AVATAREX: Telexistence System based on Virtual Avatars

PubDate: February 2018

Teams: University of Oulu

Writers: Timo Koskela；Mounib Mazouzi；Paula Alavesa；Minna Pakanen；Ilya Minyaev；Eero Paavola；Jere Tuliniemi

PDF: AVATAREX: Telexistence System based on Virtual Avatars

Abstract

The telexistence technology can provide many kinds of benefits for the society. These include new ways of remote work, empowerment of handicapped and elderly people, and creation of new immersive and environmentally-friendly forms of tourism, travel, shopping, sports and leisure time activities. In this paper, we introduce AVATAREX, a telexistence system based on virtual avatars. AVATAREX provides means for connecting users that are simultaneously occupying the same space in the real world and its virtual replica. Using an indoor prototype implementation of AVATAREX and a simple collaborative game, we investigated how users experience co-presence in a telexistence system based on virtual avatars and measured the performance of AVATAREX on high-end smart glasses. Based on our findings, users wearing virtual reality gear reported a stronger sense of co-presence compared to users wearing augmented reality gear. Unexpectedly, users wearing smart glasses reported a lower sense of co-presence than users using a tablet for augmented reality experience.