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Factors Affecting Embodied Interaction in Virtual Environments: Familiarity, Ethics, and Scale

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Factors Affecting Embodied Interaction in Virtual Environments: Familiarity, Ethics, and Scale Factors Affecting Embodied Interaction in Virtual Environments: Familiarity, Ethics, and Scale. Aghlab Ismat Al-Attili Ph.D. Architecture The University of Edinburgh 2009 I Title: Factors Affecting Embodied Interaction in Virtual Environments: Familiarity, Ethics, and Scale. Author: Aghlab Ismat Al-Attili PhD. Candidate, School of Arts, Culture and Environment and Research Associate, School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh Supervisors: Professor Richard Coyne Chair of Architectural Computing Head of the School of Arts, Culture and Environment The University of Edinburgh Dr. John Lee Senior Lecturer in Digital Media Director of EdCAAD (the Edinburgh Computer Aided Architectural Design research unit), School of Arts, Culture and Environment and Deputy Director of HCRC (Human Communication Research Centre), School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh External Examiner: Professor Andre Brown Head of Liverpool School of Architecture, University of Liverpool and Editor-in-Chief, IJAC (International Journal of Architectural Computing) Internal Examiner: Dr. Mark Wright Research Fellow, School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh and Research Fellow, Graduate Research School, Edinburgh College of Art II Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis has been composed by me without any assistance and I have not used any sources or tools other than those cited. Furthermore I declare that this thesis has not been accepted in any other previous application for a degree. Name: Aghlab Al-Attili Date: 2009-01-25 Signature: III Dedication إﻟﻰ أﻣﻲ و أﺑﻲ " وَ ا ﺧْ ﻔِ ﺾْ ﻟَﻬُﻤَﺎ ﺟَ ﻨَ ﺎ حَ ا ﻟ ﺬﱡ لﱢ ﻣِ ﻦَ ا ﻟ ﺮﱠ ﺣْ ﻤَ ﺔِ وَ ﻗُ ﻞْ رَ بﱢ ارْﺣَﻤْﻬُﻤَﺎ آَﻤَﺎ رَ ﺑﱠ ﻴَ ﺎ ﻧِ ﻲ ﺻَ ﻐِ ﻴ ﺮً ا" اﻹﺳﺮاء 24 IV Abstract The thesis explores human embodiment in 3D Virtual environments as a means of enhancing interaction. I aim to provide a better understanding of embodied interaction in digital environments in general. 3D interactive virtual environments challenge users to question aspects of their embodiment by providing new modes for interacting with space. Designers are facing new challenges that require novel means of interacting with virtual environments that do not simply mirror the way we interact within physical environments. Much of the research in the field aims to show how such environments can be made more familiar and "realistic" to users. This thesis attempts to probe the unfamiliar aspects of the medium. In this thesis I explore the concept, image and object of intimate space. How can an understanding of intimate space inform embodied interaction with virtual environments? I also investigate the role of familiarity by analysing and testing it in two contrasting interactive virtual environments. My contribution is to provide an account of familiarity as the driver behind embodied interaction in virtual environments based on human experience (from a phenomenological standpoint). In order to enhance the process of design for human embodied interaction in 3D virtual environments or in physical environments, I will identify tangible and intangible elements that affect human embodiment in 3D virtual environments and space, such as ethics and scale. Both examples are explored in interactive 3D virtual environments corresponding to real physical environments by subjects who are the daily users of the real physical environments. The thesis presents scale as a tangible element and ethics as an intangible element of human embodied interaction in space in order to highlight the different aspects that affect human engagement with space, and therefore human perception of their space and their embodiment. The Subjects’ accounts contribute toward informing the design of interactive 3D virtual environments within the context of embodied interaction. V Acknowledgement The work presented in this thesis was carried out in various locations; however, most of these were within the University of Edinburgh. The 3D virtual environments that were created mirrored the reality of Minto House in the School of Arts, Culture and Environment; Alison House in the Graduate School of the School of Arts, Culture and Environment; The Playfair Library Hall in the Old College; and finally the desert palace of ‘Qusayr Amra’ in the eastern desert planes of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The work in each location involved many people and the contribution of each one of them was invaluable. I would like to acknowledge my debt to those who provided help and support along the way. Each contribution had an influence on the creation of these environments and my understanding of this topic, subsequently enabling this work to develop. I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors, Professor Richard Coyne, and Dr. John Lee for their guidance and continuous support. Their thoughts, discussions and criticism helped in the formation of this work. Furthermore, I would like to thank colleagues whose research work was carried out in conjunction with mine. Here, I would like to mention Maria Androulaki, Yuka Kadoi, Anastasia Karandinou, Leonidas Koutsoumpos, Alma Othman and Rosa María Mendoza-Robles. I would also like to thank Edinburgh College of Art for giving me the chance to use the Dome Projector. Moreover, the technical support I received in the University of Edinburgh from Ian Gunn (Computing Support Officer at the School of Arts Culture and Environment), Robin Hill (the supervisor of the eye-tracking VI laboratory at the Human Communication Research Centre) and Ross Armstrong (Computing Support Officer at the School of Informatics) was crucial in ensuring all the experiments ran smoothly. Thanks also go to the architects and designers that participated in my experiments for the invaluable accounts they provided which helped immensely in shaping the arguments of this research and drove it forwarded experience after experience. Of those, I would like to mention Maria Androulaki, Keith Ballantyne, Puja Basu, Michael Cullen, Bruce Currey, Emma Dummett, Moh’d Eid, Yahya Islami, David Fortin, Giovanna Guidicini, Jun-Young Heo, Charles Hern, Yuka Kadoi, Myrto Kostaropoulou, Leonidas Koutsompous, Anastasia Karandinou, Hsiu-ling Kuo, Wai Leong, Dermott McMeel, Rosa María Mendoza Robles, Daisy Narayanan, Alma Othman, Riju Pankaj, Hennie Reynders, Na Sai, Alexandra Tannhäuser, Sonja Taylor, Julie Vaden, Samuel Brice Windham, Emily Wuest, Tian Yuan. I would also like to thank the 27 undergraduate students of architecture that took part in the Multi-scale Virtual Environments course. In particular, Bonnie Chu, Masumeh Geranpayeh, Naomi Harris, Matthew Murphy, Armeet Panesar, K. Tong, P. Wang, Elizabeth Westmacott and James Whitaker as their work was used in part three of the experiment concerning the tangible cues of immersion in virtual environments. I should mention my friends and colleagues who helped me try and keep a balance to my life during this time. Their support kept me going. Notably Marco Colombo, Paulo Aguiar, Andrea Kane, Melissa Kronenthal, Heejung Chung, Giorgos Karyotis, Iria Rio, Gaurav Malhotra, Grigori Fursin, Michael Clouser, Danny Helson and Nick Wright. Thanks to Andrea Kane, Marco Colombo and Ally Crockford for advising on edits. My office mates kept my academic life active, and those more senior than myself helped me through the way. We worked hard and had lots of fun. So thanks to Bruce Currey, Moh’d Eid, Hsiu-Ling Kuo, Hu Lin, Leonidas Koutsompous, David Fortin and Yue Zhang. Most importantly, I would like to thank my family for the support they have given and continue to give me. There are no words to encompass all that they do. VII Table of Contents DECLARATION III DEDICATION IV ABSTRACT V ACKNOWLEDGEMENT VI TABLE OF FIGURES XII 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 BACKGROUND 2 1.2 VIRTUALITY AND EMBODIED INTERACTION 3 1.3 STRUCTURE OF THIS WORK 8 2. THE MODELLING OF INTIMATE SPACE 12 2.1 INTRODUCTION 13 2.2 THE HOME: 14 2.2.1 LINGUISTICALLY: 15 2.2.2 ETYMOLOGY 18 2.3 THE SOCIAL CONCEPT OF HOME 19 2.4 IMAGINATION AND PHENOMENOLOGY 27 2.4.1 THE IMAGE OF THE HOME 28 2.4.1.1 Knowledge 31 2.4.1.2 Affectivity 32 2.4.1.3 Movements 33 2.4.1.4 The role of the word in the mental image 34 2.5 DESCRIPTIVE PSYCHOLOGY 35 2.5.1 THE CASE OF THE HEADACHE AND PAIN 36 2.5.2 THE CASE OF THE GLOWING COAL 37 2.6 PHENOMENOLOGY 38 2.6.1 HUSSERL 39 2.5.2 HEIDEGGER 41 2.6.3 MERLEAU-PONTY 43 VIII 2.7. PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE HOME 45 2.7.1 PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE HOME 45 2.7.2 MODELLING OF BACHELARD’S HOME 48 2.7.2.1 Phenomenology of Imagination 50 2.7.2.2 From Written aid into visual aid 59 2.7.3 VISUALISING BACHELARD’S HOME 61 2.7.3.1 The experimental setup 66 2.8 DISCUSSION 69 2.8.1 A COPY OF REALITY 69 2.8.2 NOSTALGIA 70 2.8.3 FUNCTIONALITY 71 2.8.4 PRESENCE 72 2.8.5 ANTICIPATION 73 2.9 CONCLUSION 74 3. ABSTRACTION, REPRESENTATION AND INTIMATE SPACE 76 3.1 INTRODUCTION 77 3.2 INTIMATE SPACE ABSTRACTION AND REPRESENTATION 83 3.2.1 ABSTRACTION AND REPRESENTATION 83 3.2.2 ABSTRACTION AND REPRESENTATION: THE VERBAL IMAGE OF INTIMATE SPACE 86 3.2.3 ABSTRACTION AND REPRESENTATION: INTIMATE SPACE 88 3.3 FAMILIARITY 89 3.3.1 FAMILIARITY IN LANGUAGE AND ACTION 90 3.3.1.1 Abstraction of Sensory Stimuli Producing Meaningful Experiences: Gestalt 93 3.3.1.2 Unintentional Signification through to Intentional Imagination: Metaphor 95 3.4 REPRESENTATION OF SPACE AND ASSERTION OF QUALITIES AND ATTRIBUTES 96 3.4.1 VERBAL REPRESENTATION OF SPACE 97 3.4.1.1 The first abstraction 98 3.4.1.2 The second abstraction 100 3.4.2 VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF SPACE 100 3.4.2.1 The third abstraction 102 3.4.2.2 The Fourth abstraction 103 3.4.3 LEVEL 4 (L4) ABSTRACT ENVIRONMENT 103 3.4.4 LEVEL 4 (L4)3D ENVIRONMENT 106 3.4.4.1 Photographic Documentation: 106 3.4.4.2 3Dimensional Model: 109 3.4.4.3 Interactivity 111 3.4.5 DIRECTING THE STAGE 118 3.5 METHODOLOGY 119 3.5.1 SUBJECTIVE: 120 3.5.3 QUALITATIVE : 125 Think aloud: 125 3.5.4 EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE AND QUESTIONNAIRE 126 3.6 DISCUSSION 127 3.6.1 REALITY IS FAMILIARITY OF BODILY NOTIONS 127 3.6.2 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REALITY AND SPATIAL INTERACTION 130 3.6.4 FAMILIAR SCALES OF INTERACTION 133 3.6.4.1 Reattribution of Experience: Direct Magnitude Estimation (DME) 134 IX 3.6.4.2 Devising Attributes: Free-Modulus Magnitude Estimation (FMME) 135 3.7 CONCLUSION 140 4.
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