Video interactivo en realidad virtual inmersiva

OpenAIRE

Gordo Ara, Juan

2016-01-01

Currently, developers are creating new virtual reality applications related to the field of video games or graphics environments created by computers. This is due largely to the arrival to the consumer market of new technologies to experience these virtual reality environments. This has provoked a wide adoption of 360º videos, which can be viewed directly from smartphones. In addition, cheap adapters allow converting the phone into a virtual reality display. In this project we investigated me...

Leveraging Existing Heritage Documentation for Animations: Senate Virtual Tour

Science.gov (United States)

Dhanda, A.; Fai, S.; Graham, K.; Walczak, G.

2017-08-01

The use of digital documentation techniques has led to an increase in opportunities for using documentation data for valorization purposes, in addition to technical purposes. Likewise, building information models (BIMs) made from these data sets hold valuable information that can be as effective for public education as it is for rehabilitation. A BIM can reveal the elements of a building, as well as the different stages of a building over time. Valorizing this information increases the possibility for public engagement and interest in a heritage place. Digital data sets were leveraged by the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) for parts of a virtual tour of the Senate of Canada. For the tour, workflows involving four different programs were explored to determine an efficient and effective way to leverage the existing documentation data to create informative and visually enticing animations for public dissemination: Autodesk Revit, Enscape, Autodesk 3ds Max, and Bentley Pointools. The explored workflows involve animations of point clouds, BIMs, and a combination of the two.

LEVERAGING EXISTING HERITAGE DOCUMENTATION FOR ANIMATIONS: SENATE VIRTUAL TOUR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Dhanda

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The use of digital documentation techniques has led to an increase in opportunities for using documentation data for valorization purposes, in addition to technical purposes. Likewise, building information models (BIMs made from these data sets hold valuable information that can be as effective for public education as it is for rehabilitation. A BIM can reveal the elements of a building, as well as the different stages of a building over time. Valorizing this information increases the possibility for public engagement and interest in a heritage place. Digital data sets were leveraged by the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS for parts of a virtual tour of the Senate of Canada. For the tour, workflows involving four different programs were explored to determine an efficient and effective way to leverage the existing documentation data to create informative and visually enticing animations for public dissemination: Autodesk Revit, Enscape, Autodesk 3ds Max, and Bentley Pointools. The explored workflows involve animations of point clouds, BIMs, and a combination of the two.

Randomized clinical trial of immersive virtual reality tour of the operating theatre in children before anaesthesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryu, J-H; Park, S-J; Park, J-W; Kim, J-W; Yoo, H-J; Kim, T-W; Hong, J S; Han, S-H

2017-11-01

A virtual reality (VR) tour of the operating theatre before anaesthesia could provide a realistic experience for children. This study was designed to determine whether a preoperative VR tour could reduce preoperative anxiety in children. Children scheduled for elective surgery under general anaesthesia were randomized into a control or VR group. The control group received conventional information regarding anaesthesia and surgery. The VR group watched a 4-min video showing Pororo, the famous little penguin, visiting the operating theatre and explaining what is in it. The main outcome was preoperative anxiety, assessed using the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (m-YPAS) before entering the operating theatre. Secondary outcomes included induction compliance checklist (ICC) and procedural behaviour rating scale (PBRS) scores during anaesthesia. A total of 69 children were included in the analysis, 35 in the control group and 34 in the VR group. Demographic data and induction time were similar in the two groups. Children in the VR group had a significantly lower m-YPAS score than those in the control group (median 31·7 (i.q.r. 23·3-37·9) and 51·7 (28·3-63·3) respectively; P anxiety and increasing compliance during induction of anaesthesia in children undergoing elective surgery. Registration number: UMIN000025232 (http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr). © 2017 BJS Society Ltd Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Authoring Tours of Geospatial Data With KML and Google Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Barcay, D. P.; Weiss-Malik, M.

2008-12-01

As virtual globes become widely adopted by the general public, the use of geospatial data has expanded greatly. With the popularization of Google Earth and other platforms, GIS systems have become virtual reality platforms. Using these platforms, a casual user can easily explore the world, browse massive data-sets, create powerful 3D visualizations, and share those visualizations with millions of people using the KML language. This technology has raised the bar for professionals and academics alike. It is now expected that studies and projects will be accompanied by compelling, high-quality visualizations. In this new landscape, a presentation of geospatial data can be the most effective form of advertisement for a project: engaging both the general public and the scientific community in a unified interactive experience. On the other hand, merely dumping a dataset into a virtual globe can be a disorienting, alienating experience for many users. To create an effective, far-reaching presentation, an author must take care to make their data approachable to a wide variety of users with varying knowledge of the subject matter, expertise in virtual globes, and attention spans. To that end, we present techniques for creating self-guided interactive tours of data represented in KML and visualized in Google Earth. Using these methods, we provide the ability to move the camera through the world while dynamically varying the content, style, and visibility of the displayed data. Such tours can automatically guide users through massive, complex datasets: engaging a broad user-base, and conveying subtle concepts that aren't immediately apparent when viewing the raw data. To the casual user these techniques result in an extremely compelling experience similar to watching video. Unlike video though, these techniques maintain the rich interactive environment provided by the virtual globe, allowing users to explore the data in detail and to add other data sources to the presentation.

Design of a virtual tour for the enhancement of Llíria’s architectural and urban heritage and its surroundings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Miguel Maícas

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The Information Technology and Communications (ICT have revolutionized the way to present and promote the heritage sites. These ICT also offer scholars, students and visitors unprecedented access to architectural, historical, geographical, archaeological, iconographical and anthropological data, among other. It is noted also that virtual heritage environments are inherently fascinating and possess essential properties to have a positive effect on supporting heritage conservation and education. This paper is concerned with the potential of these ICT developments for improving the enhancement of the heritage sites of the town of Llíria and its surroundings (Valencia, Spain by mean of a virtual tour (“Edeta 360º” based on 360º panorama photos. The “Edeta 360º” virtual tour is an immersive application that places the viewers inside the image, enabling them to significantly enhance position awareness and providing the highest level of functionality for viewing, capturing and analysing virtual data. It can appropriately and effectively be utilised to facilitate intellectual and physical access to public by bringing knowledge, awareness and appreciation about the heritage of Llíria while, at the same time, authenticity is preserved. The undertaking method to create this interactive virtual tour is based on an easy procedure with off-the-shelf equipment and using both freely available software to address the process of photo stitching that combines multiple photographic images with overlapping fields of view to produce a segmented panorama or high-resolution image. Each panorama contains hotspots that enable the users to further explore the surroundings. The virtual tour provides the user the ability to navigate a scene through the rotation and zoom functions. This application results very appealing and has been adopted as a mean for information, dissemination, education and tourism purposes.

Comparative analysis of video processing and 3D rendering for cloud video games using different virtualization technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Bada, Adedayo; Alcaraz-Calero, Jose M.; Wang, Qi; Grecos, Christos

2014-05-01

This paper describes a comprehensive empirical performance evaluation of 3D video processing employing the physical/virtual architecture implemented in a cloud environment. Different virtualization technologies, virtual video cards and various 3D benchmarks tools have been utilized in order to analyse the optimal performance in the context of 3D online gaming applications. This study highlights 3D video rendering performance under each type of hypervisors, and other factors including network I/O, disk I/O and memory usage. Comparisons of these factors under well-known virtual display technologies such as VNC, Spice and Virtual 3D adaptors reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the various hypervisors with respect to 3D video rendering and streaming.

Generic Film Forms for Dynamic Virtual Video Synthesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C.A. Lindley

1999-01-01

textabstractThe FRAMES project within the RDN CRC (Cooperative Research Centre for Research Data Networks) is developing an experimental environment for video content-based retrieval and dynamic virtual video synthesis from archives of video data. The FRAMES research prototype is a video synthesis

Alleviating travel anxiety through virtual reality and narrated video technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, J C; Lee, O

2013-01-01

This study presents an empirical evidence of benefit of narrative video clips in embedded virtual reality websites of hotels for relieving travel anxiety. Even though it was proven that virtual reality functions do provide some relief in travel anxiety, a stronger virtual reality website can be built when narrative video clips that show video clips with narration about important aspects of the hotel. We posit that these important aspects are 1. Escape route and 2. Surrounding neighborhood information, which are derived from the existing research on anxiety disorder as well as travel anxiety. Thus we created a video clip that showed and narrated about the escape route from the hotel room, another video clip that showed and narrated about surrounding neighborhood. We then conducted experiments with this enhanced virtual reality website of a hotel by having human subjects play with the website and fill out a questionnaire. The result confirms our hypothesis that there is a statistically significant relationship between the degree of travel anxiety and psychological relief caused by the use of embedded virtual reality functions with narrative video clips of a hotel website (Tab. 2, Fig. 3, Ref. 26).

A Standard-Compliant Virtual Meeting System with Active Video Object Tracking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang Yao-Jen

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an H.323 standard compliant virtual video conferencing system. The proposed system not only serves as a multipoint control unit (MCU for multipoint connection but also provides a gateway function between the H.323 LAN (local-area network and the H.324 WAN (wide-area network users. The proposed virtual video conferencing system provides user-friendly object compositing and manipulation features including 2D video object scaling, repositioning, rotation, and dynamic bit-allocation in a 3D virtual environment. A reliable, and accurate scheme based on background image mosaics is proposed for real-time extracting and tracking foreground video objects from the video captured with an active camera. Chroma-key insertion is used to facilitate video objects extraction and manipulation. We have implemented a prototype of the virtual conference system with an integrated graphical user interface to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methods.

A Standard-Compliant Virtual Meeting System with Active Video Object Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chia-Wen; Chang, Yao-Jen; Wang, Chih-Ming; Chen, Yung-Chang; Sun, Ming-Ting

2002-12-01

This paper presents an H.323 standard compliant virtual video conferencing system. The proposed system not only serves as a multipoint control unit (MCU) for multipoint connection but also provides a gateway function between the H.323 LAN (local-area network) and the H.324 WAN (wide-area network) users. The proposed virtual video conferencing system provides user-friendly object compositing and manipulation features including 2D video object scaling, repositioning, rotation, and dynamic bit-allocation in a 3D virtual environment. A reliable, and accurate scheme based on background image mosaics is proposed for real-time extracting and tracking foreground video objects from the video captured with an active camera. Chroma-key insertion is used to facilitate video objects extraction and manipulation. We have implemented a prototype of the virtual conference system with an integrated graphical user interface to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methods.

Practicality in Virtuality: Finding Student Meaning in Video Game Education

Science.gov (United States)

Barko, Timothy; Sadler, Troy D.

2013-04-01

This paper looks at the conceptual differences between video game learning and traditional classroom and laboratory learning. It explores the notion of virtual experience by comparing a commonly used high school laboratory protocol on DNA extraction with a similar experience provided by a biotechnology themed video game. When considered conceptually, the notion of virtual experience is not limited to those experiences generated by computer aided technology, as with a video game or computer simulation. The notion of virtuality can apply to many real world experiences as well. It is proposed that the medium of the learning experience, be it video game or classroom, is not an important distinction to consider; instead, we should seek to determine what kinds of meaningful experiences apply for both classrooms and video games.

Video Conferencing for a Virtual Seminar Room

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forchhammer, Søren; Fosgerau, A.; Hansen, Peter Søren K.

2002-01-01

A PC-based video conferencing system for a virtual seminar room is presented. The platform is enhanced with DSPs for audio and video coding and processing. A microphone array is used to facilitate audio based speaker tracking, which is used for adaptive beam-forming and automatic camera...

Virtual Pinball / Video Arcade games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

1997-01-01

For use in multimedia or other environments, a virtual pinball/video arcade game displays one or more computer-generated runner elements, runner inject elements, and runner interactivity elements. It has a programmed computer for simulating movement of the runner elements. This is interfered with by

Experiences of using mobile technologies and virtual field tours in Physical Geography: implications for hydrology education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. G. Kingston

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Education in hydrology is changing rapidly due to diversification of students, emergent major scientific and practical challenges that our discipline must engage with, shifting pedagogic ideas and higher education environments, the need for students to develop new discipline specific and transferrable skills, and the advent of innovative technologies for learning and teaching. This paper focuses on new technologies in the context of learning and teaching in Physical Geography and reflects on the implications of our experiences for education in hydrology. We evaluate the experience of designing and trialling novel mobile technology-based field exercises and a virtual field tour for a Year 1 undergraduate Physical Geography module at a UK university. The new exercises are based on using and obtaining spatial data, operation of meteorological equipment (explained using an interactive DVD, and include introductions to global positioning systems (GPS and geographical information systems (GIS. The technology and exercises were well received in a pilot study and subsequent rolling-out to the full student cohort (∼150 students. A statistically significant improvement in marks was observed following the redesign. Although the students enjoyed using mobile technology, the increased interactivity and opportunity for peer learning were considered to be the primary benefits by students. This is reinforced further by student preference for the new interactive virtual field tour over the previous "show-and-tell" field exercise. Despite the new exercises having many advantages, exercise development was not trivial due to the high start-up costs, the need for provision of sufficient technical support and the relative difficulty of making year-to-year changes (to the virtual field tour in particular. Our experiences are highly relevant to the implementation of novel learning and teaching technologies in hydrology education.

Experiences of using mobile technologies and virtual field tours in Physical Geography: implications for hydrology education

Science.gov (United States)

Kingston, D. G.; Eastwood, W. J.; Jones, P. I.; Johnson, R.; Marshall, S.; Hannah, D. M.

2012-05-01

Education in hydrology is changing rapidly due to diversification of students, emergent major scientific and practical challenges that our discipline must engage with, shifting pedagogic ideas and higher education environments, the need for students to develop new discipline specific and transferrable skills, and the advent of innovative technologies for learning and teaching. This paper focuses on new technologies in the context of learning and teaching in Physical Geography and reflects on the implications of our experiences for education in hydrology. We evaluate the experience of designing and trialling novel mobile technology-based field exercises and a virtual field tour for a Year 1 undergraduate Physical Geography module at a UK university. The new exercises are based on using and obtaining spatial data, operation of meteorological equipment (explained using an interactive DVD), and include introductions to global positioning systems (GPS) and geographical information systems (GIS). The technology and exercises were well received in a pilot study and subsequent rolling-out to the full student cohort (∼150 students). A statistically significant improvement in marks was observed following the redesign. Although the students enjoyed using mobile technology, the increased interactivity and opportunity for peer learning were considered to be the primary benefits by students. This is reinforced further by student preference for the new interactive virtual field tour over the previous "show-and-tell" field exercise. Despite the new exercises having many advantages, exercise development was not trivial due to the high start-up costs, the need for provision of sufficient technical support and the relative difficulty of making year-to-year changes (to the virtual field tour in particular). Our experiences are highly relevant to the implementation of novel learning and teaching technologies in hydrology education.

Using a Web-Based Resource to Prepare Students for Fieldwork: Evaluating the Dark Peak Virtual Tour

Science.gov (United States)

McMorrow, Julia

2005-01-01

This paper reports on development of a Dark Peak website and its use to prepare first-year geography students for a one-day physical geography field course in the south Pennines. The Virtual Tour (VT) component of the website is the main focus of this paper. Pre- and post-fieldwork evaluations of the first version of the VT by 195 students are…

Touring the Campus Library from the World Wide Web.

Science.gov (United States)

Mosley, Pixey Anne; Xiao, Daniel

1996-01-01

The philosophy, design, implementation and evaluation of a World Wide Web-accessible Virtual Library Tour of Texas A & M University's Evans Library is presented. Its design combined technical computer issues and library instruction expertise. The tour can be used to simulate a typical walking tour through the library or heading directly to a…

Worlds of affect: virtual geographies of video games

OpenAIRE

Ian Graham Ronald Shaw; Barney Warf

2009-01-01

Video games are virtual worlds, each with its own, distinctive spatiality. This paper suggests that there are two interrelated conceptual dimensions to the study of video games. First, there are the representational issues concerning the worlds depicted in video games, such as those portraying hypersexualized women or Orientalist depictions of Arab enemies. We suggest, however, that these cultural, sexual, and political representations are not the only forces doing work on the player within t...

Virtually compliant: Immersive video gaming increases conformity to false computer judgments.

Science.gov (United States)

Weger, Ulrich W; Loughnan, Stephen; Sharma, Dinkar; Gonidis, Lazaros

2015-08-01

Real-life encounters with face-to-face contact are on the decline in a world in which many routine tasks are delegated to virtual characters-a development that bears both opportunities and risks. Interacting with such virtual-reality beings is particularly common during role-playing videogames, in which we incarnate into the virtual reality of an avatar. Video gaming is known to lead to the training and development of real-life skills and behaviors; hence, in the present study we sought to explore whether role-playing video gaming primes individuals' identification with a computer enough to increase computer-related social conformity. Following immersive video gaming, individuals were indeed more likely to give up their own best judgment and to follow the vote of computers, especially when the stimulus context was ambiguous. Implications for human-computer interactions and for our understanding of the formation of identity and self-concept are discussed.

Inducing Fear: Difference Between Virtual Reality and 2D Video

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Wal, C.N.; Hermans, A.; Bosse, T.

2017-01-01

A Virtual Reality based training can be an interesting method to teach crowd managers and emergency responders how to act in emergency situations under pressure. Compared to watching Two-Dimensional Video, Virtual Reality is assumed to induce stronger emotions and a more real-life experience of the

Practicality in Virtuality: Finding Student Meaning in Video Game Education

Science.gov (United States)

Barko, Timothy; Sadler, Troy D.

2013-01-01

This paper looks at the conceptual differences between video game learning and traditional classroom and laboratory learning. It explores the notion of virtual experience by comparing a commonly used high school laboratory protocol on DNA extraction with a similar experience provided by a biotechnology themed video game. When considered…

Which technology to investigate visual perception in sport: video vs. virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Vignais, Nicolas; Kulpa, Richard; Brault, Sébastien; Presse, Damien; Bideau, Benoit

2015-02-01

Visual information uptake is a fundamental element of sports involving interceptive tasks. Several methodologies, like video and methods based on virtual environments, are currently employed to analyze visual perception during sport situations. Both techniques have advantages and drawbacks. The goal of this study is to determine which of these technologies may be preferentially used to analyze visual information uptake during a sport situation. To this aim, we compared a handball goalkeeper's performance using two standardized methodologies: video clip and virtual environment. We examined this performance for two response tasks: an uncoupled task (goalkeepers show where the ball ends) and a coupled task (goalkeepers try to intercept the virtual ball). Variables investigated in this study were percentage of correct zones, percentage of correct responses, radial error and response time. The results showed that handball goalkeepers were more effective, more accurate and started to intercept earlier when facing a virtual handball thrower than when facing the video clip. These findings suggested that the analysis of visual information uptake for handball goalkeepers was better performed by using a 'virtual reality'-based methodology. Technical and methodological aspects of these findings are discussed further. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Virtual displays for 360-degree video

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Stephen; Boonsuk, Wutthigrai; Kelly, Jonathan W.

2012-03-01

In this paper we describe a novel approach for comparing users' spatial cognition when using different depictions of 360- degree video on a traditional 2D display. By using virtual cameras within a game engine and texture mapping of these camera feeds to an arbitrary shape, we were able to offer users a 360-degree interface composed of four 90-degree views, two 180-degree views, or one 360-degree view of the same interactive environment. An example experiment is described using these interfaces. This technique for creating alternative displays of wide-angle video facilitates the exploration of how compressed or fish-eye distortions affect spatial perception of the environment and can benefit the creation of interfaces for surveillance and remote system teleoperation.

Common Virtual Path and Its Expedience for VBR Video Traffic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Chromy

2008-04-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with utilization of common Virtual Path (VP for variable bit rate (VBR video service. Video service is one of the main services for broadband networks. Research is oriented to statistical properties of common and separate VPs. Separate VP means that for each VBR traffic source one VP will be allocated. Common VP means that for multiple VBR sources one common VP is allocated. VBR video traffic source is modeled by discrete Markov chain.

Coupled auralization and virtual video for immersive multimedia displays

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Paul D.; Torres, Rendell R.; Shimizu, Yasushi; Radke, Richard; Lonsway, Brian

2003-04-01

The implementation of maximally-immersive interactive multimedia in exhibit spaces requires not only the presentation of realistic visual imagery but also the creation of a perceptually accurate aural experience. While conventional implementations treat audio and video problems as essentially independent, this research seeks to couple the visual sensory information with dynamic auralization in order to enhance perceptual accuracy. An implemented system has been developed for integrating accurate auralizations with virtual video techniques for both interactive presentation and multi-way communication. The current system utilizes a multi-channel loudspeaker array and real-time signal processing techniques for synthesizing the direct sound, early reflections, and reverberant field excited by a moving sound source whose path may be interactively defined in real-time or derived from coupled video tracking data. In this implementation, any virtual acoustic environment may be synthesized and presented in a perceptually-accurate fashion to many participants over a large listening and viewing area. Subject tests support the hypothesis that the cross-modal coupling of aural and visual displays significantly affects perceptual localization accuracy.

Strategies for combining physics videos and virtual laboratories in the training of physics teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Dickman, Adriana; Vertchenko, Lev; Martins, Maria Inés

2007-03-01

Among the multimedia resources used in physics education, the most prominent are virtual laboratories and videos. On one hand, computer simulations and applets have very attractive graphic interfaces, showing an incredible amount of detail and movement. On the other hand, videos, offer the possibility of displaying high quality images, and are becoming more feasible with the increasing availability of digital resources. We believe it is important to discuss, throughout the teacher training program, both the functionality of information and communication technology (ICT) in physics education and, the varied applications of these resources. In our work we suggest the introduction of ICT resources in a sequence integrating these important tools in the teacher training program, as opposed to the traditional approach, in which virtual laboratories and videos are introduced separately. In this perspective, when we introduce and utilize virtual laboratory techniques we also provide for its use in videos, taking advantage of graphic interfaces. Thus the students in our program learn to use instructional software in the production of videos for classroom use.

Virtual Environmental Enrichment through Video Games Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Clemenson, Gregory D.

2015-01-01

The positive effects of environmental enrichment and their neural bases have been studied extensively in the rodent (van Praag et al., 2000). For example, simply modifying an animal's living environment to promote sensory stimulation can lead to (but is not limited to) enhancements in hippocampal cognition and neuroplasticity and can alleviate hippocampal cognitive deficits associated with neurodegenerative diseases and aging. We are interested in whether these manipulations that successfully enhance cognition (or mitigate cognitive decline) have similar influences on humans. Although there are many “enriching” aspects to daily life, we are constantly adapting to new experiences and situations within our own environment on a daily basis. Here, we hypothesize that the exploration of the vast and visually stimulating virtual environments within video games is a human correlate of environmental enrichment. We show that video gamers who specifically favor complex 3D video games performed better on a demanding recognition memory task that assesses participants' ability to discriminate highly similar lure items from repeated items. In addition, after 2 weeks of training on the 3D video game Super Mario 3D World, naive video gamers showed improved mnemonic discrimination ability and improvements on a virtual water maze task. Two control conditions (passive and training in a 2D game, Angry Birds), showed no such improvements. Furthermore, individual performance in both hippocampal-associated behaviors correlated with performance in Super Mario but not Angry Birds, suggesting that how individuals explored the virtual environment may influence hippocampal behavior. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The hippocampus has long been associated with episodic memory and is commonly thought to rely on neuroplasticity to adapt to the ever-changing environment. In animals, it is well understood that exposing animals to a more stimulating environment, known as environmental enrichment, can

Virtual Environmental Enrichment through Video Games Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Clemenson, Gregory D; Stark, Craig E L

2015-12-09

The positive effects of environmental enrichment and their neural bases have been studied extensively in the rodent (van Praag et al., 2000). For example, simply modifying an animal's living environment to promote sensory stimulation can lead to (but is not limited to) enhancements in hippocampal cognition and neuroplasticity and can alleviate hippocampal cognitive deficits associated with neurodegenerative diseases and aging. We are interested in whether these manipulations that successfully enhance cognition (or mitigate cognitive decline) have similar influences on humans. Although there are many "enriching" aspects to daily life, we are constantly adapting to new experiences and situations within our own environment on a daily basis. Here, we hypothesize that the exploration of the vast and visually stimulating virtual environments within video games is a human correlate of environmental enrichment. We show that video gamers who specifically favor complex 3D video games performed better on a demanding recognition memory task that assesses participants' ability to discriminate highly similar lure items from repeated items. In addition, after 2 weeks of training on the 3D video game Super Mario 3D World, naive video gamers showed improved mnemonic discrimination ability and improvements on a virtual water maze task. Two control conditions (passive and training in a 2D game, Angry Birds), showed no such improvements. Furthermore, individual performance in both hippocampal-associated behaviors correlated with performance in Super Mario but not Angry Birds, suggesting that how individuals explored the virtual environment may influence hippocampal behavior. The hippocampus has long been associated with episodic memory and is commonly thought to rely on neuroplasticity to adapt to the ever-changing environment. In animals, it is well understood that exposing animals to a more stimulating environment, known as environmental enrichment, can stimulate neuroplasticity and

A virtual tour of virtual reality

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Margaret

2018-03-01

Virtual-reality glasses might still be on the starting blocks, but plenty of companies are working on the technology. Margaret Harris tries on some examples at the Photonics West show in San Francisco

Development and Reliability Evaluation of the Movement Rating Instrument for Virtual Reality Video Game Play

OpenAIRE

Levac, Danielle; Nawrotek, Joanna; Deschenes, Emilie; Giguere, Tia; Serafin, Julie; Bilodeau, Martin; Sveistrup, Heidi

2016-01-01

Background Virtual reality active video games are increasingly popular physical therapy interventions for children with cerebral palsy. However, physical therapists require educational resources to support decision making about game selection to match individual patient goals. Quantifying the movements elicited during virtual reality active video game play can inform individualized game selection in pediatric rehabilitation. Objective The objectives of this study were to develop and evaluate ...

Virtual superheroes: using superpowers in virtual reality to encourage prosocial behavior.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robin S Rosenberg

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown that playing prosocial video games leads to greater subsequent prosocial behavior in the real world. However, immersive virtual reality allows people to occupy avatars that are different from them in a perceptually realistic manner. We examine how occupying an avatar with the superhero ability to fly increases helping behavior. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a two-by-two design, participants were either given the power of flight (their arm movements were tracked to control their flight akin to Superman's flying ability or rode as a passenger in a helicopter, and were assigned one of two tasks, either to help find a missing diabetic child in need of insulin or to tour a virtual city. Participants in the "super-flight" conditions helped the experimenter pick up spilled pens after their virtual experience significantly more than those who were virtual passengers in a helicopter. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that having the "superpower" of flight leads to greater helping behavior in the real world, regardless of how participants used that power. A possible mechanism for this result is that having the power of flight primed concepts and prototypes associated with superheroes (e.g., Superman. This research illustrates the potential of using experiences in virtual reality technology to increase prosocial behavior in the physical world.

A game based virtual campus tour

Science.gov (United States)

Razia Sulthana, A.; Arokiaraj Jovith, A.; Saveetha, D.; Jaithunbi, A. K.

2018-04-01

The aim of the application is to create a virtual reality game, whose purpose is to showcase the facilities of SRM University, while doing so in an entertaining manner. The virtual prototype of the institution is deployed in a game engine which eases the students to look over the infrastructure, thereby reducing the resources utilization. Time and money are the resources in concern today. The virtual campus application assists the end user even from a remote location. The virtual world simulates the exact location and hence the effect is created. Thus, it virtually transports the user to the university, with the help of a VR Headset. This is a dynamic application wherein the user can move in any direction. The VR headset provides an interface to get gyro input and this is used to start and stop the movement. Virtual Campus is size efficient and occupies minimal space. It is scalable against mobile gadgets. This gaming application helps the end user to explore the campus, while having fun too. It is a user friendly application that supports users worldwide.

A simplified 2D to 3D video conversion technology——taking virtual campus video production as an example

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHUANG Huiyang

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a simplified 2D to 3D Video Conversion Technology, taking virtual campus 3D video production as an example. First, it clarifies the meaning of the 2D to 3D Video Conversion Technology, and points out the disadvantages of traditional methods. Second, it forms an innovative and convenient method. A flow diagram, software and hardware configurations are presented. Finally, detailed description of the conversion steps and precautions are given in turn to the three processes, namely, preparing materials, modeling objects and baking landscapes, recording screen and converting videos .

Review of Tour of the Nile [iPad App

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Strudwick

2013-07-01

Full Text Available A review of the iPad app, Tour of the Nile. The app promises 'a virtual journey along the Nile Valley' plus the chance to 'handle' objects through the technology of augmented reality.

Do Nonverbal Emotional Cues Matter? Effects of Video Casting in Synchronous Virtual Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Heeyoung

2013-01-01

This study examined the effects of an instructor's use of video casting as a nonverbal emotional cue in synchronous discussion sessions on students' social presence, satisfaction, and learning achievement. A quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate the effect of video casting in a synchronous virtual classroom. The research setting was a…

in-town tour optimization town tour optimization town tour

African Journals Online (AJOL)

eobe

operation was formulated as a Traveling Salesman Problem on Excel spreadsheet. The results ... 19.27 %, tour time by 0.33-22.80 %, and fuel consumption. 22.80 %, and fuel ..... solving TSPs and reports a real world in-town tour improvement ...

Google Earth Grand Tour Themes

Science.gov (United States)

De Paor, D. G.; Whitmeyer, S. J.; Bentley, C.; Dordevic, M. M.

2014-12-01

As part of an NSF TUES Type 3 project entitled "Google Earth for Onsite and Distance Education (GEODE)," we are assembling a "Grand Tour" of locations on Earth and other terrestrial bodies that every geoscience student should know about and visit at least in virtual reality. Based on feedback from colleagues at previous meetings, we have identified nine Grand Tour themes: "Plates and Plumes," "Rocks and Regions," "Geology Through Time," "The Mapping Challenge*," "U.S. National Parks*," "The Magical Mystery Tour*," "Resources and Hazards," "Planets and Moons," and "Top of the Pops." Themes marked with an asterisk are most developed at this stage and will be demonstrated in real time. The Mapping Challenge invites students to trace geological contacts, measure bedding strike and dip and the plunge, trend, and facing of a fold. There is an advanced tool for modeling periclinal folds. The challenge is presented in a game-like format with an emphasis on puzzle-solving that will appeal to students regardless of gender. For the tour of U.S. national parks, we divided the most geologically important parks into four groups—Western Pacific, West Coast, Rockies, and East Coast. We are combining our own team's GigaPan imagery with imagery already available on the Internet. There is a great deal of imagery just waiting to be annotated for geological education purposes. The Magical Mystery Tour takes students to Google Streetview locations selected by instructors. Students are presented with questions or tasks and are given automatic feedback. Other themes are under development. Within each theme, we are crowd-sourcing contributions from colleagues and inviting colleagues to vote for or against proposed locations and student interactions. The GEODE team includes the authors and: Heather Almquist, Stephen Burgin, Cinzia Cervato, Gene Cooper, Paul Karabinos, Terry Pavlis, Jen Piatek, Bill Richards, Jeff Ryan, Ron Schott, Kristen St. John, and Barb Tewksbury.

Video capture virtual reality as a flexible and effective rehabilitation tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katz Noomi

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Video capture virtual reality (VR uses a video camera and software to track movement in a single plane without the need to place markers on specific bodily locations. The user's image is thereby embedded within a simulated environment such that it is possible to interact with animated graphics in a completely natural manner. Although this technology first became available more than 25 years ago, it is only within the past five years that it has been applied in rehabilitation. The objective of this article is to describe the way this technology works, to review its assets relative to other VR platforms, and to provide an overview of some of the major studies that have evaluated the use of video capture technologies for rehabilitation.

Simulating video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy: a virtual reality cognitive task simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Solomon, Brian; Bizekis, Costas; Dellis, Sophia L; Donington, Jessica S; Oliker, Aaron; Balsam, Leora B; Zervos, Michael; Galloway, Aubrey C; Pass, Harvey; Grossi, Eugene A

2011-01-01

Current video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery training models rely on animals or mannequins to teach procedural skills. These approaches lack inherent teaching/testing capability and are limited by cost, anatomic variations, and single use. In response, we hypothesized that video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery right upper lobe resection could be simulated in a virtual reality environment with commercial software. An anatomy explorer (Maya [Autodesk Inc, San Rafael, Calif] models of the chest and hilar structures) and simulation engine were adapted. Design goals included freedom of port placement, incorporation of well-known anatomic variants, teaching and testing modes, haptic feedback for the dissection, ability to perform the anatomic divisions, and a portable platform. Preexisting commercial models did not provide sufficient surgical detail, and extensive modeling modifications were required. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery right upper lobe resection simulation is initiated with a random vein and artery variation. The trainee proceeds in a teaching or testing mode. A knowledge database currently includes 13 anatomic identifications and 20 high-yield lung cancer learning points. The "patient" is presented in the left lateral decubitus position. After initial camera port placement, the endoscopic view is displayed and the thoracoscope is manipulated via the haptic device. The thoracoscope port can be relocated; additional ports are placed using an external "operating room" view. Unrestricted endoscopic exploration of the thorax is allowed. An endo-dissector tool allows for hilar dissection, and a virtual stapling device divides structures. The trainee's performance is reported. A virtual reality cognitive task simulation can overcome the deficiencies of existing training models. Performance scoring is being validated as we assess this simulator for cognitive and technical surgical education. Copyright © 2011. Published by Mosby, Inc.

Virtually numbed: immersive video gaming alters real-life experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Weger, Ulrich W; Loughnan, Stephen

2014-04-01

As actors in a highly mechanized environment, we are citizens of a world populated not only by fellow humans, but also by virtual characters (avatars). Does immersive video gaming, during which the player takes on the mantle of an avatar, prompt people to adopt the coldness and rigidity associated with robotic behavior and desensitize them to real-life experience? In one study, we correlated participants' reported video-gaming behavior with their emotional rigidity (as indicated by the number of paperclips that they removed from ice-cold water). In a second experiment, we manipulated immersive and nonimmersive gaming behavior and then likewise measured the extent of the participants' emotional rigidity. Both studies yielded reliable impacts, and thus suggest that immersion into a robotic viewpoint desensitizes people to real-life experiences in oneself and others.

Virtual navigation performance: the relationship to field of view and prior video gaming experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Anthony E; Collaer, Marcia L

2011-04-01

Two experiments examined whether learning a virtual environment was influenced by field of view and how it related to prior video gaming experience. In the first experiment, participants (42 men, 39 women; M age = 19.5 yr., SD = 1.8) performed worse on a spatial orientation task displayed with a narrow field of view in comparison to medium and wide field-of-view displays. Counter to initial hypotheses, wide field-of-view displays did not improve performance over medium displays, and this was replicated in a second experiment (30 men, 30 women; M age = 20.4 yr., SD = 1.9) presenting a more complex learning environment. Self-reported video gaming experience correlated with several spatial tasks: virtual environment pointing and tests of Judgment of Line Angle and Position, mental rotation, and Useful Field of View (with correlations between .31 and .45). When prior video gaming experience was included as a covariate, sex differences in spatial tasks disappeared.

Virtual realities: The use of violent video games in U.S. military recruitment and treatment of mental disability caused by war

OpenAIRE

John Derby

2016-01-01

This article critically analyzes the U.S. military's contradictory use of violent video gaming technologies for recruiting young gamers to the military, training soldiers for combat, and clinically treating soldiers for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by military service. Using a Disability Studies lens, I discuss the commercial video game Full Spectrum Leader/Warrior, the U.S. Army's free video game America's Army, and the virtual reality exposure therapy application Virtual Iraq...

Using virtual reality simulation to assess competence in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Katrine; Bjerrum, Flemming; Hansen, Henrik Jessen

2017-01-01

for a virtual reality simulator test of a video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy of a right upper lobe. METHODS: Participants with varying experience in VATS lobectomy were included. They were familiarized with a virtual reality simulator (LapSim(®)) and introduced to the steps of the procedure...... % false positives) and failed four of the experienced surgeons (29 % false negatives). CONCLUSION: This study is the first to establish validity evidence for a VATS right upper lobe lobectomy virtual reality simulator test. Several simulator metrics demonstrated significant differences between novices...

Real behavior in virtual environments: psychology experiments in a simple virtual-reality paradigm using video games.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozlov, Michail D; Johansen, Mark K

2010-12-01

The purpose of this research was to illustrate the broad usefulness of simple video-game-based virtual environments (VEs) for psychological research on real-world behavior. To this end, this research explored several high-level social phenomena in a simple, inexpensive computer-game environment: the reduced likelihood of helping under time pressure and the bystander effect, which is reduced helping in the presence of bystanders. In the first experiment, participants had to find the exit in a virtual labyrinth under either high or low time pressure. They encountered rooms with and without virtual bystanders, and in each room, a virtual person requested assistance. Participants helped significantly less frequently under time pressure but the presence/absence of a small number of bystanders did not significantly moderate helping. The second experiment increased the number of virtual bystanders, and participants were instructed to imagine that these were real people. Participants helped significantly less in rooms with large numbers of bystanders compared to rooms with no bystanders, thus demonstrating a bystander effect. These results indicate that even sophisticated high-level social behaviors can be observed and experimentally manipulated in simple VEs, thus implying the broad usefulness of this paradigm in psychological research as a good compromise between experimental control and ecological validity.

Improved virtual channel noise model for transform domain Wyner-Ziv video coding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huang, Xin; Forchhammer, Søren

2009-01-01

Distributed video coding (DVC) has been proposed as a new video coding paradigm to deal with lossy source coding using side information to exploit the statistics at the decoder to reduce computational demands at the encoder. A virtual channel noise model is utilized at the decoder to estimate...... the noise distribution between the side information frame and the original frame. This is one of the most important aspects influencing the coding performance of DVC. Noise models with different granularity have been proposed. In this paper, an improved noise model for transform domain Wyner-Ziv video...... coding is proposed, which utilizes cross-band correlation to estimate the Laplacian parameters more accurately. Experimental results show that the proposed noise model can improve the rate-distortion (RD) performance....

Development of a Virtual Museum Including a 4d Presentation of Building History in Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Kersten, T. P.; Tschirschwitz, F.; Deggim, S.

2017-02-01

In the last two decades the definition of the term "virtual museum" changed due to rapid technological developments. Using today's available 3D technologies a virtual museum is no longer just a presentation of collections on the Internet or a virtual tour of an exhibition using panoramic photography. On one hand, a virtual museum should enhance a museum visitor's experience by providing access to additional materials for review and knowledge deepening either before or after the real visit. On the other hand, a virtual museum should also be used as teaching material in the context of museum education. The laboratory for Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning of the HafenCity University Hamburg has developed a virtual museum (VM) of the museum "Alt-Segeberger Bürgerhaus", a historic town house. The VM offers two options for visitors wishing to explore the museum without travelling to the city of Bad Segeberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Option a, an interactive computer-based, tour for visitors to explore the exhibition and to collect information of interest or option b, to immerse into virtual reality in 3D with the HTC Vive Virtual Reality System.

The Effects of the Mediation and Leadership Role of Tour Guides on the Tour Experience: A Research on Nature Tours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F Özlem GÜZEL

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Other than being a profession that extends beyond only providing information on the historical monuments, tour guiding is a job that has positive effects on the holistic holiday experience. Thus, this profession in its context embodies many different roles that are necessary. With this context, the purpose of this study is primarily to analyze the effects of the leadership and mediation roles on certificated tour guide performance evaluation and then on holistic tour experience. Consequently, in order to determine the relationships between parameters, a field survey at Sarigerme tourism region was conducted on the guided nature tours during the months of May, June and July in 2013. Through the data obtained by the questionnaires, the relationship between the leadership role / mediator role of tour guides on tour guides‟ performance and holistic tour experience basing on two different models was analyzed with Structural Equation Method (SEM. As an outcome of the survey, it was found that the leadership role/mediator role of tour guides on the evaluation of the tour guides‟ performance and that the tour guide performance has positive effects on the evaluation holistic tour experience

Virtual Worlds and the Learner Hero: How Today's Video Games Can Inform Tomorrow's Digital Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Rigby, C. Scott; Przybylski, Andrew K.

2009-01-01

Participation in expansive video games called "virtual worlds" has become a mainstream leisure activity for tens of millions of people around the world. The growth of this industry and the strong motivational appeal of these digital worlds invite a closer examination as to how educators can learn from today's virtual worlds in the development of…

Medical Student and Tutor Perceptions of Video Versus Text in an Interactive Online Virtual Patient for Problem-Based Learning: A Pilot Study

Science.gov (United States)

Ellaway, Rachel H; Round, Jonathan; Vaughan, Sophie; Poulton, Terry; Zary, Nabil

2015-01-01

Background The impact of the use of video resources in primarily paper-based problem-based learning (PBL) settings has been widely explored. Although it can provide many benefits, the use of video can also hamper the critical thinking of learners in contexts where learners are developing clinical reasoning. However, the use of video has not been explored in the context of interactive virtual patients for PBL. Objective A pilot study was conducted to explore how undergraduate medical students interpreted and evaluated information from video- and text-based materials presented in the context of a branched interactive online virtual patient designed for PBL. The goal was to inform the development and use of virtual patients for PBL and to inform future research in this area. Methods An existing virtual patient for PBL was adapted for use in video and provided as an intervention to students in the transition year of the undergraduate medicine course at St George’s, University of London. Survey instruments were used to capture student and PBL tutor experiences and perceptions of the intervention, and a formative review meeting was run with PBL tutors. Descriptive statistics were generated for the structured responses and a thematic analysis was used to identify emergent themes in the unstructured responses. Results Analysis of student responses (n=119) and tutor comments (n=18) yielded 8 distinct themes relating to the perceived educational efficacy of information presented in video and text formats in a PBL context. Although some students found some characteristics of the videos beneficial, when asked to express a preference for video or text the majority of those that responded to the question (65%, 65/100) expressed a preference for text. Student responses indicated that the use of video slowed the pace of PBL and impeded students’ ability to review and critically appraise the presented information. Conclusions Our findings suggest that text was perceived to be a

Medical Student and Tutor Perceptions of Video Versus Text in an Interactive Online Virtual Patient for Problem-Based Learning: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodham, Luke A; Ellaway, Rachel H; Round, Jonathan; Vaughan, Sophie; Poulton, Terry; Zary, Nabil

2015-06-18

The impact of the use of video resources in primarily paper-based problem-based learning (PBL) settings has been widely explored. Although it can provide many benefits, the use of video can also hamper the critical thinking of learners in contexts where learners are developing clinical reasoning. However, the use of video has not been explored in the context of interactive virtual patients for PBL. A pilot study was conducted to explore how undergraduate medical students interpreted and evaluated information from video- and text-based materials presented in the context of a branched interactive online virtual patient designed for PBL. The goal was to inform the development and use of virtual patients for PBL and to inform future research in this area. An existing virtual patient for PBL was adapted for use in video and provided as an intervention to students in the transition year of the undergraduate medicine course at St George's, University of London. Survey instruments were used to capture student and PBL tutor experiences and perceptions of the intervention, and a formative review meeting was run with PBL tutors. Descriptive statistics were generated for the structured responses and a thematic analysis was used to identify emergent themes in the unstructured responses. Analysis of student responses (n=119) and tutor comments (n=18) yielded 8 distinct themes relating to the perceived educational efficacy of information presented in video and text formats in a PBL context. Although some students found some characteristics of the videos beneficial, when asked to express a preference for video or text the majority of those that responded to the question (65%, 65/100) expressed a preference for text. Student responses indicated that the use of video slowed the pace of PBL and impeded students' ability to review and critically appraise the presented information. Our findings suggest that text was perceived to be a better source of information than video in virtual

Spherical photography and virtual tours for presenting crime scenes and forensic evidence in new zealand courtrooms.

Science.gov (United States)

Tung, Nicole D; Barr, Jason; Sheppard, Dion J; Elliot, Douglas A; Tottey, Leah S; Walsh, Kevan A J

2015-05-01

The delivery of forensic science evidence in a clear and understandable manner is an important aspect of a forensic scientist's role during expert witness delivery in a courtroom trial. This article describes an Integrated Evidence Platform (IEP) system based on spherical photography which allows the audience to view the crime scene via a virtual tour and view the forensic scientist's evidence and results in context. Equipment and software programmes used in the creation of the IEP include a Nikon DSLR camera, a Seitz Roundshot VR Drive, PTGui Pro, and Tourweaver Professional Edition. The IEP enables a clear visualization of the crime scene, with embedded information such as photographs of items of interest, complex forensic evidence, the results of laboratory analyses, and scientific opinion evidence presented in context. The IEP has resulted in significant improvements to the pretrial disclosure of forensic results, enhanced the delivery of evidence in court, and improved the jury's understanding of the spatial relationship between results. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

The Art of Video Games

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Mark M.

2012-01-01

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has created and will tour an exhibition on a most unusual but extremely popular art form--"The Art of Video Games." As one of the largest and first of its type, this exhibition will document and explore a 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the…

Development and Reliability Evaluation of the Movement Rating Instrument for Virtual Reality Video Game Play.

Science.gov (United States)

Levac, Danielle; Nawrotek, Joanna; Deschenes, Emilie; Giguere, Tia; Serafin, Julie; Bilodeau, Martin; Sveistrup, Heidi

2016-06-01

Virtual reality active video games are increasingly popular physical therapy interventions for children with cerebral palsy. However, physical therapists require educational resources to support decision making about game selection to match individual patient goals. Quantifying the movements elicited during virtual reality active video game play can inform individualized game selection in pediatric rehabilitation. The objectives of this study were to develop and evaluate the feasibility and reliability of the Movement Rating Instrument for Virtual Reality Game Play (MRI-VRGP). Item generation occurred through an iterative process of literature review and sample videotape viewing. The MRI-VRGP includes 25 items quantifying upper extremity, lower extremity, and total body movements. A total of 176 videotaped 90-second game play sessions involving 7 typically developing children and 4 children with cerebral palsy were rated by 3 raters trained in MRI-VRGP use. Children played 8 games on 2 virtual reality and active video game systems. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) determined intra-rater and interrater reliability. Excellent intrarater reliability was evidenced by ICCs of >0.75 for 17 of the 25 items across the 3 raters. Interrater reliability estimates were less precise. Excellent interrater reliability was achieved for far reach upper extremity movements (ICC=0.92 [for right and ICC=0.90 for left) and for squat (ICC=0.80) and jump items (ICC=0.99), with 9 items achieving ICCs of >0.70, 12 items achieving ICCs of between 0.40 and 0.70, and 4 items achieving poor reliability (close-reach upper extremity-ICC=0.14 for right and ICC=0.07 for left) and single-leg stance (ICC=0.55 for right and ICC=0.27 for left). Poor video quality, differing item interpretations between raters, and difficulty quantifying the high-speed movements involved in game play affected reliability. With item definition clarification and further psychometric property evaluation, the MRI

Virtual Environments Using Video Capture for Social Phobia with Psychosis

Science.gov (United States)

White, Richard; Clarke, Timothy; Turner, Ruth; Fowler, David

2013-01-01

Abstract A novel virtual environment (VE) system was developed and used as an adjunct to cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) with six socially anxious patients recovering from psychosis. The novel aspect of the VE system is that it uses video capture so the patients can see a life-size projection of themselves interacting with a specially scripted and digitally edited filmed environment played in real time on a screen in front of them. Within-session process outcomes (subjective units of distress and belief ratings on individual behavioral experiments), as well as patient feedback, generated the hypothesis that this type of virtual environment can potentially add value to CBT by helping patients understand the role of avoidance and safety behaviors in the maintenance of social anxiety and paranoia and by boosting their confidence to carry out “real-life” behavioral experiments. PMID:23659722

[Virtual reality in video-assisted thoracoscopic lung segmentectomy].

Science.gov (United States)

Onuki, Takamasa

2009-07-01

The branching patterns of pulmonary arteries and veins vary greatly in the pulmonary hilar region and are very complicated. We attempted to reconstruct anatomically correct images using a freeware program. After uploading the images to a personal computer, bronchi, pulmonary arteries and veins were traced by moving up and down in the images and the location and thickness of the bronchi and pulmonary vasculture were indicated as different-sized cylinders. Next, based on the resulting numerical data, a 3D image was reconstructed using Metasequoia shareware. The reconstructed images can be manipulated by virtual surgical procedures such as reshaping, cutting and moving. These system would be very helpful in complicated video-assisted thoracic surgery such as lung segmentectomy.

DEVELOPMENT OF A VIRTUAL MUSEUM INCLUDING A 4D PRESENTATION OF BUILDING HISTORY IN VIRTUAL REALITY

OpenAIRE

T. P. Kersten; F. Tschirschwitz; S. Deggim

2017-01-01

In the last two decades the definition of the term “virtual museum” changed due to rapid technological developments. Using today’s available 3D technologies a virtual museum is no longer just a presentation of collections on the Internet or a virtual tour of an exhibition using panoramic photography. On one hand, a virtual museum should enhance a museum visitor's experience by providing access to additional materials for review and knowledge deepening either before or after the real ...

Virtual realities: The use of violent video games in U.S. military recruitment and treatment of mental disability caused by war

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Derby

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This article critically analyzes the U.S. military's contradictory use of violent video gaming technologies for recruiting young gamers to the military, training soldiers for combat, and clinically treating soldiers for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD caused by military service. Using a Disability Studies lens, I discuss the commercial video game Full Spectrum Leader/Warrior, the U.S. Army's free video game America's Army, and the virtual reality exposure therapy application Virtual Iraq. I also discuss missions and omissions from the literature on these gaming technologies, which bolsters the underlying ableism of military culture that inhibits soldiers from recovering from PTSD.

Energy & Environmental Issues Interactive CD-ROM. Version 2.0. [CD-ROM].

Science.gov (United States)

Florida State Univ., Tallahassee.

This CD-ROM presents various energy and environmental topics. "Great Energy Debate" uses video clips to explore the pros and cons of solar, coal, nuclear, and oil energy sources. "Energy Plant Tour" presents a virtual tour through a plant that converts solid waste into energy. "How Stuff Works" explains energy…

360° virtual reality video for the acquisition of knot tying skills: A randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoganathan, S; Finch, D A; Parkin, E; Pollard, J

2018-04-10

360° virtual reality (VR) video is an exciting and evolving field. Current technology promotes a totally immersive, 3-dimensional (3D), 360° experience anywhere in the world using simply a smart phone and virtual reality headset. The potential for its application in the field of surgical education is enormous. The aim of this study was to determine knot tying skills taught with a 360-degree VR video compared to conventional 2D video teaching. This trial was a prospective, randomised controlled study. 40 foundation year doctors (first year postgraduate) were randomised to either the 360-degree VR video (n = 20) or 2D video teaching (n = 20). Participants were given 15 min to watch their allocated video. Ability to tie a single handed reef knot was then assessed against a marking criteria developed for the Royal College of Surgeons, England, (RCSeng) Basic Surgical Skills (BSS) course, by a blinded assessor competent in knot tying. Each candidate then underwent further teaching using Peyton's four step model. Knot tying technique was then re-assessed. Knot tying scores were significantly better in the VR video teaching arm when compared with conventional (median knot score 5.0 vs 4.0 p = 0.04). When used in combination with face to face skills teaching this difference persisted (median knot score 9.5 vs 9.0 p = 0.01). More people in the VR arm constructed a complete reef knot than in the 2D arm following face to face teaching (17/20 vs 12/20). No difference between the groups existed in the time taken to construct a reef knot following video and teaching (median time 31.0s vs 30.5s p = 0.89). This study shows there is significant merit in the application of 360-degree VR video technology in surgical training, both as an independent teaching aid and when used as an adjunct to traditional face to face teaching. Copyright © 2018 IJS Publishing Group Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing Educational and Entertaining Virtual Humans using Elckerlyc

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reidsma, Dennis; van Welbergen, H.; Paul, Ronald C.; van de Laar, B.L.A.; Nijholt, Antinus; Yang, Hyun Seung; Malaka, Rainer; Hoshino, Junichi; Han, Jung Hyun

2010-01-01

Virtual humans (VHs) are used in many educational and entertainment settings: training and serious gaming, interactive information kiosks, tour guides, tutoring, interactive virtual dancers, and much more. Building a complete VH from scratch is a daunting task, and it makes sense to rely on existing

Developing Community and Building Knowledge Online Using a Virtual Reality Environment and Student-Created Videos

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Eileen A.

2018-01-01

Within an online science teacher education course, an important although secondary goal was to prepare students for a high-stakes licensure portfolio at some time after course completion. Thus, various communication technologies including synchronous virtual reality meetings and asynchronous student self-created video commentaries were interwoven…

Users' Perspectives on Tour-Guide Training Courses Using 3D Tourist Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yu-Fen; Mo, Huai-en

2014-01-01

Taiwan is currently attempting to develop itself into a twenty-first century tourist hub to take advantage of today's thriving global tourism economy. In the coming years, Taiwan anticipates an urgent demand for tour guides, and there is a clear need for training solutions that can serve a rapidly growing population. Computer-mediated virtual 3D…

Tour operators, environment and sustainable development; Tour operator, ambiente e sviluppo sostenibile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andriola, L.; Chirico, R.; Declich, P. [ENEA, Divisione Caratterizzazione dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Rome (Italy)

2001-07-01

The purpose of this work is to characterize the role of the tour operators in achieving sustainable development meaning a process of development which leaves at least the same amount of capital, natural and man-made, to future generations as current generations have access to. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing global industries, creating significant employment and economic development, particularly in many developing countries. Tourism can also have negative environmental and social impact resulting from resource consumption, pollution, generation of wastes and from the compromise of local culture while introducing new activities. Most tour operators has started to recognised that a clean environment is critical to their success, but few tour operators have the management tools or experience to design and conduct tours that minimize their negative environmental and social impacts. A group of tour operators from different parts of the world have joined forces to create the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. With this initiatives, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to address the environmental, social, and cultural aspects of sustainable development within the tourism sector. [Italian] Lo scopo del presente lavoro e' individuare il ruolo dei Tour Operator nel perseguire uno sviluppo sostenibile ossia un processo di sviluppo che lasci alle generazioni future lo stesso capitale, naturale e creato dall'uomo, di cui dispone l'attuale generazione. Il turismo e' tra le industrie globali piu' vaste ed in rapida crescita che crea una occupazione ed uno sviluppo economico significativo, particolarmente in molti paesi in via di sviluppo. Il turismo puo' anche generare impatti sia ambientali che sociali derivanti dallo sfruttamento delle risorse, dall'inquinamento, dalla produzione di rifiuti e dalla compromissione delle culture locali introducendo

Tour operators, environment and sustainable development; Tour operator, ambiente e sviluppo sostenibile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andriola, L; Chirico, R; Declich, P [ENEA, Divisione Caratterizzazione dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Rome (Italy)

2001-07-01

The purpose of this work is to characterize the role of the tour operators in achieving sustainable development meaning a process of development which leaves at least the same amount of capital, natural and man-made, to future generations as current generations have access to. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing global industries, creating significant employment and economic development, particularly in many developing countries. Tourism can also have negative environmental and social impact resulting from resource consumption, pollution, generation of wastes and from the compromise of local culture while introducing new activities. Most tour operators has started to recognised that a clean environment is critical to their success, but few tour operators have the management tools or experience to design and conduct tours that minimize their negative environmental and social impacts. A group of tour operators from different parts of the world have joined forces to create the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. With this initiatives, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to address the environmental, social, and cultural aspects of sustainable development within the tourism sector. [Italian] Lo scopo del presente lavoro e' individuare il ruolo dei Tour Operator nel perseguire uno sviluppo sostenibile ossia un processo di sviluppo che lasci alle generazioni future lo stesso capitale, naturale e creato dall'uomo, di cui dispone l'attuale generazione. Il turismo e' tra le industrie globali piu' vaste ed in rapida crescita che crea una occupazione ed uno sviluppo economico significativo, particolarmente in molti paesi in via di sviluppo. Il turismo puo' anche generare impatti sia ambientali che sociali derivanti dallo sfruttamento delle risorse, dall'inquinamento, dalla produzione di rifiuti e dalla compromissione delle culture locali introducendo nuove attivita'. La maggiore parte dei

Integrating Video-Capture Virtual Reality Technology into a Physically Interactive Learning Environment for English Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jie Chi; Chen, Chih Hung; Jeng, Ming Chang

2010-01-01

The aim of this study is to design and develop a Physically Interactive Learning Environment, the PILE system, by integrating video-capture virtual reality technology into a classroom. The system is designed for elementary school level English classes where students can interact with the system through physical movements. The system is designed to…

Usual and Virtual Reality Video Game-Based Physiotherapy for Children and Youth with Acquired Brain Injuries

Science.gov (United States)

Levac, Danielle; Miller, Patricia; Missiuna, Cheryl

2012-01-01

Little is known about how therapists promote learning of functional motor skills for children with acquired brain injuries. This study explores physiotherapists' description of these interventions in comparison to virtual reality (VR) video game-based therapy. Six physiotherapists employed at a children's rehabilitation center participated in…

Visualizing guided tours

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Signe Herbers; Fjord-Larsen, Mads; Hansen, Frank Allan

This paper identifies several problems with navigating and visualizing guided tours in traditional hypermedia systems. We discuss solutions to these problems, including the representation of guided tours as 3D metro maps with content preview. Issues regarding navigation and disorientation...

The Virtual Threat Effect: A Test of Competing Explanations for the Effects of Racial Stereotyping in Video Games on Players' Cognitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Behm-Morawitz, Elizabeth; Hoffswell, Joseph; Chen, Szu-Wei

2016-05-01

Past research provides evidence that embodying a racially stereotyped African American video game character triggers stereotyped thinking among White players. However, the mechanisms through which virtual racial embodiment of a negatively stereotyped character in a video game impacts stereotyped thinking are still unknown. This study expands on past research and utilizes a between-subjects experimental design to test two possible theoretical explanations: the virtual threat effect and presence. On the one hand, embodying a negatively stereotyped African American character may elicit stereotyped thinking among White players due to the mere exposure to the threatening stereotype. According to this explanation, negative affective response to the threatening stimulus predicts stereotyping. On the other hand, the process of embodying, not just observing, the stereotyped African American character suggests that presence in the game may determine how impactful the game imagery is on White players' stereotyping of African Americans. In this case, level of presence would predict stereotyping. The findings of this study advance research by providing evidence of a psychological explanation for the negative effects of embodying a racially stereotyped video game character on players' race-related perceptions. We conceptualize the "virtual threat effect," which may be applied in additional contexts to understand how embodying stereotyped representations of outgroups in virtual environments may negatively affect individuals' perceptions and support of these groups.

Of virtual victims and victimized virtues: differential effects of experienced aggression in video games on social cooperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothmund, Tobias; Gollwitzer, Mario; Klimmt, Christoph

2011-01-01

Two experimental studies were used to investigate how interacting with aggressive virtual characters in video games affects trust and cooperation of players. Study 1 demonstrates that experiencing virtual aggression from a victim's perspective can impair players' investments in a subsequent common goods dilemma situation. This effect is mediated by reduced expectations of trust in the cooperativeness of interaction partners. In Study 2 the same effect was replicated by using a different cooperation task and by investigating the moderating role of justice sensitivity from a victim's perspective as a dispositional factor. Participants transferred less money to an unknown partner in a trust game after exposure to aggressive nonplayer characters in a video game. This effect was stronger for people high in victim sensitivity. Results of both studies can be interpreted in line with the sensitivity to mean intentions model and add to the body of research on violent media effects.

Cassini Tour Atlas Automated Generation

Science.gov (United States)

Grazier, Kevin R.; Roumeliotis, Chris; Lange, Robert D.

2011-01-01

During the Cassini spacecraft s cruise phase and nominal mission, the Cassini Science Planning Team developed and maintained an online database of geometric and timing information called the Cassini Tour Atlas. The Tour Atlas consisted of several hundreds of megabytes of EVENTS mission planning software outputs, tables, plots, and images used by mission scientists for observation planning. Each time the nominal mission trajectory was altered or tweaked, a new Tour Atlas had to be regenerated manually. In the early phases of Cassini s Equinox Mission planning, an a priori estimate suggested that mission tour designers would develop approximately 30 candidate tours within a short period of time. So that Cassini scientists could properly analyze the science opportunities in each candidate tour quickly and thoroughly so that the optimal series of orbits for science return could be selected, a separate Tour Atlas was required for each trajectory. The task of manually generating the number of trajectory analyses in the allotted time would have been impossible, so the entire task was automated using code written in five different programming languages. This software automates the generation of the Cassini Tour Atlas database. It performs with one UNIX command what previously took a day or two of human labor.

WE-C-TOUR-I-00: Exhibit Hall Guided Tours-Dosimters for QC in Diagnostic Imaging (Wednesday)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

Tour Leader: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Tour Guides: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Kevin Little, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Adrien Sanchez, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Participating Vendors: IBA PTW - New York Radcal Corporation RTI Electronics, Inc. Exhibit Hall Guided Tours is a new program launching this year at the Annual Meeting. The Guided Tours are designed to enhance the interaction between meeting attendees and exhibitors. This year’s Imaging Guided Tours are organized around the theme of dosimeters for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Tours will begin with an introduction and background given by Dr. Xia Jiang, the Tour Leader. The introduction will cover the types and properties of different radiation dosimeters used for quality assurance in clinical radiology. Attendees will then break into smaller groups, each lead by an AAPM-member Tour Guide. The tour groups will visit the exhibit booths of vendors who provide appropriate dosimeters, and a vendor representative will give a presentation to the group about their particular product(s). The vendor representatives as well as the Tour Guides will be available to answer questions. Outline: Types and properties of radiation detectors and dosimeters Ionization chamber dosimeters Solid state dosimeters Dosimeter calibration: Primary and secondary standards dosimetry laboratories Instruments for measuring tube voltage and exposure time Vendor presentations will likely cover features and innovations of different dosimeter systems, as well as their practical use. Learning Objectives: Understand the types and properties of different instrumentations used for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Understand the process of dosimeter calibration. Gain familiarity with the latest commercial dosimeter systems from different vendors.

TU-E-TOUR-I-00: Exhibit Hall Guided Tours-Dosimters for QC in Diagnostic Imaging (Tuesday)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

Tour Leader: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Tour Guides: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Kevin Little, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Christina Sammet, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL Participating Vendors: IBA PTW - New York Radcal Corporation RTI Electronics, Inc. Exhibit Hall Guided Tours is a new program launching this year at the Annual Meeting. The Guided Tours are designed to enhance the interaction between meeting attendees and exhibitors. This year’s Imaging Guided Tours are organized around the theme of dosimeters for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Tours will begin with an introduction and background given by Dr. Xia Jiang, the Tour Leader. The introduction will cover the types and properties of different radiation dosimeters used for quality assurance in clinical radiology. Attendees will then break into smaller groups, each lead by an AAPM-member Tour Guide. The tour groups will visit the exhibit booths of vendors who provide appropriate dosimeters, and a vendor representative will give a presentation to the group about their particular product(s). The vendor representatives as well as the Tour Guides will be available to answer questions. Outline: Types and properties of radiation detectors and dosimeters Ionization chamber dosimeters Solid state dosimeters Dosimeter calibration: Primary and secondary standards dosimetry laboratories Instruments for measuring tube voltage and exposure time Vendor presentations will likely cover features and innovations of different dosimeter systems, as well as their practical use. Learning Objectives: Understand the types and properties of different instrumentations used for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Understand the process of dosimeter calibration. Gain familiarity with the latest commercial dosimeter systems from different vendors.

WE-C-TOUR-I-00: Exhibit Hall Guided Tours-Dosimters for QC in Diagnostic Imaging (Wednesday)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2016-06-15

Tour Leader: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Tour Guides: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Kevin Little, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Adrien Sanchez, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Participating Vendors: IBA PTW - New York Radcal Corporation RTI Electronics, Inc. Exhibit Hall Guided Tours is a new program launching this year at the Annual Meeting. The Guided Tours are designed to enhance the interaction between meeting attendees and exhibitors. This year’s Imaging Guided Tours are organized around the theme of dosimeters for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Tours will begin with an introduction and background given by Dr. Xia Jiang, the Tour Leader. The introduction will cover the types and properties of different radiation dosimeters used for quality assurance in clinical radiology. Attendees will then break into smaller groups, each lead by an AAPM-member Tour Guide. The tour groups will visit the exhibit booths of vendors who provide appropriate dosimeters, and a vendor representative will give a presentation to the group about their particular product(s). The vendor representatives as well as the Tour Guides will be available to answer questions. Outline: Types and properties of radiation detectors and dosimeters Ionization chamber dosimeters Solid state dosimeters Dosimeter calibration: Primary and secondary standards dosimetry laboratories Instruments for measuring tube voltage and exposure time Vendor presentations will likely cover features and innovations of different dosimeter systems, as well as their practical use. Learning Objectives: Understand the types and properties of different instrumentations used for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Understand the process of dosimeter calibration. Gain familiarity with the latest commercial dosimeter systems from different vendors.

TU-E-TOUR-I-00: Exhibit Hall Guided Tours-Dosimters for QC in Diagnostic Imaging (Tuesday)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2016-06-15

Tour Leader: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Tour Guides: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Kevin Little, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Christina Sammet, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL Participating Vendors: IBA PTW - New York Radcal Corporation RTI Electronics, Inc. Exhibit Hall Guided Tours is a new program launching this year at the Annual Meeting. The Guided Tours are designed to enhance the interaction between meeting attendees and exhibitors. This year’s Imaging Guided Tours are organized around the theme of dosimeters for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Tours will begin with an introduction and background given by Dr. Xia Jiang, the Tour Leader. The introduction will cover the types and properties of different radiation dosimeters used for quality assurance in clinical radiology. Attendees will then break into smaller groups, each lead by an AAPM-member Tour Guide. The tour groups will visit the exhibit booths of vendors who provide appropriate dosimeters, and a vendor representative will give a presentation to the group about their particular product(s). The vendor representatives as well as the Tour Guides will be available to answer questions. Outline: Types and properties of radiation detectors and dosimeters Ionization chamber dosimeters Solid state dosimeters Dosimeter calibration: Primary and secondary standards dosimetry laboratories Instruments for measuring tube voltage and exposure time Vendor presentations will likely cover features and innovations of different dosimeter systems, as well as their practical use. Learning Objectives: Understand the types and properties of different instrumentations used for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Understand the process of dosimeter calibration. Gain familiarity with the latest commercial dosimeter systems from different vendors.

Economic tour package model using heuristic

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Syariza Abdul; Benjamin, Aida Mauziah; Bakar, Engku Muhammad Nazri Engku Abu

2014-07-01

A tour-package is a prearranged tour that includes products and services such as food, activities, accommodation, and transportation, which are sold at a single price. Since the competitiveness within tourism industry is very high, many of the tour agents try to provide attractive tour-packages in order to meet tourist satisfaction as much as possible. Some of the criteria that are considered by the tourist are the number of places to be visited and the cost of the tour-packages. Previous studies indicate that tourists tend to choose economical tour-packages and aiming to visit as many places as they can cover. Thus, this study proposed tour-package model using heuristic approach. The aim is to find economical tour-packages and at the same time to propose as many places as possible to be visited by tourist in a given geographical area particularly in Langkawi Island. The proposed model considers only one starting point where the tour starts and ends at an identified hotel. This study covers 31 most attractive places in Langkawi Island from various categories of tourist attractions. Besides, the allocation of period for lunch and dinner are included in the proposed itineraries where it covers 11 popular restaurants around Langkawi Island. In developing the itinerary, the proposed heuristic approach considers time window for each site (hotel/restaurant/place) so that it represents real world implementation. We present three itineraries with different time constraints (1-day, 2-day and 3-day tour-package). The aim of economic model is to minimize the tour-package cost as much as possible by considering entrance fee of each visited place. We compare the proposed model with our uneconomic model from our previous study. The uneconomic model has no limitation to the cost with the aim to maximize the number of places to be visited. Comparison between the uneconomic and economic itinerary has shown that the proposed model have successfully achieved the objective that

Touring Katutura!

OpenAIRE

Steinbrink, Malte; Buning, Michael; Legant, Martin; Schauwinhold, Berenike; Süßenguth, Tore

2016-01-01

Guided sightseeing tours of the former township of Katutura have been offered in Windhoek since the mid-1990s. City tourism in the Namibian capital had thus become, at quite an early point in time, part of the trend towards utilising poor urban areas for purposes of tourism – a trend that set in at the beginning of the same decade. Frequently referred to as “slum tourism” or “poverty tourism”, the phenomenon of guided tours around places of poverty has not only been causing some media sensati...

A case study comparing children???s motivation using a virtual world,video and print material to learn global citizenship.

OpenAIRE

O'Tuathail, Padraic

2011-01-01

non-peer-reviewed The last decade has seen an enormous surge in the use of virtual worlds by both adults and children. Educators are keen to discover how this technology can be transferred to the classroom to facilitate effective learning. The aim of this study was to compare children???s motivation with three media components: a virtual world, video and print materials. The intervention involved 27 children in first class in a primary school using components of the Panwapa website over...

The comparison of CT virtual colonoscopy with video colonoscopy (the detection of simulated polyps in pig colon)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Wen; Gong Jianping; Gao Zhixin; Lu Zhian

2000-01-01

Objective: To assess the value of CT virtual colonoscopy for the detection of simulated polyps in pig colon. Methods: Injecting the smelted wax under the mucosa to simulate the polyps in pig colon, then detected by video colonoscopy and scanned by helical CT. The images were obtained with collimation 3 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm and with the table pitch 1 and 2. All images were reconstructed at 1 mm intervals. Results: The shapes were depicted as follows: those greater than 10 mm in diameter polyps were clearly depicted. 5-9 mm in diameter polyps were faintly depicted. Those smaller than 5 mm in diameter were depicted difficulty. The details depicted: polyps larger than 10 mm in diameter and 5-9 mm in diameter were clearly depicted and that smaller than 5 mm in diameter were depicted difficulty. The images quality lowered with the increasing collimation and pitch. Conclusion: CT virtual colonoscopy is a non-invasive diagnostic technique. It can show the inner wall of colon as same as video colonoscopy does, and is a good alternative in clinical application

Tour operators, environment and sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andriola, L.; Chirico, R.; Declich, P.

2001-01-01

The purpose of this work is to characterize the role of the tour operators in achieving sustainable development meaning a process of development which leaves at least the same amount of capital, natural and man-made, to future generations as current generations have access to. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing global industries, creating significant employment and economic development, particularly in many developing countries. Tourism can also have negative environmental and social impact resulting from resource consumption, pollution, generation of wastes and from the compromise of local culture while introducing new activities. Most tour operators has started to recognised that a clean environment is critical to their success, but few tour operators have the management tools or experience to design and conduct tours that minimize their negative environmental and social impacts. A group of tour operators from different parts of the world have joined forces to create the Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. With this initiatives, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to address the environmental, social, and cultural aspects of sustainable development within the tourism sector [it

WE-C-TOUR-T-00: Exhibit Hall Guided Tours-Microdosimeters for Therapy (Wednesday) WE-C-TOUR-T-01

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

Tour Leader: Indra Das, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Tour Guides: Hsui Ai, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN Paulina Galvis, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Olga Volotoskova, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Participating Vendors: IBA PTW – New York RTI Electronics, Inc. Standard Imaging, Inc. Sun Nuclear Corporation Small fields are increasing used in specialized radiation treatments such as Gammaknife, Cyberknife, Tomotherapy, IMRT, VMAT, SRS and SBRT. Due to small field size electron transport creates lateral electronic disequilibrium and thus dosimetry could be very difficult. Microdetectors are used for small field dosimetry which will be discussed in preface of this tour as below: Understanding small field e.g. meaning and definition of small field IAEA definition and approach Characteristics of microdetectors in terms of perturbation, recombination, correction Suitability of microdetectors in small field dosimetry

"School Shooter" Web Video Game Raises Concerns

Science.gov (United States)

Rhen, Brad

2011-01-01

A new video game in which the player stalks and shoots fellow students and teachers in school settings is drawing fire from school district officials. "School Shooter: North American Tour 2012" is a first-person game that allows the player to move around a school and collect points by killing defenseless students and teachers. The game,…

Virtual Vision

Science.gov (United States)

Terzopoulos, Demetri; Qureshi, Faisal Z.

Computer vision and sensor networks researchers are increasingly motivated to investigate complex multi-camera sensing and control issues that arise in the automatic visual surveillance of extensive, highly populated public spaces such as airports and train stations. However, they often encounter serious impediments to deploying and experimenting with large-scale physical camera networks in such real-world environments. We propose an alternative approach called "Virtual Vision", which facilitates this type of research through the virtual reality simulation of populated urban spaces, camera sensor networks, and computer vision on commodity computers. We demonstrate the usefulness of our approach by developing two highly automated surveillance systems comprising passive and active pan/tilt/zoom cameras that are deployed in a virtual train station environment populated by autonomous, lifelike virtual pedestrians. The easily reconfigurable virtual cameras distributed in this environment generate synthetic video feeds that emulate those acquired by real surveillance cameras monitoring public spaces. The novel multi-camera control strategies that we describe enable the cameras to collaborate in persistently observing pedestrians of interest and in acquiring close-up videos of pedestrians in designated areas.

NEWS ABOUT HOPITAL DE LA TOUR

CERN Multimedia

Sylvain Weisz

2002-01-01

Mr. James Bissell, Director of the Hôpital de La Tour, has directly circulated the medical practitioners in the area and some of you with a letter setting out to defend the financial interests of his establishment. This initiative, which was taken without consulting us, is designed to sow confusion about the scale of La Tour price rises and the unequal treatment we are receiving, as compared with individuals insured with Swiss health insurance firms. In fact, the letter from La Tour (published on our site) casts doubt on our statements in the CHIS Bull' No. 12, which we reassert here, viz., the average increase in rates that La Tour charges CERN Members is 15%; the discounts that we have been able to negotiate with the Cantonal Hospital and other private hospital institutions in Geneva such as the Clinique Générale Beaulieu constitute savings of 20 to 40% by comparison with rates charged at La Tour; for outpatient care, La Tour does not charge the same rates to Members of the CHIS as it does to those b...

How to Arrange Student Tours to the Soviet Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Winokur, Marshall

The details of planning a student tour to the Soviet Union are described by an experienced tour organizer. Student tours of one to three weeks are presented as rewarding alternatives to lengthy overseas study. Recommendations are made regarding choice of tour type, length of tour, travel agencies, time of year to travel, advertising a tour,…

Virtual Reality Training With Three-Dimensional Video Games Improves Postural Balance and Lower Extremity Strength in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yongwoo; Choi, Wonjae; Lee, Kyeongjin; Song, Changho; Lee, Seungwon

2017-10-01

Avatar-based three-dimensional technology is a new approach to improve physical function in older adults. The aim of this study was to use three-dimensional video gaming technology in virtual reality training to improve postural balance and lower extremity strength in a population of community-dwelling older adults. The experimental group participated in the virtual reality training program for 60 min, twice a week, for 6 weeks. Both experimental and control groups were given three times for falls prevention education at the first, third, and fifth weeks. The experimental group showed significant improvements not only in static and dynamic postural balance but also lower extremity strength (p < .05). Furthermore, the experimental group was improved to overall parameters compared with the control group (p < .05). Therefore, three-dimensional video gaming technology might be beneficial for improving postural balance and lower extremity strength in community-dwelling older adults.

The Virtual Dressing Room

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holte, Michael Boelstoft

2013-01-01

This paper presents a review of recent developments and future perspectives, addressing the problem of creating a virtual dressing room. First, we review the current state-of-the-art of exiting solutions and discuss their applicability and limitations. We categorize the exiting solutions into three...... kinds: (1) virtual real-time 2D image/video techniques, where the consumer gets to superimpose the clothes on their real-time video to visualize themselves wearing the clothes. (2) 2D and 3D mannequins, where a web-application uses the body measurements provided by the customer, to superimpose...... and their demands to a virtual dressing room....

Tourists Co-producing Guided Tours

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jonas; Meged, Jane Widtfeldt

2013-01-01

The guided tour is a stigmatized tourist practice. In contrast to studies portraying sightseeing tours as an over-determined stage where tourists passively follow prescripted routes and scripts, this article also uncovers creativity, detours and productive practices. We examine how tourists can...... discussion of some of Goffman's central concepts. Second, we move on to a more general discussion of how front-stage tourism services are performances where both tourist staff and guests play their part. Third, we examine ethnographically how participants on guided tours in Copenhagen co...

Telepresence and remote communication through virtual reality

OpenAIRE

Rydenfors, Gabriella

2017-01-01

This Master Thesis concerns a telepresence implementation which utilizes state-of-the-art virtual reality combined with live 360 degree video. Navigation interfaces for telepresence with virtual reality headsets were developed and evaluated through a user study. An evaluation of telepresence as a communication media was performed, comparing it to video communication. The result showed that telepresence was a better communication media than video communication.

STRATEGI PEMASARAN PAKET INBOUND TOUR: STUDI KASUS DI PT. LOTUS ASIA TOURS JIMBARAN BALI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camelia Agatha Mahayu Putri

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui faktor internal yaitu kekuatan dan kelemahan dan eksternal yaitu peluang dan ancaman dari PT. Lotus Asia Tours serta untuk mengetahui strategi yang dapat dilakukan pihak PT. Lotus Asia Tours untuk memasarkan paket inbound tour. Lokasi penelitian dilakukan di PT. Lotus Asia Tours yang terletak di Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai No. 18, Jimbaran Bali.. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan cara observasi, wawancara, studi kepustakaan, studi dokumentasi dan didukung dengan daftar pertanyaan yang disebarkan kepada 60 informan. Daftar pertanyaan yang disebarkan berpedoman pada indikator marketing mix 7 P (product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, people, process. Hasil data yang diperoleh lalu dianalisis dengan IFAS (Internal Factor Analysis Summary dan EFAS ( External Factor Analysis Summary, selanjutnya untuk mengetahui posisi perusahaan digunakan matriks internal eksternal dan untuk mengetahui alternatif strategi digunakan matriks SWOT, sehingga dapat menciptakan strategi pemasaran baru serta mengembangkan program-program yang telah ada agar dapat diterapkan oleh PT. Lotus Asia Tours Jimbaran Bali. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian diperoleh total nilai rata-rata lingkungan internal yaitu sebesar 3,01 dan lingkungan eksternal yaitu sebesar 2,96, dapat diketahui bahwa posisi perusahaan berada di sel IV yang berarti stability strategy dimana strategi yang tetapkan tidak merubah arah strategi yang telah ada.

Cultural Tourism Tours and Main Routes Towards Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veysi GÜNAL

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Today, the tourism has become a important industry. Certainly, the most important international actors af this industry are tour operators. The tour operators which realize about 75 percent of the total tourism activity to Turkey have taken a very important mission from the point of Turkey tourism. The, Germany, Netherlands, England and USA tour operators, which have made the important part of the tours to our country, have also an important position in organizating cultural tour. When the cultural tours, which have been planned to Turkey by this countries, have been studied it is seen that these tours have containied more mass tourism areas or near areas of these region. It can be said that Turkey’s not marketing its tourism correctly has be effective in this subject. With this research, it has been studied how the cultural attractions in Turkey have been perceived, consumed and marketed by abroad tour operators.

Video gaming in children improves performance on a virtual reality trainer but does not yet make a laparoscopic surgeon.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenthal, Rachel; Geuss, Steffen; Dell-Kuster, Salome; Schäfer, Juliane; Hahnloser, Dieter; Demartines, Nicolas

2011-06-01

In children, video game experience improves spatial performance, a predictor of surgical performance. This study aims at comparing laparoscopic virtual reality (VR) task performance of children with different levels of experience in video games and residents. A total of 32 children (8.4 to 12.1 years), 20 residents, and 14 board-certified surgeons (total n = 66) performed several VR and 2 conventional tasks (cube/spatial and pegboard/fine motor). Performance between the groups was compared (primary outcome). VR performance was correlated with conventional task performance (secondary outcome). Lowest VR performance was found in children with low video game experience, followed by those with high video game experience, residents, and board-certified surgeons. VR performance correlated well with the spatial test and moderately with the fine motor test. The use of computer games can be considered not only as pure entertainment but may also contribute to the development of skills relevant for adequate performance in VR laparoscopic tasks. Spatial skills are relevant for VR laparoscopic task performance.

Study tour in Russia at harvesting time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1972-01-01

A unique study tour on the use of isotopes and radiation in genetics and plant breeding was recently held in the USSR. It was the 11th in the series of the Agency's Study Tour Programme for scientists from developing countries, the principles of which were outlined in Bulletin Volume 13, No. 3, 1971. Eight study tours were organised from 1966 to 1971. This year three further tours have been conducted: the 9th on radiological protection in CSSR, Sweden, the Federal Republic of Germany and USSR, the 10th on the mass rearing of insects as related to the sterile male technique in the USA, and the latest again in the USSR. Included are some notes on the programme and participation of this tour. (author)

A research project with students of Information and Communication Technology in obligatory secondary education: virtual reconstruction of the thermal area of the roman villa of Balazote (Albacete

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pilar Mediano Serrano

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The optional subject Information and Communication Technology (ICT in obligatory secondary education is fundamentally about how to use applications. The software related to this subject is based on: photo editing programs, 3D constructions, sound editing and video editing. These can be viewed in isolation and independently or as a part of a comprehensive project in which students have to handle all of them at once. This article will explain a project with students: the virtual reconstruction of the thermal area of the roman villa of Balazote (Albacete. The goal was to improve student motivation and get actively involved in their learning process. Students used computers and classes of the course to conduct such research. First, the necessary information was sought, and then, based on that information and using different software about virtual reconstruction and recording and editing films: Gimp, SketchUP, Movie Maker, etc., our film was made. The result of this work is a film consisting of a virtual tour inside the roman villa.

Tour Route Multiobjective Optimization Design Based on the Tourist Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Han

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The question prompted is how to design the tour route to make the tourists get the maximum satisfactions considering the tourists’ demand. The influence factors of the tour route choices of tourists were analyzed and tourists’ behavior characteristics and psychological preferences were regarded as the important influence factors based on the tourist behavioral theories. A questionnaire of tourists’ tour route information and satisfaction degree was carried out. Some information about the scene spot and tourists demand and tour behaviors characteristic such as visit frequency, number of attractions visited was obtained and analyzed. Based on the convey datum, tour routes multiobjective optimization functions were prompted for the tour route design regarding the maximum satisfaction and the minimum tour distance as the optimal objective. The available routes are listed and categorized. Based on the particle swarm optimization model, the priorities of the tour route are calculated and finally the suggestion depth tour route and quick route tour routes are given considering the different tour demands of tourists. The results can offer constructive suggestions on how to design tour routes on the part of tourism enterprises and how to choose a proper tour route on the part of tourists.

Networked innovations in guided tours

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meged, Jane Widtfeldt; Zillinger, Malin

The paper investigates how network innovations take place within the sharing economy based on a casestudy of free guided tour Companies in Copenhagen......The paper investigates how network innovations take place within the sharing economy based on a casestudy of free guided tour Companies in Copenhagen...

Tour Guiding Research Insights, Issues and Implications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meged, Jane Widtfeldt

2017-01-01

The book Tour guiding research – insights, issues and implications by Betty Weiler and Rosemary Black is a most welcome contribution to the specific research field of guided tours within tourism studies. It sets forth to “give an authoritative state-of-art review of the scholarly literature on tour...

Image-Based Virtual Tours and 3d Modeling of Past and Current Ages for the Enhancement of Archaeological Parks: the Visualversilia 3d Project

Science.gov (United States)

Castagnetti, C.; Giannini, M.; Rivola, R.

2017-05-01

The research project VisualVersilia 3D aims at offering a new way to promote the territory and its heritage by matching the traditional reading of the document and the potential use of modern communication technologies for the cultural tourism. Recently, the research on the use of new technologies applied to cultural heritage have turned their attention mainly to technologies to reconstruct and narrate the complexity of the territory and its heritage, including 3D scanning, 3D printing and augmented reality. Some museums and archaeological sites already exploit the potential of digital tools to preserve and spread their heritage but interactive services involving tourists in an immersive and more modern experience are still rare. The innovation of the project consists in the development of a methodology for documenting current and past historical ages and integrating their 3D visualizations with rendering capable of returning an immersive virtual reality for a successful enhancement of the heritage. The project implements the methodology in the archaeological complex of Massaciuccoli, one of the best preserved roman site of the Versilia Area (Tuscany, Italy). The activities of the project briefly consist in developing: 1. the virtual tour of the site in its current configuration on the basis of spherical images then enhanced by texts, graphics and audio guides in order to enable both an immersive and remote tourist experience; 2. 3D reconstruction of the evidences and buildings in their current condition for documentation and conservation purposes on the basis of a complete metric survey carried out through laser scanning; 3. 3D virtual reconstructions through the main historical periods on the basis of historical investigation and the analysis of data acquired.

Learning and Personality on Study Tours Abroad

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Shin Yu; Harris, Roger

2012-01-01

Study tours abroad are important arenas for post-compulsory education. This paper focuses on how personality affects students' learning on study tours abroad. The research involved 66 learners from one higher education institution in Taiwan on tours to the UK, the USA and Australia. Data were gathered using questionnaires and learning journals,…

Virtual reality for spherical images

Science.gov (United States)

Pilarczyk, Rafal; Skarbek, Władysław

2017-08-01

Paper presents virtual reality application framework and application concept for mobile devices. Framework uses Google Cardboard library for Android operating system. Framework allows to create virtual reality 360 video player using standard OpenGL ES rendering methods. Framework provides network methods in order to connect to web server as application resource provider. Resources are delivered using JSON response as result of HTTP requests. Web server also uses Socket.IO library for synchronous communication between application and server. Framework implements methods to create event driven process of rendering additional content based on video timestamp and virtual reality head point of view.

Virtuální prohlídka staveniště termojaderného reaktoru aneb Tour de ITER

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Řípa, Milan

Únor (2017) ISSN 2464-7888 Institutional support: RVO:61389021 Keywords : fusion * ITER * tokamak * virtual * 2D * 3D * dron Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics OBOR OECD: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics) http://www.3pol.cz/cz/rubriky/jaderna-fyzika-a-energetika/1977-virtualni-prohlidka-staveniste-termojaderneho-reaktoru-aneb-tour-de-iter

Optimization Technique in Scheduling Duck Tours

OpenAIRE

Norhazwani M. Y.; Khoo; C. F.; Hasrul Nisham R.

2011-01-01

Tourism industries are rapidly increased for the last few years especially in Malaysia. In order to attract more tourists, Malaysian Governance encourages any effort to increase Malaysian tourism industry. One of the efforts in attracting more tourists in Malacca, Malaysia is a duck tour. Duck tour is an amphibious sightseeing tour that works in two types of engines, hence, it required a huge cost to operate and maintain the vehicle. To other country, it is not so new but...

Immersive video

Science.gov (United States)

Moezzi, Saied; Katkere, Arun L.; Jain, Ramesh C.

1996-03-01

Interactive video and television viewers should have the power to control their viewing position. To make this a reality, we introduce the concept of Immersive Video, which employs computer vision and computer graphics technologies to provide remote users a sense of complete immersion when viewing an event. Immersive Video uses multiple videos of an event, captured from different perspectives, to generate a full 3D digital video of that event. That is accomplished by assimilating important information from each video stream into a comprehensive, dynamic, 3D model of the environment. Using this 3D digital video, interactive viewers can then move around the remote environment and observe the events taking place from any desired perspective. Our Immersive Video System currently provides interactive viewing and `walkthrus' of staged karate demonstrations, basketball games, dance performances, and typical campus scenes. In its full realization, Immersive Video will be a paradigm shift in visual communication which will revolutionize television and video media, and become an integral part of future telepresence and virtual reality systems.

Next step, the Tour de France?

CERN Multimedia

Anaïs Schaeffer

2013-01-01

The penultimate stage of the 2013 Tour de France, the Annecy-Semnoz time-trial, has already been won – by a CERN staff member!     In keeping with tradition, the organisers of the Tour de France organise another race, the Étape du Tour, which is open to the general public and follows the actual route of an official stage of the Tour proper. This year, the chosen venue was Annecy and its neighbouring mountain, Le Semnoz, which played host to 11,000 cycling enthusiasts from all parts. This penultimate stage of the 2013 Tour will be raced by the professionals on 20 July. The public race was won by Nicolas Roux, an experienced cyclist and member of CERN’s GS-IS Group, who devoured the 128-km course in just 4 hours and 15 minutes, nine seconds ahead of cycling champion Julien Absalon. “I just managed to overhaul Julien Absalon 500 m before the finishing line,” Nicolas recounts. “It was a fantastic race!” Come rain o...

Virtual reality in education

OpenAIRE

Minocha, Shailey; Tudor, Ana-Despina

2017-01-01

In this workshop-presentation, we described the evolution of virtual reality technologies and our research from 3D virtual worlds, 3D virtual environments built in gaming environments such as Unity 3D, 360-degree videos, and mobile virtual reality via Google Expeditions. For each of these four technologies, we discussed the affordances of the technologies and how they contribute towards learning and teaching. We outlined the significance of students being aware of the different virtual realit...

TU-E-TOUR-T-00: Exhibit Hall Guided Tours-Microdosimeters for Therapy (Tuesday)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

Tour Leader: Indra Das, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Tour Guides: Hsui Ai, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN Aaron Andersen, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN Olga Volotoskova, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Participating Vendors: IBA PTW – New York RTI Electronics, Inc. Standard Imaging, Inc. Sun Nuclear Corporation Small fields are increasing used in specialized radiation treatments such as Gammaknife, Cyberknife, Tomotherapy, IMRT, VMAT, SRS and SBRT. Due to small field size electron transport creates lateral electronic disequilibrium and thus dosimetry could be very difficult. Microdetectors are used for small field dosimetry which will be discussed in preface of this tour as below: Understanding small field e.g. meaning and definition of small field IAEA definition and approach Characteristics of microdetectors in terms of perturbation, recombination, correction Suitability of microdetectors in small field dosimetry

A video, text, and speech-driven realistic 3-d virtual head for human-machine interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jun; Wang, Zeng-Fu

2015-05-01

A multiple inputs-driven realistic facial animation system based on 3-D virtual head for human-machine interface is proposed. The system can be driven independently by video, text, and speech, thus can interact with humans through diverse interfaces. The combination of parameterized model and muscular model is used to obtain a tradeoff between computational efficiency and high realism of 3-D facial animation. The online appearance model is used to track 3-D facial motion from video in the framework of particle filtering, and multiple measurements, i.e., pixel color value of input image and Gabor wavelet coefficient of illumination ratio image, are infused to reduce the influence of lighting and person dependence for the construction of online appearance model. The tri-phone model is used to reduce the computational consumption of visual co-articulation in speech synchronized viseme synthesis without sacrificing any performance. The objective and subjective experiments show that the system is suitable for human-machine interaction.

Improving Web Learning through model Optimization using Bootstrap for a Tour-Guide Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael León

2012-09-01

Full Text Available We perform a review of Web Mining techniques and we describe a Bootstrap Statistics methodology applied to pattern model classifier optimization and verification for Supervised Learning for Tour-Guide Robot knowledge repository management. It is virtually impossible to test thoroughly Web Page Classifiers and many other Internet Applications with pure empirical data, due to the need for human intervention to generate training sets and test sets. We propose using the computer-based Bootstrap paradigm to design a test environment where they are checked with better reliability

Modeling 3D Unknown object by Range Finder and Video Camera ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

real world); proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensors allowing the recreating of the 3D geometric database of an environment (virtual world). The virtual world is projected onto a video display terminal (VDT). Computer-generated and video ...

VISIT - Virtual visits to nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mollaret, Jean-Christophe

2001-01-01

For more than twenty years, EDFs Communication Division has conducted a policy of opening its generation sites to the general public. Around 300,000 people visit a nuclear power plant every year. However, for the security of persons and the safety of facilities, those parts of the plant situated in controlled areas are not accessible to visitors. For the sake of transparency, EDF has taken an interest in the technologies offered by virtual reality to show the general public what a nuclear power plant is really like, so as to initiate dialogue on nuclear energy, particularly with young people. Visit has been developed with virtual reality technologies. It serves to show the invisible (voyage to the core of fission), the inaccessible and to immerse the visitors in environments which are usually closed to the general public (discovery of the controlled area of a nuclear power plant). Visit is used in Public Information Centres which receive visitors to EDF power plants and during international exhibitions and conferences. Visit allows a virtual tour of the following controlled areas: locker room hot area/cold area, a necessary passage before entering the controlled areas; reactor building; fuel building; waste auxiliary building (liquid, solid and gaseous effluents). It also includes a tour of the rooms or equipment usually accessible to the general public: control room, turbine hall, transformer, air cooling tower

Integrating virtual reality video games into practice: clinicians' experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Levac, Danielle E; Miller, Patricia A

2013-10-01

The Nintendo Wii is a popular virtual reality (VR) video gaming system in rehabilitation practice and research. As evidence emerges related to its effectiveness as a physical therapy training method, clinicians require information about the pragmatics of its use in practice. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study is to explore observations and insights from a sample of physical therapists (PTs) working with children with acquired brain injury regarding practical implications of using the Wii as a physical therapy intervention. Six PTs employed at a children's rehabilitation center participated in semi-structured interviews, which were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis. Two themes summarize the practical implications of Wii use: 1) technology meets clinical practice; and 2) onus is on the therapist. Therapists described both beneficial and challenging implications arising from the intersection of technology and practice, and reported the personal commitment required to orient oneself to the gaming system and capably implement this intervention. Findings include issues that may be relevant to professional development in a broader rehabilitation context, including suggestions for the content of educational initiatives and the need for institutional support from managers in the form of physical resources for VR implementation.

IMAGE-BASED VIRTUAL TOURS AND 3D MODELING OF PAST AND CURRENT AGES FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARKS: THE VISUALVERSILIA 3D PROJECT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Castagnetti

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The research project VisualVersilia 3D aims at offering a new way to promote the territory and its heritage by matching the traditional reading of the document and the potential use of modern communication technologies for the cultural tourism. Recently, the research on the use of new technologies applied to cultural heritage have turned their attention mainly to technologies to reconstruct and narrate the complexity of the territory and its heritage, including 3D scanning, 3D printing and augmented reality. Some museums and archaeological sites already exploit the potential of digital tools to preserve and spread their heritage but interactive services involving tourists in an immersive and more modern experience are still rare. The innovation of the project consists in the development of a methodology for documenting current and past historical ages and integrating their 3D visualizations with rendering capable of returning an immersive virtual reality for a successful enhancement of the heritage. The project implements the methodology in the archaeological complex of Massaciuccoli, one of the best preserved roman site of the Versilia Area (Tuscany, Italy. The activities of the project briefly consist in developing: 1. the virtual tour of the site in its current configuration on the basis of spherical images then enhanced by texts, graphics and audio guides in order to enable both an immersive and remote tourist experience; 2. 3D reconstruction of the evidences and buildings in their current condition for documentation and conservation purposes on the basis of a complete metric survey carried out through laser scanning; 3. 3D virtual reconstructions through the main historical periods on the basis of historical investigation and the analysis of data acquired.

Realistic generation of natural phenomena based on video synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Changbo; Quan, Hongyan; Li, Chenhui; Xiao, Zhao; Chen, Xiao; Li, Peng; Shen, Liuwei

2009-10-01

Research on the generation of natural phenomena has many applications in special effects of movie, battlefield simulation and virtual reality, etc. Based on video synthesis technique, a new approach is proposed for the synthesis of natural phenomena, including flowing water and fire flame. From the fire and flow video, the seamless video of arbitrary length is generated. Then, the interaction between wind and fire flame is achieved through the skeleton of flame. Later, the flow is also synthesized by extending the video textures using an edge resample method. Finally, we can integrate the synthesized natural phenomena into a virtual scene.

Insecure positions, heteronomous autonomy and tourism-cultural capital: a Bourdieusian reading of tour guides on BBC Worldwide's Doctor Who Experience Walking Tour

OpenAIRE

Garner, Ross

2017-01-01

This article contributes towards debates concerning media tourism and tour guiding by using Pierre Bourdieu’s (1993) arguments regarding field and capital to analyse performed tour guide identities on BBC Worldwide’s Doctor Who Experience Walking Tour in Cardiff Bay. The article pursues three core arguments: firstly, that a Bourdieusian framework provides an enhanced understanding of the insecure positions that tour guides occupy in what is referred to throughout as the tourism field. Secondl...

Hanford's Public Tour Program - An Excellent Educational Tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinclair, K.M.

2010-01-01

Prior to 2001, the Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored limited tours of the Hanford Site for the public, but discontinued the program after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. In 2003, DOE's Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) requested the site's prime contractor to reinstate the public tour program starting in 2004 under strict controls and security requirements. The planning involved a collaborative effort among the security, safety and communications departments of DOE-RL and the site's contracting companies. This paper describes the evolution of, and enhancements to, Hanford's public tours, including the addition of a separate tour program for the B Reactor, the first full-scale nuclear reactor in the world. Topics included in the discussion include the history and growth of the tour program, associated costs, and visitor surveys and assessments.

CD Review: Tour de Force

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Golden

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Review of Tour de Force, the third album from C Force, an ensemble comprised of flutist Christine Gangelhoff, euphoniumist Christian Justilien, and pianist Christy Lee. With repertoire spanning over two centuries, the trio embarks on a musical tour to Guadaloupe, Jamaica, and Haiti on Disc One, and then Trinidad and Tobago, Curaçao, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas on Disc Two. Just as the eclectic album artwork by John Cox might suggest, Tour de Force provides listeners with a sense of the rich tapestry of musical connections shared in art music across the Caribbean. This two-disc set (released March 2016 was recorded at the Performing Arts Center of The College of The Bahamas and produced by Terry Manning of Lucky Seven Records.

A Metro Map Metaphor for Guided Tours on the Web

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sandvad, Elmer Sørensen; Grønbæk, Kaj; Sloth, Lennert

2001-01-01

maps and route maps with indication of which stations of a tour have been visited; and finally (4) support for arbitrary web pages as stations on the tour. The paper discusses the Webvise Guided Tour System and illustrates its use in a digital library portal. The system is compared to other recent Web......This paper presents a guided tour system for the WWW. It is a module for the Webvise open hypermedia system that implements the ideas of trails and guided tours, originating from the hypertext field. Webvise appears as an open hypermedia helper application to the user and stores the guided tours...... in an XML format called OHIF separated from the WWW documents included in the tour. The main advantages of the system are: (1) a browser independent format in terms of HTML and PNG-based image maps for reading the guided tours; (2) support for a familiar metaphor, namely, a metro route map; (3) overview...

HANFORDS PUBLIC TOUR PROGRAM - AN EXCELLENT EDUCATIONAL TOOL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

SINCLAIR KM

2010-12-07

Prior to 2001, the Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored limited tours of the Hanford Site for the public, but discontinued the program after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. In 2003, DOE's Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) requested the site's prime contractor to reinstate the public tour program starting in 2004 under strict controls and security requirements. The planning involved a collaborative effort among the security, safety and communications departments of DOE-RL and the site's contracting companies. This paper describes the evolution of, and enhancements to, Hanford's public tours, including the addition of a separate tour program for the B Reactor, the first full-scale nuclear reactor in the world. Topics included in the discussion include the history and growth of the tour program, associated costs, and visitor surveys and assessments.

STRATEGI PEMASARAN PAKET WISATA FULL DAY DI PT. TOUR EAST INDONESIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Putu Geni Jaya Ksamawan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available he development of increasing tourist arrivals to Bali led to the development of business and tourism in the world of business, one business trip in Bali. PT. Tour East Tours and Travel is the one of the travel agents in Bali in this to win the competition with other companies, the need for proper marketing strategy and correct. This study aims to determine the marketing strategy Full Day tour packages PT. Tour East Indonesia and what strategies can be implemented in the PT. Tour East Tours and Travel to boost sales of tour packages to tourists as well as winning the competition with other companies. In this study using Qualitative descriptive data analysis techniques combined with a SWOT analysis to figure out what the right strategy is used to market tour packages Full Day of PT. Tour East Indonesia. Based on the SWOT matrix analysis obtained a marketing strategy that can be applied to PT. Tour East Tours and Travel is a strategy creation and development of tourism products, increased promotion strategies, human resource development strategy, market segmentation strategy development, and strategies for improving the quality of products and services. From the results of this study can be given advice to the PT. Tour East Tours and Travel is improving service process management and define market segments and maintain the image of the internal and external environment, while maintaining a cooperative relationship, and held training to staff meetings.

Virtual communities in a secondary school – Discovering the internal grammar of video games

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Méndez

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to show how the creation of an innovative scenario, introducing video games and online communities as educational resources in the classroom, facilitates the development of new literacies in the context of participatory culture. The experience described was carried out during the 2010-2011 academic year in a secondary school located in Madrid. The workshop was organized using a social simulation video game, The Sims 3, and the online community Play and Learn, created specifically for this project. From an ethnographic perspective, the article focuses mainly on analyzing what happened outside the game sessions, when the students became involved in the online community after interacting with the game in the classroom. The fact that they participated in a virtual conversational space (through a forum serves to support the game and encourage reflection from all participants. The results show that social relationships were developed within the online community, where individual contributions proved especially important for group discussion. Participation made it possible for students to become aware of the speech and rules of the game and to improve the acquisition process of new literacies.

Virtual reality at work

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Frederick P., Jr.

1991-01-01

The utility of virtual reality computer graphics in telepresence applications is not hard to grasp and promises to be great. When the virtual world is entirely synthetic, as opposed to real but remote, the utility is harder to establish. Vehicle simulators for aircraft, vessels, and motor vehicles are proving their worth every day. Entertainment applications such as Disney World's StarTours are technologically elegant, good fun, and economically viable. Nevertheless, some of us have no real desire to spend our lifework serving the entertainment craze of our sick culture; we want to see this exciting technology put to work in medicine and science. The topics covered include the following: testing a force display for scientific visualization -- molecular docking; and testing a head-mounted display for scientific and medical visualization.

Virtual Reality as a Story Telling Platform for Geoscience Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Lazar, K.; Moysey, S. M.

2017-12-01

Capturing the attention of students and the public is a critical step for increasing societal interest and literacy in earth science issues. Virtual reality (VR) provides a means for geoscience engagement that is well suited to place-based learning through exciting and immersive experiences. One approach is to create fully-immersive virtual gaming environments where players interact with physical objects, such as rock samples and outcrops, to pursue geoscience learning goals. Developing an experience like this, however, can require substantial programming expertise and resources. At the other end of the development spectrum, it is possible for anyone to create immersive virtual experiences with 360-degree imagery, which can be made interactive using easy to use VR editing software to embed videos, audio, images, and other content within the 360-degree image. Accessible editing tools like these make the creation of VR experiences something that anyone can tackle. Using the VR editor ThingLink and imagery from Google Maps, for example, we were able to create an interactive tour of the Grand Canyon, complete with embedded assessments, in a matter of hours. The true power of such platforms, however, comes from the potential to engage students as content authors to create and share stories of place that explore geoscience issues from their personal perspective. For example, we have used combinations of 360-degree images with interactive mapping and web platforms to enable students with no programming experience to create complex web apps as highly engaging story telling platforms. We highlight here examples of how we have implemented such story telling approaches with students to assess learning in courses, to share geoscience research outcomes, and to communicate issues of societal importance.

Wisata Bencana : Sebuah Studi Kasus Lava Tour Gunung Merapi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zein Mufarrih Muktaf

2017-09-01

ABSTRACK The emergence of ecotourism trends as part of nature tourism to be an offer for tourists who want to feel the sensation of different tourist. In addition to the emergence of ecotourism, also appeared many other sort of tourism, such as dark tourism and disaster tourism. Dark tourism and disaster tourism is interesting enough to be discussion. The quention of this research is how the phenomenon of disaster tourism on Lava Tour in Mount Merapi? The purpose of this research is to know the practice of disaster tour “Lava Tour” Mount Merapi. The object of research is community-based tourism in Lava Tour area located in Disaster Prone Area (Kawasan Rawan Bencana III. Research method using case study approach. The conclusion of this research is, first, disaster tour is educational tour which destruction, death and back a life as tourist attraction. Secondly, that disaster tour presents a trip or tour because tourists can direct to see the disaster site. Third, the role of communication between the community-based tourism to the tourists are very important, such as telling the chronology of events to the tourists. It is better if the source of information teller is a direct victim or a direct eye witness, because it is more authentic and convincing. Fourth, disaster tourism prefers the interaction between witnesses and tourists. Fifth, disaster tours can be part of disaster literacy, as witnesses or victims explain a lot about disaster. Keywod : disaster tourism; tour; Mount Merapi; Tourism Communication; disaster literacy

TOUR CONSTRUCTION HEURISTICS FOR AN ORDER SEQUENCING PROBLEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

De Villiers, A. P.

2012-11-01

Full Text Available An order picking system that requires pickers to move in a clockwise direction around a picking line with fixed locations is considered. The problem is divided into three tiers. The tier in which orders must be sequenced is addressed. Eight tour construction heuristics are developed and implemented for an order picking system operating in unidirectional picking lines. Two classes of tour construction heuristics the tour construction starting position ( and the tour construction ending position ( are developed to sequence orders in a picking line. All algorithms are tested and compared using real life data sets. The best solution quality was obtained by a heuristic with adaptations.

A Smooth Tour Construction Approach for a Mobile Robot with Kinematic Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Yazici

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Mobile robots are increasingly used for service-like applications in which the service points are known and the mobile robot starts from a starting location, visits all the service points requested and returns to the starting location. The tour construction problem in these applications can be treated as a Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP. Classical tour construction algorithms that are proposed for the TSP find tours do not consider robot kinematic constraints. These tours may have sharp turns at some service points. When a mobile robot follows such a tour, it stops, turns and speeds up again. Therefore, the robots waste a considerable amount of power and time. In these cases, tour smoothing can be used to overcome this problem. However, smoothing an existing tour may result in unnecessarily long tours. In this study, a Smooth Tour Construction (STC approach is proposed for mobile robots with kinematic constraints. The STC approach considers tour construction and tour smoothing concurrently. The logic behind the tour construction part of the approach is based on the Savings Algorithm (SA. The tour smoothing is based on Dubins' arc-line approach. Experiments are conducted for P3-DX robots in a laboratory environment. Comparisons are also drawn with various tour smoothing algorithms in simulation environments to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed STC approach.

Culture phenomenon analysis on the forest tour activity of China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jiang Minjin

2006-01-01

This paper analyzes culture and forest culture, the intension of culture and forest culture, combines the understanding of the main cultural factor with the forest tour activity of China, analyzes the compatible phenomenon of Chinese forest culture and traditional culture, and explores culture of forest tourist site containing the meaning in forest tour. The author thinks the tour of forest culture which will be the important component of forest tour in forest culture,This paper puts forward simple questions existing in exploitation and advantage of forest tour culture, and proposes some countermeasures.

Virtual reality simulators: valuable surgical skills trainers or video games?

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, Ross E; Gomez, Pedro Pablo; Ivatury, Srinivas J; Mitra, Hari S; Van Sickle, Kent R

2014-01-01

Virtual reality (VR) and physical model (PM) simulators differ in terms of whether the trainee is manipulating actual 3-dimensional objects (PM) or computer-generated 3-dimensional objects (VR). Much like video games (VG), VR simulators utilize computer-generated graphics. These differences may have profound effects on the utility of VR and PM training platforms. In this study, we aimed to determine whether a relationship exists between VR, PM, and VG platforms. VR and PM simulators for laparoscopic camera navigation ([LCN], experiment 1) and flexible endoscopy ([FE] experiment 2) were used in this study. In experiment 1, 20 laparoscopic novices played VG and performed 0° and 30° LCN exercises on VR and PM simulators. In experiment 2, 20 FE novices played VG and performed colonoscopy exercises on VR and PM simulators. In both experiments, VG performance was correlated with VR performance but not with PM performance. Performance on VR simulators did not correlate with performance on respective PM models. VR environments may be more like VG than previously thought. © 2013 Published by Association of Program Directors in Surgery on behalf of Association of Program Directors in Surgery.

Using virtual reality simulation to assess competence in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Katrine; Bjerrum, Flemming; Hansen, Henrik Jessen; Petersen, René Horsleben; Pedersen, Jesper Holst; Konge, Lars

2017-06-01

The societies of thoracic surgery are working to incorporate simulation and competency-based assessment into specialty training. One challenge is the development of a simulation-based test, which can be used as an assessment tool. The study objective was to establish validity evidence for a virtual reality simulator test of a video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy of a right upper lobe. Participants with varying experience in VATS lobectomy were included. They were familiarized with a virtual reality simulator (LapSim ® ) and introduced to the steps of the procedure for a VATS right upper lobe lobectomy. The participants performed two VATS lobectomies on the simulator with a 5-min break between attempts. Nineteen pre-defined simulator metrics were recorded. Fifty-three participants from nine different countries were included. High internal consistency was found for the metrics with Cronbach's alpha coefficient for standardized items of 0.91. Significant test-retest reliability was found for 15 of the metrics (p-values 50 VATS lobectomies performed). A pass/fail level defined as approximately one standard deviation from the mean metric scores for experienced surgeons passed none of the novices (0 % false positives) and failed four of the experienced surgeons (29 % false negatives). This study is the first to establish validity evidence for a VATS right upper lobe lobectomy virtual reality simulator test. Several simulator metrics demonstrated significant differences between novices and experienced surgeons and pass/fail criteria for the test were set with acceptable consequences. This test can be used as a first step in assessing thoracic surgery trainees' VATS lobectomy competency.

A tour in sign language

CERN Document Server

François Briard

2016-01-01

In early May, CERN welcomed a group of deaf children for a tour of Microcosm and a Fun with Physics demonstration.   On 4 May, around ten children from the Centre pour enfants sourds de Montbrillant (Montbrillant Centre for Deaf Children), a public school funded by the Office médico-pédagogique du canton de Genève, took a guided tour of the Microcosm exhibition and were treated to a Fun with Physics demonstration. The tour guides’ explanations were interpreted into sign language in real time by a professional interpreter who accompanied the children, and the pace and content were adapted to maximise the interaction with the children. This visit demonstrates CERN’s commitment to remaining as widely accessible as possible. To this end, most of CERN’s visit sites offer reduced-mobility access. In the past few months, CERN has also welcomed children suffering from xeroderma pigmentosum (a genetic disorder causing extreme sensiti...

LAFD: TA-55 General Facility Familiarization Tour, Course #55261

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rutherford, Victor Stephen [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Miller, Joshua [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Mason, Robert Clifford [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2018-01-10

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will conduct familiarization tours for personnel of the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) at the TA-55 General Facility. These familiarization tours are official LANL business; the purpose of these tours is to orient LAFD firefighters to the facility so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. This orientation includes, among other topics, ingress and egress of the area and buildings, layout and organization of the facility, evacuation procedures and assembly points, and areas of concern within the various buildings at the facility. LAFD firefighters have the skills and abilities to perform firefighting operations and other emergency response tasks that cannot be provided by LANL personnel who have the required clearance level. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The handout will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour. A corresponding checklist will also be used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to LAFD personnel.

LAFD: TA-16 HE Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT 55258

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rutherford, Victor Stephen [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-05-31

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will conduct familiarization tours for personnel of the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) at TA-16 high explosives (HE) facilities. These familiarization tours are official LANL business; the purpose of these tours is to orient LAFD firefighters to the facility so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. This orientation includes, among other topics, ingress and egress of the area and buildings, layout and organization of the facility, evacuation procedures and assembly points, and areas of concern within the various buildings at the facility. LAFD firefighters have the skills and abilities to perform firefighting operations and other emergency response tasks that cannot be provided by LANL personnel who have the required clearance. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The handout will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour. A corresponding checklist will also be used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to LAFD personnel.

Challenges Affecting the Quality Service of the Tour Guide in Egypt

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heba Magdy

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The research spots the light on the challenges that face the Egyptian tour guide and could affect on his service quality. Several studies were previously done on these challenges in other countries; however, this study is considered the first to be done in Egypt. The researcher depended on interviews with members of the Egyptian tour-guiding Syndicate, travel agencies, and numbers of Tour-guides. Through these interviews certain challenges are detected: the poor payment, the role conflict between the tour leader and the tour-guide, the foreign labour, feeling not appreciated from the government, renewing the licence, creation of other tour-guiding jobs.

Perception of Virtual Audiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Chollet, Mathieu; Scherer, Stefan

2017-01-01

A growing body of evidence shows that virtual audiences are a valuable tool in the treatment of social anxiety, and recent works show that it also a useful in public-speaking training programs. However, little research has focused on how such audiences are perceived and on how the behavior of virtual audiences can be manipulated to create various types of stimuli. The authors used a crowdsourcing methodology to create a virtual audience nonverbal behavior model and, with it, created a dataset of videos with virtual audiences containing varying behaviors. Using this dataset, they investigated how virtual audiences are perceived and which factors affect this perception.

Digital Dome versus Desktop Display: Learning Outcome Assessments by Domain Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, Jeffery

2013-01-01

In previous publications, the author reported that students learned about Egyptian architecture and society by playing an educational game based on a virtual representation of a temple. Students played the game in a digital dome or on a standard desktop computer, and (each) then recorded a video tour of the temple. Those who had used the dome…

Virtual Technologies Trends in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Martín-Gutiérrez, Jorge; Mora, Carlos Efrén; Añorbe-Díaz, Beatriz; González-Marrero, Antonio

2017-01-01

Virtual reality captures people's attention. This technology has been applied in many sectors such as medicine, industry, education, video games, or tourism. Perhaps its biggest area of interest has been leisure and entertainment. Regardless the sector, the introduction of virtual or augmented reality had several constraints: it was expensive, it…

Applying Virtual Reality to commercial Edutainment

Science.gov (United States)

Grissom, F.; Goza, Sharon P.; Goza, S. Michael

1994-01-01

Virtual reality (VR) when defined as a computer generated, immersive, three dimensional graphics environment which provides varying degrees of interactivity, remains an expensive, highly specialized application, yet to find its way into the school, home, or business. As a novel approach to a theme park-type attraction, though, its use can be justified. This paper describes how a virtual reality 'tour of the human digestive system' was created for the Omniplex Science Museum of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The customers main objectives were: (1) to educate; (2) to entertain; (3) to draw visitors; and (4) to generate revenue. The 'Edutainment' system ultimately delivered met these goals. As more such systems come into existence the resulting library of licensable programs will greatly reduce development costs to individual institutions.

Virtual materiality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Dorte Marie

as their recounts of them and 3. the consumption of other media products like movies, reality shows, YouTube videos etc. How do we theorize ‘matter’ in such dimensions? Is it possible to theorize virtual matter as ‘materiality’ in line with any real life materiality? What conceptualization will help us understand......? These questions become crucial when we follow matter in and across real life, virtual experience, recounted imagery, night dreams, YouTube videos and even further. Some may already have recognized Phillip’s skeleton army as a transport/transformation from Lord of the Rings, DVD 3, the army which Aragon calls out....... Butler, J. (1993) Bodies that Matter. On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”. London: Routledge. Durkin, K. et al. (1998) Children, Media and Agression. Current Research in Australia and New Zealand. In: Carlson, U. & von Feilitzen, C. (red): Children and Media Violence. Yearbook from the UNESCO International...

Web-based three-dimensional Virtual Body Structures: W3D-VBS.

Science.gov (United States)

Temkin, Bharti; Acosta, Eric; Hatfield, Paul; Onal, Erhan; Tong, Alex

2002-01-01

Major efforts are being made to improve the teaching of human anatomy to foster cognition of visuospatial relationships. The Visible Human Project of the National Library of Medicine makes it possible to create virtual reality-based applications for teaching anatomy. Integration of traditional cadaver and illustration-based methods with Internet-based simulations brings us closer to this goal. Web-based three-dimensional Virtual Body Structures (W3D-VBS) is a next-generation immersive anatomical training system for teaching human anatomy over the Internet. It uses Visible Human data to dynamically explore, select, extract, visualize, manipulate, and stereoscopically palpate realistic virtual body structures with a haptic device. Tracking user's progress through evaluation tools helps customize lesson plans. A self-guided "virtual tour" of the whole body allows investigation of labeled virtual dissections repetitively, at any time and place a user requires it.

Creating Three New Bike Tours in Santiago de Chile Case Study: Huaso Tours & Bike Rental

OpenAIRE

Heino, Jenni

2015-01-01

The purpose of this Bachelor´s thesis was to create new bike tour services for the thesis case company Huaso Tours & Bike Rental, based in Santiago de Chile. The idea for the thesis was perceived from a free time activity of mountain biking in Santiago de Chile´s popular tourist attraction San Cristobal hill. This park draws thousands of bikers monthly to enjoy the green areas of the city, however, there is no mountain bike service offered to visit this hill. By conducting a small pre-researc...

Virtual Savannah

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodil, Kasper; Eskildsen, Søren; Rehm, Matthias

2012-01-01

Virtual Savannah is constructed to visualize parts of a curriculum, which the educational service at Aalborg Zoo has difficulties in teaching children visiting the zoo. It contains rich media like audio, text, video and picture galleries about African ecology, but some of this episodic information...

Implementing Virtual Reality Technology as an Effective Web Based Kiosk: Darulaman's Teacher Training College Tour (Ipda Vr Tour)

Science.gov (United States)

Fadzil, Azman

2006-01-01

At present, the development of Virtual Reality (VR) technology is expanding due to the importance and needs to use the 3D elements and 360 degrees panorama in expressing a clearer picture to consumers in various fields such as education, military, medicine, entertainment and so on. The web based VR kiosk project in Darulaman's Teacher Training…

Factors Affecting Healthful Eating Among Touring Popular Musicians and Singers.

Science.gov (United States)

Cizek, Erin; Kelly, Patrick; Kress, Kathleen; Mattfeldt-Beman, Mildred

2016-06-01

Maintaining good health is essential for touring musicians and singers. The stressful demands of touring may impact food choices, leading to detrimental effects on health and performance. This exploratory pilot study aimed to assess factors affecting healthful eating of touring musicians and singers. A 46-item survey was used to assess food- and nutrition-related attitudes, knowledge and behaviors, and environmental factors, as well as lifestyle, musical background, and demographic data. Participants (n=35) were recruited from a musicians' assistance foundation as well as touring musical theater productions and a music festival. Results indicate that touring musicians and singers had positive attitudes regarding healthful foods. Of 35 respondents, 80.0% indicated eating healthful food was important to them. Respondents reported feeling confident selecting (76.5%) and preparing (82.4%) healthful foods; however, they showed uncertainty when determining if carbohydrate-containing foods should be consumed or avoided. Respondents indicated environmental factors including availability and cost of healthy food options and tour schedules limited access to healthful foods. Venues (73.5%), fast food restaurants (67.6%), and airports (64.7%) were the most frequently identified locations in need of offering more healthful food choices. Respondents (52.9%) indicated more support from others while touring would help them make healthier food choices. More research is needed to develop mobile wellness programs as well as performance-based nutrition guidelines for musicians and singers that address the unique demands associated with touring.

Where's the Chicken? Virtual Reality Brings Poultry Science to the Community College

Science.gov (United States)

Kloepper, Marcia Owens; Zweiacher, Ed; Curtis, Pat; Evert, Amanda

2010-01-01

This article highlights how two institutions--Redlands Community College (RCC) and Auburn University--teamed up to create a virtual world called Eagle Island, where learners enter to learn all they need to know about poultry science. Eagle Island, located in Second Life, provides an opportunity to tour a real-life food processing…

Exploring children's movement characteristics during virtual reality video game play.

Science.gov (United States)

Levac, Danielle; Pierrynowski, Michael R; Canestraro, Melissa; Gurr, Lindsay; Leonard, Laurean; Neeley, Christyann

2010-12-01

There is increasing interest in the use of commercially-available virtual reality video gaming systems within pediatric rehabilitation, yet little is known about the movement characteristics of game play. This study describes quantity and quality of movement during Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit game play, explores differences in these movement characteristics between games and between novice and experienced players, and investigates whether motivation to succeed at the game impacts movement characteristics. Thirty-eight children (aged 7-12) with and without previous game experience played Wii (boxing and tennis) and Wii Fit (ski slalom and soccer heading) games. Force plate data provided center of pressure displacement (quantity) and processed pelvis motion indicated smoothness of pelvic movement (quality). Children rated their motivation to succeed at each game. Movement quantity and quality differed between games (pgames demonstrated greater movement quantity during Wii Fit game play (p<.001); quality of movement did not differ between groups. Motivation to succeed did not influence the relationship between experience and outcomes. Findings enhance clinical understanding of this technology and inform the development of research questions to explore its potential to improve movement skills in children with motor impairments. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Networked innovations in guided tours

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meged, Jane Widtfeldt; Zillinger, Malin

This presentation is about a case study being done on networked innovation that is taking place within the scene of free guided tours in Copenhagen. Data has been collected on interactions between actors within the network of peers. In this way, both the own organisation and the actual market...... is being continually developed. ICT plays a key role, just as well as the relationships between the individual actors. It has been shown that close relationships building on friendship and trust are beneficial for the process of innovation. The fast growth of the sector of free guided tours however poses...

WE-C-TOUR-I-01: Dosimters for QC in Diagnostic Imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, X.

2016-01-01

Tour Leader: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Tour Guides: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Kevin Little, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Adrien Sanchez, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Participating Vendors: IBA PTW - New York Radcal Corporation RTI Electronics, Inc. Exhibit Hall Guided Tours is a new program launching this year at the Annual Meeting. The Guided Tours are designed to enhance the interaction between meeting attendees and exhibitors. This year’s Imaging Guided Tours are organized around the theme of dosimeters for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Tours will begin with an introduction and background given by Dr. Xia Jiang, the Tour Leader. The introduction will cover the types and properties of different radiation dosimeters used for quality assurance in clinical radiology. Attendees will then break into smaller groups, each lead by an AAPM-member Tour Guide. The tour groups will visit the exhibit booths of vendors who provide appropriate dosimeters, and a vendor representative will give a presentation to the group about their particular product(s). The vendor representatives as well as the Tour Guides will be available to answer questions. Outline: Types and properties of radiation detectors and dosimeters Ionization chamber dosimeters Solid state dosimeters Dosimeter calibration: Primary and secondary standards dosimetry laboratories Instruments for measuring tube voltage and exposure time Vendor presentations will likely cover features and innovations of different dosimeter systems, as well as their practical use. Learning Objectives: Understand the types and properties of different instrumentations used for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Understand the process of dosimeter calibration. Gain familiarity with the latest commercial dosimeter systems from different vendors.

WE-C-TOUR-I-01: Dosimters for QC in Diagnostic Imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, X. [Ohio State University (United States)

2016-06-15

Tour Leader: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Tour Guides: Xia Jiang, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Kevin Little, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Adrien Sanchez, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Participating Vendors: IBA PTW - New York Radcal Corporation RTI Electronics, Inc. Exhibit Hall Guided Tours is a new program launching this year at the Annual Meeting. The Guided Tours are designed to enhance the interaction between meeting attendees and exhibitors. This year’s Imaging Guided Tours are organized around the theme of dosimeters for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Tours will begin with an introduction and background given by Dr. Xia Jiang, the Tour Leader. The introduction will cover the types and properties of different radiation dosimeters used for quality assurance in clinical radiology. Attendees will then break into smaller groups, each lead by an AAPM-member Tour Guide. The tour groups will visit the exhibit booths of vendors who provide appropriate dosimeters, and a vendor representative will give a presentation to the group about their particular product(s). The vendor representatives as well as the Tour Guides will be available to answer questions. Outline: Types and properties of radiation detectors and dosimeters Ionization chamber dosimeters Solid state dosimeters Dosimeter calibration: Primary and secondary standards dosimetry laboratories Instruments for measuring tube voltage and exposure time Vendor presentations will likely cover features and innovations of different dosimeter systems, as well as their practical use. Learning Objectives: Understand the types and properties of different instrumentations used for quality control in diagnostic imaging. Understand the process of dosimeter calibration. Gain familiarity with the latest commercial dosimeter systems from different vendors.

Virtual classroom project

OpenAIRE

Gmeiner, Nicholas

2017-01-01

This project aims to provide students with disabilities the same in class learning experience through virtual reality technology, 360-degree video capture, and the use of Arduino units. These technologies will be combined to facilitate communication between teachers in physical classrooms with students in virtual classrooms. The goal is to provide a person who is affected by a disability (which makes it hard to be in a traditional classroom) the same benefits of a safe and interactive learnin...

Reassessing Occupational Licensing Of Tour Guides (Opinion Piece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir SHANI

2017-06-01

Full Text Available It is conventionally held that to protect tourists from incompetent and/or unscrupulous tour guides, governments should require guides to be licensed in order to legally practice their profession. Despite the implementation of such regulatory statutes in many countries, it is argued in this opinion paper that the severe drawbacks of licensing demands should be re-evaluated by both policy-makers and tourism scholars. The licensing of guides is not only an ineffective means of quality assurance, with negative consequences for many of those involved, but it also undermines the ethical foundations of a free society. Furthermore, licensing is an archaic practice for ensuring standardization among the members of a profession in a way that is no longer suitable for addressing the challenges of the tourism industry in the 21st century, in which a wide variety of specialized and innovative guided tours are offered to tourists. Although this commentary presents a firm stand against the compulsory licensing of tour guides, it should be seen as an invitation for open discussion among tourism researchers regarding the necessity of licensing tour guides in particular, and of government tourism regulation in general. Moreover, further research is needed to clarify key points on the issue of the professional licensing of tour guides.

STRATEGI PEMASARAN PAKET WISATA PADA PT. PANDAWA LIMA TOUR AND TRAVEL INDONESIA DI DENPASAR

OpenAIRE

I Gede Adhi Suputra Arimbawa PG.; I GPB. Sasrawan Mananda; I Putu Sudana

2017-01-01

This research is about the marketing strategies implemented by PT. Pandawa Lima Tour and Travel tour packages. Company offers tour packages in Bali and beyond Bali tour packages with variety of facilities. As a common general company, PT. Pandawa Lima Tour and Travel has the objective to make profit and trying to satisfy consumers. This research aims to determine the marketing strategy package in PT. Pandawa Lima Tour and Travel tour package in Denpasar. The data collection method in research...

Review of Interactive Video--Romanian Project Proposal

Science.gov (United States)

Onita, Mihai; Petan, Sorin; Vasiu, Radu

2016-01-01

In the recent years, the globalization and massification of video education offer involved more and more eLearning scenarios within universities. This article refers to interactive video and proposes an overview of it. We analyze the background information, regarding the eLearning campus used in virtual universities around the world, the MOOC…

Radon exposure in selected underground touring routes in Poland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olszewski, J.; Chruscielewski, W.; Jankowski, J.

2006-01-01

The radioactive elements abounding in the natural environment cause that the whole human population is exposed to radiation. In Poland, mean gamma radiation dose power is 45.4 n Gy h -1 , while atmospheric radon concentration is 4.4 Bq m -3 [1]. In closed rooms, where radon tends to accumulate, the concentrations may be many times higher.Underground touring routes located in caves, mines, ancient cellars, vaults may accumulate radon at concentrations several thousand times exceeding its atmospheric levels. Studies on natural radioactivity in underground touring routes, with particular reference to caves, have continued worldwide since the 80's. Current register of underground touring routes in Poland comprises over 30 items, which include caves (e.g. Niedzwiedzia), mines (Wieliczka), cellars and underground stores (Opatow City vaults) and military objects (underground factories of Walim). The Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine has for several years already continued determinations of periodical mean radon concentrations in four underground touring routes (starting date in parentheses): Niedzwiedzia Cave (1995); Kowary Drifts closed uranium mine (2001); closed uranium mine in Kletno (2004); Zloty Stok closed gold mine (2004); Osowka underground city in Gluszyca (2004).The results of our determinations of radon concentrations at five selected touring routes lead to the following conclusions. 1. The exposure in the Kowary Drifts touring route is at the level of 5% of the recommended maximum annual admissible limit of 20 mSv. 2. It is assessed that workers of the touring routes where exposures are estimated from the measured concentrations and the time spent underground may receive doses ranging from 0.01 to 5 mSv. (N.C.)

Radon exposure in selected underground touring routes in Poland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olszewski, J.; Chruscielewski, W.; Jankowski, J. [Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Dept. of Radiation Protection, Lodz (Poland)

2006-07-01

The radioactive elements abounding in the natural environment cause that the whole human population is exposed to radiation. In Poland, mean gamma radiation dose power is 45.4 n Gy h{sup -1}, while atmospheric radon concentration is 4.4 Bq m{sup -3} [1]. In closed rooms, where radon tends to accumulate, the concentrations may be many times higher.Underground touring routes located in caves, mines, ancient cellars, vaults may accumulate radon at concentrations several thousand times exceeding its atmospheric levels. Studies on natural radioactivity in underground touring routes, with particular reference to caves, have continued worldwide since the 80's. Current register of underground touring routes in Poland comprises over 30 items, which include caves (e.g. Niedzwiedzia), mines (Wieliczka), cellars and underground stores (Opatow City vaults) and military objects (underground factories of Walim). The Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine has for several years already continued determinations of periodical mean radon concentrations in four underground touring routes (starting date in parentheses): Niedzwiedzia Cave (1995); Kowary Drifts closed uranium mine (2001); closed uranium mine in Kletno (2004); Zloty Stok closed gold mine (2004); Osowka underground city in Gluszyca (2004).The results of our determinations of radon concentrations at five selected touring routes lead to the following conclusions. 1. The exposure in the Kowary Drifts touring route is at the level of 5% of the recommended maximum annual admissible limit of 20 mSv. 2. It is assessed that workers of the touring routes where exposures are estimated from the measured concentrations and the time spent underground may receive doses ranging from 0.01 to 5 mSv. (N.C.)

Virtual Reality Cue Refusal Video Game for Alcohol and Cigarette Recovery Support: Summative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Metcalf, Mary; Rossie, Karen; Stokes, Katie; Tallman, Christina; Tanner, Bradley

2018-04-16

New technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and video games hold promise to support and enhance individuals in addiction treatment and recovery. Quitting or decreasing cigarette or alcohol use can lead to significant health improvements for individuals, decreasing heart disease risk and cancer risks (for both nicotine and alcohol use), among others. However, remaining in recovery from use is a significant challenge for most individuals. We developed and assessed the Take Control game, a partially immersive Kinect for Windows platform game that allows users to counter substance cues through active movements (hitting, kicking, etc). Formative analysis during phase I and phase II guided development. We conducted a small wait-list control trial using a quasi-random sampling technique (systematic) with 61 participants in recovery from addiction to alcohol or tobacco. Participants used the game 3 times and reported on substance use, cravings, satisfaction with the game experience, self-efficacy related to recovery, and side effects from exposure to a virtual reality intervention and substance cues. Participants found the game engaging and fun and felt playing the game would support recovery efforts. On average, reported substance use decreased for participants during the intervention period. Participants in recovery for alcohol use saw more benefit than those in recovery for tobacco use, with a statistically significant increase in self-efficacy, attitude, and behavior during the intervention. Side effects from the use of a virtual reality intervention were minor and decreased over time; cravings and side effects also decreased during the study. The preliminary results suggest the intervention holds promise as an adjunct to standard treatment for those in recovery, particularly from alcohol use. ©Mary Metcalf, Karen Rossie, Katie Stokes, Christina Tallman, Bradley Tanner. Originally published in JMIR Serious Games (http://games.jmir.org), 16.04.2018.

Emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction of tour guides in rural areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anđelković Željko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determinate the job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion of tour guides in rural areas and to show how these two concepts are related to each other. A total of 102 tour guides, who lead tours or have experience in leading tours in rural areas took part in the questionnaire and the results were given and processed in SPSS version 17. Tour guides have a great importance in interpretation of rural areas as well as a significant role in presenting local customs and products in rural tourism. Exploring their satisfaction but also emotional exhaustion is of paramount importance for maintaining their excellence in interpretation of these areas. The results indicate that job satisfaction is still not on satisfying level, while emotional exhaustion is under acceptable limits. The results also showed that there is a negative connection between these two concepts. The obtained data should be beneficial not only to tour-operators but also to other tourism-related companies dealing with FDA (Front Desk Activities and employees in rural tourism: the data about job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion of tour guides can be used in developing management and work motivation strategies. The profound insight in job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion is important in order to achieve business excellence of tour guides in rural areas.

LAFD: TA-55 RLUOB/CUB Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT #55265

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rutherford, Victor Stephen [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-09-14

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) conducts familiarization tours for personnel of the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) at the RLUOB/CUB, technical area (TA)-55, 400/440, facility, Radiological Laboratory Utility Office Building (RLUOB)/Central Utility Building (CUB). These familiarization tours are official LANL business; the purpose of these tours is to orient LAFD firefighters to the facility so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. This orientation includes, among other topics, the ingress and egress of the area and buildings, layout and organization of the facility, evacuation procedures and assembly points, and areas of concern within the various buildings at the facility. LAFD firefighters have the skills and abilities to perform firefighting operations and other emergency response tasks that cannot be provided by other LANL personnel who have the required clearance level. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The handout is distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour; a corresponding checklist is also used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to LAFD personnel.

LAFD: TA-3 NISC & SCC Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT #53356

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rutherford, Victor Stephen [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Norman, Rich [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Montoya, Gene [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Blumberg, Paul A. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); McCurdy, Patrick B. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-10-24

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL, the Laboratory, or the Lab) conducts familiarization tours for Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) personnel at the Strategic Computing Complex (SCC), TA-03-2327, and the Nonproliferation & International Security Complex (NISC), TA-03-2322. These tours are official LANL business; their purpose is to orient the firefighters to the SCC and the NISC so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. The tour includes ingress and egress of the buildings, layout and organization of the buildings, evacuation procedures, and areas of concern to emergency responders within these buildings. LAFD firefighters have the training, skills, and abilities to perform these emergency responder tasks; other LANL personnel who have the required clearance level cannot perform these tasks. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The report will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour. A corresponding checklist will also be used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to the LAFD personnel.

41 CFR 302-3.209 - What is overseas tour renewal travel?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... renewal travel? 302-3.209 Section 302-3.209 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Travel... of Transfers Overseas Tour Renewal Agreement § 302-3.209 What is overseas tour renewal travel? Overseas tour renewal travel refers to travel of you and your immediate family returning to your home in...

Practical system for generating digital mixed reality video holograms.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Joongseok; Kim, Changseob; Park, Hanhoon; Park, Jong-Il

2016-07-10

We propose a practical system that can effectively mix the depth data of real and virtual objects by using a Z buffer and can quickly generate digital mixed reality video holograms by using multiple graphic processing units (GPUs). In an experiment, we verify that real objects and virtual objects can be merged naturally in free viewing angles, and the occlusion problem is well handled. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the proposed system can generate mixed reality video holograms at 7.6 frames per second. Finally, the system performance is objectively verified by users' subjective evaluations.

A Review on Virtual Reality

OpenAIRE

Pallavi Halarnkar; Sahil Shah; Harsh Shah; Hardik Shah; Anuj Shah

2012-01-01

Virtual Reality is a major asset and aspect of our future. It is the key to experiencing, feeling and touching the past, present and the future. It is the medium of creating our own world, our own customized reality. It could range from creating a video game to having a virtual stroll around the universe, from walking through our own dream house to experiencing a walk on an alien planet. With virtual reality, we can experience the most intimidating and gruelling situations by playing safe and...

Hybrid Reality Lab Capabilities - Video 2

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado, Francisco J.; Noyes, Matthew

2016-01-01

Our Hybrid Reality and Advanced Operations Lab is developing incredibly realistic and immersive systems that could be used to provide training, support engineering analysis, and augment data collection for various human performance metrics at NASA. To get a better understanding of what Hybrid Reality is, let's go through the two most commonly known types of immersive realities: Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality. Virtual Reality creates immersive scenes that are completely made up of digital information. This technology has been used to train astronauts at NASA, used during teleoperation of remote assets (arms, rovers, robots, etc.) and other activities. One challenge with Virtual Reality is that if you are using it for real time-applications (like landing an airplane) then the information used to create the virtual scenes can be old (i.e. visualized long after physical objects moved in the scene) and not accurate enough to land the airplane safely. This is where Augmented Reality comes in. Augmented Reality takes real-time environment information (from a camera, or see through window, and places digitally created information into the scene so that it matches with the video/glass information). Augmented Reality enhances real environment information collected with a live sensor or viewport (e.g. camera, window, etc.) with the information-rich visualization provided by Virtual Reality. Hybrid Reality takes Augmented Reality even further, by creating a higher level of immersion where interactivity can take place. Hybrid Reality takes Virtual Reality objects and a trackable, physical representation of those objects, places them in the same coordinate system, and allows people to interact with both objects' representations (virtual and physical) simultaneously. After a short period of adjustment, the individuals begin to interact with all the objects in the scene as if they were real-life objects. The ability to physically touch and interact with digitally created

Students as Tour Guides: Innovation in Fieldwork Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Coe, Neil M.; Smyth, Fiona M.

2010-01-01

This paper introduces and details an innovative mode of fieldcourse assessment in which students take on the role of tour guides to offer their lecturer and peers a themed, theoretically informed journey through the urban landscape of Havana, Cuba. Informed by notions of student-centered learning and mobile methods, the tour offers an enjoyable,…

[Self-perception and life satisfaction in video game addiction in young adolescents (11-14 years old)].

Science.gov (United States)

Gaetan, S; Bonnet, A; Pedinielli, J-L

2012-12-01

Video games are part of our society's major entertainments. This is now a global industry that covers the preferential activity of adolescents. But for some, the practice goes beyond a game and becomes an addictive functioning. Clinical practice is then faced with a new problem. It is important to understand the special bond that develops between a player and his/her video game in order to understand the addictive process. The game consists of a virtual world, a graphical construction that is a simulation of reality and which reinvents the laws that govern it. It also consists of a character embodied by the player who controls it: the avatar. Through the virtual world and avatar, the game offers the player a virtual personification that matches his/her expectations and projected ideal. The avatar allows the subject to compensate, or even to modify some aspects of the Self and thus enhance his/her perception of him/herself; the virtual life become more satisfying than real life. The aim of this research is to propose, from the study of the relationship between psychosocial variables (self-perception and life satisfaction) and the adolescent's practice of video games, elements of construction of an explanatory model of video gambling addiction. The population of this research is composed of 74 adolescents aged 11-14 years (m(age)=12.78 and SD=0.921). Fourteen are identified as addicted to video games by the results of the Game Addiction Scale. The quantitative methodology allows measurement of the different psychosocial variables which appear important in the addictive process. The instruments used are: the Game Addiction Scale, the Self-Perception Profile and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. The results show that adolescents addicted to video games see their virtual and current Self as being less proficient than other teenagers. Furthermore, teenagers addicted to video games see their virtual Self as more proficient and adapted to the environment than their current

Interactive Mold House Tour

Science.gov (United States)

Get a quick glimpse of some of the most important ways to protect your home from mold by this interactive tour of the Mold House. Room-by-room, you'll learn about common mold issues and how to address them.

Tour Route Multiobjective Optimization Design Based on the Tourist Satisfaction

OpenAIRE

Yan Han; Hongzhi Guan; Jiaying Duan

2014-01-01

The question prompted is how to design the tour route to make the tourists get the maximum satisfactions considering the tourists’ demand. The influence factors of the tour route choices of tourists were analyzed and tourists’ behavior characteristics and psychological preferences were regarded as the important influence factors based on the tourist behavioral theories. A questionnaire of tourists’ tour route information and satisfaction degree was carried out. Some information about the scen...

Enhancing the control of force in putting by video game training.

Science.gov (United States)

Fery, Y A; Ponserre, S

2001-10-10

Even if golf video games provide no proprioceptive afferences on actual putting movement, they may give sufficient substitutive visual cues to enhance force control in this skill. It was hypothesized that this usefulness requires, however, two conditions: the video game must provide reliable demonstrations of actual putts, and the user must want to use the game to make progress in actual putting. Accordingly, a video game was selected on the basis of its fidelity to the real-world game. It allowed two different methods of adjusting the virtual player's putting force in order to hole a putt: an analogue method that consisted of focusing on the virtual player's movement and a symbolic method that consisted of focusing on the movement of a gauge on a scale representing the virtual player's putting force. The participants had to use one of these methods with either the intention of making progress in actual putting or in a second condition to simply enjoy the game. Results showed a positive transfer of video playing to actual putting skill for the learning group and also, to a lesser degree, for the enjoyment group; but only when they used the symbolic method. Results are discussed in the context of how vision may convey force cues in sports video games.

The U.S. commercial air tour industry: a review of aviation safety concerns.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballard, Sarah-Blythe

2014-02-01

The U.S. Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations defines commercial air tours as "flight[s] conducted for compensation or hire in an airplane or helicopter where a purpose of the flight is sightseeing." The incidence of air tour crashes in the United States is disproportionately high relative to similar commercial aviation operations, and air tours operating under Part 91 governance crash significantly more than those governed by Part 135. This paper reviews the government and industry response to four specific areas of air tour safety concern: surveillance of flight operations, pilot factors, regulatory standardization, and maintenance quality assurance. It concludes that the government and industry have successfully addressed many of these tenet issues, most notably by: advancing the operations surveillance infrastructure through implementation of en route, ground-based, and technological surveillance methods; developing Aeronautical Decision Making and cue-based training programs for air tour pilots; consolidating federal air tour regulations under Part 136; and developing public-private partnerships for raising maintenance operating standards and improving quality assurance programs. However, opportunities remain to improve air tour safety by: increasing the number and efficiency of flight surveillance programs; addressing pilot fatigue with more restrictive flight hour limitations for air tour pilots; ensuring widespread uptake of maintenance quality assurance programs, especially among high-risk operators not currently affiliated with private air tour safety programs; and eliminating the 25-mile exception allowing Part 91 operators to conduct commercial air tours without the safety oversight required of Part 135 operators.

OnToPV - a virtual guidance through the PV-plant ''Solardach New Munich Trade Fair''; OnToPV - eine virtuelle Fuehrung druch die PV-Anlage ''Solardach Neue Messe Muenchen''

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stich, C.; Becker, G.; Zehner, M. [Fachhochschule Muenchen (Germany). Fachbereich Elektrotechnik; Giesler, B. [Shell Solar GmbH, Muenchen (Germany); Weber, W.; Flade, F. [Solarenergiefoerderverein Bayern e.V., Muenchen (Germany)

2003-07-01

OnToPV is the project of an online tour guide through the PV-plant of the new Munich trade fair. The first focs was to provide an interactive circuit of a PV-plant. Within a virtual tour different areas of the plant should be made accessible over the internet. For this purpose a three-dimensional, multimedia guidance was developed for the PV-plant of the new Munich trade fair with informative diagrams, *.pdf-files and retrievable video-files. In such a way interested internet-users could experience with minimum system requirements, local- and time-independently the PV-plant in its structure and components and could receive different background informations in addition. From the view of the plant operators such an internet project serves on the one hand as an additional source of information where questions could be referred to and on the other hand as sort of advertisement for the technology and the PV-system. In addition the attractiveness of the internet appearance of the plant operator rises and the public awareness of such projects could increase. Seen from the user perspective - such an internet project gives private or business users the possibility to inform themselves interactively, purposefully and with the possibility to move through the plant on their own. Users could utilize the guidance through the plant without overcoming far geographical distances, saving time and money. Perhaps this source of information helps awaking a larger consciousness for renewable energies. The result OnToPV showed the various possibilities offered by projects of this kind in the internet. Ideas of possible extensions as for example the integration of current PV-plant operational data or of a virtual learning platform illustrate the perspectives of the project. Virtual guidance of this kind for various types of power plants are conceivable. (orig.)

Tour of the Standards and Calibrations Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elliott, J.H.

1978-01-01

This tour of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory's Standards and Calibrations Laboratory is intended as a guide to the capabilities of and services offered by this unique laboratory. Described are the Laboratory's ability to provide radiation fields and measurements for dosimeters, survey instruments, spectrometers, and sources and its available equipment and facilities. The tour also includes a survey of some Health Physics and interdepartmental programs supported by the Standards and Calibrations Laboratory and a listing of applicable publications

Model Strategi Prospektif Kinerja Manajemen di Perusahaan Tour & Travel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rudy Aryanto

2010-11-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to build a prospective management model of sustainable tour packages in PT. Golden Rama Express. Given the complexity and the many interrelated factors in the performance management packagetours, it is necessary to approach a holistic system. First, the method used in developing the performance management model is a sustainable package tour and, second, using prospective analysis. Determination of the attributes that reflect the sustainability performance of the tour package is based on field studies. Based on the four dimensions of sustainability, namely the dimensions before the trip, during trip, etc., and the tour leader aredetermined as much as 23 attributes. Attributes in four dimensions for each package tour Junglelicious Africa, Asia Splendid, Adventurous Australia and New Zealand, Europe Romantical and Marvelous the U.S. and Canada. After obtained the level of sustainability index values of each dimension that can be categorized into the not sustainable until very sustainable values of the index, combination of these factors forms the basis of development models.. Based on the scenario that was built and in order to achieve the ideal scenario is the recommended scenario is the optimistic scenario.

A hitchhiker's guide to virtual reality

CERN Document Server

McMenemy , Karen

2007-01-01

A Hitchhiker's Guide to Virtual Reality brings together under one cover all the aspects of graphics, video, audio, and haptics that have to work together to make virtual reality a reality. Like any good guide, it reveals the practical things you need to know, from the viewpoint of authors who have been there. This two-part guide covers the science, technology, and mathematics of virtual reality and then details its practical implementation. The first part looks at how the interface between human senses and technology works to create virtual reality, with a focus on vision, the most important s

Touring the Low Countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Strien, van Kees

1998-01-01

Touring the Low Countries is an anthology of approximately forty travel documents by British tourists - journals, letters, and financial accounts - most of them published here for the first time.The United Provinces and the Spanish Netherlands, with all the variety of their contrasting cultural

Evaluation of the Kids' Shop Smart tour.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Shannon C; Kalina, Laura

2004-01-01

We investigated the impact of the Kids' Shop Smart Tour program on participants' attitudes toward trying new foods and eating a variety of foods, as well as their recognition of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Data were collected from parents/caregivers, students in kindergarten to grade 3, and teachers; questionnaires, quizzes, and interviews were used. Questionnaires were sent home with 947 students; 52% of parents/caregivers returned completed questionnaires. Many parents/caregivers reported that their children tried and liked unfamiliar foods on the tour. No significant difference was detected in children's willingness to try new foods or consumption of a greater variety of food before and after the tour. Quiz score differences between participants and a comparison group were not statistically significant. Of the 38 teachers who completed interviews, 97% reported that the program helped them meet curriculum requirements; 95% would recommend the resource to other teachers. Quantitative findings do not indicate that the program increases children's willingness to try new foods or eat a greater variety of food. However, qualitative data revealed that some parents observed their children trying new foods more willingly and demonstrating greater knowledge of and interest in Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Further research with validated measurement tools is recommended to establish the effectiveness of the Kids' Shop Smart Tour.

STRATEGI PEMASARAN PT. ALLIANCE VAST TOURS TERHADAP WISATAWAN PENGGUNA JASA PERJALANAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I Putu Pradipa Artawan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Indonesia especially Bali has a huge potential in the field of tourism. It can be seen from a wide range of beautiful natural scenery, culture, history of the nation, festivals and ceremonies are unique, different kinds of art and crafts, and a number of very attractive place for tourists throughout the year . The study aims is to determine the marketing strategy of the company's tour packages PT. Vast Alliance Tour who can be success to attract tourists to use the services at PT. Vast Alliance Tour. The analysis using SWOT to determine what the is right strategy which can be used to market package of PT. Vast Alliance Tour. This study led to the conclusion that that the marketing strategies undertaken by PT. Vast Alliance Tour in promoting its products through website, brochures, and sales calls. Products offered by PT. Vast Alliance Tour package in the form of packages like rafting, water sports, cruise, spa, and and much more. Strategy undertaken in this study using the SWOT analysis is to combine the strengths and opportunities that can cover the weaknesses and threats that exist in the relevant product market.

Developing a Canoe Tour for Upitrek Ltd.

OpenAIRE

Matzner, Ute

2011-01-01

The thesis was aimed to result in a sound paddling tourism product for the tour operator Upitrek Ltd. This request of product extension was based on the customer demands the company is facing. Therefore Upitrek Ltd. has acted as the commissioning party in this thesis, as the company will be provided with a fully developed tour product. The first section of this work investigates the history and current situation of the sector of water-based tourism, with an emphasis on paddling tourism, b...

LAFD: TA-15 DARHT Firefighter Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT 53044, Revision 0.2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rutherford, Victor Stephen [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Priestley, Terry B. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Maestas, Marvin Manuel [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2016-03-17

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or the Lab) will conduct familiarization tours for the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) at the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) Facility, TA-15-0312. The purpose of these tours is to orient LAFD firefighters to the DARHT facility layout and hazards. This document provides information and figures to supplement the familiarization tours. The document will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the familiarization tour. A checklist (Attachment A) has also been developed to ensure that all required information is consistently presented to LAFD personnel during the familiarization tours.

Virtual Worlds vs Books and Videos in History Education

Science.gov (United States)

Ijaz, Kiran; Bogdanovych, Anton; Trescak, Tomas

2017-01-01

In this paper, we investigate an application of virtual reality and artificial intelligence (AI) as a technological combination that has a potential to improve the learning experience and engage with the modern generation of students. To address this need, we have created a virtual reality replica of one of humanity's first cities, the city of…

Pretour in-servicing of teachers and students: Effects on tour program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, R.J.

1989-01-01

Plant tour programs constitute a major educational outreach program for nuclear facilities. As a result of observing exhibits, touring facilities, and interacting with plant personnel, students become more informed and receptive to the nuclear energy issue. With this new information, students have a better understanding of the plant, its operation, and its place in their future. The management of the Perry power plant in Perry, Ohio, has recognized the need for, and the benefits to be derived from, a plant tour program for students. These students are tomorrow's customers and voters. It has also recognized the problems inherent in providing such tours; for instance, a visit to a nuclear power plant can overwhelm unprepared students. Another problem is that resource materials regarding nuclear energy that are available to educators are often outdated. To address this lack of educational material and to improve the educational quality of the tour program, the Perry plant has developed a three-step program. This program includes a new energy education center and a walking tour of its unfinished unit 2 facility. Updated materials are delivered to the classroom familiarizing both teachers and students with the concepts and terminology that will be used during their visit. As a result of the familiarization, the students leave the tour experience with a greater understanding and awareness of the nuclear cycle. This serves to strengthen ties with area school districts, because the power plant is now looked upon as an educational resource

Ariadne: a Java-based guided tour system for the World Wide Web

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jühne, Jesper; Jensen, Anders T.; Grønbæk, Kaj

1998-01-01

This paper presents a Guided tour system for the WWW, called Ariadne, which implements the ideas of trails and guided tours, originating from the hypertext field. Ariadne appears as a Java applet to the user and it stores guided tours in a database format separated from the WWW documents included...

Virtual care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kamp, Annette; Aaløkke Ballegaard, Stinne

of retrenchment, promising better quality, empowerment of citizens and work that is smarter and more qualified. Through ethnographic field studies we study the introduction of virtual home care in Danish elderly care, focusing on the implications for relational work and care relations. Virtual home care entails...... the performance of specific home care services by means of video conversations rather than physical visits in the citizens’ homes. As scholars within the STS tradition maintain, technologies do not simply replace a human function; they rather transform care work, redistributing tasks between citizens, technology...... point out how issues of trust and surveillance, which are always negotiated in care relations, are in fact accentuated in this kind of virtual care work. Moreover, we stress that the contemporary institutional context, organization and time schedules have a vast impact on the practices developed....

Household/Zonal Socioeconomic Characteristics and Tour Making: Case of Richmond/Tri-Cities Model Region in Virginia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xueming CHEN

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper statistically assesses the impacts of household/zonal socio economic characteristics on tour making within the Richmond/Tri-Cities Model Region, Virginia, United States, based on the dataset made available through the 2009 Virginia National Household Travel Survey (NHTS Add-On Program. The tour analysis distinguishes nine tour types (three simple tours and six complex tours stratified by aggregate tour purposes of work (including school and other subsistence activities, maintenance and discretionary. A series of regression model runs have yielded the following conclusions: First, at aggregate level, the number of drivers, median household income, household size, number of workers, and zonal walking modal share are statistically significant and positively impact tour frequency. Tour length and complexity are positively related to household income and number of vehicles, but negatively related to zonal walking modal share. Second, at an individual tour type level, each tour type’s frequency/length/complexity is impacted by a different set of household/zonal socioeconomic characteristics. Zonal socioeconomic characteristics have little or no impacts on household tour making. It is recognized that many unknown factors may also have impacted tour activities, which require further in-depth studies in order to better explain complex tours.

Virtual Versus In-Person Focus Groups: Comparison of Costs, Recruitment, and Participant Logistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Rupert, Douglas J; Poehlman, Jon A; Hayes, Jennifer J; Ray, Sarah E; Moultrie, Rebecca R

2017-03-22

Virtual focus groups-such as online chat and video groups-are increasingly promoted as qualitative research tools. Theoretically, virtual groups offer several advantages, including lower cost, faster recruitment, greater geographic diversity, enrollment of hard-to-reach populations, and reduced participant burden. However, no study has compared virtual and in-person focus groups on these metrics. To rigorously compare virtual and in-person focus groups on cost, recruitment, and participant logistics. We examined 3 focus group modes and instituted experimental controls to ensure a fair comparison. We conducted 6 1-hour focus groups in August 2014 using in-person (n=2), live chat (n=2), and video (n=2) modes with individuals who had type 2 diabetes (n=48 enrolled, n=39 completed). In planning groups, we solicited bids from 6 virtual platform vendors and 4 recruitment firms. We then selected 1 platform or facility per mode and a single recruitment firm across all modes. To minimize bias, the recruitment firm employed different recruiters by mode who were blinded to recruitment efforts for other modes. We tracked enrollment during a 2-week period. A single moderator conducted all groups using the same guide, which addressed the use of technology to communicate with health care providers. We conducted the groups at the same times of day on Monday to Wednesday during a single week. At the end of each group, participants completed a short survey. Virtual focus groups offered minimal cost savings compared with in-person groups (US $2000 per chat group vs US $2576 per in-person group vs US $2,750 per video group). Although virtual groups did not incur travel costs, they often had higher management fees and miscellaneous expenses (eg, participant webcams). Recruitment timing did not differ by mode, but show rates were higher for in-person groups (94% [15/16] in-person vs 81% [13/16] video vs 69% [11/16] chat). Virtual group participants were more geographically diverse (but

A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics

CERN Document Server

Lawrie, Ian D

2002-01-01

A unified account of the principles of theoretical physics, A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics, Second Edition stresses the inter-relationships between areas that are usually treated as independent. The profound unifying influence of geometrical ideas, the powerful formal similarities between statistical mechanics and quantum field theory, and the ubiquitous role of symmetries in determining the essential structure of physical theories are emphasized throughout.This second edition conducts a grand tour of the fundamental theories that shape our modern understanding of the physical wor

Applicability of BEE requirements for tour operating enterprises in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article focuses on tour operating, one of the key sub-sectors of the tourism industry. The research highlights the profile of tour operating enterprises in South Africa, and evaluates their ability to comply with BEE requirements, as well as the utilization of tourism incentives. Data were collected by questionnaire through a ...

The Mystery Tour; Exploring the Designed Environment with Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Balaban, Richard C.; St. Clair, Alison Igo

The Mystery Tour is a multi-sensory approach to the man-made environment. It is designed to acquaint children with historical significance of buildings and architecture and thus prepare them to participate in decisions concerning historical preservation. Developed through a grant from the national Endowment for the Arts, the Mystery Tour guides…

High Quality Virtual Reality for Architectural Exhibitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kreutzberg, Anette

2016-01-01

This paper will summarise the findings from creating and implementing a visually high quality Virtual Reality (VR) experiment as part of an international architecture exhibition. It was the aim to represent the architectural spatial qualities as well as the atmosphere created from combining natural...... and artificial lighting in a prominent not yet built project. The outcome is twofold: Findings concerning the integration of VR in an exhibition space and findings concerning the experience of the virtual space itself. In the exhibition, an important aspect was the unmanned exhibition space, requiring the VR...... experience to be self-explanatory. Observations of different visitor reactions to the unmanned VR experience compared with visitor reactions at guided tours with personal instructions are evaluated. Data on perception of realism, spatial quality and light in the VR model were collected with qualitative...

Real norms, virtual cases: a rationalist, casuistic account of virtual rape

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Soraker, Johnny; Hinman, L.; Brey, Philip A.E.

2007-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to propose and consider a rationalist account of the effects of virtual experiences, such as engaging in simulated acts of violence in video games. This descriptive account will be based on sound principles for case-based reasoning, or what I will refer to as

Land reclamation on the Nevada Test Site: A field tour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winkel, V.K.; Ostler, W.K.

1993-01-01

An all-day tour to observe and land reclamation on the Nevada Test Site was conducted in conjunction with the 8th Wildland Shrub and Arid Land Restoration Symposium. Tour participants were introduced to the US Department of Energy reclamation programs for Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project and Treatability Studies for Soil Media (TSSM) Project. The tour consisted of several stops that covered a variety of topics and studies including revegetation by seeding, topsoil stockpile stabilization, erosion control, shrub transplanting, shrub herbivory, irrigation, mulching, water harvesting, and weather monitoring

The job that no one wants to do? Museum educators’ articulations about guided tours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cecilia Rodehn

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate museum educators’ articulations of their performance during guided tours. The paper investigates preparations for a guided tour, considerations related to doing guided tours and the events after the guided tour. The text focus especially on preparation and the aftermath as this is not normally discussed in research on museum education. The paper is based on participant observation of guided tours, filming of guided tours and qualitative semi-structured interviews. The material is analysed using performance theories and theories on materiality. The paper seeks to unearth knowledge imbued in the museum educators’ performance and reveal what can be known from guiding bodies.

Professional Papervision3D

CERN Document Server

Lively, Michael

2010-01-01

Professional Papervision3D describes how Papervision3D works and how real world applications are built, with a clear look at essential topics such as building websites and games, creating virtual tours, and Adobe's Flash 10. Readers learn important techniques through hands-on applications, and build on those skills as the book progresses. The companion website contains all code examples, video step-by-step explanations, and a collada repository.

Berlin: Sustainability and Tour Guides in a Partial Dark Tourism Destination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asaf Leshem

2013-10-01

Full Text Available When guiding in Berlin about the Holocaust or about the Cold War, tour guides often hear the phrase: “I didn’t come here for that, but I want to see that as well...” Many of Berlin’s 10 Million visitors per year claim to have an attraction towards both the morbid and the lighter side of the city. Following from that popular sentiment it is argued that Berlin can be defined as a Partial Dark Tourism Destination. As such, it is further argued that Berlin is prone to an increase of socio-economic and socio-cultural negative impacts. The premise of the research is that Berlin’s tour guides function as a link between the residents of the city and the visitors. The thesis, then, is that tour guides play a role and can contribute to development of social, cultural and economic urban tourism sustainability. An analysis of tourism impacts and tourists-residents relations is presented, in which the tour guide plays a role in influencing the visitor’s behaviour. I conclude that tour guides have greater influence on social, cultural and economic behaviour of the tourist than previously considered, and therefore a potential to enhance sustainable tourism development in Berlin. The significance of this research is in the way it points out to the roles Berlin tour guides play in facilitation of sustainable tourism development in the city. Furthermore, the research shows the ways in which tour guides contribute to increasing responsible tourist behaviour.

Using Digital Earth to create online scientific reality tourist guides to tourist attractions in Taiwan, China

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Yea-Chung

2010-11-01

In recent years national parks worldwide have introduced online virtual tourism, through which potential visitors can search for tourist information. Most virtual tourism websites are a simulation of an existing location, usually composed of panoramic images, a sequence of hyperlinked still or video images, and/or virtual models of the actual location. As opposed to actual tourism, a virtual tour is typically accessed on a personal computer or an interactive kiosk. Using modern Digital Earth techniques such as high resolution satellite images, precise GPS coordinates and powerful 3D WebGIS, however, it's possible to create more realistic scenic models to present natural terrain and man-made constructions in greater detail. This article explains how to create an online scientific reality tourist guide for the Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park at Jinguashi in northern Taiwan, China. This project uses high-resolution Formosat 2 satellite images and digital aerial images in conjunction with DTM to create a highly realistic simulation of terrain, with the addition of 3DMAX to add man-made constructions and vegetation. Using this 3D Geodatabase model in conjunction with INET 3D WebGIS software, we have found Digital Earth concept can greatly improve and expand the presentation of traditional online virtual tours on the websites.

STRATEGI PEMASARAN PAKET WISATA PADA PT. PANDAWA LIMA TOUR AND TRAVEL INDONESIA DI DENPASAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I Gede Adhi Suputra Arimbawa PG.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This research is about the marketing strategies implemented by PT. Pandawa Lima Tour and Travel tour packages. Company offers tour packages in Bali and beyond Bali tour packages with variety of facilities. As a common general company, PT. Pandawa Lima Tour and Travel has the objective to make profit and trying to satisfy consumers. This research aims to determine the marketing strategy package in PT. Pandawa Lima Tour and Travel tour package in Denpasar. The data collection method in research carried out by the method of observation, in-depth interviews, library research, and technique documentation. The data analysis technique used is descriptive qualitative combined with the SWOT approach. Discussion of the results of the marketing strategy adopted by the PT. Pandawa Lima Tour and Travel is SO strategy by increasing sales promotion to target markets, enhance cooperation with hotels and travel agents and maintain the diversity and innovation of product and service quality. ST strategies to further enhance cooperation with other travel agencies, and improve service quality. WO strategies to enhance the promotion through the mass media, and printing brochures, expanding market segments and improve the quality of human resources in education and training. While WT strategy by increasing promotional activities and improve human resources. Based on the results of the discussion, can give advice - advice on marketing strategies in PT. Pandawa Lima Tour and Travel tour packages that maintain good relations with the company's existing transport and suggest PT. Pandawa Lima Tour and Travel to their own transport, improving education and training for employees and appropriate compensation, as well as updating the architecture buildings and office equipment.

The nothingness as an ontological category on the video game: Analyzing Sad Satan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aarón RODRÍGUEZ SERRANO

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study tries to explore the idea of nothingness as an ontological category on the construction of virtual worlds. The research is framed in the metaphysical study of video games, trying to go over the narratological readings, and asking about the way in which the designing of virtual worlds is, at the same time, indebted to and divergent from our concrete experience of the real world. To achieve our goal, in the first place, we will try to make a brief comment about different applications of the Heideggerian ontology to the video game world, specifically using parameters such as time, space and interface. After that, we will explore the consequences of this context in the concrete analysis of Sad Satan, a video game that emerged from the Deep Web in an unknown date and was developed by an unknown company. This analysis will use the methodological tools in the building of virtual worlds –Character, Item and Object– developed by Siabra Fraile in his Wittgensteinian interpretation of the video game.

WE-C-TOUR-T-01: Microdosimeters for Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Das, I.

2016-01-01

Tour Leader: Indra Das, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Tour Guides: Hsui Ai, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN Paulina Galvis, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Olga Volotoskova, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY Participating Vendors: IBA PTW – New York RTI Electronics, Inc. Standard Imaging, Inc. Sun Nuclear Corporation Small fields are increasing used in specialized radiation treatments such as Gammaknife, Cyberknife, Tomotherapy, IMRT, VMAT, SRS and SBRT. Due to small field size electron transport creates lateral electronic disequilibrium and thus dosimetry could be very difficult. Microdetectors are used for small field dosimetry which will be discussed in preface of this tour as below: Understanding small field e.g. meaning and definition of small field IAEA definition and approach Characteristics of microdetectors in terms of perturbation, recombination, correction Suitability of microdetectors in small field dosimetry

Nuclear information for video presentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalton, J.

1979-01-01

In an effort to help calm the turbulence left in the wake of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear accident, the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers sponsored the production of a video tape on the inner workings of a nuclear power plant. A 30-minute segment was shown on public television and a longer version is being prepared for use on a commercial network. The tape is neither pro nor con in the multitude of issues surrounding the future of nuclear energy. It simply gives a layman's tour of a nuclear power plant and hopes to provide the public with objective information on how nuclear power is generated. The article discusses the background of the taping program project, and how it was put together

Association Rule Analysis for Tour Route Recommendation and Application to Wctsnop

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, H.; Chen, C.; Lin, J.; Liu, X.; Fang, D.

2017-09-01

The increasing E-tourism systems provide intelligent tour recommendation for tourists. In this sense, recommender system can make personalized suggestions and provide satisfied information associated with their tour cycle. Data mining is a proper tool that extracting potential information from large database for making strategic decisions. In the study, association rule analysis based on FP-growth algorithm is applied to find the association relationship among scenic spots in different cities as tour route recommendation. In order to figure out valuable rules, Kulczynski interestingness measure is adopted and imbalance ratio is computed. The proposed scheme was evaluated on Wangluzhe cultural tourism service network operation platform (WCTSNOP), where it could verify that it is able to quick recommend tour route and to rapidly enhance the recommendation quality.

Applications of Scalable Multipoint Video and Audio Using the Public Internet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert D. Gaglianello

2000-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a scalable multipoint video system, designed for efficient generation and display of high quality, multiple resolution, multiple compressed video streams over IP-based networks. We present our experiences using the system over the public Internet for several “real-world” applications, including distance learning, virtual theater, and virtual collaboration. The trials were a combined effort of Bell Laboratories and the Gertrude Stein Repertory Theatre (TGSRT. We also present current advances in the conferencing system since the trials, new areas for application and future applications.

Exposure of tour guides to Radon at the Cango caves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pule, O.J.; Lindsay, R.

2008-01-01

Full text: A study was commissioned by the National Nuclear Regulator of South Africa to investigate the radon levels in the Cango caves and the associated radiological exposure to tour guides. The Cango caves are about 1.3 km in length and are visited by about 300000 tourists per annum due to their natural beauty. This study followed an earlier investigation by the Department of Health which indicated levels in excess of 1000 Bqm -3 which could lead to excess exposure of the cave tour guides. Radon in the various cave chambers and radon exposure of tour guides was measured using RAD-7 continuous radon monitor, electrets ion chambers and personnel monitoring electrets respectively. The measurements in the cave were done during summer and winter seasons to determine any variations between the seasons. The occupancy time for individual guides and equilibrium factor were also investigated. The radon concentration in the cave range from 1000 Bqm -3 to more than 2000 Bqm -3 with equilibrium factor of approximately 0.4, and the variation between winter and summer measurements are insignificant. The radon exposure levels to tour guides differ due to various time periods they spent in the caves. The average dose to tour guides due to radon is 7 mSv -a and the highest exposure is about 10 mSv -a . The exposure to tourists is found to be insignificant due to time they spent in the cave. The regulatory authority is currently investigating what action is necessary to protect the tour guides. (author)

Temporally coherent 4D video segmentation for teleconferencing

Science.gov (United States)

Ehmann, Jana; Guleryuz, Onur G.

2013-09-01

We develop an algorithm for 4-D (RGB+Depth) video segmentation targeting immersive teleconferencing ap- plications on emerging mobile devices. Our algorithm extracts users from their environments and places them onto virtual backgrounds similar to green-screening. The virtual backgrounds increase immersion and interac- tivity, relieving the users of the system from distractions caused by disparate environments. Commodity depth sensors, while providing useful information for segmentation, result in noisy depth maps with a large number of missing depth values. By combining depth and RGB information, our work signi¯cantly improves the other- wise very coarse segmentation. Further imposing temporal coherence yields compositions where the foregrounds seamlessly blend with the virtual backgrounds with minimal °icker and other artifacts. We achieve said improve- ments by correcting the missing information in depth maps before fast RGB-based segmentation, which operates in conjunction with temporal coherence. Simulation results indicate the e±cacy of the proposed system in video conferencing scenarios.

Virtual Tower

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wayne, R.A.

1997-01-01

The primary responsibility of an intrusion detection system (IDS) operator is to monitor the system, assess alarms, and summon and coordinate the response team when a threat is acknowledged. The tools currently provided to the operator are somewhat limited: monitors must be switched, keystrokes must be entered to call up intrusion sensor data, and communication with the response force must be maintained. The Virtual tower is an operator interface assembled from low-cost commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and software; it enables large amounts of data to be displayed in a virtual manner that provides instant recognition for the operator and increases assessment accuracy in alarm annunciator and control systems. This is accomplished by correlating and fusing the data into a 360-degree visual representation that employs color, auxiliary attributes, video, and directional audio to prompt the operator. The Virtual Tower would be a valuable low-cost enhancement to existing systems

Being bad in a video game can make us more morally sensitive.

Science.gov (United States)

Grizzard, Matthew; Tamborini, Ron; Lewis, Robert J; Wang, Lu; Prabhu, Sujay

2014-08-01

Several researchers have demonstrated that the virtual behaviors committed in a video game can elicit feelings of guilt. Researchers have proposed that such guilt could have prosocial consequences. However, this proposition has not been supported with empirical evidence. The current study examined this issue in a 2×2 (video game play vs. real world recollection×guilt vs. control) experiment. Participants were first randomly assigned to either play a video game or complete a memory recall task. Next, participants were randomly assigned to either a guilt-inducing condition (game play as a terrorist/recall of acts that induce guilt) or a control condition (game play as a UN soldier/recall of acts that do not induce guilt). Results of the study indicate several important findings. First, the current results replicate previous research indicating that immoral virtual behaviors are capable of eliciting guilt. Second, and more importantly, the guilt elicited by game play led to intuition-specific increases in the salience of violated moral foundations. These findings indicate that committing "immoral" virtual behaviors in a video game can lead to increased moral sensitivity of the player. The potential prosocial benefits of these findings are discussed.

THE SURVEY OF ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS OF MANAGEMENT TOWARD TRAVEL TOUR PRICES

OpenAIRE

Lubomir Karas; Martina Ferencova

2010-01-01

When choosing travel tours several factors play an important role such as a destination, purpose of travel tour, the agency's reputation, mode of transportation, accommodation, food, but price and any discounts. This article discusses the survey of attitudes of students of Faculty of Management University of Presov in Presov toward travel tour prices. Príspevok vznikol ako sucast riesenia grantoveho projektu VEGA C. 1/0876/10.

Mass media tours Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

1998-07-01

In May 1998, representatives of Japan's mass media toured Bangladesh to learn about the country's reproductive health and population programs. The goal of the visit was for the journalists to spread information about the projects to their peers, to government officials, and parliamentarians responsible for allocations of foreign aid. The 1st stage of the visit involved meetings with program officials and organizers. In the 2nd stage, the journalists toured: 1) Matlab, where the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research has been implementing an intensive family planning (FP) program; 2) the Panchdona IP area, where the Integrated Family Development Project is being conducted with funding from the Japanese government; 3) an FP office and satellite clinic; and 4) a site where voluntary organizations are providing FP/maternal-child health care. The journalists also learned about how micro-credit loans operate. Participating journalists reported that they were very impressed with the people of Bangladesh, and that they had gained a new understanding of the relationship between reproductive health and human rights.

The Formative Elements of the Sense of Presence and Its Impact on the Identity of the Users of Video Games

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behroz Minaei

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Nowadays video games have provided an enriched environment for their users to make a sense of presence in interactive media. A sense of presence in the virtual space of video games leads to some sort of twin-concept or even further the unity of the user with the character within the game. This unification brings virtual identity for the user. As time goes by, through the presence in the virtual space of video games, real identity is complicated with virtual identity and it has to be influenced by the virtual elements. The way of making a sense of presence for the users of video games in which leads them to a virtual identity in the new-born medium, and the consequence of the sense of presence above in the real identity of users is the problem this paper is going to seek. Hence, the paper, according to the views of interactive media theorist and data collection of using library research method through descriptive–analytical explanation, suggests the assumption that cinematic aesthetic form, interactive narratives, and the use of the unique capabilities of the media in which video games take the advantages of them and suggest them as well, provides an enriched environment that brings a sense of presence for the user and will alter his real identity.

ASSOCIATION RULE ANALYSIS FOR TOUR ROUTE RECOMMENDATION AND APPLICATION TO WCTSNOP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Fang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The increasing E-tourism systems provide intelligent tour recommendation for tourists. In this sense, recommender system can make personalized suggestions and provide satisfied information associated with their tour cycle. Data mining is a proper tool that extracting potential information from large database for making strategic decisions. In the study, association rule analysis based on FP-growth algorithm is applied to find the association relationship among scenic spots in different cities as tour route recommendation. In order to figure out valuable rules, Kulczynski interestingness measure is adopted and imbalance ratio is computed. The proposed scheme was evaluated on Wangluzhe cultural tourism service network operation platform (WCTSNOP, where it could verify that it is able to quick recommend tour route and to rapidly enhance the recommendation quality.

The use of video capture virtual reality in burn rehabilitation: the possibilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Haik, Josef; Tessone, Ariel; Nota, Ayala; Mendes, David; Raz, Liat; Goldan, Oren; Regev, Elli; Winkler, Eyal; Mor, Elisheva; Orenstein, Arie; Hollombe, Ilana

2006-01-01

We independently explored the use of the Sony PlayStation II EyeToy (Sony Corporation, Foster City, CA) as a tool for use in the rehabilitation of patients with severe burns. Intensive occupational and physical therapy is crucial in minimizing and preventing long-term disability for the burn patient; however, the therapist faces a difficult challenge combating the agonizing pain experienced by the patient during therapy. The Sony PlayStation II EyeToy is a projected, video-capture system that, although initially developed as a gaming environment for children, may be a useful application in a rehabilitative context. As compared with other virtual reality systems the EyeToy is an efficient rehabilitation tool that is sold commercially at a relatively low cost. This report presents the potential advantages for use of the EyeToy as an innovative rehabilitative tool with mitigating effects on pain in burn rehabilitation. This new technology represents a challenging and motivating way for the patient to immerse himself or herself in an alternate reality while undergoing treatment, thereby reducing the pain and discomfort he or she experiences. This simple, affordable technique may prove to heighten the level of patient cooperation and therefore speed the process of rehabilitation and return of functional ability.

THE EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL OF VIDEO GAMES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruxandra Claudia CHIRCA (NEACȘU

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In nowadays' world, technological assistance is no longer confined to its primary purpose of communication or informational support and the boundaries between real and virtual world are becoming increasingly harder to be defined. This is the world of digital natives, today's children, who grow up in a technology-brimming environment and who spend most of their time playing video games. Are these video games constructive in any way? Scientific studies state they are. Video games help children in setting their goals, provide constant feedback and offer immediate rewards, along with the opportunity to collaborate with other players. Furthermore, video games can generate strong emotional reactions, such as joy or fear, and they have a captivating story line, which reveals itself within a realm of elaborate graphics.

A new possibility in thoracoscopic virtual reality simulation training: development and testing of a novel virtual reality simulator for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Katrine; Bjerrum, Flemming; Hansen, Henrik Jessen; Petersen, René Horsleben; Pedersen, Jesper Holst; Konge, Lars

2015-10-01

The aims of this study were to develop virtual reality simulation software for video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy, to explore the opinions of thoracic surgeons concerning the VATS lobectomy simulator and to test the validity of the simulator metrics. Experienced VATS surgeons worked with computer specialists to develop a VATS lobectomy software for a virtual reality simulator. Thoracic surgeons with different degrees of experience in VATS were enrolled at the 22nd meeting of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) held in Copenhagen in June 2014. The surgeons were divided according to the number of performed VATS lobectomies: novices (0 VATS lobectomies), intermediates (1-49 VATS lobectomies) and experienced (>50 VATS lobectomies). The participants all performed a lobectomy of a right upper lobe on the simulator and answered a questionnaire regarding content validity. Metrics were compared between the three groups. We succeeded in developing the first version of a virtual reality VATS lobectomy simulator. A total of 103 thoracic surgeons completed the simulated lobectomy and were distributed as follows: novices n = 32, intermediates n = 45 and experienced n = 26. All groups rated the overall user realism of the VATS lobectomy scenario to a median of 5 on a scale 1-7, with 7 being the best score. The experienced surgeons found the graphics and movements realistic and rated the scenario high in terms of usefulness as a training tool for novice and intermediate experienced thoracic surgeons, but not very useful as a training tool for experienced surgeons. The metric scores were not statistically significant between groups. This is the first study to describe a commercially available virtual reality simulator for a VATS lobectomy. More than 100 thoracic surgeons found the simulator realistic, and hence it showed good content validity. However, none of the built-in simulator metrics could significantly distinguish between novice, intermediate

Watching video games. Playing with Archaeology and Prehistory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel García Raso

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Video games have become a mass culture phenomenon typical of the West Post-Industrial Society as well as an avant-garde narrative medium. The main focus of this paper is to explore and analyze the public image of Archaeology and Prehistory spread by video games and how we can achieve a virtual faithful image of both. Likewise, we are going to proceed to construct an archaeological outline of video games, understanding them as an element of the Contemporary Material Culture and, therefore, subject to being studied by Archaeology.

200 Irish students at CERN - virtually!

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

On 6 October, 200 physics students from schools around Ireland paid a virtual visit to CERN and met several CERN scientists, with the help of the latest video conferencing technology using high-speed internet lines.

1964 Great Alaska Earthquake: a photographic tour of Anchorage, Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Thoms, Evan E.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Anderson, Rebecca D.; McGimsey, Robert G.

2014-01-01

, and small-scale maps, as well as links to slideshows of additional photographs and Google Street View™ scenes. Buildings in Anchorage that were severely damaged, sites of major landslides, and locations of post-earthquake engineering responses are highlighted. The web map can be used online as a virtual tour or in a physical self-guided tour using a web-enabled Global Positioning System (GPS) device. This publication serves the purpose of committing most of the content of the web map to a single distributable document. As such, some of the content differs from the online version.

Augmented Virtuality: A Real-time Process for Presenting Real-world Visual Sensory Information in an Immersive Virtual Environment for Planetary Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

McFadden, D.; Tavakkoli, A.; Regenbrecht, J.; Wilson, B.

2017-12-01

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications have recently seen an impressive growth, thanks to the advent of commercial Head Mounted Displays (HMDs). This new visualization era has opened the possibility of presenting researchers from multiple disciplines with data visualization techniques not possible via traditional 2D screens. In a purely VR environment researchers are presented with the visual data in a virtual environment, whereas in a purely AR application, a piece of virtual object is projected into the real world with which researchers could interact. There are several limitations to the purely VR or AR application when taken within the context of remote planetary exploration. For example, in a purely VR environment, contents of the planet surface (e.g. rocks, terrain, or other features) should be created off-line from a multitude of images using image processing techniques to generate 3D mesh data that will populate the virtual surface of the planet. This process usually takes a tremendous amount of computational resources and cannot be delivered in real-time. As an alternative, video frames may be superimposed on the virtual environment to save processing time. However, such rendered video frames will lack 3D visual information -i.e. depth information. In this paper, we present a technique to utilize a remotely situated robot's stereoscopic cameras to provide a live visual feed from the real world into the virtual environment in which planetary scientists are immersed. Moreover, the proposed technique will blend the virtual environment with the real world in such a way as to preserve both the depth and visual information from the real world while allowing for the sensation of immersion when the entire sequence is viewed via an HMD such as Oculus Rift. The figure shows the virtual environment with an overlay of the real-world stereoscopic video being presented in real-time into the virtual environment. Notice the preservation of the object

iPod tours: a new approach to induction

OpenAIRE

Mawson, M.

2007-01-01

This article is based on a presentation given at a conference organized by cpd 25 in April 2007; “The Library in the Interactive Environment: Practical use of technology to improve the student experience”. It describes the development and creation of an iPod induction tour for the Main Library at Sheffield University, with input from students. It also discusses the use and evaluation of the tour, and concludes by describing how the Library is using the experience to consider other technologie...

TSP tour domination and Hamilton cycle decompositions of regular digraphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gutin, Gregory; Yeo, Anders

2001-01-01

by the relative performance compared to the optimal value. In particular, we show that for the asymmetric traveling salesman problem, there is a deterministic polynomial time algorithm that finds a tour that is at least as good as the median of all tour values. Our algorithm uses an unpublished theorem...

WE-AB-BRA-12: Virtual Endoscope Tracking for Endoscopy-CT Image Registration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ingram, W; Rao, A; Wendt, R; Court, L; Yang, J; Beadle, B

2015-01-01

Purpose: The use of endoscopy in radiotherapy will remain limited until we can register endoscopic video to CT using standard clinical equipment. In this phantom study we tested a registration method using virtual endoscopy to measure CT-space positions from endoscopic video. Methods: Our phantom is a contorted clay cylinder with 2-mm-diameter markers in the luminal surface. These markers are visible on both CT and endoscopic video. Virtual endoscope images were rendered from a polygonal mesh created by segmenting the phantom’s luminal surface on CT. We tested registration accuracy by tracking the endoscope’s 6-degree-of-freedom coordinates frame-to-frame in a video recorded as it moved through the phantom, and using these coordinates to measure CT-space positions of markers visible in the final frame. To track the endoscope we used the Nelder-Mead method to search for coordinates that render the virtual frame most similar to the next recorded frame. We measured the endoscope’s initial-frame coordinates using a set of visible markers, and for image similarity we used a combination of mutual information and gradient alignment. CT-space marker positions were measured by projecting their final-frame pixel addresses through the virtual endoscope to intersect with the mesh. Registration error was quantified as the distance between this intersection and the marker’s manually-selected CT-space position. Results: Tracking succeeded for 6 of 8 videos, for which the mean registration error was 4.8±3.5mm (24 measurements total). The mean error in the axial direction (3.1±3.3mm) was larger than in the sagittal or coronal directions (2.0±2.3mm, 1.7±1.6mm). In the other 2 videos, the virtual endoscope got stuck in a false minimum. Conclusion: Our method can successfully track the position and orientation of an endoscope, and it provides accurate spatial mapping from endoscopic video to CT. This method will serve as a foundation for an endoscopy-CT registration

WE-AB-BRA-12: Virtual Endoscope Tracking for Endoscopy-CT Image Registration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ingram, W; Rao, A; Wendt, R; Court, L [The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX (United States); Yang, J; Beadle, B [The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: The use of endoscopy in radiotherapy will remain limited until we can register endoscopic video to CT using standard clinical equipment. In this phantom study we tested a registration method using virtual endoscopy to measure CT-space positions from endoscopic video. Methods: Our phantom is a contorted clay cylinder with 2-mm-diameter markers in the luminal surface. These markers are visible on both CT and endoscopic video. Virtual endoscope images were rendered from a polygonal mesh created by segmenting the phantom’s luminal surface on CT. We tested registration accuracy by tracking the endoscope’s 6-degree-of-freedom coordinates frame-to-frame in a video recorded as it moved through the phantom, and using these coordinates to measure CT-space positions of markers visible in the final frame. To track the endoscope we used the Nelder-Mead method to search for coordinates that render the virtual frame most similar to the next recorded frame. We measured the endoscope’s initial-frame coordinates using a set of visible markers, and for image similarity we used a combination of mutual information and gradient alignment. CT-space marker positions were measured by projecting their final-frame pixel addresses through the virtual endoscope to intersect with the mesh. Registration error was quantified as the distance between this intersection and the marker’s manually-selected CT-space position. Results: Tracking succeeded for 6 of 8 videos, for which the mean registration error was 4.8±3.5mm (24 measurements total). The mean error in the axial direction (3.1±3.3mm) was larger than in the sagittal or coronal directions (2.0±2.3mm, 1.7±1.6mm). In the other 2 videos, the virtual endoscope got stuck in a false minimum. Conclusion: Our method can successfully track the position and orientation of an endoscope, and it provides accurate spatial mapping from endoscopic video to CT. This method will serve as a foundation for an endoscopy-CT registration

The Development of a Virtual Company to Support the Reengineering of the NASA/Goddard Hubble Space Telescope Control Center System

Science.gov (United States)

Lehtonen, Ken

1999-01-01

This is a report to the Third Annual International Virtual Company Conference, on The Development of a Virtual Company to Support the Reengineering of the NASA/Goddard Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Control Center System. It begins with a HST Science "Commercial": Brief Tour of Our Universe showing various pictures taken from the Hubble Space Telescope. The presentation then reviews the project background and goals. Evolution of the Control Center System ("CCS Inc.") is then reviewed. Topics of Interest to "virtual companies" are reviewed: (1) "How To Choose A Team" (2) "Organizational Model" (3) "The Human Component" (4) "'Virtual Trust' Among Teaming Companies" (5) "Unique Challenges to Working Horizontally" (6) "The Cultural Impact" (7) "Lessons Learned".

Mobile Video in Everyday Social Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Reponen, Erika; Lehikoinen, Jaakko; Impiö, Jussi

Video recording has become a spontaneous everyday activity for many people, thanks to the video capabilities of modern mobile phones. Internet connectivity of mobile phones enables fluent sharing of captured material even real-time, which makes video an up-and-coming everyday interaction medium. In this article we discuss the effect of the video camera in the social environment, everyday life situations, mainly based on a study where four groups of people used digital video cameras in their normal settings. We also reflect on another study of ours, relating to real-time mobile video communication and discuss future views. The aim of our research is to understand the possibilities in the domain of mobile video. Live and delayed sharing seem to have their special characteristics, live video being used as a virtual window between places whereas delayed video usage has more scope for good-quality content. While this novel way of interacting via mobile video enables new social patterns, it also raises new concerns for privacy and trust between participating persons in all roles, largely due to the widely spreading possibilities of videos. Video in a social situation affects cameramen (who record), targets (who are recorded), passers-by (who are unintentionally in the situation), and the audience (who follow the videos or recording situations) but also the other way around, the participants affect the video by their varying and evolving personal and communicational motivations for recording.

Enhancing the Entertainment Experience of Blind and Low-Vision Theatregoers through Touch Tours

Science.gov (United States)

Udo, J. P.; Fels, D. I.

2010-01-01

In this paper we demonstrate how universal design theory and the research available on museum-based touch tours can be used to develop a touch tour for blind and low-vision theatregoers. We discuss these theoretical and practical approaches with reference to data collected and experience gained from the creation and execution of a touch tour for…

SPECIAL FEATURES OF VIRTUAL PRACTICE INTERACTIVE MEDIA DISCIPLINES FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.P. Mazur

2010-08-01

Full Text Available The features of the development of interactive virtual practical training courses for distance learning are examined in the article. The authors propose their own methods of development tools such disciplines as virtual simulation or video-on labs.

Packet-aware transport for video distribution [Invited

Science.gov (United States)

Aguirre-Torres, Luis; Rosenfeld, Gady; Bruckman, Leon; O'Connor, Mannix

2006-05-01

We describe a solution based on resilient packet rings (RPR) for the distribution of broadcast video and video-on-demand (VoD) content over a packet-aware transport network. The proposed solution is based on our experience in the design and deployment of nationwide Triple Play networks and relies on technologies such as RPR, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), and virtual private LAN service (VPLS) to provide the most efficient solution in terms of utilization, scalability, and availability.

A whistle-stop tour of statistics

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Everitt, Brian

2012-01-01

"Preface according to my Penguin English dictionary, whistle-stop, used before a noun means 'consisting of brief stops in several places' and this whistle-stop tour of statistics does just that, with...

Usual and virtual reality video game-based physiotherapy for children and youth with acquired brain injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Levac, Danielle; Miller, Patricia; Missiuna, Cheryl

2012-05-01

Little is known about how therapists promote learning of functional motor skills for children with acquired brain injuries. This study explores physiotherapists' description of these interventions in comparison to virtual reality (VR) video game-based therapy. Six physiotherapists employed at a children's rehabilitation center participated in semi-structured interviews, which were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Physiotherapists describe using interventions that motivate children to challenge performance quality and optimize real-life functioning. Intervention strategies are influenced by characteristics of the child, parent availability to practice skills outside therapy, and therapist experience. VR use motivates children to participate, but can influence therapist use of verbal strategies and complicate interventions. Physiotherapists consider unique characteristics of this population when providing interventions that promote learning of motor skills. The VR technology has advantageous features but its use with this population can be challenging; further research is recommended.

Virtual Learning Environment for Interactive Engagement with Advanced Quantum Mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Mads Kock; Skyum, Birk; Heck, Robert; Müller, Romain; Bason, Mark; Lieberoth, Andreas; Sherson, Jacob F.

2016-01-01

A virtual learning environment can engage university students in the learning process in ways that the traditional lectures and lab formats cannot. We present our virtual learning environment "StudentResearcher," which incorporates simulations, multiple-choice quizzes, video lectures, and gamification into a learning path for quantum…

A Website: a Way to Promote the Products and the Services of Salim International Tours and Travel

OpenAIRE

Merari, Clarrisa; Ibrahim, Jusuf I

2015-01-01

Salim Tours and Travels offers various services such as reserving flight tickets (domestic and International), reserving hotel rooms, assisting clients to apply for passports or visas and providing International or domestic tours. Salim Tours and Travels is located on Panglima Sudirman 72-1, Surabaya, which is at the center of Surabaya. Salim Tours and Travel Agency was established on 2nd February, 2002 in Surabaya. Because of Tour and Travel have a good prospect in the future, Salim Tours ne...

Swamp tours in Louisiana post Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita

Science.gov (United States)

Dawn J. Schaffer; Craig A. Miller

2007-01-01

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall in southern Louisiana during August and September 2005. Prior to these storms, swamp tours were a growing sector of nature-based tourism that entertained visitors while teaching about local flora, fauna, and culture. This study determined post-hurricane operating status of tours, damage sustained, and repairs made. Differences...

An Interactive Virtual Reality System for On-Orbit Servicing

OpenAIRE

Sagardia, Mikel; Hertkorn, Katharina; Hulin, Thomas; Wolff, Robin; Hummel, Johannes; Dodiya, Janki; Gerndt, Andreas

2013-01-01

The growth of space debris is becoming a serious problem. There is an urgent need for mitigation measures based on maintenance, repair and de-orbiting technologies. Our video presents a virtual reality framework in which robotic maintenance tasks of satellites can be simulated interactively. The two key components of this framework are a realistic virtual reality simulation and an immersive interaction device. The peculiarity of the virtual reality simulation is the combi...

Virtual digital library

Science.gov (United States)

Thoma, George R.

1996-03-01

The virtual digital library, a concept that is quickly becoming a reality, offers rapid and geography-independent access to stores of text, images, graphics, motion video and other datatypes. Furthermore, a user may move from one information source to another through hypertext linkages. The projects described here further the notion of such an information paradigm from an end user viewpoint.

Augmenting real-time video with virtual models for enhanced visualization for simulation, teaching, training and guidance

Science.gov (United States)

Potter, Michael; Bensch, Alexander; Dawson-Elli, Alexander; Linte, Cristian A.

2015-03-01

In minimally invasive surgical interventions direct visualization of the target area is often not available. Instead, clinicians rely on images from various sources, along with surgical navigation systems for guidance. These spatial localization and tracking systems function much like the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) that we are all well familiar with. In this work we demonstrate how the video feed from a typical camera, which could mimic a laparoscopic or endoscopic camera used during an interventional procedure, can be used to identify the pose of the camera with respect to the viewed scene and augment the video feed with computer-generated information, such as rendering of internal anatomy not visible beyond the imaged surface, resulting in a simple augmented reality environment. This paper describes the software and hardware environment and methodology for augmenting the real world with virtual models extracted from medical images to provide enhanced visualization beyond the surface view achieved using traditional imaging. Following intrinsic and extrinsic camera calibration, the technique was implemented and demonstrated using a LEGO structure phantom, as well as a 3D-printed patient-specific left atrial phantom. We assessed the quality of the overlay according to fiducial localization, fiducial registration, and target registration errors, as well as the overlay offset error. Using the software extensions we developed in conjunction with common webcams it is possible to achieve tracking accuracy comparable to that seen with significantly more expensive hardware, leading to target registration errors on the order of 2 mm.

Visualization and labeling of point clouds in virtual reality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stets, Jonathan Dyssel; Sun, Yongbin; Greenwald, Scott W.

2017-01-01

We present a Virtual Reality (VR) application for labeling and handling point cloud data sets. A series of room-scale point clouds are recorded as a video sequence using a Microsoft Kinect. The data can be played and paused, and frames can be skipped just like in a video player. The user can walk...

JAMSTEC E-library of Deep-sea Images (J-EDI) Realizes a Virtual Journey to the Earth's Unexplored Deep Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, T.; Azuma, S.; Matsuda, S.; Nagayama, A.; Ogido, M.; Saito, H.; Hanafusa, Y.

2016-12-01

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) archives a large amount of deep-sea research videos and photos obtained by JAMSTEC's research submersibles and vehicles with cameras. The web site "JAMSTEC E-library of Deep-sea Images : J-EDI" (http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/jedi/e/) has made videos and photos available to the public via the Internet since 2011. Users can search for target videos and photos by keywords, easy-to-understand icons, and dive information at J-EDI because operating staffs classify videos and photos as to contents, e.g. living organism and geological environment, and add comments to them.Dive survey data including videos and photos are not only valiant academically but also helpful for education and outreach activities. With the aim of the improvement of visibility for broader communities, we added new functions of 3-dimensional display synchronized various dive survey data with videos in this year.New Functions Users can search for dive survey data by 3D maps with plotted dive points using the WebGL virtual map engine "Cesium". By selecting a dive point, users can watch deep-sea videos and photos and associated environmental data, e.g. water temperature, salinity, rock and biological sample photos, obtained by the dive survey. Users can browse a dive track visualized in 3D virtual spaces using the WebGL JavaScript library. By synchronizing this virtual dive track with videos, users can watch deep-sea videos recorded at a point on a dive track. Users can play an animation which a submersible-shaped polygon automatically traces a 3D virtual dive track and displays of dive survey data are synchronized with tracing a dive track. Users can directly refer to additional information of other JAMSTEC data sites such as marine biodiversity database, marine biological sample database, rock sample database, and cruise and dive information database, on each page which a 3D virtual dive track is displayed. A 3D visualization of a dive

2.5D/3D Models for the enhancement of architectural-urban heritage. An Virtual Tour of design of the Fascist headquarters in Littoria

Science.gov (United States)

Ippoliti, E.; Calvano, M.; Mores, L.

2014-05-01

Enhancement of cultural heritage is not simply a matter of preserving material objects but comes full circle only when the heritage can be enjoyed and used by the community. This is the rationale behind this presentation: an urban Virtual Tour to explore the 1937 design of the Fascist Headquarters in Littoria, now part of Latina, by the architect Oriolo Frezzotti. Although the application is deliberately "simple", it was part of a much broader framework of goals. One such goal was to create "friendly and perceptively meaningful" interfaces by integrating different "3D models" and so enriching. In fact, by exploiting the activation of natural mechanisms of visual perception and the ensuing emotional emphasis associated with vision, the illusionistic simulation of the scene facilitates access to the data even for "amateur" users. A second goal was to "contextualise the information" on which the concept of cultural heritage is based. In the application, communication of the heritage is linked to its physical and linguistic context; the latter is then used as a basis from which to set out to explore and understand the historical evidence. A third goal was to foster the widespread dissemination and sharing of this heritage of knowledge. On the one hand we worked to make the application usable from the Web, on the other, we established a reliable, rapid operational procedure with high quality processed data and ensuing contents. The procedure was also repeatable on a large scale.

Performansi Video on Demand (VOD) Pada Virtual Private Network (VPN) Menggunakan OpenVPN

OpenAIRE

Priyambudi, Henry Okta

2013-01-01

Multimedia streaming menggunakanmedia video, sebagai cara penyampaian informasi yanglebih baik dibandingkan dengan teks atau suara. Salahsatu jenis multimedia streaming adalah Video OnDemand (VOD). Pada sistem video on demand, file videotelah disimpan terlebih dahulu di dalam server. Clientmerequest file video yang diinginkan dan prosesstreaming dapat dilakukan.. Salah satu kelemahan darivideo on demand adalah tidak ada sistem authentifikasipada client. Setiap client dapat melakukan streaming...

Extending Science lessons with Virtual Reality

OpenAIRE

Minocha, Shailey; Tudor, Ana-Despina; Tilling, Steve; Needham, Richard

2016-01-01

The Open University, Field Studies Council and Association for Science Education are conducting research into the use of Google Expeditions and other virtual reality tools to a) augment and extend field work experiences; and b) as an additional tool in the classrooms along with resources such as videos, photographs. \\ud \\ud The following aspects were discussed in this workshop:\\ud \\ud Does the virtual reality technology improve student engagement, and what are the implications for teachers?\\u...

STRATEGI PEMASARAN PAKET WISATA MELALUI MEDIA ONLINE DI TRULY ASIA TOUR AND TRAVEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ade Prawita Sari

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to find out the marketing strategy of tour package at Truly Asia tour and travel through online system. SWOT analysis is the method for this research and implemented into SWOT matrix table to find out the right strategy for the tour package at Truly Asia tour and travel through online system. Now days Marketing strategy through online system very popular and the conclusion of this research is Truly Asia as a company need to improve their variant of tour package in order to make tourist more interest to visit the company website. Besides that, increase the cheap price must be accompanied by quality of products to suit with the target, providing accurate information on the website is rather tourist confidence crisis, as well as using the internet connection system that has good quality, in order to minimize system error.

Integrative, Interdisciplinary Learning in Bermuda Through Video Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, R. J.; Connaughton, M.

2017-12-01

Understanding an ecosystem and how humans impact it requires a multidisciplinary perspective and immersive, experiential learning is an exceptional way to achieve understanding. In summer 2017 we took 18 students to the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) as part of a Washington College two-week, four-credit summer field course. We took a multi-disciplinary approach in choosing the curriculum. We focused on the ecology of the islands and surrounding coral reefs as well as the environmental impacts humans are having on the islands. Additionally, we included geology and both local and natural history. Our teaching was supplemented by the BIOS staff and local tour guides. The student learning was integrated and reinforced through student-led video projects. Groups of three students were tasked with creating a 5-7 minute video appropriate for a public audience. We selected video topics based upon locations we would visit in the first week and topics were randomly assigned. The project intention was for the students to critically analyze and evaluate an area of Bermuda that is a worthwhile tourist destination. Students presented why a tourist should visit a locale, the area's ecological distinctiveness and complexity, the impact humans are having, and ways tourists can foster stewardship of that locale. These projects required students to learn how to make and edit videos, collaborate with peers, communicate a narrative to the public, integrate multi-disciplinary topics for a clear, whole-system perspective, observe the environment from a critical viewpoint, and interview local experts. The students produced the videos within the two-week period, and we viewed the videos as a group on the last day. The students worked hard, were proud of their final products, and produced excellent videos. They enjoyed the process, which provided them opportunities to collaborate, show individual strengths, be creative, and work independently of the instructors.

Tour leaders with detailed knowledge of travel-related diseases play a key role in disease prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Shu-Hua; Huang, Hsien-Liang; Lu, Chia-Wen; Cheng, Shao-Yi; Lee, Long-Teng; Chiu, Tai-Yuan; Huang, Kuo-Chin

2018-02-01

In Taiwan, group tours are a popular mode of international travel; hence, group tour leaders must ensure traveler safety and health. This study identified factors influencing tour leaders' willingness to recommend pretravel medical consultation and vaccination.A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered to tour leaders from January 2011 to December 2012. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the odds ratios of having a positive attitude and willingness based on different knowledge scores of the tour leaders after adjustments for age, sex, education level, and seniority.Tour leaders with a more detailed knowledge of both travel-related infectious and noninfectious diseases demonstrated a higher willingness to receive vaccination. They believed that consultation at travel clinics before travel can improve travelers' health (P educating tour leaders' knowledge about travel-related diseases to improve health care for travelers.

Internet and video technology in psychotherapy supervision and training.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Abraham W

2011-06-01

The seven articles in this special section on the use of Internet and video technology represent the latest growth on one branch of the increasingly prolific and differentiated work in the technology of psychotherapy. In addition to the work presented here on video and the Internet applications to supervision and training, information technology is changing the field of psychotherapy through computer assisted therapies and virtual reality interventions.

Virtual LEGOs: Incorporating Minecraft into the Art Education Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Overby, Alexandra; Jones, Brian L.

2015-01-01

What could video games bring to a K-12 visual arts curriculum? Overby and Jones were skeptical about incorporating gaming and virtual worlds into the classroom, but watching their own children engaging in the video game Minecraft changed their perception. As they started researching the game and how these kids were operating within the space, they…

Online Video Game Addiction: Exploring a New Phenomenon

OpenAIRE

Rooij, Antonius

2011-01-01

textabstractOver a period of thirty years, video games have evolved from Pac Man to photorealistic, massively populated, three-dimensional environments. Adolescents become involved with online virtual communities (tribes, guilds, groups) and play games on a daily basis with people they have never seen in ‘real’ life. Large online games provide a virtual environment in which they have fun and can freely experiment with different identities, speak other languages, and form new social connection...

Discontinuity minimization for omnidirectional video projections

Science.gov (United States)

Alshina, Elena; Zakharchenko, Vladyslav

2017-09-01

Advances in display technologies both for head mounted devices and television panels demand resolution increase beyond 4K for source signal in virtual reality video streaming applications. This poses a problem of content delivery trough a bandwidth limited distribution networks. Considering a fact that source signal covers entire surrounding space investigation reviled that compression efficiency may fluctuate 40% in average depending on origin selection at the conversion stage from 3D space to 2D projection. Based on these knowledge the origin selection algorithm for video compression applications has been proposed. Using discontinuity entropy minimization function projection origin rotation may be defined to provide optimal compression results. Outcome of this research may be applied across various video compression solutions for omnidirectional content.

The Tour du Canton defeats the rainy weather

CERN Multimedia

Katarina Anthony

2011-01-01

On 8 June, over 2200 runners set off from the Route Marie Curie, outside Restaurant No. 1, in the third leg of the 2011 Tour de Canton race. CERN's mixed team held onto the first place in the inter-enterprise competition.   Sigurd Lettow, CERN Director for Administration and General Infrastructure gives the start to runners at the Tour du Canton (8 June 2011). Hosted by the CERN Running Club in collaboration with the communes of Meyrin and Satigny, the race gave runners and their families the chance to pay a flying visit to CERN. “The Tour du Canton races give different areas the opportunity to show off their part of the Canton of Geneva,” says David Nisbet, a member of the Club and one of the organizers of the event. “It was a chance for us to bring unlikely visitors onto the CERN site for a day of competition and fun.” With the starting/finishing line located outside Restaurant No. 1, runners got a look at CERN’s new restaurant extensio...

Deferensifikasi Dan Diversifikasi Produk Dalam Pengembangan Produk Tour Bpw

OpenAIRE

Rachmadi, Hari

2008-01-01

The meaning of diversification and diferensification product is to make a product with kinds of variety subject and other subyek (tourism object). Fasility or service so it look all product have her own specialization the is sport, cultural, and adventure so it make more kinds of interesting product. The diversification and deferensification product is useful to increase service and sales tour package in travel agent, because that can make change at tour package more variety and more int...

Virtual Ultrasound Guidance for Inexperienced Operators

Science.gov (United States)

Caine, Timothy; Martin, David

2012-01-01

Medical ultrasound or echocardiographic studies are highly operator-dependent and generally require lengthy training and internship to perfect. To obtain quality echocardiographic images in remote environments, such as on-orbit, remote guidance of studies has been employed. This technique involves minimal training for the user, coupled with remote guidance from an expert. When real-time communication or expert guidance is not available, a more autonomous system of guiding an inexperienced operator through an ultrasound study is needed. One example would be missions beyond low Earth orbit in which the time delay inherent with communication will make remote guidance impractical. The Virtual Ultrasound Guidance system is a combination of hardware and software. The hardware portion includes, but is not limited to, video glasses that allow hands-free, full-screen viewing. The glasses also allow the operator a substantial field of view below the glasses to view and operate the ultrasound system. The software is a comprehensive video program designed to guide an inexperienced operator through a detailed ultrasound or echocardiographic study without extensive training or guidance from the ground. The program contains a detailed description using video and audio to demonstrate equipment controls, ergonomics of scanning, study protocol, and scanning guidance, including recovery from sub-optimal images. The components used in the initial validation of the system include an Apple iPod Classic third-generation as the video source, and Myvue video glasses. Initially, the program prompts the operator to power-up the ultrasound and position the patient. The operator would put on the video glasses and attach them to the video source. After turning on both devices and the ultrasound system, the audio-video guidance would then instruct on patient positioning and scanning techniques. A detailed scanning protocol follows with descriptions and reference video of each view along with

BECOMING A TOUR GUIDE: ANALYZING THE MOTIVATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monika PRAKASH

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Guides play a vital role in this process bringing satisfaction to tourists visiting a country or region/state. The opportunity of direct interaction with the tourists makes them all the more responsible for projecting the correct image of the country/region, giving factually correct information about the destination, ensuring the safety and well being of the tourists as well as pleasing and satisfying the stay for them during their visits. Over last few years there has been a greater interest in tour guide profession especially in the northern region of India.The purpose of this study is to identify the motivations that led to choosing tour guiding as a profession and career. There appears to be a significant difference in such motivation in different regions of the country. A comparison in motivations in two regions (north vs. east was made. Based on primary data collection paper attempts to discuss what has motivated the youth to take up tour guiding profession- whether such motivation is positive of negative. In either case policy makers may decide what type of support programs need to be introduced by the state and other agencies like educational, rearing and counselling, financial support, social security, or any other type of interventions.

Virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Laver, Kate E; George, Stacey; Thomas, Susie; Deutsch, Judith E; Crotty, Maria

2011-09-07

Virtual reality and interactive video gaming have emerged as new treatment approaches in stroke rehabilitation. In particular, commercial gaming consoles are being rapidly adopted in clinical settings; however, there is currently little information about their effectiveness. To evaluate the effects of virtual reality and interactive video gaming on upper limb, lower limb and global motor function after stroke. We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (March 2010), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 1), MEDLINE (1950 to March 2010), EMBASE (1980 to March 2010) and seven additional databases. We also searched trials registries, conference proceedings, reference lists and contacted key researchers in the area and virtual reality equipment manufacturers. Randomised and quasi-randomised trials of virtual reality ('an advanced form of human-computer interface that allows the user to 'interact' with and become 'immersed' in a computer-generated environment in a naturalistic fashion') in adults after stroke. The primary outcomes of interest were: upper limb function and activity, gait and balance function and activity and global motor function. Two review authors independently selected trials based on pre-defined inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed risk of bias. A third review author moderated disagreements when required. The authors contacted all investigators to obtain missing information. We included 19 trials which involved 565 participants. Study sample sizes were generally small and interventions and outcome measures varied, limiting the ability to which studies could be compared. Intervention approaches in the included studies were predominantly designed to improve motor function rather than cognitive function or activity performance. The majority of participants were relatively young and more than one year post stroke. results were statistically significant for arm function (standardised

Grocery Store (or Supermarket) Tours as an Effective Nutrition Education Medium: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolaus, Cassandra J; Muzaffar, Henna; Nickols-Richardson, Sharon M

2016-09-01

To evaluate evidence regarding grocery store tours as an effective nutrition education medium for improving nutrition knowledge and food-related behaviors. A systematic literature review of studies published from 1984 to 2015 concerning grocery store (or supermarket) tours and impact on nutrition knowledge and behaviors. Three investigators independently reviewed articles, extracted details, and assessed the quality of each study. Of 307 citations identified, 8 were reviewed and 6 were of neutral quality. Increases in nutrition knowledge were reported in 4 studies, as evaluated by investigator-designed quizzes, with short intervals between tours and assessments. Six programs assessed behavior change using subjective reports or objective purchasing behavior measures; 2 studies did not perform statistical analyses. The 6 studies that reported positive health-related outcomes had varying topics, tour lengths, and target audiences. Grocery store tours are increasingly used as an avenue for nutrition education to improve knowledge and/or alter food selection behaviors and may result in positive outcomes, but it is unknown whether these outcomes persist for longer than 3 months after the tour and whether there are common attributes of effective grocery store tours. More rigorous studies with uniform methodology in study design and outcome measures are needed to confirm the effectiveness of supermarket tours. Copyright © 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Creating Machinima (3D) and Real Life Videos in an ESP Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Ochoa Alpala, Carol Anne; Ortíz García, William Ricardo

2018-01-01

This research paper reports on the development of oral presentation skills in a 3D virtual world called "Moviestorm" machinima, in contrast with real-life videos. In this way, the implementation of both types of videos sought to promote the improvement of oral communication skills, specifically oral presentations in a foreign language,…

Fifty tours are being planned to mark CERN's 50th anniversary

CERN Multimedia

2004-01-01

On 16 October 2004, CERN will open its doors to the public. The Visits Service is already busy with preparations for this day of special events to mark the fiftieth anniversary and is recruiting volunteers. A date for your diaries! On 16 October 2004, CERN will be holding an Open Day to mark its golden jubilee. The public will be invited to discover 50 years of history through tours of 50 different sites. Over thirty sites for the tours have already been identified, including the experiment halls, the assembly halls for the LHC detectors and magnets as well as the computer centre and the fire station. With a programme offering tours, talks, a play on a scientific theme and a variety of workshops, there will be something for everybody. A number of evening tours will be organised specifically for the inhabitants of Cessy, St Genis, Meyrin and Ferney Voltaire, where the experiment halls for CMS, ALICE, ATLAS and LHCb are respectively located. An area will even be set aside with stimulating games to enterta...

A F o cus on Far Eastern Tourists – Tour Operator Selection Criteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayşe Çelik

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Tour operators are becoming more important in the long haul destination market. Identifying tour operator selection criteria is crucial to orientate marketing strategies. The aim of the study was to determine the tour operation selection criteria of a package holiday maker visiting Turkey from the Far East according to the nationality. Data was drawn up and analyzed from tourists who came from three of these countries namely: Japan, South Korea, and China between February and April 2013 in Cappadocia. Quantitative methodology employing One-way ANOVA analysis was used. Deduction was made by analysing the tour operator selection criteria data that nationality was not a meaningful differentiation for a tourist in their assessment of the “Service Quality’” and “Opportunity to interact with other people’” items referred to in the survey questionnaire. Other items from the resulting data gave meaningful differences in cross - cultural behaviour. Results from the study provide important cues for tour operator managers to consider developing different promotional strategy initiatives to engage and attract more Japanese, South Korean, and Chinese tourists to Turkey.

On Weighted Regions and Social Crowds : Autonomous-agent Navigation in Virtual Worlds

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaklin, N.S.

2016-01-01

Virtual environments have gained in importance in many aspects of the world we live in today. Immersive virtual worlds are ubiquitous in modern movies, video games, and online communities. They are also important in non-entertainment applications such as training and education software, simulations

Constructing a Travel Risks’ Evaluation Model for Tour Freelancers Based on the ANP Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chin-Tsai Lin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study constructs a new travel risks’ evaluation model for freelancers to evaluate and select tour groups by considering the interdependencies of the evaluation criteria used. First of all, the proposed model adopts the Nominal Group Technique (NGT to identify suitable evaluation criteria for evaluating travel risks. Six evaluation criteria and 18 subcriteria are obtained. The six evaluation criteria are financial risk, transportation risk, social risk, hygiene risk, sightseeing spot risk, and general risk for freelancer tour groups. Secondly, the model uses the analytic network process (ANP to determine the relative weight of the criteria. Finally, examples of group package tours (GPTs are used to demonstrate the travel risk evaluation process for this model. The results show that the Tokyo GPT is the best group tour. The proposed model helps freelancers to effectively evaluate travel risks and decision-making, making it highly applicable to academia and tour groups.

Illustrating Geology With Customized Video in Introductory Geoscience Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Magloughlin, J. F.

2008-12-01

For the past several years, I have been creating short videos for use in large-enrollment introductory physical geology classes. The motivation for this project included 1) lack of appropriate depth in existing videos, 2) engagement of non-science students, 3) student indifference to traditional textbooks, 4) a desire to share the visual splendor of geology through virtual field trips, and 5) a desire to meld photography, animation, narration, and videography in self-contained experiences. These (HD) videos are information-intensive but short, allowing a focus on relatively narrow topics from numerous subdisciplines, incorporation into lectures to help create variety while minimally interrupting flow and holding students' attention, and manageable file sizes. Nearly all involve one or more field locations, including sites throughout the western and central continental U.S., as well as Hawaii, Italy, New Zealand, and Scotland. The limited scope of the project and motivations mentioned preclude a comprehensive treatment of geology. Instead, videos address geologic processes, locations, features, and interactions with humans. The videos have been made available via DVD and on-line streaming. Such a project requires an array of video and audio equipment and software, a broad knowledge of geology, very good computing power, adequate time, creativity, a substantial travel budget, liability insurance, elucidation of the separation (or non-separation) between such a project and other responsibilities, and, preferably but not essentially, the support of one's supervisor or academic unit. Involving students in such projects entails risks, but involving necessary technical expertise is virtually unavoidable. In my own courses, some videos are used in class and/or made available on-line as simply another aspect of the educational experience. Student response has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly when expectations of students regarding the content of the videos is made

Sounds of silence: How to animate virtual worlds with sound

Science.gov (United States)

Astheimer, Peter

1993-01-01

Sounds are an integral and sometimes annoying part of our daily life. Virtual worlds which imitate natural environments gain a lot of authenticity from fast, high quality visualization combined with sound effects. Sounds help to increase the degree of immersion for human dwellers in imaginary worlds significantly. The virtual reality toolkit of IGD (Institute for Computer Graphics) features a broad range of standard visual and advanced real-time audio components which interpret an object-oriented definition of the scene. The virtual reality system 'Virtual Design' realized with the toolkit enables the designer of virtual worlds to create a true audiovisual environment. Several examples on video demonstrate the usage of the audio features in Virtual Design.

Learning Icelandic Language and Culture in Virtual Reykjavik: Starting to Talk

Science.gov (United States)

Bédi, Branislav; Arnbjörnsdóttir, Birna; Vilhjálmsson, Hannes Högni; Helgadóttir, Hafdís Erla; Ólafsson, Stefán; Björgvinsson, Elías

2016-01-01

This paper describes how beginners of Icelandic as a foreign and second language responded to playing the first scene in Virtual Reykjavik, a video game-like environment where learners interact with virtual characters--Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs). This game enables learners to practice speaking and listening skills, to learn about the…

Plant inspection tours with mobile data logging system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roesser, U.

2006-01-01

The MDE Mobile Data Logging System has been introduced in a number of German power plants for efficient logging, evaluation, and quality-assured documentation of data recorded on plant inspection tours by means of pocket PCs instead of slips of paper. It will be installed in other nuclear power plants in the near future. The MDE system is composed of the pocket PCs for logging data during plant inspection tours, the associated docking stations installed in the respective areas of application, one PC or, if necessary, several PCs with the appropriate user software, and the associated network links. To install the software in the power plant, lists of rooms and measurement stations as well as other positions on an inspection course are transmitted to the MDE system. When the system has been commissioned, inspection tours are planned in accordance with past experience and optimized in the computer. User experience is taken into account in program updates. New functions improve user comfort and ease of evaluation. Additions to the MDE software, and applications in other areas, are tentatively planned and will be implemented as the need arises. (orig.)

Storage, access, and retrieval of endoscopic and laparoscopic video

Science.gov (United States)

Bellaire, Gunter; Steines, Daniel; Graschew, Georgi; Thiel, Andreas; Bernarding, Johannes; Tolxdorff, Thomas; Schlag, Peter M.

1999-05-01

The system presented here enhances documentation and data- secured, second-opinion facilities by integrating video into DICOM3.0. Digital stereoscopic video sequences (DSVS) are especially in demand for surgery (laparoscopy, microsurgery, surgical microscopy, second opinion, virtual reality). Therefore DSVS are also integrated into the DICOM video concept. We present an implementation for a medical video server extended by a DICOM interface. Security mechanisms conforming with DICOM are integrated to enable secure internet access. Digital (stereoscopic) video sequences relevant for surgery should be examined regarding the clip length necessary for diagnosis and documentation and the clip size manageable with today's hardware. Methods for DSVS compression are described, implemented, and tested. Image sources relevant for this paper include, among others, a stereoscopic laparoscope and a monoscopic endoscope. Additionally, an approach is presented to analyze the motion of the endoscopic camera for future automatic video- cutting.

The effects of video games on laparoscopic simulator skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Jalink, Maarten B; Goris, Jetse; Heineman, Erik; Pierie, Jean-Pierre E N; ten Cate Hoedemaker, Henk O

2014-07-01

Recently, there has been a growth in studies supporting the hypothesis that video games have positive effects on basic laparoscopic skills. This review discusses all studies directly related to these effects. A search in the PubMed and EMBASE databases was performed using synonymous terms for video games and laparoscopy. All available articles concerning video games and their effects on skills on any laparoscopic simulator (box trainer, virtual reality, and animal models) were selected. Video game experience has been related to higher baseline laparoscopic skills in different studies. There is currently, however, no standardized method to assess video game experience, making it difficult to compare these studies. Several controlled experiments have, nevertheless, shown that video games cannot only be used to improve laparoscopic basic skills in surgical novices, but are also used as a temporary warming-up before laparoscopic surgery. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Los Alamos County Fire Department LAFD: TA-55 PF-4 Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT 55260

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rutherford, Victor Stephen [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-07-13

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will conduct familiarization tours for Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) personnel at the Plutonium Facility (PF-4) at Technical Area (TA)-55. These familiarization tours are official LANL business; the purpose of these tours is to orient the firefighters to the facility so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. This orientation includes the ingress and egress of the area and buildings, layout and organization of the facility, evacuation procedures and assembly points, and areas of concern within the various buildings at the facility. LAFD firefighters have the skills and abilities to perform firefighting operations and other emergency response tasks that cannot be provided by other LANL personnel who have the required clearance level. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The handout will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour. A corresponding checklist will also be used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to LAFD personnel.

Reviews Book: The Age of Wonder Equipment: Portoscope DVD: Around the World in 80 Images Book: Four Laws that Drive the Universe Book: Antimatter Equipment: Coffee Saver Starter Set Equipment: Graphite Levitation Kit Book: Critical Reading Video: Science Fiction-Science Fact Web Watch

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

WE RECOMMEND The Age of Wonder This book tells the stories of inspiring 19th-century scientists Antimatter A fast read that gives an intriguing tour of the antimatter world Science Fiction-Science Fact A video from a set of resources about the facts in science fiction WORTH A LOOK Portoscope Lightweight ×30 microscope that is easy on the purse Four Laws that Drive the Universe In just 124 pages Peter Atkins explains thermodynamics Coffee Saver Starter Kit A tool that can demonstrate the effect of reduced air pressure Graphite Levitation Kit Compact set that demonstrates diamagnetic behaviour Critical Reading A study guide on how to read scientific papers HANDLE WITH CARE Around the World in 80 Images Navigate through images from Envistat, country by country WEB WATCH This month's issue features real-time simulation program Krucible 2.0, which enables learners to run virtual experiments

Personalized Location-Based Recommendation Services for Tour Planning in Mobile Tourism Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Chien-Chih; Chang, Hsiao-Ping

Travel and tour planning is a process of searching, selecting, grouping and sequencing destination related products and services including attractions, accommodations, restaurants, and activities. Personalized recommendation services aim at suggesting products and services to meet users’ preferences and needs, while location-based services focus on providing information based on users’ current positions. Due to the fast growing of user needs in the mobile tourism domain, how to provide personalized location-based tour recommendation services becomes a critical research and practical issue. The objective of this paper is to propose a system architecture and design methods for facilitating the delivery of location-based recommendation services to support personalized tour planning. Based on tourists’ current location and time, as well as personal preferences and needs, various recommendations regarding sightseeing spots, hotels, restaurants, and packaged tour plans can be generated efficiently. An application prototype is also implemented to illustrate and test the system feasibility and effectiveness.

A PostgreSQL/PostGIS Implementation for the Sightseeing Tour Planning Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ardiansyah .

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This article discusses a procedure for finding the best multi stops route for sightseeing tour through a road network. The procedure involves building a database containing nodes and road network in PostgreSQL, calculating the shortest distance between a pair of nodes using pgDijkstra module, and solving the tour problem using a function written in PL/pgSQL. The function was developed based on the Nearest Insertion Algorithm for solving the Travelling Salesman Problem. The algorithm inserts a sightseeing attraction (node at the best position in the existing route, which is between a pair of nodes that yields the minimum difference between the total tour time before and after the new node was inserted. The test result shows that the function can solve the problem within acceptable runtime for web application for total destination nodes of 22. It is concluded that the whole procedure was suitable for developing Web GIS application that solve the sightseeing tour planning problem.

Online Video Game Addiction: Exploring a New Phenomenon

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.J. van Rooij (Antonius)

2011-01-01

textabstractOver a period of thirty years, video games have evolved from Pac Man to photorealistic, massively populated, three-dimensional environments. Adolescents become involved with online virtual communities (tribes, guilds, groups) and play games on a daily basis with people they have never

Correlation Between Arthroscopy Simulator and Video Game Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study of 30 Volunteers Comparing 2- and 3-Dimensional Video Games.

Science.gov (United States)

Jentzsch, Thorsten; Rahm, Stefan; Seifert, Burkhardt; Farei-Campagna, Jan; Werner, Clément M L; Bouaicha, Samy

2016-07-01

To investigate the association between arthroscopy simulator performance and video game skills. This study compared the performances of 30 volunteers without experience performing arthroscopies in 3 different tasks of a validated virtual reality knee arthroscopy simulator with the video game experience using a questionnaire and actual performances in 5 different 2- and 3-dimensional (D) video games of varying genres on 2 different platforms. Positive correlations between knee arthroscopy simulator and video game performances (ρ = 0.63, P video game skills, they show a correlation with 2-D tile-matching puzzle games only for easier tasks with a rather limited focus, and highly correlate with 3-D sports and first-person shooter video games. These findings show that experienced and good 3-D gamers are better arthroscopists than nonexperienced and poor 3-D gamers. Level II, observational cross-sectional study. Copyright © 2016 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Virtual rehabilitation: what are the practical barriers for home-based research?

OpenAIRE

Threapleton, Kate; Drummond, Avril E.R.; Standen, Penny

2016-01-01

Virtual reality technologies are becoming increasingly accessible and affordable to deliver, and consequently the interest in applying virtual reality within rehabilitation is growing. This has resulted in the emergence of research exploring the utility of virtual reality and interactive video gaming interventions for home use by patients. The aim of this paper is to highlight the practical factors and difficulties that may be encountered in research in this area, and to make recommendations ...

41 CFR 302-3.216 - When must I begin my first tour renewal travel from Alaska or Hawaii?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... first tour renewal travel from Alaska or Hawaii? 302-3.216 Section 302-3.216 Public Contracts and... must I begin my first tour renewal travel from Alaska or Hawaii? You must begin your first tour renewal travel within 5 years of your first consecutive tours in either Alaska or Hawaii. ...

Auditory cues increase the hippocampal response to unimodal virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Andreano, Joseph; Liang, Kevin; Kong, Lingjun; Hubbard, David; Wiederhold, Brenda K; Wiederhold, Mark D

2009-06-01

Previous research suggests that the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy should increase as the experience becomes more immersive. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the experience of immersion are not yet well understood. To address this question, neural activity during exposure to two virtual worlds was measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Two levels of immersion were used: unimodal (video only) and multimodal (video plus audio). The results indicated increased activity in both auditory and visual sensory cortices during multimodal presentation. Additionally, multimodal presentation elicited increased activity in the hippocampus, a region well known to be involved in learning and memory. The implications of this finding for exposure therapy are discussed.

Park World Tour Hiinas / Timo Sild

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Sild, Timo, 1988-

2012-01-01

Reisikiri Eesti sportlaste osalemisest septembris Hiinas korraldatud Park World Tour orienteerumisvõistlustel - Changchunis toimunud kahepäevasel Vasa orienteerumisfestivalil, Chongqingi lähistel toimunud Hiina meistrivõistlustel orienteerumissprindis ja Wanshengis toimunud lühiraja Hiina meistrivõistlustel ning Bekingi botaanikaaias toimunud keskkooli ja ülikooli meistrivõistlustel

A Video Game for Learning Brain Evolution: A Resource or a Strategy?

Science.gov (United States)

Barbosa Gomez, Luisa Fernanda; Bohorquez Sotelo, Maria Cristina; Roja Higuera, Naydu Shirley; Rodriguez Mendoza, Brigitte Julieth

2016-01-01

Learning resources are part of the educational process of students. However, how video games act as learning resources in a population that has not selected the virtual formation as their main methodology? The aim of this study was to identify the influence of a video game in the learning process of brain evolution. For this purpose, the opinions…

CERN tours: more popular than ever

CERN Multimedia

Anaïs Schaeffer

2016-01-01

According to TripAdvisor, CERN is Geneva’s top tourist attraction, welcoming almost 110,000 visitors per year.   The Visits Service received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for the quality of its tours. From left: Marc Tassera, Carole Ledoux, Vanya Guerre, Bernard Pellequer, Dominique Bertola, Yesika Romand, Chloé Pillonel, Alejandra Lorenzo Gomez. (Image: Jacques Herve Fichet/CERN) Since the start-up of the LHC in 2008 and the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, CERN’s visitor numbers have gone through the roof. On 15 July, we hit a record number of 755 visitors in one day (the average is around 400 per day). “This peak can partly be explained by the presence of participants in the International Physics Olympiad,” says Bernard Pellequer, head of the Visitors and Local Engagement section. “A tour of CERN was part of their excursion programme and it was a great pleasure for us to show them around the Laboratory.” But...

Kalaupapa National Historic Park Air Tour Management Plan planning and NEPA scoping study

Science.gov (United States)

2005-03-03

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), has initiated the development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP) for Kalaupapa Historic Park pursuant to the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of ...

76 FR 26948 - Small Business Jobs Act Tour: Selected Provisions Having an Effect on Government Contracting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-10

...] Small Business Jobs Act Tour: Selected Provisions Having an Effect on Government Contracting AGENCY: U.S... INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard L. Miller, Small Business Job's Act Tour-Office of Government Contracting and..., concerning the Small Business Act Tour: Selected Provisions Having an Effect on Government that announced a...

Evaluating Bloemfontein’s image as a tourist destination: A tour operator’s perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AJ Strydom

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Tour operators have been identified as vital information sources influencing the images and decision-making processes of tourists. Bloemfontein is situated in Central South Africa.  Tourism marketers believe that the city is an ideal stopover destination for national tour operators  en route to other destinations.  Research was conducted among national tour operators in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town to determine their perceptions of Bloemfontein and whether they regard the city as a tourist or stopover destination.  The research indicates that the city is not regarded as a tourist destination, but is seen as an ideal stopover destination which could be included in future tour itineraries.  It is currently excluded because operators are unfamiliar with the tourism offering(s of Bloemfontein due to insufficient marketing by the tourism officials of the city.

Indentations and Starting Points in Traveling Sales Tour Problems: Implications for Theory

Science.gov (United States)

MacGregor, James N.

2012-01-01

A complete, non-trivial, traveling sales tour problem contains at least one "indentation", where nodes in the interior of the point set are connected between two adjacent nodes on the boundary. Early research reported that human tours exhibited fewer such indentations than expected. A subsequent explanation proposed that this was because…

COLLABORATION AND DIALOGUE IN VIRTUAL REALITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camilla Gyldendahl Jensen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available “Virtual reality” adds a new dimension to constructivist problem-based learning (PBL environments in the architectural and building construction educations, where a realistic and lifelike presence in a building enables students to assess and discuss how the various solutions interact with each other. Combined with “Building Information Models” (BIM, “Virtual Reality” provides an entirely new opportunity to innovate and optimize the architecture and construction in its early stages, which creates and iterative learning process. There are several studies where virtual simulation tools based on predefined tutorials are tested for their ability to facilitate collaborative processes. This study addresses the problem from a new angle by the virtual universe created through the students' own iterative design of a building. The “Virtual reality” system's narrative tale arises spontaneously through the dialogue. The result of this study shows that “Virtual Reality”, as a tool, creates some changes in the dialogue conditions which affect the learning process. The use of “Virtual Reality” requires a very precise framing about the system's ability to facilitate a collaborative learning process. The analysis identifies several clear opportunities about incorporating gamification mechanisms known from e.g. video games software.

Virtual Labs in proteomics: new E-learning tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Sandipan; Koshy, Nicole Rachel; Reddy, Panga Jaipal; Srivastava, Sanjeeva

2012-05-17

Web-based educational resources have gained enormous popularity recently and are increasingly becoming a part of modern educational systems. Virtual Labs are E-learning platforms where learners can gain the experience of practical experimentation without any direct physical involvement on real bench work. They use computerized simulations, models, videos, animations and other instructional technologies to create interactive content. Proteomics being one of the most rapidly growing fields of the biological sciences is now an important part of college and university curriculums. Consequently, many E-learning programs have started incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects of different proteomic techniques as an element of their course work in the form of Video Lectures and Virtual Labs. To this end, recently we have developed a Virtual Proteomics Lab at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, which demonstrates different proteomics techniques, including basic and advanced gel and MS-based protein separation and identification techniques, bioinformatics tools and molecular docking methods, and their applications in different biological samples. This Tutorial will discuss the prominent Virtual Labs featuring proteomics content, including the Virtual Proteomics Lab of IIT-Bombay, and E-resources available for proteomics study that are striving to make proteomic techniques and concepts available and accessible to the student and research community. This Tutorial is part of the International Proteomics Tutorial Programme (IPTP 14). Details can be found at: http://www.proteomicstutorials.org/. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ANALISIS KEPUASAN WISATAWAN TERHADAP VARIASI PAKET DENPASAR CITY TOUR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shintia Jayanti

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Denpasar city tour as one of tourism product in Bali, also developed becomes one of favorite choice for tourist. Since tourism industry product is very dynamic and depends on the environment, it is important to know tourist’s perception and analysis about tourist satisfaction for variety of Denpasar city tour, for making some regulation to improve the product or making some innovation about the product. This research conducted by questionnaire method, also supported with interviews and direct observation. The results analyzed by using Importance-Performance Analysis. The result showed that tourist felt dissatisfaction about the product (Denpasar city tour as shown at the indicator (92,75 percent, and cartecius diagram showed that there are some point that is important for the tourist and should be maintain the performance, such as variation object, facility in the object, reliable information. There are also some point that tourist feel it is important but they feel dissatisfaction about it. There are security checks and security staffs in the object.

Virtual environments for the transfer of navigation skills in the blind: a comparison of directed instruction vs. video game based learning approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Connors, Erin C; Chrastil, Elizabeth R; Sánchez, Jaime; Merabet, Lotfi B

2014-01-01

For profoundly blind individuals, navigating in an unfamiliar building can represent a significant challenge. We investigated the use of an audio-based, virtual environment called Audio-based Environment Simulator (AbES) that can be explored for the purposes of learning the layout of an unfamiliar, complex indoor environment. Furthermore, we compared two modes of interaction with AbES. In one group, blind participants implicitly learned the layout of a target environment while playing an exploratory, goal-directed video game. By comparison, a second group was explicitly taught the same layout following a standard route and instructions provided by a sighted facilitator. As a control, a third group interacted with AbES while playing an exploratory, goal-directed video game however, the explored environment did not correspond to the target layout. Following interaction with AbES, a series of route navigation tasks were carried out in the virtual and physical building represented in the training environment to assess the transfer of acquired spatial information. We found that participants from both modes of interaction were able to transfer the spatial knowledge gained as indexed by their successful route navigation performance. This transfer was not apparent in the control participants. Most notably, the game-based learning strategy was also associated with enhanced performance when participants were required to find alternate routes and short cuts within the target building suggesting that a ludic-based training approach may provide for a more flexible mental representation of the environment. Furthermore, outcome comparisons between early and late blind individuals suggested that greater prior visual experience did not have a significant effect on overall navigation performance following training. Finally, performance did not appear to be associated with other factors of interest such as age, gender, and verbal memory recall. We conclude that the highly interactive

Virtual Reality for Prototyping Service Journeys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Costas Boletsis

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The use of virtual elements for developing new service prototyping environments and more realistic simulations has been suggested as a way to optimise the service prototyping process. This work examines the application of virtual reality (VR in prototyping service journeys and it hypothesises that VR can recreate service journeys in a highly immersive, agile, and inexpensive manner, thus allowing users to have a representative service experience and enabling service designers to extract high-quality user feedback. To that end, a new service prototyping method, called VR service walkthrough, is presented and evaluated through an empirical comparative study. A VR service walkthrough is a virtual simulation of a service journey, representing how the service unfolds over space and time. A comparative study between the VR service walkthrough method and an adapted service walkthrough method evaluates the application of both methods using a location-based audio tour guide service as a case study. Two user groups (each with 21 users were used to evaluate both methods based on two factors: the user experience they offered and the subjective meaningfulness and quality of feedback they produced. Results show that the VR service walkthrough method gave a performance similar to that of the service walkthrough method. It was also able to communicate the service concept in an immersive way and foster constructive feedback.

Verbalizing, Visualizing, and Navigating: The Effect of Strategies on Encoding a Large-Scale Virtual Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Kraemer, David J. M.; Schinazi, Victor R.; Cawkwell, Philip B.; Tekriwal, Anand; Epstein, Russell A.; Thompson-Schill, Sharon L.

2017-01-01

Using novel virtual cities, we investigated the influence of verbal and visual strategies on the encoding of navigation-relevant information in a large-scale virtual environment. In 2 experiments, participants watched videos of routes through 4 virtual cities and were subsequently tested on their memory for observed landmarks and their ability to…

360-degree videos: a new visualization technique for astrophysical simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Christopher M. P.

2017-11-01

360-degree videos are a new type of movie that renders over all 4π steradian. Video sharing sites such as YouTube now allow this unique content to be shared via virtual reality (VR) goggles, hand-held smartphones/tablets, and computers. Creating 360° videos from astrophysical simulations is not only a new way to view these simulations as you are immersed in them, but is also a way to create engaging content for outreach to the public. We present what we believe is the first 360° video of an astrophysical simulation: a hydrodynamics calculation of the central parsec of the Galactic centre. We also describe how to create such movies, and briefly comment on what new science can be extracted from astrophysical simulations using 360° videos.

[Computer-assisted therapy and video games in psychosocial rehabilitation for schizophrenia patients].

Science.gov (United States)

Brun, G; Verdoux, H; Couhet, G; Quiles, C

2018-02-28

Video games and virtual reality have recently become used by clinicians for training or information media or as therapeutic tools. The purpose is to review the use of these technologies for therapy destined for schizophrenia patients. We conducted a review in October 2016 using Pubmed, Scopus and PsychInfo using the following Medical Subject Headings (MESH): "video games", "virtual reality" and "therapy, computer-assisted/methods", each associated with "schizophrenia". Papers were included in the review if: (a) they were published in an English, Spanish or French-language peer-reviewed journal, (b) the study enrolled patients with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder, (c) the patients used a therapeutic video game or therapeutic virtual reality device. Eighteen publications were included. The devices studied are mainly therapeutic software developed specifically for therapeutic care. They can be classified according to their therapeutic objectives. These targets corresponded to objectives of psychosocial rehabilitation: improvement of residual symptomatology, cognitive remediation, remediation of cognition and social skills, improvement of everyday life activities, support for occupational integration. Very different devices were proposed. Some researchers analysed programs developed specifically for patients with schizophrenia, while others were interested in the impact of commercial games. Most of the studies were recent, preliminary and European. The impact of these devices was globally positive, particularly concerning cognitive functions. Computer-assisted therapy, video games and virtual reality cannot replace usual care but could be used as adjunctive therapy. However, recommending their use seems premature because of the recent and preliminary character of most studies. Moreover, a link is still lacking between this field of research in psychiatry and other fields of research, particularly game studies. Finally, it might be interesting to analyse more

Investigating multimodal communication in virtual meetings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Persson, John Stouby; Mathiassen, Lars

2014-01-01

recordings of their oral exchanges and video recordings of their shared dynamic representation of the project’s status and plans, our analysis reveals how their interrelating of visual and verbal communication acts enabled effective communication and coordination. In conclusion, we offer theoretical......To manage distributed work, organizations increasingly rely on virtual meetings based on multimodal, synchronous communication technologies. However, despite technological advances, it is still challenging to coordinate knowledge through these meetings with spatial and cultural separation. Against...... propositions that explain how interrelating of verbal and visual acts based on shared dynamic representations enable communication repairs during virtual meetings. We argue the proposed framework provides researchers with a novel and practical approach to investigate the complex data involved in virtual...

The impact of a simulated grand tour on sleep, mood, and well-being of competitive cyclists.

Science.gov (United States)

Lastella, M; Roach, G D; Halson, S L; Martin, D T; West, N P; Sargent, C

2015-12-01

Professional cycling is considered one of the most demanding of all endurance sports. The three major professional cycling stages races (i.e. Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España) require cyclists to compete daily covering between ~150-200 km for three consecutive weeks. Anecdotal evidence indicates that such an event has a significant effect on the sleep, mood, and general well-being of cyclists, particularly during the latter stages of the event. The primary aim of this study was to simulate a grand tour and determine the impact a grand tour has on the sleep, mood, and general well-being of competitive cyclists. Twenty-one male cyclists (M±SD, age 22.2±2.7 years) were examined for 39 days across three phases (i.e. baseline, simulated grand tour, and recovery). Sleep was assessed using sleep diaries and wrist activity monitors. Mood and general well-being were assessed using the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) and Visual Analogue Scales (VAS). The amount and quality of sleep as assessed by the wrist activity monitors declined during the simulated grand tour. In contrast, self-reported sleep quality improved throughout the study. Cyclists' mood and general well-being as indicated by vigour, motivation, physical and mental state declined during the simulated tour. Future investigations should examine sleep, mood and well-being during an actual grand tour. Such data could prove instrumental toward understanding the sleep and psychological changes that occur during a grand tour.

Innovation by Using a Virtual College

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borch, Ole; Nielsen, P.S.

2001-01-01

. This article presents how simple equipment was used and how the pedagogical model is implemented in the innovation process. The way slides, sound, video and whiteboard were used in a virtual college as well as performing the exam is described. The methods were used in the course: "Object Oriented Programming...

EKSPEKTASI DAN PERSEPSI WISATAWAN TERHADAP KUALITAS PELAYANAN PADA MARINA SRIKANDI TOUR & TRAVEL DI PADANGBAI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Made Natha Dwipayana

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Differences between expectation and perception of visitor about service quality of a travel agency were the background of this research which is entitled “Visitor’s Perception And Expectation of Service Quality At Marina Srikandi Tour And Travel In Padang Bai. Through this research, a thought to maintain professionalism of travel agency with qualified standards, understand different visitor expectations was a major thing that want to be achieved. Background of problem in this research was divided into two problems, such as (1 what are visitor expectation and perception about service quality at Marina Srikandi Tour and travel? (2 How is the visitor’s satisfaction about service quality which is given by Marina Srikandi Tour and travel? Based on the background of problems above, there were two aims of study in this research, they are: (1 to know visitor expectation and perception about service quality at Marina Srikandi Tour and travel, and (2 to know visitor’s satisfaction about service quality which is given by Marina Srikandi Tour and travel.

Estimating the gaze of a virtuality human.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, David J; Rae, John; Duckworth, Tobias W; Moore, Carl M; Aspin, Rob

2013-04-01

The aim of our experiment is to determine if eye-gaze can be estimated from a virtuality human: to within the accuracies that underpin social interaction; and reliably across gaze poses and camera arrangements likely in every day settings. The scene is set by explaining why Immersive Virtuality Telepresence has the potential to meet the grand challenge of faithfully communicating both the appearance and the focus of attention of a remote human participant within a shared 3D computer-supported context. Within the experiment n=22 participants rotated static 3D virtuality humans, reconstructed from surround images, until they felt most looked at. The dependent variable was absolute angular error, which was compared to that underpinning social gaze behaviour in the natural world. Independent variables were 1) relative orientations of eye, head and body of captured subject; and 2) subset of cameras used to texture the form. Analysis looked for statistical and practical significance and qualitative corroborating evidence. The analysed results tell us much about the importance and detail of the relationship between gaze pose, method of video based reconstruction, and camera arrangement. They tell us that virtuality can reproduce gaze to an accuracy useful in social interaction, but with the adopted method of Video Based Reconstruction, this is highly dependent on combination of gaze pose and camera arrangement. This suggests changes in the VBR approach in order to allow more flexible camera arrangements. The work is of interest to those wanting to support expressive meetings that are both socially and spatially situated, and particular those using or building Immersive Virtuality Telepresence to accomplish this. It is also of relevance to the use of virtuality humans in applications ranging from the study of human interactions to gaming and the crossing of the stage line in films and TV.

Empirical Evidence of Priming, Transfer, Reinforcement, and Learning in the Real and Virtual Trillium Trails

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, M. C. R.

2011-01-01

Over the past 20 years, there has been a debate on the effectiveness of virtual reality used for learning with young children, producing many ideas but little empirical proof. This empirical study compared learning activity in situ of a real environment (Real) and a desktop virtual reality (Virtual) environment, built with video game technology,…

Virtual-view PSNR prediction based on a depth distortion tolerance model and support vector machine.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Fen; Chen, Jiali; Peng, Zongju; Jiang, Gangyi; Yu, Mei; Chen, Hua; Jiao, Renzhi

2017-10-20

Quality prediction of virtual-views is important for free viewpoint video systems, and can be used as feedback to improve the performance of depth video coding and virtual-view rendering. In this paper, an efficient virtual-view peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) prediction method is proposed. First, the effect of depth distortion on virtual-view quality is analyzed in detail, and a depth distortion tolerance (DDT) model that determines the DDT range is presented. Next, the DDT model is used to predict the virtual-view quality. Finally, a support vector machine (SVM) is utilized to train and obtain the virtual-view quality prediction model. Experimental results show that the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and root mean square error between the actual PSNR and the predicted PSNR by DDT model are 0.8750 and 0.6137 on average, and by the SVM prediction model are 0.9109 and 0.5831. The computational complexity of the SVM method is lower than the DDT model and the state-of-the-art methods.

Use of active video games to increase physical activity in children: a (virtual) reality?

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, Louise; Maddison, Ralph

2010-02-01

There has been increased research interest in the use of active video games (in which players physically interact with images onscreen) as a means to promote physical activity in children. The aim of this review was to assess active video games as a means of increasing energy expenditure and physical activity behavior in children. Studies were obtained from computerized searches of multiple electronic bibliographic databases. The last search was conducted in December 2008. Eleven studies focused on the quantification of the energy cost associated with playing active video games, and eight studies focused on the utility of active video games as an intervention to increase physical activity in children. Compared with traditional nonactive video games, active video games elicited greater energy expenditure, which was similar in intensity to mild to moderate intensity physical activity. The intervention studies indicate that active video games may have the potential to increase free-living physical activity and improve body composition in children; however, methodological limitations prevent definitive conclusions. Future research should focus on larger, methodologically sound intervention trials to provide definitive answers as to whether this technology is effective in promoting long-term physical activity in children.

CERN hosts Tour du canton de Genève stage

CERN Multimedia

2004-01-01

CERN's John Osborne (TS) at the start of the 10 km with more than 1700 other runners. Good luck to the CERN runners in the forthcoming stages! CERN hosted the first stage of the 10th Tour du canton de Genève on the evening of Wednesday 26 May. The Tour du canton is an annual race run in four stages over four weeks, and this year started at CERN as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. The event attracted over 2000 runners, including over 40 from CERN, as well as a large crowd of onlookers. The 10.5 km route started and finished outside CERN's Main Building, taking in the Swiss countryside, crossing into France and coming back through the tunnel linking the two CERN sites. CERN runners finished in second place in the Enterprise category just 13 seconds behind Rolex S.A., setting up an exciting contest for the remaining stages at Bernex, Meyrin and Jussy.Results are on the Tour du canton website.

Dissociation of past and present experience in problem solving using a virtual environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Sturz, Bradley R; Bodily, Kent D; Katz, Jeffrey S

2009-02-01

An interactive 3D desktop virtual environment task was created to investigate learning mechanisms in human problem solving. Participants were assessed for previous video game experience, divided into two groups (Training and Control), and matched for gender and experience. The Training group learned specific skills within the virtual environment before being presented a problem. The Control group was presented the problem only. Completion time was faster for the Training group and was affected by level of previous video game experience. Results indicated problem solving was a function of specific and general experience and demonstrated a method for dissociating these two facets of experience.

Carbon Dioxide Concentrations and Temperatures within Tour Buses under Real-Time Traffic Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Chun-Fu; Chen, Ming-Hung; Chang, Feng-Hsiang

2015-01-01

This study monitored the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and temperatures of three 43-seat tour buses with high-passenger capacities in a course of a three-day, two-night school excursion. Results showed that both driver zones and passenger zones of the tour buses achieved maximum CO2 concentrations of more than 3000 ppm, and maximum daily average concentrations of 2510.6 and 2646.9 ppm, respectively. The findings confirmed that the CO2 concentrations detected in the tour buses exceeded the indoor air quality standard of Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (8 hr-CO2: 1000 ppm) and the air quality guideline of Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department (1 hr-CO2: 2500 ppm for Level 1 for buses). Observations also showed that high-capacity tour bus cabins with air conditioning system operating in recirculation mode are severely lacking in air exchange rate, which may negatively impact transportation safety. Moreover, the passenger zones were able to maintain a temperature of between 20 and 25°C during travel, which effectively suppresses the dispersion of volatile organic compounds. Finally, the authors suggest that in the journey, increasing the ventilation frequency of tour bus cabin, which is very beneficial to maintain the travel safety and enhance the quality of travel. PMID:25923722

Carbon Dioxide Concentrations and Temperatures within Tour Buses under Real-Time Traffic Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Chun-Fu; Chen, Ming-Hung; Chang, Feng-Hsiang

2015-01-01

This study monitored the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and temperatures of three 43-seat tour buses with high-passenger capacities in a course of a three-day, two-night school excursion. Results showed that both driver zones and passenger zones of the tour buses achieved maximum CO2 concentrations of more than 3000 ppm, and maximum daily average concentrations of 2510.6 and 2646.9 ppm, respectively. The findings confirmed that the CO2 concentrations detected in the tour buses exceeded the indoor air quality standard of Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (8 hr-CO2: 1000 ppm) and the air quality guideline of Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department (1 hr-CO2: 2500 ppm for Level 1 for buses). Observations also showed that high-capacity tour bus cabins with air conditioning system operating in recirculation mode are severely lacking in air exchange rate, which may negatively impact transportation safety. Moreover, the passenger zones were able to maintain a temperature of between 20 and 25°C during travel, which effectively suppresses the dispersion of volatile organic compounds. Finally, the authors suggest that in the journey, increasing the ventilation frequency of tour bus cabin, which is very beneficial to maintain the travel safety and enhance the quality of travel.

Virtual Reality as an Educational and Training Tool for Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Izard, Santiago González; Juanes, Juan A; García Peñalvo, Francisco J; Estella, Jesús Mª Gonçalvez; Ledesma, Mª José Sánchez; Ruisoto, Pablo

2018-02-01

Until very recently, we considered Virtual Reality as something that was very close, but it was still science fiction. However, today Virtual Reality is being integrated into many different areas of our lives, from videogames to different industrial use cases and, of course, it is starting to be used in medicine. There are two great general classifications for Virtual Reality. Firstly, we find a Virtual Reality in which we visualize a world completely created by computer, three-dimensional and where we can appreciate that the world we are visualizing is not real, at least for the moment as rendered images are improving very fast. Secondly, there is a Virtual Reality that basically consists of a reflection of our reality. This type of Virtual Reality is created using spherical or 360 images and videos, so we lose three-dimensional visualization capacity (until the 3D cameras are more developed), but on the other hand we gain in terms of realism in the images. We could also mention a third classification that merges the previous two, where virtual elements created by computer coexist with 360 images and videos. In this article we will show two systems that we have developed where each of them can be framed within one of the previous classifications, identifying the technologies used for their implementation as well as the advantages of each one. We will also analize how these systems can improve the current methodologies used for medical training. The implications of these developments as tools for teaching, learning and training are discussed.

Virtual Environments for the Transfer of Navigation Skills in the Blind: A Comparison of Directed Instruction Versus Video Game Based Learning Approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erin C Connors

2014-05-01

Full Text Available For profoundly blind individuals, navigating in an unfamiliar building can represent a significant challenge. We investigated the use of an audio-based, virtual environment called Audio-based Environment Simulator (AbES that can be explored for the purposes of learning the layout of an unfamiliar, complex indoor environment. Furthermore, we compared two modes of interaction with AbES. In one group, blind participants implicitly learned the layout of a target environment while playing an exploratory, goal-directed video game. By comparison, a second group was explicitly taught the same layout following a standard route and instructions provided by a sighted facilitator. As a control, a third group interacted with AbES while playing an exploratory, goal-directed video game however, the explored environment did not correspond to the target layout. Following interaction with AbES, a series of route navigation tasks were carried out in the virtual and physical building represented in the training environment to assess the transfer of acquired spatial information. We found that participants from both modes of interaction were able to transfer the spatial knowledge gained as indexed by their successful route navigation performance. This transfer was not apparent in the control participants. Most notably, the game-based learning strategy was also associated with enhanced performance when participants were required to find alternate routes and short cuts within the target building suggesting that a ludic-based training approach may provide for a more flexible mental representation of the environment. Furthermore, outcome comparisons between early and late blind individuals suggested that greater prior visual experience did not have a significant effect on overall navigation performance following training. Finally, performance did not appear to be associated with other factors of interest such as age, gender, and verbal memory recall. We conclude that the

Reisipakkumine - Grand Tour Itaalias / Mai Levin

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Levin, Mai, 1942-

2009-01-01

Tiina Abeli koostatud ja Urmas Viigi kujundatud näitus "Grand Tour. Eesti kunstnikud Itaalias" Kumu Kunstimuuseumis 05. aprillini. Loetletud eksponeeritud tööde autoreid. Näitus annab ülevaate, kes siinsetest kunstnikest 19. sajandi algusest kuni 1930ndate aastateni Itaalias käisid ja kuidas see nende loomingut mõjutas

[Virtual microscopy in pathology teaching and postgraduate training (continuing education)].

Science.gov (United States)

Sinn, H P; Andrulis, M; Mogler, C; Schirmacher, P

2008-11-01

As with conventional microscopy, virtual microscopy permits histological tissue sections to be viewed on a computer screen with a free choice of viewing areas and a wide range of magnifications. This, combined with the possibility of linking virtual microscopy to E-Learning courses, make virtual microscopy an ideal tool for teaching and postgraduate training in pathology. Uses of virtual microscopy in pathology teaching include blended learning with the presentation of digital teaching slides in the internet parallel to presentation in the histology lab, extending student access to histology slides beyond the lab. Other uses are student self-learning in the Internet, as well as the presentation of virtual slides in the classroom with or without replacing real microscopes. Successful integration of virtual microscopy depends on its embedding in the virtual classroom and the creation of interactive E-learning content. Applications derived from this include the use of virtual microscopy in video clips, podcasts, SCORM modules and the presentation of virtual microscopy using interactive whiteboards in the classroom.

Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park Air Tour Management Plan planning and NEPA scoping document

Science.gov (United States)

2004-03-03

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), has initiated the development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP) for Kaloko-Honokohau Historic Park pursuant to the National Parks Air Tour Management ...

75 FR 53980 - Notice of Field Tours for the Pinedale Anticline Working Group

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-02

... Project Area (PAPA) 2008 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), and the Pinedale Anticline...) PAWG will conduct field tours of the Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA). Tours are open to the... . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PAWG was established by the EIS ROD for the PAPA on July 27, 2000, and carried...

Factors underlying male and female use of violent video games

OpenAIRE

Hartmann, T.; Möller, I.; Krause, C.

2015-01-01

Research has consistently shown that males play violent video games more frequently than females, but factors underlying this gender gap have not been examined to date. This approach examines the assumption that males play violent video games more because they anticipate more enjoyment and less guilt from engaging in virtual violence than females. This may be because males are less empathetic, tend to morally justify physical violence more and have a greater need for sensation and aggression ...

A unified grand tour of theoretical physics

CERN Document Server

Lawrie, Ian D

2013-01-01

A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics invites its readers to a guided exploration of the theoretical ideas that shape our contemporary understanding of the physical world at the fundamental level. Its central themes, comprising space-time geometry and the general relativistic account of gravity, quantum field theory and the gauge theories of fundamental forces, and statistical mechanics and the theory of phase transitions, are developed in explicit mathematical detail, with an emphasis on conceptual understanding. Straightforward treatments of the standard models of particle physics and cosmology are supplemented with introductory accounts of more speculative theories, including supersymmetry and string theory. This third edition of the Tour includes a new chapter on quantum gravity, focusing on the approach known as Loop Quantum Gravity, while new sections provide extended discussions of topics that have become prominent in recent years, such as the Higgs boson, massive neutrinos, cosmological perturba...

A Componentizable Server-Side Framework for Building Remote and Virtual Laboratories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesús Luis Muros-Cobos

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract—Currently, virtual/remotes laboratories are often being built to improve learning and researching capabilities in some areas of knowledge. Generally these virtual/remotes laboratories are built from scratch again and again, instead of reusing software and hardware infrastructures. This paper presents a new framework, RVLab, to help developers building flexible and robust server-side virtual and remotes laboratories quickly. RVLab affords support for the basic requirements of these systems such as the user management or the resources (instruments and devices reservation. Unlike other lab systems, RVLab is adapted to devices and instruments of any real laboratory due to a secure and robust mechanism that allows the remote execution of lab programs. Moreover, it improves the user interaction with real labs, providing a real-time visualization of experiments and lab instruments by means of the control of video camera placed into lab, and the transmission of video streaming with different quality to users.

Educational Tutorial Video with Aspects of Psychological Sensation and Perception in Academic Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martha Jiménez García

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In Mexico 75.5% of children and young students in elementary and secondary school are at insufficient and elementary levels in mathematics. The purpose of this research is to join the UNESCO initiative by granting quality education, boosted by technology (Rose, 2013. Specifically, the objective is to analyze the impact of using a tutorial video on academic achievement, based on Gestalt psychology stimulating the sensation and perception cognitive capabilities. Using a 50 student sample was used, which was divided into two groups (experimental and control we test whether students that use a tutorial video based on sensation and perception increase their attention and interest to increase academic achievement. The experimental group was a virtual class with tutorial videos on the use of slopes, explanation of the equation, and a virtual graph generator. Both groups were a survey and an exam. The results show that a high impact on the grades and on the perception of knowledge in the experimental group; the average academic achievement of the experimental group was 9.31, against 2 in the control group. Thus, we conclude that the tutorial video presented stimulates cognitive capabilities and improves academic achievement with a 7.3 impact per additional unit of tutorial video, presented as reinforcement of the class.

Highly immersive virtual reality laparoscopy simulation: development and future aspects.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Tobias; Wunderling, Tom; Paschold, Markus; Lang, Hauke; Kneist, Werner; Hansen, Christian

2018-02-01

Virtual reality (VR) applications with head-mounted displays (HMDs) have had an impact on information and multimedia technologies. The current work aimed to describe the process of developing a highly immersive VR simulation for laparoscopic surgery. We combined a VR laparoscopy simulator (LapSim) and a VR-HMD to create a user-friendly VR simulation scenario. Continuous clinical feedback was an essential aspect of the development process. We created an artificial VR (AVR) scenario by integrating the simulator video output with VR game components of figures and equipment in an operating room. We also created a highly immersive VR surrounding (IVR) by integrating the simulator video output with a [Formula: see text] video of a standard laparoscopy scenario in the department's operating room. Clinical feedback led to optimization of the visualization, synchronization, and resolution of the virtual operating rooms (in both the IVR and the AVR). Preliminary testing results revealed that individuals experienced a high degree of exhilaration and presence, with rare events of motion sickness. The technical performance showed no significant difference compared to that achieved with the standard LapSim. Our results provided a proof of concept for the technical feasibility of an custom highly immersive VR-HMD setup. Future technical research is needed to improve the visualization, immersion, and capability of interacting within the virtual scenario.

Toward brain correlates of natural behavior: fMRI during violent video games.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathiak, Klaus; Weber, René

2006-12-01

Modern video games represent highly advanced virtual reality simulations and often contain virtual violence. In a significant amount of young males, playing video games is a quotidian activity, making it an almost natural behavior. Recordings of brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during gameplay may reflect neuronal correlates of real-life behavior. We recorded 13 experienced gamers (18-26 years; average 14 hrs/week playing) while playing a violent first-person shooter game (a violent computer game played in self-perspective) by means of distortion and dephasing reduced fMRI (3 T; single-shot triple-echo echo-planar imaging [EPI]). Content analysis of the video and sound with 100 ms time resolution achieved relevant behavioral variables. These variables explained significant signal variance across large distributed networks. Occurrence of violent scenes revealed significant neuronal correlates in an event-related design. Activation of dorsal and deactivation of rostral anterior cingulate and amygdala characterized the mid-frontal pattern related to virtual violence. Statistics and effect sizes can be considered large at these areas. Optimized imaging strategies allowed for single-subject and for single-trial analysis with good image quality at basal brain structures. We propose that virtual environments can be used to study neuronal processes involved in semi-naturalistic behavior as determined by content analysis. Importantly, the activation pattern reflects brain-environment interactions rather than stimulus responses as observed in classical experimental designs. We relate our findings to the general discussion on social effects of playing first-person shooter games. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

26 CFR 1.513-7 - Travel and tour activities of tax exempt organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... within the UnitedStates. The study tours are conducted by teachers and other personnel certified by the... organization. The examples are as follows: Example 1. O, a university alumni association, is exempt from... faculty member of O's related university frequently joins the tour as a guest of the alumni association...

Heuristics for Comparing the Lengths of Completed E-TSP Tours: Crossings and Areas

Science.gov (United States)

MacGregor, James N.

2017-01-01

The article reports three experiments designed to explore heuristics used in comparing the lengths of completed Euclidean Traveling Salesman Problem (E-TSP) tours. The experiments used paired comparisons in which participants judged which of two completed tours of the same point set was shorter. The first experiment manipulated two factors, the…

Effects of age on associating virtual and embodied toys.

Science.gov (United States)

Okita, Sandra Y

2004-08-01

Technologies such as videos, toys, and video games are used as tools in delivering education to young children. Do children spontaneously transfer between virtual and real-world mediums as they learn? Fifty-six children learned facts about a toy dog presented through varying levels of technology and interactivity (e.g., video game, stuffed animal, picture books). They then met a similar dog character in a new embodiment (e.g., as a stuffed animal if first met the dog as video character). Would children spontaneously generalize the facts they learned about the dog character across mediums (dynamic and static environments)? Results indicate that younger children were more likely to generalize facts across mediums. Specific aspects of the level of technology and interactivity had little effect.

An Appeal for heritage interpretation and accessibility. Immersive and interactive virtual reality tours for mobile devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillermo Duclos Bautista

2013-11-01

Full Text Available We propose an interactive resource for the value enhancement, management, diffusion and accessibility of the architectural and archaeological heritage by means of virtual reality technologies through mobile devices. The resource is, in addition, a tool for the management of the heritage by the employment of intermediate modules that allow the graphical and alphanumeric update of the external and internal databases put in relation with the resource, depending on the interventions and investigations that on the monument are taking place in the time. Furthermore, the resource is a powerful compensatory measure for the virtual accessibility to the heritage by persons with limited mobility and / or sensory deficiencies.

Virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Laver, Kate E; Lange, Belinda; George, Stacey; Deutsch, Judith E; Saposnik, Gustavo; Crotty, Maria

2017-11-20

Virtual reality and interactive video gaming have emerged as recent treatment approaches in stroke rehabilitation with commercial gaming consoles in particular, being rapidly adopted in clinical settings. This is an update of a Cochrane Review published first in 2011 and then again in 2015. Primary objective: to determine the efficacy of virtual reality compared with an alternative intervention or no intervention on upper limb function and activity.Secondary objectives: to determine the efficacy of virtual reality compared with an alternative intervention or no intervention on: gait and balance, global motor function, cognitive function, activity limitation, participation restriction, quality of life, and adverse events. We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (April 2017), CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and seven additional databases. We also searched trials registries and reference lists. Randomised and quasi-randomised trials of virtual reality ("an advanced form of human-computer interface that allows the user to 'interact' with and become 'immersed' in a computer-generated environment in a naturalistic fashion") in adults after stroke. The primary outcome of interest was upper limb function and activity. Secondary outcomes included gait and balance and global motor function. Two review authors independently selected trials based on pre-defined inclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. A third review author moderated disagreements when required. The review authors contacted investigators to obtain missing information. We included 72 trials that involved 2470 participants. This review includes 35 new studies in addition to the studies included in the previous version of this review. Study sample sizes were generally small and interventions varied in terms of both the goals of treatment and the virtual reality devices used. The risk of bias present in many studies was unclear due to poor reporting. Thus, while there are a large

Business Ethics of Tour Operators – The Case Study of TUI

OpenAIRE

Marija Šuleić; Aleksandra Dragin; Vanja Dragićević

2014-01-01

A large number of participants in tourism, both in offer and in demand, has conditioned the need for the creation ethical codices based on legislative regulations and moral principles. Among central figures in tourism, there are travel agencies and tour operators, the intermediaries between service providers and service users, in other words, passengers. The tour operators who are engaged in initiating tourism provide the services on foreign markets and tend to adapt their business to the law...

Virtual Reference Services: Connecting Users with Experts and Supporting the Development of Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trix Bakker

2002-04-01

Full Text Available Virtual reference - a service that allows librarians and patrons to communicate with each other in real time through the Internet by e-mail, chat or instant messaging - is currently a hot topic in libraries. In a way the commercial sector has challenged the reference function by offering Question & Answer services. To librarians this represents a threat and an opportunity. They can benefit from technologies and service models developed for the commercial arena by adapting these to virtual reference applications that will more effectively meet the needs of libraries on the Web. The literature provides many examples of pilots and experiments in taking reference into cyberspace. After an introduction to the in-and-outs of virtual reference, follows a short exposition of a virtual tour in the Netherlands where 7 of the 13 university libraries and the Royal Library have a basic ‚virtual helpdesk’. One thing is clear: virtual reference services are definitely put high on the agenda of the Dutch libraries. The Royal Library is one of the Dutch libraries, which is going to participate with QuestionPoint, formerly called Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS, jointly developed by the Library of Congress and OCLC, which will provide web-based reference service to researchers anytime, anywhere, through an international, online network of member libraries.

Serious Games: Video Game Design Techniques for Academic and Commercial Communication

OpenAIRE

Bull-Hansen, Christian

2007-01-01

Serious Games: Video game design techniques for academic and commercial communication, by Christian Bull-Hansen, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway. Traditional academic and commercial communication sources, like schools and television, are losing ground to video games. People of all ages spend increasingly more time engaged in virtual worlds and on the Internet, and are becoming used to actively pursuing the information they want to know more about, while rejecting the...

Prevalence of video game use, cigarette smoking, and acceptability of a video game-based smoking cessation intervention among online adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Raiff, Bethany R; Jarvis, Brantley P; Rapoza, Darion

2012-12-01

Video games may serve as an ideal platform for developing and implementing technology-based contingency management (CM) interventions for smoking cessation as they can be used to address a number of barriers to the utilization of CM (e.g., replacing monetary rewards with virtual game-based rewards). However, little is known about the relationship between video game playing and cigarette smoking. The current study determined the prevalence of video game use, video game practices, and the acceptability of a video game-based CM intervention for smoking cessation among adult smokers and nonsmokers, including health care professionals. In an online survey, participants (N = 499) answered questions regarding their cigarette smoking and video game playing practices. Participants also reported if they believed a video game-based CM intervention could motivate smokers to quit and if they would recommend such an intervention. Nearly half of the participants surveyed reported smoking cigarettes, and among smokers, 74.5% reported playing video games. Video game playing was more prevalent in smokers than nonsmokers, and smokers reported playing more recently, for longer durations each week, and were more likely to play social games than nonsmokers. Most participants (63.7%), including those who worked as health care professionals, believed that a video game-based CM intervention would motivate smokers to quit and would recommend such an intervention to someone trying to quit (67.9%). Our findings suggest that delivering technology-based smoking cessation interventions via video games has the potential to reach substantial numbers of smokers and that most smokers, nonsmokers, and health care professionals endorsed this approach.

Communicating for Climate Change Adaptation: Lessons from a Case Study with Nature-Based Tour Operators

Science.gov (United States)

Timm, K.; Sparrow, E. B.; Pettit, E. C.; Trainor, S. F.; Taylor, K.

2014-12-01

Increasing temperatures are projected to have a positive effect on the length of Alaska's tourism season, but the natural attractions that tourism relies on, such as glaciers, wildlife, fish, or other natural resources, may change. In order to continue to derive benefits from these resources, nature-based tour operators may have to adapt to these changes, and communication is an essential, but poorly understood, component of the climate change adaptation process. The goal of this study was to determine how to provide useful climate change information to nature-based tour operators by answering the following questions: 1. What environmental changes do nature-based tour operators perceive? 2. How are nature-based tour operators responding to climate and environmental change? 3. What climate change information do nature-based tour operators need? To answer these questions, twenty-four nature-based tour operators representing 20 different small and medium sized businesses in Juneau, Alaska were interviewed. The results show that many of Juneau's nature-based tour operators are observing, responding to, and in some cases, actively planning for further changes in the environment. The types of responses tended to vary depending on the participants' certainty in climate change and the perceived risks to their organization. Using these two factors, this study proposes a framework to classify climate change responses for the purpose of generating meaningful information and communication processes that promote adaptation and build adaptive capacity. During the course of the study, several other valuable lessons were learned about communicating about adaptation. The results of this study demonstrate that science communication research has an important place in the practice of promoting and fostering climate change adaptation. While the focus of this study was tour operators, the lessons learned may be valuable to other organizations striving to engage unique groups in climate

Introducing Player-Driven Video Analysis to Enhance Reflective Soccer Practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjort, Anders; Elbæk, Lars; Henriksen, Kristoffer

2017-01-01

. The implementation and evaluation of PU took place in the FC Copenhagen (FCK) School of Excellence. Findings show that PU can improve youth football players’ reflection skills through consistent video analyses and tagging, that coaches are important as role models and providers of feedback, and that the use......In the present study, we investigated the introduction of a cloud-based video analysis platform called Player Universe (PU) in a Danish football club. Video analysis is not a new performance-enhancing element in sport, but PU is innovative in the way players and coaches produce footage and how...... it facilitates reflective learning. Video analysis is executed in the (PU) platform by involving the players in the analysis process, in the sense that they are encouraged to tag game actions in video-documented football matches. Following this, players can get virtual feedback from their coach. The philosophy...

V.A. Gorodtsov and Kazan: tour 1920

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuzminykh Sergey V.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available A fragment of an archival document is published, that is connected to the September 8-12, 1920, stay in Kazan of V.A. Gorodtsov, who headed the Archaeological Subdepartment with the Museum Department of the RSFSR People’s Commissariat for Education, in the framework of his inspecting tour around the towns of the Volga and Urals region. The document is a diary, and its entries reflect information about the tour and its results that had not been exhaustively reflected in official documentation. It narrates about meetings, polemic exchanges, Gorodtsov’s addresses to scientists and the public, his impressions of the archaeological investigations in the regions, and the state of the museums and collections. V.A. Gorodtsov’s encounters and personal contacts with B.F. Adler, N.F. Katanov, M.G. Hudyakov and other researchers had played a positive role in archaeology development in the Volga-Kama region during the hardest times after the revolution.

Virtual Rehabilitation with Children: Challenges for Clinical Adoption [From the Field].

Science.gov (United States)

Glegg, Stephanie

2017-01-01

Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality environments are increasingly being developed and used to address functional rehabilitation goals related to physical, cognitive, social, and psychological impairments. For example, a child with an acquired brain injury may participate in virtual rehabilitation to address impairments in balance, attention, turn taking, and engagement in therapy. The trend toward virtual rehabilitation first gained momentum with the adoption of commercial off-the-shelf active video gaming consoles (e.g., Nintendo Wii and XBox). Now, we are seeing the rapid emergence of customized rehabilitation-specific systems that integrate technological advances in virtual reality, visual effects, motion tracking, physiological monitoring, and robotics.

A Novel Mobile Video Community Discovery Scheme Using Ontology-Based Semantical Interest Capture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruiling Zhang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Leveraging network virtualization technologies, the community-based video systems rely on the measurement of common interests to define and steady relationship between community members, which promotes video sharing performance and improves scalability community structure. In this paper, we propose a novel mobile Video Community discovery scheme using ontology-based semantical interest capture (VCOSI. An ontology-based semantical extension approach is proposed, which describes video content and measures video similarity according to video key word selection methods. In order to reduce the calculation load of video similarity, VCOSI designs a prefix-filtering-based estimation algorithm to decrease energy consumption of mobile nodes. VCOSI further proposes a member relationship estimate method to construct scalable and resilient node communities, which promotes video sharing capacity of video systems with the flexible and economic community maintenance. Extensive tests show how VCOSI obtains better performance results in comparison with other state-of-the-art solutions.

An innovative virtual reality training tool for orthognathic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Pulijala, Y; Ma, M; Pears, M; Peebles, D; Ayoub, A

2018-02-01

Virtual reality (VR) surgery using Oculus Rift and Leap Motion devices is a multi-sensory, holistic surgical training experience. A multimedia combination including 360° videos, three-dimensional interaction, and stereoscopic videos in VR has been developed to enable trainees to experience a realistic surgery environment. The innovation allows trainees to interact with the individual components of the maxillofacial anatomy and apply surgical instruments while watching close-up stereoscopic three-dimensional videos of the surgery. In this study, a novel training tool for Le Fort I osteotomy based on immersive virtual reality (iVR) was developed and validated. Seven consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeons evaluated the application for face and content validity. Using a structured assessment process, the surgeons commented on the content of the developed training tool, its realism and usability, and the applicability of VR surgery for orthognathic surgical training. The results confirmed the clinical applicability of VR for delivering training in orthognathic surgery. Modifications were suggested to improve the user experience and interactions with the surgical instruments. This training tool is ready for testing with surgical trainees. Copyright © 2018 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Virtual Tablet: Virtual Reality as a Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Chronister, Andrew

2016-01-01

hardware, write software to incorporate each piece of position or orientation data into a coherent description of the object's location in space, place the virtual analogue accordingly, and project the control interface onto it, resulting in a functioning object which has both a physical and a virtual presence. Additionally, the virtual environment was enhanced with two live video feeds from cameras mounted on the robotic device being used as an example target of the virtual interface. The working VT allows users to naturally interact with a control interface with little to no training and without the issues found in previous efforts.

EFEKTIFITAS METODE GROUP FIELD TOUR MELALUI TEKNIK SIMFONI OTAK DALAM PEMBELAJARAN PENULISAN SASTRA KREATIF

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akhmad Fauzan

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Group field tour methode by Brain Symphoni Technique Investigate how the advantages of implementation. To get the goal the reseacher used Quasi experiment by giving pre test and post test to two different classes as experiment and control class. In experiment class is given the reatment but control class is not. Based on that fact, the problems as follow (1 Is there any difference between creative student used group field tour methode by Brain Symphony technique and not? (2 Is the usage group field tour methode significant by Brain Symphoni thechnique in Creative Literature Writing. The technique is using Quasi experiment methode. Student used this methode is increasing the competence in short story. It showed by pre test and post test comparasion. In post test the score is significant comparated to control class. The control class is increasing too but it is not as big as experiment class. Key word: group field tour, literature learning.

Use of a virtual environment to facilitate instruction of an interprofessional home assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabus, Carla; Sabata, Dory; Antonacci, David

2011-01-01

Technology has become a ubiquitous part of our society and is largely embedded in today's educational system. 3D virtual reality technology can be used to simulate environments and activities and may be used as an instructional technology. The purpose of this research was to better understand the utility of a web-based virtual environment as a teaching tool to represent clinical assessment and interventions in the home environment. Specifically, students' learning outcomes related to interprofessional collaboration, patient-centered decision-making, and appreciation of the environmental and social context of functional mobility and occupational performance will be described through descriptive analysis. Thirty-four physical therapist students and 35 occupational therapist students participated in an instructor-guided virtual assessment of a client's function in a home environment utilizing a virtual environment, Second Life®. Teams formulated task-specific, functional client goals and home modification recommendations. Students revisited a solution virtual environment to view and evaluate recommendations in a follow-up instructor-guided tour. Students completed a web-based survey capturing student perception of the experience. Team assignments were analyzed based on a rubric representing learning objectives. Descriptive analysis was conducted on the survey. Assignment analysis revealed contextual and client-centered recommendations. Student surveys revealed that students found the virtual environment supportive of learning. Student surveys and reflection statements were supportive of the interprofessional collaboration. Use of a virtual environment in instruction allows an authentic means of representing interprofessional home assessment. The virtual environment allowed a temporal depiction of home environment issues and solutions providing the unique opportunity for students to evaluate home recommendations.

Competitive action video game players display rightward error bias during on-line video game play.

Science.gov (United States)

Roebuck, Andrew J; Dubnyk, Aurora J B; Cochran, David; Mandryk, Regan L; Howland, John G; Harms, Victoria

2017-09-12

Research in asymmetrical visuospatial attention has identified a leftward bias in the general population across a variety of measures including visual attention and line-bisection tasks. In addition, increases in rightward collisions, or bumping, during visuospatial navigation tasks have been demonstrated in real world and virtual environments. However, little research has investigated these biases beyond the laboratory. The present study uses a semi-naturalistic approach and the online video game streaming service Twitch to examine navigational errors and assaults as skilled action video game players (n = 60) compete in Counter Strike: Global Offensive. This study showed a significant rightward bias in both fatal assaults and navigational errors. Analysis using the in-game ranking system as a measure of skill failed to show a relationship between bias and skill. These results suggest that a leftward visuospatial bias may exist in skilled players during online video game play. However, the present study was unable to account for some factors such as environmental symmetry and player handedness. In conclusion, video game streaming is a promising method for behavioural research in the future, however further study is required before one can determine whether these results are an artefact of the method applied, or representative of a genuine rightward bias.

FAKTOR FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI LAYANAN RESERVASI HOTEL DI PT. BALI MEGAH WISATA TOUR AND TRAVEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Si Gede Ngurah Bramantya Agustiano

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study aims to determine the factors that influence hotel reservation service at Bali Megah Wisata Tour and Travel and a contributing factor dominant in hotel reservation service at Bali Megah Wisata Tour and Travel. The respondents in this study use purposive sampling technique in which the criteria are tourists who have made hotel reservation at Bali Megah Wisata Tour and Travel, with the total sample of 190 respondents. Questionnaires were used to collect data have been tested for validity and reliability. The data analysis which is used to answer the hypothesis of this study is factor analysis. The results of factor analysis showed that 5 factors affecting hotel reservation service at Bali Megah Wisata Tour and Travel are structur and ease of use factor with eigen value 6,492, reputation and security factor with eigen value 2,671, usefulness factor with eigen value 2,497, information content factor with eigen value 1,889 and responsiveness and personalization factor with eigen value 1,059. Structure and ease of use factor is a contributing factor dominant in hotel reservation service at Bali Megah Wisata Tour and Travel.

Active Galactic Videos: A YouTube Channel for Astronomy Education and Outreach

Science.gov (United States)

Calahan, Jenny; Gibbs, Aidan; Hardegree-Ullman, Melody; Hardegree-Ullman, Michael; Impey, Chris David; Kevis, Charlotte; Lewter, Austin; Mauldin, Emmalee; McKee, Carolyn; Olmedo, Alejandro; Pereira, Victoria; Thomas, Melissa; Wenger, Matthew

2018-01-01

Active Galactic Videos is an astronomy-focused YouTube channel run by a team at the University of Arizona. The channel both produces astronomy-focused educational content for public audiences and opens a window into the world of professional astronomy by showcasing the work done at Steward Observatory and in Southern Arizona. The channel is mainly run by undergraduate students from a variety of backgrounds including: astronomy, education, film, music, english, and writing. In addition to providing educational content for public audiences, this project provides opportunities for undergraduate students to learn about astronomy content, general astronomy pedagogy, as well as science communication. This is done through developing the practical skills needed to take on the challenge of creating effective and engaging videos. Students write, film, score, direct, and edit each video while conscious of how each piece can affect the teaching/storytelling of the concept at hand. The team has produced various styles of video: presentational, interviews, musical/poetic, tours, and documentaries. In addition to YouTube, the Active Galactic Videos team maintains a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These help to widely distribute the content as well as to publicize the main Youtube channel. In addition to providing an overview of our educational work, we present 51 videos, or two year's, worth of online analytics that we are using to better understand our audience, to examine what videos have been popular and successful, and how people are accessing our content. We will present our experience in order to help others learn about improving astronomy education online, as well as astronomy communication and outreach in general.We acknowledge the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for grant support of this and related education initiatives

Kathryn Toure | IDRC - International Development Research Centre

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Kathryn Toure started her career in New York City in refugee resettlement before working for the Centre for International and Comparative Studies at the University of Iowa. She moved to West Africa where she worked with Africa Online, the Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa, and eventually as ...

The Cassette Tour: An Effective, Efficient Orientation.

Science.gov (United States)

Poirier, Gayle

1992-01-01

Describes the development, use, promotion, and student evaluation of a 25-minute audiocassette tour of the Louisiana State University library, which was developed as a pilot project by the bibliographic instruction librarian in 1990. Notes that student suggestions have been instrumental in the development of more tool and subject specific…

The Effects of Land-Use Patterns on Home-Based Tour Complexity and Total Distances Traveled: A Path Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João de Abreu e Silva

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This work studies the relationships between the number of complex tours (with one or more intermediate stops and simple home-based tours, total distances traveled by mode, and land-use patterns both at the residence and at the workplace using path analysis. The model includes commuting distance, car ownership and motorcycle ownership, which are intermediate variables in the relationship between land use, tour complexity and distances traveled by mode. The dataset used here was collected in a region comprising four municipalities located in the north of Portugal that are made up of urban areas, their sprawling suburbs, and surrounding rural hinterland. The results confirm the association between complex tours and higher levels of car use. Land-use patterns significantly affect travelled distances by mode either directly and indirectly via the influence of longer-term decisions like vehicle ownership and commuting distance. The results obtained highlight the role of socioeconomic variables in influencing tour complexity; in particular, households with children, household income, and workers with a college degree tend to do more complex tours. Land-use patterns mediate the effects of tour complexity on the kilometers travelled by different modes. Increasing densities in central areas, and particularly the concentration of jobs, have relevant benefits by reducing car kilometers driven.

The CASPER Virtual Physics Circus

Science.gov (United States)

Carmona-Reyes, Jorge; Harris, Brandon; Chen, Mudi; Matthews, Lorin; Hyde, Truell

2013-10-01

CASPER's Virtual Physics Circus (VPC) is based on the long-running CASPER Physics Circus and is the most recent component in CASPER's ``Seamless Pathway'' educational outreach initiative. The VPC was developed by an interdisciplinary group of physicists, web-designers and educators and employs both web and video game environments to provide students and teachers with engaging, fast-paced educational activities. Access to an integrated curriculum and video library, aligned to both the TEKS (Texas Essentials Knowledge and Skill) and the National Science and Mathematics Standards, is also part of the VPC package. In this talk an initial beta-test of the VPC, conducted for a central Texas independent school district, will be discussed. Future plans for both expansion and translation into Spanish will also be discussed.

User interface using a 3D model for video surveillance

Science.gov (United States)

Hata, Toshihiko; Boh, Satoru; Tsukada, Akihiro; Ozaki, Minoru

1998-02-01

These days fewer people, who must carry out their tasks quickly and precisely, are required in industrial surveillance and monitoring applications such as plant control or building security. Utilizing multimedia technology is a good approach to meet this need, and we previously developed Media Controller, which is designed for the applications and provides realtime recording and retrieval of digital video data in a distributed environment. In this paper, we propose a user interface for such a distributed video surveillance system in which 3D models of buildings and facilities are connected to the surveillance video. A novel method of synchronizing camera field data with each frame of a video stream is considered. This method records and reads the camera field data similarity to the video data and transmits it synchronously with the video stream. This enables the user interface to have such useful functions as comprehending the camera field immediately and providing clues when visibility is poor, for not only live video but also playback video. We have also implemented and evaluated the display function which makes surveillance video and 3D model work together using Media Controller with Java and Virtual Reality Modeling Language employed for multi-purpose and intranet use of 3D model.

Exploring the role of social interactions and supports in overcoming accessibility barriers while undertaking health tours in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Jana, Arnab; Harata, Noboru; Kiyoshi, Takami; Ohmori, Nobuaki

2014-01-01

This article explores the phenomenon of companionship as an adaptation strategy to counter the existing barriers to health care access in developing nations. Companionship is argued to be an outcome of "inter" and "intra" household collaboration to offer diverse supports in addition to altruism. The analysis of the household survey conducted in West Bengal, India, exhibited different patterns of health care tours and the associated dependencies. In addition to support in terms of mobility while traveling and companionship while waiting for the opportunity, support in terms of refuge is also found to be essential, especially for the poor while they undertake regional tours. Causal models focusing on aggregated general health tours and specific regional tours were estimated separately to comprehend the implicit social interactions and their effects on the patient as well as the companions. The research demonstrated that accessibility barriers affect not only the ill, but also those associated with them and at times adversely. Segregation of regional tours illustrated the gaps, which instigated such tours and also might aid in health infrastructure planning as a whole.

Thematic tourism as an important segment in the business of modern tour operators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đurašević Silvana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to point out to a growing trend of interests of modern tourists for various forms of thematic tourism, as a response to the tendency of uniformity of consumers' lifestyle, which globalization has brought. Thanks to their central place in the tourism system and their expertise, tour operators play a key role in the creation of new programs, 'tailored' to the taste of modern tourists. For that purpose, a number of theoretical assumptions and examples from practice have been analyzed and the method of understanding cause-and-effect relationships is used, in order to examine the role of tour operators in application of new thematic programs. The need to emphasize the special customers' requirements regarding travel services creates an additional problem to tour operators. It indicates the trend of individual trips, which requires a change in choice of markets and product differentiation. The research findings suggest the conclusion that tour operators need to adapt their business strategies to new market conditions, using advantages of information technology in designing diverse thematic programs, which will enable tourists to perceive other local values and express their individuality looking for authentic experiences.

Virtual assistant: Enhancing content acquisition by eliciting information from humans

OpenAIRE

Ozeki, Motoyuki; Maeda, Shunichi; Obata, Kanako; Nakamura, Yuichi

2009-01-01

In this paper, we propose the "Virtual Assistant, " a novel framework for supporting knowledge capturing in videos. The Virtual Assistant is an artificial agent that simulates a human assistant shown in TV programs and prompts users to provide feedback by asking questions. This framework ensures that sufficient information is provided in the captured content while users interact in a natural and enjoyable way with the agent. We developed a prototype agent based on a chatbot-like approach and ...

Tools for building virtual laboratories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agarwal, Debora; Johnston, William E.; Loken, Stewart; Tierney, Brian

1996-01-01

There is increasing interest in making unique research facilities facilities accessible on the Internet. Computer systems, scientific databases and experimental apparatus can be used by international collaborations of scientists using high-speed networks and advanced software tools to support collaboration. We are building tools including video conferencing and electronic white boards that are being used to create examples of virtual laboratories. This paper describes two pilot projects which provide testbeds for the tools. The first is a virtual laboratory project providing remote access to LBNL's Advanced Light Source. The second is the Multidimensional Applications and Gigabit internet work Consortium (MAGIC) testbed which has been established to develop a very high-speed, wide-are network to deliver realtime data at gigabit-per-second rates. (author)

Report of tour of duty to the USA: 14 October 1999 to 26 October 1999

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Steyn, WJvdM

1999-11-01

Full Text Available This report describes a tour of duty undertaken to the USA in October 1999. The objectives of this tour of duty were to attend the 1999 Reno APT Conference, visit to smart material companies and visit the Palmdale HVS site....

Restorative effects of virtual nature settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Valtchanov, Deltcho; Barton, Kevin R; Ellard, Colin

2010-10-01

Previous research regarding the potential benefits of exposing individuals to surrogate nature (photographs and videos) has found that such immersion results in restorative effects such as increased positive affect, decreased negative affect, and decreased stress. In the current experiment, we examined whether immersion in a virtual computer-generated nature setting could produce restorative effects. Twenty-two participants were equally divided between two conditions, while controlling for gender. In each condition, participants performed a stress-induction task, and were then immersed in virtual reality (VR) for 10 minutes. The control condition featured a slide show in VR, and the nature experimental condition featured an active exploration of a virtual forest. Participants in the nature condition were found to exhibit increased positive affect and decreased stress after immersion in VR when compared to those in the control condition. The results suggest that immersion in virtual nature settings has similar beneficial effects as exposure to surrogate nature. These results also suggest that VR can be used as a tool to study and understand restorative effects.

Shared virtual environments for telerehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Popescu, George V; Burdea, Grigore; Boian, Rares

2002-01-01

Current VR telerehabilitation systems use offline remote monitoring from the clinic and patient-therapist videoconferencing. Such "store and forward" and video-based systems cannot implement medical services involving patient therapist direct interaction. Real-time telerehabilitation applications (including remote therapy) can be developed using a shared Virtual Environment (VE) architecture. We developed a two-user shared VE for hand telerehabilitation. Each site has a telerehabilitation workstation with a videocamera and a Rutgers Master II (RMII) force feedback glove. Each user can control a virtual hand and interact hapticly with virtual objects. Simulated physical interactions between therapist and patient are implemented using hand force feedback. The therapist's graphic interface contains several virtual panels, which allow control over the rehabilitation process. These controls start a videoconferencing session, collect patient data, or apply therapy. Several experimental telerehabilitation scenarios were successfully tested on a LAN. A Web-based approach to "real-time" patient telemonitoring--the monitoring portal for hand telerehabilitation--was also developed. The therapist interface is implemented as a Java3D applet that monitors patient hand movement. The monitoring portal gives real-time performance on off-the-shelf desktop workstations.

Rozšíření produktové nabídky cestovní agentury Europani-tour

OpenAIRE

Gerasimenko, Elizaveta

2017-01-01

Title: Innovation of product offer for travel agency Europani-tour. Project goals: The main objective of this bachelor thesis is to create the own model trips with sport focus for the company Europani-tour. Method: In my thesis I used descriptive case study using a document monitoring and qualitative interview. Results: I created a new product - seven trips with sport focus for the travel agency Europani- tour. Before fulfillment of the main objective I have done a situational analysis of spo...

PARA UNA EMPRESA DE DISEÑO Y DESARROLLO DE SOFTWARE ENFOCADO AL OCIO EN REALIDAD VIRTUAL. CREACIÓN DE LA MARCA ''VIRTUAL CORE ENTERTAINMENT''

OpenAIRE

COLOMER RUBIO, GUILLERMO JOSÉ

2017-01-01

[EN] The present project deals with a business plan for the creation of a software studio dedicated to the production of videogames in virtual reality. The main motivation for the creation of this company is based on the great opportunity of the video games sector and, more specifically, the leisure based in Virtual Reality, due to the fact that in recent years this technology has been strongly developed and also the economic weight of the videogames sector is getting to surpas...

A unified grand tour of theoretical physics

CERN Document Server

Griffiths, J

2002-01-01

Anyone offering a grand tour is faced with several options. Should they concentrate on what may be considered to be essential features, or should they attempt to present a brief glimpse of almost everything? The present offering is a compromise between these two extremes. The area considered - theoretical physics - is now such a vast subject that some kind of compromise is essential. Indeed, the field is now so wide that few could even attempt to review it in a single-authored work. My task here is to assess how well this book has succeeded in its main aim of providing a unified (though introductory) tour of this subject. Constrained within a single volume, this is clearly not an updated Landau-Lifschitz. It cannot be expected to take any particular topic to the level of recent research. Nevertheless, it does seem to cover the broad range of essential topics which now constitute the subject. It starts (most appropriately in my opinion) with geometry. It then covers classical physics, general relativity and qu...

Virtually transparent epidermal imagery (VTEI): on new approaches to in vivo wireless high-definition video and image processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Adam L; Lin, Bingxiong; Sun, Yu

2013-12-01

This work first overviews a novel design, and prototype implementation, of a virtually transparent epidermal imagery (VTEI) system for laparo-endoscopic single-site (LESS) surgery. The system uses a network of multiple, micro-cameras and multiview mosaicking to obtain a panoramic view of the surgery area. The prototype VTEI system also projects the generated panoramic view on the abdomen area to create a transparent display effect that mimics equivalent, but higher risk, open-cavity surgeries. The specific research focus of this paper is on two important aspects of a VTEI system: 1) in vivo wireless high-definition (HD) video transmission and 2) multi-image processing-both of which play key roles in next-generation systems. For transmission and reception, this paper proposes a theoretical wireless communication scheme for high-definition video in situations that require extremely small-footprint image sensors and in zero-latency applications. In such situations the typical optimized metrics in communication schemes, such as power and data rate, are far less important than latency and hardware footprint that absolutely preclude their use if not satisfied. This work proposes the use of a novel Frequency-Modulated Voltage-Division Multiplexing (FM-VDM) scheme where sensor data is kept analog and transmitted via "voltage-multiplexed" signals that are also frequency-modulated. Once images are received, a novel Homographic Image Mosaicking and Morphing (HIMM) algorithm is proposed to stitch images from respective cameras, that also compensates for irregular surfaces in real-time, into a single cohesive view of the surgical area. In VTEI, this view is then visible to the surgeon directly on the patient to give an "open cavity" feel to laparoscopic procedures.

Decision Factors for Domestic Package Tours – Case Study of a Region in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nerine Bresler

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This article argues that perceived risk is an inhibitor for the emerging domestic market to develop a culture of going on holiday, which is necessary for the sustainable development of tourism in South Africa. Entrenching a culture of travel can be expedited through appropriate package tours in the same way as it stimulated domestic travel in former Eastern European societies. Packaged tours provide convenience, and both psychological and financial security in a single transaction which can be considered a surrogate for the benefit of risk avoidance when visiting friends and relatives. A survey was conducted in the most promising region, namely the province Gauteng, among the potential market to identify the importance of decision factors for domestic packaged tours. The most important perceived decision criteria were cancellation possibility, affordability, and safety whilst on tour and the three least important were radio promotion, train transport and proximity. The results may be used by the National Department of Tourism to promote domestic tourism, as well as by new and small tour operators to improve decision-making and render competition more knowledge-based. It would thus serve the needs of both tourist buyers and tourism sellers and contribute to sustainable development.

Player-Driven Video Analysis to Enhance Reflective Soccer Practice in Talent Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjort, Anders; Henriksen, Kristoffer; Elbæk, Lars

2018-01-01

consistent video analyses and tagging; coaches are important as role models and providers of feedback; and that the use of the platform primarily stimulated deliberate practice activities. PU can be seen as a source of inspiration for soccer players and clubs as to how analytical platforms can motivate......In the present article, we investigate the introduction of a cloud-based video analysis platform called Player Universe (PU). Video analysis is not a new performance-enhancing element in sports, but PU is innovative in how it facilitates reflective learning. Video analysis is executed in the PU...... platform by involving the players in the analysis process, in the sense that they are encouraged to tag game actions in video-documented soccer matches. Following this, players can get virtual feedback from their coach. Findings show that PU can improve youth soccer players' reflection skills through...

Business Ethics of Tour Operators – The Case Study of TUI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marija Šuleić

2014-10-01

Full Text Available A large number of participants in tourism, both in offer and in demand, has conditioned the need for the creation ethical codices based on legislative regulations and moral principles. Among central figures in tourism, there are travel agencies and tour operators, the intermediaries between service providers and service users, in other words, passengers. The tour operators who are engaged in initiating tourism provide the services on foreign markets and tend to adapt their business to the laws and customs of the countries in which they run a business. TUI, as a leading European tour operator, which has even its representation in Serbia, can be a good example of the implementation of its business codes of ethics, but also adapting to the business customs being valid in the country in which TUI operates. Because of this, the aim of this work was to examine under what ethical standards TUI operates in Serbia in the domain of different stakeholders. The results of the research can be useful for different stakeholders.

Effectiveness of virtual reality using video gaming technology in elderly adults with diabetes mellitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sunwoo; Shin, Sungrae

2013-06-01

Diabetes in elderly adults is associated with an increased risk of fall. The aim of study was to determine whether a virtual reality exercise (VRE) program would improve balance, strength, gait, and falls efficacy in elderly adults with diabetes. Fifty-five subjects with diabetes mellitus over 65 years of age were randomly assigned to a VRE group (VREG) (n=27) and a control group (CG) (n=28). The VREG received the VRE program and diabetes education, whereas the CG received only the diabetes education. The VRE program used video gaming (PlayStation(®) 2; Sony, Tokyo, Japan) and was conducted for 50 min twice a week for 10 weeks. Balance, muscle strength, gait, and falls efficacy were measured at baseline and after intervention. Measurements were taken using a clinical tests (the one-leg-standing test, the Berg Balance Scale, the functional reach test, the timed up-and-go test, and the sit-to-stand test), and gait analysis. A self-administered questionnaire was used to measure falls efficacy. After training, the VREG showed significantly improved balance, decreased sit-to-stand times, and increased gait speed, cadence, and falls efficacy. The VRE program was to maximize the effects of exercise by triggering players was to be fully immersed into the games and enhanced major influential factors on the falls of subject. This study suggests VRE programs are feasible and effective for reduced the risk of falls in elderly adults with type 2 diabetes.

Increasing Reasoning Awareness: Video Analysis of Students' Two-Party Virtual Patient Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Edelbring, Samuel; Parodis, Ioannis; Lundberg, Ingrid E

2018-02-27

Collaborative reasoning occurs in clinical practice but is rarely developed during education. The computerized virtual patient (VP) cases allow for a stepwise exploration of cases and thus stimulate active learning. Peer settings during VP sessions are believed to have benefits in terms of reasoning but have received scant attention in the literature. The objective of this study was to thoroughly investigate interactions during medical students' clinical reasoning in two-party VP settings. An in-depth exploration of students' interactions in dyad settings of VP sessions was performed. For this purpose, two prerecorded VP sessions lasting 1 hour each were observed, transcribed in full, and analyzed. The transcriptions were analyzed using thematic analysis, and short clips from the videos were selected for subsequent analysis in relation to clinical reasoning and clinical aspects. Four categories of interactions were identified: (1) task-related dialogue, in which students negotiated a shared understanding of the task and strategies for information gathering; (2) case-related insights and perspectives were gained, and the students consolidated and applied preexisting biomedical knowledge into a clinical setting; (3) clinical reasoning interactions were made explicit. In these, hypotheses were followed up and clinical examples were used. The researchers observed interactions not only between students and the VP but also (4) interactions with other resources, such as textbooks. The interactions are discussed in relation to theories of clinical reasoning and peer learning. The dyad VP setting is conducive to activities that promote analytic clinical reasoning. In this setting, components such as peer interaction, access to different resources, and reduced time constraints provided a productive situation in which the students pursued different lines of reasoning. ©Samuel Edelbring, Ioannis Parodis, Ingrid E Lundberg. Originally published in JMIR Medical Education (http

A free ride? An analysis of the association of casino bus tours and problem gambling among older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Maas, Mark; Mann, Robert E; Matheson, Flora I; Turner, Nigel E; Hamilton, Hayley A; McCready, John

2017-12-01

Little research has examined the relationship between incentives used by gambling venues to attract customers and the experience of gambling-related harm. Organized and subsidized bus tours are a common example of such incentives. The aim of this study was to examine whether bus-tour patronage was associated with increased odds of problem gambling among older adults. This study also compared rates of bus-tour use by socio-demographic characteristics and gambling behaviours. Pearson's χ 2 tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests were applied for bivariate analyses. Multivariate generalized mixed-effects regression modelling was used to examine the relationship between bus-tour patronage and problem gambling while controlling for possible confounding factors. Seven gambling venues located in Central and Southwestern Ontario, Canada. A total of 1978 gambling venue patrons over the age of 55 years. Problem gambling as indicated by the Problem Gambling Severity Index, bus-tour patronage in the 12 months prior to the survey, spending per gambling visit and past-month slot machine participation. Regression analyses showed that bus-tour patronage was associated with higher odds of problem gambling [odds ratio (OR) = 1.71, confidence interval (CI) = 1.06, 2.76] after controlling for several demographic characteristics, type of gambling and gambling expenditures. Bivariate analyses showed past-year bus-tour patronage was associated with more frequent slot machine play (χ 2 = 48.16, P casino visit (P < 0.001). Compared with non-patrons, bus tour patrons were more likely to be female (χ 2 = 21.92, P < 0.001), born outside Canada (χ 2 = 113.18, P < 0.001), above the age of 75 (χ 2 = 24.02, P < 0.001) and retired (χ 2 = 16.60, P < 0.001). When adjusting for potential confounders among older adults, using bus tours to access Canadian gambling venues is associated with increased risk of problem gambling. Bus-tour patrons are more likely to be female, born outside

Development of improved ambient computation methods in support of the National Parks Air Tour Management Act

Science.gov (United States)

2008-09-01

Approximately 85 National Park units with commercial air tours will need Air Tour : Management Plans (ATMPs). The objective of an ATMP is to prevent or mitigate : significant adverse impacts to National Park resources. Noise impacts must be : charact...

On Weighted Regions and Social Crowds : Autonomous-agent Navigation in Virtual Worlds

OpenAIRE

Jaklin, N.S.

2016-01-01

Virtual environments have gained in importance in many aspects of the world we live in today. Immersive virtual worlds are ubiquitous in modern movies, video games, and online communities. They are also important in non-entertainment applications such as training and education software, simulations of mass events, evacuation scenarios, human factor analysis, and urban city planning. Training and education software itself comprises various application areas, ranging from teaching children with...

A branch-and-cut algorithm for the capacitated profitable tour problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jepsen, Mads Kehlet; Petersen, Bjørn; Spoorendonk, Simon

2014-01-01

This paper considers the Capacitated Profitable Tour Problem (CPTP) which is a special case of the Elementary Shortest Path Problem with Resource Constraints (ESPPRC). The CPTP belongs to the group of problems known as traveling salesman problems with profits. In CPTP each customer is associated...... with a profit and a demand and the objective is to find a capacitated tour (rooted in a depot node) that minimizes the total travel distance minus the profit of the visited customers. The CPTP can be recognized as the sub-problem in many column generation applications, where it is traditionally solved through...

Effects of micro transactions on video games industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomić Nenad

2017-01-01

Full Text Available During the twentieth century, the entertainment industry recorded a steady revenue growth. The progress of information and communication technology (ICT influenced the creation of a new segment in the industry at the beginning of the 80s, known as the video game industry. During the first two decades, the dominant model of earning for video games publishers was sale of a full game, which means that users were obliged to pay in order to play the game (pay-to-play concept. In the past ten years, publishers have developed a new approach, which instead of selling entire game content at once tends to decompose the sale into several smaller transactions. The prices of these supplements are often calculated in the virtual currency that is considered to be the currency of video game, and not in one of convertible currencies, which creates additional confusion. The subject of the paper is to explain the essence of microtransactions as type of electronic payments created in the video games industry and to observe their role in the process of industry transformation.

Fermilab Ed Office - High School Tour Request Form

Science.gov (United States)

will not work. Programs | Science Adventures | Calendar | Registration | About | Contact | FAQ capacity for physical science tours in April 2018. We will try to accommodate all requests but there is -St Charles CUSD 303-St Charles Kendall-Lisbon CCSD 90-Newark Kendall-Newark CCSD 66-Newark Kendall

Exploring Learner Acceptance of the Use of Virtual Reality in Medical Education: A Case Study of Desktop and Projection-Based Display Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hsiu-Mei; Liaw, Shu-Sheng; Lai, Chung-Min

2016-01-01

Advanced technologies have been widely applied in medical education, including human-patient simulators, immersive virtual reality Cave Automatic Virtual Environment systems, and video conferencing. Evaluating learner acceptance of such virtual reality (VR) learning environments is a critical issue for ensuring that such technologies are used to…

Defining the cognitive enhancing properties of video games: Steps Towards Standardization and Translation.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodwin, Shikha Jain; Dziobek, Derek

2016-09-01

Ever since video games were available to the general public, they have intrigued brain researchers for many reasons. There is an enormous amount of diversity in the video game research, ranging from types of video games used, the amount of time spent playing video games, the definition of video gamer versus non-gamer to the results obtained after playing video games. In this paper, our goal is to provide a critical discussion of these issues, along with some steps towards generalization using the discussion of an article published by Clemenson and Stark (2005) as the starting point. The authors used a distinction between 2D versus 3D video games to compare their effects on the learning and memory in humans. The primary hypothesis of the authors is that the exploration of virtual environments while playing video games is a human correlate of environment enrichment. Authors found that video gamers performed better than the non-video gamers, and if non-gamers are trained on playing video gamers, 3D games provide better environment enrichment compared to 2D video games, as indicated by better memory scores. The end goal of standardization in video games is to be able to translate the field so that the results can be used for greater good.

Individual differences in individualism and collectivism predict ratings of virtual cities' liveability and environmental quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, Mark; Morrison, Tessa

2014-01-01

The present research investigated individual differences in individualism and collectivism as predictors of people's reactions to cities. Psychology undergraduate students (N = 148) took virtual guided tours around historical cities. They then evaluated the cities' liveability and environmental quality and completed measures of individualism and collectivism. Mediation analyses showed that people who scored high in self-responsibility (individualism) rated the cities as more liveable because they perceived them to be richer and better resourced. In contrast, people who scored high in collectivism rated the cities as having a better environmental quality because they perceived them to (1) provide a greater potential for community and social life and (2) allow people to express themselves. These results indicate that people's evaluations of virtual cities are based on the degree to which certain aspects of the cities are perceived to be consistent with individualist and collectivist values.

"Pushing the Boundaries": Participant Motivation and Self-Reported Benefits of Short-Term International Study Tours

Science.gov (United States)

Bretag, Tracey; van der Veen, Robert

2017-01-01

Short-term overseas study tours serve as a means of developing students' global competencies. The authors conducted pre-departure and post-return focus groups with three groups of students at an Australian university who had participated in short-term study tours to Asia to explore their motivations for participating and their self-reported…

Analysis of User Requirements in Interactive 3D Video Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haiyue Yuan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The recent development of three dimensional (3D display technologies has resulted in a proliferation of 3D video production and broadcasting, attracting a lot of research into capture, compression and delivery of stereoscopic content. However, the predominant design practice of interactions with 3D video content has failed to address its differences and possibilities in comparison to the existing 2D video interactions. This paper presents a study of user requirements related to interaction with the stereoscopic 3D video. The study suggests that the change of view, zoom in/out, dynamic video browsing, and textual information are the most relevant interactions with stereoscopic 3D video. In addition, we identified a strong demand for object selection that resulted in a follow-up study of user preferences in 3D selection using virtual-hand and ray-casting metaphors. These results indicate that interaction modality affects users’ decision of object selection in terms of chosen location in 3D, while user attitudes do not have significant impact. Furthermore, the ray-casting-based interaction modality using Wiimote can outperform the volume-based interaction modality using mouse and keyboard for object positioning accuracy.

The Yucca Mountain tours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, N.F.; Champagne, D.L.

1992-01-01

In 1978, Mderthaner et al. observed that opposition to nuclear facilities was lowest near the facility. This suggested that opposition decreased as familiarity with the facility increased, with distance from the facility as an inverse measure of familiarity. In this paper, the authors analyze data from the literature supporting this hypothesis and examine a poll of 1200 public visitors to the candidate repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, in March through June 1991. The tour poll and independent pools show that most Nevadans support the present scientific investigation of the site while opposing the repository. Among the visitors, support for the investigation increased from 66 to 90 percent, which we attribute to increased familiarity

Evaluation of an interactive web-based nursing course with streaming videos for medication administration skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Sowan, Azizeh K; Idhail, Jamila Abu

2014-08-01

Nursing students should exhibit competence in nursing skills in order to provide safe and quality patient care. This study describes the design and students' response to an interactive web-based course using streaming video technology tailored to students' needs and the course objectives of the fundamentals of nursing skills clinical course. A mixed-methodology design was used to describe the experience of 102 first-year undergraduate nursing students at a school of nursing in Jordan who were enrolled in the course. A virtual course with streaming videos was designed to demonstrate medication administration fundamental skills. The videos recorded the ideal lab demonstration of the skills, and real-world practice performed by registered nurses for patients in a hospital setting. After course completion, students completed a 30-item satisfaction questionnaire, 8 self-efficacy scales, and a 4-item scale solicited their preferences of using the virtual course as a substitute or a replacement of the lab demonstration. Students' grades in the skill examination of the procedures were measured. Relationships between the main variables and predictors of satisfaction and self-efficacy were examined. Students were satisfied with the virtual course (3.9 ± 0.56, out of a 5-point scale) with a high-perceived overall self-efficacy (4.38 ± 0.42, out of a 5-point scale). Data showed a significant correlation between student satisfaction, self-efficacy and achievement in the virtual course (r = 0.45-0.49, p students accessed the course from home and some faced technical difficulties. Significant predictors of satisfaction were ease of access the course and gender (B = 0.35, 0.25, CI = 0.12-0.57, 0.02-0.48 respectively). The mean achievement score of students in the virtual class (7.5 ± 0.34) was significantly higher than that of a previous comparable cohort who was taught in the traditional method (6.0 ± 0.23) (p students believed that the virtual course is a sufficient

Playing to your skills: a randomised controlled trial evaluating a dedicated video game for minimally invasive surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Cuan M; Chaitanya, Vishwa; Dicker, Patrick; Traynor, Oscar; Kavanagh, Dara O

2018-02-14

Video gaming demands elements of visual attention, hand-eye coordination and depth perception which may be contiguous with laparoscopic skill development. General video gaming has demonstrated altered cortical plasticity and improved baseline/acquisition of minimally invasive skills. The present study aimed to evaluate for skill acquisition associated with a commercially available dedicated laparoscopic video game (Underground) and its unique (laparoscopic-like) controller for the Nintendo®Wii U™ console. This single-blinded randomised controlled study was conducted with laparoscopically naive student volunteers of limited (Virtual Reality (VR) simulator (LAP Mentor TM , 3D systems, Colorado, USA). Twenty participants were randomised to two groups; Group A was requested to complete 5 h of video gaming (Underground) per week and Group B to avoid gaming beyond their normal frequency. After 4 weeks participants were reassessed using the same VR tasks. Changes in simulator performances were assessed for each group and for intergroup variances using mixed model regression. Significant inter- and intragroup performances were present for the video gaming and controls across four basic tasks. The video gaming group demonstrated significant improvements in thirty-one of the metrics examined including dominant (p ≤ 0.004) and non-dominant (p entertainment distractions (11.1%). Our work revealed significant value in training using a dedicated laparoscopic video game for acquisition of virtual laparoscopic skills. This novel serious game may provide foundations for future surgical developments on game consoles in the home environment.

An interactive three-dimensional virtual body structures system for anatomical training over the internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Temkin, Bharti; Acosta, Eric; Malvankar, Ameya; Vaidyanath, Sreeram

2006-04-01

The Visible Human digital datasets make it possible to develop computer-based anatomical training systems that use virtual anatomical models (virtual body structures-VBS). Medical schools are combining these virtual training systems and classical anatomy teaching methods that use labeled images and cadaver dissection. In this paper we present a customizable web-based three-dimensional anatomy training system, W3D-VBS. W3D-VBS uses National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Visible Human Male datasets to interactively locate, explore, select, extract, highlight, label, and visualize, realistic 2D (using axial, coronal, and sagittal views) and 3D virtual structures. A real-time self-guided virtual tour of the entire body is designed to provide detailed anatomical information about structures, substructures, and proximal structures. The system thus facilitates learning of visuospatial relationships at a level of detail that may not be possible by any other means. The use of volumetric structures allows for repeated real-time virtual dissections, from any angle, at the convenience of the user. Volumetric (3D) virtual dissections are performed by adding, removing, highlighting, and labeling individual structures (and/or entire anatomical systems). The resultant virtual explorations (consisting of anatomical 2D/3D illustrations and animations), with user selected highlighting colors and label positions, can be saved and used for generating lesson plans and evaluation systems. Tracking users' progress using the evaluation system helps customize the curriculum, making W3D-VBS a powerful learning tool. Our plan is to incorporate other Visible Human segmented datasets, especially datasets with higher resolutions, that make it possible to include finer anatomical structures such as nerves and small vessels. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Virtual-reality education and training system for radiation protection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamamoto, T.; Miyatake, H.; Kawakami, T. [Radioisotope Research Center, Osaka (Japan)] [and others

2002-07-01

In order to break the mannerism in the education and training method for radiation protection introduction of virtual reality system to the chalkface has been discussed in addition to the usual lecture and video system in the subcommittee established in JRIAS (Japan Radioisotope Association), and the leading model has been installed in Osaka University. It consists of a main server and 3 clients with a software for virtual reality. With this system the trainee could go into the virtual laboratory and handle the radioisotope. In that case he could also experience various accidents such as trivial failure in the experiments, serious hazard, fire, earthquake, etc., which are difficult to suffer in the real laboratory. Hence those who have experienced such a training could come to act rapidly up against any sudden accidents and also the virtual reality system would result decrease in unnecessary radioactive wastes.

Virtual-reality education and training system for radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, T.; Miyatake, H.; Kawakami, T.

2002-01-01

In order to break the mannerism in the education and training method for radiation protection introduction of virtual reality system to the chalkface has been discussed in addition to the usual lecture and video system in the subcommittee established in JRIAS (Japan Radioisotope Association), and the leading model has been installed in Osaka University. It consists of a main server and 3 clients with a software for virtual reality. With this system the trainee could go into the virtual laboratory and handle the radioisotope. In that case he could also experience various accidents such as trivial failure in the experiments, serious hazard, fire, earthquake, etc., which are difficult to suffer in the real laboratory. Hence those who have experienced such a training could come to act rapidly up against any sudden accidents and also the virtual reality system would result decrease in unnecessary radioactive wastes

Virtual reality and its use as occupational therapeutic resource: an integrative review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tayane Leoncio Caiana

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Virtual Reality is defined as the interface between the user and the computer simulation of a given environment or activity, providing interaction through multiple sensory channels found in video games or computers, offering different experiences to the individual. It is a growing practice in health professions, including Occupational Therapy. Objective: To analyze how virtual reality has been used in occupational therapy processes through a search in national publications that have used this approach in recent years. Method: An integrative literature review was conducted at CAPES, LILACS, MEDLINE and SciELO databases, periodicals of Occupational Therapy (Journal of Occupational Therapy - USP and Occupational Therapy Notebooks - UFSCar, and Google Scholar (book chapters between 2004 and 2014, with the following descriptors: Occupational Therapy, Video Game, Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, Computer Assisted Therapy, and User-Computer Interface. Results: Fifteen articles were selected in compliance with the inclusion criteria. It was observed that most works addressed Virtual Reality as an evaluative method (n = 07; 46.6%, intervening in neurological disorders (n = 10; 66.6%, used more frequently by adolescent audience (n = 07; 46.6%. The computer is the most commonly used equipment in the interventions (n = 10; 66.6%. Conclusion: Virtual Reality is an important tool in promoting health, and it is also used in various treatments. Its use has grown among occupational therapists, but it is still an area that needs to be diligently evidenced, so that it can serve as an aid to update techniques.

Text Version of the Indoor Air Quality House Tour

Science.gov (United States)

Get a quick glimpse of some of the most important ways to protect the air in your home by touring the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) House. Room-by-room, you'll learn about the key pollutants and how to address them.

VIDEO GAMES ARE AN INTERESTING OBJECT TO THE COGNITION STUDIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cleci Maraschin

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Video games create a virtual space that can be inhabited in various ways by the players. Despite the controversies in which they are constantly included, electronic games bear witness to the modus operandi in our contemporary cognition permeated by technical objects. By focusing the know-how instead of a declarative experience the games open questions in the field of new literacies and problematize the use of technology in teaching practices. From the development of a locative game at the Botanical Garden of Porto Alegre, this article discussed some, methodological, political and theoretical implications arising from the research with video games in the field of cognitive studies. We discuss, finally, three theoretical / methodological implications the practice with video games forces us to think: research the video game through the process of its operation, questioning cognitive policies that organize our everyday and map the complex web of practices that supports the use of technical objects.

Integrating IPix immersive video surveillance with unattended and remote monitoring (UNARM) systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michel, K.D.; Klosterbuer, S.F.; Langner, D.C.

2004-01-01

Commercially available IPix cameras and software are being researched as a means by which an inspector can be virtually immersed into a nuclear facility. A single IPix camera can provide 360 by 180 degree views with full pan-tilt-zoom capability, and with no moving parts on the camera mount. Immersive video technology can be merged into the current Unattended and Remote Monitoring (UNARM) system, thereby providing an integrated system of monitoring capabilities that tie together radiation, video, isotopic analysis, Global Positioning System (GPS), etc. The integration of the immersive video capability with other monitoring methods already in place provides a significantly enhanced situational awareness to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.

Innovative Strategies for Clinical Microscopy Instruction: Virtual Versus Light Microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

McDaniel, M Jane; Russell, Gregory B; Crandall, Sonia J

2018-06-01

The purpose of the study was to compare virtual microscopy with light microscopy to determine differences in learning outcomes and learner attitudes in teaching clinical microscopy to physician assistant (PA) students. A prospective, randomized, crossover design study was conducted with a convenience sample of 67 first-year PA students randomized to 2 groups. One group used light microscopes to find microscopic structures, whereas the other group used instructor-directed video streaming of microscopic elements. At the midpoint of the study, the groups switched instructional strategies. Learning outcomes were assessed via posttest after each section of the study, with comparison of final practical examination results to previous cohorts. Attitudes about the 2 educational strategies were assessed through a postcourse questionnaire with a Likert scale. Analysis of the first posttest demonstrated that students in the video-streamed group had significantly better learning outcomes than those in the light microscopy group (P = .004; Cohen's d = 0.74). Analysis of the posttest after crossover showed no differences between the 2 groups (P = .48). Between the 2 posttests, students first assigned to the light microscopy group scored a 6.6 mean point increase (±10.4 SD; p = .0011), whereas students first assigned to the virtual microscopy group scored a 1.3 mean point increase (±7.1 SD; p = .29). The light microscopy group improved more than the virtual microscopy group (P = .019). Analysis of practical examination data revealed higher scores for the study group compared with 5 previous cohorts of first-year students (P virtual microscopy to traditional light microscopy. Virtual microscopy is an effective educational strategy, and students prefer this method when learning to interpret images of clinical specimens.

Designing and Using Videos in Undergraduate Geoscience Education - a workshop and resource website review

Science.gov (United States)

Wiese, K.; Mcconnell, D. A.

2014-12-01

Do you use video in your teaching? Do you make your own video? Interested in joining our growing community of geoscience educators designing and using video inside and outside the classroom? Over four months in Spring 2014, 22 educators of varying video design and development expertise participated in an NSF-funded On the Cutting Edge virtual workshop to review the best educational research on video design and use; to share video-development/use strategies and experiences; and to develop a website of resources for a growing community of geoscience educators who use video: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/video/workshop2014/index.html. The site includes links to workshop presentations, teaching activity collections, and a growing collection of online video resources, including "How-To" videos for various video editing or video-making software and hardware options. Additional web resources support several topical themes including: using videos to flip classes, handling ADA access and copyright issues, assessing the effectiveness of videos inside and outside the classroom, best design principles for video learning, and lists and links of the best videos publicly available for use. The workshop represents an initial step in the creation of an informal team of collaborators devoted to the development and support of an ongoing network of geoscience educators designing and using video. Instructors who are interested in joining this effort are encouraged to contact the lead author.

Maestro, a wonder in virtual reality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debiar, A.; Loverini, M.J.; Annibal, M.

1997-01-01

The CEA's robotics and remote control service has developed an innovative control unit for the MAESTRO manipulator (modular arm and efficient system for tele-robotics), allowing for the association of robotics and virtual reality. Applications are aimed at preparing tasks and missions in nuclear reactor maintenance and monitoring, enhancing video images with synthetic images, and assisting the operator's task allowing him to feel all the interactions between the robot and the obstacles

Automated interactive video playback for studies of animal communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Butkowski, Trisha; Yan, Wei; Gray, Aaron M; Cui, Rongfeng; Verzijden, Machteld N; Rosenthal, Gil G

2011-02-09

Video playback is a widely-used technique for the controlled manipulation and presentation of visual signals in animal communication. In particular, parameter-based computer animation offers the opportunity to independently manipulate any number of behavioral, morphological, or spectral characteristics in the context of realistic, moving images of animals on screen. A major limitation of conventional playback, however, is that the visual stimulus lacks the ability to interact with the live animal. Borrowing from video-game technology, we have created an automated, interactive system for video playback that controls animations in response to real-time signals from a video tracking system. We demonstrated this method by conducting mate-choice trials on female swordtail fish, Xiphophorus birchmanni. Females were given a simultaneous choice between a courting male conspecific and a courting male heterospecific (X. malinche) on opposite sides of an aquarium. The virtual male stimulus was programmed to track the horizontal position of the female, as courting males do in the wild. Mate-choice trials on wild-caught X. birchmanni females were used to validate the prototype's ability to effectively generate a realistic visual stimulus.

STRATEGI PEMASARAN PAKET WISATA PILGRIM PT. DONGAN SAHUTA TOUR AND TRAVEL DI BALI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paradita Putri Amelia

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to determine the marketing activities of pilgrim package tour that have been performed by PT. Dongan Sahuta Tour and Travel, develop strategies and also marketing programs that can be implemented by the company. Data collection by observation, interviews, questionnaires and literature study. The sampling technique used purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using qualitative descriptive analysis, analysis of the Likert scale and SWOT analysis approach. The results obtained there are four teen indicators of strengths, weaknesses of tree indicators, four indicators of opportunities and four indicators threats. Marketing strategies that can be implemented by the firm such as 1create and develop a quality product, 2provide rebates to customers who have used the services of PT. Dongan Sahuta Tour and Travel several times.The advice given are more active in the promotion by giving rebates, conduct marketing activities as E-commers, expand cooperation with business trips or individuals.

Operating Room Performance Improves after Proficiency-Based Virtual Reality Cataract Surgery Training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Ann Sofia Skou; Bach-Holm, Daniella; Kjærbo, Hadi

2017-01-01

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of virtual reality proficiency-based training on actual cataract surgery performance. The secondary purpose of the study was to define which surgeons benefit from virtual reality training. DESIGN: Multicenter masked clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen cataract...... surgeons with different levels of experience. METHODS: Cataract surgical training on a virtual reality simulator (EyeSi) until a proficiency-based test was passed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Technical performance in the operating room (OR) assessed by 3 independent, masked raters using a previously validated...... task-specific assessment tool for cataract surgery (Objective Structured Assessment of Cataract Surgical Skill). Three surgeries before and 3 surgeries after the virtual reality training were video-recorded, anonymized, and presented to the raters in random order. RESULTS: Novices (non...

The Virtual Workplace Ethnography: Positioning Student Writers as Knowledge Makers

Science.gov (United States)

Sommers, Jeff

2015-01-01

The Virtual Workplace Ethnography is a first-year composition assignment that positions students as knowledge makers by requiring them to apply a theoretical lens ("Working Knowledge") to a video representation of a workplace. The lens provides multiple terms for analysis of workplace behaviors in context, providing a scaffolding for…

Aendringer i blodprofiler under Tour de France 2007

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørkeberg, Jakob; Belhage, Bo; Damsgaard, Rasmus

2008-01-01

sports federations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During the Tour de France 2007, 7 riders were randomly tested on 3 different occasions; the day before the prologue, and 12 and 19 days after the prologue. Blood was drawn into 3 mL EDTA covered tubes and kept at 4 degrees Celsius. They were analyzed within 24...

Methamphetamine craving induced in an online virtual reality environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Culbertson, Christopher; Nicolas, Sam; Zaharovits, Itay; London, Edythe D; De La Garza, Richard; Brody, Arthur L; Newton, Thomas F

2010-10-01

The main aim of this study was to assess self-reported craving and physiological reactivity in a methamphetamine virtual reality (METH-VR) cue model created using Second Life, a freely available online gaming platform. Seventeen, non-treatment seeking, individuals that abuse methamphetamine (METH) completed this 1-day, outpatient, within-subjects study. Participants completed four test sessions: 1) METH-VR, 2) neutral-VR, 3) METH-video, and 4) neutral-video in a counterbalanced (Latin square) fashion. The participants provided subjective ratings of urges to use METH, mood, and physical state throughout each cue presentation. Measures of physiological reactivity (heart rate variability) were also collected during each cue presentation and at rest. The METH-VR condition elicited the greatest change in subjective reports of "crave METH", "desire METH", and "want METH" at all time points. The "high craving" participants displayed more high frequency cardiovascular activity while the "low craving" participants displayed more low frequency cardiovascular activity during the cue conditions, with the greatest difference seen during the METH-VR and METH-video cues. These findings reveal a physiological divergence between high and low craving METH abusers using heart rate variability, and demonstrate the usefulness of VR cues for eliciting subjective craving in METH abusers, as well as the effectiveness of a novel VR drug cue model created within an online virtual world. (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PROBLEM PENDIDIKAN VIDEO GAMES DALAM PERSPEKTIF TEORI SIMULACRA JEAN BAUDRILLARD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Murtiningsih, Joko Siswanto, M. Mukhtasar Syamsudin

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Education Problems of Video Games in the Perspective of Jean Baudrillard’s Theory of Simulacra. In the era of digital age, we are witnessing how video games penetrate children’s daily life and it is believed to have some impacts on their cognitive and affective processes. Referring to hermeneutical approach, the present library research seeks to answer the question whether video games create a real identity or simply forge false consciousness in children. In the first step, the data were collected from bibliographi­cal sources that related to data. In the second step, the data were analyzed to examine the pedagogical-philosophical properties of the video games. The results indicate that video games change the way children view the world. Video games present the world as hiper-reality. Bu putting aside the negative values and maximizing the positive ones, the understanding of hiper-reality allows for the inculcation of children. Abstrak: Problem Pendidikan Video Games dalam Perspectif Teori Simulacra Jean Baudrillard. Permainan video games diyakini berdampak positif sekaligus negatif pada proses kognitif dan afektif anak.-anak. Terutama, video games berpengaruh pada proses internalisasi nilai-nilai dan pembentukan identitas mereka. Teknologi virtual yang disajikan oleh video games, seperti didekati oleh teori simulacra Jean Baudrillard, menyuguhkan jebakan akan realitas palsu. Melalui riset pustaka dengan metode "filsafat her­meneutis", dianalisis data untuk membangun refleksi filsafat pendidikan atas permainan video games itu. Hasil penelitian ini menyatakan video games menyuguhkan sebuah hiper-realitas dari simulasi realitas, atau simulacra dalam teori Jean Baudrillard. Simulacra adalah dunia yang terbentuk dari salinan realitas, yang menjadi acuan melebihi realitas asli. Disimpulkan bahwa video games menjadi semacam “ruang konseptual”, yang dibentuk oleh simulacra. Dengan mengenali hakikat hiper-realitas, video games dapat

CERN hosts Tour du canton de Genève stage

CERN Multimedia

Patrice Loïez

2004-01-01

CERN hosted the first stage of the 10th Tour du canton de Genève on the evening of Wednesday 26 May. The Tour du canton is an annual race run in four stages over four weeks, and this year started at CERN as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. The event attracted over 2000 runners, including over 40 from CERN, as well as a large crowd of onlookers. The 10.5 km route started and finished outside CERN's Main Building, taking in the Swiss countryside, crossing into France and coming back through the tunnel linking the two CERN sites. CERN runners finished in second place in the Enterprise category just 13 seconds behind Rolex S.A., setting up an exciting contest for the remaining stages at Bernex, Meyrin and Jussy.

Increasing student engagement and retention using immersive interfaces virtual worlds, gaming and simulation

CERN Document Server

Wankel, Charles

2012-01-01

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Immersive Interfaces: Virtual Worlds, Gaming, and Simulation uses case studies, surveys, and literature reviews to critically examine how gaming, simulation, and virtualization are being used to improve teamwork and leadership skills in students, create engaging communities of practice, and as experiential learning tools to create inter-cultural, multi-perspective, and global experiences. Chapters include how to increase learner engagement using serious games, using game features for classroom engagement, using client-based peer assessment in multi-role, whole-enterprise simulations, using virtual worlds to develop teacher candidate skills, enhancing leadership skills through virtual simulation, using online video simulation for educational leadership, using augmented reality in education, using open source software in education, using educational robotics laboratories to enhance active learning, and utilizing the virtual learning environment to encourage facu...

The Uncanny Valley and Nonverbal Communication in Virtual Characters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tinwell, Angela; Grimshaw, Mark Nicholas; Abdel Nabi, Debbie

2014-01-01

This chapter provides an overview of a current research project investigating the Uncanny Valley phenomenon in realistic, human-like virtual characters. !e research methods used in this Work include a retrospective of both empirical studies and philosophical writings on the Uncanny. No other...... research has explored the notion that realistic, human-like, virtual characters are regarded less favorably due to a perceived diminished degree of responsiveness in facial expression, specifically, nonverbal communication (NVC) in the upper face region. So far, this research project has provided the first...... empirical evidence to test the Uncanny Valley phenomenon in the domain of animated video game characters with speech, as opposed to just still, unresponsive images, as used in previous studies. Based on the results of these experiments, a conceptual framework of the Uncanny Valley in virtual characters has...

A new possibility in thoracoscopic virtual reality simulation training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Katrine; Bjerrum, Flemming; Hansen, Henrik Jessen

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to develop virtual reality simulation software for video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy, to explore the opinions of thoracic surgeons concerning the VATS lobectomy simulator and to test the validity of the simulator metrics. METHODS: Experienced...... VATS surgeons worked with computer specialists to develop a VATS lobectomy software for a virtual reality simulator. Thoracic surgeons with different degrees of experience in VATS were enrolled at the 22nd meeting of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) held in Copenhagen in June 2014...... content validity. Metrics were compared between the three groups. RESULTS: We succeeded in developing the first version of a virtual reality VATS lobectomy simulator. A total of 103 thoracic surgeons completed the simulated lobectomy and were distributed as follows: novices n = 32, intermediates n = 45...

What People Talk About in Virtual Worlds

Science.gov (United States)

Maher, Mary Lou

This chapter examines what people talk about in virtual worlds, employing protocol analysis. Each of two scenario studies was developed to assess the impact of virtual worlds as a collaborative environment for a specific purpose: one for learning and one for designing. The first designed a place in Active Worlds for a course on Web Site Design, having group learning spaces surrounded by individual student galleries. Student text chat was analyzed through a coding scheme with four major categories: control, technology, learning, and place. The second studied expert architects in a Second Life environment called DesignWorld that combined 3D modeling and sketching tools. Video and audio recordings were coded in terms of four categories of communication content (designing, representation of the model, awareness of each other, and software features), and in terms of synthesis comparing alternative designs versus analysis of how well the proposed solution satisfies the given design task. Both studies found that people talk about their avatars, identity, and location in the virtual world. However, the discussion is chiefly about the task and not about the virtual world, implying that virtual worlds provide a viable environment for learning and designing that does not distract people from their task.

Combination of a Flipped Classroom Format and a Virtual Patient Case to Enhance Active Learning in a Required Therapeutics Course

Science.gov (United States)

Lichvar, Alicia Beth; Hedges, Ashley; Benedict, Neal J.

2016-01-01

Objective. To design and evaluate the integration of a virtual patient activity in a required therapeutics course already using a flipped-classroom teaching format. Design. A narrative-branched, dynamic virtual-patient case was designed to replace the static written cases that students worked through during the class, which was dedicated to teaching the complications of liver disease. Students completed pre- and posttests before and after completing the virtual patient case. Examination scores were compared to those in the previous year. Assessment. Students’ posttest scores were higher compared to pretest scores (33% vs 50%). Overall median examination scores were higher compared to the historical control group (70% vs 80%), as well as scores on questions assessing higher-level learning (67% vs 83%). A majority of students (68%) felt the virtual patient helped them apply knowledge gained in the pre-class video lecture. Students preferred this strategy to usual in-class activities (33%) or indicated it was of equal value (37%). Conclusion. The combination of a pre-class video lecture with an in-class virtual patient case is an effective active-learning strategy. PMID:28179724

Combination of a Flipped Classroom Format and a Virtual Patient Case to Enhance Active Learning in a Required Therapeutics Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Lichvar, Alicia Beth; Hedges, Ashley; Benedict, Neal J; Donihi, Amy C

2016-12-25

Objective. To design and evaluate the integration of a virtual patient activity in a required therapeutics course already using a flipped-classroom teaching format. Design. A narrative-branched, dynamic virtual-patient case was designed to replace the static written cases that students worked through during the class, which was dedicated to teaching the complications of liver disease. Students completed pre- and posttests before and after completing the virtual patient case. Examination scores were compared to those in the previous year. Assessment. Students' posttest scores were higher compared to pretest scores (33% vs 50%). Overall median examination scores were higher compared to the historical control group (70% vs 80%), as well as scores on questions assessing higher-level learning (67% vs 83%). A majority of students (68%) felt the virtual patient helped them apply knowledge gained in the pre-class video lecture. Students preferred this strategy to usual in-class activities (33%) or indicated it was of equal value (37%). Conclusion. The combination of a pre-class video lecture with an in-class virtual patient case is an effective active-learning strategy.

Recorded peer video chat as a research and development tool

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Otrel-Cass, Kathrin; Cowie, Bronwen

2016-01-01

When practising teachers take time to exchange their experiences and reflect on their teaching realities as critical friends, they add meaning and depth to educational research. When peer talk is facilitated through video chat platforms, teachers can meet (virtually) face to face even when...... recordings were transcribed and used to prompt further discussion. The recording of the video chat meetings provided an opportunity for researchers to listen in and follow up on points they felt needed further unpacking or clarification. The recorded peer video chat conversations provided an additional...... opportunity to stimulate and support teacher participants in a process of critical analysis and reflection on practice. The discussions themselves were empowering because in the absence of the researcher, the teachers, in negotiation with peers, choose what is important enough to them to take time to discuss....

Factors Affecting Training Effectiveness in Synchronous, Dispersed Virtual Environments

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-01

facilities could capture significant efficiencies in manning and simulator hardware. Electronically delivering this training capability across high speed...Applied Psychology. 86, 1270-1279. Fetscherin, M. & Lattermann, C. (2008). User acceptance of virtual worlds. Journal of Electronic Commerce...40 Gowan, J. A., & Downs, J. M. (1994). Video conferencing human-machine interface: A field study. Information & Management, 27, 341–356

Virtual Reality Conferencing: Multi-user immersive VR experiences on the web

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gunkel, S.N.B.; Stokking, H.M.; Prins, M.J.; Stap, N. van der; Haar, F.B. ter; Niamut, O.A.

2018-01-01

Virtual Reality (VR) and 360-degree video are set to become part of the future social environment, enriching and enhancing the way we share experiences and collaborate remotely. While Social VR applications are getting more momentum, most services regarding Social VR focus on animated avatars. In

Lake Mead National Recreational Area air tour management plan and planning and National Environmental Policy Act scoping document

Science.gov (United States)

2004-04-19

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), has initiated the development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP) for Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LAME) pursuant to the National Parks Air Tour ...

Failure to demonstrate that playing violent video games diminishes prosocial behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Tear, Morgan J; Nielsen, Mark

2013-01-01

Past research has found that playing a classic prosocial video game resulted in heightened prosocial behavior when compared to a control group, whereas playing a classic violent video game had no effect. Given purported links between violent video games and poor social behavior, this result is surprising. Here our aim was to assess whether this finding may be due to the specific games used. That is, modern games are experienced differently from classic games (more immersion in virtual environments, more connection with characters, etc.) and it may be that playing violent video games impacts prosocial behavior only when contemporary versions are used. Experiments 1 and 2 explored the effects of playing contemporary violent, non-violent, and prosocial video games on prosocial behavior, as measured by the pen-drop task. We found that slight contextual changes in the delivery of the pen-drop task led to different rates of helping but that the type of game played had little effect. Experiment 3 explored this further by using classic games. Again, we found no effect. We failed to find evidence that playing video games affects prosocial behavior. Research on the effects of video game play is of significant public interest. It is therefore important that speculation be rigorously tested and findings replicated. Here we fail to substantiate conjecture that playing contemporary violent video games will lead to diminished prosocial behavior.

It’s okay to shoot a character. Moral disengagement in violent video games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartmann, T.; Vorderer, P.A.

2010-01-01

What makes virtual violence enjoyable rather than aversive? Two 2×2 experiments tested the assumption that moral disengagement cues provided by a violent video game's narrative and game play lessen users' guilt and negative affect, which would otherwise undermine players' enjoyment of the game.

Deaf-Accessibility for Spoonies: Lessons from Touring "Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee" While Chronically Ill

Science.gov (United States)

Barokka (Okka), Khairani

2017-01-01

This article presents lessons from touring a show on pain with limited resources and in chronic pain. In 2014, I toured solo deaf-accessible poetry/art show "Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee" in various forms in the UK, Austria, and India. As an Indonesian woman with then-extreme chronic pain and fatigue, herein are lessons learned from…

First Virtual Live Conference in Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Parthasarathi, Ramakrishnan; Gomes, Rachel M; Palanivelu, Praveen Raj; Senthilnathan, Palanisamy; Rajapandian, Subbiah; Venkatachalam, Ramasamy; Palanivelu, Chinnusamy

2017-07-01

Conferences and meetings bring together thousands of doctors from diverse locations. However, the traveling, accommodation, and arrangement of venues for conferences and meetings are expensive and a lot of time needs to be devoted to these logistics. The purpose of this article was to present our own virtual live conference experience using web conferencing and to briefly outline the basics and advantages of this technology in organization of healthcare conferences. Web conferencing technology was used to organize an international bariatric surgery conference, allowing a large number of attendees to participate and interact from wherever they were, using merely an Internet connection with a video player on their personal computers, laptops, or smartphones. A virtual live conference saves a lot of time and cost and simplifies the logistics needed to organize a learning conference with worldwide participation. As far as we know, this is the first report of a virtual live conference in healthcare. We see it as the future of organizing experts as well as medical teaching conferences.

Fostering Student Engagement through a Multi-Day Industry Tour

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Lorraine L.; Hartman, Cindy L.; Baldwin, Elizabeth D.

2015-01-01

Student engagement may be enhanced by providing educationally purposeful activities outside of the classroom. This study considers the influence of a multi-day industry tour on student engagement for undergraduates majoring in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. Data were collected from students' reflections in journal entries focused on an…

14 CFR 136.39 - Air tour management plans (ATMP).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Air tour management plans (ATMP). 136.39... management plans (ATMP). (a) Establishment. The Administrator, in cooperation with the Director, shall... of decision. (d) Procedure. In establishing an ATMP for a national park or tribal lands, the...

Video Bioinformatics Analysis of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Colony Growth

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Sabrina; Fonteno, Shawn; Satish, Shruthi; Bhanu, Bir; Talbot, Prue

2010-01-01

Because video data are complex and are comprised of many images, mining information from video material is difficult to do without the aid of computer software. Video bioinformatics is a powerful quantitative approach for extracting spatio-temporal data from video images using computer software to perform dating mining and analysis. In this article, we introduce a video bioinformatics method for quantifying the growth of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) by analyzing time-lapse videos collected in a Nikon BioStation CT incubator equipped with a camera for video imaging. In our experiments, hESC colonies that were attached to Matrigel were filmed for 48 hours in the BioStation CT. To determine the rate of growth of these colonies, recipes were developed using CL-Quant software which enables users to extract various types of data from video images. To accurately evaluate colony growth, three recipes were created. The first segmented the image into the colony and background, the second enhanced the image to define colonies throughout the video sequence accurately, and the third measured the number of pixels in the colony over time. The three recipes were run in sequence on video data collected in a BioStation CT to analyze the rate of growth of individual hESC colonies over 48 hours. To verify the truthfulness of the CL-Quant recipes, the same data were analyzed manually using Adobe Photoshop software. When the data obtained using the CL-Quant recipes and Photoshop were compared, results were virtually identical, indicating the CL-Quant recipes were truthful. The method described here could be applied to any video data to measure growth rates of hESC or other cells that grow in colonies. In addition, other video bioinformatics recipes can be developed in the future for other cell processes such as migration, apoptosis, and cell adhesion. PMID:20495527

Purchasing behaviour on aesthetic items in online video games with real currency : The case of Counter Strike: Global Offensive

OpenAIRE

Rodríguez, Bruno

2017-01-01

Over the last decade, buying in-game content with real money has become a more common practice among players in order to unlock exclusive content in video games. Prior research has mainly focused on those functional digital items that provide an advantage to the buyer. This thesis aims to determine the underlying factors that influence video game players to purchase purely aesthetic virtual items.Prior studies on the field of video games, gaming business models and purchasing behaviour were r...

Virtual World, Defined from a Technological Perspective, and Applied to Video Games, Mixed Reality and the Metaverse

OpenAIRE

Nevelsteen, Kim J. L.

2015-01-01

There is no generally accepted definition for a virtual world, with many complimentary terms and acronyms having emerged implying a virtual world. Advances in systems architecture techniques such as, host migration of instances, mobile ad-hoc networking, and distributed computing, bring in to question whether those architectures can actually support a virtual world. Without a concrete definition, controversy ensues and it is problematic to design an architecture for a virtual world. Several r...

Visitor Learning on Guided Tours: An Activity Theory Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Lily Beatrice

2016-01-01

Guided tours, field trips, and other non-formal learning experiences occur in a variety of settings such as museums, parks, civic buildings, and architectural landmarks for the purpose of educating the public. This study yielded four main findings. (1) Program educational goals were visitor awareness, positive affective experience, and advocacy.…

Cochrane review: virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Laver, K; George, S; Thomas, S; Deutsch, J E; Crotty, M

2012-09-01

Virtual reality and interactive video gaming are innovative therapy approaches in the field of stroke rehabilitation. The primary objective of this review was to determine the effectiveness of virtual reality on motor function after stroke. The impact on secondary outcomes including activities of daily living was also assessed. Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials that compared virtual reality with an alternative or no intervention were included in the review. The authors searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, electronic databases, trial registers, reference lists, Dissertation Abstracts, conference proceedings and contacted key researchers and virtual reality manufacturers. Search results were independently examined by two review authors to identify studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Nineteen studies with a total of 565 participants were included in the review. Variation in intervention approaches and outcome data collected limited the extent to which studies could be compared. Virtual reality was found to be significantly more effective than conventional therapy in improving upper limb function (standardised mean difference, SMD) 0.53, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.25 to 0.81)) based on seven studies, and activities of daily living (ADL) function (SMD 0.81, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.22) based on three studies. No statistically significant effects were found for grip strength (based on two studies) or gait speed (based on three studies). Virtual reality appears to be a promising approach however, further studies are required to confirm these findings.

Virtual Learning Environment for Interactive Engagement with Advanced Quantum Mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Mads Kock; Skyum, Birk; Heck, Robert; Müller, Romain; Bason, Mark; Lieberoth, Andreas; Sherson, Jacob F.

2016-06-01

A virtual learning environment can engage university students in the learning process in ways that the traditional lectures and lab formats cannot. We present our virtual learning environment StudentResearcher, which incorporates simulations, multiple-choice quizzes, video lectures, and gamification into a learning path for quantum mechanics at the advanced university level. StudentResearcher is built upon the experiences gathered from workshops with the citizen science game Quantum Moves at the high-school and university level, where the games were used extensively to illustrate the basic concepts of quantum mechanics. The first test of this new virtual learning environment was a 2014 course in advanced quantum mechanics at Aarhus University with 47 enrolled students. We found increased learning for the students who were more active on the platform independent of their previous performances.

Virtual MR endoscopy of the ventricles prior to neurosurgical interventional endoscopy - evaluation of different presentation techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemke, A.J.; Schurig-Urbaniak, A.M.; Niehues, S.M.; Felix, R.; Liebig, T.

2004-01-01

Purpose: In the past, virtual endoscopies have been performed for planning of endoscopic interventions or for diagnostic purposes in various organ systems with increasing frequency. This study evaluates the ability of virtual ventricular endoscopy to depict anatomical structures and the use for planning of real endoscopy. Materials and Methods: In a prospective study, 4 volunteers and 8 patients were examined with MRI. In 3 of the patients endoscopy was performed by our neurosurgeons thereafter. The calculation of the virtual endoscopy was based on 1 mm sagittal T2-weighted images. Comparison of surface rendering and volume rendering was made by means of video sequencing of individual views, and these were compared with the intraoperative endoscopic videos concerning the depictability of anatomical landmarks. Results: The reconstructions using volume rendering were more significant and easier to calculate than those based on surface rendering. Virtual endoscopy in the transparent mode allowed visualization of hazardous structures outside the ventricular system such as the basilar artery tip. Transparent 3D images of the ventricles gave a good overview on the depicted structures and enabled a better orientation during the virtual camera flight than surface rendered views. Conclusion: MR-based virtual endoscopy of the ventricular system can be obtained on the basis of surface- and volume-rendered views of sagittal T2-weighted thin sections. Preoperative utilization of this method simplifies the planning of endoscopy by visualization of anatomical structures. (orig.)

Getting Back to Basics: A Student Library Orientation Tour

Science.gov (United States)

Sciammarella, Susan; Fernandes, Maria Isabel

2007-01-01

In developing a Library Orientation Tour, it is important to be perceptive about the needs of a college population. At Queensborough Community College the student population is a mix of traditional and non-traditional students from diversified backgrounds. The initial contact with the Library, and its resources, may be overwhelming for students…

How Color Properties Can Be Used to Elicit Emotions in Video Games

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik Geslin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Classifying the many types of video games is difficult, as their genres and supports are different, but they all have in common that they seek the commitment of the player through exciting emotions and challenges. Since the income of the video game industry exceeds that of the film industry, the field of inducting emotions through video games and virtual environments is attracting more attention. Our theory, widely supported by substantial literature, is that the chromatic stimuli intensity, brightness, and saturation of a video game environment produce an emotional effect on players. We have observed a correlation between the RGB additives color spaces, HSV, HSL, and HSI components of video game images, presented to n=85 participants, and the emotional statements expressed in terms of arousal and valence, recovered in a subjective semantic questionnaire. Our results show a significant correlation between luminance, saturation, lightness, and the emotions of joy, sadness, fear, and serenity experienced by participants viewing 24 video game images. We also show strong correlations between the colorimetric diversity, saliency volume, and stimuli conspicuity and the emotions expressed by the players. These results allow us to propose video game environment development methods in the form of a circumplex model. It is aimed at game designers for developing emotional color scripting.

YouTube Videos to Create a "Virtual Hospital Experience" for Hip and Knee Replacement Patients to Decrease Preoperative Anxiety: A Randomized Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Mary I; Brennan, Katharyn; Kazmerchak, Shari; Pratt, Jason

2016-04-18

With declining reimbursement to health care systems, face-to-face time between patients and providers to optimize preoperative education and counseling may be challenging. Because high patient anxiety prior to surgery has been linked to more severe and persistent pain after joint replacement surgery, the Orthopedic Surgery Department at Mayo Clinic in Florida created a playlist of 16 YouTube videos aimed at creating a virtual hospital experience for primary total hip and knee joint replacement patients. A randomized trial was then performed to evaluate the potential impact of viewing this playlist on preoperative anxiety. Each patient completed a Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) score assessment at the time of the routine preoperative clinic visit and then randomized based on his/her gender, type of surgery, and initial GAD score to either the control group of standard education (education at face-to-face clinical visits as well as printed educational materials) or the treatment group (standard education plus access to the YouTube playlist). On the morning of the patient's surgery, the same survey was repeated. Of the 65 patients who consented to participate in the study, 53 completed the study (82%) with 28 of 29 (97% completed) in the control group and 25 of 36 (69% completed) in the treatment group. Overall, the results showed a trend toward less anxiety in patients who viewed the YouTube videos; this was exhibited by a reduction in the median GAD score by 1 point. This trend is more clearly present in patients with high preoperative anxiety (predominantly women), as seen in the reduction of the median GAD score by 6 points in the treatment group. Although our experience is limited, our results indicate that a series of tailored videos may decrease patient anxiety preoperatively. We recommend further exploration of both this concept and the use of social media tools in preoperative patient education. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02546180; http

Virtual reality in experience marketing: An empirical study of the effects of immersive VR

OpenAIRE

Ebbesen, Marius; Ahsan, Sabeel

2017-01-01

Recent technological development has led virtual reality (VR) head mounted displays (HMD) to become commercially available to the mass market. Consumers have started to adopt the technology quickly, and forecasts for the VR industry are very promising for the upcoming years. However, little research has been conducted on the effects of exposure to immersive VR video through HMDs. Our aim for this thesis has been to investigate the effects of exposure to VR video and uncover the underlying mec...

Effects of avatar race in violent video games on racial attitudes and aggression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yang, G.S.; Gibson, B; Lueke, A.K.; Huesmann, L.R.; Bushman, B.J.

2014-01-01

The media often link Black characters and violence. This is especially true in video games, in which Black male characters are virtually always violent. This research tested the effects of playing a violent game as a Black (vs. White) avatar on racial stereotypes and aggression. In Experiment 1,

Droni e turismo virtuale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeria Minucciani

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Virtual tourism has been through at least three generations. The first is a special form of e-commerce, and no doubt it has much changed the way you plan your travel. Second generation of virtual tourism has exploited georeference: the user can know the services offered nearby and, with appropriate apps and augmented reality, receive information about places. An important contribution has been made in this field by social media (see Flickr, as well as Tripadvisor. The third generation of virtual tourism even replaces the travel experience: first proposing visits in virtual worlds, then in the real world. That allows tourism to social classes that are excluded. The goal is to send in the real place an "avatar", that can perform what tourist wants. Some experiments have been recently performed with robots, here a visit by drones is proposed. In particular, indoor visits are difficult because it is necessary to re-create a microgeodetic reference system in a closed and confined environment, to allow remote control and to ensure the protection of the cultural property. It has also to be considered the issue of the size of the drone, its autonomy and shooting video (which must be 360 degrees and high definition. The real experience is irreplaceable, but this form of tourism can find many interesting applications and strengthen real tourism. In conclusion, we believe that not only this performances are now within the reach of our technical capabilities, but  they also represent an effective response to certain social and cultural issues.

Droni e turismo virtuale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeria Minucciani

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Virtual tourism has been through at least three generations.The first is a special form of e-commerce, and no doubt it has much changed the way you plan your travel. Second generation of virtual tourism has exploited georeference: the user can know the services offered nearby and, with appropriate apps and augmented reality, receive information about places.An important contribution has been made in this field by social media (see Flickr, as well as Tripadvisor. The third generation of virtual tourism even replaces the travel experience: first proposing visits in virtual worlds, then in the real world. That allows tourism to social classes that are excluded.The goal is to send in the real place an "avatar", that can perform what tourist wants. Some experiments have been recently performed with robots, here a visit by drones is proposed. In particular, indoor visits are difficult because it is necessary to re-create a microgeodetic reference system in a closed and confined environment, to allow remote control and to ensure the protection of the cultural property. It has also to be considered the issue of the size of the drone, its autonomy and shooting video (which must be 360 degrees and high definition.The real experience is irreplaceable, but this form of tourism can find many interesting applications and strengthen real tourism.In conclusion, we believe that not only this performances are now within the reach of our technical capabilities, but  they also represent an effective response to certain social and cultural issues. 

What do we do with all this video? Better understanding public engagement for image and video annotation

Science.gov (United States)

Wiener, C.; Miller, A.; Zykov, V.

2016-12-01

Advanced robotic vehicles are increasingly being used by oceanographic research vessels to enable more efficient and widespread exploration of the ocean, particularly the deep ocean. With cutting-edge capabilities mounted onto robotic vehicles, data at high resolutions is being generated more than ever before, enabling enhanced data collection and the potential for broader participation. For example, high resolution camera technology not only improves visualization of the ocean environment, but also expands the capacity to engage participants remotely through increased use of telepresence and virtual reality techniques. Schmidt Ocean Institute is a private, non-profit operating foundation established to advance the understanding of the world's oceans through technological advancement, intelligent observation and analysis, and open sharing of information. Telepresence-enabled research is an important component of Schmidt Ocean Institute's science research cruises, which this presentation will highlight. Schmidt Ocean Institute is one of the only research programs that make their entire underwater vehicle dive series available online, creating a collection of video that enables anyone to follow deep sea research in real time. We encourage students, educators and the general public to take advantage of freely available dive videos. Additionally, other SOI-supported internet platforms, have engaged the public in image and video annotation activities. Examples of these new online platforms, which utilize citizen scientists to annotate scientific image and video data will be provided. This presentation will include an introduction to SOI-supported video and image tagging citizen science projects, real-time robot tracking, live ship-to-shore communications, and an array of outreach activities that enable scientists to interact with the public and explore the ocean in fascinating detail.

Sistem Informasi Manajemen Rantai Pasok Pariwisata Untuk Pembuatan Produk Wisata Pada Agen Tour dan Travel dengan Analisis Swot dan Metode Analytic Network Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dwi Mustika Kusumawardani

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The development of services company in tourism is increasing. Therefore each tour & travel agent should be able to improve the quality of attractive and competitive products. This research builds a system analysis of supply chain management in the manufacturing of tour packages with SWOT analysis and Analytic Network Process (ANP. SWOT analysis is one way to decide marketing strategy for the company to able to face global competition. In this study, a SWOT analysis is used to select the best suppliers in tourism sector. Suppliers include: hotels, restaurants, attractions and accommodations. Combination of the best suppliers used as in one product of tour package. While the method of Analytic Network Process is used to rank the tour package has been obtained previously. In addition, this method is applied because it can provide information about the most influential of criteria in making tour package. This method conducted by looking at dependency relationship between among criteria. Then give them weight among criteria, sub-criteria and alternatives. The criteria used in the method of Analytic Network Process are: product, price, place and promotion. The results obtained from this research is the system analysis of supply chain management of tourism which capable of producing an attractive and competitive tour packages form of tour packages 1 with a value of 0.53. In addition, this information system provides information that the most influential criteria in making tour package is the product criteria with a value of 0.30. The next criterion which affects the making of attractive and competitive tour packages is price of criteria with a value of 0.28.

Virtual Meteorological Center

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Brinzila

2007-10-01

Full Text Available A virtual meteorological center, computer based with Internet possibility transmission of the information is presented. Circumstance data is collected with logging field meteorological station. The station collects and automatically save data about the temperature in the air, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed and wind direction, rain gauge, solar radiation and air quality. Also can perform sensors test, analyze historical data and evaluate statistical information. The novelty of the system is that it can publish data over the Internet using LabVIEW Web Server capabilities and deliver a video signal to the School TV network. Also the system performs redundant measurement of temperature and humidity and was improved using new sensors and an original signal conditioning module.

The CAVE (TM) automatic virtual environment: Characteristics and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kenyon, Robert V.

1995-01-01

Virtual reality may best be defined as the wide-field presentation of computer-generated, multi-sensory information that tracks a user in real time. In addition to the more well-known modes of virtual reality -- head-mounted displays and boom-mounted displays -- the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago recently introduced a third mode: a room constructed from large screens on which the graphics are projected on to three walls and the floor. The CAVE is a multi-person, room sized, high resolution, 3D video and audio environment. Graphics are rear projected in stereo onto three walls and the floor, and viewed with stereo glasses. As a viewer wearing a location sensor moves within its display boundaries, the correct perspective and stereo projections of the environment are updated, and the image moves with and surrounds the viewer. The other viewers in the CAVE are like passengers in a bus, along for the ride. 'CAVE,' the name selected for the virtual reality theater, is both a recursive acronym (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) and a reference to 'The Simile of the Cave' found in Plato's 'Republic,' in which the philosopher explores the ideas of perception, reality, and illusion. Plato used the analogy of a person facing the back of a cave alive with shadows that are his/her only basis for ideas of what real objects are. Rather than having evolved from video games or flight simulation, the CAVE has its motivation rooted in scientific visualization and the SIGGRAPH 92 Showcase effort. The CAVE was designed to be a useful tool for scientific visualization. The Showcase event was an experiment; the Showcase chair and committee advocated an environment for computational scientists to interactively present their research at a major professional conference in a one-to-many format on high-end workstations attached to large projection screens. The CAVE was developed as a 'virtual reality theater' with scientific content and

A tour of inequality

Science.gov (United States)

Eliazar, Iddo

2018-02-01

This paper presents a concise and up-to-date tour to the realm of inequality indices. Originally devised for socioeconomic applications, inequality indices gauge the divergence of wealth distributions in human societies from the socioeconomic 'ground state' of perfect equality, i.e. pure communism. Inequality indices are quantitative scores that take values in the unit interval, with the zero score characterizing perfect equality. In effect, inequality indices are applicable in the context of general distributions of sizes - non-negative quantities such as count, length, area, volume, mass, energy, and duration. For general size distributions, which are omnipresent in science and engineering, inequality indices provide multi-dimensional and infinite-dimensional quantifications of the inherent inequality - i.e., the statistical heterogeneity, the non-determinism, the randomness. This paper compactly describes the insights and the practical implementation of inequality indices.

Failure to demonstrate that playing violent video games diminishes prosocial behavior.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morgan J Tear

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Past research has found that playing a classic prosocial video game resulted in heightened prosocial behavior when compared to a control group, whereas playing a classic violent video game had no effect. Given purported links between violent video games and poor social behavior, this result is surprising. Here our aim was to assess whether this finding may be due to the specific games used. That is, modern games are experienced differently from classic games (more immersion in virtual environments, more connection with characters, etc. and it may be that playing violent video games impacts prosocial behavior only when contemporary versions are used. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Experiments 1 and 2 explored the effects of playing contemporary violent, non-violent, and prosocial video games on prosocial behavior, as measured by the pen-drop task. We found that slight contextual changes in the delivery of the pen-drop task led to different rates of helping but that the type of game played had little effect. Experiment 3 explored this further by using classic games. Again, we found no effect. CONCLUSIONS: We failed to find evidence that playing video games affects prosocial behavior. Research on the effects of video game play is of significant public interest. It is therefore important that speculation be rigorously tested and findings replicated. Here we fail to substantiate conjecture that playing contemporary violent video games will lead to diminished prosocial behavior.

Failure to Demonstrate That Playing Violent Video Games Diminishes Prosocial Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Tear, Morgan J.; Nielsen, Mark

2013-01-01

Background Past research has found that playing a classic prosocial video game resulted in heightened prosocial behavior when compared to a control group, whereas playing a classic violent video game had no effect. Given purported links between violent video games and poor social behavior, this result is surprising. Here our aim was to assess whether this finding may be due to the specific games used. That is, modern games are experienced differently from classic games (more immersion in virtual environments, more connection with characters, etc.) and it may be that playing violent video games impacts prosocial behavior only when contemporary versions are used. Methods and Findings Experiments 1 and 2 explored the effects of playing contemporary violent, non-violent, and prosocial video games on prosocial behavior, as measured by the pen-drop task. We found that slight contextual changes in the delivery of the pen-drop task led to different rates of helping but that the type of game played had little effect. Experiment 3 explored this further by using classic games. Again, we found no effect. Conclusions We failed to find evidence that playing video games affects prosocial behavior. Research on the effects of video game play is of significant public interest. It is therefore important that speculation be rigorously tested and findings replicated. Here we fail to substantiate conjecture that playing contemporary violent video games will lead to diminished prosocial behavior. PMID:23844191

Passive vs. active virtual reality learning: the effects on short- and long-term memory of anatomical structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Phelps, Andrew; Fritchle, Alicia; Hoffman, Helene

2004-01-01

This pilot study compares the differences in learning outcomes when students are presented with either an active (student-centered) or passive (teacher-centered) virtual reality-based anatomy lesson. The "active" lesson used UCSD's Anatomic VisualizeR and enabled students to interact with 3D models and control presentation of learning materials. The "passive" lesson used a digital recording of an anatomical expert's tour of the same VR lesson played back as a QuickTime movie. Subsequent examination of the recall and retention of the studied anatomic objects were comparable in both groups. Issues underlying these results are discussed.

Low-cost universal stereoscopic virtual reality interfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Starks, Michael R.

1993-09-01

Low cost stereoscopic virtual reality hardware interfacing with nearly any computer and stereoscopic software running on any PC is described. Both are user configurable for serial or parallel ports. Stereo modeling, rendering, and interaction via gloves or 6D mice are provided. Low cost LCD Visors and external interfaces represent a breakthrough in convenience and price/performance. A complete system with software, Visor, interface and Power Glove is under $DOL500. StereoDrivers will interface with any system giving video sync (e.g., G of RGB). PC3D will access any standard serial port, while PCVR works with serial or parallel ports and glove devices. Model RF Visors detect magnetic fields and require no connection to the system. PGSI is a microprocessor control for the Power Glove and Visors. All interfaces will operate to 120 Hz with Model G Visors. The SpaceStations are demultiplexing, field doubling devices which convert field sequential video or graphics for stereo display with dual video projection or dual LCD SpaceHelmets.

An Appeal for heritage interpretation and accessibility. Immersive and interactive virtual reality tours for mobile devices

OpenAIRE

Guillermo Duclos Bautista; Javier Cousillas Ripoll

2013-01-01

We propose an interactive resource for the value enhancement, management, diffusion and accessibility of the architectural and archaeological heritage by means of virtual reality technologies through mobile devices. The resource is, in addition, a tool for the management of the heritage by the employment of intermediate modules that allow the graphical and alphanumeric update of the external and internal databases put in relation with the resource, depending on the interventions and investiga...

Virtual 3D bladder reconstruction for augmented medical records from white light cystoscopy (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Lurie, Kristen L.; Zlatev, Dimitar V.; Angst, Roland; Liao, Joseph C.; Ellerbee, Audrey K.

2016-02-01

Bladder cancer has a high recurrence rate that necessitates lifelong surveillance to detect mucosal lesions. Examination with white light cystoscopy (WLC), the standard of care, is inherently subjective and data storage limited to clinical notes, diagrams, and still images. A visual history of the bladder wall can enhance clinical and surgical management. To address this clinical need, we developed a tool to transform in vivo WLC videos into virtual 3-dimensional (3D) bladder models using advanced computer vision techniques. WLC videos from rigid cystoscopies (1280 x 720 pixels) were recorded at 30 Hz followed by immediate camera calibration to control for image distortions. Video data were fed into an automated structure-from-motion algorithm that generated a 3D point cloud followed by a 3D mesh to approximate the bladder surface. The highest quality cystoscopic images were projected onto the approximated bladder surface to generate a virtual 3D bladder reconstruction. In intraoperative WLC videos from 36 patients undergoing transurethral resection of suspected bladder tumors, optimal reconstruction was achieved from frames depicting well-focused vasculature, when the bladder was maintained at constant volume with minimal debris, and when regions of the bladder wall were imaged multiple times. A significant innovation of this work is the ability to perform the reconstruction using video from a clinical procedure collected with standard equipment, thereby facilitating rapid clinical translation, application to other forms of endoscopy and new opportunities for longitudinal studies of cancer recurrence.

The Experiential Learning Impact of International and Domestic Study Tours: Class Excursions That Are More than Field Trips

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez-Lanier, Lilia

2017-01-01

Experiential education programs, such as international and domestic study tours, bridge the limitations of formal learning classroom by allowing students to experience reality in a new learning dimension. This mixed-methods study explores experiential learning during a domestic interior design study tour to New York City and an international…

Presence in Video-Mediated Interactions: Case Studies at CSIRO

Science.gov (United States)

Alem, Leila

Although telepresence and a sense of connectedness with others are frequently mentioned in media space studies, as far as we know, none of these studies report attempts at assessing this critical aspect of user experience. While some attempts have been made to measure presence in virtual reality or augmented reality, (a comprehensive review of existing measures is available in Baren and Ijsselsteijn [2004]), very little work has been reported in measuring presence in video-mediated collaboration systems. Traditional studies of video-mediated collaboration have mostly focused their evaluation on measures of task performance and user satisfaction. Videoconferencing systems can be seen as a type of media space; they rely on technologies of audio, video, and computing put together to create an environment extending the embodied mind. This chapter reports on a set of video-mediated collaboration studies conducted at CSIRO in which different aspects of presence are being investigated. The first study reports the sense of physical presence a specialist doctor experiences when engaged in a remote consultation of a patient using the virtual critical care unit (Alem et al., 2006). The Viccu system is an “always-on” system connecting two hospitals (Li et al., 2006). The presence measure focuses on the extent to which users of videoconferencing systems feel physically present in the remote location. The second study reports the sense of social presence users experience when playing a game of charades with remote partners using a video conference link (Kougianous et al., 2006). In this study the presence measure focuses on the extent to which users feel connected with their remote partners. The third study reports the sense of copresence users experience when building collaboratively a piece of Lego toy (Melo and Alem, 2007). The sense of copresence is the extent to which users feel present with their remote partner. In this final study the sense of copresence is

A Review on Different Virtual Learning Methods in Pharmacy Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amin Noori

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Virtual learning is a type of electronic learning system based on the web. It models traditional in- person learning by providing virtual access to classes, tests, homework, feedbacks and etc. Students and teachers can interact through chat rooms or other virtual environments. Web 2.0 services are usually used for this method. Internet audio-visual tools, multimedia systems, a disco CD-ROMs, videotapes, animation, video conferencing, and interactive phones can all be used to deliver data to the students. E-learning can occur in or out of the classroom. It is time saving with lower costs compared to traditional methods. It can be self-paced, it is suitable for distance learning and it is flexible. It is a great learning style for continuing education and students can independently solve their problems but it has its disadvantages too. Thereby, blended learning (combination of conventional and virtual education is being used worldwide and has improved knowledge, skills and confidence of pharmacy students.The aim of this study is to review, discuss and introduce different methods of virtual learning for pharmacy students.Google scholar, Pubmed and Scupus databases were searched for topics related to virtual, electronic and blended learning and different styles like computer simulators, virtual practice environment technology, virtual mentor, virtual patient, 3D simulators, etc. are discussed in this article.Our review on different studies on these areas shows that the students are highly satisfied withvirtual and blended types of learning.

Detection Thresholds for Rotation and Translation Gains in 360° Video-Based Telepresence Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jingxin; Langbehn, Eike; Krupke, Dennis; Katzakis, Nicholas; Steinicke, Frank

2018-04-01

Telepresence systems have the potential to overcome limits and distance constraints of the real-world by enabling people to remotely visit and interact with each other. However, current telepresence systems usually lack natural ways of supporting interaction and exploration of remote environments (REs). In particular, single webcams for capturing the RE provide only a limited illusion of spatial presence, and movement control of mobile platforms in today's telepresence systems are often restricted to simple interaction devices. One of the main challenges of telepresence systems is to allow users to explore a RE in an immersive, intuitive and natural way, e.g., by real walking in the user's local environment (LE), and thus controlling motions of the robot platform in the RE. However, the LE in which the user's motions are tracked usually provides a much smaller interaction space than the RE. In this context, redirected walking (RDW) is a very suitable approach to solve this problem. However, so far there is no previous work, which explored if and how RDW can be used in video-based 360° telepresence systems. In this article, we conducted two psychophysical experiments in which we have quantified how much humans can be unknowingly redirected on virtual paths in the RE, which are different from the physical paths that they actually walk in the LE. Experiment 1 introduces a discrimination task between local and remote translations, and in Experiment 2 we analyzed the discrimination between local and remote rotations. In Experiment 1 participants performed straightforward translations in the LE that were mapped to straightforward translations in the RE shown as 360° videos, which were manipulated by different gains. Then, participants had to estimate if the remotely perceived translation was faster or slower than the actual physically performed translation. Similarly, in Experiment 2 participants performed rotations in the LE that were mapped to the virtual rotations

MedlinePlus Tour

Science.gov (United States)

... captioning, click the CC button on the lower right-hand corner of the player. Video player keyboard shortcuts Transcript Welcome to MedlinePlus, the consumer health information website from the National Library of ...

Real-time virtual EAST physical experiment system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Dan, E-mail: lidan@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); Xiao, B.J., E-mail: bjxiao@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui (China); Xia, J.Y., E-mail: jyxia@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); Yang, Fei, E-mail: fyang@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); Department of Computer Science, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui (China)

2014-05-15

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • 3D model of experimental advanced superconducting tokamak is established. • Interaction behavior is created that the users can get information from database. • The system integrates data acquisition, plasma shape visualization and simulation. • Browser-oriented system is web-based and more interactive, immersive and convenient. • The system provides the framework for virtual physical experimental environment. - Abstract: As a large fusion reaction device, experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST)’s internal structure is complicated and not easily accessible. Moreover, various diagnostic systems and complicated configuration bring about the inconveniency to the scientists who are unfamiliar with the system but interested in the data. We propose a virtual system to display the 3D model of EAST facility and enable people to view its inner structure and get access to the information of its components in various view sights. We would also provide most of the diagnostic configuration details together with their signal names and physical properties. Compared to the previous ways of viewing information by reference to collected drawings and videos, virtual EAST system is more interactive and immersive. We constructed the browser-oriented virtual EAST physical experiment system, integrated real-time experiment data acquisition, plasma shape visualization and experiment result simulation in order to reproduce physical experiments in a web browser. This system used B/S (Browser/Server) structure in combination with the technology of virtual reality – VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and Java 3D. In order to avoid the bandwidth limit across internet, we balanced the rendering speed and the precision of the virtual model components. Any registered user can view the experimental information visually and efficiently by logining the system through a web browser. The establishment of the system provides the

Real-time virtual EAST physical experiment system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Dan; Xiao, B.J.; Xia, J.Y.; Yang, Fei

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • 3D model of experimental advanced superconducting tokamak is established. • Interaction behavior is created that the users can get information from database. • The system integrates data acquisition, plasma shape visualization and simulation. • Browser-oriented system is web-based and more interactive, immersive and convenient. • The system provides the framework for virtual physical experimental environment. - Abstract: As a large fusion reaction device, experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST)’s internal structure is complicated and not easily accessible. Moreover, various diagnostic systems and complicated configuration bring about the inconveniency to the scientists who are unfamiliar with the system but interested in the data. We propose a virtual system to display the 3D model of EAST facility and enable people to view its inner structure and get access to the information of its components in various view sights. We would also provide most of the diagnostic configuration details together with their signal names and physical properties. Compared to the previous ways of viewing information by reference to collected drawings and videos, virtual EAST system is more interactive and immersive. We constructed the browser-oriented virtual EAST physical experiment system, integrated real-time experiment data acquisition, plasma shape visualization and experiment result simulation in order to reproduce physical experiments in a web browser. This system used B/S (Browser/Server) structure in combination with the technology of virtual reality – VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and Java 3D. In order to avoid the bandwidth limit across internet, we balanced the rendering speed and the precision of the virtual model components. Any registered user can view the experimental information visually and efficiently by logining the system through a web browser. The establishment of the system provides the

Sexually explicit media on the internet: a content analysis of sexual behaviors, risk, and media characteristics in gay male adult videos.

Science.gov (United States)

Downing, Martin J; Schrimshaw, Eric W; Antebi, Nadav; Siegel, Karolynn

2014-05-01

Recent research suggests that viewing sexually explicit media (SEM), i.e., adult videos, may influence sexual risk taking among men who have sex with men. Despite this evidence, very little is known about the content of gay male SEM on the Internet, including the prevalence of sexual risk behaviors and their relation to video- and performer-characteristics, viewing frequency, and favorability. The current study content analyzed 302 sexually explicit videos featuring male same-sex performers that were posted to five highly trafficked adult-oriented websites. Findings revealed that gay male SEM on the Internet features a variety of conventional and nonconventional sexual behaviors. There was a substantial prevalence of unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) (34 %) and was virtually the same as the prevalence of anal sex with a condom (36 %). The presence of UAI was not associated with video length, amateur production, number of video views, favorability, or website source. However, the presence of other potentially high-risk behaviors (e.g., ejaculation in the mouth, and ejaculation on/in/rubbed into the anus) was associated with longer videos, more views, and group sex videos (three or more performers). The findings of high levels of sexual risk behavior and the fact that there was virtually no difference in the prevalence of anal sex with and without a condom in gay male SEM have important implications for HIV prevention efforts, future research on the role of SEM on sexual risk taking, and public health policy.

The Use of Theatre Tours in Road Safety Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Powney, Janet; And Others

The Scottish Road Safety Campaign and the Road Safety Council of Wales have made a large investment in theater tours as a method of providing road safety education. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a road safety message delivered by a theater group, Road Safety Officers (RSOs), or, teachers for pupils in upper secondary classes.…

Virtual geotechnical laboratory experiments using a simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Penumadu, Dayakar; Zhao, Rongda; Frost, David

2000-04-01

The details of a test simulator that provides a realistic environment for performing virtual laboratory experimentals in soil mechanics is presented. A computer program Geo-Sim that can be used to perform virtual experiments, and allow for real-time observations of material response is presented. The results of experiments, for a given set of input parameters, are obtained with the test simulator using well-trained artificial neural-network-based soil models for different soil types and stress paths. Multimedia capabilities are integrated in Geo-Sim, using software that links and controls a laser disc player with a real-time parallel processing ability. During the simulation of a virtual experiment, relevant portions of the video image of a previously recorded test on an actual soil specimen are dispalyed along with the graphical presentation of response from the feedforward ANN model predictions. The pilot simulator developed to date includes all aspects related to performing a triaxial test on cohesionless soil under undrained and drained conditions. The benefits of the test simulator are also presented.

"Michael Jackson World Tour:" Maps and Globes--Latitude and Longitude.

Science.gov (United States)

Benscoter, Gloria Dee

1988-01-01

Presents a mapping activity which helps students understand the purpose of latitude and longitude lines. Gives students an opportunity to use longitude and latitude in a meaningful way by asking them to plan a world concert tour for a rock star. Includes a reproducible activity page. (LS)

Virtual learning environment for interactive engagement with advanced quantum mechanics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mads Kock Pedersen

2016-04-01

Full Text Available A virtual learning environment can engage university students in the learning process in ways that the traditional lectures and lab formats cannot. We present our virtual learning environment StudentResearcher, which incorporates simulations, multiple-choice quizzes, video lectures, and gamification into a learning path for quantum mechanics at the advanced university level. StudentResearcher is built upon the experiences gathered from workshops with the citizen science game Quantum Moves at the high-school and university level, where the games were used extensively to illustrate the basic concepts of quantum mechanics. The first test of this new virtual learning environment was a 2014 course in advanced quantum mechanics at Aarhus University with 47 enrolled students. We found increased learning for the students who were more active on the platform independent of their previous performances.

Mono or 3D video production for scientific dissemination of nuclear energy applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freitas, Victor Goncalves G.; Mol, Antonio Carlos A.; Biermann, Bruna; Jorge, Carlos Alexandre F.; Araujo, Tawein

2011-01-01

This work presents results of educational videos development, mono or stereo, for scientific dissemination of nuclear energy applications. Nuclear energy span through many important applications for the society, ranging from electrical power generation to nuclear medicine, among others. Thus, the purpose is to disseminate this information for the general public and specially for students. Educational videos consist in a good approach for this purpose, due to the involvement of the public they provide, more than simply text or oral exposition, or even static images presentation. Stereo videos result in even more involvement of the public, besides immersion, the later due to the realism 3D views provide. The video developed in this work deals with explanations of electrical power generation, including nuclear reactor operation, shows the percentage of nuclear source as power generation all over the world, and explains also nuclear energy application in medicine. It is expected all these characteristics provided by the use of video or virtual reality techniques will achieve the purpose of disseminating such important information, regarding the benefits of nuclear energy to the society. (author)

Mono or 3D video production for scientific dissemination of nuclear energy applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Freitas, Victor Goncalves G.; Mol, Antonio Carlos A.; Biermann, Bruna; Jorge, Carlos Alexandre F., E-mail: mol@ien.gov.b, E-mail: vgoncalves@ien.gov.b, E-mail: calexandre@ien.gov.b [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Araujo, Tawein [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Escola de Belas Artes; Legey, Ana Paula [Universidade Gama Filho (UGF), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2011-07-01

This work presents results of educational videos development, mono or stereo, for scientific dissemination of nuclear energy applications. Nuclear energy span through many important applications for the society, ranging from electrical power generation to nuclear medicine, among others. Thus, the purpose is to disseminate this information for the general public and specially for students. Educational videos consist in a good approach for this purpose, due to the involvement of the public they provide, more than simply text or oral exposition, or even static images presentation. Stereo videos result in even more involvement of the public, besides immersion, the later due to the realism 3D views provide. The video developed in this work deals with explanations of electrical power generation, including nuclear reactor operation, shows the percentage of nuclear source as power generation all over the world, and explains also nuclear energy application in medicine. It is expected all these characteristics provided by the use of video or virtual reality techniques will achieve the purpose of disseminating such important information, regarding the benefits of nuclear energy to the society. (author)

Virtual shooting vs. actual learning: examining university students’ ideas about video games as tools for learning history

OpenAIRE

Feenstra, William

2011-01-01

Video games are a popular area of research in education and many scholars are currently investigating the great potential of video games to engage and to teach students more effectively. Studies have long demonstrated that students perceive history as a dull subject. This study examines the potential of commercial video games as a potential tool to improve students’ engagement in history, by focusing on what historical content university students believe they learn and what interests they dev...

PROSEDUR PENANGANAN RESERVASI PAKET WISATA PT. PANORAMA TOUR AND TRAVEL DENPASAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Melani Rosalina Hutabarat

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The travel agent plays an important to roles give all information about tourism destination to the world. Travel agents related activities which are conducted such as inbound and outbound tour, travel documents (passport/visa, ticketing, and the problem are how to handle reservation and find out about the solutions related. Quality and quantity data resources were using as primary and secondary data. Interview and documentation were using for data analysis with descriptive analysis technic. The procedure on how to handle package tour reservation such as: receive make a reservation of overseas agents, file the data and solution for fully booked hotel request, changes the reservations and client’s complaint. Based on the reseach, the company should improve the ability of the staff for correspondence with computerized system and more staff at the airport.

A Survey of the Predictors of Amount of Aggression in the Adolescent Users of Violent Video Games in Qom City, 2012, Iran

OpenAIRE

Sarallah Shojaei; Tahereh Dehdari; Keramat Noori Jelyani; Behnaz Dowran

2013-01-01

Background and Objectives: Adolescents are the main audiences of video games. Attractive technologies of these games make virtual faces seem real characters to their audiences. There is a high tendency to show violent and deadly scenes. The present study was done with the purpose of determining the predictors of the amount of aggression in the adolescent users of violent video games in Qom city.Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 100 adolescent users of violent video game refe...

An investigation of the validity of the virtual spatial navigation assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew eVentura

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This correlational study investigated a new measure of environmental spatial ability (i.e., large scale spatial ability called the Virtual Spatial Navigation Assessment (VSNA. In the VSNA, participants must find a set of gems in a virtual 3D environment using a first person avatar on a computer. The VSNA runs in a web browser and automatically collects the time taken to find each gem. The time taken to collect gems in the VSNA was significantly correlated to three oth-er spatial ability measures, math standardized test scores, and choice to be in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math career. These findings support the validity of the VSNA as a measure of environmental spatial ability. Finally, self-report video game experience was also significantly correlated to the VSNA suggesting that video game may improve environmental spatial ability. Recommendations are made for how the VSNA can be used to help guide individuals toward STEM career paths and identify weaknesses that might be addressed with large scale spatial navigation training.

Virtual reality in cognitive and motor rehabilitation: facts, fiction and fallacies.