A Taxonomy of Usability Characteristics in Virtual Environments

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dc.contributor.authorGabbard, Joseph L.en
dc.contributor.committeechairHix, Deborah S.en
dc.contributor.committeememberHenry, Sallie M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberHartson, H. Rexen
dc.contributor.departmentComputer Science and Applicationsen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:48:02Zen
dc.date.adate1997-12-18en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:48:02Zen
dc.date.issued1997-12-03en
dc.date.rdate1998-12-18en
dc.date.sdate1997-12-03en
dc.description.abstractDespite intense and wide-spread research in both virtual environments (VEs) and usability, the exciting new technology of VEs has not yet been closely coupled with the important characteristic of usability --- a necessary coupling if VEs are to reach their full potential. Although numerous methods exist for usability evaluation of interactive computer applications, these methods have well-known limitations, especially for evaluating VEs. Thus, there is a great need to develop usability evaluation methods and criteria <i>specifically</i> for VEs. Our goal is to increase awareness of the need for usability engineering of VEs and to lay a scientific foundation for developing high-impact methods for usability engineering of VEs. The first step in our multi-year research plan has been accomplished, yielding a comprehensive multi-dimensional taxonomy of usability characteristics specifically for VEs. This taxonomy was developed by collecting and synthesizing information from literature, conferences, World Wide Web (WWW) searches, investigative research visits to top VE facilities, and interviews of VE researchers and developers. The taxonomy consists of four main areas of usability issues: <i> Users and User Tasks in VEs</i>, <i>The Virtual Model</i>, <i>VE User Interface Input Mechanisms</i>, and <i>VE User Interface Presentation Components</i>. Each of these issues is progressively disclosed and presented at various levels of detail, including specific usability suggestions and context-driven discussion that include a number of references. The taxonomy is a thorough classification, enumeration, and discussion of usability issues in VEs that can be used by VE researchers and developers for usability assessment or simply design. The author can be reached through <a href=http://csgrad.cs.vt.edu/~jgabbard/>http://csgrad.cs.vt.edu/~jgabbard/</a>en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.identifier.otheretd-111697-121737en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-111697-121737/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/35731en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartetd.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectVirtual Realityen
dc.subjectVirtual Environmentsen
dc.subjectUsabilityen
dc.subjectUser Interface Process Improvementen
dc.titleA Taxonomy of Usability Characteristics in Virtual Environmentsen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineComputer Science and Applicationsen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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