Design of Immersive Online Hotel Walkthrough System Using Image-Based (Concentric Mosaics) Rendering

Conventional hotel booking websites only represents their services in 2D photos to show their facilities. 2D photos are just static photos that cannot be move and rotate. Imagebased virtual walkthrough for the hospitality industry is a potential technology to attract more customers. In this project, a research will be carried out to create an Image-based rendering (IBR) virtual walkthrough and panoramic-based walkthrough by using only Macromedia Flash Professional 8, Photovista Panorama 3.0 and Reality Studio for the interaction of the images. The web-based of the image-based are using the Macromedia Dreamweaver Professional 8. The images will be displayed in Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. In making image-based walkthrough, a concentric mosaic technique is used while image mosaicing technique is applied in panoramic-based walkthrough. A comparison of the both walkthrough is compared. The study is also focus on the comparison between number of pictures and smoothness of the walkthrough. There are advantages of using different techniques such as image-based walkthrough is a real time walkthrough since the user can walk around right, left, forward and backward whereas the panoramic-based cannot experience real time walkthrough because the user can only view 360 degrees from a fixed spot

Variable Resolution & Dimensional Mapping For 3d Model Optimization

Three-dimensional computer models, especially geospatial architectural data sets, can be visualized in the same way humans experience the world, providing a realistic, interactive experience. Scene familiarization, architectural analysis, scientific visualization, and many other applications would benefit from finely detailed, high resolution, 3D models. Automated methods to construct these 3D models traditionally has produced data sets that are often low fidelity or inaccurate; otherwise, they are initially highly detailed, but are very labor and time intensive to construct. Such data sets are often not practical for common real-time usage and are not easily updated. This thesis proposes Variable Resolution & Dimensional Mapping (VRDM), a methodology that has been developed to address some of the limitations of existing approaches to model construction from images. Key components of VRDM are texture palettes, which enable variable and ultra-high resolution images to be easily composited; texture features, which allow image features to integrated as image or geometry, and have the ability to modify the geometric model structure to add detail. These components support a primary VRDM objective of facilitating model refinement with additional data. This can be done until the desired fidelity is achieved as practical limits of infinite detail are approached. Texture Levels, the third component, enable real-time interaction with a very detailed model, along with the flexibility of having alternate pixel data for a given area of the model and this is achieved through extra dimensions. Together these techniques have been used to construct models that can contain GBs of imagery data

Surface Appearance Estimation from Video Sequences

The realistic virtual reproduction of real world objects using Computer Graphics techniques requires the accurate acquisition and reconstruction of both 3D geometry and surface appearance. Unfortunately, in several application contexts, such as Cultural Heritage (CH), the reflectance acquisition can be very challenging due to the type of object to acquire and the digitization conditions. Although several methods have been proposed for the acquisition of object reflectance, some intrinsic limitations still make its acquisition a complex task for CH artworks: the use of specialized instruments (dome, special setup for camera and light source, etc.); the need of highly controlled acquisition environments, such as a dark room; the difficulty to extend to objects of arbitrary shape and size; the high level of expertise required to assess the quality of the acquisition. The Ph.D. thesis proposes novel solutions for the acquisition and the estimation of the surface appearance in fixed and uncontrolled lighting conditions with several degree of approximations (from a perceived near diffuse color to a SVBRDF), taking advantage of the main features that differentiate a video sequences from an unordered photos collections: the temporal coherence; the data redundancy; the easy of the acquisition, which allows acquisition of many views of the object in a short time. Finally, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is an example of widely used technology for the acquisition of the surface appearance in the CH field, even if limited to single view Reflectance Fields of nearly flat objects. In this context, the thesis addresses also two important issues in RTI usage: how to provide better and more flexible virtual inspection capabilities with a set of operators that improve the perception of details, features and overall shape of the artwork; how to increase the possibility to disseminate this data and to support remote visual inspection of both scholar and ordinary public

Study of supernovae and massive stars and prospects with the 4m International Liquid Mirror Telescope

Massive stars are the progenitors of the most energetic explosions in the Universe such as core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and gamma ray bursts. During their life time they follow various evolutionary phases (e.g. supergiant, luminous blue variable and Wolf-Rayet). They strongly influence their environments through their energetic ionization radiation and powerful stellar winds. Furthermore, the formation of low- and intermediate-mass stars are also being regulated by them. The Carina nebula region, which hosts a large population of massive stars and several young star clusters, provides an ideal target for studying the feedback of massive stars. In this thesis, we investigated a wide field (32′ × 31′ ) region located in the west of the Carina nebula and centered on the massive binary WR 22. For our study, we used new optical photometry (UBVRI Hα), along with some low resolution spectroscopy, archival near infra-red (2MASS), and X-ray (Chandra, XMM-Newton) data. We estimated several parameters such as reddening, reddening law, etc. and also identified young stellar objects located in the region under study (Kumar et al., 2014b). Among the various types of CCSNe, Type IIb are recognized with their typical observational properties. Some of them show clear indication of double peaks in their light curves. The spectral features of these SNe show a transition between Type II and Type Ib/c events at early and later epochs, respectively. It has been noticed that the occurrence of these events is not common in volume limited surveys. In this thesis we have studied the properties of the light curve and spectral evolution of the Type IIb supernova 2011fu. The observational properties of this object show resemblance to those of SN 1993J with a possible signature of the adiabatic cooling phase (Kumar et al., 2013). When light passes through the expanding ejecta of the SNe, it retains information about the orientation of the ejected layers. In general, CCSNe exhibit a significant level of polarization during various phases of their evolution at different wavelengths. We have investigated the broad band polarimetric properties of a Type II plateau SN 2012aw and compared it with other well-studied CCSNe of similar kinds (Kumar et al., 2014a). In the framework of the present thesis, we have also contributed to the development of the 4m International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) project which is a joint collaborative effort among different universities and research institutes in Belgium, India, Canada and Poland. We performed various experiments including the spin casting of the primary mirror, optical quality tests of the mercury surface, mylar film experiments, etc. The possible scientific capabilities and future contri- butions of this telescope are also discussed. We propose our plans to identify the transients (specially supernovae) with the ILMT and their further follow-up scheme. The installation of the ILMT will start very soon at the Devasthal observatory, ARIES Nainital, India.International Liquid Mirror Telescope Projec

Imaging Pressure, Cells and Light Fields

Imaging systems often make use of macroscopic lenses to manipulate light. Modern microfabrication techniques, however, have opened up a pathway to the development of novel arrayed imaging systems. In such systems, centimeter-scale areas can contain thousands to millions of micro-scale optical elements, presenting exciting opportunities for new imaging applications. We show two such applications in this thesis: pressure sensing in microfluidics and high throughput fluorescence microscopy for high content screening. Conversely, we show that arrayed elements are not always needed for three dimensional light field imaging.Engineering and Applied Science