In the area of computer vision, deep learning has produced a variety of state-of-the-art models that rely on massive labeled data. However, collecting and annotating images from the real world has a great demand for labor and money investments and is usually too passive to build datasets with specific characteristics, such as small area of objects and high occlusion level. Under the framework of Parallel Vision, this paper presents a purposeful way to design artificial scenes and automatically generate virtual images with precise annotations. A virtual dataset named ParallelEye is built, which can be used for several computer vision tasks. Then, by training the DPM (Deformable Parts Model) and Faster R-CNN detectors, we prove that the performance of models can be significantly improved by combining ParallelEye with publicly available real-world datasets during the training phase. In addition, we investigate the potential of testing the trained models from a specific aspect using intentionally designed virtual datasets, in order to discover the flaws of trained models. From the experimental results, we conclude that our virtual dataset is viable to train and test the object detectors.
There have been many attempts that use virtual world to carry out scientific researches. Bainbridge @cite_20 investigated the feasibility of utilizing Second life and World of Warcraft as sites for research in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences, as well as computer science. With a virtual living lab, Prendinger @cite_19 conducted several controlled driving and travel studies.
@cite_19 @cite_20
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Online virtual worlds, electronic environments where people can work and interact in a somewhat realistic manner, have great potential as sites for research in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences, as well as in human-centered computer science. This article uses Second Life and World of Warcraft as two very different examples of current virtual worlds that foreshadow future developments, introducing a number of research methodologies that scientists are now exploring, including formal experimentation, observational ethnography, and quantitative analysis of economic markets or social networks. This issue includes two articles with additional research examples from distinguished experts in social science and computer science. In the first article, "Secondary Avatars and Semiautonomous Agents" presents semiautonomous agent assistants that have been incorporated into recent MMOGs. In the second article, a group of people constructed combat, mentoring, and trust networks based on data from Sony's popular MMOG Everquest II. They also provide an excellent summary of their ongoing research in performance and learning, player churn analysis, and identifying undesirable behavior in MMOGs. The authors argue that the close collaboration between social scientists and computer scientists is creating an emerging area called "computational social science," where computation is used as an integral mechanism in social science research. Digital immersive virtual environment technology (IVET) enables behavioral scientists to conduct ecologically realistic experiments with near-perfect experimental control. The authors employed IVET to study the interpersonal distance maintained between participants and virtual humans. In Study 1, participants traversed a three-dimensional virtual room in which a virtual human stood. In Study 2, a virtual human approached participants. In both studies, participant gender, virtual human gender, virtual human gaze behavior, and whether virtual humans were allegedly controlled by humans (i.e., avatars) or computers (i.e., agents) were varied. Results indicated that participants maintained greater distance from virtual humans when approaching their fronts compared to their backs. In addition, participants gave more personal space to virtual agents who engaged them in mutual gaze. Moreover, when virtual humans invaded their personal space, participants moved farthest from virtual human agents. The advantages an... There are many studies that collect and store life log for personal memory. The paper explains how a system can create someone's life log in an inexpensive way to share daily life events with family or friends through socialnetwork or messaging. In the modern world where people are usually busier than ever, family members are geographically distributed due to globalization of companies and humans are inundated with more information than they can process, ambient communications through mobile media or internet based communication can provide rich social connections to friends and family. People can stay connected to their loving ones ubiquitously that they care about by sharing awareness information in a passive way. For users who wish to have a persistent existence in a virtual world - to let their friends know about their current activity or to inform their caretakers - new technology is needed. Research that aims to bridge real life and the virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life, Face book etc.) to simulate virtual living or logging daily events, while challenging and promising, is currently rare. Only very recently the mapping of real-world activities to virtual worlds has been attempted by processing multiple sensors data along with inference logic for realworld activities. Detecting or inferring human activity using such simple sensor data is often inaccurate, insufficient and expensive. Hence, this paper proposes to infer human activity from environmental sound cues and common sense knowledge, which is an inexpensive alternative to other sensors (e.g., accelerometers) based approaches. Because of their ubiquity, we believe that mobile phones or hand-held devices (HHD) are ideal channels to achieve a seamless integration between the physical and virtual worlds. Therefore, the paper presents a prototype to log daily events by a mobile phone based application by inferring activities from environmental sound cues. To the best of our knowledge, this system pioneers the use of environmental sound based activity recognition in mobile computing to reflect one's real-world activity in virtual worlds. Virtual citizen science (VCS) projects enable new forms of scientific research using crowdsourcing and human computation to gather and analyse large-scale datasets. To attract and sustain the number of participants and levels of participation necessary to achieve research aims, some VCS projects have introduced game elements such as competitions to tasks. However, we still know very little about how some game elements, particularly competitions, influence participation rates. To investigate the impact of game elements on player engagement, we conducted a two-part mixed-methods study of EyeWire, a VCS game. First, we interviewed EyeWire designers to understand their rationale for introducing competitions. Guided by their answers, we analysed two datasets of EyeWire user task contributions and chat logs to assess the effectiveness of competitions in achieving designers' goals. Our findings contribute to the growing understanding of how competitions influence participant activity in human computation initiatives and socio-technical systems such as VCS. In this work we present a measurement study of user mobility in Second Life. We first discuss different techniques to collect user traces and then focus on results obtained using a crawler that we built. Tempted by the question whether our methodology could provide similar results to those obtained in real-world experiments, we study the statistical distribution of user contacts and show that from a qualitative point of view user mobility in Second Life presents similar traits to those of real humans. We further push our analysis to line of sight networks that emerge from user interaction and show that they are highly clustered. Lastly, we focus on the spatial properties of user movements and observe that users in Second Life revolve around several point of interests traveling in general short distances. Besides our findings, the traces collected in this work can be very useful for trace-driven simulations of communication schemes in delay tolerant networks and their performance evaluation. We report a series of experiments conducted to investigate the effects of travel technique on information gathering and cognition in complex virtual environments. In the first experiment, participants completed a non-branching multilevel 3D maze at their own pace using either real walking or one of two virtual travel techniques. In the second experiment, we constructed a real-world maze with branching pathways and modeled an identical virtual environment. Participants explored either the real or virtual maze for a predetermined amount of time using real walking or a virtual travel technique. Our results across experiments suggest that for complex environments requiring a large number of turns, virtual travel is an acceptable substitute for real walking if the goal of the application involves learning or reasoning based on information presented in the virtual world. However, for applications that require fast, efficient navigation or travel that closely resembles real-world behavior, real walking has advantages over common joystick-based virtual travel techniques. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to examine overall effect as well as the impact of selected instructional design principles in the context of virtual reality technology-based instruction (i.e. games, simulation, virtual worlds) in K-12 or higher education settings. A total of 13 studies (N?=?3081) in the category of games, 29 studies (N?=?2553) in the category of games, and 27 studies (N?=?2798) in the category of virtual worlds were meta-analyzed. The key inclusion criteria were that the study came from K-12 or higher education settings, used experimental or quasi-experimental research designs, and used a learning outcome measure to evaluate the effects of the virtual reality-based instruction.Results suggest games (FEM?=?0.77; REM?=?0.51), simulations (FEM?=?0.38; REM?=?0.41), and virtual worlds (FEM?=?0.36; REM?=?0.41) were effective in improving learning outcome gains. The homogeneity analysis of the effect sizes was statistically significant, indicating that the studies were different from each other. Therefore, we conducted moderator analysis using 13 variables used to code the studies. Key findings included that: games show higher learning gains than simulations and virtual worlds. For simulation studies, elaborate explanation type feedback is more suitable for declarative tasks whereas knowledge of correct response is more appropriate for procedural tasks. Students performance is enhanced when they conduct the game play individually than in a group. In addition, we found an inverse relationship between number of treatment sessions learning gains for games.With regards to the virtual world, we found that if students were repeatedly measured it deteriorates their learning outcome gains. We discuss results to highlight the importance of considering instructional design principles when designing virtual reality-based instruction. A comprehensive review of virtual reality-based instruction research.Analysis of the moderation effects of design features in a virtual environment.Using an advance statistical technique of meta-analysis to study the effects.Virtual reality environment is effective for teaching in K-12 and higher education.Results can be used by instructional designers to design the virtual environments. The Tokyo Virtual Living Lab is an experimental space based on 3D Internet technology that lets researchers conduct controlled driving and travel studies, including those involving multiple users in the same shared space. This shared-use feature is crucial for analyzing interactive driving behaviors in future smart cities. The lab's novelty is two-fold: it outputs a semantically enriched graphical navigation network using free map data as input, and it includes a navigation segment agent that coordinates a multiagent traffic simulator. This simulator, which is based on the navigation network, supports the integration of user-controlled vehicles. The lab's approach can significantly reduce the effort of preparing realistic driving behavior studies. To demonstrate this, the authors built a 3D model of a part of Tokyo to perform experiments with human drivers in two conditions: normal traffic and ubiquitous eco-traffic. An experiment is presented comparing the effects of various virtual travel techniques in an immersive virtual environment (VE) on the spatial orientation of users. The experiment was designed and implemented in the context of a formal framework for the design and evaluation of VE travel techniques. Subjects traveled through virtual corridors, noting the location of objects along the way, and were asked to point in the direction of one of these objects when the end of the corridor was reached. Results indicate that virtual travel techniques, in which users do not physically translate their bodies, can allow the maintenance of a user's spatial orientation as measured by a pointing task. The experiment also replicates an earlier result, showing that path dimension significantly affects user performance. Finally, the strategies used by subjects to perform the task were shown to be significant, indicating that performance depends not only on the technique, environment, and task, but also on the sophistication of the user. We describe a between-subjects experiment that compared four different methods of travel and their effect on cognition and paths taken in an immersive virtual environment (IVE). Participants answered a set of questions based on Crook's condensation of Bloom's taxonomy that assessed their cognition of the IVE with respect to knowledge, understanding and application, and higher mental processes. Participants also drew a sketch map of the IVE and the objects within it. The users' sense of presence was measured using the Steed-Usoh-Slater presence questionnaire. The participants' position and head orientation were automatically logged during their exposure to the virtual environment. These logs were later used to create visualizations of the paths taken. Path analysis, such as exploring the overlaid path visualizations and dwell data information, revealed further differences among the travel techniques. Our results suggest that, for applications where problem solving and evaluation of information is important or where opportunity to train is minimal, then having a large tracked space so that the participant can walk around the virtual environment provides benefits over common virtual travel techniques. This paper examines social structures underlying economic activity in Second Life (SL), a massively multiplayer virtual world that allows users to create and trade virtual objects and commodities. We find that users conduct many of their transactions both within their social networks and within groups. Using frequency of chat as a proxy of tie strength, we observe that free items are more likely to be exchanged as the strength of the tie increases. Social ties particularly play a significant role in paid transactions for sellers with a moderately sized customer base. We further find that sellers enjoying repeat business are likely to be selling to niche markets, because their customers tend to be contained in a smaller number of groups. But while social structure and interaction can help explain a seller's revenues and repeat business, they provide little information in the forecasting a seller's future performance. Our quantitative analysis is complemented by a novel method of visualizing the transaction activity of a seller, including revenue, customer base growth, and repeat business. While the knowledge economy has reshaped the world, schools lag behind in producing appropriate learning for this social change. Science education needs to prepare students for a future world in which multiple representations are the norm and adults are required to “think like scientists.” Location-based augmented reality games offer an opportunity to create a “post-progressive” pedagogy in which students are not only immersed in authentic scientific inquiry, but also required to perform in adult scientific discourses. This cross-case comparison as a component of a design-based research study investigates three cases (roughly 28 students total) where an Augmented Reality curriculum, Mad City Mystery, was used to support learning in environmental science. We investigate whether augmented reality games on handhelds can be used to engage students in scientific thinking (particularly argumentation), how game structures affect students’ thinking, the impact of role playing on learning, and the role of the physical environment in shaping learning. We argue that such games hold potential for engaging students in meaningful scientific argumentation. Through game play, players are required to develop narrative accounts of scientific phenomena, a process that requires them to develop and argue scientific explanations. We argue that specific game features scaffold this thinking process, creating supports for student thinking non-existent in most inquiry-based learning environments. Computer graphics can not only generate synthetic images and ground truth but it also offers the possibility of constructing virtual worlds in which: (i) an agent can perceive, navigate, and take actions guided by AI algorithms, (ii) properties of the worlds can be modified (e.g., material and reflectance), (iii) physical simulations can be performed, and (iv) algorithms can be learnt and evaluated. But creating realistic virtual worlds is not easy. The game industry, however, has spent a lot of effort creating 3D worlds, which a player can interact with. So researchers can build on these resources to create virtual worlds, provided we can access and modify the internal data structures of the games. To enable this we created an open-source plugin UnrealCV (Project website: http: unrealcv.github.io) for a popular game engine Unreal Engine 4 (UE4). We show two applications: (i) a proof of concept image dataset, and (ii) linking Caffe with the virtual world to test deep network algorithms. Computer graphics can not only generate synthetic images and ground truth but it also offers the possibility of constructing virtual worlds in which: (i) an agent can perceive, navigate, and take actions guided by AI algorithms, (ii) properties of the worlds can be modified (e.g., material and reflectance), (iii) physical simulations can be performed, and (iv) algorithms can be learnt and evaluated. But creating realistic virtual worlds is not easy. The game industry, however, has spent a lot of effort creating 3D worlds, which a player can interact with. So researchers can build on these resources to create virtual worlds, provided we can access and modify the internal data structures of the games. To enable this we created an open-source plugin UnrealCV (this http URL) for a popular game engine Unreal Engine 4 (UE4). We show two applications: (i) a proof of concept image dataset, and (ii) linking Caffe with the virtual world to test deep network algorithms. This article proposes an empirical test of whether aggregate economic behavior maps from the real to the virtual. Transaction data from a large commercial virtual world — the first such data set provided to outside researchers — is used to calculate metrics for production, consumption and money supply based on real-world definitions. Movements in these metrics over time were examined for consistency with common theories of macroeconomic change. The results indicated that virtual economic behavior follows real-world patterns. Moreover, a natural experiment occurred, in that a new version of the virtual world with the same rules came online during the study. The new world's macroeconomic aggregates quickly grew to be nearly exact replicas of those of the existing worlds, suggesting that Code is Law': macroeconomic outcomes in a virtual world may be explained largely by design structure. Virtual environments are synthetic 3D worlds typically viewed from a first-person point of view with many potential applications within areas such as visualisation, entertainment and training simulators. To effectively develop and utilise virtual environments, user-centric evaluations are commonly performed. Anecdotal evidence suggests that factors such as prior experience with computer games may affect the results of such evaluations. This paper examines the effects of previous computer gaming experience, user perceived gaming ability and actual gaming performance on navigation tasks in a virtual environment. Two computer games and a virtual environment were developed to elicit performance metrics for use within a user study. Results indicated that perceived gaming skill and progress in a First-Person-Shooter (FPS) game were the most consistent metrics showing significant correlations with performance in time-based navigation tasks. There was also strong evidence that these relations were significantly intensified by the inclusion of participants who play FPS games. In addition, it was found that increased gaming experience decreased spatial perception performance. Multiple identity systems involve a physical self and a set of virtual identities.An 8-item model of avatar functions within a multiple identity system was identified.The vast majority of participants noted all or most functions in their interviews.The combined physical and virtual selves form a wider system of personality. Prior research has shown that approximately 50 of active participants in the 3D virtual world of Second Life have one or more secondary avatars or "alts" in addition to their primary avatar. Thus, these individuals are operating a "multiple or poly-identity system" composed of a physical self, a primary avatar, and one or more alts. However, little is known about the functions these virtual identities serve for the virtual-world user. The current study involved qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews with Second Life participants (N=24) who had a primary avatar and at least one alt. Interviews were coded to examine the functions that primary avatars and alts served. Eight functions-seven suggested by previous research on virtual world identity and one that emerged from analyses-were reflected in a large majority of the transcribed interviews and are described in the article. The current findings add to our understanding of how multifaceted identity systems operate, as more individuals augment their physical self with a set of virtual identities. Rapid advances in modern computing and information technology have enabled millions of people to interact online via various social network and gaming services. The widespread adoption of such online services have made possible analysis of large-scale archival data containing detailed human interactions, presenting a very promising opportunity to understand the rich and complex human behavior. In collaboration with a leading global provider of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), here we present a network science-based analysis of the interplay between distinct types of user interaction networks in the virtual world. We find that their properties depend critically on the nature of the context-interdependence of the interactions, highlighting the complex and multilayered nature of human interactions, a robust understanding of which we believe may prove instrumental in the designing of more realistic future virtual arenas as well as provide novel insights to the science of collective human behavior. Virtual space eliminates the constraints of physical distances on communication and interaction. In this study, we examine the impact of offline proximity and homophily of players on their online interactions in EverQuest II. The results show that spatial proximity as well as homophily still influence players’ online behavior.