Dissertations / Theses on the topic '360° VR'

Emotional Reaction of Experiencing Crisis in Virtual Reality (VR)/360° Immersive technology is being used to provoke emotion and move millions of people to action. Because organizations and filmmakers are exploring more ways to use the immersive technology of VR and 360-degree video to evoke emotion, it is important to investigate what emotional reactions are experienced. Both VR and 360° fall under the category of immersive media and the terms are used interchangeably in this study. NVivo 11 is used for the analysis of 1,700 Twitter texts between the years 2015 and 2017 after people view the crisis Clouds Over Sidra in VR/360°. The appraisal theory of emotion serves as the framework to explore the interpretation of the subject’s emotional reactions. Sentiment and thematic analysis reveal (a) an increase in empathy, (b) reports of emotional reactions including feelings of sadness, grief and anger, (c) greater understanding of the crisis (d) intentions to act related to the crisis, (e) importance of VR/360° for educational use, and (f) the power of VR/360° and its ability to alter fields of education, humanitarian work, and politics. This study finds the immersive experience of viewing a crisis in VR/360° generates a range of highly emotional reactions. It is an important goal to understand the role VR/360° plays in generating emotional reactions and behavioral change, particularly in view of the accelerating development of emotional VR/360° content and people’s access to immersive technology.

Den här studien undersöker i vilken grad 360° video betraktad i en HMD kan ha för livskvalitetshöjande effekt på boende inom äldreomsorgen i Malmö. Ensamhet och depression är ett av de vanligaste hälsoproblemen bland personer över 65 år idag. En av anledningarna till detta är fysiska och psykiska hinder som minskar möjligheterna för dem att kontinuerligt delta i sociala sammanhang och få ett miljöbyte. Med 360° video kan vad som helst upplevas och med en HMD kan känslan av att vara närvarande på platsen förstärkas. Med hjälp av denna teknik har ett prototyptest utförts på 2 olika äldreboende i Malmö där 9 stycken deltagare har fått testa att betrakta 360° video i en HMD, i form av olika utflyktsmål i Malmö som har skapats som prototyp i denna studie. Utifrån observationer, ”think-aloud”-tekniken och enkätsvar har slutsatserna kunnat dras att prototyptestet behöver göras under en längre period för att påvisa ett säkert resultat om vilken livshöjande effekt 360° video kan ha på de boende. Resultatet av testet kunde även påvisa en ökad positivitet om deltagarna fick se en plats de besökt tidigare.
This study examines the degree to which 360 ° video viewed in an HMD can have a life-quality enhancing effect on residents of elderly care in Malmö. Loneliness and depression are one of the most common health problems today among people with an age over 65. One of the reasons for this is physical and mental barriers that reduces the opportunities for them to continuously participate in social contexts and get an environmental change. With 360° video, anything can be experienced and with an HMD the feeling of being present on the site can be enhanced. With the help of this technique, a prototype test has been performed on 2 different retirement homes in Malmö where 9 participants have been tested to view 360° video in an HMD, in the form of various excursion destinations in Malmö that have been created as a prototype in this study. Based on observations, think-aloud technology and questionnaire responses, the conclusions have been drawn that the test needs to be done for a longer period to be able to demonstrate a safe result on which life-enhancing effect 360° video can have on the residents. The result of the test could also show an increased positivity if the participants saw a place they visited in the past.

Studien handlar om hur tittare och producenter upplever intervjusekvenser i 360°-video i en VR-miljö och syftet är att synliggöra tittares upplevelser av produktion för att skapa bättre förutsättningar för journalistiska 360°- produktioner. Studien fokuserar på tittarens upplevelser av 360°-video i olikheter i gestaltningsval, utifrån gestaltningskomponenterna: point-of-view, distans till intervjupersonen, intervjupersonens blickriktning och hur reporter används i 360°-video, samt på vilka olika sätt man som producent kan gestalta intervjusekvenser i journalistisk 360°-video och hur det skiljer sig cinematografiskt och berättartekniskt från traditionell videoproduktion. Studien har utgått från ett egenproducerat testmaterial bestående av sex olika 360°-videor. Detta material har använts i en tittarstudie där testpersonerna har tittat på materialet i VR-headset, tänkt högt enligt thinking aloud-metoden och medverkat i en simulated recall-intervju med kortsortering. För att få ett producentperspektiv har även yrkesverksamma 360°-producenter intervjuats. Testpersonernas upplevelser har analyserats utifrån hur vi traditionellt gestaltar intervjuer i rörliga medier. Studien visar hur individuellt tittare upplever grundläggande parametrar i gestaltningsval i intervjusekvenserna, att tittarna vill känna sig delaktiga och uppleva ett förstahandsperspektiv med stabilitet och kameran placerad i ett för dem normalt perspektiv i höjdled, vara nära intervjusituationen men inte för nära och känna sig bekräftade av blickar från samtliga medverkande. Samtidigt påverkar närhet till intervjuperson och dennes blickriktning hur villig tittaren är att utforska miljön. En synlig reporter kan upplevas som en konkurrent om uppmärksamheten eller fungera som en bra guide. Studien visar också hur all 360°-produktion i möjligaste mån bör efterlikna verkligheten och hur en intervjusituation också bör efterlikna en verklig situation där tittaren upplever illusionen av att vara delaktig. Intervjusituationen i 360°- video konkurrerar många gånger om tittarens uppmärksamhet med den rena miljöupplevelsen och intervjupersoner blir väldigt utlämnade i 360°-formatet. Det är därför av stor vikt att man har en överenskommelse om produktionens stil innan inspelningen.

Streaming 360° video has become more commonplace with content delivery services such as YouTube having support for it. By its nature, 360° video requires more bandwidth as only a fraction of the image is actually in view, while the user is expecting the same "in view" quality as with a regular video. Several studies and lots of work have been done to mitigate this higher demand for bandwidth. One solution is advanced algorithms that take in to account the direction that the user is looking when fetching the video from the server; e.g., by fetching content that is not in the user’s view at a lower quality or by not fetching this data at all. Developing these algorithms is a timely process, especially in the later stages where tweaking one parameter might require the video to be re-encoded, and therefore taking up time that could otherwise be spent on getting results and continued iteration on the algorithm. The viewer should also be considered as the best experience might not correlate with the mathematically best solution calculated by the algorithm. This thesis presents a modular emulator that allows for easy implementation of fetching algorithms that make use of state-of-the-art techniques. It intends to reduce the time it takes to iterate over an algorithm through removing the need to set up a server and encode the video in all of the wanted quality levels when a parameter change would require it. It also makes it easy to include the viewer in the process so that the subjective performance is taken into consideration. The emulator is evaluated through the implementation and evaluation of two algorithms, one serving as a baseline to the second one, which is based on an algorithm developed by another group of researchers. These algorithms are tested on two different types of 360° videos, under four different network conditions and with two values for the maximum buffer size. The results from the evaluation of the two algorithms suggest that the emulator functions as intended from a technical point of view, and as such fulfills its purpose. There is, however, future work that would further prove the emulators performance in regards to replicating real scenarios and a few examples are suggested.

Students, especially international ones have a hard time seeking accommodation in big cities like Stockholm in Sweden at an adequate pricing. To facilitate such a search process and to create a sense of trust, tenants and landlords use video and/or voice calls for early communication with one another. However, the establishment of trust among tenants and landlords in this context is a challenging task. This study thus aims to investigate if innovative virtual reality (VR) approaches like 360° videos can be used to develop trust among tenants and landlords. This study undertakes an investigation from student perspective due to the limited timeframe. This study was carried out in collaboration with Ett tak (English: One roof) which is a startup working in the rental market in Stockholm. The tenants are the students and the landlords are senior people having spare space in their homes. A pre-study was conducted to identify the expectations of the students. A landlord was filmed for the 360° video which was developed into a Unity VR app. The results from the usability study indicate that most students felt a high degree of trust towards the landlord by using an immersive 360° VR tour. Conversely, the students showed hesitation to use the 360° VR by buying their own VR headsets unless VR becomes mainstream in the different areas of life. This study builds upon existing literature that validate the positive impact of attributes like profile photos, ratings and reviews on the trust level between the providers and the consumers in a sharing economy.
Studenter, särskilt internationella, har svårt att hitta boende i storstäder som Stockholm i Sverige till lämplig prissättning. För att underlätta en sådan sökprocess och skapa en känsla av förtroende använder hyresgäster och hyresvärdar video och / eller röstsamtal för tidig kommunikation med varandra. Upprättande av förtroende bland hyresgäster och hyresvärdar är dock en utmanande uppgift i detta sammanhang. Denna studie syftar således till att undersöka om virtuell verklighet (VR) som 360° video kan användas för att utveckla förtroende bland hyresgäster och hyresvärdar. Denna studie genomför en undersökning från ett studentperspektiv på grund av den begränsade tidsramen. Denna studie genomfördes i samverkan med Ett tak, som arbetar på hyresmarknaden i Stockholm. Hyresgästerna är studenterna och hyresvärdarna är äldre människor som har ledigt utrymme i sina hem. En förstudie genomfördes för att identifiera studenternas förväntningar. En hyresvärd filmades för en 360° video som utvecklades till en Unity VR app. Resultaten från användbarhetsstudien indikerar att de flesta studenter kände en hög grad av förtroende gentemot hyresvärden genom att använda en fördjupande 360 ° VR rundtur. Däremot visade eleverna att de inte skulle köpa egna VR-headset om VR inte blir vanligt i de olika områdena i livet. Denna studie bygger på befintlig litteratur och bekräftar den positiva effekten av attribut som profilbilder, betyg och recensioner på förtroendenivå mellan leverantörer och konsumenter i en delningsekonomi.

La thèse porte sur les enjeux théoriques et pratiques du croisement entre dispositif cinématographique et neurosciences. Le point d'étude initial est le cas du Cinéma émotif, réalisé par l'auteur en 2014, qui est un prototype de cinéma neuro-interactif dans lequel les émotions influencent le scénario du film (première partie). Cet exemple nous invite à une réflexion théorique sur les émotions et la perception (parties deux et trois), en convoquant de façon trans-disciplinaire des notions philosophiques et scientifiques A chaque fois l'enquête a pour enjeu de mieux comprendre ce qu'est l'expérience psycho-physiologique du spectateur de cinéma, s'intéressant aussi à des approches thérapeutiques qui explore la dimension psycho-somatique, comme le mesmérisme, l'hypnose et la psychanalyse. La quatrième partie se projette dans les possibles du cinéma à venir. Alors que le numérique multiplie les possibilités techniques, les nouveaux outils de mesure physiologiques donnent des indications sur l'expérience intérieure du spectateur, qui peuvent devenir des données d'interaction implicites avec le film. Les questions d'immersion et d'interaction, réactivés par la réalité virtuelle sont abordés à la lumière des parties précédentes, en s'appuyant sur une conception phénoménologique de la perception. La thèse se termine sur la présentation du dispositif neuro-interactif en réalité virtuelle et 360°, Emotive VR, avec son film pilote sur Freud, réalisé par l'auteur et constituant la partie pratique de la thèse
This Phd thesis is about the theoretical and practical stakes of the possibilities for cross-over between neurosciences and cinema. It takes as a starting point my project Emotive Cinema (2014). This is a prototype of neuro-interactive cinema, where the screenplay of the film is affected by the viewer’s emotional state (first part).This led us towards a theoretical questioning concerning emotions and perception (part two and three), applied to the cinematic situation, traversing different fields, such as the neurosciences, philosophy, psychology and psychoanalysis. Different approaches which have the common aim of better understanding the spectator's experience. The fourth part of the thesis seeks to imagine the future evolutions of cinema. The hypothesis has a tight proximity with sciences, which is why we are presenting therapeutic prototypes for psycho-somatic issues, as well as cinematic prototypes. This concludes with the recent explorations of Emotive Cinema into Virtual Reality, Emotive VR , a neuro-interactive prototype of a film in 360° and VR untitled Freud's last hypnosis” , which is presented as the practical part of the Phd

Meditation is a practice that promotes improvements in physical and mental health, according to previous studies. The proven benefits, such as relaxation and stress reduction, have attracted people's interest in initiating training. However, practice demands discipline, time, and dedication. Despite the diversity of techniques available for training, beginners may find it difficult to concentrate during the learning phase of meditation. Technological advances have enabled the emergence of devices that offer guided meditation for users. In that sense, designers engaged with creating products that become tools to enrich the personal experience of users. Virtual Reality (VR) is one of the tools adopted for this purpose. The use of VR to stimulate meditative practice has been a topic of research in the field of technological media. However, research focuses on the practice known as Mindfulness. Also, researchers focus their attention on 3D graphics design. Therefore, this study explored the possibility of designing immersive technologies for the practice of guided meditation. More specifically, to investigate the effects of using 360-degrees Virtual Reality videos supporting the practice of Relaxation Response meditation exercise, developed by Dr. Herbert Benson, and Contemplative Inquiry presented by Robert Butera. Furthermore, the study aimed to explore if technology improves the meditation experience. Adopting the theoretical approaches of Positive Technology and Research through Design, the Aurora and Pandora prototypes were designed to explore the themes. The results indicate that guided meditation presented through immersive videos can provoke desirable emotional responses in people who practice meditation, such as calm and relaxation. However, undesirable physical effects were observed in the participants. The discomfort of vision, stress, and irritation were examples. Also, the experiments showed that it was possible to improve the experience of meditative practices.

Der Beitrag gibt einerseits eine Übersicht über die Möglichkeiten von virtuellen Produktdarstellungen durch Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) und 360° Medien und vergleicht diese hinsichtlich geeigneter Kriterien um eine gezielte Kommunikation zu erreichen. [... aus der Einleitung]

Verschiedene Spezifika der Immobilienverwaltungsbranche erfordern inhaltlich passgenaue und finanziell tragfähige Lösungen für die Aus- und Weiterbildung. Zum einen ist sie durch eine sehr kleinteilige Struktur mit überwiegend kleinen (bis 999 Verwaltungseinheiten; VE; 50,7 %) und mittelgroßen Unternehmen (bis 2.999 VE; 31 %) geprägt (DDIV, 2018). Zum anderen beschäftigt das Segment auf allen Tätigkeitsebenen (z. B. Makler oder Mitarbeiter von Hausverwaltungen) eine hohe Anzahl von Quereinsteigern ohne einschlägigen Berufsabschluss. Dies führt in Verbindung mit einer starken Mitarbeiterfluktuation und stetigen gesetzlichen Regulierungen bzw. Neuerungen zu einem hohen Aus- und Weiterbildungsbedarf. Vor allem Kleinst- und Kleinunternehmen (KKU) stellt die teils mehrtägige Freistellung von Mitarbeitenden für Weiterbildungsmaßnahmen jedoch vor organisatorische und finanzielle Herausforderungen (Seyda & Werner, 2014; Weiß, 2018). Das Projekt ‚Digitale Bildungsangebote in der der Immobilienwirtschaft mittels Virtual Reality (DOmIcILE-VR)‘ reagiert auf diese Branchenspezifika mit einem innovativen, digitalen Lernangebot. Um eine möglichst arbeitsplatznahe Durchführung der Weiterbildungsmaßnahme zu ermöglichen und dadurch (längere) Ausfallzeiten der Mitarbeitenden zu minimieren, erscheint der Einsatz von portablen Virtual-Reality (VR)-Technologien im Rahmen eines Distance Learning-Szenarios hier zielführend. VR-Technologien spielen in der Immobilienwirtschaft schon jetzt eine wichtige Rolle (Hutzschenreuter & Burger-Ringer, 2018). Sie dienen aber bislang in erster Linie der Vermarktung von Objekten. Vor dem Hintergrund eines prognostizierten Bedeutungszuwachses von VR-Szenarien für die berufliche Aus- und Weiterbildung (mmb Institut, 2019; Schmid, Goertz, & Behrens, 2017) und ihrer weitreichenden Potentiale unternimmt das vorliegende Projekt den Versuch, diese auch in ein Aus- und Weiterbildungsangebot für die Immobilienverwaltung zu integrieren. [... aus Punkt 1]

Für das Virtual Reality-Labor des Instituts für Wirtschaftsinformatik der Universität Leipzig sollen Alternativen zu den bestehenden Steuerungsmöglichkeiten gefunden, an die Anlage angeschlossen und evaluiert werden. Es werden Vorgehensweisen dargelegt, die den Anschluss neuer Geräte ermöglichen sowie deren Anwendung am Beispiel der Nintendo Wii-Remote gezeigt.

Zusammenfassung: 'Die Präsentation von Produkten in gegenwärtigen E-Commerce Anwendungen erfolgt in der Regel durch Bilder und Texte. Dabei werden die Möglichkeiten heutiger multimedialer Technologien nicht oder nur unzureichend genutzt. Insbesondere im Hinblick auf das Medium 3D-Grafik fällt dies besonders auf, obwohl Internet-taugliche 3D-Grafikformate entwickelt werden, die es gestatten, nicht nur dreidimensionale Produktpräsentationen, sondern auch komplette Nutzerschnittstellen auf Basis interaktiver Echtzeitgrafik zu realisieren. Dabei wird die gegenwärtig stark steigende Grafikperformance von PCs bei gleichzeitig sinkenden Kosten schon in naher Zukunft eine neue Klasse von interaktiven 3D-Anwendungen möglich machen, die für eine breite Nutzerschicht zugänglich sind. Neben der Technologieentwicklung bedarf es aber auch konzeptioneller Vorarbeiten zum effektiven Einsatz dieses Mediums. In diesem Artikel werden auf Grundlage der Analyse des Standes der Technik gegenwärtiger Internet- Angebote Konzepte und Anforderungen für künftige 3D-Präsentationsumgebungen entwickelt, wobei zur Illustration ein komplett mit dreidimensionaler Echtzeitgrafik realisierter Prototyp einer Produktpräsentation vorgestellt wird.

Zusammenfassung: "Die Präsentation von Produkten in gegenwärtigen E-Commerce Anwendungen erfolgt in der Regel durch Bilder und Texte. Dabei werden die Möglichkeiten heutiger multimedialer Technologien nicht oder nur unzureichend genutzt. Insbesondere im Hinblick auf das Medium 3D-Grafik fällt dies besonders auf, obwohl Internet-taugliche 3D-Grafikformate entwickelt werden, die es gestatten, nicht nur dreidimensionale Produktpräsentationen, sondern auch komplette Nutzerschnittstellen auf Basis interaktiver Echtzeitgrafik zu realisieren. Dabei wird die gegenwärtig stark steigende Grafikperformance von PCs bei gleichzeitig sinkenden Kosten schon in naher Zukunft eine neue Klasse von interaktiven 3D-Anwendungen möglich machen, die für eine breite Nutzerschicht zugänglich sind. Neben der Technologieentwicklung bedarf es aber auch konzeptioneller Vorarbeiten zum effektiven Einsatz dieses Mediums. In diesem Artikel werden auf Grundlage der Analyse des Standes der Technik gegenwärtiger Internet- Angebote Konzepte und Anforderungen für künftige 3D-Präsentationsumgebungen entwickelt, wobei zur Illustration ein komplett mit dreidimensionaler Echtzeitgrafik realisierter Prototyp einer Produktpräsentation vorgestellt wird."

In the light of youth unemployment and increased transnational mobility practice oriented vocational education and training get more and more importance in the international cooperation in education. There is a broad consensus among educational experts, that one of the possible measures to reduce youth unemployment in the world is to provide youth skills and competences, which are needed on the labour market. The school based vocational education needs to be updated with practical skills. The fundament of each practice oriented vocational education and training system (VET) lays in the cooperation between the main actors: the enterprises and vocational schools. Dual systems in countries as Germany, Switzerland and Austria offer many good practice examples on the benefits of the engagements of both actors in the vocational education and training system but nevertheless these examples cannot be taken as “one model fits all” which can be implemented in each country. Therefore each country interested in the redesign of their own vocational education and training system needs to identify possible benefits of and challenges in their system, to be able to specify the opportunities and threat for future development. It cannot be presumed that enterprises can be forced to take apprentices and train them in their facilities. It has to be evident for every educational actor willing to cooperate with enterprises, that enterprises first strive for growth in profits upon others to be able to secure their existence and secondly they may support additional, non-economic activities; for example the vocational education and training of future employee. Although to ensuring the quality of future employees may partly be seen as their social responsibility this fact will still depend on their economic situation and their need for skilled labour. However, making profit does not collide with the idea of the engagement of enterprises in the vocational education and training. It only needs an in depth-analysis of potentials and needs of enterprises and vocational schools and an adequate planning as well as development of the educational programs and activities. The following example on the PR China delivers many interesting basic approaches on how cooperation between enterprises and vocational schools can be built up, managed and preserved. Thanks to the over thirty years of multilateral cooperation between der PR China and other European and Asian countries, the PR China already knows what is needed to modernize the vocational education and training system. Further education of teachers, redevelopment of curriculums and the redesign of the infrastructure of the vocational schools are those activities, which enriched the Chinese vocational education and training system in the last thirty years. There is still backwardness in the economically weak part of the country but within the “go-west-strategy” of the government innovative measures are offered for enterprises to foster the development of the western region; for example cut red tape or tax and duty exemptions. In the course of the bureaucracy development of the east-southeast part of the country and through the increased perception of the country in the international business the quality of labour become more relevant also for the PR China. Products with low-value-added and unskilled labour were not sufficient anymore for the competitiveness of the country in the international environment. More and more enterprises realised the shortage of qualified labour because of the rise of progressing technology and of the availability of qualified labour. The commitment to quality in the vocational education and training laid on the market orientation and therefore on the establishment of cooperation between enterprises and vocational schools. The PR China can consequently show good practice examples from cooperation in the vocational education after more than thirty years of learning from other countries. The constructive element of these cooperation was identified by the actors as the consensus about the mutual benefit of cooperative activities. Although there are many good practices in the cooperation, nevertheless, more persuasiveness is still needed for continuous fostering of quality in the vocational education and training. The cooperation is not only influenced by the interest, need and the level of cooperation between enterprises and vocational schools, but the nature of the directives of the government are crucial for the cooperation too. For example, the decentralized implementation of the directives of the government may endanger the uneven development and quality assurance in vocational training. The transfer of responsibility of the state in the hands of the provinces ensures on the one side more freedom for provinces, for instance, it allows them to adapt the vocational education and training to their specific needs and to implement it to local circumstances. This means, to offer labour market oriented vocational education and training. On the other side it needs in the context of quality assurance to archive the knowledge gained through the fragmented implementation. This implies, that already developed teaching and learning materials should not get lost but it should be used as synergies and transfer these to other provinces, schools or enterprises. One of the exemplary efforts made by good situated “model vocational schools” is their willingness to overtake a sponsorship for other less developed vocational schools that are located mostly in the western region. Previously mentioned schools support the improvement of the teaching quality of latter mentioned schools and help them especially in the initial phase of the redevelopment of their teaching and training system. More concrete, “school sponsorships” allow to share knowledge, experience or to share technical equipment. The further education of teachers, the establishment of training facilities, the adaptation of curriculum to the labour market needs leave space for the consideration of local needs on the one side, and the dynamics of market development on the other side. It is only possible to take over responsibility for less developed schools, if there is financial support through the government too. School sponsorship is mostly subject to model schools therefore there is a significant need for recognition and promotion of education activities of these model schools. The high dynamic of the labour market in developing regions may cause challenges in the cooperation between vocational schools and enterprises, especially in the time of recession. If the cooperation with a vocational school gives rise to concern because of the limited time, personal availability or financial support in the enterprises, than the support of enterprises may decrease. Therefore the model schools strive to mobilise all actors, ask for financial and material benefits during the time of economic growth to be able to implement those benefits targeted and lay a solid fundament for the performance of less developed schools. This fundament may consist of well-educated vocational teachers, well-equipped training facilities as well as practice oriented curricula. A solid basis allows vocational schools in a economically weak period to use previous investments and benefits. Additional created supplementary services, as further educational offers for enterprise employees, well-educated vocational teachers as consulters by building up of new production lines or by doing research on the effectiveness of human resources, are examples for reserves to bear itself. The redefinition of the role of vocational schools as “service providers” in a wide sense, allows setting quality standards in relation with the pedagogical requirements and economical needs in the vocational education and training. The school administration and teachers need to be equipped with additional management skills in addition to their educational and professional skills to be able to initiate, build and maintain cooperation systematically and analytically. Enterprises need to be aware of taking responsibility for future skilled labour while cooperating with vocational schools. The openness of enterprises for cooperation allows determining one's potential within vocational education and training and look for benefits for both actors. It is necessary for a successful cooperation to be a "win-win" situation, so the motivation for all parties should be maintained. Finally each cooperation needs competent teachers, well equipped training facilities also strategic planning (AIOC-strategy) in sense of analysis of initial situation and the possibilities for the implementation of practical vocational education and training, optimisation of available capacities and resources, the interdependence of responsibilities and competences of both actors, and the consolidation of pedagogical quality criteria under economic premises. The PR China has tried in the past thirty years to modernize its vocational education and training system; this happened mostly in the technical occupations. The challenge for the future will be to do the same effort for the service occupations. The reform and open-door policy of the Chinese government since the 1970s brings many opportunities not only for the economy, but also for the society. The rapid development in the technically based fields brought the anticipated economic upswing and leads the PR China from a development country to the second biggest economy in the world. Now, the current government aims more to increase the life standard of the Chinese and strengthen the domestic consumption than to focus on industry production. Through the emerging middle class the quality and necessity of services gain higher importance in the society and it is seen as an integral part of increasing their quality of life. Chinas new generation remained from the destructive revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s, which have slowed down the development in the country. It has now in hand to bring together identity of the country with its traditions and modernity not only outwardly in the perception of the world, but to strengthen it also in the Chinese society.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
資訊網路與多媒體研究所
104
In recent years, virtual reality (VR) becomes one of the most fascinating technologies where real-time immersion experience is in the spotlight. In those applications, the contents are usually generated by creating a 360◦video panorama of a real-world scene. Despite that many capture devices are released, getting high-resolution panoramas and display of a virtual world at real-time update rates are still very challenging since it is a computationally demanding paradigm. In this paper, we proposed a real-time 360◦video foveated stitching framework, indicating what objects in a scene should be represented at what detail level. Our foveated stitching consists of two major parts; the acuity map and the saliency map. The acuity map is calculated taking into considerations the characteristics of the human visual system, while the saliency map is calculated using theories from the field of visual attention. Our innovative solution takes multiple cameras inputs and creates a high-resolution panoramic video in real-time that can be streamed directly to the client. We parallelize the algorithm on a GPU to achieve a responsive interface and validate our results using user study. Our system accelerate graphics computation by a factor of 6 on a Google Cardboard display.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
資訊工程學研究所
106
In this thesis, we introduce a method about synthesizing stereo view for VR with 360 image sequence captured by a monocular 360-camera. We generate different 360 images for different eyes by referring to the ideas of Omnistereo. To generate a stereo view in VR, we combined the images，one for left, and the other for right eye. The images are captured by Gear 360, and then the three-dimensional points and poses were illustrated by using the structure from motion with Visual SfM. The three-dimensional points could work as the features of the images, and accordingly generate the features in new images by using multiple viewpoint circular projection. We use feature correspondences to synthesize novel views, while simultaneously maintaining stereoscopic properties and preserving image structures. Finally, we get the 360 images for left and right eyes. We use PsViewer to display our resulting images by setting different images for different eyes, and view in google cardboard.

Paralympic VR: an immersive experience is based on exploratory research and consists in the production of a 360 video-prototype that aims to give special access to the wheelchair basketball training universe, bringing the users close to Paralympic athletes without the need to hide the impairment or hyper focus on the stories behind the disability. Media coverage of Paralympic sports and the representation of disabled athletes have been changing, but still present a medicalised framing, a narrative where the athletes are commonly portrayed as heroes due to the overcoming of difficulties related to the impairment and not to the sports results. This present project work considers immersive journalism and the use of virtual reality technologies as the means by which an alternative approach and a better representation of Paralympians are possible. The project presents the description of the workflow process, detailing conceptualization decisions, technical aspects and, mainly, the challenges and lessons learned. A user study combining focus groups and online survey was also conducted in order to have insights about the experience of watching the video with the headset Samsung Gear VR. Feedback provided by participants indicated that the prototype accomplished its aim. Recommendations to improve future work were also gathered.
Paralympic VR: an immersive experience baseia-se em investigação exploratória e consiste na produção de um vídeo 360 graus que visa dar acesso especial ao universo de treino do basquete em cadeira de rodas, aproximando os utilizadores dos atletas paralímpicos sem a necessidade de ocultar a deficiência ou dar grande enfoque às histórias por detrás da deficiência. A cobertura do desporto paralímpico nos media e a representação dos atletas com deficiência está a transformar-se, mas ainda apresenta uma abordagem medicalizada, uma narrativa em que os atletas são comumente retratados como heróis devido à superação de dificuldades relacionadas à deficiência e não em virtude aos resultados desportivos. O jornalismo imersivo e o uso de tecnologias de realidade virtual são considerados no presente trabalho de projeto os meios pelos quais é possível uma abordagem alternativa e uma melhor representação dos atletas paralímpicos. O projeto apresenta a descrição de todo o processo de produção do vídeo-protótipo, detalhando decisões de conceito, aspectos técnicos e, principalmente, os desafios e lições aprendidas. Um estudo com utilizadores combinando grupos de foco e questionário on-line também foi conduzido para a recolha de perceções sobre a experiência de assistir ao vídeo com o headset Samsung Gear VR. Os comentários fornecidos pelos participantes indicaram que o protótipo atingiu seu objetivo. Importantes recomendações para a melhoria de futuras experiências também foram reunidas.

Many skills underpin the performance of sporting officials, however decision-making is regarded as the most critical. There are finite on-field opportunities to develop decision-making of sporting officials in training and competition, as a consequence, video-based approaches are typically used to assess and develop decision-making skill. Existing methods such as the use of match broadcast video may not be an ecologically valid method to present decision-making scenarios. With technological advancements, using virtual reality may improve the ecological validity of video-based approaches to improve decision-making. Study 1 systematically reviewed existing research utilising video-based testing to assess decision-making in officials, which often differentiates between skill levels to demonstrate construct validity. Study 1 identified several limitations including common use of match broadcast video, limited reporting of reliability, and studies often solely reporting number of decisions rather than performance accuracy. Comparison between video-based and in-game decision-making performance was rarely conducted. This study provided the foundation to further examine the efficacy of video- based tests in sporting officials. Study 2 developed two valid and reliable video-based tests, based on the recommendations of Study 1. As match broadcast video is the most common video-based testing method for officials, it was compared with 360° VR to assess decision-making accuracy. Both 360° VR and match broadcast video-based tests demonstrated construct validity and high reliability (r = 0.89). Stronger ecological validity was evident in 360° VR than match broadcast, as participants rated 360° VR to be more representative of in-game decision-making processes. Study 3 aimed to determine the relationship between decision-making accuracy in both video-based tests (360° VR and match broadcast) and in-game of elite Australian football umpires, given that this limitation of the research was identified in Study 1. Study 3 used validated video-based tests from Study 2. There were no significant relationships observed for decision-making accuracy between in-game and video-based testing. Studies 2 and 3 provide findings on testing, however it is unclear whether 360° VR or match broadcast is more effective for developing decision-making. Study 4 assessed the effectiveness of a video-based training program using 360° VR or match broadcast to develop decision-making in amateur Australian football umpires using a randomised control study design. Decision-making was assessed using the valid and reliable tests of Study 2 before, immediately following, and one month following training (retention test). The 360° VR group exhibited significantly higher decision-making accuracy (p < 0.05) than the control group at retention testing, with no between-group differences observed for the match broadcast group. Participants rated 360° VR as more relevant and enjoyable than match broadcast. In summary, this thesis aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of 360° VR as a video-based testing and training tool in Australian football umpires. Although 360° VR and match broadcast appear to have strong construct validity and reliability, currently, there is limited transfer to in-game performance. Further, based on these results, it is not definitive whether 360° VR is a more effective training tool than match broadcast. The findings of this thesis indicate 360° VR may be more ecologically valid than match broadcast and warrants further investigation.

碩士
國立臺北科技大學
互動設計系碩士班（碩士在職專班）
105
When watching a 360° video through a VR headset, the viewer is free to browse the surrounding scene, and the image is no longer present in a single direction as usual. Although panorama photography enriches the possibility of multimedia composition, it also breeds new problems of its own. The viewers are easy to lose their orientation in the stereo scene because there is no any restriction when browsing. They might also miss the important message or scene because of the same reason. This study builds an interactive guiding interface in VR scene to explore whether this interface is helpful for viewing VR videos. In this study, we observed the behavior of subjects via the ‘Think Aloud protocol’, and recorded the experimental detail. After that, we interviewed the subjects and analyzed the data. The overall conclusions of this study are as follows. 1) Verified the guiding interface does have the effect of prompt, and it meets viewers’ expectation of usability of user interface. 2) The viewers expected the interface to be more naturally present in the scene when they were watching a virtual reality video. The results of this study can be used as a basis for the study of the interactive guiding interface design in virtual reality environment.

Throughout the years virtual reality has been used for a wide range of applications, and several types of research have been made in order to improve its techniques and technology. In the last few years, the interest in virtual reality has been increasing partially due to the emergence of cheaper and more accessible hardware, and the increase in content available. One of the possible applications for virtual reality is to lead people into seeing situations from a different perspective, which can help change opinions. This thesis uses virtual reality to help people better understand paralympic sports by allowing them to experience the sports’ world from the athletes’ perspective. For the creation of the virtual environment, both computer-generated elements and 360 video are used. The integration of these two components presented a challenge to explore. This thesis focused on wheelchair basketball, and a simulator of this sport was created resorting to the use of a game engine (Unity 3D). For the development of this simulator, computer-generated elements were built, and the interaction with them implemented. Besides allowing the users to play the sport as if they are in the athlete’s shoes, users can also watch 360 videos in which explanations of the modality (rules and classification) are presented. They are also capable of interacting with some of these videos through virtual elements that are placed over the videos. User studies were conducted to evaluate the sense of presence, motion sickness and usability of the system developed. The results were positive although there are still some aspects that should be improved.

O crescente desenvolvimento das novas tecnologias permitiu uma maior preponderância por parte do espectador, no consumo de conteúdos audiovisuais. A partir desta visão, atualmente a realidade virtual cada vez mais é considerada uma opção tentadora para o mundo do entretenimento. Como tal, começam a surgir conteúdos audiovisuais VR 360º que possibilitam uma maior imersão no espectador. Esta dissertação incidiu sobre a criação de um conteúdo VR 360º de género suspense, na qual foram elaboradas as diversas fases do processo de produção que contribuíram para a análise dos desafios e problemas inerentes a este. Para além disso, nas vantagens imersivas existentes ao nível do espectador associadas a este tipo de projeto. Visto isto, para se efetuar a investigação empírica utilizou-se duas amostras independentes, uma com 48 participantes e outra com 36 participantes, uma vez que se efetuou dois questionários: um pré-sessão e outro pós-sessão. A amostra pós-sessão foi dividida em três grupos equitativos, que visualizaram o mesmo conteúdo audiovisual, mas em formatos distintos. A análise de resultados demonstrou que, como esperado, o VR cinematográfico intensifica a imersão ao nível percetivo e diminui a imersão ao nível narrativo, uma consequência da exploração 360º. Para além disso, foi possível concluir que existem diversos desafios e dificuldades inerentes a esta tecnologia.
The increasing development of the new technologies allowed a greater preponderance on the part of the spectator in the consumption of audiovisual contents. From this view, virtual reality is increasingly considered a tempting option for the entertainment world. As such, VR 360º audiovisual contents begin to emerge that allow a greater immersion in the viewer. This dissertation focused on the creation of VR 360º content of suspense genre, in which the various phases of the production process were elaborated that contributed to the analysis of the challenges and problems inherent to it. In addition, the immersive advantages at the spectator level associated with this type of project. In order to carry out the empirical investigation, two independent samples were used, one with 48 participants and the other with 36 participants, since two questionnaires were performed: one pre-session and one postsession. The post-session sample was divided into three equitable groups, which viewed the same audiovisual content, but in different formats. The analysis of results showed that, as expected, the cinematographic VR intensifies the immersion at the perceptual level and diminishes the immersion at the narrative level, a consequence of the 360º exploration. In addition, it was possible to conclude that there are several challenges and difficulties inherent to this technology.
Mestrado em Comunicação Multimédia

Für das Virtual Reality-Labor des Instituts für Wirtschaftsinformatik der Universität Leipzig sollen Alternativen zu den bestehenden Steuerungsmöglichkeiten gefunden, an die Anlage angeschlossen und evaluiert werden. Es werden Vorgehensweisen dargelegt, die den Anschluss neuer Geräte ermöglichen sowie deren Anwendung am Beispiel der Nintendo Wii-Remote gezeigt.:1 Einleitung 1.1 Motivation 1.2 Zielstellung 1.3 Grundlagen der Steuerung und Interaktion 1.4 Vorhandenes Steuersystem 2 Alternative Steuergeräte 2.1 Überblick 2.2 Nintendo Wii-Remote 2.2.1 Hardware 2.2.2 Verbindungsherstellung 2.2.3 Anwendungsmöglichkeiten 3 Emulation 3.1 GlovePIE 3.2 PPJoy 3.3 IDO:ImmersiveWorkspace 3.4 Umsetzung der Desktopsteuerung 3.5 Umsetzung der Powerwall-Steuerung 3.6 Zwischenfazit 4 Virtual Reality Peripheral Network 4.1 Grundlagen 4.2 Nutzung von VRPN durch IC:IDO 4.3 Nutzung der Wii-Remote 5 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick

La idea surge de una motivación propia como grupo, ya que en varias ocasiones tuvimos la oportunidad de vivir la experiencia de visualización de producciones de realidad virtual o cine en 360º. Habiendo transitado la carrera de cine y teniendo una fuerte afinidad con las innovadoras formas de producción audiovisual, aspiramos a profundizar en este nuevo horizonte de realización. Sintiéndonos capaces de crear una historia inmersiva que servirá como material de análisis, al igual que otros trabajos realizados en lo que hace a las producciones dentro de este formato. Pretendemos que estas nuevas puertas creativas y artísticas puedan ser utilizadas por estudiantes de la universidad. Las técnicas de video 360º se vienen desarrollando hace ya varias décadas, sin embargo solo ha sido en los últimos años que se hizo popular para el público. Es así como el término no puede entenderse sin su ancestro el Kinetoscopio, inventado por Edison, que fue el primer intento de proporcionar una experiencia sensorial individualizada e inmersiva al usuario.
Fil: Arros Merino, Lucia Malén. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Artes. Departamento Académico de Cine y Televisión; Argentina.
Fil: Gross, Alec Sacha. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Artes. Departamento Académico de Cine y Televisión; Argentina.

Tese de mestrado, Engenharia Informática (Interação e Conhecimento) Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2016
Com o avanço tecnológico, cada vez mais o utilizador procura obter experiências ricas e inovadoras através das tecnologias. Este procura acima de tudo experiências imersivas, por forma a aumentar a sua sensação de presença. Cada vez mais se encontram vídeos esféricos gravados em 360º disponibilizados na internet, mas deparamo-nos com navegadores pouco imersivos para visualizar tais conteúdos. Este projeto teve por objetivo a exploração e o desenvolvimento de ferramentas para proporcionar uma experiência rica e imersiva ao utilizador na visualização de conteúdos multimédia de qualquer tipo, usando óculos de Realidade Virtual, com especial foco no tipo de vídeo gravado em 360º esférico. Um dos objetivos passava por tentar que o utilizador pudesse sentir que faz parte do ambiente gravado. Tentou-se aumentar a imersividade melhorando a forma e fluidez de navegação e a interação com os conteúdos. Um dos grandes problemas passava também pela incompatibilidade de ligação de grande parte de dispositivos de input externo a alguns equipamentos móveis. Pensou-se então que seria útil a criação de um Sistema de Navegação Facilitada que permitisse qualquer tipo de input e facilitasse o acesso a operações mais complexas de forma simples. Foi também um dos focos o desenvolvimento de funcionalidades que permitissem a exploração de Realidade Aumentada com o experienciar destes conteúdos. Foi realizada uma avaliação com utilizadores para validar as opções tomadas, em termos de usabilidade e aceitação. Estes consideraram as ferramentas desenvolvidas no Sight Surfers VR e no SSVR Helper bastante utéis, satisfatórias e fáceis de usar e de compreender, tendo contribuído ainda para identificar direções para desenvolvimentos futuros.
Due to technological advancements, users more and more desire to achieve new, rich, and innovative immersive experiences. Users are looking to experience immersive experiences in order to increase theirs sense of presence. The amount of spherical 360º recorded media available on the internet is largely increasing, but the experience that the browser gives to the user is not immersive enough to the current user expectation. This project main goal was to grant users the tools in order to achieve a good immersive experience when visualizing any type of media while using Virtual Reality Googles. There was a special focus on spherical 360º movies. This project aims to grant users the feeling that they take part of the environment. New interaction and navigation techniques were developed in order to try to increase immersion. One of the biggest issues refers to the fact that mobile devices are not very compatible with external input devices. An Easy Navigation System was designed with the goal to try to surpass these needs. This system also had the goal to allow users to access complex operations in a fast and easy way. It was also the goal to develop functionalities aimed to explore Augmented Reality while experiencing these contents. A user evaluation took place in order to evaluate the choices made, in terms of usability and acceptance. They considered the tools developed in Sight Surfers VR and SSVR Helper quite useful, satisfactory and easy to use and understand, having also contributed to identify directions for future developments.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Design e Multimédia apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia
This dissertation, in the areas of web design and interaction design, focuses on exploring possibilities of integrating virtual reality into websites for Libraries, using the current Polo II Library of the University of Coimbra as a case study. This report discusses the theoretical concepts of virtual reality; describes a purpose of incorporating virtual reality into the web; presents tools and hardware used in VR and analyses applications that present virtual reality developed previously, which relate to the project. In addition, it describes the analysis made on the current platform of the Polo II Library; it presents the focus of the project that consisted of redesigning the platform creating a more modern graphic identity and adding interactive and immersive visit functionality in 360o. This dissertation describes the process of dedesign and implementation of the library website re-design prototype, as well as the results of the usability assessment carried out. With this prototype we conclude that the addition of VR content on the library website is possible, with some effort, resulting in an alternative way to experience the physical space of the library. .
Esta dissertação, inserida nas áreas de web design e design de interação, tem como foco explorar possibilidades de integrar conteúdos de realidade virtual em websites para Bibliotecas, usando a atual Biblioteca do Polo II da Universidade de Coimbra como caso de estudo. Este relatório aborda os conceitos teóricos da realidade virtual; descreve a finalidade de incorporar realidade virtual na web; apresenta ferramentas e hardwares, utilizados na RV e analisa aplicações que apresentam realidade virtual desenvolvidas anteriormente, que se relacionam com o projeto. Além de abordar sobre os temas mencionados, descreve a análise feita sobre a atual plataforma da Biblioteca do Polo II; apresenta o foco do projeto que consiste redesenhar a plataforma existente tornando a identidade gráfica mais moderna e acrescentar a funcionalidade de visita interativa e imersiva em 360o. Esta dissertação descreve o processo de design e implementação do protótipo do re-design do website da biblioteca, assim como os resultados da avaliação de usabilidade efetuada. Com este protótipo concluímos que a adição de conteúdos de RV no website da biblioteca é possível, com algum esforço, resultando numa forma alternativa de experienciar o espaço físico da biblioteca.. .

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich unter Berücksichtigung der geltenden internationalen Investitionsregelungen mit dem Schutz ausländischer Investitionen in der VR China. Sie ist von Interesse, wenn man China als einen bevorzugten Investitionsstandort betrachtet, wo eine andere Ideologie als die westliche herrscht. In dieser Arbeit wird das Ausländerinvestitionsrecht Chinas dargestellt. Darüber hinaus werden auch das neue deutsch-chinesische Investitionsabkommen sowie die Umsetzung der WTO-Investitionsregelungen in chinesisches Recht behandelt. Damit können die potentiellen ausländischen Investoren einen Überblick über die grundlegenden Investitionsregelungen Chinas gewinnen.

Tell a Tail 360 is a Virtual Reality (VR) documentary, part of a larger transmedia project about animal welfare in Madeira island, created to educate, raise awareness and spread the love for the animals, targeting teenage audiences. The literature review and the context research surveys suggest that younger audiences are more likely to change their behaviours than adults. Moreover, the majority of people are interested in the topic of animal welfare (AW) although not always aware of its complexity (e.g., lack of responsibility of ownership or lack of education on proper animal treatment). Over several months, 360º footage was recorded showing different perspectives of the problem through contact with different stakeholders. Later, the footage was used in the design of an interactive VR documentary highlighting kennels’ conditions, Non-governmental organizations fieldwork, and the importance of providing primary care to pets. The user explores the story through different media sources inside the virtual world, such as social media posts, photography and audio. These interactive features provide users with the opportunity to unfold the story through their choices, promoting exploration and contemplation of the subject and were designed to increase audience engagement and agency in the experience. Through A/B user testing conducted with two groups of adolescents (in which one tested a non-VR version of the documentary and the other group the VR version), findings suggest that the immersive version generated greater interest and involvement in the problem addressed. This thesis project can provide new insights on how interactive and immersive content can engage the teenage audience to a more significant awareness of good animal welfare behaviours and other social problems.
Tell a Tail 360 é um documentário em realidade virtual (RV), parte de um projeto transmedia cujo tema é o bem-estar dos animais na ilha da Madeira. Tem como objetivos educar, consciencializar e espalhar o amor pelos animais em público adolescente. Com base na revisão da literatura e nas pesquisas feitas, concluiu-se que o público mais jovem tem maior probabilidade para mudar os seus comportamentos do que os adultos e de que apesar da maioria das pessoas mostrar interesse pelo assunto abordado, nem sempre tem perceção da sua complexidade (ex.: a falta de responsabilidade dos donos ou a falta de educação sobre o tratamento adequado a dar aos animais). Durante vários meses, foram recolhidos vídeos em 360º através da cooperação com entidades que trabalham em prol da causa animal, mostrando diferentes perspetivas deste problema social. Posteriormente, esses vídeos foram usados para criar um documentário interativo que destaca as condições dos canis, o trabalho de campo das organizações não governamentais e a importância de prover os cuidados básicos aos animais de estimação. A experiência do utilizador foi projetada para que este pudesse explorar a história através de diferentes medias dentro do mundo virtual, tais como publicações retiradas de redes sociais, fotografias e som. Estas características interativas provêm ao utilizador a oportunidade de descobrir a história através das suas escolhas, promovendo a exploração e contemplação do assunto, aumentando o envolvimento e a ação do público na experiência. Através de testes de utilizador A/B conduzidos com dois grupos de adolescentes, em que um grupo testou uma versão não RV do documentário e o outro grupo a versão RV, concluiu-se que a versão imersiva originou um maior interesse e envolvimento no problema abordado. O projeto desta tese contribuiu com novas ideias sobre como usar conteúdo interativo e imersivo pode envolver o público adolescente e consciencializar para o bem-estar animal bem como outros problemas sociais.

In the light of youth unemployment and increased transnational mobility practice oriented vocational education and training get more and more importance in the international cooperation in education. There is a broad consensus among educational experts, that one of the possible measures to reduce youth unemployment in the world is to provide youth skills and competences, which are needed on the labour market. The school based vocational education needs to be updated with practical skills. The fundament of each practice oriented vocational education and training system (VET) lays in the cooperation between the main actors: the enterprises and vocational schools. Dual systems in countries as Germany, Switzerland and Austria offer many good practice examples on the benefits of the engagements of both actors in the vocational education and training system but nevertheless these examples cannot be taken as “one model fits all” which can be implemented in each country. Therefore each country interested in the redesign of their own vocational education and training system needs to identify possible benefits of and challenges in their system, to be able to specify the opportunities and threat for future development. It cannot be presumed that enterprises can be forced to take apprentices and train them in their facilities. It has to be evident for every educational actor willing to cooperate with enterprises, that enterprises first strive for growth in profits upon others to be able to secure their existence and secondly they may support additional, non-economic activities; for example the vocational education and training of future employee. Although to ensuring the quality of future employees may partly be seen as their social responsibility this fact will still depend on their economic situation and their need for skilled labour. However, making profit does not collide with the idea of the engagement of enterprises in the vocational education and training. It only needs an in depth-analysis of potentials and needs of enterprises and vocational schools and an adequate planning as well as development of the educational programs and activities. The following example on the PR China delivers many interesting basic approaches on how cooperation between enterprises and vocational schools can be built up, managed and preserved. Thanks to the over thirty years of multilateral cooperation between der PR China and other European and Asian countries, the PR China already knows what is needed to modernize the vocational education and training system. Further education of teachers, redevelopment of curriculums and the redesign of the infrastructure of the vocational schools are those activities, which enriched the Chinese vocational education and training system in the last thirty years. There is still backwardness in the economically weak part of the country but within the “go-west-strategy” of the government innovative measures are offered for enterprises to foster the development of the western region; for example cut red tape or tax and duty exemptions. In the course of the bureaucracy development of the east-southeast part of the country and through the increased perception of the country in the international business the quality of labour become more relevant also for the PR China. Products with low-value-added and unskilled labour were not sufficient anymore for the competitiveness of the country in the international environment. More and more enterprises realised the shortage of qualified labour because of the rise of progressing technology and of the availability of qualified labour. The commitment to quality in the vocational education and training laid on the market orientation and therefore on the establishment of cooperation between enterprises and vocational schools. The PR China can consequently show good practice examples from cooperation in the vocational education after more than thirty years of learning from other countries. The constructive element of these cooperation was identified by the actors as the consensus about the mutual benefit of cooperative activities. Although there are many good practices in the cooperation, nevertheless, more persuasiveness is still needed for continuous fostering of quality in the vocational education and training. The cooperation is not only influenced by the interest, need and the level of cooperation between enterprises and vocational schools, but the nature of the directives of the government are crucial for the cooperation too. For example, the decentralized implementation of the directives of the government may endanger the uneven development and quality assurance in vocational training. The transfer of responsibility of the state in the hands of the provinces ensures on the one side more freedom for provinces, for instance, it allows them to adapt the vocational education and training to their specific needs and to implement it to local circumstances. This means, to offer labour market oriented vocational education and training. On the other side it needs in the context of quality assurance to archive the knowledge gained through the fragmented implementation. This implies, that already developed teaching and learning materials should not get lost but it should be used as synergies and transfer these to other provinces, schools or enterprises. One of the exemplary efforts made by good situated “model vocational schools” is their willingness to overtake a sponsorship for other less developed vocational schools that are located mostly in the western region. Previously mentioned schools support the improvement of the teaching quality of latter mentioned schools and help them especially in the initial phase of the redevelopment of their teaching and training system. More concrete, “school sponsorships” allow to share knowledge, experience or to share technical equipment. The further education of teachers, the establishment of training facilities, the adaptation of curriculum to the labour market needs leave space for the consideration of local needs on the one side, and the dynamics of market development on the other side. It is only possible to take over responsibility for less developed schools, if there is financial support through the government too. School sponsorship is mostly subject to model schools therefore there is a significant need for recognition and promotion of education activities of these model schools. The high dynamic of the labour market in developing regions may cause challenges in the cooperation between vocational schools and enterprises, especially in the time of recession. If the cooperation with a vocational school gives rise to concern because of the limited time, personal availability or financial support in the enterprises, than the support of enterprises may decrease. Therefore the model schools strive to mobilise all actors, ask for financial and material benefits during the time of economic growth to be able to implement those benefits targeted and lay a solid fundament for the performance of less developed schools. This fundament may consist of well-educated vocational teachers, well-equipped training facilities as well as practice oriented curricula. A solid basis allows vocational schools in a economically weak period to use previous investments and benefits. Additional created supplementary services, as further educational offers for enterprise employees, well-educated vocational teachers as consulters by building up of new production lines or by doing research on the effectiveness of human resources, are examples for reserves to bear itself. The redefinition of the role of vocational schools as “service providers” in a wide sense, allows setting quality standards in relation with the pedagogical requirements and economical needs in the vocational education and training. The school administration and teachers need to be equipped with additional management skills in addition to their educational and professional skills to be able to initiate, build and maintain cooperation systematically and analytically. Enterprises need to be aware of taking responsibility for future skilled labour while cooperating with vocational schools. The openness of enterprises for cooperation allows determining one's potential within vocational education and training and look for benefits for both actors. It is necessary for a successful cooperation to be a "win-win" situation, so the motivation for all parties should be maintained. Finally each cooperation needs competent teachers, well equipped training facilities also strategic planning (AIOC-strategy) in sense of analysis of initial situation and the possibilities for the implementation of practical vocational education and training, optimisation of available capacities and resources, the interdependence of responsibilities and competences of both actors, and the consolidation of pedagogical quality criteria under economic premises. The PR China has tried in the past thirty years to modernize its vocational education and training system; this happened mostly in the technical occupations. The challenge for the future will be to do the same effort for the service occupations. The reform and open-door policy of the Chinese government since the 1970s brings many opportunities not only for the economy, but also for the society. The rapid development in the technically based fields brought the anticipated economic upswing and leads the PR China from a development country to the second biggest economy in the world. Now, the current government aims more to increase the life standard of the Chinese and strengthen the domestic consumption than to focus on industry production. Through the emerging middle class the quality and necessity of services gain higher importance in the society and it is seen as an integral part of increasing their quality of life. Chinas new generation remained from the destructive revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s, which have slowed down the development in the country. It has now in hand to bring together identity of the country with its traditions and modernity not only outwardly in the perception of the world, but to strengthen it also in the Chinese society.