This was the result of a recent study conducted by computer scientists at the University of Helsinki. The results were published in May at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI).

The team aimed to investigate how principles of composition and continuity, commonly used in filmmaking, could be utilized to enhance navigation around virtual environments.

Composition refers to how the elements in a scene are oriented with respect to the viewer, whereas continuity is about how camera positions between shots can help viewers to understand spatial relationships between elements in the scene.

“Using these ideas, we developed a new teleportation method for exploring virtual environments that subtly repositions and reorientates the user’s viewpoint after teleportation to better frame the contents of the scene,” says Alan Medlar, University Researcher in computer science at the University of Helsinki.

The images show how this differs from regular teleportation used in modern VR games: from the same starting point (top images), regular teleportation moves the user forward while retaining the same orientation (middle images), whereas cinematic techniques can increase the visual appeal of the environment (bottom images).

Sense of space preserved without motion sickness

The results also address the issue of motion sickness — a common problem for VR users. Usually, to prevent nausea, designers use teleportation as a method for moving through digital spaces. The researchers’ approach is also based on teleportation, but it aims to fix the problems associated with this technique.

“In virtual environments, teleportation can lead to reduced spatial awareness, forcing users to reorient themselves after teleporting and can cause them to miss important elements in their surroundings,” says Medlar.

“The cinematography techniques we used give the designers of virtual environments a way to influence users’ attention as they move around the space to affect how they perceive their surroundings,” he continues.

Implications for gaming, museums, and movies

The research carries substantial implications for a range of VR applications, especially as the affordability of VR headsets keeps improving. Video games, virtual museums, galleries, and VR movies could all benefit from these findings, utilizing the proposed methods to craft more engaging and coherent experiences for their users.

Medlar believes the results will be of practical use to virtual reality designers.

“The potential impact of improving navigation in VR and giving designers more tools to affect user experience is huge.”

The Florida Climate Resilience Survey also shows belief in human-caused climate change has surged among Florida Independents while slipping among Republicans in the state since last fall.

But despite these changes, the latest edition of the survey found enduring support among Floridians for increased government action to address the consequences of a warming planet. The survey found 68% of all respondents want state government to do more and 69% want the federal government to do more to address climate change, a finding consistent with previous surveys.

“Floridians support strengthening our resilience to the effects of climate change because they are experiencing it. The urgency to act means debate over causes is largely irrelevant,” said Colin Polsky, Ph.D., founding director of FAU’s School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability (ECOS), a professor in geosciences, and director of the FAU Center for Environmental Studies (CES) within the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.

Among the 58% of Floridians who believe human activity is the cause of climate change, the survey found changing attitudes based on party affiliations. Among Floridians who report no party affiliation, belief that climate change is caused by human activity increased by 11% since the last survey in September 2023 (to 64% in the latest survey). But belief in human-caused climate change among Florida Republicans declined during that time, dropping to 40% from 45%.

The survey also found noteworthy differences in opinion based on the age of the respondents. Respondents under age 50 were more likely to believe that human activity is the cause of climate change than those 50 and older (66% to 50%) and more likely to want state government to do more to address its impacts (77% to 59%).

“Global warming became a major public issue in 1988. The age 50 cutoff is therefore a good proxy for separating people whose formative years included this issue versus those who did not,” said Polsky.

The latest survey found that 67% of Floridians believe climate change should be taught in schools. More than two-thirds of respondents have supported climate education in classrooms in nine of the 10 surveys conducted since 2019.

Florida Democrats (87%) and independents (68%) expressed the highest level of support for climate education in the latest survey, but even a majority of Republicans expressed this belief (52%).

“This abiding majority support for K-12 teaching climate change confirms the premise that Floridians want more climate change awareness and action regardless of the cause,” said Polsky.

The survey also found falling support for solar power as the primary form of energy production that Florida should be supporting for the future: 51% of all respondents support that statement, a decrease of 4% since last fall.

This decline has been happening since solar energy reached peak support of 62% in September 2022, but the recent drop was most pronounced among Florida Republicans. While support for solar remained consistent among Florida Democrats and independents since the last survey, such support fell 9% among Republican respondents.

Overall, most respondents said that climate change sparked their concern for the well-being of future generations (68%). But less than half of all respondents (48%) said they would be willing to pay $10 a month to strengthen Florida’s infrastructure to weather hazards.

CES has conducted the Florida Climate Resilience Survey since October 2019 and now does so every spring and fall. The latest edition was conducted in English and Spanish from March 18-21. The sample consisted of 1,400 Floridians, ages 18 and older, with a survey margin of error of +/- 2.53 percentage points.

Sound waves, originating from vibrations in mediums like gases and liquids, are omnipresent in our daily experiences. Notably, high-frequency ultrasound waves, imperceptible to the human ear, are utilized in medical ultrasound examinations for diagnosing tissues or organs within the body. Consequently, sound waves serve as a vital energy source not only in medicine but also in telecommunications, energy harvesting, imaging, and various other domains. Acoustic lenses are fundamental in all these applications as they are instrumental in accurately focusing sound waves.

Professor Junsuk Rho’s team, known for their work on metalens, is attracting acclaim for their advancements in optical metalens for light wave manipulation as well as acoustic metalens for sound control. Metalens, comprised of artificial structures usually smaller than the wavelength of the waves, enables unrestricted manipulation of waves while significantly reducing lens thickness. This research extends the concept of a “wide field-of-view,” currently trending in next-generation AR and VR devices and displays, into the realm of acoustics, opening avenues for novel applications of “wide field-of-hearing” technology.

Wide field-of-hearing measures the breadth of angles through which a lens can display a sound image. Traditional acoustic metalenses suffer from undesired sound distortion (aberration) when waves approach at non-perpendicular angles. The team devised a method to meticulously control the phase of the metalens, ensuring precise focusing of sound waves regardless of their angle of incidence. This marks the first successful achievement and demonstration of a wide field-of-hearing using ultra-thin metalenses, achieving up to 140 degrees of field-of-hearing without sound distortion.

Professor Junsuk Rho of POSTECH stated, “By first demonstrating the significance and necessity of field-of-hearing, we’ve established a new paradigm in the realm of acoustic metalenses.” He added, “We will continue our work to further explore its applications in acoustic imaging and high-sensitivity sensing along with explorations in energy harvesting and submarine monitoring within underwater environments.”

The research was conducted with support from POSCO N.EX.T IMPACT and an organization-specific task of the Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering.