Desktop VR Is Better Than Non-ambulatory HMD VR for Spatial Learning

Comparing desktop 3D virtual reality with web 2.0 interfaces: Identifying key factors behind enhanced user capabilities

The aim of this paper is to investigate how commonly used 2D digital layouts can be transformed into 3-dimensional dashboards with the effect of reducing cognitive load. To this end, we compared user performance metrics, pupil dilation data as well as subject-reported qualitative measures in a Web 2.0-based 2D scenario and two different versions of a desktop 3D virtual reality scenario. All three scenarios focused on a use case involving the most prevalent 2D digital formats and designs encountered in digital education, making use of e.g. textual information (PDF files, PPT files), images and videos. Based on the assumption that cognitive load differences can be validated based on pupillometry measurements, we showed that it is possible to develop 3D virtual reality scenarios where users experience less cognitive load while achieving the same performance metrics as in commonly used 2D environments. At the same time, our experiment also showed that such improvements do not come automatically; instead, 3D workflows that require less locomotion - even at the expense of increased camera rotations - seem to result in more effective cognitive load reduction.

Active and passive exploration for spatial knowledge acquisition: A meta-analysis

Literature reported mixed evidence on whether active exploration benefits spatial knowledge acquisition over passive exploration. Active spatial learning typically involves at least physical control of one's movement or navigation decision-making, while passive participants merely observe during exploration. To quantify the effects of active exploration in learning large-scale, unfamiliar environments, we analysed previous findings with the multi-level meta-analytical model. Potential moderators were identified and examined for their contributions to the variability in effect sizes. Of the 128 effect sizes retrieved from 33 experiments, we observed a small to moderate advantage of active exploration over passive observation. Important moderators include gender composition, decision-making, types of spatial knowledge, and matched visual information. We discussed the implications of the results along with the limitations.

The Virtual Navigation Toolbox: Providing tools for virtual navigation experiments

Spatial navigation research in humans increasingly relies on experiments using virtual reality (VR) tools, which allow for the creation of highly flexible, and immersive study environments, that can react to participant interaction in real time. Despite the popularity of VR, tools simplifying the creation and data management of such experiments are rare and often restricted to a specific scope-limiting usability and comparability. To overcome those limitations, we introduce the Virtual Navigation Toolbox (VNT), a collection of interchangeable and independent tools for the development of spatial navigation VR experiments using the popular Unity game engine. The VNT's features are packaged in loosely coupled and reusable modules, facilitating convenient implementation of diverse experimental designs. Here, we depict how the VNT fulfils feature requirements of different VR environments and experiments, guiding through the implementation and execution of a showcase study using the toolbox. The presented showcase study reveals that homing performance in a classic triangle completion task is invariant to translation velocity of the participant's avatar, but highly sensitive to the number of landmarks. The VNT is freely available under a creative commons license, and we invite researchers to contribute, extending and improving tools using the provided repository.

Virtual reality against Zoom fatigue? A field study on the teaching and learning experience in interactive video and VR conferencing

Aim

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the absence of in-person teaching was partially compensated for through videoconferencing. However, lecturers complain that students do not participate actively in video-based online seminars. One reason cited for this is Zoom fatigue. Conferences in virtual reality (VR), accessible with and without head-mounted display, represent one potential remedy to this issue. The research to date does not shed any light on the (1.) teaching experience, (2.) student demand, (3.) learning experience (including participation and social presence), and (4.) learning performance (declarative and spatial) associated with VR conferences. The present work will compare these aspects for videoconferencing, independent study, and - in the case of teaching experience - with in-person teaching.

Methods

A compulsory seminar in General Physiology was offered during the 2020/21 winter semester and the 2021 summer semester as part of the Human Medicine program at the Faculty of Medicine at Ulm University. The seminars were offered in three different formats with identical content: (a) VR conference, (b) video conference, and (c) independent study, with students selecting the format of their choice. In the VR conferences, the lecturer taught using a head-mounted display while students participated via PC, laptop, or tablet. The learning experience and learning performance were assessed using questionnaires and a knowledge test. A semi-structured interview was conducted to assess the VR teaching experience.

Results

The lecturer's teaching experience in the VR conferences was similar to in-person teaching. Students predominantly chose independent study and videoconferencing. The latter resulted in worse outcomes with regard to learning experience (including participation and social presence) and spatial learning performance than the VR conferences. Declarative learning performance differed only slightly between teaching formats.

Conclusions

VR conferencing offers lecturers new didactic opportunities and a teaching experience similar to that of in-person teaching. Students prefer time-efficient videoconferencing and independent study, but rate participation and social presence, among other things, higher in VR conferencing. If faculty and students are open to the technology, VR conferencing can promote interactive exchange in online seminars. This subjective assessment is not associated with better declarative learning performance.

Design of Smart Head–Mounted Display Technology: A Convergent Mixed-Methods Study

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to characterize functional impairments and human factor considerations that affect perceptions and preferences for head-mounted display (HMD) technology for adults with low vision and chronic eye disease. Methods: Through a convergent mixed-methods design, participants with visual impairments (age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, or retinitis pigmentosa) were recruited. Participants completed the Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) questionnaire, used commercially available HMDs (eSight, NuEyes, and Epson Moverio), and were interviewed. The IVI was used to identify groups with low, moderate, and high vision–related quality of life (VRQOL). Transcribed interviews were analyzed using a thematic approach. The survey and qualitative findings were integrated using mixed-methods joint display analysis. Results: Twenty-one participants were enrolled (mean age of 58.2 years, 57% male, median Snellen acuity of 20/40 [range: 20/20–hand movement]). An equal number ( n = 9) expressed a preference for eSight and NuEyes, while ( n = 3) preferred the Moverio. Participants emphasized ease of use, including HMD controls and screen, as common reasons for preference. Those with lower IVI well-being scores preferred eSight due to vision improvement. Those with moderate IVI well-being scores preferred NuEyes due to comfort and size. Those with high IVI well-being scores cited usability as the most important feature. Discussion: User preferences for HMD features were associated with VRQOL. A mixed-methods approach explained how varying degrees of visual impairment and HMD preferences were qualitatively related to usability at the individual level. Implications for Practitioners: To increase acceptance, new HMD development for low vision should focus on performance, usability, and human factors engineering. Although HMD technology can benefit individuals with low vision, device features and functions vary in meaningful ways based on vision parameters. Practitioners should be aware of how patient and device variations influence preferences when they recommend wearable systems and optimize training to harness these systems.

Learning from feedback: Evaluation of dynamic decision-making in virtual reality under various repetitive training frameworks

Dynamic decision-making involves a series of interconnected interdependent confluence of decisions to be made. Experiential training is preferred over traditional methods to train individuals in dynamic decision-making. Imparting experiential training in physical settings can be very expensive and unreliable. In virtual reality (VR), synthetic environments play a significant role in providing flexible and cost-effective training environments to enhance dynamic decision-making. However, it is still unclear how VR can be used to impart dynamic decision-making training to increase cognitive performance in complex situations. Besides, different repetitive training methods like desirable difficulty framework and heterogeneity of practice have been evaluated on generic cognitive and motor tasks. However, an evaluation of how these repetitive training methods facilitate dynamic decision-making in an individual in a virtual complex environment setting is lacking in the literature. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of different repetitive training methods in immersive VR on dynamic decision-making in a complex search-and-shoot environment. In a lab-based experiment, 66 healthy subjects are divided equally and randomly into three between-subject training conditions: heterogenous, difficult, and sham. On Day 1, all the participants, regardless of the condition, executed an environment of a baseline difficulty level. From Days 2 to 7, the participants alternatively executed the novice difficulty and expert difficulty versions of the environment in the heterogenous condition. In difficult conditions, the participants executed the expert difficulty version of the environment from Days 2 to 7. In the sham condition, the participants executed an unrelated VR environment from Days 2 to 7. On Day 8, the participants executed the baseline difficulty version of the environment again in all the conditions. Various performance and workload-based measures were acquired. Results revealed that the participants in the heterogenous and difficult conditions performed significantly better on Day 8 compared with Day 1. The results inferred that a combination of immersive VR environment with repetitive heterogenous training maximized performance and decreased cognitive workload at transfer. We expect to use these conclusions to create effective training environments in VR for imparting training to military personnel in dynamic decision-making scenarios.

Development of Low-Fidelity Virtual Replicas of Products for Usability Testing

Designers perform early-stage formative usability tests with low-fidelity prototypes to improve the design of new products. This low-tech prototype style reduces the manufacturing resources but limits the functions that can be assessed. Recent advances in technology enable designers to create low-fidelity 3D models for users to engage in a virtual environment. Three-dimensional models communicate design concepts and are not often used in formative usability testing. The proposed method discusses how to create a virtual replica of a product by assessing key human interaction steps and addresses the limitations of translating those steps into a virtual environment. In addition, the paper will provide a framework to evaluate the usability of a product in a virtual setting, with a specific emphasis on low-resource online testing in the user population. A study was performed to pilot the subject’s experience with the proposed approach and determine how the virtual online simulation impacted the performance. The study outcomes demonstrated that subjects were able to successfully interact with the virtual replica and found the simulation realistic. This method can be followed to perform formative usability tests earlier and incorporate subject feedback into future iterations of their design, which can improve safety and product efficacy.

Systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis on virtual reality and education

The objective of this study is to identify and analyze the scientific literature with a bibliometric analysis to find the main topics, authors, sources, most cited articles, and countries in the literature on virtual reality in education. Another aim is to understand the conceptual, intellectual, and social structure of the literature on the subject and identify the knowledge base of the use of VR in education and whether it is commonly used and integrated into teaching-learning processes. To do this, articles indexed in the Main Collections of the Web of Science, Scopus and Lens were analyzed for the period 2010 to 2021. The research results are presented in two parts: the first is a quantitative analysis that provides an overview of virtual reality (VR) technology used in the educational field, with tables, graphs, and maps, highlighting the main performance indicators for the production of articles and their citation. The results obtained found a total of 718 articles of which the following were analyzed 273 published articles. The second stage consisted of an inductive type of analysis that found six major groups in the cited articles, which are instruction and learning using VR, VR learning environments, use of VR in different fields of knowledge, learning processes using VR applications or games, learning processes employing simulation, and topics published during the Covid-19 pandemic. Another important aspect to mention is that VR is used in many different areas of education, but until the beginning of the pandemic the use of this so-called "disruptive process" came mainly from students, Institutions were reluctant and slow to accept and include VR in the teaching-learning processes.

A comparison of cybersickness symptoms across 360-degree hazard perception and hazard prediction tests for drivers

Hazard perception assessment may benefit from VR-presentation by removing field-of-view restrictions imposed by single-screen tests. One concern is whether VR-induced 'cybersickness' will offset any benefits. Self-reported cybersickness ratings were recorded from 77 participants viewing two variants of a 360-degree hazard test: hazard perception and hazard prediction. The latter was hypothesised to be particularly susceptible as clips abruptly cut to a probe question at hazard onset. Such sudden occlusions are thought to increase cybersickness. Overall cybersickness levels were low, with only four participants excluded for above-threshold sickness ratings. The remaining participants showed unexpectedly lower symptoms for the hazard prediction test and rated this test format as more comfortable and engaging. These findings mitigate concerns over the use of 360-degree videos in formative hazard assessments, even when clips involve sudden occlusions. Nonetheless, removal of any participants due to cybersickness raises problems for using VR for formal assessments of hazard perception skill.

Universal access: user needs for immersive captioning

This article focuses on building a prototyping for immersive captioning following a user-centric approach. This methodology is characterised by following a bottom-up approach, where usability and user needs are at the heart of the development. Recent research on user requirements for captioning in immersive environments has shown that there is both a need for improvement and a wealth of research opportunities. The final aim is to identify how to display captions for an optimal viewing experience. This work began four years ago with some partial findings. We build from the lessons learnt, focussing on the user-centric design requirements cornerstone: prototyping. Our prototype framework integrates methods used in existing solutions aiming at instant contrast-and-compare functionalities. The first part of the article presents the state of the art for user requirements identifying the reasons behind the development of the prototyping framework. The second part of the article describes the two-stage framework development. The initial framework concept answered to the challenges resulting from the previous research. As soon as the first framework was developed, it became obvious that a second improved solution was required, almost as a showcase on how ideas can quickly be implemented for user testing, and for users to elicit requirements and creative solutions. The article finishes with a list of functionalities, resulting in new caption modes, and the opportunity of becoming a comprehensive immersive captions testbed, where tools such as eye-tracking, or physiological testing devices could be testing captions across any device with a web browser.

Development of a Virtual Ecological Environment for Learning the Taipei Tree Frog

The learning objectives of environmental education emphasize investigation in real life to enhance students’ skills and experiences in solving practical problems. This study used the virtual reality (VR) technology to develop a virtual ecological environment for learning about the Taipei tree frog, supported by situated learning and game-based learning design to enhance students’ learning interest and motivation. Users can wear the head-mounted display (HMD) to explore the virtual environment for learning the Taipei tree frog’s ecological behavior, such as foraging and mating as well as its habitats and predators. A teaching experiment was conducted to investigate students’ learning effectiveness and the senses of presence and anxiety after using the virtual ecological environment. The experimental group (wearing the HMD) contained 40 students, the control group (using the desktop VR) contained 40 students, and both groups were used as samples to learn about the Taipei tree frog. The results indicated that using HMD VR and desktop VR could both enhance learning achievements, but the learning effectiveness of the former was significantly higher than that of the latter. The levels of anxiety for both groups were about the same, but the level of presence for the experimental group was higher than that of the control group because the HMD VR provided a more immersive experience than the desktop VR. The virtual ecological environment can save the time and effort of travelling to the natural habitat for observing the Taipei tree frog, and the design of role-playing game (RPG) can enhance learners’ interest and motivation. Therefore, it is a useful tool for promoting environmental education.