that inform instructional design and learning assessment in virtual worlds. This study explores the nature and process of learning in Second Life in a graduate interdisciplinary communication course in fall 2007. Literature suggests that 3-D virtual worlds can be well suited for experiential learning environments. In this study, the actual instructional effectiveness of Second Life as an experiential learning environment for interdisciplinary communication is empirically examined using mixed research methods of journal content analysis, surveys, focus group, and virtual world snapshots and video.     

Distributed virtual reality: supporting remote collaboration invehicle design

Gathering a group of remotely located engineers to design a vehicle can be difficult, especially if they live in different countries. To overcome this obstacle, we-a team at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in the US in partnership with Germany's National Research Center for Information Technology (GMD) developed a collaborative virtual prototyping system for Caterpillar. The Virtual Prototyping System (VPS) will let engineers in Belgium and the US work together on vehicle designs using distributed virtual reality. The system supports collaborative design review and interactive redesign. Integrated real-time video transmissions let engineers see other participants in a shared virtual environment at each remote site's viewpoint position and orientation. Any number of remotely located sites may join in the shared VE, communicating via multicast. The system has been tested with three sites at NCSA     

Sharing VLNET worlds on the Web

Virtual environments define a new interface for networked multimedia applications. The sense of “presence” in the virtual environment is an important requirement for collaborative activities involving multiple remote users working with social interactions. Using virtual actors within the shared environment is a supporting tool for presence. In this paper, we present a shared virtual life network with virtual humans that provides a natural interface for collaborative working and we describe the bridge we realized between this 3D shared world and the Web through a system of 3D snapshots.