Being able to interact with video streams can be both fun, educational and provide help during disaster situations. However, to achieve the best user experience the interaction must be seamless. This ...thesis presents the design and implementation of an interface for a media player that allows for users to view multiple video streams of the same event from different geographical positions and angles. The thesis first describes the system design and methods used to implement this kind of media player and explains how to achieve a seemingly good and, to a higher extent, enjoyable video streaming experience. Second, an algorithm is developed for placing each video stream object on the interface's geographic-based map automatically. These objects are placed to ensure the relative positions of the objects compared to the real world. The end result of this project is a proof-of-concept media player which enables a user to see an overview over a geographical streaming area. Presented with the relative location of each stream to the point of interest the player allows the user to click on that stream and switch to viewing the recordings from that point of view. While the resulting player is not yet seamless, the result of this project shows the command-and-control center as initially envisioned. Implementing seamless, uninterrupted, switching between the video streams is outside the scope of this thesis. However, as demonstrated and argued in the thesis, the work done here and the developed software code will allow for easy integration of more advanced prefetching algorithms in future and parallel works.
För att hitta en mindre beräkningskrävande modell för energiuppskattning av vågdata har artificiella neurala nätverks förmåga att efterlikna ett punktabsorberande vågkraftsverks bojpositioner vid ...havsvågor från Islandsberg undersökts. Genom att undersöka antal dolda lager samt inparametrarnas enhet, tidsupplösning och antal har olika neurala artificiella nätverk tagits fram som efterliknar bojpositioner lösta med en linjär- samt olinjärmodell. Det artificiella neurala nätverk som bäst efterliknar bojpositioner lösta med den linjära modellen har 1 dolt lager och 50 inparametrar, med tidsupplösning 0,1 sekunder. Dess inparametrar består enbart av inkommande våghöjder. För dessa parametrar uppskattar det artificiella neurala nätverket en medeleffekt som skiljer sig från den linjära modellen med 1,78% då dämpningskoefficienten är 200kNs/m. Beräkningstiden för den linjära modellen är 0,087 sekunder vilket är ungefär 20 gånger snabbare än med det artificiella neurala nätverket och då är inte träningstiden för det artificiella neurala nätverket medräknad. Det artificiella neurala nätverk som bäst efterliknar bojpositioner lösta med den olinjära modellen har 11 dolda lager och 50 inparametrar, med tidsupplösning 0,1 sekunder. Dess inparametrar består enbart av inkommande vågs excitationskraft. För dessa parametrar uppskattar det artificiella neurala nätverket en medeleffekt som skiljer sig från den linjära modellen med 0,3% då dämpningskoefficienten är 130kNs/m. Beräkningstiden för 30 minuters vågdata för den olinjära modellen är 41 minuter och 6 sekunder vilket kan jämföras med 57 sekunder för det artificiella neurala nätverket. Då är inte träningstiden för det artificiella neurala nätverket medräknad. Genom att ändra dämpningskoefficienten till optimala värden, med en frekvens mycket högre än vågperioden, fås en högre energiabsorptionen. En genetisk algoritm används för att beräkna den optimala följden av dämpningskoefficienter och för att prediktera den optimala dämpningskoefficienten används ett artificiellt neuralt nätverk. Vid undersökning där det artificiella neurala nätverket predikterade nästkommande optimala dämpningskoefficient fås en energiabsorption som är 20% högre än den energiabsorption som fås med en optimal konstant dämpningskoefficient.
Navigation is influenced by body-based self-motion cues that are integrated over time, in a process known as
path integration
, as well as by environmental cues such as landmarks and room shape. In ...two experiments we explored whether humans combine path integration and environmental cues (Exp. 1: room shape; Exp. 2: room shape, single landmark, and multiple landmarks) to reduce response variability when returning to a previously visited location. Participants walked an outbound path in an immersive virtual environment before attempting to return to the path origin. Path integration and an environmental cue were both available during the outbound path, but experimental manipulations created single- and dual-cue conditions during the return path. The response variance when returning to the path origin was reduced when both cues were available, consistent with optimal integration predicted on the basis of Bayesian principles. The findings indicate that humans optimally integrate multiple spatial cues during navigation. Additionally, a large (but not a small) cue conflict caused participants to assign a higher weight to path integration than to environmental cues, despite the relatively greater precision afforded by the environmental cues.
Distance in immersive virtual reality is commonly underperceived relative to intended distance, causing virtual environments to appear smaller than they actually are. However, a brief period of ...interaction by walking through the virtual environment with visual feedback can cause dramatic improvement in perceived distance. The goal of the current project was to determine how quickly improvement occurs as a result of walking interaction (Experiment 1) and whether improvement is specific to the distances experienced during interaction, or whether improvement transfers across scales of space (Experiment 2). The results show that five interaction trials resulted in a large improvement in perceived distance, and that subsequent walking interactions showed continued but diminished improvement. Furthermore, interaction with near objects (1-2 m) improved distance perception for near but not far (4-5 m) objects, whereas interaction with far objects broadly improved distance perception for both near and far objects. These results have practical implications for ameliorating distance underperception in immersive virtual reality, as well as theoretical implications for distinguishing between theories of how walking interaction influences perceived distance.
Egocentric distances in virtual environments are commonly underperceived by up to 50 % of the intended distance. However, a brief period of interaction in which participants walk through the virtual ...environment while receiving visual feedback can dramatically improve distance judgments. Two experiments were designed to explore whether the increase in postinteraction distance judgments is due to perception–action recalibration or the rescaling of perceived space. Perception–action recalibration as a result of walking interaction should only affect action-specific distance judgments, whereas rescaling of perceived space should affect all distance judgments based on the rescaled percept. Participants made blind-walking distance judgments and verbal size judgments in response to objects in a virtual environment before and after interacting with the environment through either walking (Experiment
1
) or reaching (Experiment
2
). Size judgments were used to infer perceived distance under the assumption of size–distance invariance, and these served as an implicit measure of perceived distance. Preinteraction walking and size-based distance judgments indicated an underperception of egocentric distance, whereas postinteraction walking and size-based distance judgments both increased as a result of the walking interaction, indicating that walking through the virtual environment with continuous visual feedback caused rescaling of the perceived space. However, interaction with the virtual environment through reaching had no effect on either type of distance judgment, indicating that physical translation through the virtual environment may be necessary for a rescaling of perceived space. Furthermore, the size-based distance and walking distance judgments were highly correlated, even across changes in perceived distance, providing support for the size–distance invariance hypothesis.
Spatial memories are often hierarchically organized with different regions of space represented in unique clusters within the hierarchy. Each cluster is thought to be organized around its own ...microreference frame selected during learning, whereas relationships between clusters are organized by a macroreference frame. Two experiments were conducted in order to better understand important characteristics of macroreference frames. Participants learned overlapping spatial layouts of objects within a room-sized environment before performing a perspective-taking task from memory. Of critical importance were between-layout judgments thought to reflect the macroreference frame. The results indicate that (1) macroreference frames characterize overlapping spatial layouts, (2) macroreference frames are used even when microreference frames are aligned with one another, and (3) macroreference frame selection depends on an interaction between the global macroaxis (defined by characteristics of the layout of all learned objects), the relational macroaxis (defined by characteristics of the two layouts being related on a perspective-taking trial), and the learning view. These results refine the current understanding of macroreference frames and document their broad role in spatial memory.
Collaborative inhibition
refers to the finding that pairs of people working together to retrieve information from memory—a collaborative group—often retrieve fewer unique items than do nominal pairs, ...who retrieve individually but whose performance is pooled. Two experiments were designed to explore whether collaborative inhibition, which has heretofore been studied using traditional memory stimuli such as word lists, also characterizes spatial memory retrieval. In the present study, participants learned a layout of objects and then reconstructed the layout from memory, either individually or in pairs. The layouts created by collaborative pairs were more accurate than those created by individuals, but less accurate than those of nominal pairs, providing evidence for collaborative inhibition in spatial memory retrieval. Collaborative inhibition occurred when participants were allowed to dictate the order of object placement during reconstruction (Exp.
1
), and also when object order was imposed by the experimenter (Exp.
2
), which was intended to disrupt the retrieval processes of pairs as well as of individuals. Individual tests of perspective taking indicated that the underlying representations of pair members were no different than those of individuals; in all cases, spatial memories were organized around a reference frame aligned with the studied perspective. These results suggest that inhibition is caused by the product of group recall (i.e., seeing a partner’s object placement), not by the process of group recall (i.e., taking turns choosing an object to place). The present study has implications for how group performance on a collaborative spatial memory task may be optimized.
Studies of the testing effect have shown that retrieval significantly improves learning. However, most of these studies have been restricted to simple types of declarative verbal knowledge. Five ...experiments were designed to explore whether testing improves acquisition of route knowledge, which has a procedural component consisting of actions to be performed at decision points (Golledge, 1991). Participants learned a route through a series of connected rooms in a virtual building. Each room contained multiple doors, only one of which led to the next room. During encoding, participants were shown the correct sequence of doors in a manner similar to global positioning system (GPS) navigation guidance. During subsequent exposures to the route, participants were either shown the correct sequence again or had to recall the sequence from memory. Participants later completed a final test in which they traversed the route without guidance or feedback. Testing improved route memory compared to studying, but only when participants were given feedback about the correct door prior to moving through the room. When feedback occurred after moving to an incorrect door, testing resulted in worse performance compared to studying. These findings parallel work on errorless learning, in which procedural skills are acquired more quickly when errors are minimized during learning.
Distance is commonly underperceived by up to 50 % in virtual environments (VEs), in contrast to relatively accurate real world judgments. Experiments reported by Geuss, Stefanucci, Creem-Regehr, and ...Thompson (
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 38
, 1242-1253, 2012) indicate that the exocentric distance separating two objects in a VE is underperceived when the objects are oriented in the sagittal plane (depth extents), but veridically perceived when oriented in a frontoparallel plane (frontal extents). The authors conclude that “distance underestimation in the VE generalizes to intervals in the depth plane, but not to intervals in the frontal plane.” The current experiment evaluated an alternative hypothesis that the accurate judgments of frontal extents reported by Geuss et al. were due to a fortunate balance of underperception caused by the VE and overperception of frontal relative to depth extents. Participants judged frontal and depth extents in the classroom VE used by Geuss et al. and in a sparser VE containing only a grass-covered ground plane. Judgments in the classroom VE replicated findings by Geuss et al., but judgments in the grass VE show underperception of both depth and frontal extents, indicating that frontal extents are not immune to underperception in VEs.
► Participants viewed object arrays aligned or misaligned with environmental geometry. ► Global geometric cues were sufficient for reference frame selection. ► Global and local cues exerted ...differential influence on reference frame selection. ► Equivalence of experienced and novel perspectives aligned with geometric cues. ► The same geometric properties influence spatial memory and spatial orientation.
Spatial memories are often organized around reference frames, and environmental shape provides a salient cue to reference frame selection. To date, however, the environmental cues responsible for influencing reference frame selection remain relatively unknown. To connect research on reference frame selection with that on orientation via environmental shape, we explored the extent to which geometric cues were incidentally encoded and represented in memory by evaluating their influence on reference frame selection. Using a virtual environment equipped with a head-mounted-display, we presented participants with to-be-remembered object arrays. We manipulated whether the experienced viewpoint was aligned or misaligned with global (i.e., the principal axis of space) or local (i.e., wall orientations) geometric cues. During subsequent judgments of relative direction (i.e., participants imagined standing at one object, facing a second object, and pointed toward a third object), we show that performance was best when imagining perspectives aligned with these geometric cues; moreover, global geometric cues were sufficient for reference frame selection, global and local geometric cues were capable of exerting differential influence on reference frame selection, and performance from experienced-imagined perspectives was equivalent to novel-imagined perspectives aligned with geometric cues. These results explicitly connect theory regarding spatial reference frame selection and spatial orientation via environmental shape and indicate that spatial memories are organized around fundamental geometric properties of space.
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