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The experience of "virtual reality" can consist of head-tracked and stereoscopic virtual worlds, spatialized sound, haptic feedback, and to a lesser extent olfactory cues. Although virtual reality systems have been proposed for numerous applications, the field of education is one particular application that seems well-suited for virtual reality technology. Recently, in the field of education, virtual reality systems equipped with haptic devices, have been used to assist in the learning process. The main benefit of haptic technology for education is that it increases the realism of simulations by providing force or tactile feedback to the user. Such feedback can be used to model the atomic orbits of electrons, feel of tissue of the abdomen during a laparoscopic training exercise, or visualize and interact with nanoscale materials. This article discusses the basics of the haptic sense, discusses a few common haptic devices, and concludes with current applications of haptics in education.

In the backdrop of increasingly intelligent machines, important issues of law have been raised by the use of robots that operate autonomous from human supervisory control. In particular, when systems operating with autonomous robot’s damage property or injure humans, it may be difficult to determinewho’s at fault and therefore liable under current legal schemes. This paper reviews product liability and negligence tort law which may be used to allocate liability for robots that damage property or cause injury. Further, the paper concludes with a discussion of different approaches to allocating liability in an age of increasingly intelligent and autonomous robots directed by sophisticated algorithms, analytical, and computational techniques

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As part of a study on the recall of skilled and novice programmers, 23 subjects each viewed a 25-line BASIC program organized in one of three ways, executable order, random chunks, and random lines. Subjects performed a perceptual task in which they recopied a 25-line BASIC program on an answer sheet while the program remained in plain view, and a memory task, in which they recalled the BASIC program after a 4-min. exposure to it. For the perceptual task, the number of glances and amount of time per glance between the answer sheet and stimulus material were used as indices of recall. For the memory task, the number of lines recalled as a function of program organization and level of programming skill measured performance. Analysis indicated that skilled programmers encoded more lines of a program per glance and also spent less time examining each line of code than novices when the program was presented in executable order or random chunks. Further, skilled programmers recalled more lines of code than novices when the program was presented in executable order or random chunks but not in random lines. Implication of the results for the design of human-computer interfaces is discussed.

INTRODUCTION Numerous studies have shown the limitations of current two-dimensional (2D) spatial displays for applied spatial tasks. For example, the use of a plan view display for flight control in […], In this study we investigate the effects of computer graphics eyepoint elevation, display type (perspective vs. stereoscopic), and location of computer-generated images within a particular quadrant on the accuracy of spatial judgments. Twelve volunteer participants judged the azimuth and elevation separation between two computer-generated cubes using different computer graphics eyepoint elevation angles and either a stereoscopic or perspective display. The results indicated that eyepoint elevations between 15 ° and 45 ° led to the best overall performance for judgments of both elevation and azimuth. Whereas an eyepoint elevation of -15 ° resulted in significantly degraded judgments in azimuth because of depth compression, an eyepoint elevation of 75 ° resulted in significantly degraded judgments in elevation because of vertical compression. Furthermore, when objects were located in the quadrant closest to the computer graphics eyepoint, significant degradation in elevation judgments were observed because of vertical compression. In addition, the data indicated that stereoscopic viewing did not enhance performance over perspective displays because the monocular depth cues in the scene were effective in aiding participants in their performance of the spatial tasks. We discuss the implications of the results for display design.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of varying the elevation of the computer graphics eyepoint and the geometric field of view on judgements of spatial information using a stereoscopic perspective display. Twelve subjects judged the elevation and azimuth angle separating two computer-generated objects viewed using an eyepoint elevation that ranged between - 15[degrees] and 45[degrees] and a geometric field of view that ranged between 40[degrees] and 80[degrees]. The results of the study indicated that judgements of elevation were affected by the compression of the vertical axis resulting from the raised eyepoint elevation. Furthermore, azimuth judgements were influenced by both the eyepoint elevation and the geometric field of view. Implications of the results for the design of displays and for spatial performance using stereoscopic displays are discussed. Keywords: spatial displays. stereoscopic displays, eyepoint elevation

As part of a study on the relationship between geometric parameters of perspective and judgments of spatial information, 15 subjects estimated the degree of spatial distortion within a computer-generated perspective display. The experiment task was to estimate 'skewness,' the projected angle (in screen space coordinates) between two parallel vertical computer-generated droplines (in world space coordinates) which varied as a function of the radial distance, station point distance, and the geometric field of view. These variables will influence the perceived size, depth, and height of objects displayed in the scene. Thus, estimating skewness as a function of display parameters is a relevant task for display design because it enables an intermediate variable (skewness) to be measured that will subsequently influence estimates of azimuth, elevation, size, and perceived depth within a perspective scene. In order to compare the subject's estimate of skewness with the actual on-screen distortion produced by the geometric parameters of perspective, a mathematical procedure for calculating the actual projected skewness angle was developed. The difference between the subject's estimated skewness and the actual on-screen skewness angle was analyzed as the response variable. The results indicated that both the station point and radial distance were significant factors in determining the accuracy with which subjects estimated the distortion in the perspective scene. However, there was no significant relationship between the geometric field of view used to design the perspective display and the subject's ability to judge the skewness angle in the perspective projection. The implications of the results for the design of spatial instruments and for performance of spatial tasks using perspective displays is discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of three-dimensional display formats for judgments of spatial information using an exocentric frame of reference. Eight subjects judged the azimuth and elevation that separated two computer-generated objects using either a perspective or stereoscopic display. Errors, which consisted of the difference in absolute value between the estimated and actual azimuth or elevation, were analyzed as the response variable. The data indicated that the stereoscopic display resulted in more accurate estimates of elevation, especially for images aligned approximately orthogonally to the viewing vector. However, estimates of relative azimuth direction were not improved by use of the stereoscopic display. Furthermore, it was shown that the effect of compression resulting from a 45-deg computer graphics eye point elevation produced a response bias that was symmetrical around the horizontal plane of the reference cube, and that the depth cue of binocular disparity provided by the stereoscopic display reduced the magnitude of the compression errors. Implications of the results for the design of spatial displays are discussed.

15 university students performed an exocentric judgement task in which they estimated the azimuth and elevation separating two computer-generated cubes, using a perspective display. The perspective displays were created by varying two geometric parameters of perspective, the geometric field of view and station-point distance. Further, the radial distance separating the computer-generated images was varied. Analysis indicated that azimuth errors varied as a function of geometric field of view, radial distance, and station-point distance, while elevation errors varied as a function of geometric field of view and radial distance.