A virtual reality head mounted display for underwater training and recreational purpose

Zhang, Wenlong

A virtual reality head mounted display for underwater training and recreational purpose

Zhang, Wenlong

Permalink

Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2017

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download contents and abstractAdobe PDF (156.02 kB)

Adobe PDF

Download thesisAdobe PDF (1.14 MB)

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Zhang, Wenlong
dc.date.accessioned	2018-04-03T04:04:33Z
dc.date.available	2018-04-03T04:04:33Z
dc.date.issued	2017
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/123177
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.	en_AU
dc.description.abstract	This thesis introduces an interactive underwater virtual reality headset as an engaging and convenient tool for educational and recreational purpose. Recreational sea diving and other related underwater activities are common exhilarating experiences for many people. However, it is dangerous, costly and time-consuming for novices to learn. Virtual Reality presents a possible approach to this problem. Most of the consumer level virtual reality headsets can only be employed under dry conditions. Through a detailed literature review of virtual reality (VR) research field, a small gap that has not been filled which refers to the use of VR in wet or underwater scenarios. In order to fill the identified gap, a head mounted display prototype called UnderwaterVR was designed and implemented. The prototype is a safe and low-cost alternative for novices to learn diving in a controlled swimming pool environment, which at the same time serves as a novel entertainment platform to experience interactive underwater games. The proposed prototype is a cable-free, mask-like, waterproof VR goggles. In the virtual world, participants behave autonomously and being able to interact with the environment continuously. To evaluate the prototype, an autoethnographic study was conducted. The prototype was reported to be engaging and that, interestingly, there was less cybersickness in the prototype than in a normal VR setup out of water. A hypothesis is presented to interpret the reason why there was less cybersickness. This thesis presented a low cost but efficient way for making a waterproof head mounted display via 3D printing. The failures and redesigns that we had during the development contribute to the further research. Another contribution we have made in this thesis is to explore the underwater interactivity for VR/AR.	en_AU
dc.format	Thesis (MSc)
dc.language.iso	en_AU	en_AU
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/123177/2/02whole.pdf
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/ppc
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	Virtual reality	en
dc.subject	Diving	en
dc.subject	Cybersickness	en
dc.title	A virtual reality head mounted display for underwater training and recreational purpose	en_AU
dc.type	Thesis	en_AU
utslib.copyright.status	open_access

Abstract:

This thesis introduces an interactive underwater virtual reality headset as an engaging and convenient tool for educational and recreational purpose. Recreational sea diving and other related underwater activities are common exhilarating experiences for many people. However, it is dangerous, costly and time-consuming for novices to learn. Virtual Reality presents a possible approach to this problem. Most of the consumer level virtual reality headsets can only be employed under dry conditions. Through a detailed literature review of virtual reality (VR) research field, a small gap that has not been filled which refers to the use of VR in wet or underwater scenarios. In order to fill the identified gap, a head mounted display prototype called UnderwaterVR was designed and implemented. The prototype is a safe and low-cost alternative for novices to learn diving in a controlled swimming pool environment, which at the same time serves as a novel entertainment platform to experience interactive underwater games. The proposed prototype is a cable-free, mask-like, waterproof VR goggles. In the virtual world, participants behave autonomously and being able to interact with the environment continuously. To evaluate the prototype, an autoethnographic study was conducted. The prototype was reported to be engaging and that, interestingly, there was less cybersickness in the prototype than in a normal VR setup out of water. A hypothesis is presented to interpret the reason why there was less cybersickness. This thesis presented a low cost but efficient way for making a waterproof head mounted display via 3D printing. The failures and redesigns that we had during the development contribute to the further research. Another contribution we have made in this thesis is to explore the underwater interactivity for VR/AR.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/123177