Rapid Prototyping for Virtual Environments

Development of Virtual Environment (VE) applications is challenging where application developers are required to have expertise in the target VE technologies along with the problem domain expertise. New VE technologies impose a significant learning curve to even the most experienced VE developer. The proposed solution relies on synthesis to automate the migration of a VE application to a new unfamiliar VE platform/technology. To solve the problem, the Common Scene Definition Framework (CSDF) is developed, that serves as a superset/model representation of the target virtual world. Input modules are developed to populate the framework with the capabilities of the virtual world imported from VRML 2.0 and X3D formats. The synthesis capability is built into the framework to synthesize the virtual world into a subset of VRML 2.0, VRML 1.0, X3D, Java3D, JavaFX, JavaME, and OpenGL technologies, which may reside on different platforms. Interfaces are designed to keep the framework extensible to different and new VE formats/technologies. The framework demonstrated the ability to quickly synthesize a working prototype of the input virtual environment in different VE formats

Virtual Blocks: a serious game for spatial ability improvement on mobile devices

This paper presents a novel spatial instruction system for improving spatial abilities of engineering students. A 3D mobile game application called Virtual Blocks has been designed to provide a 3D virtual environment to build models with cubes that help students to perform visualization tasks to promote the development of their spatial ability during a short remedial course. A validation study with 26 freshman engineering students at La Laguna University (Spain) has concluded that the training had a measurable and positive impact on students spatial ability. In addition, the results obtained using a satisfaction questionnaire show that Virtual Blocks is considered an easy to use and stimulating application.This work has been partially supported by the (Spanish) National Program for Studies and Analysis project "Evaluation and development of competencies associated to the spatial ability in the new engineering undergraduate courses" (Ref. EA2009-0025) and the (Spanish) National Science Project "Enhancing Spatial REasoning and VIsual Cognition with advanced technological tools (ESREVIC)" (Ref TIN2010-21296-C02-02)Martín Dorta, NN.; Sanchez Berriel, I.; Bravo, M.; Hernández, J.; Saorin, JL.; Contero, M. (2014). Virtual Blocks: a serious game for spatial ability improvement on mobile devices. Multimedia Tools and Applications. 73(3):1575-1595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-013-1652-0S15751595733Baartmans BG, Sorby SA (1996) Introduction to 3-D spatial visualization. Prentice Hall, Englewood CliffsClements D, Battista M (1992) Geometry and spatial reasoning. In: Grouws DA (ed) Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning. New York, pp 420–464Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. Erlbaum, HillsdaleDe Lisi R, Cammarano DM (1996) Computer experience and gender differences in undergraduate mental rotation performance. Comput Hum Behav 12:351–361Deno JA (1995) The relationship of previous experiences to spatial visualization ability. Eng Des Graph J 59(3):5–17Feng J, Spence I, Pratt J (2007) Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition. Psychol Sci 18(10):850–855French JW (1951) The description of aptitude and achievement tests in terms of rotated factors. Psychometric monograph 5Guilford JP, Lacy JI (1947) Printed classification tests, A.A.F. Aviation Psychological Progress Research Report, 5. US. Government Printing Office, Washington DCHalpern DF (2000) Sex differences and cognitive abilities. Erlbaum, MahwahHöfele C (2007) Mobile 3D graphics: learning 3D graphics with the Java Micro Edition. Editorial ThomsonKajiya JT, Kay TL (1989) Rendering fur with three dimensional textures. In Proceedings of the 16th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and interactive Techniques SIGGRAPH ’89. ACM Press, New York pp 271–280Linn MC, Petersen AC (1985) Emergence and characterization of gender differences in spatial abilities: a meta-analysis. Child Dev 56:1479–1498Martin-Dorta N, Sanchez-Berriel I, Bravo M, Hernandez J, Saorin JL, Contero M (2010) A 3D educational mobile game to enhance student’s spatial skills, ICALT, pp.6–10, 2010 10th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning TechnologiesMartin-Dorta N, Saorin J, Contero M (2008) Development of a fast remedial course to improve the spatial abilities of engineering students. J Eng Educ 27(4):505–514Martin-Dorta N, Saorin JL, Contero M (2011) Web-based spatial training using handheld touch screen devices. Educ Technol Soc 14(3):163–177McGee MG (1979) Human spatial abilities: psychometric studies and environmental, genetic, hormonal, and neurological influences. Psychol Bull 86:889–918Noguera JM, Segura RJ, Ogayar CJ, Joan-Arinyo R (2011) Navigating large terrains using commodity mobile devices. Comput Geosci 37:1218–1233Okagaki L, Frensch PA (1994) Effects of video game playing on measures of spatial performance: gender effects in late adolescence. J Appl Dev Psychol 15(1):33–58Pulli K, Aarnio T, Miettinen V, Roimela K, Vaarala J (2007) Mobile 3D graphics with OpenGL ES and M3G. Editorial Morgan KaufmannQuaiser-Pohl C, Geiser C, Lehmann W (2005) The relationship between computer-game preference, gender, and mental-rotation ability. Personal Individ Differ 40(3):609–619Smith IM (1964) Spatial ability- its educational and social significance. The University of London Press, LondonSorby S (2007) Developing 3D spatial skills for engineering students. Australas Assoc Eng Educ 13(1):1–11Terlecki MS, Newcombe NS (2005) How important is the digital divide? The relation of computer and videogame usage to gender differences in mental rotation ability. Sex Roles 53(5/6):433–441Terlecki MS, Newcombe NS, Little M (2008) Durable and generalized effects of spatial experience on mental rotation: gender differences in growth patterns. Appl Cogn Psychol 22:996–1013Thurstone LL (1950) Some primary abilities in visual thinking (Tech. Rep. No. 59). IL University of Chicago Psychometric Laboratory, ChicagoThurstone LL, Thurstone TG (1941) Factorial studies of intelligence. Psychometric monographs. Chicago Press, ChicagoVanderberg S, Kuse A (1978) Mental Rotation, a group test of three dimensional spatial visualization. Percept Mot Skills 47:599–604Zimmerman WS (1954) Hypotheses concerning the nature of the spatial factors. Educ Psychol Meas 14:396–40

3D graphic cell-phone applications by JSR-184 API

katedra: MTI; přílohy: 1 CD; rozsah: 60 s.Tato diplomová práce se zabývá problematikou 3D grafiky v aplikacích pro mobilní zařízení. Pro vytváření 3D aplikací je dnes dostupné rozhraní Mobile 3D Graphics API (M3G, JSR-184), které je rozšířením platformy Java Micro Edition. V teoretické části práce je proveden rozbor tohoto rozhraní s praktickými příklady a s popisem obecných principů zobrazování 3D grafiky. V praktické části práce se využívá popsaných poznatků k řešení návrhu konkrétní aplikace 3D elektrické obvody. Při použití 3D grafiky v mobilních telefonech je řešeno modelování prostorových objektů, jejich načtení, zobrazení a transformace. V aplikaci jsou zohledněny cíle projektu Starttech řešeného na TU v Liberci, který má za cíl podporu a rozvoj technických oborů v rámci základních a středních škol.This diploma thesis deals with the three dimensional graphics in applications for mobile devices. For designing 3D applications there is now Mobile 3D Graphics API (M3G, JSR-184) available which is an extension of Java Micro Edition. The theoretical part consists of a survey of M3G with practical examples and description of general 3D graphics projection principles. In the practical part author applies the gathered information and design specific application 3D Electrical Circuits. Modeling, loading, projection and transformations of 3D objects is solved there. The application is designed regarding the goals of project Starttech which under the direction of TU in Liberec supports progress of young technical talents

Mobile three-dimensional city maps

Maps are visual representations of environments and the objects within, depicting their spatial relations. They are mainly used in navigation, where they act as external information sources, supporting observation and decision making processes. Map design, or the art-science of cartography, has led to simplification of the environment, where the naturally three-dimensional environment has been abstracted to a two-dimensional representation, populated with simple geometrical shapes and symbols. However, abstract representation requires a map reading ability. Modern technology has reached the level where maps can be expressed in digital form, having selectable, scalable, browsable and updatable content. Maps may no longer even be limited to two dimensions, nor to an abstract form. When a real world based virtual environment is created, a 3D map is born. Given a realistic representation, would the user no longer need to interpret the map, and be able to navigate in an inherently intuitive manner? To answer this question, one needs a mobile test platform. But can a 3D map, a resource hungry real virtual environment, exist on such resource limited devices? This dissertation approaches the technical challenges posed by mobile 3D maps in a constructive manner, identifying the problems, developing solutions and providing answers by creating a functional system. The case focuses on urban environments. First, optimization methods for rendering large, static 3D city models are researched and a solution provided by combining visibility culling, level-of-detail management and out-of-core rendering, suited for mobile 3D maps. Then, the potential of mobile networking is addressed, developing efficient and scalable methods for progressive content downloading and dynamic entity management. Finally, a 3D navigation interface is developed for mobile devices, and the research validated with measurements and field experiments. It is found that near realistic mobile 3D city maps can exist in current mobile phones, and the rendering rates are excellent in 3D hardware enabled devices. Such 3D maps can also be transferred and rendered on-the-fly sufficiently fast for navigation use over cellular networks. Real world entities such as pedestrians or public transportation can be tracked and presented in a scalable manner. Mobile 3D maps are useful for navigation, but their usability depends highly on interaction methods - the potentially intuitive representation does not imply, for example, faster navigation than with a professional 2D street map. In addition, the physical interface limits the usability

A Hybrid client-server based technique for navigation in large terrains using mobile devices

We describe a hybrid client-server technique for remote adaptive streaming and rendering of large terrains in resource-limited mobile devices. The technique has been designed to achieve an interactive rendering performance on a mobile device connected to a low-bandwidth wireless network. The rendering workload is split between the client and the server. The terrain area close to the viewer is rendered in real-time by the client using a hierarchical multiresolution scheme. The terrain located far from the viewer is portrayed as view-dependent impostors, rendered by the server on demand and, then sent to the client. The hybrid technique provides tools to dynamically balance the rendering workload according to the resources available at the client side and to the saturation of the network and server. A prototype has been built and an exhaustive set of experiments covering several platforms, wireless networks and a wide range of viewer velocities has been conducted. Results show that the approach is feasible, effective and robust.Postprint (published version

Development of computer vision algorithms using J2ME for mobile phone applications.

This thesis describes research on the use of Java to develop cross-platform computer vision applications for mobile phones with integrated cameras. The particular area of research that we are interested in is Mobile Augmented Reality (AR). Currently there is no computer vision library which can be used for mobile Augmented Reality using the J2ME platform. This thesis introduces the structure of our J2ME computer vision library and describes the implementation of algorithms in our library. We also present several sample applications on J2ME enabled mobile phones and report on experiments conducted to evaluate the compatibility, portability and efficiency of the implemented algorithms