HIT Lab NZ: Theses and Dissertations
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Item Open Access Immersive virtual reality for children in formal education.(2023) Belter, MeikeThis PhD thesis explored the integration of virtual reality (VR) technology into formal education, specifically targeting school-aged children. While VR has gained traction primarily for entertainment, this study sought to harness its immersive potential for educational purposes within, for example, schools. Games have long been recognized as valuable tools for enhancing learning experiences. In recent years, schools have increasingly adopted them, particularly in subjects such as math. Not all learning methods and tools are inclusive to all learners. Common challenges for children in a school context are inattention and hyperactivity. VR, with its ability to create immersive and customizable environments, presents an intriguing avenue for addressing these challenges. To address this, a VR math game was developed for this research, drawing from established educational frameworks and insights garnered from subject matter experts. Through qualitative interviews and thorough requirement analysis, the game’s design was refined. Subsequently, two user studies were conducted within real-world school environments. The initial study focused on assessing usability and refining the prototype based on user feedback. Encouraging outcomes paved the way for a more extensive second study. This followup delved into the influence of a reward system and virtual agent on the user experience, and comparing the VR game against a non-VR counterpart. The findings demonstrated that the VR game not only cultivated positive user experiences but also heightened motivation and engagement. Despite these promising results, further exploration is necessary to determine the role of ‘peerpresence’ in VR learning, and the game’s suitability for children with clinically diagnosed attention and hyperactivity issues. This research adds valuable insights into the process of creating inclusive and effective VR learning experiences. Through a comprehensive research approach, including design, usability testing, and user studies, the thesis underscored the potential of VR to enhance user engagement and experiences within educational contexts.Item Open Access Feeling moved in VR concerts.(2023) Aguilar, David J.This research explores the user experience design elements necessary to evoke the emotion called kama muta, most commonly known as” being moved” or “being touched”, in a virtual reality concert. Previous research has been able to mediate this emotion using video, nevertheless, to the best of my knowledge, no work has been done related to evoking kama muta in Virtual Reality. Accordingly, a VR experience prototype was created to simulate the performance of a fictional pop singer called X-ABC, who would have been dealing with grief as a consequence of his brother being missing and decides to share his feelings with the audience. Twenty participants took part in a between subjects’ study, in which they reported their emotional state using the KAMMUS Two, and Bailenson’s social presence questionnaires. Ultimately, participants’ answers were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Overall, the findings suggest that it is possible to elicit kama muta in a simulation by featuring a narrative that increases the intensity of communal sharing relationships, such as loss, reunion, or memories of loved ones. It was also found that the user-experience design elements that contributed the most to the emotional response were a set of floating screens with portraits of the siblings when they were children, a believable voice acting and a character with emotional facial animations which were also lip-synced with the acted voice.Item Open Access Redirected hands for reducing arm fatigue during mid-air interactions in virtual reality.(2023) Hobson, AlexMuscle fatigue is a major impediment to the long-term usage and acceptance of Virtual Reality (VR). Users must routinely manipulate objects, perform repeated teleportations, and interact with user interface elements using prolonged arm and hand gestures. One leading strategy for reducing arm fatigue is ray-casting, which gives the user a laser pointer metaphor, allowing them to select objects with a comfortable position of the arms, but limits the fidelity of interactions by deviating from how hands are used in the real world. In this thesis a lesser-explored strategy to address arm fatigue is explored: hand redirection. “Hand redirection” is a technique made possible with VR, where the user can be fooled into believing their hand is in a different location to where it is in the real world, since people are visually dominant and VR completely immerses a person’s vision. Existing hand redirection literature mainly relates to being able to redirect the hand to a sparse haptic proxy, allowing the user to feel objects in VR, however its impact on arm fatigue is lesser explored. In this thesis, hand redirection is explored as a practical mitigation strategy addressing arm fatigue in VR, which still supports natural hand interactions (unlike ray-casting). A system was built that provides hand tracking and a physical surface at different heights, such that the user can touch the lower or tilted surface, and still see themselves touching an upright surface at eye level in VR. A between-subjects study was then conducted with 48 participants across six conditions, using a 2×3 mixed-factorial design, with two levels of redirection (Tilted, Redirected) and a control (No Redirection), with (Present) and without (Not Present) a physical surface on which to tap. The findings show that hand redirection is a valid way to reduce arm fatigue in VR, since arm fatigue was dramatically reduced without a significant impact on task performance. This behaviour differs when looking at results when the surface was present versus when it was not, suggesting that the way in which users behave in the presence of hand redirection is different when there is a physical surface to touch. Finally, the Tilted condition (where the board was rotated but not moved vertically) did not reduce arm fatigue, suggesting that the main way to reduce arm fatigue is to introduce a vertical offset rather than changing the angle that the hand interacts with the virtual content.Item Open Access Augmented reality for alternative measuring techniques in geospatial field work.(2023) Turton, DavidThis thesis assesses the value of a LiDAR application created for the the collection of data in geospatial field work. Several interfaces were developed for this tool with the purpose of determining the best method of selection in 3D space using augmented reality for data collection. Background research evaluates multiple tools and the validity of mobile LiDAR for measuring and data collection. Selection in 3D space using augmented reality is complex and multiple tools were analyzed for how they could be adapted for this task. Two user studies were performed. The first user study was performed with non- professional users aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of the different interfaces developed based on time taken, efficiency, accuracy, and user experience. The second user study consisted of interviews and test runs with GIS developers who analyzed the interfaces, gave feedback on them, and discussed how they compare to existing workflows in GIS data collection. Feedback from these studies was used to determine the best possible interface for the application, how the interfaces can be improved, and if it can operate as a potential alternative measuring tool to existing workflow.Item Open Access Acting aids in virtual production.(2023) Moisset, SylvainPrevious research has shown how using virtual production could solve some of the inherent problems that suffers the traditional film making workflow mainly by bringing more flexibility to the overall process, allowing more iterative work and more communication between all the departments involved. That being said, studies have also shown that for actors, working on a film that involves visual effects can put a lot of strain on their concentration and attention and lead to a frustrating experience for them and potentially less optimal results for the film. This project’s aim is to study if a virtual production setup can be used to provide actors, in a visual effects film making environment, with acting aids in the form of visual cues on a display. It also aims at studying which cues are more helpful for actors. A simple setup was designed to mimic the experience of acting in a professional virtual production volume. The system includes the possibility of displaying different cues within the virtual production environment. A user study was run on a sample of actors to identify if cuing using a virtual production setup leads to better results. Experts opinions were collected during the design phase of the project to assess the relevance of the project and get directions for the design of the prototype and the use study.Item Open Access TUFT-XR : exploring tactility for underfoot sensation with simulated fabric textures in extended reality.(2023) Topliss, JackThis thesis research focuses on the relationship between visual and tactile feedback and their impact on a person’s underfoot tactile perception of materials. Specifically, the research explores whether changing the visual appearance of materials affects a person’s underfoot tactile perception and which tactile perception is most affected by the change. Additionally, the study examines whether people are aware of changes in visual appearance when focused on other tasks. A mixed reality system was developed to answer these questions, and two tactile perception experiments were conducted. The first experiment involved 18 participants rating three tactile properties (roughness, hardness, and stiffness) for four different flooring materials, each with four different virtual overlays. The aim was to determine whether visual appearance affects tactile perception and whether materials with different tactile properties are impacted differently. Results indicated that tactile perception was most impacted by changes in visual appearance for roughness, and less so for more extreme tactile properties. The second experiment investigated whether users were aware of changes in tactile feedback when focused on a task in virtual reality. Eighteen participants walked around the experiment space standing on virtual objects, with two different materials covering the experiment flooring space. Nine participants each experienced virtual textures matching the flooring, and a single texture covered the experiment floor. Results showed that participants were more aware of walking between the different floorings when the visual appearance matched the flooring than when only a single texture was presented. Overall, the research demonstrates that visual appearance can impact tactile perception, particularly for roughness. Users are more aware of changes in tactile feedback when the visual appearance matches the flooring. These findings have implications for the development of immersive technologies in various fields, including product design.Item Open Access 5 Minute Volcano: designing serious games about volcanic hazards for a bi-cultural environment.(2023) Wall, KieronThis thesis proposal intends to asses how serious games can be designed to communicate volcanic tsunami risk in the bi-cultural environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. Background research has shown that children are vulnerable to natural hazards, yet crucial in risk communication. Serious games have been developed to help children learn, yet the research gaps are extensive. This research proposes working with a M¯aori kura to co-design a serious game for school children about tsunami risk communication and evacuation strategies. The tamariki engaged in workshops and through exploratory observational and interview qualitative methods, the prototype 5-Minute Volcano was designed, incorporating Māori and Western cultural aspects. The user study conducted observed a small group of four children whilst they played the game, and the feedback was used to determine if serious games can be used for learning and risk reduction in future studies.Item Open Access Exploring effective storytelling guidelines for cinematic virtual reality(2022) Tong, LingweiContent creators have been exploring ways to use virtual reality (VR) as an effective storytelling tool. The term cinematic virtual reality (CVR) was then created to describe the kind of VR experience that is produced using pre-rendered content with lengthier and complete story structures, with the interaction design that enables viewers to actively choose where to look. Initially, creators of CVR content began by transferring storytelling grammars and techniques from mature media, such as cinema and theater. However, specific challenges for CVR followed, including the narrative paradox (NP) (which is the conflict and tension arising between authorial control and viewer agency), the fear of missing out (FOMO), and the discrepancy between viewer expectations on agency and the system’s interactive capacity. Because CVR is a type of immersive experience, viewers are also inclined to interact with the story world freely. To achieve a final product that is a successful and engrossing storytelling experience, creators must address the NP and FOMO issues and establish a design balance between authorial control and viewer participation in terms of narrative progression. To investigate the issues raised above and assess potential solutions, several user studies were undertaken in this thesis. A human body-language-based attention guidance cue set called Action Units (AUs) was created to address the FOMO issue. It was then compared with two other commonly used synthetic cues for user experiences. According to the findings, the use of AUs in CVR content can boost viewer enjoyment and engagement with the story. The AUs were also favored by viewers for their diegetic qualities and by creators for the simplicity of use. Moving on to the NP issue, the second user study sought to identify the upper limit of a viewer’s desire to actively interact and participate in the narration. Results indicated that viewer control is advised for CVR projects. To handle viewer curiosity and motivate them to interact freely, creators must carefully set up the interactors. Based on the findings, a coherent framework was researched and developed by tying together previously acquired knowledge and rules that were dispersed to various components of producing CVR with the workflow that a creator uses to build the experience. The procedure resulted in a formalized framework called the Adaptive Playback Control (APC) for CVR. The APC starts by guiding content preparation by highlighting the need for applying diegetic attention guidance cues. It also includes guidelines for interactive design by emphasizing the need for design considerations regarding the harmony between viewer and creator roles in directing the narrative development, and raising the visibility of interaction affordances in the immersive storytelling experience. Then, a real-world case study of applying the APC to an immersive Māori (New Zealand indigenous people) storytelling experience was presented. The case study examined whether viewer-participatory design, including profiling viewers and the strategies to introduce narrative variations, was culturally appropriate. In this case study, personalized variations were added to CVR by taking into account both the unique demands of each viewer and their participation in the storytelling process. Insights from the case study showed that for creators to safely guarantee that experiences will live up to viewer expectations and be entertaining and diverse, individual users must also be taken into account from the very beginning of content design. Finally, this thesis offers the Adaptive Playback Control (APC), a novel frame- work for those who create CVR experiences. They can follow the framework’s instructions to create materials specifically designed for an immersive experience utilizing pre-rendered content, such as 360-degree videos. It intends to address the FOMO issue and help creators produce CVR experiences with correct viewer interaction and integrated viewer personalization, resolving the problem of NP and improving the overall experience. This thesis also employed a case study to show how adaptable the framework is and how it may be used in a larger context, in and beyond the cultural heritage sector.Item Open Access Gyroscope induced force feedback for ball impact simulation in exergames.(2022) Leete, HaydenA haptic feedback device for simulating batting sport haptics was designed using the resultant gyroscopic effect from rapidly reorienting spinning flywheels and integrated into a custom cricket themed virtual reality exergame. The device was capable of producing impact vibrations and a 0.1 N m torque. A within-subjects user study conducted on 16 participants, and player presence was evaluated using the Presence Questionnaire. The results of the user study were statistically insignificant due to a small sample size (p=0.153), and we were unable to reject the null hypothesis, but visual data analysis was used to identify trends that supported our hypothesis that increase haptic feedback fidelity increases presence in virtual reality batting sports exergames. Due to the statistical insignificance of these results, further research should be conducted to confirm these findings.Item Open Access Development of a volcanic hazard visualisation tool for risk communication(2022) Pourgolmohammadgolshani, AmiraliNew Zealand is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of natural disasters. It is highly susceptible to geological disasters sch as earthquakes due to being located where the Pacific and Australian plates meet. New Zealand is home to 12 active volcanoes whose eruptions produce a wide variety of hazards, making the majority of the people living in New Zealand, susceptible to volcanic activity. Communication of geological risks is an important component of disaster risk management. Giving people who are at risk of being affected by volcanic hazards the right training and information is imperative for them to be able to make the correct decisions in the event of a disaster. With the advances in computer technologies, new and interactive methods of communication and visualisation are possible. In this paper we created and evaluated an interactive volcanic hazard simulation and visualisation application. This application is capable of visualising the landscape of mount Ruapehu in 3D. The ap- plication also uses mathematical model of volcanic ballistics to simulate the hazard allowing the user to create custom eruptions and view them. The application also outputs the data generated by these simulated volcanic particles which can be used to visualise the hazard footprint of various eruptions using a top down map of Ruapehu. A user study was conducted to evaluate whether such an application would allow volcanologist experts to better communicate volcanic hazard risks with the various stakeholders they engage with. Six volcanologists were interviewed and their feedback on the application was used to create a list of requirements for the future iterations of this application or to be used by other researchers and developers to create similar applications. The results of this study showed that volcanologist need interactive visualisation applications to better communicate with various communities to better disseminate critical information.Item Open Access Involving children in the design process of VR games aimed at improving attention in children with ADHD.(2022) MacKay, JamesAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder which affects the ability to direct attention, and mediate impulsive behaviour. Children with ADHD tend to perform worse academically than their peers due to challenges focusing within a traditional classroom. Research suggests video games aimed at training attention can improve these children’s performance, and more recently, Virtual Reality (VR) applications are being studied as they allow for precise control of potentially distracting elements in such a game. This research looks at how children can be involved in the design process of such a game, through co-design. A class of children took part in design activities to generate ideas for a VR game, which were used in conjunction with existing design recommendations for children with ADHD to create a prototype game designed to improve attention in the classroom. The game is a rhythm game, designed to train children’s ability to direct and sustain their attention. The game’s design and usability were evaluated on a return visit to the classroom. Overall, the design process succeeded in producing a game which the children enjoyed playing, and many were proud to see their ideas in the prototype.Item Open Access Using Augmented Reality for real-time feedback to enhance the execution of the squat.(2022) Chun, SungdeukThe importance of exercise and strength training has been emphasised, yet it is shown that the number of people who do not reach the average recommended hours of exercise has increased (WHO, 2020). Currently, a range of physical fitness products employs the use of technology. These products focus on providing engaging experiences but do not provide personalised real-time feedback to improve the execution of the exercise and reduce the risk of injuries. Hence, this research aims to explore the effectiveness of AR technology in providing real-time visual feedback for squat motion. Furthermore, which type of visual feedback is most effective for reducing errors in squat performance is also explored. This prototype includes a large screen that shows a mirror image of the participant as they perform squats with four different types of real-time visual feedback implemented. The motion of the participants was captured using the Kinect v2 system. This prototype focuses on giving feedback about the knee valgus error, which commonly occurs during the squat motion. The four visual feedback types implemented are Traffic, Arrow, Avatar, and All-in-One. A user study with twenty participants was conducted to evaluate the feedback methods. The participants performed ten squats for each type of visual feedback, and their performance was measured with the frequency of the good, moderate, and poor squats they performed. A User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) and a post-experiment interview were also conducted to measure their preferences and opinions regarding visual feedback. The results showed that Arrow outperformed the other conditions in terms of performance, followed by All-in-One, Traffic and Avatar. However, the majority of participants preferred Traffic, Arrow, All-in-One and Avatar in the descending order of preferences. The participants could further be categorised into two groups, a beginner and an advanced group. It was found that the beginner group preferred All-in-One, Arrow, Traffic and Avatar, in descending order. For the advanced group, in descending order, their performance ranked with Arrow to be best and followed by Traffic, All-in-One and Avatar. However, the majority preferred Traffic, followed by Arrow, Avatar and All-in-One. The difference in performance results between the two groups can be attributed to the beginner group participants needing more information to improve their performance. In contrast, the advanced group benefits from a more straightforward and more intuitive visual feedback type since they already have sufficient knowledge. Future work could include a lateral view of the squat motion which would deliver more information to the user. Lastly, this prototype design can be extended to detect other types of errors users often perform during the squat motion or other strength training exercises or sports.Item Open Access User-defined interaction using everyday objects for augmented reality first-person action games.(2022) Greenslade, MacThis thesis covers research into the use of everyday objects as props in first-person augmented reality action games. The thesis aims to answer three research questions: • RQ: Do more commonly chosen everyday objects provide a more immersive experience when used as props in a first-person augmented reality action game? – SQ1: Can a consensus be reached for what types of everyday objects are used as props in a first-person augmented reality action game? – SQ2: How can everyday objects be used as props in a first-person augmented reality action game? An elicitation study was performed to investigate these research questions. Participants in the study were offered a range of everyday objects that they could select as a prop to control a virtual sword, shield and then crossbow. Each participant completed a short game task with each virtual object, using their selection, filled in a questionnaire to measure their immersion and completed a short interview after all tasks were completed. Results from the study indicate that no, more commonly chosen everyday objects do not necessarily provide a more immersive experience when used as props in a first-person augmented reality action game - due to no significant differences found between immersion scores for the consensus and remaining objects. Yes, a consensus can be reached for what types of everyday objects are used as props in a first-person augmented reality action game but not necessarily for all virtual objects - the sword was found to have medium agreement with a shoehorn as the most popular choice, the shield was found to have high agreement with a pot-lid as the most popular choice and no consensus was found for the crossbow object. The qualitative results indicated that everyday objects can be used as props in a first-person augmented reality action game by providing intuitive ways to use the everyday objects that mimic how players would expect the virtual objects to be used and activated.Item Open Access Improving the virtual flame experience and engagement with an electric fireplace at home(2022) Qiao, HanTechniques for electrical flame effects have been around since at least 1981. Since then, various faux flame techniques using smoke and mirrors have been applied in electric fireplaces to achieve more realistic visual effects. However, two main issues, (1) the low visual appeal of fake flames and (2) the lack of interactions, are still seriously affecting the user experience. This research is about the design and evaluation of an electric fireplace system that uses 3D display technologies and interactive methods to address the above issues. The goals of this research are twofold: 1) to evaluate the visual experience of different 3D display technologies 2) to explore innovative methods for the user to interact with an electric fireplace and evaluate the user experience. For that purpose, we developed two prototypes and an electric fireplace system. In addition, a within-subjects design user study was conducted to evaluate the visual experience and the user experience in different conditions. Firstly, we explored the possibility of combining two different 3D display technologies (Pepper’s Ghost Illusion and Persistence of Vision technology) with an electric fireplace. Secondly, we collected and analysed visual experience data to compare the effect of virtual flames created by our prototypes with real flames. For the purpose of exploring the user experience, we explored the usage of different interactive methods, gesture control and remote control, on an electric fireplace. Finally, we collected user feedback through questionnaires and analysed the results. Results indicated that there was a significant difference between virtual flames and real flames. Although 3D display technologies provided more interactions and visual effects to the user, which had stimulated the user’s interests, the experience they created were far away from the experience of using a real wood-burning fireplace. In terms of the comparison of interactive methods, gesture control performed better on all scales of the user experience than the remote control. Therefore, we concluded that the user would obtain a better user experience when using gesture control to operate an electric fireplace.Item Open Access Using Virtual Reality to View BIM Metadata in Architectural Design Reviews for Healthcare.(2022) Buchanan, EmmaThis research seeks to assess whether Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to convey Building Information Modelling (BIM) metadata alongside geometric and spatial data in a virtual environment and by doing so, determine if it increases the effectiveness of the design review by improving participants understanding of the design. Previous research has illustrated the potential for VR to enhance design reviews, especially the ability to convey spatial information but so far there has been limited research into how VR can convey additional BIM metadata. A user study assessed participants performance and preference for conducting design reviews in VR or using a traditional design review system of PDF drawings and a 3D model. The VR condition had a higher task completion rate, a higher SUS score and generally faster completion times.Item Open Access Identifying strategies to mitigate cybersickness in virtual reality induced by flying with an interactive travel interface.(2022) Page, Daniel W.Virtual Reality (VR) is a versatile and evolving technology for simulating different experiences. As this technology has improved in hardware, accessibility of development, and availability of applications its interest has surged. However, despite these improvements, the problem of Cybersickness (CS) remains, causing a variety of uncomfortable symptoms in users. Hence the need for guidelines that developers can use to create experiences that mitigate these effects. With an incomplete understanding of CS and techniques yet to be tried, this thesis seeks to identify new strategies that mitigate CS. In the literature, the predominant theories attribute CS or closely related sicknesses to the body rejecting inconsistencies between senses and the body failing to adapt to conflicts or new dynamics in an experience. There are also a variety of user, hardware, and software factors that have been reported to affect it. To measure the extent of CS, the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) is the most commonly used tool. Some physiological responses have also been associated with CS that can be measured in real-time. Three hypotheses for mitigation strategies were devised and tested in an experiment. This involved a physical travel interface for flying through a Virtual Environment (VE) populated with models as a control condition. On top of this, three manipulation conditions referred to as Gaze-Tracking Vignette (GV), Personal Embodiment (PE), and Fans and Vibration (FV) could be individually applied. The experiment was designed to be between-subjects, with participants randomly allocated to four groups. Overall, 37 participants did the experiment with Heart Rate (HR), eye-tracking data, and flight data recorded. Post-exposure, they also filled out a survey that included the SSQ. To analyse the data, statistical tests and regression models were used. These found significant evidence that a vignette that changes intensity with speed and scope position with eye-gaze direction made CS worse. The same result was found from adding personal embodiment with hand tracking. Evidence was also found from the SSQ that directional fans with floor vibration did not cause a difference. However, an overall lowering of HR for this condition indicated that it might help, but could be due to other factors. Additionally, comments from participants identified that many experienced symptoms consistent with CS, with dizziness as the most common, and some issues with the usability of the travel interface.Item Open Access Visual-Inertial first responder localisation in large-scale indoor training environments.(2021) Khan, HumayunAccurately and reliably determining the position and heading of first responders undertaking training exercises can provide valuable insights into their situational awareness and give a larger context to the decisions made. Measuring first responder movement, however, requires an accurate and portable localisation system. Training exercises of- ten take place in large-scale indoor environments with limited power infrastructure to support localisation. Indoor positioning technologies that use radio or sound waves for localisation require an extensive network of transmitters or receivers to be installed within the environment to ensure reliable coverage. These technologies also need power sources to operate, making their use impractical for this application. Inertial sensors are infrastructure independent, low cost, and low power positioning devices which are attached to the person or object being tracked, but their localisation accuracy deteriorates over long-term tracking due to intrinsic biases and sensor noise. This thesis investigates how inertial sensor tracking can be improved by providing correction from a visual sensor that uses passive infrastructure (fiducial markers) to calculate accurate position and heading values. Even though using a visual sensor increase the accuracy of the localisation system, combining them with inertial sensors is not trivial, especially when mounted on different parts of the human body and going through different motion dynamics. Additionally, visual sensors have higher energy consumption, requiring more batteries to be carried by the first responder. This thesis presents a novel sensor fusion approach by loosely coupling visual and inertial sensors to create a positioning system that accurately localises walking humans in largescale indoor environments. Experimental evaluation of the devised localisation system indicates sub-metre accuracy for a 250m long indoor trajectory. The thesis also proposes two methods to improve the energy efficiency of the localisation system. The first is a distance-based error correction approach which uses distance estimation from the foot-mounted inertial sensor to reduce the number of corrections required from the visual sensor. Results indicate a 70% decrease in energy consumption while maintaining submetre localisation accuracy. The second method is a motion type adaptive error correction approach, which uses the human walking motion type (forward, backward, or sideways) as an input to further optimise the energy efficiency of the localisation system by modulating the operation of the visual sensor. Results of this approach indicate a 25% reduction in the number of corrections required to keep submetre localisation accuracy. Overall, this thesis advances the state of the art by providing a sensor fusion solution for long-term submetre accurate localisation and methods to reduce the energy consumption, making it more practical for use in first responder training exercises.Item Open Access A comparison of surface and motion user-defined gestures for mobile augmented reality.(University of Canterbury, 2020) Dong, ZeAugmented Reality (AR) technology permits interaction between the virtual and physical worlds. Recent advancements in mobile devices allow for a better mobile AR experience, and in turn, improving user adoption rate and increasing the number of mobile AR applications across a wide range of disciplines. Nevertheless, the majority of mobile AR applications, that we have surveyed, adopted surface gestures as the default interaction method for the AR experience and have not utilised three-dimensional (3D) spatial interaction, as supported by AR interfaces. This research investigates two types of gestures for interacting in mobile AR applications, surface gestures, which have been deployed by mainstream applications, and motion gestures, that take advantages of 3D movement of the handheld device. Our goal is to find out if there exists a gesture-based interaction suitable for handheld devices, that can utilise the 3D interaction of mobile AR applications. We conducted two user studies, an elicitation study and a validation study. In the elicitation study, we elicited two sets of gestures, surface and motion, for mobile AR applications. We recruited twenty-one participants to perform twelve common mobile AR tasks, which yielded a total of five-hundred and four gestures. We classified and illustrated the two sets of gestures, and compared them in terms of goodness, ease of use, and engagement. The elicitation process yielded two separate sets of user-defined gestures; legacy surface gestures, which were familiar and easy to use by the participants, and motion gestures, which found to be more engaging. From the design patterns of the motion gestures, we proposed a novel interaction technique for mobile AR called TMR (Touch-Move-Release). To validate our elicited gestures in an actual application, we conducted a second study. We have developed a mobile AR game similar to Pokémon GO and implemented the selected gestures from the elicitation study. The study was conducted with ten participants, and we found that the motion gesture could provide more engagement and better game experience. Nevertheless, surface gestures were more accurate and easier to use. We discussed the implications of our findings and gave our design recommendations for designers on the usage of the elicited gestures. Our research can be further explored in the future. It can be used as a "prequel" to the design of better gesture-based interaction technique for different tasks in various mobile AR applications.Item Open Access Design and evaluation of techniques to improve user comfort during prolonged use of virtual reality.(University of Canterbury, 2020) Tran, Pham Thai KienVirtual Reality (VR) has become a consumer technology, and as such has spread to include many different applications at work, home, school and play, for multiple kinds of users. However, using conventional immersive head-mounted displays (HMD) can lead to degradation in health, such as physical and mental fatigue and motion sickness. It also creates difficulties in interacting with objects and people in the physical world: immersed users cannot easily locate objects around them (e.g., key- board, mouse, smartphone), or have meaningful face-to-face conversations with people. This thesis addresses these issues from both the “comfort” side and the “real- world interaction” side. We propose (1) A novel immersive health-recovery technique called “Active Breaks”, (2) a means of dynamically controlling how much of the real world the immersed user can see, and (3) techniques for a non-immersed user to better socially connect with an immersed user. The systems described here are built around a unified framework (“Workspace VR”), that brings together existing and novel technologies for visual and audio cues to support real-world interactions (nearby objects, people) for the VR user, and face-to-face communication for the non-VR user. Using these solutions we present encouraging evidence in terms of implementation and improvements: Regarding Active Breaks, our users highly preferred both real-word-based and VR-based version, although the VR-based eye exercises used in this version had some drawbacks. Regarding systems, our combination of the visual channels resulted in a much larger field of view for the VR user to interact with the physical world. Initial investigations into our first HMD prototype showed that each channel provided accurate view areas (peripheral and central vision) for the user to interact with nearby objects in different task scenarios, received high user preference, potentially maintained a high level of immersion, and did not induce any significant VR sickness. In the latest version, we optimized the involved technologies, added more features that also support the non-VR user (audio channel, eye contact cues), designed a new HMD in a scalable fashion, and planned a face-to-face user study to evaluate the impact of the new system as a whole.Item Open Access Using mixed reality for asymmetric remote collaboration in a room-scale workspace.(University of Canterbury, 2020) Gao, LeiThe primary goal of this thesis is to use Mixed Reality (MR) technology to enhance remote collaboration in a room-scale workspace. One of the fundamental requirements for remote collaborative system design is to help the remote expert to correctly understand the local worker’s surrounding environment and support efficient remote communication, especially while working in a room-scale environment. To address this issue, I discuss the advantages and limitations of enabling a remote team to share a 3D view of the same workspace at the same time from different physical locations. I develop several prototype designs, and evaluate these designs with users on common collaborative tasks. In this thesis, I present empirical results from five user studies on how Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) combined with 3D capture hardware, co-presence techniques, and efficient guidance cues can enhance the task performance and user experience of room-scale remote collaboration. To compare different interface design approaches, I developed a testbed that combines a low-resolution static 3D point cloud capture of the environment surrounding the local worker with a high-resolution real- time view of small focused details. User studies with the system found that the use of a 3D virtual representation can effectively improve the remote expert’s spatial aware- ness of the local work environment. I also found that a high-resolution local view is always helpful for guiding, no matter if it is 2D or 3D, especially for complex operations. Furthermore, mutual awareness is an important factor in supporting natural communication. This dissertation contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of MR remote collaboration systems’ interface design in various guiding scenarios. As a result, my research explored some basic design principles of an MR remote collaboration system while working in a room-scale workspace and pointed out future research directions.