The main focus of this research is to evaluate the combination of the CAVE2™ and the HTC VIVE to improve the collaborative tasks. The thesis describes background work conducted as part of an internship with Mechdyne, Inc., which provides the groundwork for the core research.

We are living in a very interesting period for virtual reality (VR). The general press called 2016 “the year of the VR”. In fact, they talked about the new Head Mounted Display (HMD) being available for the first time to the general public. They manage to produce advances in HMD and making it more affordable (such as HTC, Oculus, and Sony). VR exists since the 1950’s and takes different forms other than an HMD. For example, the CAVE™ is a VR device. Its screens are not in front of the eyes of the user - rather it is projected on large screens. While HMD is the opposite. CAVE is very expensive to manufacture and requires big spaces. This type of VR is more fitting for industrial use. On the other hand, HMD is also suitable for industrial use because it has high-quality engagement among participants, it is less expensive to produce, and it is at parity with CAVE’s standard. Both devices have advantages and disadvantages. Thus, it would be interesting to combine both devices to complement each other.

VR has a lot of applications. One of the applications that arouses great interests among companies is its collaborative application. It connects people in various locations to work together. With the advent of globalization, many big companies have an international presence and their subsidiaries are located in various countries. In order to bring them together, they need an effective network of communication. Essentially, companies such as Microsoft with Windows Holographic or MiddleVR with Improov3 are developing their own platforms and devices to connect people in various locations in a more efficient way.

With this in mind, the objective of this thesis works is to develop a synergy among people by combining two VR devices to explore the efficiencies and capabilities.

Keywords: HTC VIVE, CAVE2, collaboration, NASA TLX, Virtual Reality, EVL, Mechdyne, HoloLens, OmegaDesk, Cyber-Commons, Unity, interaction, HMD, Oréal, virtual shopper

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Porssut, T., Telecollaboration Task Between CAVE2 and HTC VIVE, Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science, Arts et Métiers ParisTech, December 1st, 2016.