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Title: EXPLORING ADDITIONAL FACTORS OF PRESENCE.
Creator: Chertoff, Dustin, Goldiez, Brian, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: One of the oft cited reasons for virtual environments is that they provide experiences with places one would never be able to visit and to perform tasks that would otherwise be dangerous, or inaccessible. The ability to become transported to another environment, such that you think you are "there," is known as presence. Existing presence literature focuses largely on the sensory aspects of virtual environment experiences. However, there is more to experience than what is sensed. This...
Show moreOne of the oft cited reasons for virtual environments is that they provide experiences with places one would never be able to visit and to perform tasks that would otherwise be dangerous, or inaccessible. The ability to become transported to another environment, such that you think you are "there," is known as presence. Existing presence literature focuses largely on the sensory aspects of virtual environment experiences. However, there is more to experience than what is sensed. This dissertation investigates the theoretical components of holistic experiences in virtual environments. In order to explore the relationship between experiential design and presence, a new evaluation tool was needed. This ultimately led to the development of the Virtual Experience Test. To validate the Virtual Experience Test, an experiment was designed that utilized subjective evaluations regarding game-play in the commercial game Mirror's Edge. Measures of experiential design, flow, and presence were taken and the relationships between the measures analyzed. The results of this research showed that environments utilizing holistic designs result in significantly higher presence. Furthermore, this study produced a validated measure of holistic experience that designers could use to evaluate their virtual environments.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002779, ucf:48133
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002779

Title: THE IMPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS IN DIGITAL FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS.
Creator: Patterson, Farrah, Lang, Sheau-Dong, Guha, Ratan, Zou, Changchun, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This research paper discusses the role of virtual environments in digital forensic investigations. With virtual environments becoming more prevalent as an analysis tool in digital forensic investigations, it's becoming more important for digital forensic investigators to understand the limitation and strengths of virtual machines. The study aims to expose limitations within commercial closed source virtual machines and open source virtual machines. The study provides a brief overview of...
Show moreThis research paper discusses the role of virtual environments in digital forensic investigations. With virtual environments becoming more prevalent as an analysis tool in digital forensic investigations, it's becoming more important for digital forensic investigators to understand the limitation and strengths of virtual machines. The study aims to expose limitations within commercial closed source virtual machines and open source virtual machines. The study provides a brief overview of history digital forensic investigations and virtual environments, and concludes with an experiment with four common open and closed source virtual machines; the effects of the virtual machines on the host machine as well as the performance of the virtual machine itself. My findings discovered that while the open source tools provided more control and freedom to the operator, the closed source tools were more stable and consistent in their operation. The significance of these findings can be further researched by applying them in the context of exemplifying reliability of forensic techniques when presented as analysis tool used in litigation.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0004152, ucf:49050
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004152

Title: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DISMOUNTED INFANTRY EMBEDDED TRAINER WITH AN INTELLIGENT TUTOR SYSTEM.
Creator: Sims, Jason, Kincaid, Peter, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The dismounted infantry system is a man wearable system with intelligent tutoring tool used to assess training. The tasks used to assess training for the intelligent tutoring were: (1) move as a member of a fireteam, (2) enter and clear a room, and (3) report battlefield information. The soldier wearing the simulation system acts as a member of a fireteam to conduct a virtual mission. The soldier's teammates are computer generated entities to conduct the mission. Soldiers were surveyed on the...
Show moreThe dismounted infantry system is a man wearable system with intelligent tutoring tool used to assess training. The tasks used to assess training for the intelligent tutoring were: (1) move as a member of a fireteam, (2) enter and clear a room, and (3) report battlefield information. The soldier wearing the simulation system acts as a member of a fireteam to conduct a virtual mission. The soldier's teammates are computer generated entities to conduct the mission. Soldiers were surveyed on the tasks assessed as well as the features of the system. Soldiers were also surveyed on tasks they felt needed to be added to the tutoring functions of the system. The intelligent tutor system and training in virtual reality was generally accepted by the participants. The general consensus was the technology needed additional refinement to provide a better training environment. Most felt that working with Semi-Automated Forces (SAF) entities made the scenario more difficult to execute. The parameters established for successful completion of the movement and reporting tasks were too strict and hindered the experience for the participant. Locomotion is another aspect that deserves further research. Moving the locomotion controls to the feet would free the soldier from having to accomplish multiple tasks with only two hands. Future research should concentrate on locomotion methods and controls, as well as only using human participants for all unit members.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0000986, ucf:46717
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000986

Title: THE INFLUENCE OF VIRTUAL MANIPULATIVES ONSECOND GRADER'S ACQUISITION OF PLACE VALUE CONCEPTS.
Creator: Jolicoeur, Kay, Dixon, Juli, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this study was to examine my own practice of teaching place value and the influence virtual manipulatives had, in addition to physical manipulatives, on place value understanding of my second grade students. I wanted to see how adding a base-ten computer applet might better meet the needs of all learners while also meeting the needs of today's technological classroom. Through this study, I found that both physical and virtual manipulatives helped students acquire place value...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to examine my own practice of teaching place value and the influence virtual manipulatives had, in addition to physical manipulatives, on place value understanding of my second grade students. I wanted to see how adding a base-ten computer applet might better meet the needs of all learners while also meeting the needs of today's technological classroom. Through this study, I found that both physical and virtual manipulatives helped students acquire place value concepts. I found that virtual manipulatives had features that engaged students in a way that increased their mathematical language, increased students' ability to represent more conceptual understanding of composing and decomposing numbers, and express enthusiasm towards mathematics. A pretest and posttest revealed that students' academic performance increased. While research on virtual manipulatives and mathematical achievement is fairly recent, this study offers insight to other classroom teachers and the research community.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003763, ucf:48799
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003763

Title: Do Olfactory Stimuli Increase Presence During Exposure Tasks: A Comparative Study.
Creator: Munyan, Benson, Neer, Sandra, Beidel, Deborah, Jentsch, Florian, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Exposure therapy (ET) is an extensively studied and supported treatment for anxiety and trauma-related disorders. ET works by exposing the patient to the feared object or situation without any danger in order to overcome the related anxiety. Over the past few years, various technologies including head-mounted displays (HMDs), scent machines, and headphones have been used to augment the exposure therapy process by presenting multi-sensory cues (e.g., sights, smells, sounds) to increase the...
Show moreExposure therapy (ET) is an extensively studied and supported treatment for anxiety and trauma-related disorders. ET works by exposing the patient to the feared object or situation without any danger in order to overcome the related anxiety. Over the past few years, various technologies including head-mounted displays (HMDs), scent machines, and headphones have been used to augment the exposure therapy process by presenting multi-sensory cues (e.g., sights, smells, sounds) to increase the patient's sense of presence. While studies have shown that scents can elicit emotionally charged memories, no prior research could be identified that examined the effect of olfactory stimuli upon the patient's sense of presence during exposure tasks. In this study, the effect of olfactory stimuli on subject's sense of presence was assessed via psychophysiological response (electrodermal activity), visual scanning, and self-report measures. Linear Mixed Modeling showed relationships between olfactory stimuli and presence ratings as well as self-reported anxiety levels, but not visual scanning or physiological arousal. Recommendations were made for continued research in the union of olfactory stimuli, presence, and exposure therapy.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005850, ucf:50931
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005850

Title: ENHANCING VOCABULARY ACQUISITION THROUGH SYNTHETIC LEARNING EXPERIENCES: IMPLEMENTING VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS INTO CLASSROOMS.
Creator: Sanchez, Alicia, Cannon-Bowers, Jan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: A Synthetic Learning Environment (SLE) the Virtual Field Trip (VFT) was designed to increase vocabulary acquisition and knowledge by utilizing simulation based technologies and leveraging sound educational findings. Vocabulary acquisition is considered a prerequisite to becoming a good reader and therefore a critical predictor of academic and lifelong success for early learners, however, teachers report that students lack the real world knowledge required for vocabulary knowledge. The VFT...
Show moreA Synthetic Learning Environment (SLE) the Virtual Field Trip (VFT) was designed to increase vocabulary acquisition and knowledge by utilizing simulation based technologies and leveraging sound educational findings. Vocabulary acquisition is considered a prerequisite to becoming a good reader and therefore a critical predictor of academic and lifelong success for early learners, however, teachers report that students lack the real world knowledge required for vocabulary knowledge. The VFT provides a meaningful context for anchored and situated instruction. Second grade students were assigned to either use the VFT or to listen to stories read aloud by a researcher on a video tape. While results did not indicate significant vocabulary acquisition on a series of 3 vocabulary tests; students who used the VFT did use significantly more words in a post exposure writing sample than students in the story group indicating an increase of words known at a level of depth sufficient to warrant their use in a writing sample. Students who used the VFT also reported increased motivation to use SLEs like the VFT for future learning objectives and that VFTs were fun. Findings related to the self-efficacy of students as measures immediately following each vocabulary test did not reveal a significant increase for VFT users. Students using the VFTs did not report learning more words than those students assigned to the story group. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001419, ucf:47059
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001419

Title: SUPPORTING REAL-TIME PDA INTERACTION WITH VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT.
Creator: Shah, Radhey, Chatterjee, Mainak, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are becoming more and more powerful with advances in technology and are expanding their applications in a variety of fields. This work explores the use of PDAs in Virtual Environments (VE). The goal is to support highly interactive bi-directional user interactions in Virtual Environments in more natural and less cumbersome ways. A proxy-based approach is adopted to support a wide-range of handheld devices and have a multi-PDA interaction with the virtual...
Show morePersonal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are becoming more and more powerful with advances in technology and are expanding their applications in a variety of fields. This work explores the use of PDAs in Virtual Environments (VE). The goal is to support highly interactive bi-directional user interactions in Virtual Environments in more natural and less cumbersome ways. A proxy-based approach is adopted to support a wide-range of handheld devices and have a multi-PDA interaction with the virtual world. The architecture consists of three components in the complete system, a PDA, a desktop that acts as a proxy and Virtual Environment Software Sandbox (VESS), software developed at the Institute for Simulation and Training (IST). The purpose of the architecture is to enable issuing text and voice commands from PDA to virtual entities in VESS through the proxy. The commands are a pre-defined set of simple words such as 'move forward', 'turn right', 'go', and 'stop'. These commands are matched at the proxy and sent to VESS as text in XML format. The response from VESS is received at the proxy and forwarded back to the PDA. Performance measures with respect to response time characteristics of text messages between PDA and proxy over Wi-Fi networks are conducted. The results are discussed with respect to the acceptable delays for human perception in order to have real-time interaction between a PDA and an avatar in virtual world.
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Date Issued: 2004
Identifier: CFE0000195, ucf:46158
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000195

Title: THE ROLE OF EXPECTATIONS IN THE PERCEIVED USEFULNESS AND ACCEPTANCE OF VIRTUAL REALITY AS A PREVENTATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER.
Creator: Kreutzer, Christine, Bowers, Clint, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Expectancy theory is based on the subjective probability (expectancy) and projected value (valence). Based on this notion, an individual chooses his or her behaviors based on the interaction between the valences perceived to be associated with the outcomes, and the appraisal of the probability of that behavior resulting in those outcomes. Expectancies have been found to be predictive of many outcomes, such as treatment outcomes, behavioral change, and training reactions. The goal of the...
Show moreExpectancy theory is based on the subjective probability (expectancy) and projected value (valence). Based on this notion, an individual chooses his or her behaviors based on the interaction between the valences perceived to be associated with the outcomes, and the appraisal of the probability of that behavior resulting in those outcomes. Expectancies have been found to be predictive of many outcomes, such as treatment outcomes, behavioral change, and training reactions. The goal of the present study is to empirically investigate this issue within the mental health field. While virtual reality appears to be a promising preventative technique for post-traumatic stress disorder, the literature has not yet accounted for expectations and their influence on reactions. More specifically, it is unknown how expectancies influence reactions. Therefore, this study examines videogame self-efficacy as a mechanism through which expectations influence reactions. In the present study 60 participants completed an expectancy scale, VGSE scale, played a serious game designed to prepare soldiers for the psychological challenges associated with deployment, and completed a reactions survey. A mediation analysis was conducted to examine if videogame self-efficacy is a mechanism through which expectations predict reactions. Analyses revealed that videogame self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between expectancies and reactions.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFH0004523, ucf:45189
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004523

Title: A COGNITIVE INVESTIGATION OF COMPUTERIZED WALK-THROUGH MODELS.
Creator: Carrillo, Maria, Sims, Valerie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The growth of the World Wide Web has prompted many businesses to develop electronic commerce (e-commerce) as a domain where consumers can conveniently purchase their products (Chittaro& Ranon, 2002). Marketing and Human - Computer Interaction (HCI) research has focused on the ways interactivity can improve purchasing experience. One particular technique is through the use of computer models of products known as visual object representations (Ozok& Komlodi, 2009). Research on visual product...
Show moreThe growth of the World Wide Web has prompted many businesses to develop electronic commerce (e-commerce) as a domain where consumers can conveniently purchase their products (Chittaro& Ranon, 2002). Marketing and Human - Computer Interaction (HCI) research has focused on the ways interactivity can improve purchasing experience. One particular technique is through the use of computer models of products known as visual object representations (Ozok& Komlodi, 2009). Research on visual product representations is focused on models of objects typically purchased in a store, such as clothing and electronics, which can usually be manipulated and rotated as desired (Ozok& Komlodi, 2009). There seems to be a gap in the literature regarding computer models for which consumers actually do not have an established mental models. Computerized walk-through models allow users to virtually navigate a space as well as to view a model of a living space from different orientations. An experiment was conducted on 100 participants to investigate computerized walk-through models and the role the type of model and workload plays in the amount of knowledge gained about the layout and consumer preference. Participants navigated a computerized walk-through model or a two dimensional picture set of a hotel room (low complexity) or apartment (high complexity) .Then they completed a series of surveys. Results indicate that two-dimensional models were best for learning the layout of a high complexity model and that three-dimensional models were better for learning the layout of a low complexity model. Results have implications for virtual model use in education and the military.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFH0004155, ucf:44841
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004155

Title: Conflict in Virtually Distributed Teams.
Creator: Darling, Budd, Salas, Eduardo, Bowers, Clint, Burke, Shawn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this paper was two-fold. The first was to investigate the impact of conflict as a mediator in the relationship between distribution and team performance. The second was to examine how that relationship was affected by virtuality. Four-member teams of different distributions (partially distributed, fully distributed, and fully collocated) and different virtuality conditions (videoconferencing, teleconferencing, and chat) played a team-oriented game. Significant results were...
Show moreThe purpose of this paper was two-fold. The first was to investigate the impact of conflict as a mediator in the relationship between distribution and team performance. The second was to examine how that relationship was affected by virtuality. Four-member teams of different distributions (partially distributed, fully distributed, and fully collocated) and different virtuality conditions (videoconferencing, teleconferencing, and chat) played a team-oriented game. Significant results were found only in the videoconferencing condition, in which both distribution and task conflict had a negative impact on team performance, but task conflict did not mediate the relationship between distribution and team performance. Further research investigating how virtuality impacts distributed teams in needed.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004987, ucf:49552
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004987

Title: BEHAVIORAL RESPONSE TO ENDOGENOUS RISK IN THE LABORATORY.
Creator: Sen, Shabori, Harrison, Glenn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Risk is endogenous when an individual is able to undertake mitigation or self protection actions that reduce the risk that he faces. Most risky environments studied in economics involve endogenous risk. This dissertation studies the conceptual and behavioral implications of introducing endogeneity in the controlled environment of the laboratory. The dissertation consists of three different experiments designed to examine how endogeneity affects risk attitudes and risk perceptions in simple...
Show moreRisk is endogenous when an individual is able to undertake mitigation or self protection actions that reduce the risk that he faces. Most risky environments studied in economics involve endogenous risk. This dissertation studies the conceptual and behavioral implications of introducing endogeneity in the controlled environment of the laboratory. The dissertation consists of three different experiments designed to examine how endogeneity affects risk attitudes and risk perceptions in simple experimental set ups. All three experiments employ a virtual reality scenario where the subject is able to form his own beliefs, based on naturalistic cues provided by the virtual reality experience. In the first experiment, a Ã‚Â"short runÃ‚Â" individual experiment, subjects experience several forest fires that allow them to form beliefs about the probability of a house in the simulated forest being destroyed by fire. The evidence suggests that endogenous risk settings do cause subjects to employ different subjective beliefs than they use in an exogenous risk setting, although risk attitudes appear stable across these settings. Typically, the risk of natural disaster in any area is very small, and an adverse event like a forest fire occurs only once in a couple of decades. This has implications for self-protection expenditure where risk is endogenous. A Ã‚Â"long runÃ‚Â" individual experiment with several rounds of decision making allows the estimation of subjective beliefs about the risk of the property burning when a fire may occur. This design allows for the study of the effect of an actual experience of forest fire on a subjectÃ‚Â's beliefs. Several mitigation options are collective in nature and require group contributions for the self-protection action to be provided. In an extension of the long run design, we study the effect of an actual experience of fire on beliefs when the risk is faced by a group rather than an individual. This framework also allows us to compare behavior in a public goods game involving risk, with the standard public goods game.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003315, ucf:48485
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003315

Title: Examining the Social Interactions of Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders in a Virtual Environment.
Creator: Gallup, Jennifer, Little, Mary, Dieker, Lisa, Butler, Malcolm, Pearl, Cynthia, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This phenomenological study examined the social interactions during online game play in a virtual environment for five young adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who attended a large metropolitan university, enrolled in the first 60 credits of a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field of study. Given the evolution of technology and opportunities to socialize in virtual communities, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how young adults with ASD...
Show moreThis phenomenological study examined the social interactions during online game play in a virtual environment for five young adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who attended a large metropolitan university, enrolled in the first 60 credits of a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field of study. Given the evolution of technology and opportunities to socialize in virtual communities, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how young adults with ASD assimilate into new social opportunities that provide supports for extraneous variables such as face-to-face situations. As research begins to emerge on virtual environments there is little research addressed specific to socialization and the development of interpersonal relationships. Further, there is a distinct lack of research specific to young adults with ASD who engage socially in virtual environments. A phenomenological research method was used to explain the social activities as they occurred for this specific group of individuals. Structured and unstructured interviews, observations, document analysis, and a self-reporting survey were conducted and collected. Analysis used emergent coding following Moustakas' modified Van Kaam method (1994). Common themes were identified and reported through lists and tables. In summary, this study described how young adults with ASD socialized within a virtual community. This study provided findings that individuals with ASD actively seek friendships, recognize emotions, understand roles within the game and real life use skills necessary for success in postsecondary education and STEM related careers, and lays the foundation for continuing research using virtual environments to support interpersonal relationships that may support greater postsecondary outcomes.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005796, ucf:50024
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005796

Title: EXAMINING SOCIAL LOAFING WITHIN VIRTUAL TEAMS: THE MODERATING INFLUENCE OF A TEAM'S COLLECTIVE ORIENTATION.
Creator: Cotter, Seth, Salas, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Social loafing is a growing concern for modern organizations. With advancement in computer technology, virtual tools are used more frequently to communicate, which may allow social loafing to occur in new and unfamiliar forms. The intent of this thesis is to examine social loafing through the use of virtual tools, and to analyze whether collective orientation has a moderating influence on the relationship between social loafing and virtuality. 30 teams, each containing four participants, were...
Show moreSocial loafing is a growing concern for modern organizations. With advancement in computer technology, virtual tools are used more frequently to communicate, which may allow social loafing to occur in new and unfamiliar forms. The intent of this thesis is to examine social loafing through the use of virtual tools, and to analyze whether collective orientation has a moderating influence on the relationship between social loafing and virtuality. 30 teams, each containing four participants, were randomly assigned to a condition of virtuality (i.e., instant messaging or videoconferencing). Participants then completed a computer simulation task in which social loafing, collective orientation of the team, and team performance were measured.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFH0004376, ucf:45013
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004376

Title: Personalized Digital Body: Enhancing Body Ownership and Spatial Presence in Virtual Reality.
Creator: Jung, Sungchul, Hughes, Charles, Foroosh, Hassan, Wisniewski, Pamela, Bruder, Gerd, Sandor, Christian, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: person's sense of acceptance of a virtual body as his or her own is generally called virtual body ownership (VBOI). Having such a mental model of one's own body transferred to a virtual human surrogate is known to play a critical role in one's sense of presence in a virtual environment. Our focus in this dissertation is on top-down processing based on visual perception in both the visuomotor and the visuotactile domains, using visually personalized body cues. The visual cues we study here...
Show moreperson's sense of acceptance of a virtual body as his or her own is generally called virtual body ownership (VBOI). Having such a mental model of one's own body transferred to a virtual human surrogate is known to play a critical role in one's sense of presence in a virtual environment. Our focus in this dissertation is on top-down processing based on visual perception in both the visuomotor and the visuotactile domains, using visually personalized body cues. The visual cues we study here range from ones that we refer to as direct and others that we classify as indirect. Direct cues are associated with body parts that play a central role in the task we are performing. Such parts typically dominate a person's foveal view and will include one or both of their hands. Indirect body cues come from body parts that are normally seen in our peripheral view, e.g., legs and torso, and that are often observed through some mediation and are not directly associated with the current task.This dissertation studies how and to what degree direct and indirect cues affect a person's sense of VBOI for which they are receiving direct and, sometimes, inaccurate cues, and to investigate the relationship between enhanced virtual body ownership and task performance. Our experiments support the importance of a personalized representation, even for indirect cues. Additionally, we studied gradual versus instantaneous transition between one's own body and a virtual surrogate body, and between one's real-world environment and a virtual environment. We demonstrate that gradual transition has a significant influence on virtual body ownership and presence. In a follow-on study, we increase fidelity by using a personalized hand. Here, we demonstrate that a personalized hand significantly improves dominant visual illusions, resulting in more accurate perception of virtual object sizes.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007024, ucf:52033
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007024

Title: Examining Emotional Responses to Effective Versus Ineffective Virtual Buddies.
Creator: Ingraham, Kathleen, Gunter, Glenda, Boote, David, Taylor, Rosemarye, Hughes, Charles, Proctor, Michael, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of virtual character design on user emotional experience and user behavior in a simulated environment. With simulation training increasing in popularity as a tool for teaching social skills, it is essential that social interactions in virtual environments provide authentic opportunities for practice (Swartout et al., 2006). This study used Interactive Performance Theory (Wirth, 2012) to examine the effect of designing a virtual...
Show moreThe purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of virtual character design on user emotional experience and user behavior in a simulated environment. With simulation training increasing in popularity as a tool for teaching social skills, it is essential that social interactions in virtual environments provide authentic opportunities for practice (Swartout et al., 2006). This study used Interactive Performance Theory (Wirth, 2012) to examine the effect of designing a virtual buddy character with ineffective traits instead of effective or expert traits. The sample population for this study (n = 145) consisted of first year university students enrolled in courses in the fall of 2013 at the University of Central Florida. Data on participant emotional experience and behavior were collected through questionnaires, researcher observations, and physiological signal recording that included participant heart rate and galvanic skin response. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance, and qualitative thematic coding of participant verbal behavior and written responses. Results of the analysis revealed that participants who interacted with an ineffective virtual buddy character had statistically significant higher averages of verbal statements to the antagonist in the simulated environment and statistically significant lower perceptions of antagonist amiability than participants who interacted with an effective virtual buddy. Additionally, participants who interacted with a virtual buddy of the opposite gender gave statistically significant higher ecological validity scores to the simulated environment than participants who interacted with a virtual buddy of the same gender. Qualitative analysis also revealed that participants tended to describe the female buddy character with more ineffective traits than the male buddy character even though effective and ineffective design conditions were equally divided for both groups. Further research should be conducted on the effect of virtual buddy character design in different types of simulation environments and with different target audiences.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005633, ucf:50220
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005633

Title: EXPLORING THE EXPERIENCES OF LEARNING MATHEMATICS FOR A CHILD WITH CANCER: A CASE STUDY.
Creator: Bello, Elizabeth M, Nickels, Megan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In this research report, I utilize interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) to examine the mathematics education experiences of a child with cancer. Two qualitative interviews with a 13-year-old male patient with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and his mother were analyzed. Findings revealed several storylines or themes: living with cancer, environmental barriers, and mathematics in virtual school. Grade level mathematics, content knowledge, and delivery during treatment...
Show moreIn this research report, I utilize interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) to examine the mathematics education experiences of a child with cancer. Two qualitative interviews with a 13-year-old male patient with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and his mother were analyzed. Findings revealed several storylines or themes: living with cancer, environmental barriers, and mathematics in virtual school. Grade level mathematics, content knowledge, and delivery during treatment in comparison to the child's healthy peers are also discussed.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFH2000250, ucf:46003
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000250

Title: ENHANCING SITUATIONAL AWARENESS THROUGH HAPTICS INTERACTION IN VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT TRAINING SYSTMES.
Creator: Hale, Kelly, Stanney, Kay, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Virtual environment (VE) technology offers a viable training option for developing knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) within domains that have limited live training opportunities due to personnel safety and cost (e.g., live fire exercises). However, to ensure these VE training systems provide effective training and transfer, designers of such systems must ensure that training goals and objectives are clearly defined and VEs are designed to support development of KSAs required. Perhaps the...
Show moreVirtual environment (VE) technology offers a viable training option for developing knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) within domains that have limited live training opportunities due to personnel safety and cost (e.g., live fire exercises). However, to ensure these VE training systems provide effective training and transfer, designers of such systems must ensure that training goals and objectives are clearly defined and VEs are designed to support development of KSAs required. Perhaps the greatest benefit of VE training is its ability to provide a multimodal training experience, where trainees can see, hear and feel their surrounding environment, thus engaging them in training scenarios to further their expertise. This work focused on enhancing situation awareness (SA) within a training VE through appropriate use of multimodal cues. The Multimodal Optimization of Situation Awareness (MOSA) model was developed to identify theoretical benefits of various environmental and individual multimodal cues on SA components. Specific focus was on benefits associated with adding cues that activated the haptic system (i.e., kinesthetic/cutaneous sensory systems) or vestibular system in a VE. An empirical study was completed to evaluate the effectiveness of adding two independent spatialized tactile cues to a Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) VE training system, and how head tracking (i.e., addition of rotational vestibular cues) impacted spatial awareness and performance when tactile cues were added during training. Results showed tactile cues enhanced spatial awareness and performance during both repeated training and within a transfer environment, yet there were costs associated with including two cues together during training, as each cue focused attention on a different aspect of the global task. In addition, the results suggest that spatial awareness benefits from a single point indicator (i.e., spatialized tactile cues) may be impacted by interaction mode, as performance benefits were seen when tactile cues were paired with head tracking. Future research should further examine theoretical benefits outlined in the MOSA model, and further validate that benefits can be realized through appropriate activation of multimodal cues for targeted training objectives during training, near transfer and far transfer (i.e., real world performance).
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001414, ucf:47034
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001414

Title: PRESENCE-DEPENDENT PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VIRTUAL SIMULATIONS AND MINIATURE WORLDS.
Creator: Huthmann, Andre, Malone, Linda, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of simulation is to avoid reality-based constraints by the implemen-tation of a synthetic model. Based on this advantage, interactive simulations have conquered all areas of applications from acquisition, and training, to research. Simulation results are transferred in many ways into reality and conclusions are drawn from the simulation to the application. Many anecdotal observations on human-in-the-loop simulations have shown a significant difference in actor behavior between...
Show moreThe purpose of simulation is to avoid reality-based constraints by the implemen-tation of a synthetic model. Based on this advantage, interactive simulations have conquered all areas of applications from acquisition, and training, to research. Simulation results are transferred in many ways into reality and conclusions are drawn from the simulation to the application. Many anecdotal observations on human-in-the-loop simulations have shown a significant difference in actor behavior between simulations and reality-based applications. It seems that the factors that makes simulation so attractive, namely the absence of constraints and especially of imminent danger for persons and equipment, influence the behavior and thereby the performance of the user. These differences between simulation and reality may lead to false conclusions based on simulation results. The concept of perceiving a simulation as real and of being in the simulation is called sense of presence. This psychological construct can also be described as level of disbelief towards the simulation. Hence, differences in behavior are based on such users assessment of a simulation and subsequently are supposed to be mediated by a difference in presence. This research established significant differences in presence and performance between a simulation and a miniature-world teleoperation task. Presence and performance changed in identical tasks due to the application type and the connected danger to the robot. Also, the results supported a negative relationship between presence and performance: presence increased in the miniature-world and affected performance so that performance decreased. The causal relationship of application type presence performance was established and demands the examination of simulation based results with respect to the perceived danger to equipment, before they are transferred into the real application.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002562, ucf:47666
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002562

Title: EFFECTS OF CONTENT AUGMENTATION STRATEGIES IN AN INSTRUCTIONAL VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT.
Creator: Hamilton, Roger, Kincaid, J. Peter, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Content augmentation strategies (CAS) are instructional methods which specify the overlaying of content objects by content augmentation objects in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of instruction. The goals of this research were to build a comprehensive framework around CASs, determine the experimental effects of CASs in an instructional virtual environment (VE), and make recommendations regarding the employment and further study of CASs in instructional virtual environments....
Show moreContent augmentation strategies (CAS) are instructional methods which specify the overlaying of content objects by content augmentation objects in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of instruction. The goals of this research were to build a comprehensive framework around CASs, determine the experimental effects of CASs in an instructional virtual environment (VE), and make recommendations regarding the employment and further study of CASs in instructional virtual environments. The VE experiment examined the effectiveness and efficiency impact of six different content augmentation strategies which overlayed different content augmentation objects onto four immersive VE scenarios. Sixty university students, 40 men and 20 women, executed three CAS-enhanced training missions and one no-CAS test mission. The task involved the recall and correct application of specific rules for three subtasks of a military helicopter landing zone scouting mission. The strategies included a no-strategy control condition, an arrow condition, an audio coaching condition, a text coaching condition, an arrow plus audio coaching condition, and an arrow plus text coaching condition. Statistical and decision analyses were conducted on the effectiveness and efficiency performance data. Statistically significant differences were found which supported the general superiority of the audio content augmentation strategy for these tasks. This dissertation may be the first use of a decision analysis approach for analyzing the results of behavioral data for instructional design decisions. The decision analysis approach used decision trees, simulation and optimization to obtain content augmentation strategy rankings. As this approach is normally used for course of action analysis and comparing alternative system configurations, the validity of this approach in this context has yet to be determined. The decision analysis approach obtained plausible and similar, but not identical recommendations to the statistical approach. The decision analysis approach may constitute a limited instantiation of a proposed optimal stimulus set instructional design model which conceptually framed the experiment. Training guideline recommendations, experimental procedure recommendations, and a comprehensive framework for future research are also presented.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: CFE0000884, ucf:46638
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000884

Title: PARTICIPANT'S PERCEPTION OF REALISM AND PEDIATRIC PAIN ASSESSMENT UTILIZING A VIRTUAL PATIENT: A PILOT STUDY.
Creator: Carson, Alexandra, Anderson, Mindi, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The use of simulation in curriculum affords students with the opportunity to enhance clinical skills in a safe environment. However, certain aspects of patient assessment are difficult to reproduce in current simulators, such as changes in facial expressions. Facial expressions are of particular importance when assessing for the presence and severity of pain in the pediatric population. Inconsistencies found in accurate identification of pain suggest the necessity of improved pain assessment...
Show moreThe use of simulation in curriculum affords students with the opportunity to enhance clinical skills in a safe environment. However, certain aspects of patient assessment are difficult to reproduce in current simulators, such as changes in facial expressions. Facial expressions are of particular importance when assessing for the presence and severity of pain in the pediatric population. Inconsistencies found in accurate identification of pain suggest the necessity of improved pain assessment training. This study evaluated nursing student's perceptions of a virtual patient designed to realistically display varying levels of pain in the pediatric patient. Additional purposes of this study were to evaluate the student's ability to accurately rate pediatric pain using a virtual patient with and without other indicators of pain, explore the students experience learning pediatric pain in nursing school, and explore the use of simulation in curriculum to teach pain. A total of N=11 nursing students participated in this study. Students were presented with a series of virtual patient faces and asked to provide a pain rating from 0-10 utilizing a pediatric pain assessment tool, and to numerically list the facial features used to identify the pain rating they chose. A questionnaire was then completed which included questions regarding the realism of the virtual patient, pain and curriculum, and simulation. Results of the study showed students rated pain lower than the expected rating when presented with virtual patient faces only, and rated pain closer to the expected rating when presented with virtual patient faces and other indicators of pain such as vital signs and verbal cues. A noticeable range of reported pain rating levels existed for all virtual faces in which students rated the pain lower or higher than the true pain rating. The majority of students reported the virtual patient was moderately to extremely realistic, and 90.9% (n=10) reported they would like to have the technology implemented into a simulation scenario.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFH2000085, ucf:45525
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000085

Virtual Reality (13)	+ -
virtual reality (12)	+ -
Virtual Environments (7)	+ -
Presence (6)	+ -
virtual environment (6)	+ -

virtual teams (6)	+ -
Simulation (5)	+ -
Virtual Environment (5)	+ -
immersion (5)	+ -
mixed reality (5)	+ -
simulation (5)	+ -
Augmented Reality (4)	+ -
Florida Virtual School (4)	+ -
Training (4)	+ -
online learning (4)	+ -
virtual (4)	+ -
Mixed Reality (3)	+ -
Performance (3)	+ -
Social Skills (3)	+ -
VR (3)	+ -
Virtual (3)	+ -
Virtual Worlds (3)	+ -
augmented reality (3)	+ -
avatar (3)	+ -
presence (3)	+ -
technology (3)	+ -
training (3)	+ -
video games (3)	+ -
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Honors Collection (13)	+ -

English (121)	+ -
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University of Central Florida (122)	+ -
Bowers, Clint (8)	+ -
Beidel, Deborah (7)	+ -
Dieker, Lisa (7)	+ -
Gunter, Glenda (7)	+ -

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