WeRSort: Preliminary Results from a New Method of Remote Collaboration Facilitated by Fully Immersive Virtual Reality

Abstract

Fully immersive virtual reality, with the unique ability to replicate the real world, could potentially aid in real-time communication. Geographically separated teams can collaborate using virtual reality. To test the viability of using virtual reality for remote collaboration, we designed a system called “WeRSort” where teams sorted cards in a virtual environment. Participants performed the task as a team of 2 in one of three conditions-controls-only condition, generic embodiment and full embodiment. Objective measures of performance, time and percentage match with master cards showed no significant difference. Subjective measures of presence and system usability also showed no statistical significance. However, overall work-load obtained from NASA-TLX showed that fully immersive virtual reality resulted in lower workload in comparison with the other two. Qualitative data was collected and analyzed to understand collaboration using the awareness evaluation model.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Agnisarman

Chalil Madathil

Smith

Ashok

Welch

McElligott

J. T.

(2017a). Lessons learned from the usability assessment of home-based telemedicine systems. Applied Ergonomics, 58, 424–434.

Berg

L. P.

Vance

J. M.

(2017). Industry use of virtual reality in product design and manufacturing: a survey. Virtual Reality, 21(1), 1–17.

Chalil Madathil

Greenstein

J. S.

(2011). Synchronous Remote Usability Testing: A New Approach Facilitated by Virtual Worlds. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2225–2234). New York, NY, USA: ACM.

Chalil Madathil

Greenstein

J. S.

(2017). An investigation of the efficacy of collaborative virtual reality systems for moderated remote usability testing. Applied Ergonomics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2017.02.011

Eppinger

Ulrich

(2011). Product Design and Development. McGraw-Hill Education.

Fleury

Férey

Vézien

J. M.

Bourdot

(2015). Remote collaboration across heterogeneous large interactive spaces. In 2015 IEEE Second VR International Workshop on Collaborative Virtual Environments (3DCVE) (pp. 9–10).

Gopinath

A. K.

Tucker

C. S.

(2015). Investigating the Impact of Interactive Immersive Virtual Reality Environments in Enhancing Task Performance in Online Engineering Design Activities. In ASME 2015 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (pp. V003T04A004– V003T04A004). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Grudin

Poltrock

(2012). Taxonomy and theory in computer supported cooperative work. The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Psychology, 2, 1323–1348.

Hart

S. G.

Staveland

L. E.

(1988). Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results of Empirical and Theoretical Research. In Hancock

P. A.

Meshkati

(Eds.), Advances in Psychology (Vol. 52, pp. 139–183). North-Holland.

10.

Juárez-Ramírez

(2017). User-centered design and adaptive systems: toward improving usability and accessibility. Universal Access in the Information Society, 16(2), 361–363.

11.

Lewis

J. R.

(1995). IBM computer usability satisfaction questionnaires: Psychometric evaluation and instructions for use. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 7(1), 57–78.

12.

Moore

Yufang

Cheng

McGrath

Powell

N. J.

(2005). Collaborative Virtual Environment Technology for People With Autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 20(4), 231–243.

13.

Narasimha

Agnisarman

Chalil Madathil

Gramopadhye

McElligott

J. T.

(2017). Designing Home-Based Telemedicine Systems for the Geriatric Population: An Empirical Study. Telemedicine Journal and E-Health: The Official Journal of the American Telemedicine Association. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2017.0047

14.

Narasimha

Chalil Madathil

Agnisarman

Rogers

Welch

Ashok

… McElligott

(2016). Designing Telemedicine Systems for Geriatric Patients: A Review of the Usability Studies. Telemedicine Journal and E-Health: The Official Journal of the American Telemedicine Association. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2016.0178

15.

Neale

D. C.

Carroll

J. M.

Rosson

M. B.

(2004). Evaluating computer-supported cooperative work: models and frameworks. In Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp. 112–121). ACM.

16.

Rosenfeld

Morville

(2002). Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. “O’Reilly Media, Inc.”

17.

Slater

Sanchez-Vives

M. V.

(2016). Enhancing Our Lives with Immersive Virtual Reality. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 3, 74.

18.

Witmer

B. G.

Singer

M. J.

(1998). Measuring Presence in Virtual Environments: A Presence Questionnaire. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 7(3), 225–240.