MoleculARweb: A Web Site for Chemistry and Structural Biology Education through Interactive Augmented Reality out of the Box in Commodity Devices

Augmented/virtual realities (ARs/VRs) promise to revolutionize STEM education. However, most easy-to-use tools are limited to static visualizations, which limits the approachable content, whereas more interactive and dynamic alternatives require costly hardware, preventing large-scale use and evaluation of pedagogical effects. Here, we introduce https://MoleculARweb.epfl.ch, a free, open-source web site with interactive AR webpage-based apps that work out-of-the-box in laptops, tablets, and smartphones, where students and teachers can naturally handle virtual objects to explore molecular structure, reactivity, dynamics, and interactions, covering topics from inorganic, organic, and biological chemistry. With these web apps, teachers and science communicators can develop interactive material for their lessons and hands-on activities for their students and target public, in person or online, as we exemplify. Thousands of accesses to moleculARweb attest to the ease of use; teacher feedback attests to the utility in online teaching and homework during a pandemic; and in-class plus online surveys show that users find AR engaging and useful for teaching and learning chemistry. These observations support the potential of AR in future education and show the large impact that modern web technologies have in democratizing access to digital learning tools, providing the possibility to mass-test the pedagogical effect of these technologies in STEM education.Fil: Rodríguez, Fabio Cortés. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Suiza. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics; SuizaFil: Frattini, Gianfranco. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Krapp, Lucien F.. Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Francia. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics; SuizaFil: Martinez Hung, Hassan. Universidad de Oriente; VenezuelaFil: Moreno, Diego Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Química Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Química Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Roldán, Mariana. Provincia de Córdoba. Instituto Colbert; ArgentinaFil: Salomón, Jorge Eduardo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Escuela de Educación Técnica Nro. 4; ArgentinaFil: Stemkoski, Lee. Adelphi University; Estados UnidosFil: Traeger, Sylvain. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Suiza. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics; SuizaFil: Dal Peraro, Matteo. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Suiza. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics; SuizaFil: Abriata, Luciano Andres. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Suiza. Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics; Suiz

An augmented reality-based virtual chemistry laboratory to support educational and research activities of 11th grade students

The organization of high school students' research and learning activities in chemistry requires a significant amount of experimental work. The performance of experimental work in chemistry at school faces a number of problems, both purely material and organizational, to which the need for distance learning has recently been added. This article describes the state of use of augmented reality technologies in modern chemistry education and the possibilities of using augmented reality technologies to support students' learning and research activities in chemistry. To solve the research tasks, cloud-based augmented reality development tools (A-Frame and AR.js) were used. The developed tool is a virtual chemistry laboratory using augmented reality technologies: individual markers correspond to reagents, and a pairwise combination of markers triggers a video recording of chemical interaction between the corresponding pair of reagents. The article describes the development of augmented reality software to support eleventh graders' learning and research activities in chemistry in the form of an augmented reality-based virtual chemistry laboratory and its implementation in the teaching process

Multiresolution Techniques for Real–Time Visualization of Urban Environments and Terrains

In recent times we are witnessing a steep increase in the availability of data coming from real–life environments. Nowadays, virtually everyone connected to the Internet may have instant access to a tremendous amount of data coming from satellite elevation maps, airborne time-of-flight scanners and digital cameras, street–level photographs and even cadastral maps. As for other, more traditional types of media such as pictures and videos, users of digital exploration softwares expect commodity hardware to exhibit good performance for interactive purposes, regardless of the dataset size. In this thesis we propose novel solutions to the problem of rendering large terrain and urban models on commodity platforms, both for local and remote exploration. Our solutions build on the concept of multiresolution representation, where alternative representations of the same data with different accuracy are used to selectively distribute the computational power, and consequently the visual accuracy, where it is more needed on the base of the user’s point of view. In particular, we will introduce an efficient multiresolution data compression technique for planar and spherical surfaces applied to terrain datasets which is able to handle huge amount of information at a planetary scale. We will also describe a novel data structure for compact storage and rendering of urban entities such as buildings to allow real–time exploration of cityscapes from a remote online repository. Moreover, we will show how recent technologies can be exploited to transparently integrate virtual exploration and general computer graphics techniques with web applications

Toward New Ecologies of Cyberphysical Representational Forms, Scales, and Modalities

Research on tangible user interfaces commonly focuses on tangible interfaces acting alone or in comparison with screen-based multi-touch or graphical interfaces. In contrast, hybrid approaches can be seen as the norm for established mainstream interaction paradigms. This dissertation describes interfaces that support complementary information mediations, representational forms, and scales toward an ecology of systems embodying hybrid interaction modalities. I investigate systems combining tangible and multi-touch, as well as systems combining tangible and virtual reality interaction. For each of them, I describe work focusing on design and fabrication aspects, as well as work focusing on reproducibility, engagement, legibility, and perception aspects

Европейский и национальный контексты в научных исследованиях

В настоящем электронном сборнике «Европейский и национальный контексты в научных исследованиях. Технология» представлены работы молодых ученых по геодезии и картографии, химической технологии и машиностроению, информационным технологиям, строительству и радиотехнике. Предназначены для работников образования, науки и производства. Будут полезны студентам, магистрантам и аспирантам университетов.=In this Electronic collected materials “National and European dimension in research. Technology” works in the fields of geodesy, chemical technology, mechanical engineering, information technology, civil engineering, and radio-engineering are presented. It is intended for trainers, researchers and professionals. It can be useful for university graduate and post-graduate students

Architectures for ubiquitous 3D on heterogeneous computing platforms

Today, a wide scope for 3D graphics applications exists, including domains such as scientific visualization, 3D-enabled web pages, and entertainment. At the same time, the devices and platforms that run and display the applications are more heterogeneous than ever. Display environments range from mobile devices to desktop systems and ultimately to distributed displays that facilitate collaborative interaction. While the capability of the client devices may vary considerably, the visualization experiences running on them should be consistent. The field of application should dictate how and on what devices users access the application, not the technical requirements to realize the 3D output. The goal of this thesis is to examine the diverse challenges involved in providing consistent and scalable visualization experiences to heterogeneous computing platforms and display setups. While we could not address the myriad of possible use cases, we developed a comprehensive set of rendering architectures in the major domains of scientific and medical visualization, web-based 3D applications, and movie virtual production. To provide the required service quality, performance, and scalability for different client devices and displays, our architectures focus on the efficient utilization and combination of the available client, server, and network resources. We present innovative solutions that incorporate methods for hybrid and distributed rendering as well as means to manage data sets and stream rendering results. We establish the browser as a promising platform for accessible and portable visualization services. We collaborated with experts from the medical field and the movie industry to evaluate the usability of our technology in real-world scenarios. The presented architectures achieve a wide coverage of display and rendering setups and at the same time share major components and concepts. Thus, they build a strong foundation for a unified system that supports a variety of use cases.Heutzutage existiert ein großer Anwendungsbereich für 3D-Grafikapplikationen wie wissenschaftliche Visualisierungen, 3D-Inhalte in Webseiten, und Unterhaltungssoftware. Gleichzeitig sind die Geräte und Plattformen, welche die Anwendungen ausführen und anzeigen, heterogener als je zuvor. Anzeigegeräte reichen von mobilen Geräten zu Desktop-Systemen bis hin zu verteilten Bildschirmumgebungen, die eine kollaborative Anwendung begünstigen. Während die Leistungsfähigkeit der Geräte stark schwanken kann, sollten die dort laufenden Visualisierungen konsistent sein. Das Anwendungsfeld sollte bestimmen, wie und auf welchem Gerät Benutzer auf die Anwendung zugreifen, nicht die technischen Voraussetzungen zur Erzeugung der 3D-Grafik. Das Ziel dieser Thesis ist es, die diversen Herausforderungen zu untersuchen, die bei der Bereitstellung von konsistenten und skalierbaren Visualisierungsanwendungen auf heterogenen Plattformen eine Rolle spielen. Während wir nicht die Vielzahl an möglichen Anwendungsfällen abdecken konnten, haben wir eine repräsentative Auswahl an Rendering-Architekturen in den Kernbereichen wissenschaftliche Visualisierung, web-basierte 3D-Anwendungen, und virtuelle Filmproduktion entwickelt. Um die geforderte Qualität, Leistung, und Skalierbarkeit für verschiedene Client-Geräte und -Anzeigen zu gewährleisten, fokussieren sich unsere Architekturen auf die effiziente Nutzung und Kombination der verfügbaren Client-, Server-, und Netzwerkressourcen. Wir präsentieren innovative Lösungen, die hybrides und verteiltes Rendering als auch das Verwalten der Datensätze und Streaming der 3D-Ausgabe umfassen. Wir etablieren den Web-Browser als vielversprechende Plattform für zugängliche und portierbare Visualisierungsdienste. Um die Verwendbarkeit unserer Technologie in realitätsnahen Szenarien zu testen, haben wir mit Experten aus der Medizin und Filmindustrie zusammengearbeitet. Unsere Architekturen erreichen eine umfassende Abdeckung von Anzeige- und Rendering-Szenarien und teilen sich gleichzeitig wesentliche Komponenten und Konzepte. Sie bilden daher eine starke Grundlage für ein einheitliches System, das eine Vielzahl an Anwendungsfällen unterstützt

Towards Expressive and Versatile Visualization-as-a-Service (VaaS)

The rapid growth of data in scientific visualization has posed significant challenges to the scalability and availability of interactive visualization tools. These challenges can be largely attributed to the limitations of traditional monolithic applications in handling large datasets and accommodating multiple users or devices. To address these issues, the Visualization-as-a-Service (VaaS) architecture has emerged as a promising solution. VaaS leverages cloud-based visualization capabilities to provide on-demand and cost-effective interactive visualization. Existing VaaS has been simplistic by design with focuses on task-parallelism with single-user-per-device tasks for predetermined visualizations. This dissertation aims to extend the capabilities of VaaS by exploring data-parallel visualization services with multi-device support and hypothesis-driven explorations. By incorporating stateful information and enabling dynamic computation, VaaS\u27 performance and flexibility for various real-world applications is improved. This dissertation explores the history of monolithic and VaaS architectures, the design and implementations of 3 new VaaS applications, and a final exploration of the future of VaaS. This research contributes to the advancement of interactive scientific visualization, addressing the challenges posed by large datasets and remote collaboration scenarios