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Extensive research has outlined the potential of augmented, mixed, and virtual reality applications. However, little attention has been paid to scalability enhancements fostering practical adoption. In this paper, we introduce the concept of scalable extended reality (XRS), i.e., spaces scaling between different displays and degrees of virtuality that can be entered by multiple, possibly distributed users. The development of such XRS spaces concerns several research fields. To provide bidirectional interaction and maintain consistency with the real environment, virtual reconstructions of physical scenes need to be segmented semantically and adapted dynamically. Moreover, scalable interaction techniques for selection, manipulation, and navigation as well as a world-stabilized rendering of 2D annotations in 3D space are needed to let users intuitively switch between handheld and head-mounted displays. Collaborative settings should further integrate access control and awareness cues indicating the collaborators’ locations and actions. While many of these topics were investigated by previous research, very few have considered their integration to enhance scalability. Addressing this gap, we review related previous research, list current barriers to the development of XRS spaces, and highlight dependencies between them.

In-vehicle voice assistants face usability challenges due to limitations in delivering feedback within the constraints of the driving environment. The presented study explores the potential of Rich Visual Feedback (RVF) on Head-Up Displays (HUDs) as a multimodal solution to enhance system usability. A user study with 32 participants evaluated three HUD User Interface (UI) designs: the AR Fusion UI, which integrates augmented reality elements for layered, dynamic information presentation; the Baseline UI, which displays only essential keywords; and the Flat Fusion UI, which uses conventional vertical scrolling. To explore HUD interface principles and inform future HUD design without relying on specific hardware, a simulated near-field overlay was used. Usability was measured using the System Usability Scale (SUS), and distraction was assessed with a penalty point method. Results show that RVF on the HUD significantly influences usability, with both content quantity and presentation style affecting outcomes. The minimal Baseline UI achieved the highest overall usability. However, among the two Fusion designs, the AR-based layered information mechanism outperformed the flat scrolling method. Distraction effects were not statistically significant, indicating the need for further research. These findings suggest RVF-enabled HUDs can enhance in-vehicle voice assistant usability, potentially contributing to safer, more efficient driving.

Although the focus of Virtual Reality (VR) lies predominantly on the visual world, acoustic components enhance the functionality of a 3D environment. To study the interaction between visual and auditory modalities in a 3D environment, we investigated the effect of auditory cues on visual searches in 3D virtual environments with both visual and auditory noise. In an experiment, we asked participants to detect visual targets in a 360° video in conditions with and without environmental noise. Auditory cues indicating the target location were either absent or one of simple stereo or binaural audio, both of which assisted sound localization. To investigate the efficacy of these cues in distracting environments, we measured participant performance using a VR headset with an eye tracker. We found that the binaural cue outperformed both stereo and no auditory cues in terms of target detection irrespective of the environmental noise. We used two eye movement measures and two physiological measures to evaluate task dynamics and mental effort. We found that the absence of a cue increased target search duration and target search path, measured as time to fixation and gaze trajectory lengths, respectively. Our physiological measures of blink rate and pupil size showed no difference between the different stadium and cue conditions. Overall, our study provides evidence for the utility of binaural audio in a realistic, noisy and virtual environment for performing a target detection task, which is a crucial part of everyday behaviour—finding someone in a crowd.

Collaboration, performed by a large group of experts of diverse fields and competences, is a time-demanding and complex process. It is crucial to provide tools to facilitate the identification and manipulation of interdependencies as well as the active collaboration process. Dependency graphs of the participants can help to improve processes, to plan tasks, and to identify potential for more efficient cooperation. Such a dependency graph comprises clear defined entities, which are linked with each other based on defined relationships [1]. In the course of this work, a taxonomy of users in industrial corporations will be introduced, which is needed to define the entities and relationships of the dependency graph and is easily adaptable to specific corporations. Such a taxonomy cannot be found in the literature, but is important for the design and development of software products under the rules of user centered design [2]. However, there is still the big challenge to display a meaningful relation between those entities and to give an easy understandable overview of the whole relationship with the goal to solve complex tasks and to improve a groups’ performance. Therefore, a set of parameters will be introduced, which help to find out how good tasks and work packages are distributed within the network. State-of-the-art techniques are used to visualize and recognize interdependencies and information flow. Based on a case study, the findings of this work are embedded and combined in an interactive and intuitive user interface that facilitates planners to recognize and explore complex multi-dimensional networks.

We introduce a framework for distributed or co-located teams to collaborate highly efficiently using diverse mobile devices for design and assessment of complex systems. Our framework enhances the efficiency of collaborations arising in design, simulation or data analysis, including visualization. First, we investigate which requirements on such a collaboration framework exist and which influences between task models have to be taken into account; afterwards we transfer those findings into a prototypical system. The devices provide three views of data to be processed collaboratively: (1) a simulation view; (2) a status report view; and (3) a status update view. These views serve the purpose of providing overview, detail and performance views. A smart watch view shows at-a-glance information, the environment or the process being inspected, possibly influenced by a user. Users can use their mobile devices as control interfaces. The framework is especially effective for combining the synergistic, complementary competencies of a team. We describe the design of our framework and discuss specific applications.

In this work, a predictive eco-driving assistance system (pEDAS) with the goal to assist drivers in improving their driving style and thereby reducing the energy consumption in battery electric vehicles while enhancing the driving safety and comfort is introduced and evaluated. pEDAS in this work is equipped with two model predictive controllers (MPCs), namely reference-tracking MPC and car-following MPC, that use the information from onboard sensors, signal phase and timing (SPaT) messages from traffic light infrastructure, and geographical information of the driving route to compute an energy-optimal driving speed. An optimal speed suggestion and informative advice are indicated to the driver using a visual feedback. pEDAS provides continuous feedback and encourages the drivers to perform energy-efficient car-following while tracking a preceding vehicle, travel at safe speeds at turns and curved roads, drive at energy-optimal speed determined using dynamic programming in freeway scenarios, and travel with a green-wave optimal speed to cross the signalized intersections at a green phase whenever possible. Furthermore, to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed pEDAS, user studies were conducted with 41 participants on a dynamic driving simulator. The objective analysis revealed that the drivers achieved mean energy savings up to 10%, reduced the speed limit violations, and avoided unnecessary stops at signalized intersections by using pEDAS. Finally, the user acceptance of the proposed pEDAS was evaluated using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The results showed an overall positive attitude of users and that the perceived usefulness and perceived behavioral control were found to be the significant factors in influencing the behavioral intention to use pEDAS.

This paper proposes an ecological adaptive cruise control (EACC) concept with the primary goal to minimize the fuel consumption in a city bus with an internal combustion engine (ICE). A hybrid model predictive control (HMPC) is implemented in this work to control both continuous and discrete-time variables. Moreover, a multi-objective optimization problem for EACC is formulated in time-domain as a mixed-integer quadratically constrained quadratic programming (MIQCQP) problem. The proposed HMPC-EACC performs robust vehicle-following while tracking a leading vehicle and plans fuel-efficient acceleration and deceleration maneuvers for the host vehicle. Additionally, it uses the signal phase and timing (SPaT) information to compute a green wave reference speed for the host vehicle to cross the signalized intersections at a green phase. Moreover, the proposed controller performs pulse and glide (PnG) to optimally control the engine ON and OFF states and save additional fuel. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed strategy is evaluated on a real-world driving profile and compared against a baseline controller from the literature. Finally, the influence of different prediction horizons on the fuel savings and computation times are studied. The results reveal significant reduction in fuel consumption with HMPC-EACC and demonstrate that the proposed controller is real-time capable.

In today's manufacturing processes, optical measurement techniques are becoming increasingly popular for on-line quality control. This fast and cheap technique enables manufacturers to not only check single points given by an inspection plan, but entire surfaces. This paradigm change brings new possibilities as well as new challenges to the inspection process. We devised software and technologies that achieve a seamless integration of optical measurement techniques into the existing workflow in the production process from design and prototyping up to series production. These techniques go far beyond the simple measuring of structural dimensions. The system permits the management and storage of the complete history of measurements. Hence, trends in deviations from the desired quality or functionality can be determined early and easily. This helps to implement corrective actions even before the produced structures fail to meet the specifications. Using a safe and decentralized server architecture using https, all data is available across business units and plants. Additionally, we developed highly interactive visualization and data exploration tools which enable expert users to fast and easily evaluate the measured data. With these techniques and visualization tools, we combine the advantages of optical measurements with the established evaluation of tactile measurements.

Recent natural disasters, like the earthquakes in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2010), Christchurch, New Zealand (2011) and the Tohoku earthquake in Japan (2011), which also triggered a tsunami resulting in the catastrophic failure of numerous nuclear power plants, pose the question how to support first responders in providing fast and adequate help. When first responders arrive on-site it is crucial that the flow of information is ensured: important fields are logistics, communication, personal management and the deployment of up-to-date information. Unfortunately the events in the past showed that there are certain shortcomings, especially in terms of communicating information from local responders to arriving responders. Our approach proposes the utilization of large public displays, seizing the idea of traditional pinboards, referred in our work as Digital Interactive Public Pinboards (DIPP). DIPPs are set up in hot spot locations and provide fast and reliable information to first responders as well as citizens in the area of the natural disaster. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]