Eye-tracking offers new ways to augment our interaction possibilities in extended reality. This paper investigates how gaze can assist pen users in translating shape points within graphical models. By leveraging gaze, we can support the usual design activities with an option where objects can be selected and repositioned through eye movements, with the pen serving as a confirmation tool. This can reduce manual effort and enhance efficiency and ergonomics. To evaluate its effectiveness, we compare four interaction techniques: two pen-based baselines (direct and ray-based) and two gaze-supported methods (gaze for selection and/or object dragging), using a probability based selection scheme. In a user study, 16 participants carried out a shape point translation task and their performance, effort, and user experience were measured. The results highlight the performance trade-offs of each technique—while the gaze-based dragging method introduced marginally more errors, it significantly reduced task time. Our findings offer comparative insights into the strength and limitations of gaze-and pen-based interaction methods, supporting the design of future multimodal 3D design tools.

Abstract Online learning has become an everyday form of learning for many students across different disciplines, including STEM subjects in the setting of higher education. Studying in these settings requires students to self-regulate their learning to a higher degree as compared to campus-based education. A vital aspect of self-regulated learning is the application of goal-setting strategies. Universities act to support students’ goal-setting through the achievement of course learning outcomes, which work both as a promise and metric of academic achievement. However, a lack of clear integration between course activities and course learning outcomes leaves a dissonance between students’ study efforts and the course progress. This demo study presents a student-centered learning analytics dashboard aimed at assisting students in their achievement of course learning goals in the setting of STEM higher education. The dashboard was designed using a design science methodological approach. Thirty-seven students have contributed to its development and evaluation during different stages of the design process, including the conceptual iterative design and prototyping. The preliminary results show that students found the tool to be easy to use and useful for the achievement of the course goals.

Abstract The adoption of Extended Reality (XR) technologies for supporting learning processes is an increasingly popular research topic for a wide variety of domains, including medical education. Currently, within this community, the metrics applied to quantify the potential impact these technologies have on procedural knowledge acquisition are inconsistent. This paper proposes a practical definition of standard metrics for the learning goals in the application of XR to surgical training. Their value in the context of previous research in neurosurgical training is also discussed. Objective metrics of performance include: spatial accuracy and precision, time-to-task completion, number of attempts. The objective definition of what the learner’s aims are enables the creation of comparable XR systems that track progress during training. The first impact is to provide a community-wide metric of progress that allows for consistent measurements. Furthermore, a measurable target opens the possibility for automated performance assessments with constructive feedback.

When modeling life-like Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs), conveying politeness through verbal and nonverbal behaviors with persuasive intents is a significant challenge, as it underlies the conventional set of behavioral rules that govern human communication. In the present study, we explore the adherence to such rules in the context of joining a small, freestanding conversational group of agents in VR. In particular, we focus on the behavior adopted by participants while walking towards the agents, and on whether ECAs were treated in the same way human agents normally are. 45 test subjects were invited by an ECA to walk towards the group by applying one of six possible politeness strategies; after freely joining the group, they were asked to rate the agent's politeness according to four distinct aspects (Clarity, Face loss, Positive face, and Negative face). Across all strategies, in 48% of the trials participants were successfully persuaded to join the group at an inconvenient location. Out of those trials, participants adhered to social conventions by not crossing the convex empty space between the group members (o-space) in 75% of them on average. Additionally, analysis of verbal and nonverbal behaviors in ECAs shows that direct request strategies are more effective than indirect ones, although in some cases they may be perceived as less polite.