Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) is emerging as a valuable technology in the hospitality industry for offering interactive ways to enhance customer experience. AI-driven agents are also gaining traction as a promising solution for providing personalized assistance. Few studies have effectively evaluated the impact of these technologies on users within hotel services in a real-world application. This study addresses the impact of an AI-driven virtual agent that acts as a receptionist in the context of a hotel. Traditional hotel booking and information systems, such as static websites, may not effectively address specific user queries, especially when searching for detailed or context-specific information. To investigate this potential limitation, a user study was conducted to compare an AI-driven agent receptionist in an IVR environment and a traditional website interface as a baseline in terms of information retrieval, usability, and user feedback. The findings reveal promising results, indicating that the AI-driven receptionist is highly effective for information retrieval and is perceived as both interactive and engaging.

Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) has become increasingly important in cultural heritage applications. Recent advances, such as the integration of virtual agents and Artificial Intelligence (AI), have further reshaped the IVR landscape, paving the way for new applications with potential impact. Despite extensive research on their application, the user experience and usability of cultural content for end users remain largely overlooked. This study aims to conduct a preliminary analysis of an AI-powered virtual agent’s impact on users in the context of cultural heritage. Participants could interact freely with the virtual agent, simulating a conversation about questions and curiosities as they would with an expert museum guide. A user study has been conducted, comparing two methods of information delivery in an IVR museum environment: a traditional explanatory panel and an AI virtual agent. Metrics collected were the time spent during each condition, the systems’ overall user experience, and usability. The results suggest that virtual agents capture the user’s attention more and encourage prolonged interaction due to novelty. However, the study also highlights the need to combine both methods to achieve optimal user engagement and usability.

This study aims to validate STAAR-TECH, an Augmented Reality (AR) authoring tool for technical documentation designed for end users without expertise in AR development. Previous research on AR authoring tools has primarily focused on simplifying interfaces and interactions to enhance usability. However, these tools are inadequate for applying the Minimal AR authoring approach, according to which the information provided through AR visual assets should be the minimum needed to accomplish the task. The focus of this study is to propose an authoring tool that comprehensively adheres to this approach, ensuring the selection and customization of visual assets and their properties, which are essential for optimally conveying all information types according to the literature. To validate its effectiveness, we conducted a comparative user study with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides as baseline, involving 32 participants using HoloLens. We measured the authoring performance, the perceived workload, and the user experience while using both tools. Our findings confirmed that STAAR-TECH is a highly suitable tool for AR manual creation. Participants appreciated its extensive visual asset customization and flexibility, reinforcing its potential as an effective solution for AR authoring.

Several studies suggest that changes in nuclear morphology due to forces and deformations as result of cell adhesion on biological substrates can induce molecular streaming through nuclear pore openings and alter chromatin structure. The condensed state of chromatin hinders transcription and replication, while its decompaction, induced by adhesion, plays a key role in differentiation. However, assessing nuclear stress/strain in vivo remains challenging, and the impact of substrate curvature on nuclear mechanics and chromatin structures is still unclear. In this study, we developed an axisymmetric finite element model of a mesenchymal stem cell adhering to substrates with different curvatures to analyze nuclear stress distribution and identify locations where adhesion-induced gene expression may occur. Results reveal a nuclear stress field with principal stresses in radial and circumferential directions, leading to chromatin decondensation and nuclear pore opening. The predicted forces acting on chromatin fibers, estimated and compared with experimental data, remain slightly below 5 pN-the threshold at which internucleosomal attraction is disrupted, triggering chromatin condensation-decondensation transition-. During early spreading, nuclear forces achieved through adhesion on convex substrates approach this threshold more closely than in concave or flat cases. These findings provide insights for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, where early control of stem cell fate through substrate design is crucial. Understanding how mesenchymal stem cells respond to substrate curvature could lead to improved biomaterial surface topographies for guiding cell behavior. Tailoring curvature and mechanical properties may enhance early lineage commitment, optimizing regenerative strategies for tissue repair and organ regeneration.

Regenerative medicine is an emerging discipline that investigates the possibilities of restoring portions of damaged biological tissues in a controlled way. An interesting practice in this field consists in the implantation of biomimetic scaffolds colonized by mesenchymal stem cells taken from the patient. In this work, a set of design guidelines for customized biomimetic scaffolds was analyzed, and a full procedure aimed at implementing them for the treatment of a real clinical case was outlined. In detail, a highly sustainable and biocompatible material obtained from chemical processing of fish industry by-products was selected. The primary phases of the proposed design procedure consisted in biomedical data acquisition, parametric modelling of the damaged region to regenerate, structural design of the scaffold based on the avoidance of stress shielding effects, and evaluation of the physiological pressure to apply on the implanted porous construct to maximize mature bone formation. The presented procedure resulted as an effective practice for the design of personalized biomimetic scaffolds for tissue regeneration, thus providing at the same time many insights towards novel sustainable design solutions in biomedical fields.

The rise of the Metaverse is anticipated to extend the duration of time individuals spend within virtual indoor environments, potentially affecting human well-being. The hype generated by the launch of Apple Vision Pro has increasingly spread the idea of using virtual platforms as a workspace. Our research explores the idea of applying biophilic environmental design within the Metaverse, hence our definition: Metagreenverse. The biophilia hypothesis suggests that humans have an innate tendency to seek connections with the natural world and there is increasing evidence that biophilia can yield health benefits. In this preliminary study, we designed a metaverse office enriched with biophilic elements and investigated how the plants can affect the user experience of 24 participants compared to the same office without biophilic elements. We evaluated the user experience by submitting the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ), the user emotional response with StateTrait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire, the realism of the virtual office with Slater-Usoh-Steed (SUS) test, and the perception time. We found that the integration of biophilic elements into a metaverse workspace influences positively the users' experience. Biophilic elements bring added value to users' well-being by increasing the attractiveness of the workspace and decreasing feelings of tension and stress.

Safety in the industrial sector is paramount, with national legislations establishing specific regulations to reduce accidents. These regulations emphasize risk removal and proper operator training as preventive measures. However, traditional training can be time-consuming and costly, leading companies to meet only the minimum requirements. In particular, confined spaces pose significant dangers, often resulting in fatal, cascading accidents due to a lack of proper safety procedures. Therefore, effective training is crucial to mitigate these risks. Advanced technologies like Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) present new opportunities for cost-effective and extensive training campaigns by eliminating the risks associated with real environment training, offering a safe yet realistic experience. Despite the widespread adoption of IVR training applications in industrial research, there is a notable lack of systematic approaches to evaluate their effectiveness. Conducting such evaluations is crucial to ascertain their impact on essential training outcomes, including participant engagement, knowledge transfer, and enhanced safety behavior during work activities. To address this gap, we developed an IVR-based training platform for confined space safety procedures and established a systematic validation procedure using the Kirkpatrick model to assess its effectiveness compared to conventional training methods. Results demonstrate that IVR training provides an excellent user experience, better knowledge transfer than the traditional approach, and improved performance in simulated procedures, reducing execution errors and completion times. This dual focus on creating and validating the IVR system underscores its potential as an effective training tool in hazardous environments such as confined spaces, where proper training can prevent tragic fatalities.

Computational methods represent a powerful tool to explore biophysical phenomena occurring at small scales and hence difficult to observe through experimental setups. In detail, they can provide a support to mechanobiology, with the aim of understanding the behavior of living cells interacting with the surrounding environment. To this end, lattice models can provide a simulation framework that is highly reliable and easy to implement, even for simulations involving large deformations and topological changes during time evolution. In this review article, elastic network models for studying biological molecules are described, several lattice spring models for investigating cell behaviors are discussed, and the adoption of lattice beam models for biomimetic structures design is presented. The lattice modelling approaches could be regarded as a valuable option to conduct in-silico experiments and consolidate the emergent mechanobiology research field.

This study aims to explore the use of Augmented Reality (AR) visual assets to convey procedural instructions, specifically for conveying information about component orientation. We focused on assembly scenarios where no affordance is provided for orientation while maintaining a consistently high affordance for how components are mounted. This information is recurrent in tasks where users are familiar with components that fit together without needing specialized tools but lack knowledge of the specific orientations required for the assembly. A typical example is placing rubber gaskets that fit smoothly into grooves but where no markings indicate the correct sealing side. We evaluated six different AR presentation modes for conveying component orientation: image, video, static side-by-side product model, animated side-by-side product model, static in-situ product model, and animated in-situ product model. The literature provides no clear agreement on which is the most effective. To fill this gap, we conducted a user study with 36 participants, measuring completion time, accuracy, and cognitive load across the six AR presentation modes. We also analyzed how users interacted with each of them and collected user subjective feedback. Our findings revealed that the animated side-by-side product model ensures better completion time, demanding less cognitive load and being favored by users.

This work investigates the application of Augmented Reality (AR) in assisting industrial companies in facilitating the adoption of vertical-axis wind turbines for domestic use. Despite its growth, high upfront costs limit broader wind turbine adoption, especially in urban areas. AR is an emerging technology that can enhance the spread of renewable energy. In the wind energy sector, it is frequently integrated with data monitoring to support the decision-making process. In the literature, many studies address this topic, focusing primarily on improving performance in industry rather than evaluating application usability and user experience. Therefore, our study intends to explore an AR application's usability and user experience integrated with data monitoring to create customer service in the wind energy sector. We developed an application targeted to potential customers planning to adopt wind power to produce electricity within their homes. The aim is to encourage the spread of this renewable energy in an urban setting by facilitating the choice of the most suitable wind turbine based on the local weather conditions and the needs of the individual. To achieve this goal, specifically, we paid significant attention to data visualization, including the estimated power output of the chosen turbine, to better engage the user through customizable graphs rather than traditional textual information. We evaluated the usability and user experience of the implemented application through a user study involving 10 potential buyers of a wind turbine to be installed in their property. The results reveal that the usability is “excellent” with a positive user experience evaluation, especially in attractiveness and novelty. Thus, our proposal turns out to be promising in creating customer service in the wind energy sector and other branches of renewable energy, such as solar-powered systems.

This work aims to propose a virtual mirror as a tool for an Augmented Reality (AR) interface in support of operators who perform maintenance tasks, especially in blind areas with component occlusion. In the literature, it is still not clear what is the best AR solution to help workers perform maintenance tasks with occluded components. Thus, we designed an AR interface with a virtual mirror that can assist workers in identifying occluded components thanks to an additional workspace viewpoint. While physical mirrors are commonly employed in maintenance tasks to address blind spots, virtual mirrors are not yet widely adopted. Therefore, our study intends to design and evaluate a virtual mirror that simulates workers' behavior using a real one in maintenance tasks. We planned a user study to compare the real and virtual mirrors in a real maintenance context. We conducted a performance evaluation with 20 users. Findings indicated no statistically significant differences between the virtual and physical mirrors regarding completion time, accuracy, and cognitive load. Our solution makes it possible to replace a real mirror providing the same user performance but with the advantage of being able to place it without space limitations and observe additional information exploiting AR.

TOTTA outlines the spatial position and rotation guidance of a real/virtual tool (TO) towards a real/virtual target (TA), which is a key task in Mixed reality applications. The task error can have critical consequences regarding safety, performance, and quality, such as surgical implantology or industrial maintenance scenarios. The TOTTA problem lacks a dedicated study and it is scattered in different domains with isolated designs. This work contributes to a systematic review of the TOTTA visual widgets, studying 70 unique designs from 24 papers. TOTTA is commonly guided by the visual overlap -an intuitive, pre-attentive "collimation" feedback- of simple shaped widgets: Box, 3D Axes, 3D Model, 2D Crosshair, Globe, Tetrahedron, Line, Plane. Our research discovers that TO and TA are often represented with the same shape. They are distinguished by topological elements (e.g. edges/vertices/faces), colors, transparency levels, and added. shapes, widget quantity, and size. Meanwhile some designs provide continuous "during manipulation feedback" relative to the distance between TO and TA by text, dynamic color, sonification, and amplified graphical visualization. Some approaches trigger discrete "TA reached feedback" such as color alteration, added sound, TA shape change, and added text. We found the lack of golden standards, including in testing procedures, as current ones are limited to partial sets with different and incomparable setups (different target configurations, avatar, background, etc.). We also found a bias in participants: right-handed, young male, non-color impaired.

The demand for ethically sourced and safe products has surged, prompting industries to adopt intricate traceability systems. Blockchain technology revolutionizes traceability by ensuring data integrity and transparency in supply chains. However, complexities within supply chains often obfuscate meaningful insights for consumers. This paper explores leveraging Augmented Reality to enhance Blockchain-based traceability systems. By integrating AR, consumers can seamlessly access traceability information through QR codes, presented via optimized 3D models. This immersive approach fosters trust by visually demonstrating product quality. The architecture combines QR codes, Vuforia markers, and Blockchain, ensuring data security and immutability.

In this work, a procedure for modelling and simulating conformal biomimetic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering is presented. Starting from a three-dimensional biomedical model of a real human mandible presenting a severe damage, a conformal shape was modelled and filled with an irregular beam network mimicking human trabecular bone. The material considered for the realization of the scaffold was hydroxyapatite derived from fish industry by-products, a material that is highly biocompatible to human bone. Several simulations were conducted on a beam-based wireframe model by varying the radius of the trabeculae, until reaching a stiffness of the scaffold equal to that of human bone. This represents a good design practice to avoid the stress shielding effect on growing bone tissue and functionality losses during bone regeneration. The resulting porosity and the average pore size, which are fundamental properties to ensure a proper vascularization of the growing tissue, were measured and compared to literature data, showing an acceptable agreement. The proposed beam-based approach for modelling and simulating conformal irregular scaffolds appeared as an interactive, fast, and versatile procedure that can be applied in the design stage of conformal biomimetic scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration.

Recently, several scholars have contributed to the growth of a new theoretical framework in NLP called perspectivism. This approach aims to leverage data annotated by different individuals to model diverse perspectives that affect their opinions on subjective phenomena such as irony. In this context, we propose MultiPICo, a multilingual perspectivist corpus of ironic short conversations in different languages and linguistic varieties extracted from Twitter and Reddit. The corpus includes sociodemographic information about its annotators. Our analysis of the annotated corpus shows how different demographic cohorts may significantly disagree on their annotation of irony and how certain cultural factors influence the perception of the phenomenon and the agreement on the annotation. Moreover, we show how disaggregated annotations and rich annotator metadata can be exploited to benchmark the ability of large language models to recognize irony, their positionality with respect to sociodemographic groups, and the efficacy of perspective-taking prompting for irony detection in multiple languages.

Dental tool positioning is a challenging manual operation that requires precise 5DOF positioning of the drill -rotation around the tool is not influential- minimal error can result in grave consequences such as nerve and bone damage. Augmented Reality (AR) can help to assist tool positioning, but the widgets proposed in the literature are quasi-static, commonly using virtual 3D cylinders or lines to be visually collimated and eventually supported by color change. We draw our inspiration from the photographic viewfinder and propose a novel Virtual Stigmometer Widget (ViSti) to convey tool positioning error magnitude to the dentist. The widget slightly blurs the view and gradually focuses it while approaching the target (i.e., implant drilling position) till it is perfectly collimated. We conducted a within subjects experiment (N = 30) to compare our widget with the golden standard in 32 positioning tasks. NASA-TLX results demonstrated that our widget reduces frustration (−43

Cell adhesion is a phenomenon characterizing cell-environment interactions and affects cellular behavior. Cell-substrate adhesion is ensured by focal adhesions (FAs), which are multilayer protein complexes. External mechanical stimulus perceived by FAs is rapidly transmitted first to cytoskeleton load-bearing structures and finally to the nucleus thanks to an interlinked cellular architecture, thus inducing transcription mechanisms and changes in cell functionality. Prestress of cytoskeletal filaments allows mechanical information to be transferred along these stiffer transportation channels with respect to neighboring cell regions, thus avoiding the energy dissipation typical of soft matter. Peculiar items concerning adhesion mechanisms, i.e., stiffness inhomogeneity in cell architecture, and auto-supporting tension-based cell structure, can be effectively handled thanks to modeling strategies provided by finite element method (FEM), which represents a valid tool for simulating cell adhesion. With the aim of replicating experimental results and predicting cell behavior, useful guidelines for simulating cellular adhesion will be outlined in the proposed work.

The aim of the present work is to investigate the superplastic behaviour of a bilayer Ti6Al4V-ELI to numerically design a full custom prosthesis manufacturing process by means of SuperPlastic Forming (SPF); the bilayer was composed by: (i) a monolithic Titanium blank (cut by a rolled sheet); (b) a porous blank cut by a billet produced by Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) and subjected to a Solid State Foaming (SSF) heat treatment. Experimental bulge tests aimed to evaluate the effects of both the initial porosity level of the HIPed layer and the temperature (850 and 900 degrees C) of the SPF process. The bilayer sample was deformed by a constant argon gas pressure and the time evolution of the dome height was recorded during the test in order to be used as target in the IA to determine the constants of the rheological model of the porous layer, being the behavior of the monolithic layer already known. A 2D FE model of the free inflation test was integrated in an automatic optimization procedure with the aim to minimize the error between the calculated and the acquired dome height vs time curve. Finally, the obtained material constants determined were used to design the SPF process by means of the numerical simulation, identifying as a case study a zygomatic full custom prosthesis. The initial porosity level resulted to poorly affect the superplastic behavior of the bilayer at 850 degrees C; on the contrary, when increasing the temperature up to 900 degrees C, an evident reduction of the forming time was obtained. Numerical simulations showed that at 900 degrees C it is possible to obtain the very complex geometry of the adopted case study in about 50000 seconds.

Mixed Reality (MR) is proven in the literature to support precise spatial dental drill positioning by superimposing 3D widgets. Despite this, the related knowledge about widget's visual design and interactive user feedback is still limited. Therefore, this study is contributed to by co-designed MR drill tool positioning widgets with two expert dentists and three MR experts. The results of co-design are two static widgets (SWs): a simple entry point, a target axis, and two dynamic widgets (DWs), variants of dynamic error visualization with and without a target axis (DWTA and DWEP). We evaluated the co-designed widgets in a virtual reality simulation supported by a realistic setup with a tracked phantom patient, a virtual magnifying loupe, and a dentist's foot pedal. The user study involved 35 dentists with various backgrounds and years of experience. The findings demonstrated significant results; DWs outperform SWs in positional and rotational precision, especially with younger generations and subjects with gaming experiences. The user preference remains for DWs (19) instead of SWs (16). However, findings indicated that the precision positively correlates with the time trade-off. The post-experience questionnaire (NASA-TLX) showed that DWs increase mental and physical demand, effort, and frustration more than SWs. Comparisons between DWEP and DWTA show that the DW's complexity level influences time, physical and mental demands. The DWs are extensible to diverse medical and industrial scenarios that demand precision.

As noise is a pervasive element of work environments, it could affect workers' performance and well-being. In particular environments, such as confined spaces, noise could represent an even greater disruptor because reverberation effects amplify exposure levels and could affect cognitive abilities. The study of the effects of noise has mixed results in the literature and was scarcely investigated with reference to this application scenario. Nowadays, Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) can simulate in a realistic way the working conditions in these environments and consequently simplify the investigations in this field that otherwise would be expensive and difficult to implement for safety reasons. In this work, we verify the ability of a current high-end IVR system to reproduce the acoustic conditions of a confined space realistically, and we evaluate the effects on user cognitive performance and user-perceived workload of a noise source typical of these industrial working environments.