Telepresence and Remote Communication Through Virtual Reality Gabriella Rydenfors
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LiU-ITN-TEK-A--17/012--SE Telepresence and remote communication through virtual reality Gabriella Rydenfors 2017-06-09 Department of Science and Technology Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap Linköping University Linköpings universitet nedewS ,gnipökrroN 47 106-ES 47 ,gnipökrroN nedewS 106 47 gnipökrroN LiU-ITN-TEK-A--17/012--SE Telepresence and remote communication through virtual reality Examensarbete utfört i Datateknik vid Tekniska högskolan vid Linköpings universitet Gabriella Rydenfors Handledare Karljohan Lundin Palmerius Examinator Camilla Forsell Norrköping 2017-06-09 Upphovsrätt Detta dokument hålls tillgängligt på Internet – eller dess framtida ersättare – under en längre tid från publiceringsdatum under förutsättning att inga extra- ordinära omständigheter uppstår. Tillgång till dokumentet innebär tillstånd för var och en att läsa, ladda ner, skriva ut enstaka kopior för enskilt bruk och att använda det oförändrat för ickekommersiell forskning och för undervisning. 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For additional information about the Linköping University Electronic Press and its procedures for publication and for assurance of document integrity, please refer to its WWW home page: http://www.ep.liu.se/ © Gabriella Rydenfors Master Thesis Telepresence and remote communication through virtual reality Supervisors: Jonathan Nilsson Voysys AB Author: Torkel Danielsson Gabriella Rydenfors Voysys AB Karl-Johan Lundin Palmerius Link¨opingUniversity Examiner: Camilla Forsell in the Department of Science and Technology June 2017 LINKOPING¨ UNIVERSITY Abstract Institute of Technology Department of Science and Technology Master of Science in Computer Science and Media Technology Telepresence and remote communication through virtual reality by Gabriella Rydenfors This Master Thesis concerns a telepresence implementation which utilizes state-of-the- art virtual reality combined with live 360◦ video. Navigation interfaces for telepresence with virtual reality headsets were developed and evaluated through a user study. An evaluation of telepresence as a communication media was performed, comparing it to video communication. The result showed that telepresence was a better communication media than video communication. Contents Abstract i List of Figures v List of Tables vi Abbreviations vii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background . 1 1.2 Problemdescription .............................. 2 1.3 Purpose ..................................... 2 1.4 Researchquestions ............................... 3 1.5 Method ..................................... 3 1.6 Limitations . 4 2 Background and related work 5 2.1 Virtualreality.................................. 5 2.2 Telepresence................................... 6 2.3 Hardwareoverview............................... 6 2.3.1 HTC Vive . 6 2.3.2 Telepresence robot . 6 2.4 Softwareoverview ............................... 7 2.4.1 OdenVR................................. 7 2.4.2 OpenVR................................. 7 2.4.3 GStreamer ............................... 7 2.5 Related works and technology . 8 2.5.1 Navigation algorithms in telepresence . 8 2.5.2 Telepresence as a communication tool . 9 3 Telepresence robot 11 3.1 Robot description . 11 3.1.1 Hardware . 12 3.1.1.1 Stepper Motor . 12 3.1.1.2 Zoom H2n . 14 3.1.1.3 OdenVR Cube . 14 3.1.1.4 Router . 15 ii Contents iii 3.1.2 Software . 15 3.1.2.1 TCP server . 15 3.1.2.2 Network protocol . 15 3.1.2.3 Automatic startup for required programs . 15 3.2 Audio communication . 16 3.2.1 GStreamer . 16 3.2.2 Audio communication . 17 3.2.2.1 Windows . 17 3.2.2.2 Raspberry Pi . 18 3.3 Navigation interfaces . 18 3.3.1 Button based navigation interfaces . 19 3.3.1.1 Car inspired remote control . 19 3.3.1.2 Touch based remote control . 19 3.3.2 Hand orientation based navigation interfaces . 20 3.3.2.1 Point based navigation . 21 3.3.2.2 Crosshair inspired navigation . 21 3.3.3 Head orientation based navigation interfaces . 21 3.3.3.1 Gaze based navigation . 21 3.3.3.2 Touch based remote control relative head direction . 22 4 User evaluation 24 4.1 Evaluation of navigation interface . 24 4.1.1 Procedure................................ 25 4.2 Evaluation of telepresence as a communication tool . 26 4.2.1 Measurement method . 26 4.2.2 Procedure................................ 27 5 Results 29 5.1 Steeringinterfaces ............................... 29 5.2 Telepresenceexperience . 30 5.2.1 The interactant ............................. 30 5.2.2 The inhabitor .............................. 31 5.2.3 The combined result . 32 6 Discussion 34 6.1 Navigation interface evaluation . 34 6.2 Telepresence compared to video communication . 35 6.2.1 Measurement method . 35 6.2.2 Evaluation procedure . 35 6.2.3 Result.................................. 36 6.2.3.1 The interactant ....................... 36 6.2.3.2 The inhabitor ........................ 37 6.3 Telepresencerobot ............................... 38 6.3.1 ZOOM H2N microphone . 38 6.3.2 Camera height . 39 6.4 Audio communication . 39 Contents iv 7 Conclusion and future work 40 7.1 Navigation interfaces for telepresence . 40 7.2 Measurement method for communication . 41 7.3 Telepresence as a communication tool in comparison with video commu- nication ..................................... 41 7.4 Futurework................................... 42 7.4.1 Semi autonomic navigation . 42 7.4.2 Image stabilization . 42 7.4.3 Global network . 43 A Communication measurement method 44 A.1 Efficiency .................................... 44 A.2 Participation . 44 A.3 Process Satisfaction . 45 A.4 Solution Satisfaction . 45 A.5 Negative Socio-Emotional Behavior . 45 A.6 Co-presence................................... 45 A.7 Cognitive load . 46 B Evaluation Questionnaire 47 Bibliography 51 List of Figures 3.1 Telepresencerobot ............................... 12 3.2 Stepper motor . 13 3.3 OdenVRCube ................................. 14 3.4 AGStreamerPipeline ............................. 16 3.5 Soundpipelineonwindows .......................... 18 3.6 Sound pipeline on Raspberry Pi . 18 3.7 Car inspired remote control . 20 3.8 Touch based remote control . 20 3.9 Point based navigation . 21 3.10 Crosshair inspired navigation . 22 3.11 Gaze based navigation . 22 4.1 Navigation interface study . 25 4.2 Telepresence evaluation . 27 5.1 Navigation interface test result . 29 5.2 Preferred communication method by the interactant . 31 5.3 Preferred communication method by the inhabitor . 32 6.1 The interactant’s process satisfaction for the telepresence communication 37 6.2 The interactant’s process satisfaction for the video communication . 37 v List of Tables 3.1 List of components on the telepresence robot . 13 4.1 The test order in evaluation of telepresence and video as communication methods..................................... 27 5.1 Time and correctness comparison between telepresence and video com- munication ................................... 30 5.2 Summary of measured variables for the interactant . 30 5.3 Summary of measured variables for the inhabitor . 32 5.4 Summary of measured variables for both the interactant and inhabitor . 33 7.1 Preferable communication method with regard to the measured variable . 42 vi Abbreviations VR Virtual Reality HMD Head Mounted Display IMU Inertial Measurement Unit USB Universal Serial Bus FOV Field Of View RTP Real-time Transport Protocol TCP Transmission Control Protocol SDK Software Development Kit API Aapplication Programming Interface LiPo Lithium Polymer UDP User Datagram Protocol LGPL Lesser General Public License vii Chapter 1 Introduction This master thesis concerns telepresence as a communication tool and is made for the Department of Science and Technology at Link¨oping University and Voysys AB. This chapter includes an introduction to telepresence, the background of this project and how it relates to Voysys. 1.1 Background The thought of traveling instantly (like teleporting) has enchanted humanity and inspired the invention of ever faster transportation options. With