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- Immersive authoring of virtual reality trainingPublication . Cassola, Fernando; Pinto, Manuel; Mendes, Daniel; Morgado, Leonel; Coelho, António; Paredes, HugoThe use of VR in industrial training contributes to reduce costs and risks, supporting more frequent and diversified use of experiential learning activities, an approach with proven results. In this work, we present an innovative immersive authoring tool for experiential learning in VR-based training. It enables a trainer to structure an entire VR training course in an immersive environment, defining its sub-components, models, tools, and settings, as well as specifying by demonstration the actions to be performed by trainees. The trainees performing the immersive training course have their actions recorded and matched to the ones specified by the trainer.
- A novel tool for immersive authoring of experiential learning in virtual realityPublication . Cassola, Fernando; Pinto, Manuel; Mendes, Daniel; Morgado, Leonel; Coelho, António; Paredes, HugoTraining in VR can reduce risks and costs while allowing frequent and diversified experiential learning activities. We present a novel VR immersive authoring tool for experiential learning courses with industrial machinery. A trainer can create a course from scratch, defining all its components (structure, models, tools, and settings). The actions which trainees should perform can be specified by demonstration. After completing the course, trainees’ actions will be matched against the trainer’s.
- Using virtual choreographies to identify office users' behaviors to target behavior change based on their potential to impact energy consumptionPublication . Cassola, Fernando; Morgado, Leonel; Coelho, António; Paredes, Hugo; Barbosa, Antonio; Tavares, Helga; Soares, F. J.Reducing office buildings’ energy consumption can contribute significantly towards carbon reduction commitments since it represents ∼40% of total energy consumption. Major components of this are lighting, electrical equipment, heating, and central cooling systems. Solid evidence demonstrates that individual occupants’ behaviors impact these energy consumption components. In this work, we propose the methodology of using virtual choreographies to identify and prioritize behavior-change interventions for office users based on the potential impact of specific behaviors on energy consumption. We studied the energy-related office behaviors of individuals by combining three sources of data: direct observations, electricity meters, and computer logs. Data show that there are behaviors with significant consumption impact but with little potential for behavioral change, while other behaviors have substantial potential for lowering energy consumption via behavioral change.
- Design and evaluation of a choreography-based virtual reality authoring tool for experiential learning in industrial trainingPublication . Cassola, Fernando; Mendes, Daniel; Pinto, Manuel; Morgado, Leonel; Costa, Sara; Anjos, Luis; Marques, David; Rosa, Filipe; Maia, Ana Margarida; Tavares, Helga; Coelho, António; Paredes, HugoThe use of virtual reality (VR) for industrial training helps minimize risks and costs by allowing more frequent and varied use of experiential learning activities, leading to active and improved learning. However, creating VR training experiences is costly and time-consuming, requiring software development experts. Additionally, current authoring tools lack integration with existing data and are desktop-oriented, which detach the pedagogic process of creating the immersive experience from experiencing it in a situated context. In this article, we present a novel interactive approach for immersive authoring of VR-based experiential training by the trainers themselves, from inside the virtual environment and without the support of development experts. The design includes identifying interactable elements, such as 3-D models, equipment, tools, settings, and environment. The trainer also specifies by demonstration the actions to be performed by trainees, as a virtual choreography. During course execution, trainees’ activities are also registered as virtual choreographies and matched to those specified by the trainer. Thus, trainer and trainee are culturally situated within their area semantics and social discourse, rather than adopting concepts of the VR system for the learning content. We conducted a usability case study with professionals from an international wind energy company, using detailed models of wind turbines and real-world procedures. Trainers set up a training course using the immersive authoring tool, and trainees executed the course. The learning experience and usability were analyzed, and the training was certified by comparing real-world task completion between a user who had undergone virtual training and a user who did not.
- Using choreographies to support the gamification process on the development of an application to reduce electricity costsPublication . Cassola, Fernando; Iria, José; Paredes, Hugo; Morgado, Leonel; Coelho, António; Soares, F. J.Building automation systems contribute to reduce electricity costs by managing distributed energy resources in an efficient way. However, a large share of consumption cannot be optimized through automation alone, since it mainly depends on human interactions. Gamification can be used as one form of changing users’ behaviours [1], but its implementation does require assumptions on the behaviour patterns that need to be identified, encouraged, or discouraged. To tackle this problem, we propose a framework that joins building automation solutions with gamification techniques to enable behavioural demand response.
- Immersive learning experiences for understanding complex systemsPublication . Fernandes, Luís; Morgado, Leonel; Paredes, Hugo; Coelho, António; Richter, JonathonComplexity is core part of our lives. Aware or not, people need to understand and communicate complex ideas and perspectives. Understanding and communicating complexity can be facilitated through interactive simulations. Doing so in the physical world is often impractical, however. Users and developers are overloaded with information and ambiguity, costs are prohibitive, and unsupervised physical simulations raise safety concerns. Novel immersive technology might hold the key to transforming how we tackle understanding and communicating complexity. In this position paper, we propose empowering user agency and perception to take part in complex learning experiences and create their own, combining two factors: enhanced visual and spatial context provided by location-awareness, immersive environments, and somatic, embodied agency; and enhanced cultural and social context by leveraging as input methods the rich semantics of cultural-social gestures and rituals. To deem the feasibility of this argument, we propose developing two culture-aware prototypes, one for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana, United States, and another for a Western Europe cultural context.