An in-depth introduction to virtual reality programming

Organizers: William R. Sherman

This tutorial introduces basic programming concepts particular to virtual reality. The presentation progresses step-by-step from a very simple world with no interactions (apart from physical immersion), and continues to add features related to 3D user interfaces, interactive rendering and interesting ways to travel through virtual worlds. The presentation includes the opportunity for audience members to follow along with software on their laptops, though the tutorial will also be valuable for those who wish to expressly follow the lectures.

Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Human-Subject Experiments in Virtual and Augmented Reality

Organizers: Joseph L. Gabbard, Jr, J. Edward Swan II, Stephen R. Ellis

This tutorial is for researchers and engineers, working in the field of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), who wish to conduct user-based experiments with a specific aim of promoting both traditional quantitative human-subject experiments and qualitative methods for assessing usability. This tutorial is for a full-day tutorial presenting both quantitative and qualitative approaches to conducting human-subject experiments. It covers (1) the basic principles of experimental design and analysis, with an emphasis on human-subject experiments in VR/AR; (2) qualitative studies (e.g., formative evaluation methods) for assessing and improving VR/AR user interfaces and user interaction along with lessons learned from conducting many user based studies; and (3) a journalistic approach€� to measuring human performance that organizes the activity around questions such as €œWho? What? When? Where? How? and Why?€�.

Trends in Mobile AR

Organizers: Dieter Schmalstieg, Tobias Höllerer

This tutorial provides a detailed introduction to mobile Augmented Reality (AR). AR is a key user-interface technology for personalized, situated information delivery, navigation, on-demand instruction and games. The widespread availability and rapid evolution of smartphones enables software-only solutions for AR where it was previously necessary to assemble custom hardware solutions. However, ergonomic and technical limitations of smartphones as a platform make this a challenging endeavor. In particular, it is necessary to design novel efficient real-time computer vision and computer graphics algorithms, and create new lightweight forms of interaction with the environment through small form-factor devices. This tutorial will present selected technical achievements in this field and highlight some examples of successful application prototypes.

Designing immersive VR systems: from bits to bolts

Organizers: Luciano P. Soares, Joaquim A. Jorge

Immersive 3D Virtual Environments (VE) have become affordable for many research centers. However, a complete solution needs several integration steps to be fully operational. Some of these steps are difficult to accomplish and require an uncommon combination of different skills. This tutorial presents the most recent techniques developed to address this problem, from displays to software tools.

The hardware in a typical VR installations combines projectors, screens, speakers, computers, tracking and I/O devices. The tutorial will discuss hardware options, explaining their advantages and disadvantages. We will cover design decisions from basic software and hardware design, through user tracking, multimodal human computer interfaces and acoustic rendering, to how to administrate the whole solution. Additionally, we will provide an introduction to existing tracking technologies, explaining how the most common devices work, while focusing on infrared optical tracking. Finally, we briefly cover integration software and middleware developed for most VE settings.