Research in Human Computer Interaction includes the development and assessment of new technologies and innovations in how people and technology interact and collaborate. As an introduction to HCI research, you will read and summarize a number of published research papers.
Refer to the HCI Research Learning Guide for guidance on how to read and how to summarize research paper.
For this assignment, read the following research paper, and submit a summary according to the structure below.
Research Paper
- Bad Breakdowns, Useful Seams, and Face Slapping: Analysis of VR Fails on YouTube.
- For reference, this article is available from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital Library: ACM DL Entry for Bad Breakdowns, Useful Seams, and Face Slapping: Analysis of VR Fails on YouTube
Main Issue: The paper addresses the issue of Virtual reality (VR) failure, categorizes the types of failure, and proposes a possible solution, as the use of VR getting increased independently such as in games and social apps, that could be used in the home or any place without supervision that increases the physical harm either self-injury or injured someone nearby, or destroying assets such as furniture or TV.
Approach: The author analyses many YouTube videos the post publicly by users of failure while using Virtual reality technologies, The total number is 233 videos as the duplication get removed to focus on distinct results. To understand when exactly the failure occurs or the breakdowns happen Moreover, the research categorizes the failures
Related Work / Context: Since this paper is studying commercial success arises in VR technology, there is a reference for related work noted in the paper, as "the VR in the real-world" research in different papers [Mattelson et al. 2017], [George et al. 2019], [Mai et al. 2018], also "Understanding the use of the YouTube" since the main source of data for this study is a gathered publicly published is YouTube videos. It is good to understand the behavior and the nature of the data. Also referenced is a related work for the issue that this paper is studying, "Breakdown as the inverse of presence" [Slater et al. 2000] and "Factors for the transition from virtual to real" [Dalton et al. 2018]. Moreover, referencing related work for engagement with play type of spectator papers it was noted, as "Kinds of spectating in Kinect play" [Tekin et al. 2017] and "Effect of spectators".
Evaluation / Analysis: based on the collected YouTube video data, the authors categorize the videos into types of fault and the causes of the failure. As the paper shows, results identified six types of failure: Colliding (9% of clips), Hitting (10%), Falling Over (18%), Excessive Reaction (53%), Covering (7%), and Other (3%). Also, to understand and demonstrate why the VR user fails the authors categorize the cause into seven corresponding causes of fails: Fear (40%), Sensorimotor mismatch (26%), Obstacles in the Real World (14%), Crowd Participation (6%), False Signifiers (4%), Setup Failure (3%), and No Cause (6%)
Lessons Learned: Based on the natural approach, analyzing those fails from two perspectives. In the breakdown and Seamful design, However, the paper encourages preventing collisions by finding better play spaces to be suitable for the required play area, also encouraging the spectator to be aware and engaged to protect the player and himself. The paper also proposes new design opportunities. The spectators get hit by players. So the paper suggests wearing a Head-mounted projector can be effective to protect the spectators to be aware to avoid collision with the player, and protect the player from hitting and destroying nearby objects by way of arranging the physical environment. Moreover, The cause of failure is 'Fear' 40%, usually performing actions based on fear. Such as covering their face or trying to escape. The research suggests adding a feature in the VR device to allow the user to cover with a hand by touching the back of the glasses with a sensor to fade in when separating the fingers. As named “Peek through mode” which allows the player to disable the view by covering their face using their hand, or they can partially reveal the view as the player peer through with their fingers. That way, the user can hide the cause of the fear until he/she calms down and avoid a high-risk reaction.