This special issue is dedicated to highlighting recent advances in VR software and technology. The issue received 16 submissions, and some of which were significant extensions of the best papers from the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) 2014, which was held in Edinburgh, on 11–13 November 2014. All the submissions went through strict peer review, and five were ultimately selected to be included here. Many VR/AR applications use marker/tag tracking (such as probe tracking and calibration). The article “Illumination Independent and Accurate Marker Tracking Using Cross-Ratio Invariance” by Vincent Agnus, Stéphane Nicolau, and Luc Soler presents a novel method that focuses on accurately locating the corners of markers or tags using crossratio invariance. Cross-ratio invariance defines a ratio based on the intensity of collinear points that should remain constant, regardless of illumination changes. This approach improves tracking accuracy, particularly along the camera depth axis, up to several millimeters, depending on the marker depth. The advent of consumer stereoscopic headmounted displays (HMDs) like Oculus Rift opens up hitherto unexplored ways to use them in VR/ AR applications. However, 80 percent of users still report adverse physical discomfort or “simulator (motion) sickness” when using such devices. In “Reducing Visual Discomfort in HMDs Using Dynamic Depth of Field,” Kieran Carnegie and Taehyun Rhee study the use of blur effects in decreasing viewer discomfort. Depth of focus blur effects has been studied not only for general visual discomfort as well as symptoms such as fatigue, headache, and eye strain. Their study shows that DoF blur can considerably alleviate most of these discomforts, thereby reducing simulator sickness on the whole. This work has the potential to advance the widespread adoption of VR. Digitap is an eyes-free, wrist-worn input device that can robustly detect thumb-to-finger taps at different locations on the fingers. In “Sensing Thumb-to-Finger Taps for Symbolic Input in VR/AR Environments,” Manuel Prätorius, Ulrich Burgbacher, Dimitar Valkov, and Klaus Hinrichs present an advanced version of the DigiTap device

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虚拟现实软件和技术

本期特刊致力于突出 VR 软件和技术的最新进展。本期收到了 16 篇投稿，其中一些是 2014 年 11 月 11 日至 13 日在爱丁堡举行的 ACM 虚拟现实软件和技术研讨会 (VRST) 最佳论文的重要延伸。所有投稿均通过严格的同行评审，最终选择了五个纳入这里。许多 VR/AR 应用程序使用标记/标签跟踪（例如探头跟踪和校准）。Vincent Agnus、Stéphane Nicolau 和 Luc So​​ler 的文章“使用交叉比不变性进行照明独立和准确标记跟踪”提出了一种新方法，该方法侧重于使用交叉比不变性准确定位标记或标签的角落。交叉比不变性定义了一个基于共线点强度的比率，无论光照如何变化，该比率都应保持不变。这种方法提高了跟踪精度，尤其是沿着相机深度轴，最高可达几毫米，具体取决于标记深度。Oculus Rift 等消费类立体头戴式显示器 (HMD) 的出现开辟了在 VR/AR 应用程序中使用它们的前所未有的方法。然而，在使用此类设备时，仍有 80% 的用户报告身体不适或“模拟器（晕动）病”。在“使用动态景深减少 HMD 的视觉不适”中，Kieran Carnegie 和 Taehyun Rhee 研究了使用模糊效果来减少观看者的不适感。不仅针对一般的视觉不适以及疲劳等症状，还研究了焦深模糊效果，头痛，眼睛疲劳。他们的研究表明，DoF 模糊可以大大减轻大多数这些不适，从而从整体上减少模拟器疾病。这项工作有可能推动 VR 的广泛采用。Digitap 是一种免视、腕戴式输入设备，可以稳健地检测手指不同位置的拇指到手指的轻敲。在“在 VR/AR 环境中感知符号输入的拇指到手指敲击”中，Manuel Prätorius、Ulrich Burgbacher、Dimitar Valkov 和 Klaus Hinrichs 展示了 DigiTap 设备的高级版本 腕戴式输入设备，可以稳健地检测手指不同位置的拇指到手指的轻敲。在“在 VR/AR 环境中感应符号输入的拇指到手指敲击”中，Manuel Prätorius、Ulrich Burgbacher、Dimitar Valkov 和 Klaus Hinrichs 展示了 DigiTap 设备的高级版本 腕戴式输入设备，可以稳健地检测手指不同位置的拇指到手指的轻敲。在“在 VR/AR 环境中感应符号输入的拇指到手指敲击”中，Manuel Prätorius、Ulrich Burgbacher、Dimitar Valkov 和 Klaus Hinrichs 展示了 DigiTap 设备的高级版本