Methodological considerations of integrating portable digital technologies in the analysis and management of complex superimposed Californian pictographs: From spectroscopy and spectral imaging to 3-D scanning

How can the utilization of newly developed advanced portable technologies give us greater understandings of the most complex of prehistoric rock art? This is the questions driving The Gordian Knot project analysing the polychrome Californian site known as Pleito. New small transportable devices allow detailed on-site analyses of rock art. These non-destructive portable technologies can use X-ray and Raman technology to determine the chemical elements used to make the pigment that makes the painting; they can use imaging techniques such as Highlight Reflective Transformation Imaging and dStretch© to enhance their visibility; they can use digital imagery to disentangle complex superimposed paintings; and they can use portable laser instruments to analyse the micro-topography of the rock surface and integrate these technologies into a 3-D environment. This paper outlines a robust methodology and preliminary results to show how an integration of different portable technologies can serve rock art research and management

Are tiled display walls needed for astronomy?

Clustering commodity displays into a Tiled Display Wall (TDW) provides a cost-effective way to create an extremely high resolution display, capable of approaching the image sizes now gen- erated by modern astronomical instruments. Astronomers face the challenge of inspecting single large images, many similar images simultaneously, and heterogeneous but related content. Many research institutions have constructed TDWs on the basis that they will improve the scientific outcomes of astronomical imagery. We test this concept by presenting sample images to astronomers and non- astronomers using a standard desktop display (SDD) and a TDW. These samples include standard English words, wide field galaxy surveys and nebulae mosaics from the Hubble telescope. These experiments show that TDWs provide a better environment for searching for small targets in large images than SDDs. It also shows that astronomers tend to be better at searching images for targets than non-astronomers, both groups are generally better when employing physical navigation as opposed to virtual navigation, and that the combination of two non-astronomers using a TDW rivals the experience of a single astronomer. However, there is also a large distribution in aptitude amongst the participants and the nature of the content also plays a significant role is success.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in PASA (Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

Elapsed time on first buying triggers brand choices within a category: A virtual reality-based study

This study integrates neuroscientific tools such as data from eye movements, store navigation, and brand choice in a virtual supermarket into a single source data analysis to examine consumer choice, customer experience, and shopping behavior in a store. Through qualitative comparative analysis, the findings suggest that a high level of attention to a brand and slow eye movements between brands lead to additional brand purchases within the product category. This study points out that the key driver of additional brand choices is the time buyers spend on the first choice, showing that the allocation of less for the first choice triggers additional purchases Within the product category and, therefore, increases sales. In addition, this study discusses practical and methodological implications for retailers, manufacturers, and researchers. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved.The authors thank the reviewers for their careful reading and suggestions. Also thanks to Jaime Guixeres, LabHuman, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, for his comments in an earlier version of the paper. The Spanish Ministry of Economia y Competitividad (Project TIN 2013-45,736-R) supported this research.Bigné-Alcaiz, E.; Llinares Millán, MDC.; Torrecilla Moreno, C. (2016). Elapsed time on first buying triggers brand choices within a category: A virtual reality-based study. Journal of Business Research. 69(4):1423-1427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.10.119S1423142769

Morphology of the inner structures of the facial skeleton in Homo neanderthalensis and the case-study of the Neanderthal from Altamura (Bari, Italy)

The PhD project has the aim to provide an accurate anatomical characterization of the facial regions (with a focus on the para-nasal areas) in the fossil human species Homo neanderthalensis, whose peculiar facial morphology is the topic of unresolved hypothesis on adaptation to climate and/or phylogenetic factors. Both can be at the origin of the variability of Neanderthals and can be taken into consideration, more in general, for the human populations from the Middle and Upper Pleistocene of Europe, thus from around 800 to 11 thousand years ago (ka). In this timespan, it can be seen a differential development of a set of cranial features which was resumed by J.J. Hublin and colleagues with the ‘accretion model’. In this scenario, a Neanderthal specimen from Italy, known as the ‘Altamura Man’ and discovered in 1993 in the Lamalunga karstic system in Apulia (southern Italy), represents a crucial subject of study, because its unique state of preservation and its antiquity, comprised between 172 and 130 ka. The nearly complete skeleton is still preserved in situ because of several factors, among which its exceptional completeness and thus has been the subject of a study of virtual paleoanthropology aimed at the reconstruction and observation of facial structures often damaged or completely absent in the fossil record

Virtual Reality system for freely-moving rodents

Spatial navigation, active sensing, and most cognitive functions rely on a tight link between motor output and sensory input. Virtual reality (VR) systems simulate the sensorimotor loop, allowing flexible manipulation of enriched sensory input. Conventional rodent VR systems provide 3D visual cues linked to restrained locomotion on a treadmill, leading to a mismatch between visual and most other sensory inputs, sensory-motor conflicts, as well as restricted naturalistic behavior. To rectify these limitations, we developed a VR system (ratCAVE) that provides realistic and low-latency visual feedback directly to head movements of completely unrestrained rodents. Immersed in this VR system, rats displayed naturalistic behavior by spontaneously interacting with and hugging virtual walls, exploring virtual objects, and avoiding virtual cliffs. We further illustrate the effect of ratCAVE-VR manipulation on hippocampal place fields. The newly-developed methodology enables a wide range of experiments involving flexible manipulation of visual feedback in freely-moving behaving animals

KAVE - Kinect Cave: design, tools and comparative analysis with other VR technologies

Virtual reality has been delivered through many different forms and iterations. One of them is the CAVE. CAVE systems have developed over the yearsbuttheyarestillhaveprohibitivecostsandarerathercomplextoimplement. In this thesis we propose our own low-cost CAVE system - comprised of details about the setup as well as a calibration software that was developedtohelpachievethegoalsofthisthesis-andcompareittootherlost-cost CAVEsfoundintheliterature. Thisthesisalsoencompassesapresencestudy that was performed as a result of assessing the resulting CAVE. This study compared CAVE, PC and Head-Mounted Display in terms of presence and workloadthroughtheuseofvalidatedquestionnairesfoundintheliterature. The resulting data showed HMD induced higher sense of presence than the CAVE, and CAVE induced higher sense of presence than the PC. Regarding workloadofthesystem,thedataalsoshowednostatisticallymeaningfuldifferences between the three technologies except for the physical demand of performing a task in a CAVE compared to performing the same task in the PC

Perceptual strategies in active and passive hearing of neotropical bats

Basic spectral and temporal sound properties, such as frequency content and timing, are evaluated by the auditory system to build an internal representation of the external world and to generate auditory guided behaviour. Using echolocating bats as model system, I investigated aspects of spectral and temporal processing during echolocation and in relation to passive listening, and the echo-acoustic object recognition for navigation. In the first project (chapter 2), the spectral processing during passive and active hearing was compared in the echolocting bat Phyllostomus discolor. Sounds are ubiquitously used for many vital behaviours, such as communication, predator and prey detection, or echolocation. The frequency content of a sound is one major component for the correct perception of the transmitted information, but it is distorted while travelling from the sound source to the receiver. In order to correctly determine the frequency content of an acoustic signal, the receiver needs to compensate for these distortions. We first investigated whether P. discolor compensates for distortions of the spectral shape of transmitted sounds during passive listening. Bats were trained to discriminate lowpass filtered from highpass filtered acoustic impulses, while hearing a continuous white noise background with a flat spectral shape. We then assessed their spontaneous classification of acoustic impulses with varying spectral content depending on the background’s spectral shape (flat or lowpass filtered). Lowpass filtered noise background increased the proportion of highpass classifications of the same filtered impulses, compared to white noise background. Like humans, the bats thus compensated for the background’s spectral shape. In an active-acoustic version of the identical experiment, the bats had to classify filtered playbacks of their emitted echolocation calls instead of passively presented impulses. During echolocation, the classification of the filtered echoes was independent of the spectral shape of the passively presented background noise. Likewise, call structure did not change to compensate for the background’s spectral shape. Hence, auditory processing differs between passive and active hearing, with echolocation representing an independent mode with its own rules of auditory spectral analysis. The second project (chapter 3) was concerned with the accurate measurement of the time of occurrence of auditory signals, and as such also distance in echolocation. In addition, the importance of passive listening compared to echolocation turned out to be an unexpected factor in this study. To measure the distance to objects, called ranging, bats measure the time delay between an outgoing call and its returning echo. Ranging accuracy received considerable interest in echolocation research for several reasons: (i) behaviourally, it is of importance for the bat’s ability to locate objects and navigate its surrounding, (ii) physiologically, the neuronal implementation of precise measurements of very short time intervals is a challenge and (iii) the conjectured echo-acoustic receiver of bats is of interest for signal processing. Here, I trained the nectarivorous bat Glossophaga soricina to detect a jittering real target and found a biologically plausible distance accuracy of 4–7 mm, corresponding to a temporal accuracy of 20–40 μs. However, presumably all bats did not learn to use the jittering echo delay as the first and most prominent cue, but relied on passive acoustic listening first, which could only be prevented by the playback of masking noise. This shows that even a non-gleaning bat heavily relies on passive acoustic cues and that the measuring of short time intervals is difficult. This result questions other studies reporting a sub-microsecond time jitter threshold. The third project (chapter 4) linked the perception of echo-acoustic stimuli to the appropriate behavioural reactions, namely evasive flight manoeuvres around virtual objects presented in the flight paths of wild, untrained bats. Echolocating bats are able to orient in complete darkness only by analysing the echoes of their emitted calls. They detect, recognize and classify objects based on the spectro-temporal reflection pattern received at the two ears. Auditory object analysis, however, is inevitably more complicated than visual object analysis, because the one-dimensional acoustic time signal only transmits range information, i.e., the object’s distance and its longitudinal extent. All other object dimensions like width and height have to be inferred from comparative analysis of the signals at both ears and over time. The purpose of this study was to measure perceived object dimensions in wild, experimentally naïve bats by video-recording and analysing the bats’ evasive flight manoeuvres in response to the presentation of virtual echo-acoustic objects with independently manipulated acoustic parameters. Flight manoeuvres were analysed by extracting the flight paths of all passing bats. As a control to our method, we also recorded the flight paths of bats in response to a real object. Bats avoided the real object by flying around it. However, we did not find any flight path changes in response to the presentation of several virtual objects. We assume that the missing spatial extent of virtual echo-acoustic objects, due to playback from only one loudspeaker, was the main reason for the failure to evoke evasive flight manoeuvres. This study therefore emphasises for the first time the importance of the spatial dimension of virtual objects, which were up to now neglected in virtual object presentations

Imperceptible Realities: An exhibition – and – Digitalisation: Re-imaging the real beyond notions of the original and the copy in contemporary printmaking: An exegesis

This PhD practice-led research project provides a broad overview of how newer print technologies can bring about enhanced understandings of the world whilst simultaneously questioning the value of such processes in contrast to traditional means of image making. My curiosity pivots on the worry that something essential about representation of the real might be lost if humanity were to embrace digital methods only. Through my creative project I address my concerns to re-image representations of the real beyond notions of the original and the copy through contemporary printmaking. The research culminated in the exhibition Imperceptible Realities and an exegesis. In examining Jean Baudrillard’s concept of simulacra this research argues for the continuing relevance of traditional etching techniques through a pivotal case study that scrutinised Rembrandt van Rijn’s etching The Shell (Conus marmoreus). In contrasting traditional etching techniques with newer methods of digital printmaking a significant copy, derived from a similar shell specimen that Rembrandt had observed, manifested itself in contemporary 3D print. The copying process focused the investigation into questioning the aesthetic value of this new shell in digitalised 3D form. In the contemporary printmaking field there is evidence for the continued integration of traditional and digital approaches to printmaking. New pathways were examined in printmaking to allow creative explorations of visual boundaries between contemporary images affected by digital erasure. The innovative use of photogrammetry software focused the investigation into the effects of digital capabilities on image making. The effect of examining the digital relationship in contemporary printmaking revealed that ignoring aesthetic differences between the original and copy brought about by digitised re-imaging are seemingly lost at the expense of disengagement with the physical world. As a result digital and traditional spaces that meet collaboratively through print are advantaged in the 3D printed copy itself and employed to create new understandings in creative practice. Viewing observed differences in the 2D and 3D printed copy itself became key in creating new images, beyond a hybridised printmaking process—such understandings that examined the divisive relationship between digital and traditional printmaking processes becomes invigorated with possibility. This research posits such a position by suggesting that if traditions in the printmaking field are ignored by the continued digitalisation of images through and within the employment of technologies, something is lost. Perceptual experiences of the physical world are seemingly misplaced at the expense of replacing such immediate experience with simulacra and an inward bias toward the screen. Adopting a practice-led research methodology revealed the subtleties of the ongoing relationship of digital capabilities affecting the materiality of traditional printmaking. The applications of innovative interdisciplinary discoveries to my contemporary arts practice drew on strong partnerships and collaborative relationships developed with the fields of chemistry, engineering and science. I applied these discoveries to my contemporary arts practice to examine the effects of digital capabilities and the materiality of traditional printmaking. To embrace conceptual growth creative work the research drew on philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychiatrist Félix Guattari’s notion of the rhizome. The presence of simulacra in the world has continued to expand as digital technologies proliferate. The application of traditional printmaking and digital printmaking through open thinking offers a different way to understand physical aspects of the world and create propositions that go beyond re-imaging the real

Fotogrametría UAV en apoyo del levantamiento de un sitio arqueológico. modelos 3D en la Hierápolis de Frigia (Turquía)

[EN] Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry has shown a very rapid development in many fields, especially in archaeological excavation areas and architectural complexes, where it offers a detailed generation of three-dimensional (3D) data including the possibility of updating over time. It also proves to be a very flexible tool applicable to many types of complex areas with a variety of different features. The use of aerial acquisition provides highly effective results, adding to both rapid capture and lower costs. In fact, today in the field of archaeological research, great efforts are invested in the generation of very large-scale models and orthophotos, and the technology seems to promise further future developments, not only from the terrestrial (orthogonal) point of view, but also from the nadiral direction from a low altitude, as a preferential and often optimal point of view. Here an effective workflow for photogrammetric product generation is presented for selected case studies in some monumental areas of ancient Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey), in which the Italian Archaeological Mission of Hierapolis (MAIER) has been working since the 1960s. The recent experiences achieved by UAV photogrammetry are quite innovative. The variety and complexity of the buildings, as well as the height of their ruins, offer numerous challenges, which are interesting to deal with. The 3D aerial survey was performed for multiple purposes with the eBee system by Sensefly. Specific attention was paid to the digital surface model (DSM) and aerial orthoimages of three test areas: the Plutonium area; the Thermal Bath-Church; and the Necropolis. Starting from the same technical approach, a comparative assesment among the three sites was carried out, taking into account the specific goals, the type of the structure and the terrain conformation.[ES] La fotogrametría con vehículos aéresos no tripulados (Unmanned Aerial vehicle, UAV) ha mostrado un desarrollo muy rápido en muchos campos, especialmente en áreas de excavación arqueológica y complejos arquitectónicos, donde ofrece una detallada generación de datos tridimensionales (3D), junto con su actualización en el tiempo. También demuestra ser una herramienta muy flexible aplicable en muchos tipos de áreas complejas, con diferentes características formales. El uso de la toma aérea proporciona hoy resultados altamente efectivos, lo que aumenta la rapidez de adquisición y menores costes. De hecho, hoy en día en el campo de la investigación arqueológica, se invierten grandes esfuerzos a la hora de generar modelos y ortoimágenes a grandes escalas, y parece prometer más desarrollos futuros, no sólo desde el punto de vista terrestre (ortogonal), sino también con dirección nadiral, desde baja altitud, como punto de vista preferencial y óptimo. Aquí se presenta un flujo de trabajo eficaz que permite generar productos fotogramétricos en varios casos de estudio en áreas monumentales de la antigua Hierápolis de Frigia (Turquía), donde la Misión Arqueológica Italiana de Hierápolis (MAIER) ha estado funcionando desde los años 1960. Estas experiencias logradas con la fotogrametría UAV son bastante innovadoras. La variedad y la complejidad de los edificios, así como la altura de sus ruinas ofrecen numerosos puntos problemáticos que son interesantes de tratar. El levantamiento aéreo 3D se realizó con múltiples propósitos por medio del sistema eBee de Sensefly. Se prestó especial atención al Modelo Digital de Superficie (MDS) y a las ortoimágenes aéreas en tres áreas de prueba: el área de Plutonio; la Iglesia-Baño Termal; y la Necrópolis. Partiendo del mismo enfoque técnico, se ofreció una evaluación comparativa de los tres sitios, teniendo en cuenta los objetivos específicos, el tipo de estructura y la configuración del terreno.Chiabrando, F.; D'andria, F.; Sammartano, G.; Spanò, A. (2018). UAV photogrammetry for archaeological site survey. 3D models at the Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey). Virtual Archaeology Review. 9(18):28-43. doi:10.4995/var.2018.5958SWORD284391