This Interactive Installation combines ENTER™ 3-D stereoscopic video laserdisc and codec technology with Mandala second person Virtual Reality on an Amiga computer and a Macintosh for additional sound and video processing. The live, chromakeyed participant (you) becomes part of a 3-D stereoscopic motion video environment (the virtual world). You experience a curious, compelling transformation which places you inside 3-D photorealistic interactive space on a life-sized screen. This integration of interaction with graphical objects and interaction with stereoscopic 3-D motion video creates out of body experiences which are strikingly real. Initial research by Michigan State University shows that participants feel as if they are entering a different world. People report an overwhelming desire to interact.
In this installation, we experiment with second person VR interfaces. Instructions are given in the form of a story naration, as if describing something that happened in the past (e.g.: when the sorcerer touched the ball, the scene would change...). We use a silhouette body as cue to where to stand. Instead of "clicking on" objects, you stand on them. Initially, the silhouette is generic, until you select an identity (sorcerer or inventor). We try several modalities to try to let you actually interact with video. The crystal ball and the 3-D motion viewmaster are interfaces where it is natural to be able to touch them and change scenes. In both cases, you manipulate a portal to the video world, interacting by controlling the video rather than being immersed in it. As the story progresses, you enter one of the video worlds. With different motivations (selecting ingredients for a magic potion and testing molecules for a medical cure), the sorcerer and inventor make choices about objects in the video world will be brought into the graphic world and become part of the story.
Even though the story stops at "THE END," this is only the beginning of our work with second person VR interfaces.
Carrie Heeter (Director, Michigan State University Comm Tech Lab), Michael Miller (Chairman, ENTER Corporation), and Pericles Gomes (Senior Designer, Michigan State University Comm Tech Lab) developed this interactive installation. Heeter programmed the interation, Miller produced the 3-D video and Gomes designed the Amiga graphics. All three artists contributed to conceptualization. The installation is part of an ongoing program of research and development into new ways of using second person VR for education and entertainment.
176 respondents
How real did the overall experience feel?
x=4.2 (1=VERY REAL 7=NOT AT ALL)
How involving did the overall experience feel?
x=3.7 (1=VERY MUCH 7=NOT AT ALL)
To what extent did you feel a sense of being present in a
different world?
x=4.5 (1=VERY MUCH 7=NOT AT ALL)
Did you feel more like a participant or an observer to the
story?
x=4.1 (1=OBSERVER 7=PARTICIPANT)
Which would you prefer: using your real hands on screen to touch
objects, or holding a "magic wand" for touching things?
71%-MY HANDS 29%-MAGIC WAND
How much did you like the use of body silhouettes to show where to
stand?
x=3.8 (1=VERY MUCH 7=NOT AT ALL)
How much did you like the use of narrative story?
x=3.2 (1=VERY MUCH 7=NOT AT ALL)
Which felt like the real you-- the being on the screen or the
being the camera was pointed at?
28%-BEING ON SCREEN 27%-BEING CAMERA POINTED AT 36%-BOTH
9%-NEITHER
To what extent did you feel a physical response when your image
touched other objects on the screen?
x=4.6 (1=VERY MUCH 7=NOT AT ALL)
How much of an emotional response did you feel when your image
touched other objects on the screen?
x=4.3 (1=VERY MUCH 7=NOT AT ALL)
How real did the 3-D feel?
x=3.7 (1=VERY REAL 7=NOT AT ALL)
How 3-D did the 3-D feel?
x=3.6 (1=VERY REAL 7=NOT AT ALL)
Was it better to see your real self instead of a shadow
silhouette?
x=2.8 (1=VERY REAL 7=NOT AT ALL)
Would you prefer to experience these worlds alone or with other
people?
24%-ALONE 47%-WITH ONE OTHER 29%-WITH MANY OTHERS
Other types of virtual reality let you interact by watching a
computer-generated image of a hand move the same way your real hand
does, whereas this one lets you interact with objects using your
whole body. Given the choice, would you prefer to see and use, a
computer-generated hand or your whole body?
14%-COMPUTER GENERATED HAND 87%-MY REAL BODY
Would you prefer to have this kind of virtual experience in a 3-D
world by wearing glasses and looking at a screen like you did today,
or by wearing goggles that fill your vision with what's on the
screen, no matter which direction you look?
15%-GLASSES 74%-GOGGLES 11%-NEITHER
For the next set of questions, please answer using a scale of 1 to
10, with
10 = VERY ENJOYABLE and 0=NOT ENJOYABLE AT ALL.
Please rate your enjoyment of the overall experience:
6.1
Please rate your enjoyment of the 3D video sequences:
6.0
Did you choose to be the sorcerer or the inventor?
48%-SORCERER 52%-INVENTOR
If you tried it, please rate your enjoyment of using the crystal
ball:
6.0
If you tried it, please rate your enjoyment of using the motion
viewmaster:
6.0
Please rate your enjoyment of the VR interface:
6.1
Please rate your enjoyment of the interactivity:
6.2
How old are you?
30
Are you:
26%-FEMALE 74%-MALE