Non Visuals Material Exploration of Non Visual Interaction Design

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Non Visuals Material Exploration of Non Visual Interaction Design NON VISUALS MATERIAL EXPLORATION OF NON VISUAL INTERACTION DESIGN MFA MASTER THESIS 2020 SEBASTIAN DE CABO PORTUGAL NON VISUALS Sebastian de Portugal Cabo Sebastian “To understand something is not to be able to define it or describe it. Instead taking something that we think we already know and making it unknown thrills us afresh with its reality and deepens our understanding of it” – Kenya Hara MFA Thesis Project 2020 Thesis Project MFA - 2 - NON VISUALS Forward This project really scares me, and that’s why I had chosen to do it, I didn’t want to do something that I had done before, I wanted to try new technologies and new design methods that were completely novel for me. This is why I chose to work with VR and AR technologies, something I have barely touched before. I wanted to really understand how to build things for these kinds of technologies, and more importantly find ways to make prototypes and lo-fi iterations without having to do massive amounts of code, or even no coding at all. de Portugal Cabo Sebastian This is also why I worked with audio, something I’ve done sporadically during filmmaking but has always been my weak spot due to my heavy focus on the visual side of things. Ironic I know. Working with visually impaired people is a user group I haven’t collaborated with yet and this also scared me, from an ethical and empathetic point of view and from a pragmatic one, for example how do I show people concepts or initial sketches if they can’t see a sketch. Finding non visual ways to communicate my ideas. “This is not a problem driven project or a technology driven project, but an experiment driven one” Normally the projects we’ve done in the past dealt with a specific problem or user group and in the end we could evaluate against these points of contact to see if the outcome had been successful or not. - if we had "solved" the problem at hand. But on this project I wanted to try a research through design method, a more experiential process, one where you can have many different starting points, even op- posing ones, and you develop the research and concepts through making - its use will come out after. MFA Thesis Project 2020 Thesis Project MFA Even though everything about this project scares me, and I can’t imagine what the outcome will be, I feel confident that something good will be produced, I have to learn to trust the process, and myself as a designer, and that is the main reason I wanted to put myself in this situation, to prove myself I can get out of any situation successfully even if I don’t know anything about the subject at all at the beginning of it. In the future I won’t be able to choose exactly what I’ll be working on so I like to train myself to be prepared for any situation and find ways to improvise my way out. I just couldn’t predict how the world would change in the short time this thesis was being produced, and how challenging that was going to turn out to be. This is why I chose to work on a topic that scared me most as my final project in this master’s degree. Sebastian de Cabo Portugal - 20/01/2020 - 3 - NON VISUALS Abstract Design is all about visuals, or that is what I have found out during this thesis, from the pro- cess materials to the outcome our main entry point to any problem is how will we solve it visually so it’s understandable for the general user. This aspect is problematic in itself due to the fact that we, as humans, understand the world and the things around using all our senses continuously, even though we can forget as visuals are so overpowering. There is a huge opportunity area in exploring our other senses and bringing them back to technology, and this can be seen in works in the past like Tangible Interactions [1] or de Portugal Cabo Sebastian Natural User Interfaces [2]. But in this moment in time, where all these new technologies like VR/AR and IoT are about to enter our lives and change them forever, this topic is more important than ever. We have already seen what happens when we turn humans into mere machines with some fingers as interactive inputs, and barely any senses to process all the information given to us. Now that these technologies are still young and malleable, we can direct the future to where we want it instead of being guided by the technology itself. To do this we need to reimagine the design process, not reinvent the wheel, but add ex- perts which we currently leave behind and I argue are key to unlock these technologies, experts not only of the technological side of things but on the human side too, like physi- otherapists and dancers. Add also people who we never think about when we think of VR like visually impaired users, which could make these technologies inclusive since early on, insteadof as an afterthought like we usually do. Not only people, but we also need to add new materials to understand how we use our senses and explore ways that we can under- stand and explore them differently; like bodystorming and improv theatre because when things aren’t visual, how do you sketch it? A sketch turns into a video about movement. MFA Thesis Project 2020 Thesis Project MFA The end result provides a wide breadth of examples of the types of innovations that can come out of using these new design materials, and to open new frontiers. From a VR game with no visuals whatsoever to an AR location based story game, to a home sized multi- modal operating system containing several different apps controlled through physical movement. The examples open up the space instead of closing into a single solution. This is just the tip of the iceberg, a hope that others will be inspired by it and continue with this journey that has just started, to guide the future into one that is more technological and at the same time more human than ever before. What we know is that VR does not equate Visual Reality. Keywords – immersive environments, virtual reality, mixed reality, wearable computing, virtuality continuum, internet of things - 4 - NON VISUALS Contents FOREWARD -3- 4.0 MATERIAL EXPLORATIONS -27- ABSTRACT -4- - Working in Sprints based on Design Principles -28- CONTENTS & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -5/6- - How a Loop looks from the inside -29- EXPECTATIONS & ASSUMPTIONS -7- - My Activities -30- 1.0 INTRODUCTION -8- INTERVIEWS Sebastian de Portugal Cabo Sebastian - Uniting digital and physical worlds -9- - Interview - Luca Contato -31- - Ethical Considerations -10- - Interview - Christy Smith -32- - Philosophical Considerations -11- - Interview - Christy Smith (cont.) -33- - Interview - M Eifler -34- 2.0 BACKGROUND -12- - M Eifler Studio Metaphor -35- - The world we come from/the world to come -13/14- - M Eifler 3 levels/scales of interaction inside VR -36- - Focusing on visually impaired users -15- - Interview - Arianna Ortelli -37/38- - Audiogame or be prepared to grind hard -16- - Interview - Enrique Sanchez -39- - How are we adding senses to VR? Add more tech -17- - Interview- Pablo Gody and Nelson Sanchez -40- - Why read a book when you have audiobooks -18- - Inspiration -19- EXPERIMENTS - Inspiration from Microsoft Research -20- - Playing with existing tech - Amazon Alexa -41- - Games, an excuse to improve the whole tech -21- - Playing with existing tech - VR games -42- - Playing with existing tech - VR games -43- 3.0 APPROACH + METHOD -22- - Playing with existing tech - Torball -44- MFA Thesis Project 2020 Thesis Project MFA - Insights from background research -23- - Experiment 1 - Spatial awareness through music -45/46- - Flip the norms - "make the known unkown" -24- - Experiment 2 - Playing fussball blindfolded -47- - DESIGN PRINCIPLES/Perfect Timing -25- - Experiment 3 - Controlling Logic Pro with moves -48- - Research through design -26- WORKSHOPS - Workshop 1 - Music Maker with Toby & Julien -49- - Workshop 2 - Physical Game Jam/Bodystorming -50/51- - Suddenly the world changed -52- - Workshop 3 - Communicating through movement -53/54- - 5 - NON VISUALS Acknowledgments 5.0 CONCEPT EXAMPLES -55- This thesis wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support from: - Introduction to Provocation & Examples -56- - My parents, for always being close even when I’m so far away - Playing games without vision - VR Audiogame -57- - My supervising tutor Monica Lindh-Karlsson - Playing games without vision - AR location based -58- - My thesis supervisor Stoffel Kuenen - Using our own bodies/movements/senses/objects - The best class anyone could ask for, my IXD colleagues - The rest of UID for always being up to try one of my weird experiments as controllers/input- Home OS -59- - Amanda Stendahl and the Torball group in Umeå - Using our own bodies/movements/senses/objects - RISE Interactive studio Umeå de Portugal Cabo Sebastian as controllers/input- Physicality apps -60- - Luca Contato from Rising Pixel - Physicality apps - Music Maker through movement -61- - Christy Smith from caniplaythat.com - Physicality apps - Walk + Talk -62- - M Eifler from Microsoft research - Physicality apps - Home Physical Rehabilitation -63- - Arianna Ortelli from the Blind Console - Laura Vendrell from VRave 6.0 ANALYSIS -64- - Enrique Sanchez from Orbisnauta - Insights from explorations -65- - Pablo Godoy Physiotherapist at NHS Trust - How to develop a concept -66- - Nelson Sanchez Physiotherapist at Fisiotec - Example in use: Music Maker -67- - Julian Loretz from APD - Julien Desvaux from IDI - Design methodology insights -68- - Rachel Cheung from Goldsmiths University Design values in the Concept Examples -69- - Javier Viera aka MakerFly - VR Audiogame values -70- - Teenage engineering
Recommended publications
  • Recommendations for Integrating a P300-Based Brain–Computer Interface in Virtual Reality Environments for Gaming: an Update
    computers Review Recommendations for Integrating a P300-Based Brain–Computer Interface in Virtual Reality Environments for Gaming: An Update Grégoire Cattan 1,* , Anton Andreev 2 and Etienne Visinoni 3 1 IBM, Cloud and Cognitive Software, Department of SaferPayment, 30-150 Krakow, Poland 2 GIPSA-lab, CNRS, Department of Platforms and Project, 38402 Saint Martin d’Hères, France; [email protected] 3 SputySoft, 75004 Paris, France; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 19 September 2020; Accepted: 12 November 2020; Published: 14 November 2020 Abstract: The integration of a P300-based brain–computer interface (BCI) into virtual reality (VR) environments is promising for the video games industry. However, it faces several limitations, mainly due to hardware constraints and limitations engendered by the stimulation needed by the BCI. The main restriction is still the low transfer rate that can be achieved by current BCI technology, preventing movement while using VR. The goal of this paper is to review current limitations and to provide application creators with design recommendations to overcome them, thus significantly reducing the development time and making the domain of BCI more accessible to developers. We review the design of video games from the perspective of BCI and VR with the objective of enhancing the user experience. An essential recommendation is to use the BCI only for non-complex and non-critical tasks in the game. Also, the BCI should be used to control actions that are naturally integrated into the virtual world. Finally, adventure and simulation games, especially if cooperative (multi-user), appear to be the best candidates for designing an effective VR game enriched by BCI technology.
    [Show full text]
  • The Virtual Reality Renaissance Is Here, but Are We Ready? 2.2K SHARES WHAT's THIS?
    MUST READS SOCIAL MEDIA TECH BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT US & WORLD WATERCOOLER JOBS MORE The Virtual Reality Renaissance Is Here, But Are We Ready? 2.2k SHARES WHAT'S THIS? IMAGE: MASHABLE, BOB AL-GREENE BY LANCE ULANOFF / 2014-04-20 21:19:32 UTC This piece is part of Mashable Spotlight, which presents in-depth looks at the people, concepts and issues shaping our digital world. I'm flapping my wings. Not hard, but slowly and smoothly. At 25 feet across, my wingspan is so great I don't need to exert much energy to achieve lift. In the distance, I see an island under an azure sky. This is my home. Off to my west, the sun is setting and the sky glows with warm, orange light. Spotting movement in the ocean below, I bend my body slightly to the left and begin a gentle dive. As I approach the shore, I spot my prey splashing in the shallows. I lean back, keeping my wings fully extended so I can glide just above the water. I'm right over the fish. I pull in my wings, bend forward sharply and dive into the water. I emerge with a fish in my mouth. Success. Better yet, I did all this without ever leaving the ground or getting wet. Lance Ulanoff trying out the American Museum of Natural History's Pterosaur flight simulator. IMAGE: MASHABLE This is virtual reality, or at least the American Museum of Natural History’s (AMNH) brand of semi-immersive virtual reality. With a large projection screen, Microsoft Kinect V1 and a gaming PC, the setup lets you control the flight of a virtual pterosaur by standing in front of the Kinect sensor, flapping your arms and bending.
    [Show full text]
  • Virtual Reality Design: How Upcoming Head-Mounted Displays Change Design Paradigms of Virtual Reality Worlds
    MediaTropes eJournal Vol VI, No 1 (2016): 52–85 ISSN 1913-6005 VIRTUAL REALITY DESIGN: HOW UPCOMING HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAYS CHANGE DESIGN PARADIGMS OF VIRTUAL REALITY WORLDS CHRISTIAN STEIN “The matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games. […] Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts. […] A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding.” — William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984) 1. Introduction When William Gibson describes the matrix in his canonical cyber-punk novel Neuromancer, it is a computer-generated parallel universe populated and designed by people all over the world. While it would be an exaggeration to say this is about to become a reality, with current-generation virtual reality systems an important step toward immersive digital worlds has already taken place. This article focuses on current developments in virtual reality (VR) with head-mounted displays (HMDs) and their unique digital experiences. After decades of experimentation with VR beginning in the late 1980s, hardware, software, and consumer mindsets are finally ready for the immersive VR experiences its early visionaries dreamed of. As far back as 1962, Morton Heilig developed the first true VR experience with Sensorama, where users could ride a “motorcycle” coupled with a three-dimensional picture; it even www.mediatropes.com MediaTropes Vol VI, No 1 (2016) Christian Stein / 53 included wind, various smells, and engine vibrations. Many followed in Heilig’s footsteps, perhaps most famously Ivan Sutherland with his 1968 VR system The Sword of Damocles.1 These developments did not simply constitute the next step in display technology or gamer hardware, but rather a major break in conceptualizations of space, speed, sight, immersion, and even body.
    [Show full text]
  • Virtual Reality’ Paradigm
    San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies Art and Art History & Design Departments Fall 12-2017 Exploring Oculus Rift: A Historical Analysis of the ‘Virtual Reality’ Paradigm Chastin Gammage San Jose State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/art108 Part of the Game Design Commons, and the Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces Commons Recommended Citation Chastin Gammage. "Exploring Oculus Rift: A Historical Analysis of the ‘Virtual Reality’ Paradigm" ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies (2017). This Final Class Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Art and Art History & Design Departments at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Chastin Gammage Professor James Morgan CS 108: Introduction to Game Studies 15 December 2017 Exploring Oculus Rift: A Historical Analysis of the ‘Virtual Reality’ Paradigm Although many consider Virtual Reality to be a relatively new concept, it is more appropriately defined as a long-standing ideology subject to continuous transformation and several varying iterations throughout time depending on the advents in technology. Peter Stearns, a renown modern historian, once wrote an article sharing a similar historically oriented disposition claiming that "the past causes the present, and so the future. Anytime we try to know how something happened… we have to look for the factors that took shape earlier… only through studying history (a proper historical analysis) can we begin to comprehend the factors changing the field so rapidly." In essence, understanding the historical legacy associated with virtual reality is a critical first step in developing a solid foundation on the topic as a whole.
    [Show full text]
  • Subject Index
    863 Subject Index ‘Note: Page numbers followed by “f” indicate figures, “t” indicate tables and “b” indicate boxes.’ A Affordances, 112–114 A/D conversion. See Analog to Digital conversion in virtual reality, 114–117 (A/D conversion) false affordances, 116 AAAD. See Action at a distance (AAAD) reinforcing perceived affordances, 116–117 AAR. See After-action review (AAR) After-action review (AAR), 545f, 630, 630f, 634–635, 645, Absolute input, 198–200 761 Abstract haptic representations, 439 Affordances of VR, 114–117 Abstract synthesis, 495 Agency, 162, 164, 181 Abstraction triangle, 448 Agents, 552–553, 592–593, 614, 684–685 Accelerometers, 198–199, 218 AIFF. See Audio interchange file format (AIFF) Accommodation, 140–141, 273–275, 320, 570, 804 Airfoils, 13 Action at a distance (AAAD), 557–558 AIs. See Artificial intelligences (AIs) Activation mechanism, 554–556, 583 Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride VR experience, 185–186, 347, Active haptic displays, 516 347f, 470, 505, 625, 735, 770–771 Active input, 193–196 Alberti, Leon Battista, 28 Active surfaces, 808 Alice system for programming education, Adaptability, 122–123 758–759 Adaptive rectangular decomposition (ARD), 502 AlloSphere, 51–52, 51f, 280 Additive sound creation techniques, 499 Allstate Impaired Driver Simulator, 625, 629f Advanced Realtime Tracking (ART), 53–54, 213f Alpha delta fiber (Aδ fiber), 149 Advanced Robotics Research Lab (ARRL), 369 Alphanumeric value selection, 591–593 Advanced systems, 11–12 Ambient sounds, 436–437, 505 Advanced texture mapping techniques, 469–473 Ambiotherm device, 372, 373f Adventure (games), 12 Ambisonics, 354 Adverse effect, 351 Ambulatory platforms, 242–243 Aestheticism, 414 American Sign Language (ASL), 552–553 Affine transformations, 486–487 Amount/type of information, 196–198 864 | SUBJECT INDEX Amplification, 349–350 ARToolKit (ARTK), 48–49, 715–716 Amplifier, 349–350, 349f Ascension Technologies, 41–44, 44f, 46–47, 86–87 Anaglyphic 3D, 270f, 7f, 30, 49, 269–270, 271f ASL.
    [Show full text]
  • Analyzing Visual Attention Via Virtual Environments
    Analyzing Visual Attention via Virtual Environments Haikun Huang1 Ni-Ching Lin2 Lorenzo Barrett1 Darian Springer1 Hsueh-Cheng Wang2 Marc Pomplun1 Lap-Fai Yu1 1University of Massachusetts Boston, 2National Chiao Tung University Figure 1: Humans rely on their visual attention to directional signage to navigate in an unfamiliar environment. Abstract such as the Oculus Rift VR headset and the Virtuix Omni platform, one can navigate in virtual 3D environments like in the real-world. The widespread popularity of consumer-grade virtual reality de- The visual perception in this type of virtual reality is highly real- vices such as the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive provides new, istic, and perceptual data can be collected for analyzing human vi- exciting opportunities for visual attention research in virtual en- sual attention and behavior that are almost identical to those in the vironments. Via these devices, users can navigate in and interact real-world. In this project, we propose to conduct visual attention with virtual environments naturally, and their responses to different research in virtual reality and to use the analysis results to devise dynamic events can be closely tracked. In this paper, we explore automatic 3D scene analysis tools to be used in everyday scenar- the possibility of using virtual environments to study how direc- ios. Specifically, we aim at identifying the key visual features that tional signage may guide human navigation in an unfamiliar envi- influence human navigation and decision-making in everyday en- ronment. vironments. We then train machine learning models to statistically encode these visual features. These models enable us to build 3D Keywords: Virtual Environments, Visual Attention, Visualization scene analysis tools for various applications.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Body Gestures Based Input Interaction for Locomotion in HMD-VR Interfaces in a Sitting Position
    Report: State of the Art Seminar A Study of Body Gestures Based Input Interaction for Locomotion in HMD-VR Interfaces in a Sitting Position By Priya Vinod (Roll No: 176105001) Guided By Dr. Keyur Sorathia Department of Design Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India 1 Table of Contents 1. Abstract 4 2. Introduction to VR 5 3. Navigation in VR 5 3.1. Definition of Navigation 5 3.2. Importance of Navigation in VR 6 3.3. Taxonomy of virtual travel techniques 8 3.4. Quality Factors of effective travel techniques 8 4. The Literature on Categories of Travel Techniques 8 4.1. Artificial Locomotion Techniques 9 4.2. Natural Walking Techniques 9 4.2.1. Repositioning Systems 9 4.2.2. Redirected Walking 10 4.2.3. Proxy Gestures 11 5. Literature review on Proxy Gestures for Travel in VR 13 5.1. Standing Based Natural Method of Travel in VR 13 5.1.1. Issues in Standing Position for travel in VR 15 5.2. Sitting Based Natural Method of Travel in VR 16 5.2.1. Research Gap in sitting based natural method of travel 21 6. Research Questions 22 7. Methodology 22 8. References 23 2 Figures Figure 1 Taxonomy of Virtual Travel Techniques. Figure 2 Nilsson, Serafin, and Nordahl’s (2016b) taxonomy of virtual travel techniques. Figure 3 Artificial Locomotion Techniques. Figure 4 Three categories of natural walking techniques. Figure 5 Four examples of repositioning systems: (a) a traditional linear treadmill, (b) motorized floor tiles, (c) a human-sized hamster ball, and (d) a friction-free platform.
    [Show full text]
  • Law, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality
    UNIVERSITY of PENNSYLVANIA LAW REVIEW Founded 1852 Formerly AMERICAN LAW REGISTER © 2018 University of Pennsylvania Law Review VOL. 166 APRIL 2018 NO. 5 ARTICLE LAW, VIRTUAL REALITY, AND AUGMENTED REALITY MARK A. LEMLEY† & EUGENE VOLOKH†† Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are going to be big—not just for gaming but for work, for social life, and for evaluating and buying real-world products. Like many big technological advances, they will in some ways challenge legal doctrine. In this Article, we will speculate about some of these upcoming challenges, asking: † William H. Neukom Professor, Stanford Law School; partner, Durie Tangri LLP. Article © 2018 Mark A. Lemley & Eugene Volokh. †† Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law; academic affiliate, Mayer Brown LLP. Thanks to Sam Bray, Ryan Calo, Anupam Chander, Julie Cohen, Kristen Eichensehr, Nita Farahany, James Grimmelmann, Rose Hagan, Claire Hill, Chad Huston, Sarah Jeong, Bill McGeveran, Emily Murphy, Lisa Ouellette, Richard Re, Zahr Said, Rebecca Tushnet, Vladimir Volokh, and the participants at the UC Davis conference on Future-Proofing Law, the Stanford Law School conference on regulating disruption, the Internet Law Works in Progress Conference, and workshops at Stanford Law School, Duke Law School, the University of Minnesota Law School, and the University of Washington for comments on prior drafts; and to Tyler O’Brien and James Yoon for research assistance. (1051) 1052 University of Pennsylvania Law Review [Vol. 166: 1051 (1) How might the law treat “street crimes” in VR and AR—behavior such as disturbing the peace, indecent exposure, deliberately harmful visuals (such as strobe lighting used to provoke seizures in people with epilepsy), and “virtual groping”? Two key aspects of this, we will argue, are the Bangladesh problem (which will make criminal law very hard to practically enforce) and technologically enabled self-help (which will offer an attractive alternative protection to users, but also a further excuse for real-world police departments not to get involved).
    [Show full text]
  • Virtual Reality Enters a New Dimension 9 January 2015, by Sophie Estienne
    Virtual reality enters a new dimension 9 January 2015, by Sophie Estienne With the headset on, you find yourself in a world with dinosaurs or extraterrestrials that seem real enough to touch. The image follows your movements when you look up, down or behind. Hearing is believing Another key to the virtual world is enhancements in 3D sound, Mitchell told AFP. "We have 3D audio in all these demos where you can hear sounds not only 360 degrees around you, but above you and below you," he said. "After visual, audio is actually one of the major World freediving champion Stig Severinsen holds his senses that humans use to perceive the world breathe underwater for a total of 5 minutes, 35 secs to around them." demonstrate the functionality and accuracy of the Masimo SET pulse oximetry device, at the Consumer Some other exhibitors at CES were showing Electronics Show, January 8, 2015 equipment for 3D sound, which according to developers goes far beyond normal stereo quality. Welcome to "The Matrix"? Not quite, but new technologies are pushing ultra-convincing virtual realities out of the realm of science fiction and into the now. Some of this new tech was displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, including Crescent Bay, the latest prototype headset from Oculus Rift. "We really try to trick all of your senses into believing that you're there," said Nate Mitchell, co- founder of Oculus, a startup acquired last year by Facebook. People gesture in front of Intel's RealSense technology Considered among the most promising developers cameras, showing 3D renditions of themselves at the of virtual reality gear, Oculus says its next Consumer Electronics Show, January 8, 2015 generation is even more immersive.
    [Show full text]
  • How the Oculus Rift Works by Bernadette Johnson
    How the Oculus Rift Works by Bernadette Johnson Browse the article How the Oculus Rift Works Introduction to How the Oculus Rift Works Virtual reality (VR) has not only been the stuff of science fiction novels and movies for decades, but it's also been an actual thing -- sort of. The first VR headsets were produced in the 1960s. At the time, the technology took up a lot of room and cost massive amounts of money. In the late 1980s to 1990s, VR became accessible to general public in arcades and other amusement venues via heavy headsets and controllers used to play rather simple games -- such as swinging a pretend sword at virtual foes, with as much accuracy as the era's computing systems could muster. The head tracking was slow, the field of vision was narrow and the graphics were low-resolution by modern standards. The experience often induced headaches and motion sickness, and it wasn't all that immersive. Still, it was a step forward in gaming and was bound to get better, but it didn't catch on at the time and the industry fizzled. The necessary technology just wasn't out yet to make it compelling to the masses. The Oculus Rift in use during E3 in Los Angeles, Calif. in June 2013. © GUS RUELAS/Reuters/Corbis High-end VR headsets with better resolution and response time have been developed since then, but they've remained prohibitively expensive for the home user and still tend to inhabit places like government and corporate research and training facilities.
    [Show full text]
  • Virtual Reality Interactive Exhibits
    Come try out the future. Immerse yourself. Come to Purdue’s Envision Center and try virtual reality technologies that could become as common as the cell phone is today. Purdue’s Envision Center specializes in using virtual and augmented reality technology to create educational and research tools at the cutting-edge of the field. GOOGLE CARDBOARD is an inexpensive product that turns smartphones into virtual reality headsets. No need to bring your own smartphone, we have some available to use. MICROSOFT HOLOLENS is a fully self-contained, holographic computer, enabling users to interact with high-definition holograms in the physical world. HTC Vive is a high-end virtual reality headset designed to use room-scale technology. Turn any room into a 3-D experience by navigating naturally, walking around and manipulating objects. VIRTUIX OMNI is a virtual reality “treadmill” that allows users 360 degrees of motion and use of their entire body – walking, running, turning around. Demos will be given during the Dawn or Doom Conference on Sept. 26 & 27. Go to purdue.edu/dawnordoom for more information. Presentations and demo tours can be scheduled for groups. Please contact Diana Hancock [email protected] or Laura Theademan at [email protected]. Author of Our Grandchildren Redesigned and Vanderbilt University Professor MICHAEL BESS World Food Prize Laureate and Vice President & General Manager, Chief Technology Officer, Monsanto Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) ROBB FRALEY TOM BRADICICH Head Editor, Google QUENTIN HARDY EMERGING TECHNOLOGY — RISKS AND REWARDS TWO-DAY CONFERENCE, SEPT. 26 & 27 FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, EVERYONE WELCOME purdue.edu/dawnordoom dawnordoom .
    [Show full text]
  • Redirected Walking for Virtually Expanded Play Area
    SHS Web of Conferences 102, 04008 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202110204008 ETLTC2021 Redirected walking for virtually expanded play area Taiga Moriguchi1* and Michael Cohen1** 1 Spatial Media Group, Computer Arts Lab; University of Aizu; Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima 965-8580; Japan Abstract. We describe a method of achieving redirected walking by modulating subjective translation and rotation. In a real space, a user walks around without leaving a 5 m2 area, but we have built a system that allows virtual movement around a larger area than the real space. This system is realized by translating and rotating the apparent ground in response to user movement. curved in an arc to create the illusion by using haptic 1. Introduction information as well as visual information [5], or another in which the user is shown imagery of the wind blowing These days, with head-mounted displays (HMD) used in from the front and the direction of the wind applied by a virtual reality (VR) becoming increasingly affordable, fan in the real space is gradually changed from the front. more people than ever can experience VR. Most VR There is a method of guiding the user in an arbitrary content can be experienced using a user's direct body direction by letting him or her walk on an unstable movements to induce immersion. However, the space to scaffold in a curved arc [6]. In addition to these visual enjoy VR content (called “Guardian Space” by Oculus and tactile methods, other methods have been proposed, and “Chaperone” by SteamVR) can be limited. Idioms such as dynamically placing sound sources along an such as teleportation, where the user does not move in intended footpath to guide the player [7], or showing a real space but moves from place to place in virtual video of a very unstable scaffolding in a virtual space space, are common in VR gameplay and experience.
    [Show full text]