Non-face-to-face psychological counseling systems rely on network technologies to anonymize information regard-ing client identity.However,these systems often face challenges concerning voice data leaks and the subopt...Non-face-to-face psychological counseling systems rely on network technologies to anonymize information regard-ing client identity.However,these systems often face challenges concerning voice data leaks and the suboptimal communication of the client’s non-verbal expressions,such as facial cues,to the counselor.This study proposes a metaverse-based psychological counseling system designed to enhance client identity protection while ensuring efficient information delivery to counselors during non-face-to-face counseling.The proposed systemincorporates a voicemodulation function that instantlymodifies/masks the client’s voice to safeguard their identity.Additionally,it employs real-time client facial expression recognition using an ensemble of decision trees to mirror the client’s non-verbal expressions through their avatar in the metaverse environment.The system is adaptable for use on personal computers and smartphones,offering users the flexibility to access metaverse-based psychological counseling across diverse environments.The performance evaluation of the proposed system confirmed that the voice modulation and real-time facial expression replication consistently achieve an average speed of 48.32 frames per second or higher,even when tested on the least powerful smartphone configurations.Moreover,a total of 550 actual psychological counseling sessions were conducted,and the average satisfaction rating reached 4.46 on a 5-point scale.This indicates that clients experienced improved identity protection compared to conventional non-face-to-face metaverse counseling approaches.Additionally,the counselor successfully addressed the challenge of conveying non-verbal cues from clients who typically struggled with non-face-to-face psychological counseling.The proposed systemholds significant potential for applications in interactive discussions and educational activities in the metaverse.展开更多
A concurrency control mechanism for collaborative work is akey element in a mixed reality environment. However, conventional lockingmechanisms restrict potential tasks or the support of non-owners, thusincreasing the ...A concurrency control mechanism for collaborative work is akey element in a mixed reality environment. However, conventional lockingmechanisms restrict potential tasks or the support of non-owners, thusincreasing the working time because of waiting to avoid conflicts. Herein, wepropose an adaptive concurrency control approach that can reduce conflictsand work time. We classify shared object manipulation in mixed reality intodetailed goals and tasks. Then, we model the relationships among goal,task, and ownership. As the collaborative work progresses, the proposedsystem adapts the different concurrency control mechanisms of shared objectmanipulation according to the modeling of goal–task–ownership. With theproposed concurrency control scheme, users can hold shared objects andmove and rotate together in a mixed reality environment similar to realindustrial sites. Additionally, this system provides MS Hololens and Myosensors to recognize inputs from a user and provides results in a mixed realityenvironment. The proposed method is applied to install an air conditioneras a case study. Experimental results and user studies show that, comparedwith the conventional approach, the proposed method reduced the number ofconflicts, waiting time, and total working time.展开更多
Enhancing the sense of presence of participants is an important issue in terms of security awareness for remote collaboration in extended reality.However,conventional methods are insufficient to be aware of remote sit...Enhancing the sense of presence of participants is an important issue in terms of security awareness for remote collaboration in extended reality.However,conventional methods are insufficient to be aware of remote situations and to search for and control remote workspaces.This study pro-poses a spatial multi-presence system that simultaneously provides multiple spaces while rapidly exploring these spaces as users perform collaborative work in an extended reality environment.The proposed system provides methods for arranging and manipulating remote and personal spaces by creating an annular screen that is invisible to the user.The user can freely arrange remote participants and their workspaces on the annular screen.Because users can simultaneously view various spaces arranged on the annular screen,they can perform collaborative work while simultaneously feeling the presence of multiple spaces and can be fully immersed in a specific space.In addition,the personal spaces where users work can also be arranged through the annular screen.According to the results of the performance evaluations,users participating in remote collaborative works can visualize the spaces of multiple users simultaneously and feel their presence,thereby increasing their understanding of the spaces.Moreover,the proposed system reduces the time to perform tasks and gain awareness of the emergency in remote workspaces.展开更多
基金supported by“Regional Innovation Strategy(RIS)”through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF)funded by the Ministry of Education(MOE)(2021RIS-004)supported by the Technology Development Program(S3230339)funded by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups(MSS,Korea).
文摘Non-face-to-face psychological counseling systems rely on network technologies to anonymize information regard-ing client identity.However,these systems often face challenges concerning voice data leaks and the suboptimal communication of the client’s non-verbal expressions,such as facial cues,to the counselor.This study proposes a metaverse-based psychological counseling system designed to enhance client identity protection while ensuring efficient information delivery to counselors during non-face-to-face counseling.The proposed systemincorporates a voicemodulation function that instantlymodifies/masks the client’s voice to safeguard their identity.Additionally,it employs real-time client facial expression recognition using an ensemble of decision trees to mirror the client’s non-verbal expressions through their avatar in the metaverse environment.The system is adaptable for use on personal computers and smartphones,offering users the flexibility to access metaverse-based psychological counseling across diverse environments.The performance evaluation of the proposed system confirmed that the voice modulation and real-time facial expression replication consistently achieve an average speed of 48.32 frames per second or higher,even when tested on the least powerful smartphone configurations.Moreover,a total of 550 actual psychological counseling sessions were conducted,and the average satisfaction rating reached 4.46 on a 5-point scale.This indicates that clients experienced improved identity protection compared to conventional non-face-to-face metaverse counseling approaches.Additionally,the counselor successfully addressed the challenge of conveying non-verbal cues from clients who typically struggled with non-face-to-face psychological counseling.The proposed systemholds significant potential for applications in interactive discussions and educational activities in the metaverse.
基金supported by“Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS)”through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) (2021RIS-004).
文摘A concurrency control mechanism for collaborative work is akey element in a mixed reality environment. However, conventional lockingmechanisms restrict potential tasks or the support of non-owners, thusincreasing the working time because of waiting to avoid conflicts. Herein, wepropose an adaptive concurrency control approach that can reduce conflictsand work time. We classify shared object manipulation in mixed reality intodetailed goals and tasks. Then, we model the relationships among goal,task, and ownership. As the collaborative work progresses, the proposedsystem adapts the different concurrency control mechanisms of shared objectmanipulation according to the modeling of goal–task–ownership. With theproposed concurrency control scheme, users can hold shared objects andmove and rotate together in a mixed reality environment similar to realindustrial sites. Additionally, this system provides MS Hololens and Myosensors to recognize inputs from a user and provides results in a mixed realityenvironment. The proposed method is applied to install an air conditioneras a case study. Experimental results and user studies show that, comparedwith the conventional approach, the proposed method reduced the number ofconflicts, waiting time, and total working time.
基金supported by“Regional Innovation Strategy(RIS)”through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF)funded by the Ministry of Education(MOE)(2021RIS-004).
文摘Enhancing the sense of presence of participants is an important issue in terms of security awareness for remote collaboration in extended reality.However,conventional methods are insufficient to be aware of remote situations and to search for and control remote workspaces.This study pro-poses a spatial multi-presence system that simultaneously provides multiple spaces while rapidly exploring these spaces as users perform collaborative work in an extended reality environment.The proposed system provides methods for arranging and manipulating remote and personal spaces by creating an annular screen that is invisible to the user.The user can freely arrange remote participants and their workspaces on the annular screen.Because users can simultaneously view various spaces arranged on the annular screen,they can perform collaborative work while simultaneously feeling the presence of multiple spaces and can be fully immersed in a specific space.In addition,the personal spaces where users work can also be arranged through the annular screen.According to the results of the performance evaluations,users participating in remote collaborative works can visualize the spaces of multiple users simultaneously and feel their presence,thereby increasing their understanding of the spaces.Moreover,the proposed system reduces the time to perform tasks and gain awareness of the emergency in remote workspaces.
