3D Demo for Holographic Display

Výsledkem této práce je 3D demo pro holografický displej vizualizující družicová data na povrchu zeměkoule. Pro získání vizualizovaných dat bylo využito Earth Engine API od společnosti Google. Scéna 3D modelu a uživatelské rozhraní byly vytvořeny pomocí vývojového prostředí Unity, a zobrazeny na holografickém displeji Looking Glass, který scénu uvádí do prostoru.The result of this thesis is a 3D demo for holographic display visualizing satellite data on Earth surface. The Earth Engine API from Google was used to obtain visualized data. The 3D model scene and user interface were created using the Unity development environment and displayed on the Looking Glass holographic display to bring the scene into space.

Applications of hydrodynamic models for modeling drifting jellyfish blooms around the Maltese Islands

Within the ambit of the MED-JELLYRISK project, the IOI-Malta Operational Centre is coordinating the development of a jellyfish dispersion model capable of generating both a hindcast and a forecast (extending up to a maximum of 4 days following day of sighting) output for the dispersion trajectory taken by a jellyfish bloom of specified densities and sighted at a specified location. The numerical tool is based on a high resolution hydrodynamic finite element coastal ocean model (SHYFEM) coupled with a particles tracking lagrangian model for reproducing both the surface water circulation and the transport and diffusion of numerical particles inside the area of interest. The coastal model is nested into an Open Ocean sub-regional 3D hydrodynamic model (ROSARIO), having a resolution of 1/640 and which reproduces daily the 3D hydrodynamic fields needed for predicting the fate of released numerical particles. The model domain was reproduced by means of a finite element mesh that was designed to accurately reproduce both the bathymetric features and the complex geometry of the Maltese archipelago coastlines. The system will be integrated into a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which will allow the user to define the position in time and space of a hypothetical bloom found in the Maltese waters, to select the amount of particles to simulate the jellyfish biomass and to launch the trajectory model run. The model will be partly validated by using the trajectories followed by a series of open water and coastal water drifters whose dispersion is geo-referenced and which have been regularly released by the IOI-MOC within Maltese coastal waters.peer-reviewe

Utilizing a 3D game engine to develop a virtual design review system

A design review process is where information is exchanged between the designers and design reviewers to resolve any potential design related issues, and to ensure that the interests and goals of the owner are met. The effective execution of design review will minimize potential errors or conflicts, reduce the time for review, shorten the project life-cycle, allow for earlier occupancy, and ultimately translate into significant total project savings to the owner. However, the current methods of design review are still heavily relying on 2D paper-based format, sequential and lack central and integrated information base for efficient exchange and flow of information. There is thus a need for the use of a new medium that allow for 3D visualization of designs, collaboration among designers and design reviewers, and early and easy access to design review information. This paper documents the innovative utilization of a 3D game engine, the Torque Game Engine as the underlying tool and enabling technology for a design review system, the Virtual Design Review System for architectural designs. Two major elements are incorporated; 1) a 3D game engine as the driving tool for the development and implementation of design review processes, and 2) a virtual environment as the medium for design review, where visualization of design and design review information is based on sound principles of GUI design. The development of the VDRS involves two major phases; firstly, the creation of the assets and the assembly of the virtual environment, and secondly, the modification of existing functions or introducing new functionality through programming of the 3D game engine in order to support design review in a virtual environment. The features that are included in the VDRS are support for database, real-time collaboration across network, viewing and navigation modes, 3D object manipulation, parametric input, GUI, and organization for 3D objects

A virtual environment for the design and simulated construction of prefabricated buildings

The construction industry has acknowledged that its current working practices are in need of substantial improvements in quality and efficiency and has identified that computer modelling techniques and the use of prefabricated components can help reduce times, costs, and minimise defects and problems of on-site construction. This paper describes a virtual environment to support the design and construction processes of buildings from prefabricated components and the simulation of their construction sequence according to a project schedule. The design environment can import a library of 3-D models of prefabricated modules that can be used to interactively design a building. Using Microsoft Project, the construction schedule of the designed building can be altered, with this information feeding back to the construction simulation environment. Within this environment the order of construction can be visualised using virtual machines. Novel aspects of the system are that it provides a single 3-D environment where the user can construct their design with minimal user interaction through automatic constraint recognition and view the real-time simulation of the construction process within the environment. This takes this area of research a step forward from other systems that only allow the planner to view the construction at certain stages, and do not provide an animated view of the construction process

Interpretation at the controller's edge: designing graphical user interfaces for the digital publication of the excavations at Gabii (Italy)

This paper discusses the authors’ approach to designing an interface for the Gabii Project’s digital volumes that attempts to fuse elements of traditional synthetic publications and site reports with rich digital datasets. Archaeology, and classical archaeology in particular, has long engaged with questions of the formation and lived experience of towns and cities. Such studies might draw on evidence of local topography, the arrangement of the built environment, and the placement of architectural details, monuments and inscriptions (e.g. Johnson and Millett 2012). Fundamental to the continued development of these studies is the growing body of evidence emerging from new excavations. Digital techniques for recording evidence “on the ground,” notably SFM (structure from motion aka close range photogrammetry) for the creation of detailed 3D models and for scene-level modeling in 3D have advanced rapidly in recent years. These parallel developments have opened the door for approaches to the study of the creation and experience of urban space driven by a combination of scene-level reconstruction models (van Roode et al. 2012, Paliou et al. 2011, Paliou 2013) explicitly combined with detailed SFM or scanning based 3D models representing stratigraphic evidence. It is essential to understand the subtle but crucial impact of the design of the user interface on the interpretation of these models. In this paper we focus on the impact of design choices for the user interface, and make connections between design choices and the broader discourse in archaeological theory surrounding the practice of the creation and consumption of archaeological knowledge. As a case in point we take the prototype interface being developed within the Gabii Project for the publication of the Tincu House. In discussing our own evolving practices in engagement with the archaeological record created at Gabii, we highlight some of the challenges of undertaking theoretically-situated user interface design, and their implications for the publication and study of archaeological materials