A Surround Display Warp-Mesh Utility to Enhance Player Engagement

Abstract. Surround displays are used in simulation, training, and other applications based on virtual worlds. A wide-view display engages the viewer's peripheral vision, providing a more accurate view of the virtual world and therefore a heightened sense of immersion. However, most commercially available surround displays are expensive and complex. We developed a lowcost alternative, which uses a standard digital projector, a hemispherical mirror, and any roughly spherical or cylindrical screen. The software can handle irregular surfaces and will be open-sourced in the next release of the CaveUT/VRGL freeware. We also conducted a pilot study comparing game play in our prototype and game play with a standard desktop monitor. Players using the surround display reported significantly shorter (P = 0.0051) perceived duration of time during play. Reduced awareness of the passage of time during game play was positively correlated with greater engagement and enjoyment

User's experience in the visualization of architectural images in different environments

The visualization of images, both photographic and infographic, is a process that depends on a series of features that define the user (user profile: age, sex, culture or experience, etc.), the visual message (type of image, resolution, content, quality, etc.), and the display (size, resolution, type of screen immersive or not, etc.). When we can determine how the tree features relate, the communicative messages based on visual aspects will be more efficient for both the user and the technological output. The main objective of the research work presented in this paper is to determine whether differences in the visualization (immersive or not) of specific types of images (real and virtual) related to the architecture framework, differ depending on the gender of the user. The reflection of the existence of such differences in the future will allow us to define the characteristics of the image and the medium, and maximize the emotional communication of architectural ideas, depending on the type of user.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A 3D pedagogical heritage tool using game technology

This paper will propose and address issues that contribute to a serious challenge for virtual heritage: that there are few successful, accessible and durable examples of computer game technology and genres applied to heritage. Secondly, it will argue that the true potential of computers for heritage has not been fully leveraged and it will provide a case study of a game engine technology not used explicitly as a game but as a serious pedagogical tool for 3D digital heritage environments

Study and design of a shaded area in UPC- ESEIAAT with sustainable textile structures

Rising temperatures due to climate change necessitate textile covers, commonly called awnings, in public spaces such as squares, terraces, and other outdoor areas that were previously optional. Although useful in various scenarios, these textile covers often present design challenges that make their maintenance, disassembly, or replacement difficult. Traditionally, they are static fixtures made of extensive lengths of fabric. If damaged, they require total replacement. Additionally, the most commonly used textile cover material is PVC-coated polyester, and its production causes a substantial environmental footprint. Nonetheless, architectural and textile engineering advancements can alleviate these issues. This master's thesis reviews the main techniques for designing and constructing shade covers and their fabrics in public spaces. In particular, we have redesigned one of the principal public spaces at UPC-ESEIAAT to provide adequate shading for its outdoor regions. Our proposal is a folding, modular textile cover grounded on eco-design principles and advances on textile engineering. The materials are locally sourced (km 0), and the fabrics are durable and crafted using sustainable techniques. These features are essential for these fabric structures to adapt to the fluctuating weather conditions induced by climate change, thereby enhancing the adaptability and resilience of public space

NASA Patent Abstracts Bibliography: A Continuing Bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (Supplement 48)

Abstracts are provided for 85 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1995 through December 1995. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application

Amergent Music: behavior and becoming in technoetic & media arts

Merged with duplicate records 10026.1/1082 and 10026.1/2612 on 15.02.2017 by CS (TIS)Technoetic and media arts are environments of mediated interaction and emergence, where meaning is negotiated by individuals through a personal examination and experience—or becoming—within the mediated space. This thesis examines these environments from a musical perspective and considers how sound functions as an analog to this becoming. Five distinct, original musical works explore the possibilities as to how the emergent dynamics of mediated, interactive exchange can be leveraged towards the construction of musical sound. In the context of this research, becoming can be understood relative to Henri Bergson’s description of the appearance of reality—something that is making or unmaking but is never made. Music conceived of a linear model is essentially fixed in time. It is unable to recognize or respond to the becoming of interactive exchange, which is marked by frequent and unpredictable transformation. This research abandons linear musical approaches and looks to generative music as a way to reconcile the dynamics of mediated interaction with a musical listening experience. The specifics of this relationship are conceptualized in the structaural coupling model, which borrows from Maturana & Varela’s “structural coupling.” The person interacting and the generative musical system are compared to autopoietic unities, with each responding to mutual perturbations while maintaining independence and autonomy. Musical autonomy is sustained through generative techniques and organized within a psychogeographical framework. In the way that cities invite use and communicate boundaries, the individual sounds of a musical work create an aural context that is legible to the listener, rendering the consequences or implications of any choice audible. This arrangement of sound, as it relates to human presence in a technoetic environment, challenges many existing assumptions, including the idea “the sound changes.” Change can be viewed as a movement predicated by behavior. Amergent music is brought forth through kinds of change or sonic movement more robustly explored as a dimension of musical behavior. Listeners hear change, but it is the result of behavior that arises from within an autonomous musical system relative to the perturbations sensed within its environment. Amergence propagates through the effects of emergent dynamics coupled to the affective experience of continuous sonic transformation.Rutland Port Authoritie

Presence 2005: the eighth annual international workshop on presence, 21-23 September, 2005 University College London (Conference proceedings)

OVERVIEW (taken from the CALL FOR PAPERS) Academics and practitioners with an interest in the concept of (tele)presence are invited to submit their work for presentation at PRESENCE 2005 at University College London in London, England, September 21-23, 2005. The eighth in a series of highly successful international workshops, PRESENCE 2005 will provide an open discussion forum to share ideas regarding concepts and theories, measurement techniques, technology, and applications related to presence, the psychological state or subjective perception in which a person fails to accurately and completely acknowledge the role of technology in an experience, including the sense of 'being there' experienced by users of advanced media such as virtual reality. The concept of presence in virtual environments has been around for at least 15 years, and the earlier idea of telepresence at least since Minsky's seminal paper in 1980. Recently there has been a burst of funded research activity in this area for the first time with the European FET Presence Research initiative. What do we really know about presence and its determinants? How can presence be successfully delivered with today's technology? This conference invites papers that are based on empirical results from studies of presence and related issues and/or which contribute to the technology for the delivery of presence. Papers that make substantial advances in theoretical understanding of presence are also welcome. The interest is not solely in virtual environments but in mixed reality environments. Submissions will be reviewed more rigorously than in previous conferences. High quality papers are therefore sought which make substantial contributions to the field. Approximately 20 papers will be selected for two successive special issues for the journal Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. PRESENCE 2005 takes place in London and is hosted by University College London. The conference is organized by ISPR, the International Society for Presence Research and is supported by the European Commission's FET Presence Research Initiative through the Presencia and IST OMNIPRES projects and by University College London

NASA Tech Briefs, November 1994

Topics: Advanced Manufacturing; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery/Automation; Manufacturing/Fabrication; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences; Books and Reports

Reproduction of Historic Costumes Using 3D Apparel CAD

The progress of digital technology has brought about many changes. In the world of fashion, 3D apparel CAD is attracting attention as the most promising product which reduces time and cost in the design process through virtual simulation. This study highlights the potential of its technology and tries to extend the boundaries of its practical use through the simulation of historical dresses. The aim of this study is to identify the desirable factors for digital costume development, to produce accurate reproductions of digital clothing from historical sources and to investigate the implications of developing it for online exhibitory and educational materials. In order to achieve this, this study went through following process. First, the theoretical background of the digital clothing technology, 3D apparel CAD and museum and new media was established through the review of various materials. Second, the desirable concepts for effective digital costume were drawn from the analysis of earlier digital costume projects considering the constraints of costume collections and limitations of the data on museum websites: faithful reproduction, virtual fabrication and Interactive and stereographic display. Third, design development was carried out for the embodiment of the concepts based on two costumes in the Museum of London: (1) preparation which provided foundation data with physical counterparts, (2) digital reproduction which generated digital costumes with simulations and (3) application development where simulations were embodied into a platform. Fourth, evaluation of the outcomes was carried with different groups of participants. The evaluation results indicated that the outcomes functioned as an effective information delivery method and had suitability and applicability for exhibitory and educational use. However, further improvement particularly in the faithfulness of current digital costumes and more consideration for the concerns for virtual and intangible nature were pointed out to be required. Nevertheless digital costumes were reviewed to bring notable benefits in complete or partial replacement of the relics, presentation of invisible features, release of physical constraints on appreciation and provision of integrated and comprehensive information. This study expects that use of digital costumes may assist museums in terms of preservation, documentation and exhibition of costume collections giving new possibility especially to the endangered garments lying in the dark