Background Over the last few years,the rapid advancement of technology has led to the development of many approaches to digitalization.In this respect,metaverse provides 3D persistent virtual environments that can be ...Background Over the last few years,the rapid advancement of technology has led to the development of many approaches to digitalization.In this respect,metaverse provides 3D persistent virtual environments that can be used to access digital content,meet virtually,and perform several professional and leisure tasks.Among the numerous technologies supporting the metaverse,immersive Virtual Reality(VR)plays a primary role and offers highly interactive social experiences.Despite growing interest in this area,there are no clear design guidelines for creating environments tailored to the metaverse.Methods This study seeks to advance research in this area by moving from state-of-the-art studies on the design of immersive virtual environments in the context of metaverse and proposing how to integrate cutting-edge technologies within this context.Specifically,the best practices were identified by i)analyzing literature studies focused on human behavior in immersive virtual environments,ii)extracting common features of existing social VR platforms,and iii)conducting interviews with experts in a specific application domain.Specifically,this study considered the creation of a new virtual environment for MetaLibrary,a VR-based social platform aimed at integrating public libraries into metaverse.Several implementation challenges and additional requirements have been identified for the development of virtual environments(VEs).These elements were considered in the selection of specific cutting-edge technologies and their integration into the development process.A user study was also conducted to investigate some design aspects(namely lighting conditions and richness of the scene layout)for which deriving clear indications from the above analysis was not possible because different alternative configurations could be chosen.Results The work reported in this paper seeks to bridge the gap between existing VR platforms and related literature in the field,on the one hand,and requirements regarding immersive virtual environments for the metaverse,on the other hand,by reporting a set of best practices which were used to build a social virtual environment that meets users'expectations and needs.Conclusions Results suggest that carefully designed virtual environments can positively affect user experience and interaction within metaverse.The insights gained from this study offer valuable cues for developing immersive virtual environments for the metaverse to deliver more effective and engaging experiences.展开更多
BACKGROUND Preschoolers become anxious when they are about to undergo anesthesia and surgery,warranting the development of more appropriate and effective interventions.AIM To explore the effect of static cartoons comb...BACKGROUND Preschoolers become anxious when they are about to undergo anesthesia and surgery,warranting the development of more appropriate and effective interventions.AIM To explore the effect of static cartoons combined with dynamic virtual environments on preoperative anxiety and anesthesia induction compliance in preschool-aged children undergoing surgery.METHODS One hundred and sixteen preschool-aged children were selected and assigned to the drug(n=37),intervention(n=40),and control(n=39)groups.All the children received routine preoperative checkups and nursing before being transferred to the preoperative preparation room on the day of the operation.The drug group received 0.5 mg/kg midazolam and the intervention group treatment consisting of static cartoons combined with dynamic virtual environments.The control group received no intervention.The modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale was used to evaluate the children’s anxiety level on the day before surgery(T0),before leaving the preoperative preparation room(T1),when entering the operating room(T2),and at anesthesia induction(T3).Compliance during anesthesia induction(T3)was evaluated using the Induction Compliance Checklist(ICC).Changes in mean arterial pressure(MAP),heart rate(HR),and respiratory rate(RR)were also recorded at each time point.RESULTS The anxiety scores of the three groups increased variously at T1 and T2.At T3,both the drug and intervention groups had similar anxiety scores,both of which were lower than those in the control group.At T1 and T2,MAP,HR,and RR of the three groups increased.The drug and control groups had significantly higher MAP and RR than the intervention group at T2.At T3,the MAP,HR,and RR of the drug group decreased and were significantly lower than those in the control group but were comparable to those in the intervention group.Both the drug and intervention groups had similar ICC scores and duration of anesthesia induction(T3),both of which were higher than those of the control group.CONCLUSION Combining static cartoons with dynamic virtual environments as effective as medication,specifically midazolam,in reducing preoperative anxiety and fear in preschool-aged children.This approach also improve their compliance during anesthesia induction and helped maintain their stable vital signs.展开更多
Background Physical entity interactions in mixed reality(MR)environments aim to harness human capabilities in manipulating physical objects,thereby enhancing virtual environment(VEs)functionality.In MR,a common strate...Background Physical entity interactions in mixed reality(MR)environments aim to harness human capabilities in manipulating physical objects,thereby enhancing virtual environment(VEs)functionality.In MR,a common strategy is to use virtual agents as substitutes for physical entities,balancing interaction efficiency with environmental immersion.However,the impact of virtual agent size and form on interaction performance remains unclear.Methods Two experiments were conducted to explore how virtual agent size and form affect interaction performance,immersion,and preference in MR environments.The first experiment assessed five virtual agent sizes(25%,50%,75%,100%,and 125%of physical size).The second experiment tested four types of frames(no frame,consistent frame,half frame,and surrounding frame)across all agent sizes.Participants,utilizing a head mounted display,performed tasks involving moving cups,typing words,and using a mouse.They completed questionnaires assessing aspects such as the virtual environment effects,interaction effects,collision concerns,and preferences.Results Results from the first experiment revealed that agents matching physical object size produced the best overall performance.The second experiment demonstrated that consistent framing notably enhances interaction accuracy and speed but reduces immersion.To balance efficiency and immersion,frameless agents matching physical object sizes were deemed optimal.Conclusions Virtual agents matching physical entity sizes enhance user experience and interaction performance.Conversely,familiar frames from 2D interfaces detrimentally affect interaction and immersion in virtual spaces.This study provides valuable insights for the future development of MR systems.展开更多
Background Fibromyalgia(FM)is a chronic rheumatic disorder characterised by musculoskeletal pain,fatigue,and psychoemotional symptoms.Virtual reality(VR)has proven to be an innovative and motivating tool for managing ...Background Fibromyalgia(FM)is a chronic rheumatic disorder characterised by musculoskeletal pain,fatigue,and psychoemotional symptoms.Virtual reality(VR)has proven to be an innovative and motivating tool for managing FM,with several studies indicating that it can improve quality of life indices and reduce psychoemotional symptoms.However,studies on immersive VR-based exercise(iVRE)are limited.Methods The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of iVRE on quality of life,stress,anxiety,depression,and handgrip strength in patients with FM.A single-arm pre-post-test pilot study was conducted.Individuals diagnosed with FM were recruited using convenience sampling.The iVRE protocol consisted of 12 sessions of 10 min warm-up and 15 min exercises applied with the Oculus Quest 2TM device.The impact on quality of life was assessed using the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire,and the effects on stress,anxiety,and depression were determined using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 questionnaire.Handgrip strength was evaluated using the Baseline®dynamometer.The normality assumption was evaluated,and the pre-post means were compared using Student's ttest(p<0.05).Results Eleven individuals(40.6±11.2 years)completed the protocol(10 women).There were significant differences in favour of iVRE in quality of life impact(p<0.001,Cohen's d:1.48),handgrip strength(p<0.05,Cohen's d:0.26),depression(p<0.05,Cohen's d:0.73),and anxiety(p<0.05,Cohen's d:0.73).Conclusions A six-week iVRE program significantly reduces the impact on quality of life,anxiety,and depression and improves handgrip strength in people with FM.Future studies should investigate the physiological effects using systemic biomarkers to explain the scope of this therapeutic modality.展开更多
Dynamic flood disaster simulation is an emerging and promising technology significantly useful in urban planning,risk assessment,and integrated decision support systems.It is still an important issue to integrate the ...Dynamic flood disaster simulation is an emerging and promising technology significantly useful in urban planning,risk assessment,and integrated decision support systems.It is still an important issue to integrate the large assets such as dynamic observational data,numerical flood simulation models,geographic information technologies,and computing resources into a unified framework.For the intended end user,it is also a holistic solution to create computer interpretable representations and gain insightful understanding of the dynamic disaster processes,the complex impacts,and interactions of disaster factors.In particular,it is still difficult to access and join harmonized data,processing algorithms,and models that are provided by different environmental information infrastructures.In this paper,we demonstrate a virtual geographic environments-based integrated environmental simulation framework for flood disaster management based on the notion of interlinked resources,which is capable of automated accumulating and manipulating of sensor data,creating dynamic geo-analysis and three-dimensional visualizations of ongoing geo-process,and updating the contents of simulation models representing the real environment.The prototype system is evaluated by applying it as a proof of concept to integrate in situ weather observations,numerical weather and flood disaster simulation models,visualization,and analysis of the real time flood event.Case applications indicate that the developed framework can be adopted for use by decision-makers for short-term planning and control since the resulting simulation and visualization are completely based on the latest status of environment.展开更多
Collision avoidance decision-making models of multiple agents in virtual driving environment are studied. Based on the behavioral characteristics and hierarchical structure of the collision avoidance decision-making i...Collision avoidance decision-making models of multiple agents in virtual driving environment are studied. Based on the behavioral characteristics and hierarchical structure of the collision avoidance decision-making in real life driving, delphi approach and mathematical statistics method are introduced to construct pair-wise comparison judgment matrix of collision avoidance decision choices to each collision situation. Analytic hierarchy process （AHP） is adopted to establish the agents＇ collision avoidance decision-making model. To simulate drivers＇ characteristics, driver factors are added to categorize driving modes into impatient mode, normal mode, and the cautious mode. The results show that this model can simulate human＇s thinking process, and the agents in the virtual environment can deal with collision situations and make decisions to avoid collisions without intervention. The model can also reflect diversity and uncertainly of real life driving behaviors, and solves the multi-objective, multi-choice ranking priority problem in multi-vehicle collision scenarios. This collision avoidance model of multi-agents model is feasible and effective, and can provide richer and closer-to-life virtual scene for driving simulator, reflecting real-life traffic environment more truly, this model can also promote the practicality of driving simulator.展开更多
This paper presents research into applying virtual environment (VE) technology to supply chain management (SCM). Our research work has employed virtual manufacturing environments to represent supply chain nodes to sim...This paper presents research into applying virtual environment (VE) technology to supply chain management (SCM). Our research work has employed virtual manufacturing environments to represent supply chain nodes to simulate processes and activities in supply chain management. This will enable those who are involved in these processes and activities to gain an intuitive understanding of them, so as to design robust supply chains and make correct decisions at the right time. A framework system and its hierarchical structure for visualising and simulating supply chains in virtual environments are reported and detailed in this paper.展开更多
In this paper, we present a framework for the generation and control of an Internet-based 3-dimensional game virtual environment that allows a character to navigate through the environment. Our framework includes 3-di...In this paper, we present a framework for the generation and control of an Internet-based 3-dimensional game virtual environment that allows a character to navigate through the environment. Our framework includes 3-dimensional terrain mesh data processing, a map editor, scene processing, collision processing, and walkthrough control. We also define an environment-specific semantic information editor, which can be applied using specific location obtained from the real world. Users can insert text information related to the characters real position in the real world during navigation in the game virtual environment.展开更多
Integrating the theory of distributed virtual geographic environment (DVGE) and high level architecture(HLA), the architecture of DVGE based on HLA is designed. The data flow and the object models of the architecture ...Integrating the theory of distributed virtual geographic environment (DVGE) and high level architecture(HLA), the architecture of DVGE based on HLA is designed. The data flow and the object models of the architecture are also discussed. The architecture basically meets the need of DVGE in real-time communication, distribution, collaboration, reusing and interoperation, expansion, and standard.展开更多
This paper presents a reality-virtual fusional campus environment.It is an online 3D platform with some aspects of real information merged together.The whole platform is based on OpenSimulator with detailed geo-models...This paper presents a reality-virtual fusional campus environment.It is an online 3D platform with some aspects of real information merged together.The whole platform is based on OpenSimulator with detailed geo-models to represent the university campus.Some preliminary experiments were done to integrate the realistic information with the virtual campus for making the geo-environment not only with detailed indoor and outdoor models,but also with the real representations of the physical world.The overall motivation is to provide a framework with strong support for reality-virtuality fusional modeling in a collaborative 3D online platform for research purposes.展开更多
This paper presents the design and implementation of reconfigurable virtual environments (VEs) for virtual testing. It proposes a hybrid design approach that is derived from a so-called integration and composition of ...This paper presents the design and implementation of reconfigurable virtual environments (VEs) for virtual testing. It proposes a hybrid design approach that is derived from a so-called integration and composition of the reconfiguration strategy. The designing process has thus evolved from binding virtual objects using reconfiguration rules within the context of virtual testing scenarios. Therefore reconfigurable virtual environments are established with improved flexibility and scalability, tailored to a wide range of virtual testing applications. Those virtual environments integrate virtual testing scenarios, data acquisition, databases, rule mapping and application interfaces, which yield modular testing functions and an open-ended system architecture with a set of extensible interface tools to realize data exchange within reconfigurable VEs. This enables virtual testing scenarios to be reconfigured interactively based on real time data and communication between virtual environments and real environments. A virtual testing application has been implemented using reconfigurable VEs. Keywords Virtual environment - virtual testing - reconfigurable virtual reality Wenyan Wu graduated from Dalian University of Technology, China, with BSc and MSc in 1988 and 1991 respectively. She earned her PhD degree from University of Derby, UK, in 2002. She had taught and researched in Harbin Institute of Technology, China and De Montfort University, UK. She is currently a senior lecturer in simulation and virtual reality at Staffordshire University, UK. Her research interests include computer graphics, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality system, advanced interface, modelling and simulation, distribution system.Zhengxu Zhao BSc, MSc, PhD, CEng, CITP, MBCS, full Professor in Applied Computing, Director of Virtual Reality Centre. He is also a Cheng Kong Scholar Project Professor in Virtual Reality Technology and Director of Virtual Reality Research Centre at the Southeast University, P R China. Professor Zhao’s research interests include computing graphics and VR systems, industrial process simulation, CIM and manufacturing management systems.展开更多
On the basis of previous work, this paper designs an intelligent agent based on virtual geographic environment (VGE) system that is characterized by huge data, rapid computation, multi\|user, multi\|thread and intelli...On the basis of previous work, this paper designs an intelligent agent based on virtual geographic environment (VGE) system that is characterized by huge data, rapid computation, multi\|user, multi\|thread and intelligence and issues challenges to traditional GIS models and algorithms. The new advances in software and hardware technology lay a reliable basis for system design, development and application.展开更多
The multi-modal information presentation, integrated into the virtual environment （VE）, has potential for stimulating different senses, improving the user＇s impression of immersion, and increasing the amount of inf...The multi-modal information presentation, integrated into the virtual environment （VE）, has potential for stimulating different senses, improving the user＇s impression of immersion, and increasing the amount of information that is accepted and processed by the user＇s perception system. The increase of the useful feedback information may reduce the user＇s cognitive load, thus enhancing the user＇s efficiency and performance while interacting with VEs. This paper presents our creation of a multi-sensory virtual assembly environment （VAE） and the evaluation of the effects of multi-sensory feedback on the usability. The VAE brings together complex technologies such as constraint-based assembly simulation, optical motion tracking technology, and real-time 3D sound generation technology around a virtual reality workbench and a common software platform. The usability evaluation is in terms of its three attributes： efficiency of use, user satisfaction, and reliability. These are addressed by using task completion times （TCTs）, questionnaires, and human performance error rates （HPERs）, respectively. Two assembly tasks have been used to perform the experiments, using sixteen participants. The outcomes showed that the multi-sensory feedback could improve the usability. They also indicated that the integrated feedback offered better usability than either feedback used in isolation. Most participants preferred the integrated feedback to either feedback （visual or auditory） or no feedback. The participants＇ comments demonstrated that nonrealistic or inappropriate feedback had negative effects on the usability, and easily made them feel frustrated. The possible reasons behind the outcomes are also analysed by using a unifying human computer interaction framework. The implications, concluded from the outcomes of this work, can serve as useful guidelines for improving VE system design and implementation.展开更多
The emergence of high performance 3D graphics cards has opened the way to PC clusters for high performance multi- display environment. In order to exploit the rendering ability of PC clusters, we should design appropr...The emergence of high performance 3D graphics cards has opened the way to PC clusters for high performance multi- display environment. In order to exploit the rendering ability of PC clusters, we should design appropriate parallel rendering algorithms and parallel graphics library interfaces. Due to the rapid development of Direct3D, we bring forward DPGL, the Direct3D9-based parallel graphics library in D3DPR parallel rendering system, which implements Direct3D9 interfaces to support existing Direct3D9 application parallelization with no modification. Based on the parallelism analysis of Direct3D9 rendering pipeline, we briefly introduce D3DPR parallel rendering system. DPGL is the fundamental component of D3DPR. After presenting DPGL three layers architecture, we discuss the rendering resource interception and management. Finally, we describe the design and implementation of DPGL in detail, including rendering command interception layer, rendering command interpretation layer and rendering resource parallelization layer.展开更多
Because of the importance of graphics and information within the domain of architecture, engineering and construction （AEC）, an appropriate combination of visualization technology and information management technolo...Because of the importance of graphics and information within the domain of architecture, engineering and construction （AEC）, an appropriate combination of visualization technology and information management technology is of utter importance in the development of appropriately supporting design and construction applications. Virtual environments, however, tend not to make this information available. The sparse number of applications that present additional information furthermore tend to limit their scope to pure construction information and do not incorporate information from loosely related knowledge domains, such as cultural heritage or architectural history information. We therefore started an investigation of two of the newest developments in these domains, namely game engine technology and semantic web technology. This paper documents part of this research, containing a review and comparison of the most prominent game engines and documenting our architectural semantic web. A short test-case illustrates how both can be combined to enhance information visualization for architectural design and construction.展开更多
Mobile agents provide a new method for the distributed computation. This paper presents the advantages of using mobile agents in a distributed virtual environment (DVE) system, and describes the architecture of hetero...Mobile agents provide a new method for the distributed computation. This paper presents the advantages of using mobile agents in a distributed virtual environment (DVE) system, and describes the architecture of heterogeneous computer's distributed virtual environment system (HCWES) designed to populate some mobile agents as well as stationary agents. Finally, the paper introduces how heterogeneous computer network communication is to be realized.展开更多
This paper demonstrates an experiment on the generation of 3D virtual geographic environment on the basis of experimental flight laser scanning data by a set of algorithms and methods that were developed to automatica...This paper demonstrates an experiment on the generation of 3D virtual geographic environment on the basis of experimental flight laser scanning data by a set of algorithms and methods that were developed to automatically interpret range images for extracting geo-spatial features and then to reconstruct geo-objects. The algorithms and methods for the interpretation and modeling of laser scanner data include triangulated-irregular-network (TIN)-based range image interpolation; mathematical-morphology (MM)-based range image filtering, feature extraction and range image segmentation, feature generalization and optimization, 3D objects reconstruction and modeling; computer-graphics (CG)-based visualization and animation of geographic virtual reality environment.展开更多
Short-chain chlorinated paraffins（SCCPs） are still controversial candidates for inclusion in the Stockholm Convention.The inherent mixture nature of SCCPs makes it rather difficult to explore their environmental beh...Short-chain chlorinated paraffins（SCCPs） are still controversial candidates for inclusion in the Stockholm Convention.The inherent mixture nature of SCCPs makes it rather difficult to explore their environmental behaviors.A virtual molecule library of 42,720 C10-SCCP congeners covering the full structure spectrum was constructed.We explored the structural effects on the thermodynamic parameters and environmental degradability of C10-SCCPs through semi-empirical quantum chemical calculations.The thermodynamic properties were acquired using the AM1 method,and frontier molecular orbital analysis was carried out to obtain the EHOMO,ELUMO and ELUMO-EHOMO for degradability exploration at the same level.The influence of the chlorination degree（NCl on the relative stability and environmental degradation was elucidated.A novel structural descriptor,μ,was proposed to measure the dispersion of the chlorine atoms within a molecule.There were significant correlations between thermodynamic values and NCl,while the reported NCl-dependent pollution profile of C10-SCCPs in environmental samples was basically consistent with the predicted order of formation stability of C10-SCCP congeners.In addition,isomers with largeμ showed higher relative stability than those with small μ.This could be further verified by the relationship between μ and the reactivity of nucleophilic substitution and · OH attack respectively.The C10-SCCP congeners with less Cl substitution and lower dispersion degree are susceptible to environmental degradation via nucleophilic substitution and hydroxyl radical attack,while direct photolysis of C10-SCCP congeners cannot readily occur due to the large ELUMO-EHOMO values.The chlorination effect and the conclusions were further checked with appropriate density functional theory（DFT） calculations.展开更多
Virtual reality (VR) is a rapidly developing technology that has a wide spectrum of industrial and commercial applications. Networked (distributed or shared) virtual environments (VE) are of growing interest to modern...Virtual reality (VR) is a rapidly developing technology that has a wide spectrum of industrial and commercial applications. Networked (distributed or shared) virtual environments (VE) are of growing interest to modern manufacturing industry; a dominating use of networked virtual manufacturing environments (VMEs) is on-line visualisation and collaborative control of 3D information. This has to be supported by real-time data transfer. To meet a broad range of common requirements for Internet-based VE communications, particularly for virtual manufacturing and collaborative design and control, this paper presents a networked virtual environment system that is designed to support networked virtual design and manufacturing. The system is implemented with manufacturing message specification (MMS) standards so as to integrate a range of manufacturing services into networked VEs over the Internet.展开更多
This paper first introduces a way to improve interactivity with high polygon count virtual objects through the "mixed" use of image-based representation within one object. That is, both 3D polygonal and imag...This paper first introduces a way to improve interactivity with high polygon count virtual objects through the "mixed" use of image-based representation within one object. That is, both 3D polygonal and image-based representations are maintained for an object, and switched for rendering depending on the functional requirement of the object. Furthermore, in order to reduce the popping effect and provide smooth and gradual transition during the object representation switch, the object is subdivided with the subdivided parts possibly represented differently, i.e., using 3D models or images. As for the image-based representation, the relief texture (RT) method is used. In particular, through the use of the mixed representation, a new way called TangibleScreen is pro-posed to provide object tangibility by associating the image-based representation with a physical prop (projecting the RTs) in a selective and flexible way. Overall, the proposed method provides a way to maintain an interactive frame rate with selective perceptual details in a large-scale virtual environment, while allowing the user to interact with virtual objects in a tangible way.展开更多
基金Supported by Fondazione TIM in the context of the “Facciamola Facile” initiativeby Programma Operativo Nazionale (PON)“Ricerca e Innovazione” 2014-2020-DM 1062/2021 funds
文摘Background Over the last few years,the rapid advancement of technology has led to the development of many approaches to digitalization.In this respect,metaverse provides 3D persistent virtual environments that can be used to access digital content,meet virtually,and perform several professional and leisure tasks.Among the numerous technologies supporting the metaverse,immersive Virtual Reality(VR)plays a primary role and offers highly interactive social experiences.Despite growing interest in this area,there are no clear design guidelines for creating environments tailored to the metaverse.Methods This study seeks to advance research in this area by moving from state-of-the-art studies on the design of immersive virtual environments in the context of metaverse and proposing how to integrate cutting-edge technologies within this context.Specifically,the best practices were identified by i)analyzing literature studies focused on human behavior in immersive virtual environments,ii)extracting common features of existing social VR platforms,and iii)conducting interviews with experts in a specific application domain.Specifically,this study considered the creation of a new virtual environment for MetaLibrary,a VR-based social platform aimed at integrating public libraries into metaverse.Several implementation challenges and additional requirements have been identified for the development of virtual environments(VEs).These elements were considered in the selection of specific cutting-edge technologies and their integration into the development process.A user study was also conducted to investigate some design aspects(namely lighting conditions and richness of the scene layout)for which deriving clear indications from the above analysis was not possible because different alternative configurations could be chosen.Results The work reported in this paper seeks to bridge the gap between existing VR platforms and related literature in the field,on the one hand,and requirements regarding immersive virtual environments for the metaverse,on the other hand,by reporting a set of best practices which were used to build a social virtual environment that meets users'expectations and needs.Conclusions Results suggest that carefully designed virtual environments can positively affect user experience and interaction within metaverse.The insights gained from this study offer valuable cues for developing immersive virtual environments for the metaverse to deliver more effective and engaging experiences.
基金Supported by Hangzhou Medical and Health Technology Project,No.OO20191141。
文摘BACKGROUND Preschoolers become anxious when they are about to undergo anesthesia and surgery,warranting the development of more appropriate and effective interventions.AIM To explore the effect of static cartoons combined with dynamic virtual environments on preoperative anxiety and anesthesia induction compliance in preschool-aged children undergoing surgery.METHODS One hundred and sixteen preschool-aged children were selected and assigned to the drug(n=37),intervention(n=40),and control(n=39)groups.All the children received routine preoperative checkups and nursing before being transferred to the preoperative preparation room on the day of the operation.The drug group received 0.5 mg/kg midazolam and the intervention group treatment consisting of static cartoons combined with dynamic virtual environments.The control group received no intervention.The modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale was used to evaluate the children’s anxiety level on the day before surgery(T0),before leaving the preoperative preparation room(T1),when entering the operating room(T2),and at anesthesia induction(T3).Compliance during anesthesia induction(T3)was evaluated using the Induction Compliance Checklist(ICC).Changes in mean arterial pressure(MAP),heart rate(HR),and respiratory rate(RR)were also recorded at each time point.RESULTS The anxiety scores of the three groups increased variously at T1 and T2.At T3,both the drug and intervention groups had similar anxiety scores,both of which were lower than those in the control group.At T1 and T2,MAP,HR,and RR of the three groups increased.The drug and control groups had significantly higher MAP and RR than the intervention group at T2.At T3,the MAP,HR,and RR of the drug group decreased and were significantly lower than those in the control group but were comparable to those in the intervention group.Both the drug and intervention groups had similar ICC scores and duration of anesthesia induction(T3),both of which were higher than those of the control group.CONCLUSION Combining static cartoons with dynamic virtual environments as effective as medication,specifically midazolam,in reducing preoperative anxiety and fear in preschool-aged children.This approach also improve their compliance during anesthesia induction and helped maintain their stable vital signs.
基金the Strategic research and consulting project of Chinese Academy of Engineering(2023-HY-14).
文摘Background Physical entity interactions in mixed reality(MR)environments aim to harness human capabilities in manipulating physical objects,thereby enhancing virtual environment(VEs)functionality.In MR,a common strategy is to use virtual agents as substitutes for physical entities,balancing interaction efficiency with environmental immersion.However,the impact of virtual agent size and form on interaction performance remains unclear.Methods Two experiments were conducted to explore how virtual agent size and form affect interaction performance,immersion,and preference in MR environments.The first experiment assessed five virtual agent sizes(25%,50%,75%,100%,and 125%of physical size).The second experiment tested four types of frames(no frame,consistent frame,half frame,and surrounding frame)across all agent sizes.Participants,utilizing a head mounted display,performed tasks involving moving cups,typing words,and using a mouse.They completed questionnaires assessing aspects such as the virtual environment effects,interaction effects,collision concerns,and preferences.Results Results from the first experiment revealed that agents matching physical object size produced the best overall performance.The second experiment demonstrated that consistent framing notably enhances interaction accuracy and speed but reduces immersion.To balance efficiency and immersion,frameless agents matching physical object sizes were deemed optimal.Conclusions Virtual agents matching physical entity sizes enhance user experience and interaction performance.Conversely,familiar frames from 2D interfaces detrimentally affect interaction and immersion in virtual spaces.This study provides valuable insights for the future development of MR systems.
基金Supported by collaborative project(ID3003)of the Vice-Rectors Office for University Outreach(VCM,Spanish acronym)of the Universidad San Sebastián Concepción,Republic of Chile.
文摘Background Fibromyalgia(FM)is a chronic rheumatic disorder characterised by musculoskeletal pain,fatigue,and psychoemotional symptoms.Virtual reality(VR)has proven to be an innovative and motivating tool for managing FM,with several studies indicating that it can improve quality of life indices and reduce psychoemotional symptoms.However,studies on immersive VR-based exercise(iVRE)are limited.Methods The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of iVRE on quality of life,stress,anxiety,depression,and handgrip strength in patients with FM.A single-arm pre-post-test pilot study was conducted.Individuals diagnosed with FM were recruited using convenience sampling.The iVRE protocol consisted of 12 sessions of 10 min warm-up and 15 min exercises applied with the Oculus Quest 2TM device.The impact on quality of life was assessed using the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire,and the effects on stress,anxiety,and depression were determined using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 questionnaire.Handgrip strength was evaluated using the Baseline®dynamometer.The normality assumption was evaluated,and the pre-post means were compared using Student's ttest(p<0.05).Results Eleven individuals(40.6±11.2 years)completed the protocol(10 women).There were significant differences in favour of iVRE in quality of life impact(p<0.001,Cohen's d:1.48),handgrip strength(p<0.05,Cohen's d:0.26),depression(p<0.05,Cohen's d:0.73),and anxiety(p<0.05,Cohen's d:0.73).Conclusions A six-week iVRE program significantly reduces the impact on quality of life,anxiety,and depression and improves handgrip strength in people with FM.Future studies should investigate the physiological effects using systemic biomarkers to explain the scope of this therapeutic modality.
基金This study is supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863 Program)(Nos.2012AA121305 and 2013AA120701)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.41471320 and 41201440).
文摘Dynamic flood disaster simulation is an emerging and promising technology significantly useful in urban planning,risk assessment,and integrated decision support systems.It is still an important issue to integrate the large assets such as dynamic observational data,numerical flood simulation models,geographic information technologies,and computing resources into a unified framework.For the intended end user,it is also a holistic solution to create computer interpretable representations and gain insightful understanding of the dynamic disaster processes,the complex impacts,and interactions of disaster factors.In particular,it is still difficult to access and join harmonized data,processing algorithms,and models that are provided by different environmental information infrastructures.In this paper,we demonstrate a virtual geographic environments-based integrated environmental simulation framework for flood disaster management based on the notion of interlinked resources,which is capable of automated accumulating and manipulating of sensor data,creating dynamic geo-analysis and three-dimensional visualizations of ongoing geo-process,and updating the contents of simulation models representing the real environment.The prototype system is evaluated by applying it as a proof of concept to integrate in situ weather observations,numerical weather and flood disaster simulation models,visualization,and analysis of the real time flood event.Case applications indicate that the developed framework can be adopted for use by decision-makers for short-term planning and control since the resulting simulation and visualization are completely based on the latest status of environment.
基金supported by National Basic Research Program (973 Program,No.2004CB719402)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.60736019)Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China(No.Y105430).
文摘Collision avoidance decision-making models of multiple agents in virtual driving environment are studied. Based on the behavioral characteristics and hierarchical structure of the collision avoidance decision-making in real life driving, delphi approach and mathematical statistics method are introduced to construct pair-wise comparison judgment matrix of collision avoidance decision choices to each collision situation. Analytic hierarchy process （AHP） is adopted to establish the agents＇ collision avoidance decision-making model. To simulate drivers＇ characteristics, driver factors are added to categorize driving modes into impatient mode, normal mode, and the cautious mode. The results show that this model can simulate human＇s thinking process, and the agents in the virtual environment can deal with collision situations and make decisions to avoid collisions without intervention. The model can also reflect diversity and uncertainly of real life driving behaviors, and solves the multi-objective, multi-choice ranking priority problem in multi-vehicle collision scenarios. This collision avoidance model of multi-agents model is feasible and effective, and can provide richer and closer-to-life virtual scene for driving simulator, reflecting real-life traffic environment more truly, this model can also promote the practicality of driving simulator.
基金This work is partially sponsored by the Cheung Kong Scholars Programme of the People's Republic of China.
文摘This paper presents research into applying virtual environment (VE) technology to supply chain management (SCM). Our research work has employed virtual manufacturing environments to represent supply chain nodes to simulate processes and activities in supply chain management. This will enable those who are involved in these processes and activities to gain an intuitive understanding of them, so as to design robust supply chains and make correct decisions at the right time. A framework system and its hierarchical structure for visualising and simulating supply chains in virtual environments are reported and detailed in this paper.
文摘In this paper, we present a framework for the generation and control of an Internet-based 3-dimensional game virtual environment that allows a character to navigate through the environment. Our framework includes 3-dimensional terrain mesh data processing, a map editor, scene processing, collision processing, and walkthrough control. We also define an environment-specific semantic information editor, which can be applied using specific location obtained from the real world. Users can insert text information related to the characters real position in the real world during navigation in the game virtual environment.
基金Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.40341011) and the National 863 Program of China(No.2002AA135230)
文摘Integrating the theory of distributed virtual geographic environment (DVGE) and high level architecture(HLA), the architecture of DVGE based on HLA is designed. The data flow and the object models of the architecture are also discussed. The architecture basically meets the need of DVGE in real-time communication, distribution, collaboration, reusing and interoperation, expansion, and standard.
基金the Direct Grant of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (No.2021064)the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (No.2010AA122202)
文摘This paper presents a reality-virtual fusional campus environment.It is an online 3D platform with some aspects of real information merged together.The whole platform is based on OpenSimulator with detailed geo-models to represent the university campus.Some preliminary experiments were done to integrate the realistic information with the virtual campus for making the geo-environment not only with detailed indoor and outdoor models,but also with the real representations of the physical world.The overall motivation is to provide a framework with strong support for reality-virtuality fusional modeling in a collaborative 3D online platform for research purposes.
文摘This paper presents the design and implementation of reconfigurable virtual environments (VEs) for virtual testing. It proposes a hybrid design approach that is derived from a so-called integration and composition of the reconfiguration strategy. The designing process has thus evolved from binding virtual objects using reconfiguration rules within the context of virtual testing scenarios. Therefore reconfigurable virtual environments are established with improved flexibility and scalability, tailored to a wide range of virtual testing applications. Those virtual environments integrate virtual testing scenarios, data acquisition, databases, rule mapping and application interfaces, which yield modular testing functions and an open-ended system architecture with a set of extensible interface tools to realize data exchange within reconfigurable VEs. This enables virtual testing scenarios to be reconfigured interactively based on real time data and communication between virtual environments and real environments. A virtual testing application has been implemented using reconfigurable VEs. Keywords Virtual environment - virtual testing - reconfigurable virtual reality Wenyan Wu graduated from Dalian University of Technology, China, with BSc and MSc in 1988 and 1991 respectively. She earned her PhD degree from University of Derby, UK, in 2002. She had taught and researched in Harbin Institute of Technology, China and De Montfort University, UK. She is currently a senior lecturer in simulation and virtual reality at Staffordshire University, UK. Her research interests include computer graphics, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality system, advanced interface, modelling and simulation, distribution system.Zhengxu Zhao BSc, MSc, PhD, CEng, CITP, MBCS, full Professor in Applied Computing, Director of Virtual Reality Centre. He is also a Cheng Kong Scholar Project Professor in Virtual Reality Technology and Director of Virtual Reality Research Centre at the Southeast University, P R China. Professor Zhao’s research interests include computing graphics and VR systems, industrial process simulation, CIM and manufacturing management systems.
文摘On the basis of previous work, this paper designs an intelligent agent based on virtual geographic environment (VGE) system that is characterized by huge data, rapid computation, multi\|user, multi\|thread and intelligence and issues challenges to traditional GIS models and algorithms. The new advances in software and hardware technology lay a reliable basis for system design, development and application.
基金This work was supported in part by EPSRC(No.GR/M69333/01(P)).
文摘The multi-modal information presentation, integrated into the virtual environment （VE）, has potential for stimulating different senses, improving the user＇s impression of immersion, and increasing the amount of information that is accepted and processed by the user＇s perception system. The increase of the useful feedback information may reduce the user＇s cognitive load, thus enhancing the user＇s efficiency and performance while interacting with VEs. This paper presents our creation of a multi-sensory virtual assembly environment （VAE） and the evaluation of the effects of multi-sensory feedback on the usability. The VAE brings together complex technologies such as constraint-based assembly simulation, optical motion tracking technology, and real-time 3D sound generation technology around a virtual reality workbench and a common software platform. The usability evaluation is in terms of its three attributes： efficiency of use, user satisfaction, and reliability. These are addressed by using task completion times （TCTs）, questionnaires, and human performance error rates （HPERs）, respectively. Two assembly tasks have been used to perform the experiments, using sixteen participants. The outcomes showed that the multi-sensory feedback could improve the usability. They also indicated that the integrated feedback offered better usability than either feedback used in isolation. Most participants preferred the integrated feedback to either feedback （visual or auditory） or no feedback. The participants＇ comments demonstrated that nonrealistic or inappropriate feedback had negative effects on the usability, and easily made them feel frustrated. The possible reasons behind the outcomes are also analysed by using a unifying human computer interaction framework. The implications, concluded from the outcomes of this work, can serve as useful guidelines for improving VE system design and implementation.
基金This work was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (No.2002CB312105)Key National Natural Science Foundation of China Project on Digital Olympic Museum(No.60533080).
文摘The emergence of high performance 3D graphics cards has opened the way to PC clusters for high performance multi- display environment. In order to exploit the rendering ability of PC clusters, we should design appropriate parallel rendering algorithms and parallel graphics library interfaces. Due to the rapid development of Direct3D, we bring forward DPGL, the Direct3D9-based parallel graphics library in D3DPR parallel rendering system, which implements Direct3D9 interfaces to support existing Direct3D9 application parallelization with no modification. Based on the parallelism analysis of Direct3D9 rendering pipeline, we briefly introduce D3DPR parallel rendering system. DPGL is the fundamental component of D3DPR. After presenting DPGL three layers architecture, we discuss the rendering resource interception and management. Finally, we describe the design and implementation of DPGL in detail, including rendering command interception layer, rendering command interpretation layer and rendering resource parallelization layer.
文摘Because of the importance of graphics and information within the domain of architecture, engineering and construction （AEC）, an appropriate combination of visualization technology and information management technology is of utter importance in the development of appropriately supporting design and construction applications. Virtual environments, however, tend not to make this information available. The sparse number of applications that present additional information furthermore tend to limit their scope to pure construction information and do not incorporate information from loosely related knowledge domains, such as cultural heritage or architectural history information. We therefore started an investigation of two of the newest developments in these domains, namely game engine technology and semantic web technology. This paper documents part of this research, containing a review and comparison of the most prominent game engines and documenting our architectural semantic web. A short test-case illustrates how both can be combined to enhance information visualization for architectural design and construction.
文摘Mobile agents provide a new method for the distributed computation. This paper presents the advantages of using mobile agents in a distributed virtual environment (DVE) system, and describes the architecture of heterogeneous computer's distributed virtual environment system (HCWES) designed to populate some mobile agents as well as stationary agents. Finally, the paper introduces how heterogeneous computer network communication is to be realized.
文摘This paper demonstrates an experiment on the generation of 3D virtual geographic environment on the basis of experimental flight laser scanning data by a set of algorithms and methods that were developed to automatically interpret range images for extracting geo-spatial features and then to reconstruct geo-objects. The algorithms and methods for the interpretation and modeling of laser scanner data include triangulated-irregular-network (TIN)-based range image interpolation; mathematical-morphology (MM)-based range image filtering, feature extraction and range image segmentation, feature generalization and optimization, 3D objects reconstruction and modeling; computer-graphics (CG)-based visualization and animation of geographic virtual reality environment.
基金jointly supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nos. KZCX2-YW-BR-25, XDB14030500 and YSW2013B01)the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863) of China (No. 2013AA065201)
文摘Short-chain chlorinated paraffins（SCCPs） are still controversial candidates for inclusion in the Stockholm Convention.The inherent mixture nature of SCCPs makes it rather difficult to explore their environmental behaviors.A virtual molecule library of 42,720 C10-SCCP congeners covering the full structure spectrum was constructed.We explored the structural effects on the thermodynamic parameters and environmental degradability of C10-SCCPs through semi-empirical quantum chemical calculations.The thermodynamic properties were acquired using the AM1 method,and frontier molecular orbital analysis was carried out to obtain the EHOMO,ELUMO and ELUMO-EHOMO for degradability exploration at the same level.The influence of the chlorination degree（NCl on the relative stability and environmental degradation was elucidated.A novel structural descriptor,μ,was proposed to measure the dispersion of the chlorine atoms within a molecule.There were significant correlations between thermodynamic values and NCl,while the reported NCl-dependent pollution profile of C10-SCCPs in environmental samples was basically consistent with the predicted order of formation stability of C10-SCCP congeners.In addition,isomers with largeμ showed higher relative stability than those with small μ.This could be further verified by the relationship between μ and the reactivity of nucleophilic substitution and · OH attack respectively.The C10-SCCP congeners with less Cl substitution and lower dispersion degree are susceptible to environmental degradation via nucleophilic substitution and hydroxyl radical attack,while direct photolysis of C10-SCCP congeners cannot readily occur due to the large ELUMO-EHOMO values.The chlorination effect and the conclusions were further checked with appropriate density functional theory（DFT） calculations.
文摘Virtual reality (VR) is a rapidly developing technology that has a wide spectrum of industrial and commercial applications. Networked (distributed or shared) virtual environments (VE) are of growing interest to modern manufacturing industry; a dominating use of networked virtual manufacturing environments (VMEs) is on-line visualisation and collaborative control of 3D information. This has to be supported by real-time data transfer. To meet a broad range of common requirements for Internet-based VE communications, particularly for virtual manufacturing and collaborative design and control, this paper presents a networked virtual environment system that is designed to support networked virtual design and manufacturing. The system is implemented with manufacturing message specification (MMS) standards so as to integrate a range of manufacturing services into networked VEs over the Internet.
基金Project (No. R01-2006-000-11142-0) supported by the "Teukjung Gicho" Program of the Korea Science Foundation
文摘This paper first introduces a way to improve interactivity with high polygon count virtual objects through the "mixed" use of image-based representation within one object. That is, both 3D polygonal and image-based representations are maintained for an object, and switched for rendering depending on the functional requirement of the object. Furthermore, in order to reduce the popping effect and provide smooth and gradual transition during the object representation switch, the object is subdivided with the subdivided parts possibly represented differently, i.e., using 3D models or images. As for the image-based representation, the relief texture (RT) method is used. In particular, through the use of the mixed representation, a new way called TangibleScreen is pro-posed to provide object tangibility by associating the image-based representation with a physical prop (projecting the RTs) in a selective and flexible way. Overall, the proposed method provides a way to maintain an interactive frame rate with selective perceptual details in a large-scale virtual environment, while allowing the user to interact with virtual objects in a tangible way.
