We have developed a VR system that supports remote presentations using videoconferencing tools. The system focuses on addressing communication issues caused by the increasing trend of teleworking in recent years. The developed system includes a unique function that allows a single presenter to play double roles simultaneously using avatars, aiming to make remote presentations more easily understandable. In this paper, we evaluated the effects of the double-role function on memorability and the impression of the presentation content using a quiz and questionnaire. The results of the experiment involving 26 participants showed a significant increase in the percentage of correct answers to the quiz when the double-role function was enabled. Additionally, we observed significant difference or trend in other aspects when employing this feature, including the perceived ease of the quiz’s difficulty, heightened confidence in the quiz, and increased overall satisfaction with its presentation.

The proliferation of VR attractions has increased attention to vection generation technology for enhancing perceived realism. Given the rising interest in Mixed Reality (MR) attractions―which allow users to visually interact with the real world―it is not feasible to manipulate all visual stimuli coordinates for generating linear vection. Consequently, our focus has shifted to optical illusions, capable of creating a three-dimensional effect with two-dimensional visual stimuli. We developed a dynamic visual image that amplifies perceived vertical displacement by applying such illusions to floor surfaces. This paper describes the results of three experiments with our dynamic visual image. These empirical explorations of our proposed method will facilitate the determination of actual travel distances and parameters.

In recent years, online teaching has attracted attention, but compared to face-to-face teaching, it is more difficult for instructors and learners to communicate with each other, making it difficult to improve the content of lessons. In this study, ECG data in stress and resting states were measured in group users and analysed using Lorenz plot. The distribution of Lorenz plot was also examined when the ratio of the number of people in the stress and resting states in the group was varied. As a result, it was confirmed that the centre of gravity of the distribution moved in the direction of the resting state as the ratio of the number of people in the resting state in the group increased. From the above, it is thought that it will be possible to ascertain the stress state of a group of people from ECG data of group users and to evaluate the content of lectures, etc.

Virtual co-embodiment is the concept of sharing one avatar body with others and manipulating it as one’s own body. There are two methods of sharing: weighted averaging of multiple operators’ movements (shared body) and dividing body parts and taking charge of them (joint body). In this study, this virtual co-embodiment was applied to hands and fingers, and a reaching task with fingers was performed to compare a shared hand in which two participants manipulate one hand on average, a joint hand in which five fingers are divided and taken charge of, and a solo hand in which one person takes full charge of the hand. The results showed that the sense of body ownership and the sense of agency were similar for the solo hand and the shared hand, and significantly decreased for the joint hand when the task difficulty was higher. Task performance was highest for the shared hand when task difficulty was intermediate, and was lower for the joint hand than for the solo hand when task difficulty was high. These results suggest that the average shared hand might have general advantages over the joint hand.

Virtual embodiment refers to the feeling of being present in a virtual environment with owning a virtual body (avatar) that replaces or extends the physical body. In this study, we investigated the effects of appearance transformation processes on virtual embodiment in the transformation from one avatar to another. We used three types of the transformation processes: a Cut process, in which the avatar transforms instantly and discontinuously, a Linear process, in which the avatar transforms gradually according to a linear function, and a Smooth process, in which the avatar transforms smoothly according to a smoothstep function. Participants answered an embodiment questionnaire before and after the transformation and the feeling of posttransformation sensations on a 7-point Likert scale. The results showed that the Linear process had the highest sense of body transformation, followed by the Smooth process, and the Cut process had the least sense of body transformation, and that the sense of body ownership or agency was not affected by the type of transformation.

When controlling movements in virtual space, the importance of self-body visibility is still unclear. In this study, we experimentally investigated whether the visibility of the self-body in virtual space (i.e., whether the entire body was visible or invisible) altered the accuracy of ordinary movements, such as grasping an object and moving it to a specified position. In our experiment, we controlled for self-body visibility and the visibility of objects (grasped item and specified goal) that could be cues for accomplishing the designated movements. In this way, we analyzed the accuracy of the movements considering the influence of factors other than self-body visibility. Movement accuracy was evaluated in terms of distance, which was calculated based on the final item coordinates obtained as a result of task execution. The results indicated that the movements were more accurate when the entire body and goal were visible. This finding suggests that visualization of the self-body as visual information is an important cue in understanding the spatial target point and controlling movements.

This study is about viewpoint pitch manipulation in pitch direction during redirected walking. Gait will be changed during walking uphill has been reported in many research. In this study, it is assumed that similar gait change will also occur in virtual reality (VR) environment due to viewpoint manipulation in pitch direction. In the experiment, we investigated the changes in gait speed and head angle during dynamic viewpoint manipulation within a 5-meter walking interval, as well as the perceived threshold, which is the effect range of viewpoint manipulation. The analysis results show the changes which walking speed and the effective range of viewpoint manipulation, indicating that viewpoint manipulation in pitch direction is an effective method for redirected walking.

To better understand microscopic environments through a magnifier, moving the field of view is a crucial part of the exploration. However, in many existing microscopes, the field of view is moved indirectly through relocating the sample, not the microscope itself. We argue that such microscopes have forced the user to be an operator instead of an observer. To address this problem, we propose a small microscope that can be operated by fingertips, which are the most dexterous part of the human body. In this paper, we explore the magnification factor that is suitable for moving the microscope by three fingertips. In order to develop design guidelines for the proposed device, participants performed a pointing task based on Fitts’ law paradigm. The result shows the pointing performance declines as control-to-display gain increases but participants successfully continue the task until the gain was set to 1103. These results support the fact that fingertips can be used to manipulate with precision beyond the pixel level.