Performance and user based analysis of a collaborative virtual environment system

Abstract

In this work, we analyse the effect of network parameters on the judged usability of a collaborative virtual environment. Participants were trained to find the exit of a virtual maze by a trainer, which guided the exploration of the virtual space. An extensive experimental evaluation was conducted by simulating a series of operational parameters (network bandwidth and latency) to assess the reported effectiveness of the training. An objective similarity metric based on processing time per test was also defined and used, as well as subjective user's evaluations. Further, we have successfully correlated subjective evaluation and objective measure by computing the correlation values and showing how the two values co-vary.

In-world data services in virtual environments

“…Research into SL hadn't begun until recently, but interesting studies have been started. The collaborative potential of SL has been has been examined [15,13] and some groups have offered virtual tools to aid others in their collaborative efforts while using SL [9] Our work helps to ease limitations that might be encountered as measures are taken to better the collaborative potential of SL, particularly our experiments in retrieving data as fast as possible into the grid. However, our focus is broader than simply looking only at the collaborative aspects of SL.…”