This paper examined the influence of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) on inducing a sensation of walking for seated participants in virtual environments while viewing a VR scene through an HMD. We conducted an experiment to evaluate the influence of bilateral AC-GVS and noisy GVS synchronized with foot-sole vibrations imitating foot steps on perception as if the participant were walking. Experimental results show that the perception of pseudo-walking was greatly affected by AC-GVS rather than noisy GVS. Our results will expand the range of VR content and reduce the system cost and space requirements.

Human memory is influenced by contexts, such as surrounding scenery and situations. Specifically, learning in various contexts improves memory retention, which is called a multiple-context effect. To take advantage of the effect in remote education, we propose Virtual Omnibus Lecture, a novel form of remote lecturing using virtual avatars. In the proposed method, a lecturer changes his/her virtual avatars multiple times during a lecture. Thus, this method makes it as if the students receive a single lecture from multiple lecturers. We hypothesized that learning with various lecturer avatars can benefit students’ memory based on the multiple-context effect. We conducted a field study with a between-participant design in a remote lecture. We compared the four-avatar condition, where the lecturer taught using four different avatars, with the one-avatar condition, where the lecturer used a constant avatar throughout the lecture. The results showed that the memory test scores immediately after the lecture were significantly higher for the four-avatar condition than for the one-avatar condition. This study provides a new perspective on using lecturer avatars, a promising avenue for remote lecturing.

This study examined the effects of avatar transparency and visual feedback representing contact with an external object on the full-body illusion. Twenty-two participants performed physical exercise for three minutes while observing 12 different visual stimuli on a head-mounted display. The visual stimuli consisted of a combination of two factors: the presence/absence of tiles whose luminosity changed on contact with the avatar and six conditions in which the avatar’s transparency was in 20% intervals from 0% to 100%. The measures were the onset and duration of the full-body illusion reported during each trial and the subjective intensity of the sense of body ownership and sense of agency reported after each trial. As a result, the onset time of the full-body illusion was shorter, the duration was longer, and the sense of agency was stronger in the condition with tiles than in the condition without tiles when the avatar transparency was 100% (invisible avatar). The full-body illusion did not show the effect of avatar transparency on the full-body illusion at transparency levels of 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, or 80%. These results suggest that the full-body illusion may occur even when the avatar is visually invisible or less visible.

Praising behavior in remote dialogue is an important part of communication. However, the important behaviors for good praise have not been clarified. Based on this problem, we clarified the important behaviors for praising well in face-to-face dialogue. Recently, remote dialogue are widely used as a substitute for face-to-face dialogue. The behaviors perceived differently between face-to-face and remote dialogues. Therefore, the important behaviors for praising well may also differ between face-to-face and remote dialogues. In this paper, we clarify the important behaviors for praising well in remote dialogue. First, we construct machine learning models that predicts praising skills, the degree to which the speaker is able to praise others well, based on linguistic, acoustic, and visual behaviors. Second, we analyze the linguistic, acoustic and visual behaviors for praising well. The results show that the best performing model has F1 score of 0.555. This model used acoustic features of the praiser, and visual features of the receiver. Analysis of behavior during praising suggested that tone of voice is important for praising well in remote dialogue.

Manzai is a form of traditional Japanese comedy, in which two comedians typically engage in a humorous conversation to make the audience laugh. We developed a VR application that simulates Manzai performed by top Manzai artists, using the firstperson view of a straight man (tsukkomi). In this system, the user dons the avatar of a human tsukkomi from a top Manzai duo and performs Manzai with the photorealistic avatar of his boke partner. We updated the script of Manzai and conversation algorithm based on feedback from an exhibition. We verified the feasibility of the updated Manzai system through the results of questionnaires completed by experienced users.

Most studies on the Proteus Effect, which explores how avatars influence users’ behavior through evoked changes in self-image, have primarily focused on manipulating only the participants’ self-avatars. Recognizing that self-image often develops through interactions with others in reality, this study aimed to explore the impact of the comparative appearances of self- and others’ avatars on behavioral changes, referring to social comparison theory: individuals evaluate themselves by comparing with perceivedly better or worse others. The experiment involved participants and non-player characters playing the Japanese drum ’Taiko’ within a virtual environment, utilizing avatars dressed in suits or ’Happi’ (a Japanese festival costume). The results revealed that the comparative appearances of self- and others’ avatars influenced participants’ movements during the Taiko performance, similar to the process of social comparison. This findings helps understand the mechanisms of behavioral changes in multi-avatar interactions, and aids in designing metaverse that foster appropriate interactions among users.

This study aims to report on the requirements, system configuration, and participant satisfaction considered during the planning of an informal job offer ceremony conducted by Ebara Corporation. The authors emphasize that the main requirement for the metaverse job offer ceremony was not immersion using VR, but rather providing a desktop mode to enable a wide range of metaverse experiences on smartphones and tablet devices. Additionally, measures were taken to limit the number of avatars due to concerns about operational network load, although participants reported experiencing heavy network loads. According to the results of participant surveys, while the metaverse job offer ceremony achieved high satisfaction levels, it was suggested that it may not be the ideal mode of communication for future interactions.

Medical practice, which begins with a medical interview, is formed on the premise of face-to-face interaction. There have been reports of the use of digital technology for some prescriptions and follow-up visits, but due to legal conflicts, the use of digital technology has not spread dramatically. However, there is an urgent need to realize smart medicine using digital technology against the backdrop of a shrinking workforce and electronic prescriptions. In this context, Luna Pharmaceuticals and Gunma University conducted a demonstration experiment of a pharmacy metaverse through joint research, in which a model pharmacy was reproduced on NTT’s DOOR metaverse platform, and pharmacists provided patient care such as health counseling through avatars. It was confirmed that pharmacists who were required to work from home and stay on call by Covid19 and other regulations could work from home, albeit on a limited basis. In the future, we plan to provide smart medical care linked to my number card and a multisensory device using the Metaverse, and we will report on the concept of this system.

An increasing number of online shopping services have employed virtual reality technologies to give customers more realistic experiences and amplify purchase intention. Although weight perception affects its valuation, verification of this phenomenon in virtual environments has rarely been reported. This study investigated the influence of weight perception induced by Pseudo-haptics on product evaluation, such as scarcity valuation, hedonic value, utilitarian value, and purchase intention in virtual environments. The results suggest that Pseudo-haptics can significantly enhance perceived scarcity and purchase intention for products. Furthermore, it can notably increase hedonic and utilitarian value in products where heavier weight is associated with higher value.

Sensory cues regarding body movement are crucial for motor learning, such as skill acquisition and rehabilitation. Accurately and precisely grasping the cues is challenging for learners with limited somatosensory, especially when the vision is obstructed. This study presents an orthotic device that provides rotary switch-like clicking (tick-tick) feedback according to knee joint flexion to augment the sensory capability. We design the 2-link 1-joint device with an electromagnetic brake to generate the frictional force of the joint according to the angle formed by the links. The first experiment showed up to 4-N of the friction force. The second experiment studied the effects of the tick-tick feedback on motor learning, in which participants remember and regenerate the knee motor task visually displayed. Although no statistically significant effects were found, the results suggested several insights and future directions for device and experiment designs, including suppression mechanism of the device misalignment, task difficulty level adjustment, and adoption of skeletal detection methods using optical tracking.

In this paper, we propose a method to solve the issue of afterimage projection that occurs when performing appearance manipulation using model predictive control on a moving object. The proposed method generates a projection image correcting for the displacement of the projection position based on pixel mapping. Additionally, to correct the displacement of the projection position, it is necessary to acquire the velocity of the object’s movement. Therefore, this paper also proposes a method for estimating the object’s movement velocity using optical flow estimation.

In recent years, HMDs have been utilized in various VR scenes. However, there are still many improvements, especially the field of view limitation, which is a major factor in reducing the immersion of the VR experience. In this paper, we propose a method to extend the peripheral field of view of a user wearing an HMD by using a head-mounted screen and dynamic projection mapping. We have implemented the head-mounted screen and projection system, and achieved a maximum field of view of 226 degrees in the horizontal direction. Evaluation experiments showed that the proposed system provides a more natural image presentation and improves the immersion of the VR experience compared to existing HMDs.