Abstract In this paper, we describe a novel method to automatically generate synchronized dance motion that is perceptually matched to a given musical piece. The proposed method extracts 30 musical features from musical data as well as 37 motion features from motion data. A matching process is then performed between the two feature spaces considering the correspondence of the relative changes in both feature spaces and the correlations between musical and motion features. Similarity matrices are introduced to match the amount of relative changes in both feature spaces and correlation coefficients are used to establish the correlations between musical features and motion features by measuring the strength of correlation between each pair of the musical and motion features. By doing this, the progressions of musical and dance motion patterns and perceptual changes between two consecutive musical and motion segments are matched. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, we designed and carried out a user opinion study to assess the perceived quality of the proposed approach. The statistical analysis of the user study results showed that the proposed approach generated results that were significantly better than those produced using a random walk through the dance motion database. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper presents empirical results to support the use of vibrotactile cues as a means of improving user performance on a spatial task. In a building-clearing exercise, directional vibrotactile cues were employed to alert subjects to areas of the building that they had not yet cleared, but were currently exposed to. Compared with performing the task without vibrotactile cues, subjects were exposed to uncleared areas a smaller percentage of time, and cleared more of the overall space, when given the added vibrotactile stimulus. The average length of each exposure was also significantly less when vibrotactile cues were present.

This paper presents work we have done on the design and implementation of an untethered system to deliver haptic cues for use in immersive virtual environments through a body-worn garment. Our system can control a large number of body-worn vibration units, each with individually controllable vibration intensity. Several design iterations have helped us to refine the system and improve such aspects as robustness, ease of donning and doffing, weight, power consumption, cable management, and support for many different types of feedback units, such as pager motors, solenoids, and muffin fans. In addition, experience integrating the system into an advanced virtual reality system has helped define some of the design constraints for creating wearable solutions, and to further refine our implementation.

The paper reports empirical results from two studies of effective user interaction in immersive virtual environments. The use of 2D interaction techniques in 3D environments has received increased attention recently. We introduce two new concepts to the previous techniques: the use of 3D widget representations; and the imposition of simulated surface constraints. The studies were identical in terms of treatments, but differed in the tasks performed by subjects. In both studies, we compared the use of two-dimensional (2D) versus three-dimensional (3D) interface widget representations, as well as the effect of imposing simulated surface constraints on precise manipulation tasks. The first study entailed a drag-and-drop task, while the second study looked at a slider-bar task. We empirically show that using 3D widget representations can have mixed results on user performance. Furthermore, we show that simulated surface constraints can improve user performance on typical interaction tasks in the absence of a physical manipulation surface. Finally, based on these results, we make some recommendations to aid interface designers in constructing effective interfaces for virtual environments.

Article Free Access Share on The reading assistant: eye gaze triggered auditory prompting for reading remediation Authors: John L. Sibert Department of Computer Science, The George Washington University, Washington D.C. Department of Computer Science, The George Washington University, Washington D.C.View Profile , Mehmet Gokturk Department of Computer Science, The George Washington University, Washington D.C. Department of Computer Science, The George Washington University, Washington D.C.View Profile , Robert A. Lavine Department of Physiology and Experimental Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington D.C. Department of Physiology and Experimental Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington D.C.View Profile Authors Info & Claims UIST '00: Proceedings of the 13th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technologyNovember 2000 Pages 101–107https://doi.org/10.1145/354401.354418Published:01 November 2000Publication History 61citation1,444DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations61Total Downloads1,444Last 12 Months120Last 6 weeks36 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteeReaderPDF

This paper reports empirical results from a study into the use of 2D widgets in 3D immersive virtual environments. Several researchers have proposed the use of 2D interaction techniques in 3D environments, however little empirical work has been done to test the usability of such approaches. We present the results of two experiments conducted on low-level 2D manipulation tasks within an immersive virtual environment. We empirically show that the addition of passive-haptic feedback for use in precise UI manipulation tasks can significantly increase user performance. Furthermore, users prefer interfaces that provide a physical surface, and that allow them to work with interface widgets in the same visual field of view as the objects they are modifying.

The study of human-computer interaction within immersive virtual environments requires us to balance what we have learned from the design and use of desktop interfaces with novel approaches to allow us to work effectively in three dimensions. While some researchers have called for revolutionary interfaces for these new environments, devoid of two-dimensional (2D) desktop widgets, others have taken a more evolutionary approach. Windowing within immersive virtual environments is an attempt to apply 2D interface techniques to three-dimensional (3D) worlds. 2D techniques are attractive because of their proven acceptance and widespread use on the desktop. With current methods environments, however, it is difficult for users of 3D worlds to perform precise manipulations, such as dragging sliders, or precisely positioning or orienting objects. We have developed a testbed designed to take advantage of bimanual interaction, proprioception, and passive-haptic feedback. We present preliminary results from an empirical study of 2D interaction in 3D environments using this system. We use a window registered with a tracked, physical surface, to provide support for precise manipulation of interface widgets displayed in the virtual environment.

This preliminary study explores the use of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) as an indicator of user state. In the study, a visual display is used to vary the levels of a complexity factor to assess the impact on user mental effort in a monitoring task Mental effort is measured both subjectively and physiologically. Two findings indicate the potential value of HRV. First, user ERV showed significant discriminatory sensitivity to the manipulation of the independent variable on the basis of domain experience. Second, HRV appeared to indicate the point at which user capacity to process targets was exceeded. Results warrant further investigation but suggest the use of HRV as a tool for design and analysis of user interfaces, and as a research basis for use as component of an adaptive interface.

No abstract available.

People have severe problems wayfinding in large virtual worlds. However, current implementations of virtual worlds provide little support for effective wayfinding. We assert that knowledge about human wayfinding in the physical world can be applied to construct aids for wayfinding in virtual worlds. An experiment was conducted to determine whether people use physical world wayfinding strategies in large virtual worlds. The study measures subject performance on a complex searching task in a number of virtual worlds with differing environmental cues. The results show that subjects in the treatment without any additional cues were often disoriented and had extreme difficulty completing the task. In general, subjects ’ wayfinding strategies and behaviors were strongly influenced by the environmental cues in ways suggested by the underlying design principles.

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As important as navigation is to human performance in virtual worlds, it is an often overlooked problem in the design process. This article reports an experiment intended to show that real‐world wayfinding and environmental design principles are effective in designing virtual worlds that support skilled wayfinding behavior. The study measures participant performance on a complex searching task in a number of virtual worlds with differing environmental cues. The worlds are augmented with either a radial grid, a map, or both a grid and a map. The control condition provided no additional navigational cues. The results showed that navigational performance was superior under both map treatments as compared to the control and grid conditions. The grid was, however, shown to provide superior directional information as compared to the other conditions. The control condition provided the worst performance, with participants often becoming disoriented and experiencing extreme difficulty completing the tasks.

Maintaining knowledge of current position and orientation is frequently a problem for people in virtual environments. In this paper we present a toolset of techniques based on principles of navigation derived from real world analogs. We include a discussion of human and avian navigation behaviours and show how knowledge about them were used to design our tools. We also summarize an informal study we performed to determine how our tools influenced the subjects'navigation behaviour. We conclude that principles extracted from real world navigation aids such as maps can be seen to apply in virtual environments.

The construction and maintenance of interactive user interfaces have been simplified by the development of a generation of software tools.The tools range from window managers, toolkits, and widget sets to user interface management systems and knowledge-based design assistants.However, only a small number of the tools attempt to incorporate principles of good design.They offer no help with decisions regarding the variety of input devices and methods available.In this paper we briefly describe a methodology for interaction technique selection based on natural physical analogs of the application tasks.Special emphasis is given to the physical characteristics of input devices and the pragmatics of their use.The methodology is incorporated in a software environment named Toto which includes knowledge acquired from a variety of disciplines such as: semiotics, ergonomics, and industrial design.Toto also incorporates a set of interactive tools for modifying the knowledge and for supporting the selection of natural interaction techniques.A two phased design process (matching followed by sequencing) is embedded in the Toto rule base.Examples of the use of Toto tools are provided to illustrate the design process.

Background: Traditional paint programs can be criticized on the grounds that they provide fewer degrees of freedom than conventional artistic media. Mouse or tablet input devices usually provide only (x, y) spatial information. Thus most paint programs allow continuous control of the path of a stroke, but render it with a single “brush shape” of fixed size and orientation and use menus, either stationary or appearing, for such tasks as changing “brush” shapes. This produces two distinct discontinuities for the artist. First is a physical discontinuity: stopping the act of drawing and making a brush selection using a different physical device, or using the same device to point at a menu selection. A second discontinuity is the cognitive one involved with deciphering the menu contents and making a selection. Although the second may be minimized by using iconic menus, these interruptions of the drawing act make it difficult or impossible for the artist to maintain the kind of continuous control over his or her medium that is required. A particular example of this level of control is the continuous and immediate control that an artist maintains when sketching with a piece of charcoal or a pencil. By manipulating the implement, the artist can change the shape of its contact point with the drawing surface. By changes in pressure exerted with the implement against the surface, it is possible to control both the darkness (value) and width (weight) of the line. All of these factors are controlled by the artist in real time and with continuous feedback. Both Greene [2] and Strassman [4] have presented methods for capturing more of the artist's “gesture” in the rendered stroke. However, Greene's technique depends on a special-purpose input device and Strassman's does not work in real time. Hill [3] describes a two-handed paintbrush with the off hand controlling a valuator that varies the 'brush width. The technique described here represents another way to provide such control to the user of an interactive paint program. It uses off-the-shelf hardware, is easy to implement, and works in real time. As a single-handed technique, it takes advantage of the artist's skill with existing media.

The subject of User Interface Management Systems (UIMS) has been a topic of research and debate for the last several years. The goal of such systems has been to automate the production of user interface software. The problem of building quality user interfaces within available resources is a very important one as the demand for new interactive programs grows. Prototype UIMSs have been built and some software packages are presently being marketed as such. Many papers have been published on the topic.

The George Washington User Interface Management System (GWUIMS) has been designed as a test bed for comparing user interface models, as a tool for rapidly prototyping highly interactive graphic user interfaces, and as a vehicle for investigating the applicability of knowledge-based technology to user interface design. The GWUIMS was designed and implemented using the object-oriented programming paradigm and consists of a variety of object classes representing different levels of abstraction, Responsibility for lexical, syntactic, and semantic levels of both input parsing and feedback are distributed throughout these classes. We include a description of the GWUIMS and a brief scenario to demonstrate its capabilities. A description of the implementation is followed by a discussion of the future application of knowledge representation techniques and the evolution towards an intelligent assistant for the user interface designer.

In this paper we present a conceptual model of raster graphics systems which integrates, at a suitable level of abstraction, the major features found in both contemporary and anticipated graphics systems. These features are the refresh buffer; the image creation (scan-conversion) system; the single address-space architecture which integrates the address space of the refresh buffer with those of the image creation system and the associated general-purpose computer; the RasterOp or BitBlt instructions found in some single address-space architectures; the video look-up table, and refresh buffer to screen transformations. Also included are the major components from the conceptual model of vector graphics systems which are embodied in the ACM/SIGGGRAPH/GSPC Core System. Using the conceptual model as a base, we proceed to sketch out the capabilities we have defined in a substantial addition to the Core System. The capabilities are currently being implemented as part of the George Washington University Core System.