Publications
Holding Hands for Short-Term Group Navigation in Social Virtual Reality
Prior research has shown that social interactions in VR benefit from techniques for group navigation that bring multiple users to a common destination together. In this work, we propose the metaphor of holding onto another user’s virtual hand for the ad-hoc formation of a navigational group and report on the positive results of an initial usability study in an exploratory two-user scenario.
Virtual Rotations for Maneuvering in Immersive Virtual Environments
We present Anchored Jumping, a teleportation technique for maneuvering that allows the explicit specification of a new viewing direction by selecting a point of interest as part of the target specification process. We show that Anchored Jumping allows precise and comfortable maneuvering and is compatible with techniques that mainly support virtual exploration and search.
Group Navigation in Multi-User Virtual Reality
This thesis suggests the use of group navigation techniques in multi-user virtual reality to support groups in their efforts of getting to a common destination together. It presents research results manifested in four peer-reviewed scientific publications, which confirm that group navigation techniques are a valuable addition to the portfolio of interaction techniques in multi-user virtual reality systems. The presented conceptual framework, the derived quality requirements, and the development of novel group navigation techniques provide effective guidance for application developers and inform future research in this area.
Group Navigation for Guided Tours in Distributed Virtual Environments
Group navigation techniques should be comprehensible for both the guide and the attendees, assist the group in avoiding collisions with obstacles, and allow the creation of meaningful spatial arrangements with respect to objects of interest. To meet these requirements, we developed a group navigation technique based on short-distance teleportation and evaluated it in an initial user study.
An Overview of Group Navigation in Multi-User Virtual Reality
We review the different facets, the resulting challenges, and previous implementations of group navigation techniques in the literature and derive four broad and non-exclusive topic areas for future research on the subject. Our overarching goal is to underline the importance of optimizing navigation processes for groups and to increase the awareness of group navigation techniques as a relevant solution approach in this regard.
Multi-Window 3D Interaction for Collaborative Virtual Reality
We present a novel collaborative virtual reality system that offers multiple immersive 3D views at large 3D scenes. The physical setup consists of two synchronized multi-user 3D displays - a tabletop and a large vertical projection screen. Our developments enable seamless 3D interaction across these independent 3D views.
Getting There Together: Group Navigation in Distributed Virtual Environments
We analyzed the design space of group navigation tasks in distributed virtual environments and present a framework consisting of techniques to form groups, distribute responsibilities, navigate together, and eventually split up again. To improve joint navigation, our work focused on an extension of the Multi-Ray Jumping technique that allows adjusting the spatial formation of two distributed users as part of the target specification process.
On the Usage of the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire for Virtual Reality Research
We illustrate the inherent challenges of applying the SSQ in virtual reality research and highlight large differences that can be found in related work. Based on our observations, we conclude by providing suggestions on how to improve the expressiveness of SSQ results in future studies and encourage researchers to consider simpler measurement methods if their research questions allow.
Tracking Multiple Collocated HTC Vive Setups in a Common Coordinate System
Multiple collocated HTC Vive setups sharing the same base stations and room calibration files still track their devices in different coordinate systems. We present a procedure for mapping the tracking data of multiple users to a common coordinate system and show that it enables spatially consistent interactions of collocated collaborators.
Multi-Ray Jumping: Comprehensible Group Navigation for Collocated Users in Immersive Virtual Reality
In this paper, we focus on the design and evaluation of short-range teleportation techniques (jumping) for a group of collocated users wearing head-mounted displays. We formulate the requirements for comprehensible group jumping and propose a novel Multi-Ray Jumping technique for the joint travel of collocated dyads.
Spatial Updating and Simulator Sickness During Steering and Jumping in Immersive Virtual Environments
In this paper, we present a formal description and classification scheme for teleportation techniques and its application to the classification of jumping, a range-restricted variant of teleportation for exploring virtual environments. In addition, we demonstrate the results of a user study that compared jumping to the more conventional steering regarding spatial updating and simulator sickness.
Navigation in Immersive Virtual Reality - The Effects of Steering and Jumping Techniques on Spatial Updating (Extended Thesis Abstract)
This thesis describes navigation by jumping, a range-restricted variant of teleportation commonly implemented in modern VR applications. It illustrates the design space of jumping techniques and evaluates them with respect to spatial orientation performance and simulator sickness. The results indicate that jumping is a viable alternative to steering.
ShakeCast: Using Handshake Detection for Automated, Setup-Free Exchange of Contact Data
We present ShakeCast, a system for automatic peer-to-peer exchange of contact information between two persons who just shook hands. The accelerometer in a smartwatch is used to detect the physical handshake and implicitly triggers a setup-free information transfer between the users' personal smartphones using Bluetooth LE broadcasts.
Navigation in Immersive Virtual Reality - The Effects of Steering and Jumping Techniques on Spatial Updating
The goal of this thesis is to extend previous research by investigating spatial awareness in immersive Virtual Reality when using active, user-initiated jumping techniques in comparison to the one obtained by traditional steering. For this purpose, the thesis explores spatial awareness on different fidelity levels, thereby focusing on the measure of spatial updating for its quantification.
The Massive Mobile Multiuser Framework: Enabling Ad-Hoc Realtime Interaction on Public Displays with Mobile Devices
In this paper, we present the Massive Mobile Multiuser (M³) framework, a software platform designed to enable setup-free, real-time, concurrent interaction with shared public displays through large numbers of personal mobile devices. M³ enables immediate interaction through the mobile browser without requiring prior setup on the user side and real-time interaction suitable for fast multiplayer games.
MMM Ball: Showcasing the Massive Mobile Multiuser Framework
We present a live demonstration of the Massive Mobile Multiuser (M³) framework at the example of a public game which has already been shown to support up to 17 concurrent users. Despite a resource-constrained environment and an unpredictable selection of client devices, M³ consistently delivers performance suitable for real-time interaction.
Konfigurierbare und generische Applikationsinfrastrukturen für 3D-Multi-User-Multi-Display-Umgebungen in der Virtuellen Realität
Ziel dieser Bachelorarbeit ist es, eine konfigurierbare und generische Applikationsinfrastruktur für Multi-Display-Umgebungen im Kontext der Virtuellen Realität zu schaffen. Neben Kriterien der technischen Realisierbarkeit werden dafür zwei Implementierungsstrategien aufgezeigt. Beide Implementierungsstrategien werden hinsichtlich ihrer Machbarkeit bezüglich eines definierten Anforderungskatalogs diskutiert.
