ABSTRACT

Developing mixed-reality (MR) experiments is a challenge as there is a wide variety of functionality to support. This challenge is exacerbated if the MR experiment is multi-user or if the experiment needs to be run out of the lab. We present Ubiq-Exp - a set of tools that provide a variety of functionality to facilitate distributed and remote MR experiments. We motivate our design patterns and tools from recent practice in the field and a desire to build experiments that are easier to reproduce. Key features are the ability to support synchronous and asynchronous experiments, and a variety of tools for the experimenter to facilitate operation and documentation of the experimental sessions. We illustrate the potential of the tools through three small-scale pilot experiments. Our tools and pilot experiments are released under a permissive open-source license to enable developers to appropriate and develop them further for their own needs.

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Images from the three experiments and environments. (A) One of the questions in the pre-questionnaire for the singer in the bar experiment. (B) View of the male first-person sat avatar with tracked hands. (C) View of the singer. (D) Two example jigsaw puzzles that reveal the compound word ‘butterfly’. (E) One participant is using his body to shield the puzzle. (F) Two participants are watching their replays (avatars with yellow outlines) in VR. (G) Example of the word-puzzle posters. (H) View of the participants’ and experimenter’s avatars. (I) A view of the same scenario, but using the RocketBox avatars.

Images from the three experiments and environments. (A) One of the questions in the pre-questionnaire for the singer in the bar experiment. (B) View of the male first-person sat avatar with tracked hands. (C) View of the singer. (D) Two example jigsaw puzzles that reveal the compound word ‘butterfly’. (E) One participant is using his body to shield the puzzle. (F) Two participants are watching their replays (avatars with yellow outlines) in VR. (G) Example of the word-puzzle posters. (H) View of the participants’ and experimenter’s avatars. (I) A view of the same scenario, but using the RocketBox avatars.

CITING

@article{steedUbiqexpToolkitBuild2022,
  title = {Ubiq-{{Exp}}: A {{Toolkit}} to {{Build}} and {{Run Remote}} and {{Distributed Mixed Reality Experiments}}},
  shorttitle = {Ubiq-Exp},
  author = {Steed, Anthony and Izzouzi, Lisa and Brandst{\"a}tter, Klara and Friston, Sebastian and Congdon, Ben and Olkkonen, Otto and Giunchi, Daniele and Numan, Nels and Swapp, David},
  year = {2022},
  journal = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality},
  volume = {3},
  issn = {2673-4192},
  doi = {10.3389/frvir.2022.912078}
}