For class 4/28/14
Post Comments by 11:59 pm on 4/27/14

Questioning naturalism in 3D user interfaces
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2330687
By Doug A. Bowman, Ryan P . McMahan, and Eric D. Ragan
Communications of the ACM 2012 vol. 55 (9)

or get it from box
https://uwmadison.box.com/s/2umddpaksotblcd1o722

As this will be our last reading for the semester we will have a free form discussion.  Write at least 4 paragraphs on the article.  You can discuss points of interest, questions you have, related work, and anything else related to the article. You can also think about position key points made in this article to discussions we have had throughout the semester.

For class 4/21/14
Post Comments by 11:59 pm on 4/20/14

Disney’s Aladdin: first steps toward storytelling in virtual reality
Randy Pausch, Jon Snoddy, Robert Taylor, Scott Watson, Eric Haseltine
http://ivizlab.sfu.ca/arya/Papers/ACM/SIGGRAPH-96/Storytelling%20in%20VR.pdf

Serious games continuum: Between games for purpose and experiential environments for purpose
Tim Marsh
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875952110000224

or here on box

https://uwmadison.box.com/s/mpw7kwntw2b29h8p6och

Discussion Article 1 (Pick 3)

1. Do you feel like storytelling in VR has evolved to the author’s hope?  If why, what do you think has slowed it’s growth.  If yes, descibe examples that you think show this evolution.
2. Are you surprised by the lack of head rotation?  What did you think contributed most to this result?  Would you expect the same type of head rotation profile in the CAVE?
3. Which of the general observations do you find most useful for trying to design a project?  In what ways could you use this insight for your project?
4. In the survey, pick either a result the you found interesting or a question you found curious and briefly discuss.  Do you think it made sense to present the results grouped by gender?
5. Do you feel like the research challenges are still relevant or have been solved?  Choose one of the  challenges that you think would be interesting to try to explore.  Discuss one idea of how you might start to attempt to undertake this challenge.

Discussion Article 2 (Pick 3)

1. Do you agree with the author’s definition of serious games (p 63)?  Do you agree with the continuum on Figure 1?  Can something be a game and have no gaming characteristics for experience?
2. Choose one of the examples listed in section 3.x.  Find and list a  video or external reference for the example.  Discuss how you would position this example on the continuum.
3. Do you agree with the author’s discussion point that serious gaming is a form of cost-effective VR?  Do you think all of VR could be considered a form of serious gaming?
4. Define and discuss the term ‘games’.  Discuss how your definition agrees or contradicts this article
5. You may find a term or topic that you are unfamiliar with.  If you would like to, do a little research on the subject (wikipedia would be a good place to start). Briefly describe your understanding of this concept and how confident you are about this understanding.

For class 4/14/14
Post Comments by 11:59 pm on 4/13/14

Your avatar, your guide
S Murphy – Scientific American Mind, 2011 – nature.com
http://vhil.stanford.edu/news/2011/sciam-your-avatar.pdf

AI seduces Stanford students
K Poulsen – Wired News, 2005 – vhil.stanford.edu
http://vhil.stanford.edu/news/2005/wired-aiseduces.pdf

Why digital avatars make the best teachers
J Bailenson – The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2008 – vhil.stanford.edu
http://vhil.stanford.edu/news/2008/che-avatar-teachers.pdf

Discussion Article 1 (Pick 3)

1. What are your overall impressions of this piece?  Do you find the approaches mentioned more promising or concerning?  Describe why.
2. What are your thoughts on Doppelgänger avatar therapy?  Does this model make sense to you?  What kind of fields could you see this be useful for besides those mentioned in the piece?
3. Discuss the results of the “whale” experiment.  Do the results surprise you?  Do you feel like the same effect would happen on adults (to a lesser degree)?
4. Discuss the concepts of self in relation to this article
5. You may find a term or topic that you are unfamiliar with.  If you would like to, do a little research on the subject (wikipedia would be a good place to start). Briefly describe your understanding of this concept and how confident you are about this understanding.

Discussion Articles 2 and 3

Formulate a brief response to each of these articles (1 to 2 paragraphs).  Whether your response is positive or negative is up to you.

This week we will be reading two papers from IEEE VR 2014.  These papers can be found at:

https://uwmadison.box.com/s/7rerpo60yioc9618hyqj

You will need to use your campus ID to get access to them.  There is also a video included for the first article.

Discussion

This week we will do an unstructured discussion.  For each paper write 3-4 paragraphs (6-8 paragraphs total).  Items in which you can discuss

• Your overall impressions of the article
• Strengths of the work
• Weaknesses of the work
• Questions you have and/or items you would like clarified
• Implications of the work
• What you think the next study should be based on this work

For class 3/10/14
Post Comments by 11:59 pm on 3/9/14

Virtual Reality as the End of the Enlightenment Project
by Simon Penny

Please print out these articles and bring them with you to class on Monday for discussion.  Alternatively, you can bring digital version of the reading with you.

Discussion (Two Parts)

Part 1

What do you think the author is trying to have the reader take away from this piece?   Do you feel this piece is effective overall? What points do you think were effective/convincing for you and which were not? (Write at least 1-2 paragraphs)

Part 2: Pick four of the following

1. Choose one of the examples the author lists of pre-1950 VR.  How would you compare these types of systems to VR systems of today?
2. The paper predicts that a future that we seem not to have arrived to.  Why do you think this disparity exists?  What things do you feel like have come to fruition and things do you feel like are still in the future.
3. Do you agree with the author that VR is different than tradition mediums such as film, television and so on? In what ways is VR similar and in what ways is it different?
4. The author argues that inventors often don’t see the downsides of their own inventions.  Do you feel that this is the case for VR?  Does VR present a more powerful means of presenting images for companies than other forms of media?
5. What do you think about the authors take on “how real is VR?”  Do you find the passenger analogy apt? (state why)
6. What do you think of the Battletech example? Do you feel like video games have taken the role of simulated Interactive media that the author suggests?  What do you think of the authors argument about “undiminished feeling of free will”?
7. What do you think of the section on surveillance?  Do you feel like it fits with the rest of the article?  Describe why or why not
8. What do you think of the quote from Lanier about the cup? Do you agree with the author or Lanier.  Why or why not?
9. The author states that the R in VR is misleading.  Do you agree?
10. The author implies that being inside of a simulated environment can cause the senses to become out of alignment.  Do you agree that this is a concern?  Does the section on cognitive plasticity make this concern seem less threatening?
11. The author brings up the idea that humans only navigate a 2.5D space so that multi-dimensional data representations are not useful.  Do you agree?  Could VR provide a better approach to multi-dimensional data analysis?
12. Do you agree there is no need for a body in VR?  Do you agree that Randy Walser and Eric Gulichsen are misguided in their quote?  Should we be concerned about alternative bodies?
13. You may find a term or topic that you are unfamiliar with.  If you would like to, do a little research on the subject (wikipedia would be a good place to start). Briefly describe your understanding of this concept and how confident you are about this understanding.
14. Find a topic that you interesting, dubious, or curious and explain why.  (Write at least 1 paragraph of explanation and add citations if warranted)

For class 3/3/14
Post Comments by 11:59 pm on 3/2/14

What it is like to see: A sensorimotor theory of perceptual experience
by O’Regan and Noe
http://nivea.psycho.univ-paris5.fr/Synthese/MyinFinal.html

Discussion (Pick 5)

1. Do you agree that the authors theory “provides a unifying framework in which to consider the relations between sensory experience in different sensory modalities …, and the relation between sensory experience and other human activities.”? Briefly discuss the merits or the shortcomings of the authors theory.
2. What do you think of the idea of “feeling the presence of redness”?  Do you agree that this feeling can be described with second-order awareness?  Would it be possible to give a robot or AI the ability to feel the presence of redness?
3. What are you initial thoughts on the ideas presented for “change blindness”? For examples, you can watch a few examples from http://nivea.psycho.univ-paris5.fr/#CB.  In what ways do you see us being able to exploit this in VR applications?
4. While the authors mention machines, the focus for the article is on humans.  Do you think that a machine could have sensation, perception, and/or awareness? If so, describe with examples for each.  If not, describe why not for each.
5. You may find a term or topic that you are unfamiliar with.  If you would like to, do a little research on the subject (wikipedia would be a good place to start). Briefly describe your understanding of this concept and how confident you are about this understanding.
6. Find a topic that you interesting, dubious, or curious and explain why.  Write at least a paragraph of explanation and add citations if warranted.

For class 2/24/14
Post Comments by 11:59 pm on 2/23/14

Virtual Superheroes: Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior

Robin S. Rosenberg, Shawnee L. Baughman, and Jeremy N. Bailenson
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3559425/

This is a press release that describes the project for a more general audience

http://www.livescience.com/26752-superheroes-boost-helpful-behavior.html

Astrojumper: Motivating Exercise with an Immersive Virtual Reality Exergame
Samantha Finkelstein*, Andrea Nickel, Zachary Lipps, Tiffany Barnes, Zachary Wartell and Evan A. Suma
http://people.ict.usc.edu/~suma/papers/finkelstein-presence2011.pdf

Related media:

Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZZmommFnBE 

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0slLnGhcEC4 

Discussion 1 (Pick 3)

1. What do you think of the overall setup of the experiment?  Do you agree with the approach?
2. What do you think of the metrics used in the study?  Do you think these provide an adequate measure of prosocial behavior?
3. If you were going to change something in the experiment what would it be and why?
4. What other prosocial behaviors would you like to test?  Would you design your experiment in the same way?
5. You may find a term or topic that you are unfamiliar with.  If you would like to, do a little research on the subject (wikipedia would be a good place to start). Briefly describe your understanding of this concept and how confident you are about this understanding.
6. Find a topic that you interesting, dubious, or curious and explain why.

Discussion 2 (Pick 3)

1. What design decisions do you think were the wisest in the Astrojumper system?  Which decisions do you think could be improved upon?
2. Do you think using a CAVE was the best VR setup for this system?  Why or why not?
3. What do you think of the measures used in the experiment?  If you were to add another measure, what would you add? Do you think of the heart rate being monitored when it was?  Do you think this was possibly problematic?
4. Pick one of the results and briefly discuss why it is interesting to you.
5. You may find a term or topic that you are unfamiliar with.  If you would like to, do a little research on the subject (wikipedia would be a good place to start). Briefly describe your understanding of this concept and how confident you are about this understanding.
6. Find a topic that you interesting, dubious, or curious and explain why.

For class 2/17/14
Post Comments by 11:59 pm on 2/16/14

Defining virtual reality: Dimensions determining telepresence
Jonathan Steuer
http://ww.cybertherapy.info/pages/telepresence.pdf 

Discussion (Pick 5 of items below.  Each response should be at least a paragraph)

1. In what ways do you think the author’s view on Telepresence differs from Slater’s use of presence?
2. The author lists a number of examples of presence without proximity (e.g. telephone, letters, etc).  Either arguing for or against one of the examples being indicative of presence.
3. The author writes that “redundancy serves to further enhance vividness”.   Do you agree? Is sensory information often “redundant” in our daily lives?  Why or why not?
4. The author writes that there is a trade-off between bandwidth and depth for senses.  In what ways would you for see trying to balance this trade-off in VR?
5. Do you agree with the way Engagement is defined in this article?  Do you feel like matches the previous definition in the Slater paper?  Do you agree that engagement is achieved when we “feel for and with the characters”?
6. Choose 4 items on Figure 3 that you believe are in the wrong place and state where you think they belong (more or less interactive and more or less vivid) and why
7. Do you feel the final paragraph of the article is alarmist or justified?  Why or why not?
8. Find a topic that you interesting, dubious, or curious and explain why.

For class 2/10/14
Post Comments by 11:59 pm on 2/9/14

Place illusion and plausibility can lead to realistic behaviour in immersive virtual environments
Mel Slater
http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1535/3549.full.pdf+html

Which World Is Real? The Future of Virtual Reality
http://www.scienceclarified.com/scitech/Virtual-Reality/Which-World-Is-Real-The-Future-of-Virtual-Reality.html

Please print out these articles and bring them with you to class on Monday for discussion.  Alternatively, you can bring digital versions of the reading with you.

For discussion, please “Leave a Reply” below in the comments section as opposed to creating a new post. Note: The comments were previously shown as closed.  This issue should be resolved now.

 Discussion:

Post 1 (Pick 3, write one paragraph for each):

1. Do you agree with Slater’s breakdown between PI and Psi?  Do you agree with Slater that these concepts are orthogonal? Explain why.
2. Slater writes “The illusion [PI], given the right physical set-up and the appropriate SCs in a particular modality, is automatic—it can coexist with different (but not contradictory) sensations in another modality.”  Do you agree? Explain why.
3. Do you agree that breaks in Psi are harder to overcome than breaks in PI? Explain.
4. The paper references the Milgram Experiment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment).  How do you feel about this experiment being run in Virtual Reality?
5. Select a topic that you find interesting, dubious, confusing or curious and explain why.  Write at least a paragraph of explanation and add citations if warranted.

 Post 2  (Pick 3, write one paragraph for each):

1. The article brings up many concerns about VR.  Pick one to either argue for or against
2. Pick one of the quotes listed in the article that you find apt, interesting, misleading, problematic, etc.  Make an argument for our against the citation.
3. How do you feel about the predictions this article makes?  Do you agree with them?  Do you find them misguided?
4. This article was written some time ago.  Do you think the issues raised are the same issues today?  What types of new issues do you believe have risen up over the last decade.