Digital sculpture : conceptually motivated sculptural models through the application of three-dimensional computer-aided design and additive fabrication technologies

Thesis (D. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 200

VICTour 1.1: Introducing virtual learning environments and gamification

Game engines are one of the few solutions to providing a true virtual campus tour experience. In this paper, we explore the evolution of the virtual campus tour and thereby the current and future work of game technology within virtual touring. An investigation is conducted into the application of objective-based gamification and its ability to encourage exploration of a virtual world. We also examine virtual campus tours as an alternate form of taught content via virtual learning environments (VLEs). An investigation into the use of head mounted displays to improve immersion is also explored

Exploration of Reaction Pathways and Chemical Transformation Networks

For the investigation of chemical reaction networks, the identification of all relevant intermediates and elementary reactions is mandatory. Many algorithmic approaches exist that perform explorations efficiently and automatedly. These approaches differ in their application range, the level of completeness of the exploration, as well as the amount of heuristics and human intervention required. Here, we describe and compare the different approaches based on these criteria. Future directions leveraging the strengths of chemical heuristics, human interaction, and physical rigor are discussed.Comment: 48 pages, 4 figure

Chapter Ricostruzione e fruizione digitale di paesaggi perduti. Visioni di Palazzo d’Avalos in Procida

The 43rd UID conference, held in Genova, takes up the theme of ‘Dialogues’ as practice and debate on many fundamental topics in our social life, especially in these complex and not yet resolved times. The city of Genova offers the opportunity to ponder on the value of comparison and on the possibilities for the community, naturally focused on the aspects that concern us, as professors, researchers, disseminators of knowledge, or on all the possibile meanings of the discipline of representation and its dialogue with ‘others’, which we have broadly catalogued in three macro areas: History, Semiotics, Science / Technology. Therefore, “dialogue” as a profitable exchange based on a common language, without which it is impossible to comprehend and understand one another; and the graphic sign that connotes the conference is the precise transcription of this concept: the title ‘translated’ into signs, derived from the visual alphabet designed for the visual identity of the UID since 2017. There are many topics which refer to three macro sessions: - Witnessing (signs and history) - Communicating (signs and semiotics) - Experimenting (signs and sciences) Thanks to the different points of view, an exceptional resource of our disciplinary area, we want to try to outline the prevailing theoretical-operational synergies, the collaborative lines of an instrumental nature, the recent updates of the repertoires of images that attest and nourish the relations among representation, history, semiotics, sciences

Virtual sculpting : an investigation of directly manipulated free-form deformation in a virtual environment

This thesis presents a Virtual Sculpting system, which addresses the problem of Free-Form Solid Modelling. The disparate elements of a Polygon-Mesh representation, a Directly Manipulated Free-Form Deformation sculpting tool, and a Virtual Environment are drawn into a cohesive whole under the mantle of a clay-sculpting metaphor. This enables a user to mould and manipulate a synthetic solid interactively as if it were composed of malleable clay. The focus of this study is on the interactivity, intuitivity and versatility of such a system. To this end, a range of improvements is investigated which significantly enhances the efficiency and correctness of Directly Manipulated Free-Form Deformation, both separately and as a seamless component of the Virtual Sculpting system

Resurrecting an Ancient Bite: Virtual Chewing Model Sheds Light on one of the Earliest Primates

The first true primates in the fossil record are known from near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, approximately 55 million years ago. The prevailing evidence suggests that these primates diversified rapidly, making the sequence of events which make up their evolutionary history challenging to navigate. (Kay et al., 2004; Rose, 2006). A powerful tool for enhancing the understanding of primate origin is deciphering early primate chewing anatomy, as it can help paleontologists to infer a range of features including diet, body form and function and evolution. (Perry, 2008). The study of such ancient anatomy is inherently difficult, however, due to their fossil remains often being damaged and distorted, having undergone eons of geological stress. Furthermore, soft tissue is usually completely absent from the fossil remains of this time period. Perry and colleagues (2015; 2018), however, have developed a rigorous muscular reconstructive techniques using mathematical estimates of muscle size based on muscle-bone correlation in living analogs. These techniques can radically enhance the reconstruction of a specimen but can be hindered by sediment obscuring the necessary osteological measurement points. Additionally, these estimates, although novel, are entirely static numerical reconstructions making their implications and plausibility difficult to visualize. This project used virtual visualization techniques to facilitate both the accessibility and dynamic reconstruction of chewing muscle data acquired from a specimen of one of the earliest primate species, Smilodectes gracils. The rigorous restoration of the virtual skull allowed for novel jaw adductor volume data to be collected and subsequently visualized through an interactive web application, featuring the virtually reconstructed 3D skull, chewing musculature, and an animated chewing simulation which brings static numerical data to life. This project contributes to the fields of virtual paleontology and biocommunication by using visualization to both extract and dynamically display hard data. These tools helps demystify a portion the often convoluted and controversial discussion of primate origins, and have implications for understanding the ecological history of our own species

An Application of Game Technology to Virtual University Campus Touring and Interior Navigation

Many applications optimistically claim the title of virtual campus tour nowadays with a small minority deserving it. Throughout this paper various virtual campus tours are explored and analysed along with the problems of interior navigation. The technologies that support development of virtual worlds for computer games are studied and a solution to interior navigation and virtual campus tour derived from this technology is proposed

Drawing from motion capture : developing visual languages of animation

The work presented in this thesis aims to explore novel approaches of combining motion capture with drawing and 3D animation. As the art form of animation matures, possibilities of hybrid techniques become more feasible, and crosses between traditional and digital media provide new opportunities for artistic expression. 3D computer animation is used for its keyframing and rendering advancements, that result in complex pipelines where different areas of technical and artistic specialists contribute to the end result. Motion capture is mostly used for realistic animation, more often than not for live-action filmmaking, as a visual effect. Realistic animated films depend on retargeting techniques, designed to preserve actors performances with a high degree of accuracy. In this thesis, we investigate alternative production methods that do not depend on retargeting, and provide animators with greater options for experimentation and expressivity. As motion capture data is a great source for naturalistic movements, we aim to combine it with interactive methods such as digital sculpting and 3D drawing. As drawing is predominately used in preproduction, in both the case of realistic animation and visual effects, we embed it instead to alternative production methods, where artists can benefit from improvisation and expression, while emerging in a three-dimensional environment. Additionally, we apply these alternative methods for the visual development of animation, where they become relevant for the creation of specific visual languages that can be used to articulate concrete ideas for storytelling in animation

Modeling and rendering for development of a virtual bone surgery system

A virtual bone surgery system is developed to provide the potential of a realistic, safe, and controllable environment for surgical education. It can be used for training in orthopedic surgery, as well as for planning and rehearsal of bone surgery procedures...Using the developed system, the user can perform virtual bone surgery by simultaneously seeing bone material removal through a graphic display device, feeling the force via a haptic deice, and hearing the sound of tool-bone interaction --Abstract, page iii