Browsing by Author "Pinho, Marcio S."

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    Cooperative Object Manipulation in Collaborative Virtual Environments
    Pinho, Marcio S.; Bowman, Douglas A.; Dal Sasso Freitas, Carla M. (Springer Nature, 2008-06-20)
    Cooperative manipulation refers to the simultaneous manipulation of a virtual object by multiple users in an immersive virtual environment (VE). In this work, we present techniques for cooperative manipulation based on existing single-user techniques. We discuss methods of combining simultaneous user actions, based on the separation of degrees of freedom between two users, and the awareness tools used to provide the necessary knowledge of the partner activities during the cooperative interaction process. We also present a framework for supporting the development of cooperative manipulation techniques, which are based on rules for combining single user interaction techniques. Finally, we report an evaluation of cooperative manipulation scenarios, the results indicating that, in certain situations, cooperative manipulation is more efficient and usable than single user manipulation.
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    Using Virtual Environments in the Teaching of Computer Graphics
    Bowman, Douglas A.; Chennupati, Balaprasuna; Gracey, Matthew; Pinho, Marcio S.; Wheeler, Kristin J. (Department of Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, 2003)
    Education has long been touted as an appropriate application area for immersive virtual environments (VEs), but few immersive applications have actually been used in the classroom, and even fewer have been compared empirically with other teaching methods. This paper presents VENTS, a novel immersive VE application intended to teach the concept of the three-dimensional (3D) normalizing transformation in an undergraduate computer graphics class. VENTS was developed based on key principles for the use of VEs in education, systematically evaluated for usability, and refined based on the results of this evaluation. Students in a university course used VENTS, and their learning was compared to that of other students who either attended a lecture on the topic or used a 3D desktop application covering the same material. The results of pre- and post-tests showed a larger percent increase in test score for the VE group than the desktop or lecture groups, although these differences are not statistically significant.