Pedro Ermida Monteiro

Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) for training helps minimize risks and costs by allowing more frequent and varied use of experiential training experiences, leading to active and improved learning. However, creating VR training experiences is costly and time-consuming, requiring software development experts. Additionally, current authoring tools are desktop-oriented, which detaches the process of creating the immersive experience from experiencing it in a situated context. This paper presents the development of an immersive authoring tool designed to create immersive virtual environments that can be used to train operatives. The authoring tool can record and replay animations of each action the user performed that can later be used to instruct other users how the task should be performed. Participants were divided into two groups, and the proposed authoring tool was evaluated using usability, satisfaction, presence and cybersickness. Between groups, Independent T-tests revealed that there were no significant differences between expert and non-expert groups in any of the studied variables. Also, the results showed that the authoring tool had high usability and satisfaction, average presence, and low probability of cybersickness symptoms.

Abstract
The adoption of immersive virtual experiences (IVEs) opened new research lines where the impact of realism is being studied, allowing developers to focus resources on realism factors proven to improve the user experience the most. We analyzed papers that compared different levels of realism and evaluated their impact on user experience. Exploratorily, we also synthesized the realism terms used by authors. From 1,300 initial documents, 79 met the eligibility criteria. Overall, most of the studies reported that higher realism has a positive impact on user experience. These data allow a better understanding of realism in IVEs, guiding future R&D.

Abstract
Currently, it is standard to use tracked handheld controllers for interaction in immersive virtual reality (VR). However, since VR interactions are becoming more natural with hand tracking, it is important to provide hands-free alternatives for selection and system control tasks. As such, this study aims to provide an exploratory evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of commonly used hands-free interfaces in selection and system control tasks. Nine interaction methods were evaluated while performing a Fitts' law task with nine advanced users of VR in a within-subject experiment. We evaluated handheld controllers as a baseline, against head gaze, eye gaze, and voice commands for pointing at the targets, and dwell time and voice commands to confirm selections. We found that using eye gaze with a 500 ms dwell time proved to be the hand-free method with the highest performance, matching the handheld controllers and being preferred by users. The evaluation also showed that using a multimodal approach to selection, especially using the voice, decreases performance, but increases effectiveness. Moreover, we verified that Fitts' law can be applied to hands-free methods, but its usage is limited when the methods have very short travel times. We then suggest selections per minute as a more robust comparative performance metric. Further studies should expand the audience and interaction tasks and focus on the confirmatory method of selection.

Abstract
Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) provides a platform where the real world can be replicated to a point where users can act and react in the virtual world as they would in reality. However, rendering visual stimuli is computationally heavy. Thus, optimizations must be done to take advantage of computational systems by studying our perception of reality. This study investigated parameters related to light rendering (Global Illumination, Ambient Occlusion, Screen Space Reflections (SSR) and Direct Shadows) in real-time in a virtual replica of a real place using IVR. Participants experienced both virtual and real rooms with only one flashlight and changed the quality settings of the considered parameters so that their sense of reality would be the closest to the one they felt when they experienced the real room. Participants were given a budget to drive them to prioritize what parameters, and their level of quality, are the most important for their sense of reality. Results indicated that participants considered Global Illumination the most important factor, closely followed by Direct Shadows. Ambient Occlusion and Reflections (Screen Space Reflections) were the less prioritized parameters. We conclude that in a lighting setting where only dynamic lights are used, Global Illumination and Direct Shadows should be prioritized over SSR Reflections and Ambient Occlusion when computational power is limited.

Abstract
Despite advancements in interaction with immersive Virtual Reality (VR) systems, using hand gestures for all interactions still imposes some challenges, especially in interactions with graphical user interfaces that are usually performed with point-and-click interfaces. Therefore, exploring the use of alternative hands-free methods for selection is essential to overcome usability problems and provide natural interaction for users. The results and insights gained from this exploration can lead to enhanced user experiences in VR applications. This study aims to contribute to the literature with the evaluation of the usability of the most commonly used hands-free methods for selection and system control tasks in immersive VR and their impact on standard and validated experience and usability metrics, namely the sense of presence, cybersickness, system usability, workload, and user satisfaction. A Fitts' selection task was performed using a within-subjects design by nine participants experienced in VR. The methods evaluated were the handheld controllers, the head gaze, eye gaze, and voice commands for pointing at the targets, and dwell time and voice commands to confirm the selections. Results show that the methods provide similar levels of sense of presence and low cybersickness while showing low workload values and high user satisfaction, matching the experience of traditional handheld controllers for non-multimodal approaches. The assisted eye gaze with dwell was the preferred hands-free method and the one with the highest values of usability. Still, developers should minimize the number of gaze movements to reduce fatigue. The evaluation also showed that using a multimodal approach for selections, especially using the voice, decreases user satisfaction and increases users' frustration.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).