Grasping the Void: Immersion Tactics Using Gesture Controlled Physics Interaction Systems in Virtual Reality

This thesis uses the HTC Vive in Unity to compare two different types of object interaction systems in order to determine the effectiveness of physics based interaction systems in a virtual environment. The research problem that motivates this project is the fact that there is no standardized method for defining successful object interaction techniques in VR. There are numerous interaction techniques in VR that fall short of simulating realistic object interaction. This project explores a physics based interaction system and examines how effective it is by comparing it to a non-physics based system. A model house with various interactable objects is created to compare the two interaction systems. The first system, the naive interaction system, parents an object to the controller model, allowing the user to pick up and throw things in a very simple fashion. This system is compared to a physics based Newtonian system that takes into account mass and velocity during object interactions. The Newtonian system promotes a much deeper sense of immersion for a user due to how accurately the system simulates real life physical interactions. It is clear that creating a high level of mental and physical presence is crucial for a VR experience. Object interaction systems are an integral component of a VR experience that directly contribute to the realism and levels of virtual presence that a user achieves within a virtual environment. The results of this project conclude that physics based interaction systems provide levels of realism and immersion that the naive systems currently cannot achieve The results of this project are beneficial because they demonstrate the positive impact physics based interaction systems have on a VR experience and the need for improved physics systems for the future of VR development

A 'civilized' drink and a 'civilizing' industry: wine growing and cultural imagining in colonial New South Wales

My starting point for this thesis was the absence of a foundation history of Australian wine growing conducted by an historian rather than researchers in other disciplines or the media. I have used existing work on wine history in New South Wales from 1788 to 1901 alongside a significant body of new research to create an historical argument suitable for incorporation into more broadly-themed narratives of Australian history and to inform studies of wine growing in other academic fields. My main argument is that although wine growing proved of little economic value in colonial primary production compared with nation-building commodities - such as pastoralism, wheat growing and gold - advocates of the cultivation of wine grapes believed wine growing embodied beneficial, even transformative, cultural value so they persisted in attempting to create a ‘civilizing’ industry producing a ‘civilized’ drink despite lacklustre consumption of their product and very modest profits. Several times, from 1788 to 1901, these advocates spoke out or wrote about wine and wine growing as capable of creating order in a wild or ‘savage’ landscape and within a settler society shaped culturally by shifting adaptations to both imported and ‘native’ influences in agriculture as well as alcohol production, consumption and distribution. While the methodological framework employed here falls mainly within cultural and economic history, sociological theories have contributed to findings on causation. The result is a comprehensive narrative of colonial wine growing in New South Wales enriched by links to key developments in Australian colonial history and with reference to wine growing in other British colonies or former territories

Non-destructive technologies for fruit and vegetable size determination - a review

Here, we review different methods for non-destructive horticultural produce size determination, focusing on electronic technologies capable of measuring fruit volume. The usefulness of produce size estimation is justified and a comprehensive classification system of the existing electronic techniques to determine dimensional size is proposed. The different systems identified are compared in terms of their versatility, precision and throughput. There is general agreement in considering that online measurement of axes, perimeter and projected area has now been achieved. Nevertheless, rapid and accurate volume determination of irregular-shaped produce, as needed for density sorting, has only become available in the past few years. An important application of density measurement is soluble solids content (SSC) sorting. If the range of SSC in the batch is narrow and a large number of classes are desired, accurate volume determination becomes important. A good alternative for fruit three-dimensional surface reconstruction, from which volume and surface area can be computed, is the combination of height profiles from a range sensor with a two-dimensional object image boundary from a solid-state camera (brightness image) or from the range sensor itself (intensity image). However, one of the most promising technologies in this field is 3-D multispectral scanning, which combines multispectral data with 3-D surface reconstructio

The Cowl - v.49 - n.2 - Sep 25, 1985

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol 49 - No. 2 - September 25, 1985. 20 pages

Spartan Daily, October 1, 1981

Volume 77, Issue 21https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/6797/thumbnail.jp