Today@Dal

We are part of the Graphics and Experiential Media (GEM) Lab at the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University. Our research team is comprised of Mohamad Salimian (Ph.D. candidate and main investigator), Derek Reilly (Assistant Professor), Stephen Brooks (Professor), Robert Mundle (Research Assistant) and Akshay Gahlon (Research Assistant) at the Faculty of Computer Science.

We are recruiting participants to take part in a research study to evaluate whether an immersive environment and a virtual tabletop can help collaborators increase their group awareness, in comparison with manipulating information on a physical tabletop. We are looking for users who are at least 18.

We encourage you to join our study with your friends or colleagues in a group of two or three.

You will perform two sets of three tasks with one other participant at the same table and one set of three tasks as a remote collaborator using two other participants in the physical location. You will be asked to perform three kinds of 3D manipulation tasks and work with another two collaborators during the session while being videotaped.

You may work around a physical tabletop with another collaborator, or wear a head mounted display to work remotely with other collaborators through an immersive virtual environment. You can sign up as an individual participant or in a group of two or three (we will match individual users into groups of three).

Prior to meeting for the study, you will go online to give consent to do the study and fill in a short online background questionnaire. The study will be conducted in the Mona Campbell Building and will take about one and half hours to complete. You will complete three sets of three tasks involving different 3D models. After each set, you will fill in a short questionnaire. At the end of the study, you will participate in a short interview asking about your experiences performing the tasks. Compensation is $20 for each participant.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Mohamad Salimian (salimian@dal.ca).