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Sight, Sound and Smell in Immersive Experiences of Urban History: Virtual Vauxhall Gardens Case Study
Authors:
Tim Pearce,
David Souto,
Douglas Barrett,
Benjamin Lok,
Mateusz Bocian,
Artur Soczawa-Stronczyk,
Giasemi Vavoula,
Paul Long,
Avinash Bhangaonkar,
Stephanie Bowry,
Michaela Butter,
David Coke,
Kate Loveman,
Rosemary Sweet,
Lars Tharp,
Jeremy Webster,
Hongji Yang,
Robin Green,
Andrew Hugill
Abstract:
We explore the integration of multisensory elements in virtual reality reconstructions of historical spaces through a case study of the Virtual Vauxhall Gardens project. While visual and auditory components have become standard in digital heritage experiences, the addition of olfactory stimuli remains underexplored, despite its powerful connection to memory and emotional engagement. This research…
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We explore the integration of multisensory elements in virtual reality reconstructions of historical spaces through a case study of the Virtual Vauxhall Gardens project. While visual and auditory components have become standard in digital heritage experiences, the addition of olfactory stimuli remains underexplored, despite its powerful connection to memory and emotional engagement. This research investigates how multisensory experiences involving olfaction can be effectively integrated into VR reconstructions of historical spaces to enhance presence and engagement with cultural heritage. In the context of a VR reconstruction of London's eighteenth-century Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, we developed a networked portable olfactory display capable of synchronizing specific scents with visual and auditory elements at pivotal moments in the virtual experience. Our evaluation methodology assesses both technical implementation and user experience, measuring presence, and usability metrics across diverse participant groups. Our results show that integrating synchronized olfactory stimuli into the VR experience can enhance user engagement and be perceived positively, contributing to a unique and immersive encounter with historical settings. While presence questionnaires indicated a strong sense of auditory presence and control, with other sensory factors rated moderately, user experience of attractiveness was exceptionally high; qualitative feedback suggested heightened sensory awareness and engagement influenced by the inclusion and anticipation of smell. Our results suggest that evaluating multisensory VR heritage experiences requires a nuanced approach, as standard usability metrics may be ill-suited and 'realism' might be less critical than creating an evocative, historically informed, and emotionally resonant experience......
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Submitted 19 May, 2025;
originally announced May 2025.
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Exploring the Effects of User-Agent and User-Designer Similarity in Virtual Human Design to Promote Mental Health Intentions for College Students
Authors:
Pedro Guillermo Feijóo-García,
Chase Wrenn,
Alexandre Gomes de Siqueira,
Rashi Ghosh,
Jacob Stuart,
Heng Yao,
Benjamin Lok
Abstract:
Virtual humans (i.e., embodied conversational agents) have the potential to support college students' mental health, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields where students are at a heightened risk of mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. A comprehensive understanding of students, considering their cultural characteristics, experiences, and expecta…
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Virtual humans (i.e., embodied conversational agents) have the potential to support college students' mental health, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields where students are at a heightened risk of mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. A comprehensive understanding of students, considering their cultural characteristics, experiences, and expectations, is crucial for creating timely and effective virtual human interventions. To this end, we conducted a user study with 481 computer science students from a major university in North America, exploring how they co-designed virtual humans to support mental health conversations for students similar to them. Our findings suggest that computer science students who engage in co-design processes of virtual humans tend to create agents that closely resemble them demographically--agent-designer demographic similarity. Key factors influencing virtual human design included age, gender, ethnicity, and the matching between appearance and voice. We also observed that the demographic characteristics of virtual human designers, especially ethnicity and gender, tend to be associated with those of the virtual humans they designed. Finally, we provide insights concerning the impact of user-designer demographic similarity in virtual humans' effectiveness in promoting mental health conversations when designers' characteristics are shared explicitly or implicitly. Understanding how virtual humans' characteristics serve users' experiences in mental wellness conversations and the similarity-attraction effects between agents, users, and designers may help tailor virtual humans' design to enhance their acceptance and increase their counseling effectiveness.
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Submitted 27 July, 2024; v1 submitted 12 May, 2024;
originally announced May 2024.
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High Aspect Pattern Formation by Integration of Micro Inkjetting and Electroless Plating
Authors:
P. W. Gian,
Xuechuan Shan,
Y. N. Liang,
B. K. Lok,
C. W. Lu,
B. L. Ooi
Abstract:
This paper reports on formation of high aspect micro patterns on low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates by integrating micro inkjetting with electroless plating. Micro inkjetting was realized by using an inkjetting printer that ejects ink droplets from a printhead. This printhead consists of a glass nozzle with a diameter of 50 micrometers and a piezoelectric transducer that is coate…
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This paper reports on formation of high aspect micro patterns on low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates by integrating micro inkjetting with electroless plating. Micro inkjetting was realized by using an inkjetting printer that ejects ink droplets from a printhead. This printhead consists of a glass nozzle with a diameter of 50 micrometers and a piezoelectric transducer that is coated on the nozzle. The silver colloidal solution was inkjetted on a sintered CT800 ceramic substrate, followed by curing at 200 degrees C for 60 minutes. As a result, the silver trace with a thickness of 200 nm was obtained. The substrate, with the ejected silver thin film as the seed layer, was then immersed into a preinitiator solution to coat a layer of palladium for enhancing the deposition of nickel. Electroless nickel plating was successfully conducted at a rate of 0.39 micrometers /min, and the thickness of traces was plated up to 84 micrometers. This study demonstrates that the integration of inkjetting with plating is an effective method to form high aspect patterns at the demand location.
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Submitted 7 May, 2008;
originally announced May 2008.