While there is an increasing amount of interest in evaluating and supporting longer “search sessions”, the majority of research has focused on analysing large volumes of logs and dividing sessions according to obvious gaps between entries. Although such approaches have produced interesting insights into some different types of longer sessions, this paper describes the early results of an investigation into sessions as experienced by the searcher. During interviews, participants reviewed their own search histories, presented their views of “sessions”, and discussed their actual sessions. We present preliminary findings around a) how users understand sessions, b) how these sessions are characterised and c) how sessions relate to each other temporally.

We describe a new form of interactive living media used to com-municate social or ecological information in the form of an empa-thetic ambient media. In the fast paced modern world people are generally too busy to monitor various significant social or human aspects of their lives, such as time spent with their family, their overall health, state of the ecology, etc. By quantifying such infor-mation digitally, information is semantically coupled into living microorganisms, E. coli. Through the use of transformed DNA, the E. coli will then glow or dim according to the data. The core technical innovation of this system is the development of an in-formation system based on a closed-loop control system through which digital input is able to control input fluids to the E. coli, and thereby control the output glow of the E. coli in real time. Thus, social or ecological based information is coupled into a living and organic media through this control system capsule and pro-vides a living media which promotes empathy. We provide user design and feedback results to verify the validity of our hypoth-esis, and provide not only system results but generalized design frameworks for empathetic living media in general.

Abstract: Mixed reality boundaries establish transparent windows between physical and virtual spaces. We introduce a set of properties that allow such boundaries to be configured to support different styles of co-operative activity. These properties are grouped into three categories: permeability

Abstract — Mixed Reality can be a valuable tool for research and development in robotics. In this work, we refine the definition of Mixed Reality to accommodate seamless inter-action between physical and virtual objects in any number of physical or virtual environments. In particular, we show

Introduction The mixed reality technology is considered as one of the key technologies for enhancing a wide variety of applications ranging from manufacturing to entertainment. The mixed reality technology di#ers from the virtual reality technology in that users can feel immersed in a space which

This paper describes the requirements of a training demonstrator based on Mixed Reality in the context of the AMIRE project. The overall objective and idea of the AMIRE project is to define and implement a software system that allows content experts to easily design and implement mixed reality

This paper proposes the concept of Co-Habited Mixed Reality, and argues how it serves as a basis for large-scale social interaction systems and communityware. The technology that it implies is aimed at focusing a large potential for interaction such that effectiveness of participation to large

mixed reality using a multimodal approach lets users play characters in interactive narratives as though acting on a stage. Users interact with characters through speech, attitude, and gesture, enhancing their immersion in the virtual world.

As part of the Institute for Creative Technologies and the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, the Mixed Reality lab develops technologies and techniques for presenting realistic immersive training experiences. Such experiences typically place users within a complex

This chapter describes the evolution of a software system specifically designed to support the creation and delivery of Mixed Reality (MR) experiences. We first describe some of the attributes required of such a system. We then present a series of MR experiences that we have developed over the last