Recently, we have seen an emergence of affordable Head Mounted Displays (HMD) such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and the PS4 Project Morpheus which allow users to experience 3D virtual reality (VR). These types of hardware aim to facilitate new and novel experiences for users above and beyond what is possible with traditional audiovisual displays. However, a very limited number of studies exist in the literature to determine the influence of these technologies on user Quality of Experience (QoE). In order to evaluate QoE as users consume VR content, this paper proposes the use of affordable consumer electronics to capture objective physiological metrics: Heart Rate (HR) and ElectroDermal Activity (EDA). Our findings indicate different HR and EDA dependent on VR and non-VR environments. Additionally, we examine the relationship between these objective metrics and user QoE captured via a post-test questionnaire. To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first work which demonstrates a tangible relationship between the EDA/HR combination and user QoE of immersive VR environments.

Recently, the concept of olfaction-enhanced multimedia applications has gained traction as a step toward further enhancing user quality of experience. The next generation of rich media services will be immersive and multisensory, with olfaction playing a key role. This survey reviews current olfactory-related research from a number of perspectives. It introduces and explains relevant olfactory psychophysical terminology, knowledge of which is necessary for working with olfaction as a media component. In addition, it reviews and highlights the use of, and potential for, olfaction across a number of application domains, namely health, tourism, education, and training. A taxonomy of research and development of olfactory displays is provided in terms of display type, scent generation mechanism, application area, and strengths/weaknesses. State of the art research works involving olfaction are discussed and associated research challenges are proposed.

From an individual’s perspective, technological advancement has merits and demerits. Video captured by surveillance cameras while a person goes about their daily life may improve their personal safety but the images collected may also represent an invasion of their privacy. Because of the ease of digital information sharing, there exists a need to protect that visual information from illegal utilization by untrusted parties. The European parliament has ratified the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which has been effective since May 2018 with a view to ensuring the privacy of European Union (EU) citizens’ and visitors’ personal data. The regulation has introduced data safeguards through Pseudonymisation, Encryption, and Data protection-by-design. However, the regulation does not assist with technical and implementation procedures, such as video redaction, to establish those safeguards. This paper refers to the GDPR term “personal data” as “visual personal data” and aims to discuss regulatory safeguards of visual privacy, such as reversible protection, from the technological point-of-view. In the context of GDPR, the roles of machine learning (i.e. within computer vision), image processing, cryptography, and blockchain are explored as a way of deploying Data Protection-by-Design solutions for visual surveillance data. The paper surveys the existing market-based data protection solutions and provides suggestions for the development of GDPR-compliant Data Protection-by-Design video surveillance systems. The paper is also relevant for those entities interacting with EU citizens from outside the EU and for those regions not currently covered by such regulation that may soon implement similar provisions.

As a step towards enhancing users' perceived multimedia quality levels beyond the level offered by the classic audiovisual systems, the authors present the results of an experimental study which looked at user's perception of inter-stream synchronization between olfactory data (scent) and video (without relevant audio). The impact on user's quality of experience (by considering enjoyment, relevance and reality) comparing synchronous with asynchronous presentation of olfactory and video media is analyzed and discussed. The aim is to empirically define the temporal boundaries within which users perceive olfactory data and video to be synchronized. The key analysis compares the user detection and perception of synchronization error. State of the art works have investigated temporal boundaries for olfactory data with audiovisual media, but no works document the integration of olfactory data and video (with no related audio). The results of this work show that the temporal boundaries for olfactory and video only are significantly different from olfactory, video and audio. The authors conclude that the absence of contextual audio reduces considerably the acceptable temporal boundary between the scent and video. The results also indicate that olfaction before video is more noticeable to users than olfaction after video and that users are more tolerable of olfactory data after video rather than olfactory data before video. In addition the results show the presence of two main synchronization regions. This work is a step towards the definition of synchronization specifications for multimedia applications based on olfactory and video media.

This study looked at users' perception of interstream synchronization between audiovisual media and two olfactory streams. The ability to detect skews and the perception and impact of skews on user Quality of Experience (QoE) is analyzed. The olfactory streams are presented with the same skews (i.e., delay) and with variable skews (i.e., jitter and mix of scents). This article reports the limits beyond which desynchronization reduces user-perceived quality levels. Also, a minimum gap between the presentations of consecutive scents is identified, necessary to ensuring enhanced user-perceived quality. There is no evidence (not considering scent type) that overlapping or mixing of scents increases user QoE levels for olfaction-enhanced multimedia.

A digital twin (DT) is a virtual/digital model of any physical object (physical twin), interconnected through data exchange. In the context of Industry 4.0, DTs are integral to intelligent automation driving innovation at scale by providing significant improvements in precision, flexibility, and real-time responsiveness. A critical challenge in developing DTs is achieving a model that reflects real-time conditions with precision and flexibility. This paper focuses on evaluating latency and accuracy, key metrics for assessing the efficacy of a DT, which often hinder scalability and adaptability in robotic applications. This article presents a comprehensive framework for developing DTs using Unity and Robot Operating System (ROS) as the main layers of digitalization and communication. The MoveIt package was used for motion planning and execution for the robotic arm, showcasing the framework’s versatility independent of proprietary constraints. Leveraging the versatility and open-source nature of these tools, the framework ensures interoperability, adaptability, and scalability, crucial for modern smart manufacturing applications. Our approach was validated by conducting extensive accuracy and latency tests. We measured latency by timestamping messages exchanged between the physical and digital twin, achieving a latency of 77.67 ms. Accuracy was assessed by comparing the joint positions of the DT and the physical robotic arm over multiple cycles, resulting in an accuracy rate of 99.99%. The results highlight the potential of DTs in enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making in manufacturing environments.