Ho Yan Kwan

Advances in digital interactive technologies have created a range of innovative products and services for the well-being of society. Extended Reality (XR) technology has shown enormous potential in the educational, commercial, and medical fields. Considering the potential of XR, we analyzed the use of XR technology for the improvement of web service user experiences. The paper discusses Web Extended Reality (XR) and its current circumstances. The study also discusses the advantages of web componentization and the Page Builder System, which is a famous framework for web componentization. Furthermore, the study analyzes the characteristics of XR. The research designs the Web XR User Interface framework with XR characteristics and componentization design. A 3D UI framework is proposed for providing an immersive, explorative, and readable user experience. The framework covers three aspects, including main content, a scrollbar, and navigation. In order to evaluate the performance efficiency of the framework, a proof-of-concept prototype was developed to examine the concept. We conducted a user study with 60 participants to evaluate the reading performance. Compared with the traditional web layout, the experimental results showed that the framework can improve the user experience in static websites. The paper indicates possible future views based on the experimental study.

Advances in information and communication technologies have created a range of new products and services for the well-being of society. Virtual Reality (VR) technology has shown enormous potential in educational, commercial, and medical fields. The recent COVID-19 outbreak highlights a poor global performance in communicating epidemic knowledge to the public. Considering the potential of VR, the research starts from analyzing how to use VR technology to improve public education in COVID-19. The research uses Virtual Storytelling Technology (VST) to promote enthusiasm in user participation. A Plot-based VR education system is proposed in order to provide an immersive, explorative, educational experiences. The system includes three primary modules: the Tutorial Module, the Preparation Module, and the Investigation Module. To remove any potential confusion in the user, the research aims to avoid extremely complicated medical professional content and uses interactive, entertainment methods to improve user participation. In order to evaluate the performance efficiency of the system, we conducted performance evaluations and a user study with 80 participants. Compared with traditional education, the experimental results show that the VR education system can used as an effective educational tool for epidemic (COVID-19) fundamental knowledge. The VR technology can assist government agencies and public organizations to increase public understanding of the spread the epidemic (COVID-19).