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ICT Project 3D VIVANT– Deliverable 2.3 Contract no.: 248420 User Acceptance Validation Plan 1 INTRODUCTION The main target of 3D VIVANT is to create a new way of producing and enjoying 3D video and the associated audio content. 3D VIVANT will develop the tools which are necessary for capturing, processing and viewing 3D holoscopic content; and targets both the professional and consumer environments. This means that the 3D VIVANT system will be used by various groups of people, involved in different stages of the 3D holoscopic content exploitation chain and having different expectations from it. 3D VIVANT has to validate that it meets the expectations of all of these users. However, since expectations vary among different user groups, an effective way of validating their acceptance requires a customised approach for each group. Therefore, for a thorough validation of user acceptance, two major groups of users are distinguished: 1) the professional users, and 2) the endusers. Furthermore, there is an important difference between testing perceived audiovisual quality and tests on interactive features, including usability, usefulness, etc. This variety of testing persons and aspects to be tested requires a variety of methods for testing and validation. While some features and functions will require primarily qualitative methods, others may involve some quantitative measuring as part of the evaluation setup. The chosen methods will be described in Section 2. In WP7 of the project, assessment sessions are envisaged for evaluating the user acceptance of the various functionalities and characteristics – most of them are new ones – of the 3D holoscopic system. The results of the evaluations, from the points of view of both end-users and professional users, will mainly be used by the developers to improve the capabilities of the system. This would also inform any future development outside and after the end of the project. As some of 3D VIVANT’s features will create very new experiences, the test results will provide important feedback for further improving and refining the technology and for optimal marketing results. The aim of this document is to define the criteria and metrics for the aforementioned user acceptance tests and to suggest a testing plan. These metrics will be the basis for Task 7.3 – “User Perception and Usability Testing”, due to start near the end of the project, in month 29 (July 2012). The information gathered from the tests needs to concentrate on the functionalities and experience that are exclusive to the project developments, i.e., 3D holoscopic technology and the hyperlinking environment. The approach adopted aims at capitalising on the knowledge and expertise of the project partners with regards to 3D production and consumption as well as to interactive software and also to review existing research on the topic. From this, it was possible to list the shortcomings and acceptability issues relating to 3D. The tests should help to establish whether 3D VIVANT deals with these shortcomings and provides acceptable solutions. Concerning the choice of the methods, all tests will take into account varying requirements with regard to target users as well as features and facilities to be tested. For detailed descriptions see Sections 2-4. 1.1 TARGET USERS The development of 3D holoscopic video requires the development of various production facilities as these are not available as of today. Hence, 3D VIVANT’s results will require tests on shooting, editing, and, of course, viewing newly created content. This means that the tests will involve professional users as well as end-users. Tests involving professional users will differ from end-user tests in various ways. While professional users will provide much more detailed input and even concrete, constructive ideas, e.g., concerning 01.09.11 6
ICT Project 3D VIVANT– Deliverable 2.3 Contract no.: 248420 User Acceptance Validation Plan the organisation of production processes, end-user tests are more focused on subjective acceptance factors. While professional users are expected to be much more critical, for instance, concerning the quality of 3D video in terms of exact colours, etc., as well as with respect to the production side factors, end-users are expected to speak their minds concerning the subjective appearance and perceived usefulness or advantages in comparison to what they have known so far. These and other differences in background, perception and expectations will influence the choice of methods applied to evaluate their opinions and feedback. 1.2 OVERVIEW OF FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES TO BE TESTED The validation of user acceptance of 3D VIVANT’s project results will focus on all components and prototypes developed in the course of the project. While some may be more in the focus of the user acceptance tests, all of them will be involved and play an important role for the results of the assessment activities. The assessment of the production process and its required functions and features will include preview, transport issues, storing, depth of field, and many other aspects of TV and video production. Tests on post-production issues will involve the performance of the codec and usability of editing software and metadata editing tools, and numerous other features. Object search and retrieval will play a prominent role in both professional and end-user tests as it is a feature of the hyperlinking environment both in production as well as consumption by end-users. Validating the users’ acceptance of 3D holoscopic video will be important with respect to end-users as well as to professional users, while their interests and thus their feedback may be very different. The tests on the visual perception and the acceptance of 3D holoscopic video will be the most important outcome of 3D VIVANT’s User Acceptance Validation tests. There will also be dedicated tests on 3D audio, which will also involve both professional users and end-users, whereas professional users will be involved in validating the production methods rather than the auditive perception of 3D audio. 01.09.11 7
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