VR & AR research @ SINTEF
Costas Boletsis
Post-doc Research Fellow
Overview
• AR/VR general info
• Applications of AR/VR
• AR/VR work at SINTEF
• Questions/discussion
VR vs. AR
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Present of VR
Oculus crowdfunds
2.4M, promises a $300
VR headset
2013
MARCH
2012
OCTOBER
Oculus
releases
Oculus Rift
Development
Kit 1 headset
2014
MARCH
VR became accessible to everyone since mid-2013
Low cost of VR hardware
Better GPUs – better graphics – high fidelity
Robust networking capabilities – multiuser
Google releases
Cardboard, a Do-ItYourself VR headset
Facebook acquires
Oculus for reported $2B
2014
JUNE
2016
MARCH
HTC and Valve
release Vive VR
headset
Oculus releases
consumer Oculus Rift
VR headset
2016
APRIL
• AR seems "stuck" in 2009
• Lots of attempts since then
• AR performs well as enabling/supporting technology
Present of AR
After a long research
tradition AR becomes
popular with Layar
app for smartphones
Blippar acquires
Layar
2013
FEBRUARY
2009
JUNE
Google releases
Google Glass AR
glasses
2014
JUNE
Apple acquires AR
company Metaio
2014
SEPTEMBER
2016
MARCH
2015
MAY
Meta releases Meta
Spaceglasses Developer
Kit 1
Google and
Lenovo release
Tango AR phablet
device
Microsoft releases
Hololens Development
Edition AR glasses
2016
JUNE
• Mobile devices (AR & VR)
Devices for VR & AR
• Head-Mounted Displays (VR)
• Glasses (AR)
AR/VR Hardware vs. Content
AR/VR application fields
• Training / Education
• simulators, training employees, experiential learning
AR/VR application fields
• Entertainment
• video games, movies, 360 videos
AR/VR application fields
• Medical
• treating phobias, visual navigation
AR/VR application fields
• Marketing
• retail, real estate, VR shops, logistics
AR/VR application fields
• Engineering / Design
• Virtual prototyping, AR/VR design tools
AR/VR application fields
• Data Visualisation
• Big data visualization, visualization in place
Multi-user environments
• Significant functionality that can be applied to AR/VR systems
• 2 or more distant users being, experiencing, working together
• Creating new social digital environments, new affordances, new needs for
communication
Research @ SINTEF
Past AR/VR projects & research
• Supporting first responder in-field communication and navigation
using head-mounted displays
• Google Glass
• Enable in-field receiving of information from a command center,
as well as in-field navigation and video streaming
• BRIDGE project: Bridging resources and agencies in large-scale
emergency management
Past AR/VR projects & research
• Darwin project
• The project is focused on improving responses to expected and unexpected crises
affecting critical societal structures during natural disasters (e.g. flooding, earthquakes)
and man-made disasters (e.g cyber-attacks)
• Development of a Serious Game in VR for improving resource management and
responses to expected and unexpected crises
Service Design VR project
• Objective: optimize service prototyping, lead to more effective decision-making
• Method: we introduce Virtual Bodystorming, based on the Bodystorming service prototyping method
• Bodystorming: role-playing of service scenarios, can take place in low-fidelity environments or the actual
service environment
Limitations: use of mock-ups & projections =
• low-fidelity & low user engagement -> low-quality feedback
• resource-demanding setup, physical presence = time & cost-demanding
Service Design VR project
• Virtual Bodystorming: simulate the service environment in VR & enable users role-play service scenarios
• VR in this project: use for fully-immersive, high-fidelity role-playing & experience prototyping
• Collaborative/Multi-user functionality: connect geographically distant participants, allow moderator to
"shadow" users, allow users to collaborate and role-play
• Goals: create high-fidelity environments, stimulate user engagement, include distant users of various cultural
backgrounds, get better feedback
• Target: services with human touchpoints, spatial elements
→
Service Design VR project
• We developed a prototype of the system based on a mock case study about a mall
• Service designer: organizes the session
• 2 levels: Lobby and Service Level
• Conducted an expert review
• Future research: case studies to examine UX - usability
Service Design VR project
• Developed with Unreal engine, next version will use a VR sandbox called ModBox:
• Creation of the service environment either from scratch or by importing a 3D scene
• Integrated multi-user capabilities, audio communication, physics, import of scenes & objects, welldocumented SDK, community support
• Testing has begun, aiming for more cases…
Interaction-in-VR projects
• Since the revival of VR (mid-2013), HCI research in VR is addressing constructive research
problems, putting aside conceptual and empirical
VR Locomotion
• VR locomotion (moving in VR environments) has been researched in the past, however the
latest VR advances created new research needs
• We plan on examining current locomotion techniques (i.e. artificial locomotion,
teleportation, room-scaled locomotion, motion-based locomotion) from a UX point of
view, leading up to a framework and/or design suggestions
Interaction-in-VR projects
Text input in VR
• Examine text input & speech-to-text input (typing in VR)
• Typing in VR is still not optimized
• We will investigate current techniques in order to form empirical &
conceptual knowledge
Points for discussion
• AR/VR applications in your field?
• AR/VR for businesses & decision making, altering internal processes
• 3D audio, AR audio
• AR/VR for marketing
Technology for a better society