1,720,954 research outputs found
How do we balance user privacy and user experience in VR mediated experiences?
Get PDFVirtual Reality(VR) applications utilise many sensor-tracked user movements to interact with the immersive environment and drive the avatar movements. These innocently seaming movement data are capable of revealing and predicting user behaviours when combined with machine learning algorithms. Even though these findings could be beneficial in areas like education or healthcare, unwanted and unauthorised processing and utilisation of these data could pose significant user privacy risks.
To address this issue, this research focuses on introducing and evaluating methodologies to balance user privacy without affecting the user experience in VR-mediated applications. To evaluate the proposed methodologies, we use the most researched usage of these behaviour data, user identity detection, by employing machine learning-based classification algorithms.
We begin this PhD research by exploring the nature of machine learning classification models used for user identity detection, analysing their strengths and weaknesses. Based on this analysis, we identify the overall best-performing model and use it to propose and evaluate two types of behaviour filters, assessing their effectiveness in concealing user identity. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed filters, we proposed a new multi-faceted validation model and explored the best ways to evaluate human-based identity recognition in avatars. We then examine the impact of these filters on the overall VR experience. Finally, to gain insights into how actual VR users perceive and prefer to share their behaviour data, we conduct and analyse user interviews. Through these stages, we critically discuss the research implications, suggest future research directions, and provide guidelines for developing and evaluating VR privacy solutions.
Overall, this research addresses the question, "How do We Balance User Privacy and User Experience in VR Mediated Experiences?" through a comprehensive research approach that yields promising insights into novel strategies for enhancing VR user privacy. We also identify and highlight several major misconceptions and mistakes common to many existing privacy solutions, offering practical suggestions to overcome these challenges. We hope that the results, observations, and implications presented in this thesis will contribute to the development of more robust, multi-faceted privacy solutions to address the complex behaviour privacy challenges in VR environments
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Evaluating Privacy and Safety Measures for Children in VR-Aided Education
Get PDFThe school education system has long adopted emerging technologies to enhance student learning and engagement. This progression spans early e-learning platforms and smart classrooms to today’s immersive environments (del Campo et al., 2012). Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies are increasingly being introduced into classrooms to offer rich, interactive, and personalised learning experiences (Zizza et al., 2018). These tools can accommodate students from diverse educational, cognitive, and socio-cultural backgrounds through adaptable instructional designs (Romero-Ayuso et al., 2021; Shadiev et al., 2021). However, despite their pedagogical potential, adopting immersive technologies in schools raises serious concerns, especially regarding underage learners’ physical health, psychological well-being, and data privacy (Kaimara et al., 2021; Skulmowski, 2023). This paper establishes a position statement by critically examining these risks and proposes key recommendations to support VR’s responsible and effective implementation in school settings.
Although research on this matter is limited, physical risks are the most frequently studied (Bexson et al., 2024). Common side effects of VR use in children include visual fatigue (Fan et al., 2023) and cybersickness (Oh & Lee, 2021). Even though these effects are generally considered temporary, research on prolonged exposure is limited, particularly for young users whose visual and neurological systems are still developing. However, the psychological effects are more concerning and less understood. During critical stages of identity formation, excessive or unsupervised VR use may contribute to identity confusion (Segovia & and, 2009), cognitive overstimulation (Juliano et al., 2022), and potentially addictive behaviours (Das et al., 2017). The immersive nature of VR, which blurs the boundaries between real and virtual environments (Segovia & and, 2009), intensifies these risks. Additionally, social VR learning platforms create opportunities for bullying and harassment through masked identities like avatar interactions (Fiani et al., 2024), which are often beyond current legal protections (Prakhar & Rawat, 2024). Such experiences can lead to anxiety, reduced self-esteem, and social withdrawal (Copeland et al., 2013; Pontillo et al., 2019; Sourander et al., 2007), highlighting the need for caution and further study before widespread integration into the educational curriculum.
Equally critical concerns are related to privacy and data security. VR applications can capture thousands of behavioural data points within minutes, including eye gaze, body movements, and facial expressions (Giaretta, 2024; Miller et al., 2020; Pfeuffer et al., 2019). These data can identify users with over 90% accuracy across different sessions and may be used to train predictive models (Kumarapeli et al., 2024). While these applications have potential benefits, collecting and retaining sensitive information from children who cannot legally provide informed consent raises serious ethical and legal questions. With the rapid growth of generative AI, the misuse of such data, including identity theft (Nair, Miller et al., 2024) or unauthorised profiling (Nair, Rack et al., 2024), becomes an increasingly plausible threat.
Despite these concerns, suspending immersive technologies is neither practical nor educationally beneficial. Instead, their integration should be guided by evidence-based research findings. In the meantime, supervised exposure, adherence to guidelines like the 20-20-20 rule, careful content curation, and limited usage time are essential (Meta Platforms, Inc., 2025; Steinberg, 2025). Given that risks vary by age group, content type, and educational context, the implementation of VR should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis rather than through a universal model. A subtle, cautious approach will help ensure immersive technologies serve as inclusive, safe, and effective educational tools
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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