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Development of a Collaborative Design Tool for Structural Analysis in an Immersive Virtual Environment
Get PDFThis paper contains the results of an on-going collaborative research effort by the departments of Architecture and Computer Science of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, U.S.A., to develop a computer visualization application for the structural analysis of building structures. The VIRTUAL-SAP computer program is being developed by linking PC-SAP4 (Structural Analysis Program), and virtual environment software developed using the SVE (Simple Virtual Environment) library. VIRTUAL-SAP is intended for use as a collaborative design tool to facilitate the interaction between the architect, engineer, and contractor by providing an environment that they can walk-through and observe the consequences of design alterations. Therefore, this software can be used as an interactive computer-aided analysis of building systems
Affordances and Feedback in Nuance-Oriented Interfaces
Get PDFVirtual Environments (VEs) and perceptive user interfaces must deal with complex users and their modes of interaction. One way to approach this problem is to recognize users’ nuances (subtle conscious or unconscious actions). In exploring nuance-oriented interfaces, we attempted to let users work as they preferred without being biased by feedback or affordances in the system. The hope was that we would discover the users’ innate models of interaction. The results of two user studies were that users are guided not by any innate model but by affordances and feedback in the interface. So, without this guidance, even the most obvious and useful components of an interface will be ignored
An Introduction to 3D User Interface Design
Get PDF3D user interface design is a critical component of any virtual environment (VE) application. In this paper, we present a broad overview of three-dimensional (3D) interaction and user interfaces. We discuss the effect of common VE hardware devices on user interaction, as well as interaction techniques for generic 3D tasks and the use of traditional two-dimensional interaction styles in 3D environments. We divide most user interaction tasks into three categories: navigation, selection/manipulation, and system control. Throughout the paper, our focus is on presenting not only the available techniques, but also practical guidelines for 3D interaction design and widely held myths. Finally, we briefly discuss two approaches to 3D interaction design, and some example applications with complex 3D interaction requirements. We also present an annotated online bibliography as a reference companion to this article
A Tri-Valued Belief Network Model for Information Retrieval
Get PDFA Tri-Valued Belief Network Model for Information Retrieval
Pinch Keyboard: Natural Text Input for Immersive Virtual Environments
Get PDFText entry may be needed for system control tasks in immersive virtual environments, but no efficient and usable techniques exist. We present the pinch keyboard interaction technique, which simulates a standard QWERTY keyboard using Pinch Glovesâ„¢ and 6 DOF trackers. The system includes visual and auditory feedback and a simple method of calibration
Design and Evaluation of Menu Systems for Immersive Virtual Environments
Get PDFInterfaces for system control tasks in virtual environments (VEs) have not been extensively studied. This paper focuses on various types of menu systems to be used in such environments. We describe the design of the TULIP menu, a menu system using Pinch Glovesâ„¢, and compare it to two common alternatives: floating menus and pen and tablet menus. These three menus were compared in an empirical evaluation. The pen and tablet menu was found to be significantly faster, while users had a preference for TULIP. Subjective discomfort levels were also higher with the floating menus and pen and tablet
InTouch Usability Evaluation
Get PDFThe main purpose of this test was to asses the performance of an actual customer with little or no previous InTouch experience. The usability test measured the total time needed to accomplish information entry and output, and record user critical incidents. Tasks included routine operations, print operations, and import/export of data.
Each test session consisted of a performance test where the user performed a series of tasks, and a post-test interview where the user filled out a brief user preference questionnaire about the functionality and usability of InTouch and was given the opportunity to make comments or ask questions about InTouch.
Evaluation measures included: observations and comments for each critical incident; classification of errors associated with critical incidents including severity, scope, and source of error; the time necessary to complete each task; the percentage of participants who successfully complete each task; and user rankings of the functionality
and usability of InTouch.
All participants did fulfill InTouch developer goals of having users succeed in entering information into InTouch within the first 5-10 minutes of use and outputting information from InTouch within the first half hour of use. Although, many participants did have major problems.
User likes included the InTouch documentation, the exclusion option in sort, the option of creating a new group from the group search dialog box, the choice of sounds for reminders, and the repeat option for reminders.
User dislikes included having to search the giant InTouch menu, the difficulty figuring out the function of the different panes in the main window, the lack of on-line help, and the lack of access to group functions from the main window. Users also disliked InTouch not behaving like other Macintosh applications: its files could not be opened by double-clicking, and no one liked having to select InTouch from the menu to start-up the program. Most users also had problems with the print and layout dialog boxes.
Problems were rated in terms of severity and scope, and whenever possible, the source of the problems and potential solutions were indicated. The solutions presented in this report are just recommendations. Re-design efforts should consider alternative solutions with both the problems and potential solutions evaluated in light of the total system
A comparison of three Algorithms for Tracing Nonlinear Equilibrium Paths of Structural Systems
Get PDFThe relative efficiencies of the Riks/Wempner, Crisï¬eld, and normal flow solution algorithms for tracking nonlinear equilibrium paths of structural systems are compared. It is argued that the normal flow algorithm maybe both more computationally efficient and more robust compared to the other two algorithms when tracing the path through severe nonlinearities such as those associated with structural collapse. This is demonstrated qualitatively by comparing the relative behaviors of each algorithm in the vicinity of a severe nonlinearity. Quantitative results are presented for the collapse a blade stiffened panel
A First Step Towards Nuance-Oriented Interfaces for Virtual Environments
Get PDFDesigning usable interfaces for virtual environments (VEs) is not a trivial task. Much of the difficulty stems from the complexity and volume of the input data. Many VEs, in the creation of their interfaces, ignore much of the input data as a result of this. Using machine learning (ML), we introduce the notion of a nuance that can be used to increase the precision and power of a VE interface. An experiment verifying the existence of nuances using a neural network (NN) is discussed and a listing of guidelines to follow is given. We also review reasons why traditional ML techniques are difficult to apply to this problem
Using Pinch Gloves(TM) for both Natural and Abstract Interaction Techniques in Virtual Environments
Get PDFUsable three-dimensional (3D) interaction techniques are difficult to design, implement, and evaluate. One reason for this is a poor understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the wide range of 3D input devices, and of the mapping between input devices and interaction techniques. We present an analysis of Pinch Glovesâ„¢ and their use as input devices for virtual environments (VEs). We have developed a number of novel and usable interaction techniques for VEs using the gloves, including a menu system, a technique for text input, and a two-handed navigation technique. User studies have indicated the usability and utility of these techniques