Yimin Wang

1. Virtual reality (VR) has become an important medium for investigating multisensory immersion and embodied interaction. Previous studies have shown that display configuration and interaction desi...

Professional esports requires rapid decision-making, sustained attention, and coordinated team adaptation under high pressure. However, evidence from real professional competitions remains limited, especially at the team physiological level. This study examined phase-specific heart-rate activation and within-team physiological coupling during professional PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) competitions.Methods: We analyzed second-by-second heart-rate data from professional squads competing in the 2024 Peace Elite League Autumn Finals. Team-level physiological responses were examined across standardized analytical windows: rest, pre-competition, competition, and post-competition. We combined phase-based statistical comparisons, sliding-window Pearson and Spearman correlations, windowed cross-correlation (WCC), and exploratory machine-learning classification based on short-window permutation-entropy features.Results: Heart rate varied across competitive phases, with the strongest activation occurring during competition windows. Direct comparisons between winning and losing teams suggested a possible tendency toward stronger anticipatory activation in winning teams, although these differences did not remain statistically robust after multiple-comparison correction. Winning teams showed moderate and dynamically changing within-team heart-rate coupling around key team-fight-centered windows. In the exploratory classification analysis, ensemble models provided the strongest window-level performance, with Random Forest and Gradient Boosting both reaching 73.5% accuracy.Conclusion: The findings suggest that heart-rate dynamics in professional PUBG competitions reflect phase-specific physiological activation and local team-level coupling. Rather than showing that physiological synchrony directly causes victory, this study provides naturalistic evidence that heart-rate signals can serve as descriptive markers of collective adaptation and as exploratory features for team-level outcome classification in esports.

Beyond utilitarian purpose, architecture possesses profound aesthetic value, serving not only as structures to inhabit but as spaces to be perceived, interpreted, and appreciated. Unity and variety are among the predictors that influence aesthetics, traditionally viewed as oppositional but jointly predictive of aesthetic preference. The present research investigates how unity and variety jointly predict aesthetic preference in the domain of Chinese carved windows and how these relationships change from isolated elements to window–background compositions. Two quasi-experimental studies were conducted. Study 1 asked participants to rate ten digitally rendered Chinese windows on unity, variety, and aesthetic preference. Study 2 used the same ten windows embedded in either a stylistically congruent Chinese background or an incongruent Western background. Across both studies (N = 797), results showed that unity and variety were negatively correlated yet both positively associated with aesthetic preference, with unity exerting the stronger predictive influence. The trade-off between unity and variety decreased once windows were placed in backgrounds, and stylistically incongruent Western backgrounds reliably suppressed perceived unity and inflated perceived variety. The findings are consistent with the Unity-in-Variety principle and highlight how architectural context influences unity–variety judgments. The studies provide strategies toward a more nuanced, architecture-specific understanding of unity and variety in aesthetic preference.

The metaverse represents a post-reality universe that seamlessly merges physical reality with digital virtuality. It provides a continuous and immersive social networking environment, enabling multi-user engagement and interaction through Extended Reality (XR) technologies, which include Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). As a novel solution distinct from traditional methods such as mobile-based applications, the technical affordance of XR technologies in shaping multi-user social experiences remains a complex, multifaceted, and multivariate issue that has not yet been thoroughly explored. Additionally, there is a notable absence of mature frameworks and guidelines for designing and developing these multi-user socio-technical systems. Enhancing multi-user social engagement through these technologies remains a significant research challenge. This systematic review aims to address this gap by establishing an analytical framework guided by the PRISMA protocol. It analyzes 88 studies from various disciplines, including computer science, social science, psychology, and the arts, to define the mechanisms and effectiveness of XR technologies in multi-user social engagement. Quantitative methods such as descriptive statistics, correlation statistics, and text mining are used to examine the manifestation of mechanisms, potential system factors, and their effectiveness. Meanwhile, qualitative case studies identify specific measures by which system factors enhance multi-user social engagement. The study provides a pioneering framework for theoretical research and offers practical insights for developing cross-spatiotemporal co-present activities in the metaverse. It also promotes critical reflection on the evolving relationship between humans and this emerging digital universe.

The research of tangible creativity support tools (T-CSTs) has been increasing in recent years. However, there is a lack of review that interprets what T-CSTs trends must be considered and how challenging opinions should be broken. Hence, a focused and critical review of existing studies is necessary. This paper analyzed 86 studies related to T-CSTs following the PRISMA protocol. First, the research tendencies were extracted and provided a basic knowledge construction. Then, we extracted primary research questions, categorized the adopted design and technological solutions, and identified the researchers’ hypotheses-validation. Last, we proposed research gap, challenge and potential opportunities for future researchers and designers. This review will benefit people in the fields of tangible interaction, design studies and education.