Alexandra Covaci

Virtual reality (VR) immerses users in digital environments and is used in various applications. VR content is created using either computer‐generated or conventional imaging. However, conventional imaging captures only 2D spatial information, which limits the realism of VR content. Advanced technologies like light field (LF) imaging can overcome t...

Training wheelchair skills are vital for enhancing independence and safety. Traditional training methods require significant time and resources, limiting accessibility. Virtual reality (VR) offers an innovative solution by simulating real-life environments for training, reducing risks and costs. However, the effectiveness of VR in complementing rea...

One factor leading to compromised Quality of Life (QoL) for people with dementia in long-term care settings is the significant barriers they face in accessing experiences beyond their physical premises. Although, in recent years, research within HCI has investigated the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in providing enriched experiences for people with d...

Media synchronization and, in particular, audiovisual (AV) synchronization, plays a pivotal role in multimedia systems, significantly impacting the Quality of Experience (QoE) perceived by users. What is intriguing is that despite the growing prevalence of multimedia content consumption in 360° environments, the issue of perceived AV synchronizatio...

The light field (LF) imaging technique can capture 3D scene information in 4D by recording both 2D intensity and 2D direction of incoming light rays. Due to this capability, LF has shown a great interest in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) for enhanced immersion, improved depth perception and reconstruction of realistic 3D environmen...

People living with dementia are at risk of social isolation, and conversational AI agents can potentially support such individuals by reducing their loneliness. In our study, a conversational AI agent, called MindTalker, co-designed with therapists and utilizing the GPT-4 Large Language Model (LLM), was developed to support people with early-stage...

Passive haptics have long been used to enhance the user’s experience in virtual reality (VR). However, creating props to be used in a virtual environment can be a complicated and lengthy process. Current research looks to create passive haptic props based on the layout of, or objects in, the user’s real environment. However, we identify three key l...

This study compares the influence of a gamified and a non-gamified virtual reality (VR) environment on wheelchair skills training. In specific, the study explores the integration of gamification elements and their influence on wheelchair driving performance in VR-based training. Twenty-two non-disabled participants volunteered for the study, of who...

This paper presents the conclusions drawn from an ongoing experiment investigating the performance, usability, and impact of multisensory stimuli in the virtual environment, with a focus on proposing guidelines for conducting biofeedback-enhanced Quality of Experience (QoE) studies in multimedia-enhanced Virtual Reality (VR). The study evaluated va...

Drawing inspiration from collaborative art-making, our study presents the methodology and findings of a process of co-creating meaningful spaces with individuals living with dementia, and the subsequent exploration of these spaces from a first-person perspective in virtual reality (VR). We examine the dual role of art as a means of communication fo...

This paper presents a unique artistic endeavour that aims to foster an understanding of the profound impact of space, place, and human connection through the lens of individuals living with dementia. Our work involved a five-week co-creation process, comprising twenty sessions, where forty-four participants collaborated with artists to craft four p...

In this talk, we review our evolving relationship with food in the digital world, with a focus on digital commensality, which describes the sharing of food and drink experiences through digital technologies, such as social media, video conferencing, and virtual reality. With the rise of social media and the promises of the metaverse, there has been...

In order to create immersive experiences in virtual worlds, we need to explore different human senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch). Many different devices have been developed by both industry and academia towards this aim. In this paper, we focus our attention on the researched area of thermal and wind devices to deliver the sensations...

In this paper, we introduce Twirl, a haptic system that allows the creation and delivery of hot and cold airflow synchronised with audiovisual content. Twirl combines vaporization of cooled water by Peltier elements for cold wind and hair dryers for warm wind steered by wind fans. To assess our system, we conducted several studies. First, we analyz...

Mastering wheelchair driving skills is essential for the safety of wheelchair users (WUs), yet the acquisition of these skills can be challenging, and training resources can be costly or not available. Technologies such as virtual reality (VR) have grown in popularity as they can provide a motivating training environment without the risks found in...

With one-person households being increasingly common and Covid-19 lockdown policies forcing people to stay home, remote dining has become common practice for many, who take it as an opportunity to connect with others in times of loneliness. Sharing meals online, also known as digital commensality, is a rich form of interaction, where people leverag...

The purpose of our research is to propose a standardised method to assess virtual reality (VR) training for wheelchair driving skills. This is done through the development of a platform which contains a VR environment mimicking the tasks used in the renowned wheelchair skills test (WST). Currently the WST has been shown useful particularly for the...

This workshop aims to start a conversation as to what the performances of the future might look like by inviting both researchers and practitioners to present their work in this domain. It will explore the interception of technology and performance, with a focus on how technology might be leveraged to enhance performances and the process of develop...

Our interactions with the world are multisensory in nature-the senses move us through spaces, mix with our memories and are constantly connected by our brains. Focused only on vision for a long time, the field of human computer interaction (HCI) started to meaningfully bring together all our senses in designing interactions for a variety of media....

Omnidirectional videos have become a leading multimedia format for Virtual Reality applications. While live 360 $^\circ$ videos offer a unique immersive experience, streaming of omnidirectional content at high resolutions is not always feasible in bandwidth-limited networks. While in the case of flat videos, scaling to lower resolutions works well...

The purpose of our research is to develop a hardware-software platform to enable wheelchair users to practise navigation within a safe and bespoke virtual environment. The platform allows the users to learn new complex skills that would otherwise be challenging to learn in real life. The platform provides an interface for clinicians to set the requ...

Multisensory experiences have been increasingly undertaken in the digital world. With the emerging interest in immersive applications (i.e. 360 videos and virtual reality), more and more researchers and practitioners are in pursuit of ways to take these experiences to the next level, adding sensations that go beyond that of seeing and hearing. This...

Quality of Experience (QoE) is indelibly linked to the human side of the multimedia experience. Surprisingly, however, there is a paucity of research which explores the impact that human factors has in determining QoE. Whilst this is true of multimedia, it is even more starkly so as far as mulsemedia - applications that involve media engaging three...

Quality of Experience (QoE) is inextricably linked to the human side of the multimedia experience. Whilst there has been a considerable amount of research undertaken to explore the various dimensions of QoE, one facet which been relatively unexplored is the role of individual differences in determining an individual’s QoE. Whereas this is certainly...

Sensory studies emerged as a significant influence upon Human Computer Interaction and traditional multimedia. Mulsemedia is an area that extends multimedia addressing issues of multisensorial response through the combination of at least three media, typically a non-traditional media with traditional audio-visual content. In this paper, we explore...

Multisensory effects devices have been increasingly developed by research groups and companies with the aim of creating more immersive experiences for users by generating tactile, olfactory, and gustatory sensations. These technologies have been applied to areas such as entertainment, healthcare, education, culture, and marketing. This article brin...

One of the main challenges in current multimedia networking environments is to find solutions to help accommodate the next generation of mobile application classes with stringent Quality of Service (QoS) requirements whilst enabling Quality of Experience (QoE) provisioning for users. One such application class, featured in this paper, is 360° muls...

A great deal of research effort has been put in exploring crossmodal correspondences in the field of cognitive science which refer to the systematic associations frequently made between different sensory modalities (e.g. high pitch is matched with angular shapes). However, the possibilities cross-modality opens in the digital world have been relati...

The advent and increased use of new technologies, such as innovative mulsemedia and multi-modal content distribution mechanisms, have brought new challenges and diverse opportunities for technology enhanced learning (TEL). NEWTON is a Horizon 2020 European project that revolutionizes the educational process through innovative TEL methodologies and...

Dispositivos de efeitos multissensoriais estão cada vez mais sendo desenvolvidos por grupos de pesquisa e empresas com o objetivo de melhorar a qualidade da experiência (QoE) dos usuários, criando sensações de vibração, toque, cheiro, vento e assim por diante. Este breve artigo resume os esforços recentes de dispositivos táteis, olfativos e gustati...

Previous research has shown that adding multisensory media—mulsemedia—to traditional audiovisual content has a positive effect on user Quality of Experience (QoE). However, the QoE impact of employing mulsemedia in 360° videos has remained unexplored. Accordingly, in this paper, a QoE study for watching a 360° video—with and without multisensory eff...

Multisensory experiences have been increasingly applied in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). In recent years, it is commonplace to notice the development of haptic, olfactory, and even gustatory displays to create more immersive experiences. Companies are proposing new additions to the multisensory world and are unveiling new products that promise...

Different senses provide us with information of various levels of precision and enable us to construct a more precise representation of the world. Rich multisensory simulations are thus beneficial for comprehension, memory reinforcement, or retention of information. Crossmodal mappings refer to the systematic associations often made between differe...

The human brain has evolved to learn, adapt and operate optimally in multisensory settings. Exploring the multisensory-phenomena in a human computer interaction (HCI) context could help design interfaces and displays that tap into users' mental models. In this paper we explore the influence of crossmodal correspondences on the Quality of Experience...

The human brain has evolved to learn, adapt and operate optimally in multisensory settings. Exploring the multisensory-phenomena in a human computer interaction (HCI) context could help design interfaces and displays that tap into users' mental models. In this paper we explore the influence of crossmodal correspondences on the Quality of Experience...

Media content is consumed more and more on digital and mobile devices. Internet of Things enables media providers to move beyond the traditional content and entertainment space and offer a plethora of new services that creates an engaging user experience around content. However, one of the questions that remain open is how to design content that en...

Mulsemedia—multiple sensorial media—makes possible the inclusion of layered sensory stimulation and interaction through multiple sensory channels. The recent upsurge in technology and wearables provides mulsemedia researchers a vehicle for potentially boundless choice. However, in order to build systems that integrate various senses, there are stil...

Serious games are becoming an alternative educational method in a variety of fields because of their potential to improve the quality of learning experiences and to facilitate knowledge acquisition and content understanding. Moreover, entertainment-driven learners are more easily motivated to benefit from the learning process through meaningful act...

Blockchain-driven technologies are considered disruptive because of the availability of dis-intermediated, censorship-resistant and tamper-proof digital platforms of distributed trust. Among these technologies, smart contract platforms have the potential to take over functions usually done by intermediaries like banks, escrow or legal services. In...

Blockchain-driven technologies are considered disruptive because of the availability of dis-intermediated, censorship-resistant and tamper-proof digital platforms of distributed trust. Among these technologies, smart contract platforms have the potential to take over functions usually done by intermediaries like banks, escrow or legal services. In...

This paper reports on the lessons learnt during the application of a methodology to develop intelligent environments. One important feature of the methodology is that of being strongly user-centred, and the authors report on how that interaction with users took place and how it continuously shaped our project aspirations and out comes.The methodolo...

In recent years, the emerging immersive technologies (e.g. Virtual/Augmented Reality, multisensorial media) bring brand-new multi-dimensional effects such as 3D vision, immersion, vibration, smell, airflow, etc. to gaming, video entertainment and other aspects of human life. This paper reports results from an European Horizon 2020 research project...

We report on the lessons learnt during the application of a methodology to develop Intelligent Environments. This methodology was applied to a project which aimed at helping people with Down's Syndrome and those with similar conditions and needs, to be more included in society. The project is developed by a consortium of commercial, academic, and e...

Accurate distance perception and natural interactions are mandatory conditions when training precision aiming tasks in VR. However, many factors specific to virtual environments (VEs) lead to differences in the way users execute a motor task in VR versus the real world. To investigate these differences, the authors performed a study on basketball b...

People with cognitive disabilities are often socially excluded. We propose a system based on Virtual and Augmented Reality that has the potential to act as an educational and support tool in everyday tasks for people with cognitive disabilities. Our solution consists of two components: the first that enables users to train for several essential quo...

The ability to commute and travel alone is an important skill that enables people to be more independent, and integrated with society. People with Down's Syndrome often experience low social integration, and low degree of independence. As part of the European Commission funded POSEIDON project, we want to explore how context-aware, and assistive te...

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in sports training is now widely studied with the perspective to transfer motor skills learned in virtual environments (VEs) to real practice. However precision motor tasks that require high accuracy have been rarely studied in the context of VE, especially in Large Screen Image Display (LSID) platforms. An example o...