A multi-layered architecture for sketch-based interaction within virtual environments

In this article, we describe a multi-layered architecture for sketch-based interaction within virtual environments. Our architecture consists of eight hierarchically arranged layers that are described by giving examples of how they are implemented and how they interact. Focusing on table-like projection systems (such as Virtual Tables or Responsive Workbenches) as human-centered output-devices, we show examples of how to integrate parts or all of the architecture into existing domain-specific applications — rather than realizing new general sketch applications — to make sketching an integral part of the next-generation human–computer interface.     

Virtual interpersonal touch: Haptic interaction and copresence in collaborative virtual environments

As digital communication becomes more commonplace and sensory rich, understanding the manner in which people interact with one another is crucial. In the current study, we examined the manners in which people touch digital representations of people, and compared those behaviors to the manner in which they touch digital representations of nonhuman objects. Results demonstrated that people used less force when touching people than other nonhuman objects, and that people touched the face with less force than the torso area. Finally, male digital representations were touched with more force than female representations by subjects of both genders. We discuss the implications of these data to the development of haptic communication systems as well as for a methodology of measuring the amount of copresence in virtual environments.

Communication in virtual environments: The influence of spatial cues and gender on verbal behavior

As communication technologies continue to evolve, more people will engage in virtual social interactions. With this trend comes an increasing need for research on behavior within virtual worlds. This study contributes to that agenda by focusing on the influence of physical attributes of a virtual setting and gender on verbal behavior expressed by mixed-gender dyads in a virtual world. Computerized text analyses revealed linguistic differences as a function of both the physical and social complexity of virtual settings and gender. The latter differences included both quantitative and qualitative features of written communication. These results add important new discoveries to the literature on virtual psychology and highlight the value of using text analysis tools to investigate virtual interactions.     

Quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of using display techniques with a haptic device for manipulating 3D objects in virtual environments

Quantitative assessment is made of using two display techniques, providing two different levels of depth perception, in conjunction with a haptic device for manipulating 3D objects in virtual environments. The two display techniques are 2D display, and interactive 3D stereoscopic virtual holography display on a zSpace tablet. Experiments were conducted, by several users of different ages and computer training. The experiments involved selected pointing and manipulation tasks. The speed of performing the tasks using the two display techniques were recorded. Statistical analysis of the data is presented. As expected, the use of interactive 3D stereoscopic display resulted in faster performance of the tasks. The improvement in performance was particularly noticeable for the cases wherein the subjects needed to manipulate the haptic arm to reach objects/targets at different depths, and also when the objects/targets were occluded partially by the obstacles.     

Assessing social construction of knowledge online: A critique of the interaction analysis model

The growing adoption of communication technologies to mediate teaching and learning processes fostered the study of asynchronous communication as an activity that can reveal students’ behavior during learning processes. Much of the research conducted on this topic focuses on the application of interaction models to analyze the content of asynchronous discussions and assess their quality. Despite the existence of different models, the one developed by Gunawardena, Lowe, and Anderson (1997) remains as one of the most used in the study of online interaction. In this respect, the present work focuses on studies that mention the application of this model in its analysis and discusses the extension of its application as well as its limitations. Results reinforce the adequacy of the model to analyze knowledge construction in different types of communication tools, but they also suggest the need to look at how learning is orchestrated and the importance of re-defining some aspects of the model in question.     

Bridging the gap between information architecture analysis and software engineering in interactive web application development

Web development teams comprise non-computer experts working on the conceptual modeling of non-functional aspects in software applications. Later on, such conceptual information is processed by analysts and software engineers to face the technical phases of the software project. However, this information transfer is often difficult to automate since the information processed by the different professionals involves different abstraction levels, as well as important cost and effort that need to be considered. The main aim of this research is to minimize these problems by increasing automation and interoperability in the development of interactive web applications. To take up this challenge, we have created and evaluated a tool that aims at bridging the gap between the conceptual definitions of web contents–i.e., the information architecture, and the UML elements for analysis and design required by software engineers, connecting functional and non-functional information to achieve the rest of technical activities during the software development process.     

The virtual malleable self and the virtual identity discrepancy model: Investigative frameworks for virtual possible selves and others in avatar-based identity construction and social interaction

This article introduces the novel model of “virtual identity discrepancy” as an investigative framework for computer-mediated self-representation and interpersonal communication in avatar-based virtual environments (VEs). Study 1 examined the roles of virtual self-discrepancy and self-presence in intrapersonal virtual identity construction. Study 2 explored the roles of virtual other-discrepancy, social presence, expectancy violation, and uncertainty reduction in animated avatar-to-avatar (AtA) virtual social interaction. Mediation analyses following a bootstrapping procedure indicated that self-presence mediates the relationship between virtual self-discrepancy and flow while social presence mediates the relationship between virtual other-discrepancy and flow. Furthermore, expectancy violation mediates the relationship between self-disclosure and trust in text-based chatting while uncertainty reduction mediates the relationship between nonverbal immediacy and flow in nonverbal communication between avatars.     

Embracing ambiguity in the design of non-stigmatizing digital technology for social interaction among senior citizens

In this paper we report our early experience with the design of technology for senior citizens. We take as our point of departure a pre-study of the ways in which older adult living occurs at three different senior housing facilities in southern Sweden. We contribute to the current debate concerning the ways in which digital technology can be designed to enable new types of living arrangements for the ever growing population of older people. We focus on technology designed to support the social rather than physical challenges of growing older. In particular we discuss how designing for social interaction can circumvent the stigma associated with being lonely in light of diminishing social networks, changed patterns of interactions with family, moving to a new neighbourhood, and the loss of a spouse. We will suggest that designers, in the design of digital technology for social interaction, deliberately leave room for ambiguity to make it possible for people to leave their intentions of use unarticulated. Furthermore, recognizing that many everyday activities already act as enablers for social interaction, we suggest utilizing such activities as an approach for design. We will support our suggestions by introducing three perspectives: a perspective emphasizing that the population of older adults is one of resourceful individuals; a perspective on social interaction emphasizing its circumstantial nature as an inherent part of everyday activities; and a perspective on the role of digital technology emphasizing its role as merely one of many resources present for human action. Finally, we will present an example concept showing how an enhanced TV remote control may be designed to enable social interactions without inflicting too much on the original experience of watching TV and most importantly, without stigmatizing the people using the remote control as lonely individuals craving the company of others.     

The strategy of reducing the location update traffic using forwarding pointers in virtual layer architecture

The strategy of location updating is a critical issue for tracking the current locations of users in wireless networks. Especially when the mobile user is located near the boundaries of networks, the signaling traffic of the location updating will be excessively excited. In this paper, we shall propose a newly developed scheme for reducing both the location updating rate and location updating cost. The new scheme employs forwarding pointers in the virtual layer architecture. The forwarding pointer is a useful tool to get rid of the registrations at the HLR, and thus the location updating cost can be reduced. The virtual layer architecture is efficient in lowering the high updating rate of the current location when a user moves around the boundaries of the Location Area (LA). Our scheme can significantly reduce the location updating traffic.     

Assessing the influence of repeated exposures and mental stress on human wayfinding performance in indoor environments using virtual reality technology

This study aimed to examine the effect of repeated exposures to indoor environments on people’s indoor wayfinding performance, both under normal condition and during fire emergency which could induce significant mental stress. Indoor wayfinding experiments were conducted in an immersive virtual museum developed using virtual reality technologies. Participants of the experiments were divided into three groups, who participated in one, two and three trials, respectively. Those who participated in more than one trial were given an interval of two weeks between two consecutive trials. Each trial of the experiment included a treasure hunting task and an egress task. Participants were presented with a virtual fire emergency during the egress task of their last trial. Data of wayfinding performance measures of the participants, as well as their physiological and emotional responses, sense of direction, wayfinding anxiety and simulator sickness were collected and analyzed. The results revealed significant positive impact of repeated exposure on participants’ wayfinding performance, which resulted in a decrease in the time needed to complete the treasure hunting task. The results also revealed significant negative impact of mental stressed caused by the fire emergency on participants’ wayfinding performance, which led to increased travel time and distance during egress. Such negative impact of stress, however, could be noticeably diminished by the repeated exposures, showing significant interaction effect between these two factors.     

Effects of using a force feedback haptic augmented simulation on the attitudes of the gifted students towards studying chemical bonds in virtual reality environment

The aim of this study is to identify the effects of force feedback haptic applications developed in virtual reality environments (VREs), which is an important field of study in computer science and engineering, on gifted students’ attitudes towards chemistry education in learning process. A 3D 6 DOF (Degree of Freedom) haptik device (Phantom Omni?) has been used to develop the algorithm in this study. It can be used to transmit force and motion using a haptic device. Visual C++ was choosen as the software development environment. OpenGL? and Haptic Device Application Programming Interface have been used for rendering graphics. At the 3D image creation state Wrap 1200?, which is a kind of head-mounted display, has been chosen. The sample of this study consists of 52 students identified as gifted and are attending 6th and 7th grades at the Istanbul Science &; Art Center in Istanbul. The experimental group studied chemical bonds using an application developed by using a force feedback haptic device in VRE and the control group studied it by traditional teaching methods. The study reveals that there is a relation between using force feedback haptic applications which are developed in VREs and gifted students’ attitudes towards educational programs.     

Association of demographics,motives and intensity of using Social Networking Sites with the formation of bonding and bridging social capital in Pakistan

The objectives of this confirmatory study were to investigate the association of socio-economic demographics (age, education of respondent, gender, monthly family income, parentage education), motives (communication and information, self-actualization and outward looking) of using Social Networking Sites (SNSs) and attitudinal and behavior variable (intensity of using SNS, self-esteem, gratification with university life, duration of use, and number of ties) with the formation of bonding and bridging social capital. Total 461 students, aged 18–35 years filled the questionnaire, from randomly selected departments of University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Regression analysis was used to assess the association among variables. The study indicated that Facebook is the most popular SNS among university students in Pakistan. Intensity of using SNS, duration of using SNSs, and motives of using SNSs were found to be positively associated with formation of bonding and bridging social capital. Self-esteem and gratifications with university life were found to be significant predictors in formation of bonding social capital only. The demographics variables (education, parentage education, monthly family income) had no influence on formation of both bonding and bridging social capital.     

A new method for trust and reputation evaluation in the cloud environments using the recommendations of opinion leaders' entities and removing the effect of troll entities

Trust in the cloud environment is not written into an agreement and is something earned. In any trust evaluation mechanism, opinion leaders are the entities influencing the behaviors or attitudes of others, this makes them to be trustworthy, valid among other characteristics. On the other hand, trolls are the entities posting incorrect and unreal comments; therefore, their effect must be removed. This paper evaluates the trust by considering the influence of opinion leaders on other entities and removing the troll entities’ effect in the cloud environment. Trust value is evaluated using five parameters; availability, reliability, data integrity, identity and capability. Also, we propose a method for opinion leaders and troll entity identification using three topological metrics, including input-degree, output-degree and reputation measures. The method being evaluated in various situation where shows the results of accuracy by removing the effect of troll entities and the advice of opinion leaders.