Ing. Tomáš Nováček

Stať ve sborníku

10.1109/VRW62533.2024.00366

Katedra softwarového inženýrství

Virtual and extended reality are some of the fastest-growing fields today. The visual quality, the headset size, the latency - it all improves with every new device. However, the user interface is still falling behind. After several decades, when we mainly used a mouse and keyboard as controllers for personal computers, we finally can and should use other methods of input. We can even use parts of our body other than our hands to control the virtual worlds. For example, we can track the eyes for additional input or run around the virtual world with our own feet. This doctoral thesis deals with hand-tracking controllers for virtual reality without the user needing to hold or wear any device to interact with the virtual world. The goal is to create an intuitive controller using optical sensors that can provide a more natural user interface. We propose and implement a set of algorithms to fuse the tracking data from multiple optical hand-tracking sensors that provide greater precision and tracking possibilities than a single optical sensor.

Stať ve sborníku

10.2312/egve.20231317

Katedra softwarového inženýrství
Katedra aplikované matematiky

In this research, we compared the precision and ease of use of hand-tracking with one and three optical sensors. We created two test scenes that simulated real-life scenarios, one focusing on smoothness and intuitiveness and the other one focusing on precision and tracking range. We conducted tests with 25 participants and measured the precision and effectiveness of their work with basic user interface elements and 3D objects. This research showed that using multiple optical sensors for hand-tracking greatly improves the precision of the tracking, widens the tracking range and provides more smooth interaction. On average, 80% of the users preferred using three sensors for the interaction because it allowed more users to finish the tasks (74% on average) in a shorter time (15% on average) and with more precise results (43% on average) compared to same tasks done with just one sensor.

Článek

10.1162/pres_a_00356

Virtual reality has been with us for several decades already, but we are still trying to find the right ways to control it. There are a lot of controllers with various purposes and means of input, each with its advantages and disadvantages, but also with specific ways to be handled. Our hands were the primary means of input for human-computer interaction for a long time. However, now we can use movements of our eyes, our feet or even our whole body to control the virtual environment, interact with it, or move from one place to another. We can achieve this with various controllers and wearable interfaces, like eye tracking, haptic suits or treadmills. There are numerous devices that we can choose from for every category, but sometimes it can be hard to pick the one that suits our intentions best. This article summarises all types of user interface controllers for virtual reality, with their main pros and cons and their comparison.

Stať ve sborníku

10.1109/ICVR51878.2021.9483819

Katedra aplikované matematiky

Finding a simple and precise way to control the virtual environment is one of the goals of a lot of human-computer interaction research. One of the approaches is using a Leap Motion optical sensor, which provides hand and finger tracking without the need for any hand-held device. However, the Leap Motion system currently supports only one sensor at a time. To overcome this limitation, we proposed a set of algorithms to combine the data from multiple Leap Motion sensors to increase the precision and the usability of hand tracking. First, we suggested a way how to improve the calibration of the current hand pose alignment proposed by Leap Motion. Then, we proposed an approach to fuse the tracking data from multiple Leap Motion sensors to provide more precise interaction with the virtual world. For this, we implemented our very own algorithm for computing the confidence level of the tracking data that can be used to distinguish which Leap Motion sensor detects the tracked hands best. We implemented those algorithms into our MultiLeap library. We also created two demo scenes that we used to validate the correctness of our work - one for evaluation of the fusing algorithms and one for mimicking the interaction with control panels in a helicopter cockpit.

Stať ve sborníku

10.1109/AIVR52153.2021.00021

Katedra aplikované matematiky

We present a concept that provides hand tracking for virtual and extended reality, only with the use of optical sensors, without the need for the user to hold any physical controller. In this article, we propose five new algorithms further to extend our previous research and the possibilities of the hand tracking system whilst also making it more precise. The first algorithm deals with the need to calibrate the tracking system. Thanks to the new approach, we improved tracking precision by 37% over our previous solution. The second algorithm allows us to compute the precision of the hand tracking data when multiple sensors are used. The third algorithm further improves the computation of hand tracking data confidence by correctly handling the edge cases, for example, when the tracked hand is at the edge of the sensor's field of view. The fourth algorithm provides a new way to fuse the hand tracking data by using only the hand tracking data with the highest hand tracking data confidence. The fifth algorithm deals with the issue when the optical sensor misclassifies the hand chirality.