Sri Vw Augmenting Real

Between the Real and the Virtual: looking for training opportunities
EleniStroulia
stroulia@cs.ualberta.ca
Professor
iCORE IRC (supported by IBM) in "Service Systems Management”
Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta
http://ssrg.cs.ualberta.ca/

A continuum of connections between real and virtual
Virtual world as a mirror of the real world
Action happens in the real world; the virtual world provide an intuitive, cost effective visualization of people, objects, their relations and their interactions.
Virtual world as an (equivalent) alternative to the real world
Any action that happens in the real world can also occur in the virtual world, with (almost) the same effect.
Virtual world as an augmentation to the real world
Different but correlated actions happen in the real and virtual worlds; the correlation is consistent across some well-defined dimensions (space, time, people, …)
June 25: Virtual Worlds @ Work Workshop (Eleni Stroulia)
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Our Research Agenda

Smart Condo
EMS/ER Handoff
Augmented/Alternative Reality Games

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The Smart Condo

Technical Problems in the Smart Condo
Reflecting the physical world
Without a capability to import mesh models (in SL), the virtual world costs substantial effort to build and may still seem crude
Reflecting the occupant
If it is an avatar it cannot be controlled and if it is an object it is not very believable
Synchronization between the real and virtual worlds
There is substantial delay between sensing, stream data mining and VW events
Inferring location (and activity)
The avatar capabilities
Path planning between sensed locations
SL Behavior inference based on state maintenance
NL generation based on activity history
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The Smart Condo

Training opportunities in the Smart Condo
The smart condo is a test-bed for studying the daily activities of people with disabilities
Clinicians in rehabilitation medicine can gain new insights on how disease impacts daily activity
Industrial designers can measure the impact of alternative design decisions
Other potential contributions
Is there a clinical value?
Is there a social value?
Making monitoring more acceptable
Using VW as a two-way video-phone
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The Smart Condo

Scenario Overview
The task here is to develop a VW in which EMS/ER personnel can realistically enact the handoff scenario
What does realistically mean?
The patient is virtual but his vital signs are real
The objects involved correspond directly to real objects in the real scenario
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The EMS/ER Handoff Scenario

Implementing theEMS/ER Simulation(VW meets SOA)
Workflow types:
Process workflow: defines all paths
Normative workflow: intended/desired action sequence
Object and character workflows: artifact and automated person behavior
Process vs. normative workflows:
Process: include erroneous and sub-optimal paths
Normative: describes “correct” behavior
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Scenario Definition Process
Wiki used by context experts
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Workflow created by technical experts

Technical problems in the EMS/ER Simulation
Limited set of interactions (e.g., touch, wear)
Some actions are awkward in Second Life
A consistent API is necessary for modeling actions
Creating realistic 3D models of artifacts
Import from external source
Create using in-world tools
Representing artifact behavior in believable manner (sufficient level of realism)
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Training opportunities in the EMS/ER simulation
Simulations as a cost-effective means of learning-by-doing (People generally remember10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they hear AND see, 70% of what they say or write, and 90% of what they say as they do something, Dale 1946)
More practice is possible
Practice of rare and dangerous scenarios is possible
Interdisciplinary-skills practice becomes simpler and more likely
Could general experience with VWs advance computer-sophistication and ease?
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Virtual Worlds Augmenting the Real World
Ludorica, an emergency preparedness volunteer, has come to Edmonton for the Festival of Games 2012. She registers for Serious Gaming Summit on Medical Simulations and she is given an RFID nametag and the role of a paramedic responding to the scene of people falling ill in pathogen research centre.
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AARGs

Technical Challenges Implementing AARGs
Multiple devices of varying scales of capacity and interaction patterns
We need conceptual models for virtual-world behaviors and how they interact with the underlying middleware through the various devices
Immersion and believability
When there is no “scenario” to impose a context, it is the environment that has to engage the player; what worlds can support that?
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AARGs

Training opportunities in an AARG
Collaboration and communication skills
Strategy
History and geography of a place
“Dorian Gray” games
Active lifestyle
Civic participation
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AARGs

Some concluding thoughts
Simulation-based training in virtual worlds seems inevitable
BUT it is not clear where the (low hanging) fruit is
The lack of standards is a huge impediment in research
geometry modeling
avatar behavior (gestures, interaction with objects)
Evaluation is necessary
Educators are keen to migrate “problem-based learning” theories of pedagogy to virtual worlds
BUT assessment of learning goals is difficult, especially since some skills were never explicitly tested (or even taught) before
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AARGs