Responsibly strategizing with the metaverse: Business implications and DEI opportunities and challenges

This viewpoint article aims to lay out the foundations for IS research on the strategic implications as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) opportunities and challenges of the metaverse – a sociotechnical system providing users with an immersive, synchronous 3D experience of (virtual) reality through interoperable platforms and sensor devices. We first examine the metaverse’s technologies and its underlying business models, which hold immense strategic implications for organizations and industries, and might require rethinking the future of work. As with most emerging technologies able to generate, collect, and process user data, the metaverse comes at a price; leveraging the metaverse strategically will require ethical and DEI considerations. After examining all these aspects of the metaverse, we reflect on ways IS scholarship engaged in strategizing can advance theoretical and practical knowledge by generating novel research questions and outlining a research agenda. Our contribution is twofold: first, we analyze the metaverse using a sociotechnical lens, thereby setting the ground for future studies of the phenomenon. Second, we identify specific strategic implications as well as DEI opportunities and challenges associated with the metaverse, and discuss how scholarship versed in IS strategizing can contribute to addressing them, both theoretically and empirically.     

虚拟现实全景流体绘画系统的可用性研究

虚拟现实环境给三维空间场景应用带来更强的真实感和身临其境的体验。在虚拟现实场景中经 常需要使用 360全景图像生成沉浸式环境背景,其中全景流体动力学绘画系统提供了一个新的全景图绘制方 法。在调研虚拟现实技术在流体绘画领域应用的适用性测试中,本文综合运用用户测试法、操作日志分析法、 事后问卷调查法和访谈法,对基于虚拟现实的全景式流体绘画创作系统进行可用性评估,并创意性地使用可视 化方法辅助日志分析。所有的受试者均认为系统的可用性不低于一般水平,利用该系统完成流体绘画的创作工 作不需要受试者具有专业绘画经验。受试者对系统的功能效果持积极肯定的意见,并期待尝试用其他交互形式 代替手柄类交互方式以促进艺术创作的表达。其研究方法和结果将为同类系统的开发和评估提供参考。     

Effects of frame rate on vection and postural sway

The quality of stereoscopic 3D cinematic content is a major determinant for user experience in immersive cinema in both traditional theatres and cinematic virtual reality. One of the most important parameters is the frame rate of the content which has historically been 24 frames per second for movies, but higher frame rates are being considered for cinema and are standard for virtual reality. A typical behavioural response to immersive stereoscopic 3D content is vection, the visually-induced perception of self-motion elicited by moving scenes. In this work we investigated how participants’ vection varied with simulated virtual camera speed, frame rate, and motion blur produced by the virtual camera’s exposure, while viewing depictions of movement through a realistic virtual environment. We also investigated how their postural sway varied with these parameters and how sway covaried with levels of perceived self-motion. Results show that while average perceived vection significantly increased with 3D content frame rate and motion speed, motion blur had no significant effect on perceived vection. We also found that levels of postural sway induced by vection correlated positively with subjective ratings.     

虚拟现实前沿技术在青少年科普教育中的创新与实践

近年来随着计算机图形技术的发展,越来越多的虚拟现实技术被运用到科普领域,其技术核心就是使用计算机模拟虚拟的情景并通过VR设备来体验。其中效果最好、沉浸性最强的设备非VR头戴式头盔莫属。但是在青少年科普活动中,特别是6-12年龄段的青少年群体,传统的VR头戴式头盔存在着一些明显的安全隐患,就连头盔设备官网都会提示12岁以下儿童不适用于该设备。在此前提下,本文研究混合现实技术和全息投影技术在青少年科普教育中的创新和实践。     

基于VR技术的三维射击游戏开发研究

目前三维游戏中利用了虚拟场景,以便捷的人机交互,为游戏者提供最佳的游戏体验.三维游戏的衍生在很大程度上推动了虚拟现实(VR)技术的更新优化,其涵盖了虚拟现实所有技术.本文基于VR技术设计开发三维射击游戏.首先分析游戏开发需求,其次设计三维VR系统结构与游戏开发流程,再次详细规划三维射击游戏功能模块,最后进行游戏人物、场...     

元宇宙下的智慧博物馆研究进展

中华民族拥有五千年的灿烂文化,各民族在各个历史阶段创造出的文物是中华民族繁荣昌盛的见证。博物馆作为文物收藏、文化展示的公共平台,在我国文化传承的过程中起着重要作用,随着科技的发展,当前博物馆已经步入智慧化建设时代。本文对数字化采集技术、文物真实感重建技术、虚拟结合智能交互和智慧平台建设等关键技术进行了对比分析,对诸多数字博物馆与艺术机构的案例进行了比较研究,对在元宇宙下建设智慧博物馆的发展趋势进行了展望。元宇宙技术融入智慧博物馆建设,是把握新一轮科技革命和产业变革新机遇的战略方向,有利于博物馆的数字化建设,有利于保护和发展中国优秀传统文化,对促进文化繁荣、构筑文化自信以及建设文化强国具有重要意义。     

虚拟多媒体教室的设计和实现

结合现有的工作描述了虚拟多媒体教室系统(VMCS)，阐述了该系统的用途和功能，并给出了系统的结构模型；对实现该系统的关键技术进行了分析和总结，包括场景建模方法、实时漫游中多细节层次模型(LOD)技术的运用、基于JAVA的用户接口设计等．最后，对系统的可移植性和今后的工作作了讨论。     

Frontiers in User-Computer Interaction

In this age of (near-)adequate computing power, the power and usability of the user interface is as key to an application's success as its functionality. Most of the code in modern desktop productivity applications resides in the user interface. But despite its centrality, the user interface field is currently in a rut: the WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, Point-and-Click GUI based on keyboard and mouse) has evolved little since it was pioneered by Xerox PARC in the early '70s. Computer and display form factors will change dramatically in the near future and new kinds of interaction devices will soon become available. Desktop environments will be enriched not only with PDAs such as the Newton and Palm Pilot, but also with wearable computers and large-screen displays produced by new projection technology, including office-based immersive virtual reality environments. On the input side, we will finally have speech-recognition and force-feedback devices. Thus we can look forward to user interfaces that are dramatically more powerful and better matched to human sensory capabilities than those dependent solely on keyboard and mouse. 3D interaction widgets controlled by mice or other interaction devices with three or more degrees of freedom are a natural evolution from their two-dimensional WIMP counterparts and can decrease the cognitive distance between widget and task for many tasks that are intrinsically 3D, such as scientific visualization and MCAD. More radical post-WIMP UIs are needed for immersive virtual reality where keyboard and mouse are absent. Immersive VR provides good driving applications for developing post-WIMP UIs based on multimodal interaction that involve more of our senses by combining the use of gesture, speech, and haptics.     

QoE enhancement of the industrial metaverse based on Mixed Reality application optimization

As a comprehensive integration of many new-generation information technologies, the metaverse has become a research hotspot that has attracted much attention. As a part of the metaverse, the industrial metaverse is expected to break through the constraints of space and time and promote high-quality industrial development. The industrial metaverse is human-centric, so its quality of experience (QoE) is a key topic. As one of the enabling technologies of the industrial metaverse, Mixed Reality (MR) can seamlessly integrate virtual information with the physical world and is widely regarded as an important window to the industrial metaverse. In close integration with other enabling technologies, industrial MR applications can be seen as a path toward the realization of the industrial metaverse; thus, the optimization of industrial MR applications can effectively achieve the QoE enhancement of the industrial metaverse. Based on the analysis of existing research and the characteristics of industrial scenarios, consistency, authenticity, smoothness, and comfort are identified as the factors that influence the user experience (UX) of industrial MR applications. Specific optimization methods for industrial MR applications are proposed to improve the UX with regard to these four factors. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods, a QoE evaluation model of the industrial metaverse based on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) is established. Moreover, an industrial metaverse prototype for longwall mining that incorporates the proposed methods is developed and its QoE is evaluated. The results show that the proposed optimization methods for industrial MR applications significantly enhance the QoE in the industrial metaverse, and can provide better services for users in industrial systems, thus better serving these systems.     

基于微机电系统振镜的多频相移正弦结构光系统相位展开误差分析

随着增强现实和虚拟现实技术的发展,以及元宇宙概念的兴起,三维重建技术作为重要的内容获取手段得到了广泛的应用。其中,结构光重建技术以其高精度且不受物体表面材质纹理影响的特点,得到了研究者的重点关注。传统的结构光三维重建主要使用基于数字光处理的投影仪来投影编码图案,然而,数字光处理投影仪存在尺寸大、功率高、价格昂贵等缺点,限制了其在众多应用中的便利性。因此,微机电系统振镜因其体积小、成本低、帧率高等特点,在越来越多的三维扫描系统中,被考虑作为投影仪投影编码结构光。但限于只能投影单向条纹图案和存在红外激光器散斑效应带来的噪声的缺点,传统的基于三角测量方法并不适用。因此,该文采用相位-高度模型,搭建了基于微机电系统振镜的三维扫描系统。针对散斑效应引起的噪声,本文通过实验对比了基于微机电系统振镜常用的 3 种时间相位解包裹算法的抗噪性能。结果表明,多频层级法和负指数拟合法的抗噪性能较好,精度较高,而多频外差法的抗噪性能较差。该研究结果可为研究人员选择解相方法提供参考。     

虚拟骑行中的三种导航界面的体验度量

相关研究显示,大部分用户在虚拟现实中会遇到导航困难,而目前对导航方式的 研究仍十分稀缺。为此,以沉浸式虚拟骑行为例,对不同导航界面(地图、提示图标、寻路光带) 的用户体验进行了度量,包括效率、满意度、易学性等。试验对象在虚拟环境里沿着场景里的 路径骑行到达终点,在此过程中记录被试的时间、碰撞数等,以此量化用户体验的各要素。实 验结果表明：提示图标导航方式一定程度上能提高虚拟骑行的效率,但不够显著,更重要的是 会显著降低用户对虚拟场景的感知度;用户使用寻路光带导航方式执行任务时,易用性和易学 性方面有显著的提升;使用地图导航的体验与无导航时的体验相差不大。     

悬臂式掘进机虚拟仿真平台设计

悬臂式掘进机广泛应用于煤矿井下巷道施工,掘进机的培训包括传统的书本教学方法和基于井下实际操作的训练方法,但是由于其场地和安全的局限性,无法满足训练要求.针对这一现状,利用虚拟现实技术和交互仿真技术构建了悬臂式掘进机虚拟仿真平台.该平台采用三维建模技术,使用多边形建模方法制作了悬臂式掘进机、转载机、供电系统等三维模型;运用Unity3D引擎驱动三维模型组成的虚拟场景,采用场景优化技术实时渲染出沉浸式的虚拟场景;在脚本语言C#编程环境下实现操作流程顺序控制、操作描述、三维模型驱动等,实现悬臂式掘进机虚拟仿真培训.培训结果表明,沉浸式人机交互可达到与实物培训相类似的效果,提高使用者学习和操作悬臂式掘进机的效率.     

Virtual and augmented reality for cultural computing and heritage: a case study of virtual exploration of underwater archaeological sites (preprint)

The paper presents different issues dealing with both the preservation of cultural heritage using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies in a cultural context. While the VR/AR technologies are mentioned, the attention is paid to the 3D visualization, and 3D interaction modalities illustrated through three different demonstrators: the VR demonstrators (immersive and semi-immersive) and the AR demonstrator including tangible user interfaces. To show the benefits of the VR and AR technologies for studying and preserving cultural heritage, we investigated the visualisation and interaction with reconstructed underwater archaeological sites. The base idea behind using VR and AR techniques is to offer archaeologists and general public new insights on the reconstructed archaeological sites allowing archaeologists to study directly from within the virtual site and allowing the general public to immersively explore a realistic reconstruction of the sites. Both activities are based on the same VR engine, but drastically differ in the way they present information and exploit interaction modalities. The visualisation and interaction techniques developed through these demonstrators are the results of the ongoing dialogue between the archaeological requirements and the technological solutions developed.     

Mixing virtual and real scenes in the site of ancient Pompeii

This paper presents an innovative 3D reconstruction of ancient fresco paintings through the real‐time revival of their fauna and flora, featuring groups of virtual animated characters with artificial‐life dramaturgical behaviours in an immersive, fully mobile augmented reality (AR) environment. The main goal is to push the limits of current AR and virtual storytelling technologies and to explore the processes of mixed narrative design of fictional spaces (e.g. fresco paintings) where visitors can experience a high degree of realistic immersion. Based on a captured/real‐time video sequence of the real scene in a video‐see‐through HMD set‐up, these scenes are enhanced by the seamless accurate real‐time registration and 3D rendering of realistic complete simulations of virtual flora and fauna (virtual humans and plants) in a real‐time storytelling scenario‐based environment. Thus the visitor of the ancient site is presented with an immersive and innovative multi‐sensory interactive trip to the past. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Research on hybrid synchronization methods in multi-user collaborative VR simulation medical surgery training system

The simulation training system based on VR technology has been applied in clinical medicine due to its immersive interactive experience, economy, and safety. In response to the limitation that most medical surgery training systems can only achieve single user operations, a hybrid synchronous model based multi-user collaborative framework design is proposed to meet the needs of collaborative training in virtual reality teaching processes. Based on the characteristics of frame synchronization and state synchronization, the synchronization method has been improved. Based on frame synchronization, specific state synchronization is used on interactive events to improve the consistency of operation details and real-time action. On this basis, a system prototype has been implemented using Unity 3D, and compared with traditional schemes, analysis shows that it has faster response speed for disconnected reconnection and more stable interaction state.     

沉浸式虚拟现实的发展概况及发展趋势

本文简述了沉浸式虚拟现实四个阶段的发展概况,分析了沉浸式虚拟现实的优缺点,探讨了沉浸式虚拟现实的发展趋势.未来,头显设备将会更加轻巧,人机交互将会更加自然,沉浸式虚拟现实将会在各行各业得到普遍的应用.     

Process and Outcome-based Evaluation between Virtual Reality-driven and Traditional Construction Safety Training

The emerging digital technologies such as virtual reality (VR) provide an alternative platform for construction safety training. In order to explore how digital-driven technologies affect the effectiveness of safety training, there is a need to empirically test the differences in performance between digital 3D/VR safety training and traditional 2D/paper approach. This research conducted a performance evaluation that emphasises both the training process and learning outcomes of trainees based on researchers’ self-developed immersive construction safety training platform. Data related to physiological indicators such as skin resistance were collected to measure safety performance before and after the training. The detailed measurement indicators included nine categories (e.g., immersion, inspiration) to form a holistic list of evaluation dimensions. The findings revealed that VR-driven immersive safety training outperformed the traditional way for trainees in terms of both process and outcome-based indicators. Results confirmed that safety training was no longer constrained by understanding or memorizing 2D information (texts and images). Instead, trainees experienced a stronger sense of embodied cognition through the immersive experience and multi-sensory engagement by interacting with the VR-driven system. By engaging the theory of embodied cognition, this research provides both the empirical evidence and in-depth analysis of how immersive virtual safety training outperforms traditional training in terms of both training process and outcomes.     

基于虚拟现实的机场消防救援虚拟演练平台

针对机场实地消防应急演练中人力物资消耗多、演练组织协调难,以及桌面式演练中情景感知支持不足等缺陷,提出一种基于虚拟现实技术的机场消防应急救援虚拟演练平台。基于虚拟现实技术的特点,采用三维建模技术构建机场消防救援场景中典型三维实体模型。利用粒子系统实现火灾虚拟场景及应急处置特效,并基于Unity3D引擎实现教员和学员人机交互界面。借助于虚拟现实头盔和手柄支持学员进入虚拟演练场景展开交互。平台测试表明:平台具有良好的易用性、稳定性和实时性,可以支持实现低成本、高沉浸感的机场消防救援虚拟演练。     

Vision‐tangible interactive display method for mixed and virtual reality: Toward the human‐centered editable reality

Building a human‐centered editable world can be fully realized in a virtual environment. Both mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR) are feasible solutions to support the attribute of edition. Based on the current development of MR and VR, we present the vision‐tangible interactive display method and its implementation in both MR and VR. We address the issue of MR and VR together because they are similar regarding the proposed method. The editable mixed and virtual reality system is useful for studies, which exploit it as a platform. In this paper, we construct a virtual reality environment based on the Oculus Rift, and an MR system based on a binocular optical see‐through head‐mounted display. In the MR system about manipulating the Rubik's cube, and the VR system about deforming the virtual objects, the proposed vision‐tangible interactive display method is utilized to provide users with a more immersive environment. Experimental results indicate that the vision‐tangible interactive display method can improve the user experience and can be a promising way to make the virtual environment better.     

电子商务中的虚拟现实技术刍议

不断成熟的虚拟现实技术对电子商务发展起到一定的促进作用,其与电子商务相结合能够营造出前所未有的逼真购物环境,给顾客带来身临其境购物体验。文章对虚拟现实技术进行了简要介绍,给出了基于虚拟现实技术的电子商务系统的逻辑结构和场景制作流程等,虚拟现实技术应用于电子商务是其发展的必然趋势之一。