This blogpost discusses the question whether social VR can comprehensively substitute real-life social, interpersonal, and professional scenarios.
Together with State Secretary Lilian Tschan from the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the AIL at Work project informs about the research aims and shows the topic’s relevance in this video clip.
Carolin Wienrich, Marc Latoschik, and Andreas Hotho visited the Bavarian Digital Summit.
The paper ‘Exploratory Study on the Perception of Intelligent Virtual Agents With Non-Native Accents Using Synthetic and Natural Speech in German’ recently recieved the best paper award at the ICMI 22 in Bengaluru, India.
Open Positions
We have an open position for a motivated student worker in the VIA-VR Project (ELSI).
Wir haben eine offene Stelle im wissenschaftlichen Dienst für das AIL AT WORK Projekt.
We have open positions for motivated student workers in the HiAvA Project (Unity development).
We are looking for student workers to help in the Privacy Matters Project!
Recent Publications
,
Virtual Reality im modernen Englischunterricht und das Potenzial für Inter- und Transkulturelles Lernen - Eine Pilotstudie, In Miriam Mulders, Josef Buchner, Andreas Dengel, Raphael Zender (Eds.), MedienPädagogik: Zeitschrift für Theorie Und Praxis Der Medienbildung(51), pp. 191-213.
2023.
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
@article{hein2023medienpaed,
author = {Rebecca Hein and Jeanine Steinbock and Maria Eisenmann and Marc Erich Latoschik and Carolin Wienrich},
journal = {MedienPädagogik: Zeitschrift für Theorie Und Praxis Der Medienbildung},
number = {51},
url = {https://www.medienpaed.com/article/view/1572},
year = {2023},
editor = {Miriam Mulders and Josef Buchner and Andreas Dengel and Raphael Zender},
pages = {191-213},
title = {Virtual Reality im modernen Englischunterricht und das Potenzial für Inter- und Transkulturelles Lernen - Eine Pilotstudie}
}
Abstract:
Dieser Beitrag präsentiert die Ergebnisse des Seminarkonzepts und der durchgeführten Begleitforschung zum inter- und transkulturellen Lernen in Virtual Reality (VR). Im Rahmen eines Universitätsseminars entwarfen TEFL-Studierende (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Unterrichtsstunden für fortgeschrittene Lernende des Faches Englisch der gymnasialen Oberstufe, die sich mit der Entwicklung von Empathie und der Fähigkeit zur Perspektivübernahme in interkulturellen Kommunikations- und Austauschsituationen befassten. Der Fokus des Konzepts lag dabei auf dem Verständnis und der Annahme kultureller Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede. Hier werden beispielhaft zwei der erstellten Unterrichtsentwürfe für VR Interventionen vorgestellt und diskutiert. Begleitend zum Seminar wurden empirische Daten erhoben. Zum einen wurde das Potenzial des InteractionSuitcase (eine Sammlung virtueller Objekte) von den Studierenden bewertet. Zum anderen wurde explorativ eine qualitative Methode zur Messung interkultureller Kompetenz (Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters) getestet. Die Ergebnisse dieser explorativen Pilotstudie zeigen, dass die Interaktion mit dem InteractionSuitcase von den Studierenden als intuitiv und gewinnbringend für die Konzeption von Unterrichtskonzepten bewertet wurde. Dennoch integrierten die Studierenden die Manipulation der virtuellen Avatare häufiger im Gegensatz zum InteractionSuitcase in die Unterrichtskonzepte. Der Beitrag verfolgt das Ziel, das Potenzial von VR für inter- und transkulturelles Lernen im gymnasialen Englischunterricht zu identifizieren.
,
Push the Red Button: Comparing Notification Placement with Augmented and Non-Augmented Tasks in AR, In Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI '22). New York, NY, USA:
ACM,
2022.
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
@inproceedings{plabst2022press,
author = {Lucas Plabst and Sebastian Oberdörfer and Francisco Raul Ortega and Florian Niebling},
url = {http://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2022-push-the-red-button-preprint.pdf},
year = {2022},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI '22)},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
title = {Push the Red Button: Comparing Notification Placement with Augmented and Non-Augmented Tasks in AR}
}
Abstract:
,
The Influence of Visible Cables and Story Content on Perceived Autonomy in Social Human-Robot Interaction, In Robotics, Vol. 12(1), p. 3.
MDPI,
2022.
[BibSonomy] [Doi]
[BibSonomy] [Doi]
@article{Roesler_2022,
author = {Eileen Roesler and Sophia C. Steinhaeusser and Birgit Lugrin and Linda Onnasch},
journal = {Robotics},
number = {1},
year = {2022},
publisher = {MDPI},
pages = {3},
title = {The Influence of Visible Cables and Story Content on Perceived Autonomy in Social Human-Robot Interaction}
}
Abstract:
,
A multi-method approach to compare presence, fear induction and desensitization in survival horror games within the reality-virtuality-continuum, In Entertainment Computing, p. 100539.
Elsevier,
2022.
[BibSonomy] [Doi]
[BibSonomy] [Doi]
@article{Steinhaeusser_2022,
author = {Sophia C. Steinhaeusser and Benjamin Eckstein and Birgit Lugrin},
journal = {Entertainment Computing},
year = {2022},
publisher = {Elsevier},
pages = {100539},
title = {A multi-method approach to compare presence, fear induction and desensitization in survival horror games within the reality-virtuality-continuum}
}
Abstract:
,
Mixed-Cultural Speech for Intelligent Virtual Agents - the Impact of Different Non-Native Accents Using Natural or Synthetic Speech in the English Language, In HAI '22: International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction, pp. 67-75.
ACM,
2022.
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
@inproceedings{Obremski_HAI_Paper_2022,
author = {David Obremski and Helena Babette Hering and Paula Friedrich and Birgit Lugrin},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3527188.3561921},
year = {2022},
booktitle = {HAI '22: International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction},
publisher = {ACM},
pages = {67-75},
title = {Mixed-Cultural Speech for Intelligent Virtual Agents - the Impact of Different Non-Native Accents Using Natural or Synthetic Speech in the English Language}
}
Abstract:
,
Mixed-Cultural Speech for Mixed-Cultural Users - Natural vs. Synthetic Speech for Virtual Agents, In HAI '22: International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction, pp. 290-292.
ACM,
2022.
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
@inproceedings{Obremski_HAI_Poster_2022,
author = {David Obremski and Birgit Lugrin},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3527188.3563910},
year = {2022},
booktitle = {HAI '22: International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction},
publisher = {ACM},
pages = {290-292},
title = {Mixed-Cultural Speech for Mixed-Cultural Users - Natural vs. Synthetic Speech for Virtual Agents}
}
Abstract:
,
The Possibility of Inducing the Proteus Effect for Social VR Users, In Jessie Y. C. Chen, Gino Fragomeni, Helmut Degen, Stavroula Ntoa (Eds.), HCI International 2022 -- Late Breaking Papers: Interacting with eXtended Reality and Artificial Intelligence, pp. 143--158. Cham:
Springer Nature Switzerland,
2022.
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
@inproceedings{10.1007/978-3-031-21707-4_11,
author = {Akimi Oyanagi and Takuji Narumi and Jean-Luc Lugrin and Kazuma Aoyama and Kenichiro Ito and Tomohiro Amemiya and Michitaka Hirose},
url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-21707-4_11},
year = {2022},
booktitle = {HCI International 2022 -- Late Breaking Papers: Interacting with eXtended Reality and Artificial Intelligence},
editor = {Jessie Y. C. Chen and Gino Fragomeni and Helmut Degen and Stavroula Ntoa},
publisher = {Springer Nature Switzerland},
address = {Cham},
pages = {143--158},
title = {The Possibility of Inducing the Proteus Effect for Social VR Users}
}
Abstract:
The Proteus effect in Virtual Reality (VR) happens when the user's behavior or attitude are affected by their avatar's appearance. The virtual body appearance is somehow affecting the emotional, behavioral and psychological state of its user. In recent years, manipulation of an avatar has become a more common situation because of social VR platforms. It is considered that the Proteus effect can be induced even for social VR users. However, there are possibilities to disrupt the Proteus effect by becoming accustomed to embodying an avatar or attachment to their avatar.
,
Does Distance Matter? Embodiment and Perception of Personalized Avatars in Relation to the Self-Observation Distance in Virtual Reality, In Frontiers in Virtual Reality, Vol. 3.
2022.
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
[Download] [BibSonomy] [Doi]
@article{wolf2022distance,
author = {Erik Wolf and Nina Döllinger and David Mal and Stephan Wenninger and Andrea Bartl and Mario Botsch and Marc Erich Latoschik and Carolin Wienrich},
journal = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality},
url = {https://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2022-frontiers-self-observation-distance.pdf},
year = {2022},
title = {Does Distance Matter? Embodiment and Perception of Personalized Avatars in Relation to the Self-Observation Distance in Virtual Reality}
}
Abstract:
Virtual reality applications employing avatar embodiment typically use virtual mirrors to allow users to perceive their digital selves not only from a first-person perspective but also from a holistic third-person view. However, due to distance-related biases such as the distance compression effect or a reduced relative rendering resolution, the self-observation distance (SOD) between the user and the virtual mirror might influence how users perceive their embodied avatar. Our article systematically investigates the effects of a short (1 meter), middle (2.5 meter), and far (4 meter) SOD between user and mirror on the perception of personalized and self-embodied avatars. The avatars were photorealistic reconstructed using state-of-the-art photogrammetric methods. Thirty participants were repeatedly exposed to their real-time animated self-embodied avatars in each of the three SOD conditions. In each condition, the personalized avatars were repeatedly altered in their body weight, and participants were asked to judge the (1) sense of embodiment, (2) body weight perception, and (3) affective appraisal towards their avatar. We found that the different SODs are unlikely to influence any of our measures except for the perceived body weight estimation difficulty. Here, the participants judged the difficulty significantly higher for the farthest SOD. We further found that the participants' self-esteem significantly impacted their ability to modify their avatar's body weight to their current body weight and that it positively correlated with the perceived attractiveness of the avatar. Additionally, the participants' concerns about their body shape affected how eerie they perceived their avatars. Both measures influenced the perceived body weight estimation difficulty. For practical application, we conclude that the virtual mirror in embodiment scenarios can be freely placed and varied at a distance of one to four meters from the user without expecting major effects on the perception of the avatar.
