Search results for "virtual reality."
showing 10 items of 364 documents
Tracking Hands in Interaction with Objects: A Review
2017
Markerless vision-based 3D hand motion tracking is a key and popular component for interaction studies in many domains such as virtual reality and natural human-computer interfaces. While this research field has been well studied in the last decades, most approaches have considered the human hand in isolation and not in action or in interaction with the environment or the other articulated human body parts. Employing contextual information about the surrounding environment (e.g. the shape, the texture, and the posture of the object in the hand) can remarkably constrain the tracking problem. The goal of this survey is to develop an up-to-date taxonomy of existing vision-based hand tracking m…
Hand Detection and Tracking Using the Skeleton of the Blob for Medical Rehabilitation Applications
2012
This article presents an image processing application for hand detection and tracking using the 4-connected skeleton of the segmentation mask. The system has been designed to be used with techniques of virtual reality to develop an interactive application for phantom limb pain reduction in therapeutic treatments. One of the major contributions is the design of a fast and accurate skeleton extractor, that has proven to be faster than those available in the literature. The skeleton allows the system to precisely detect the position of all the interest points of the hand (namely the fingers and the hand center). The system, composed of both the hand detector and tracker, and the virtual realit…
A Low-Cost Multi-Modal Auditory-Visual-Tactile Framework for Remote Touch
2020
International audience; Haptic technology for human augmentation provides gains in ability for different applications, whether the aim is to enhance "disabilities" to "abilities", or "abilities" to "super-abilities". Commercially-available devices are generally expensive and tailored to specific applications and hardware. To give researchers a haptic feedback system that is economical, customisable, and fast to fabricate, our group developed a low-cost immersive haptic, audio, and visual experience built by using off-the-shelf (COTS) components. It is composed of a vibrotactile glove, a Leap Motion sensor, and an head-mounted display, integrated together to provide compelling immersive sens…
More than experience? On the unique opportunities of virtual reality to afford a holistic experiential learning cycle
2021
Virtual reality has been proposed as a promising technology for higher education since the combination of immersive and interactive features enables experiential learning. However, previous studies did not distinguish between the different learning modes of the four-stage experiential learning cycle (i.e., concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation). With our study, we contribute a deeper understanding of how the unique opportunities of virtual reality can afford each of the four experiential learning modes. We conducted three design thinking workshops with interdisciplinary teams of students and lecturers. These workshops resulted in…
Providing Psychological and Emotional Support After Perinatal Loss: Protocol for a Virtual Reality-Based Intervention
2020
The loss of an infant during the perinatal period has been recognized as a complex and potentially traumatic life event and can have a significant impact on women’s mental health. However, often times, psychological aftercare is typically not offered, and manualized interventions are rarely used in clinical care practice and have seldom been evaluated. In recent years, a growing number of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) interventions to facilitate the expression and coping with emotions linked to a traumatic event. The objective of the proposed paper is to present the protocol of a randomized control trial aimed to assess a novel VR-based intervention for moth…
From virtual to real healing: a critical overview of the therapeutic use of virtual reality to cope with mourning
2021
In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has been effectively employed in several settings, ranging from health care needs to leisure and gaming activities. A new application of virtual stimuli appeared in social media: in the documentary 'I met you' from the South-Korean Munhwa Broadcasting, a mother made the experience of interacting with the avatar of the seven-year-old daughter, who died four years before. We think that this new application of virtual stimuli should open a debate on its possible implications: it represents contents related to grief, a dramatic and yet natural experience, that can have deep psychological impacts on fragile subjects put in virtual environments. In the presen…
Digitalization and sustainability: virtual reality tourism in a post pandemic world
2022
The government-imposed COVID-19 pandemic control measures brought the tourism sector to a complete halt. However, virtual reality (VR) tourism offered people a way to escape the isolation. Media reports and research have noted heightened activity in VR tourism, which has been touted as “alternative tourism” and “eco-tourism”. However, scholars have yet to determine whether this shift is temporary or will persist after the pandemic is over. Questions also remain regarding the factors driving this behaviour. The present study uses stimulus-organism-response theory (SOR) to propose a sequential mechanism of the interplay of antecedents and outcomes, theorising VR tourism as a sustainable touri…
The Mathematical Table of the Palazzina Cinese in Palermo. Animation and Virtual Reality Techniques for an Edutainment Project
2023
The Palazzina Cinese of Palermo was built on a project by Venanzio Marvuglia in 1799 on behalf of Ferdinand IV of Borbone, when the royal family, fleeing from Naples following the establishment of the Parthenopean Republic, moved to Sicily. The building, known as “Chinese” due to its style, is full of particular architectural and decorative solutions. An element of particular interest is theMathematical Table, designed to avoid any contact between the living room and the kitchen below, isolating it from smells and servants. Thanks to a complex system of winches and pulleys, in fact, the dishes could be served by letting the central portion of the table and small circular areas fall into the…
Innovative techniques for survey and communication of cultural heritage
2008
This paper deals with the survey and communications of Cultural Heritage through the development of innovative methodologies. The case of study is the polychrome wooden ceiling in the “Magna” Hall of “Palazzo Steri”. The “Steri”, built in the XIVth century by the noble family Chiaromonte, is at the present the headquarter of the Rector’s Office of Palermo University. A 3D model of the wooden ceiling has initially been carried out with laser-scanning and digital photogrammetric techniques; successively a multimodal interactive guide has been realized. The guide is integrated to the 3D model, so that visitors can navigate the virtual representation of the ancient wood ceiling and achieve, int…
Virtual Museum Net
2006
A project named ”Virtual Museum Net of Magna Graecia” is presented, whose objective is to provide an unitary image of the archaeological heritage of Calabria (a Southern Italian region), through Computer Technology, Multimedia Designing and Virtual Reconstructions. The project aims to encourage the technological transfer of the most advanced researches in the exploitation and conservation sector of the Cultural Heritage. The ”Virtual Museum Net of Magna Graecia” project is included in the context of Knowledge Media Design for Museums. This project links the museum scenery and multimedia, in order to use technology as system of representation.