3 case studies: a hybrid educational strategy for ART/SCI collaborations

In this paper we report on a transdisciplinary university course designed to bring together fine art/visual communication design and computer science students for the creation and implementation of collaborative visual/audio projects that draw upon the specialized knowledge of both these disciplines. While an overview of the syllabus and the teaching methodologies is undertaken in the introduction, the focus of the paper concentrates upon an in-depth discussion and analysis of 3 specific projects that were developed by 3 distinct teams of students comprised of one artist/designer and one engineer each

Thinking on Your Feet: Enhancing Foveated Rendering in Virtual Reality During User Activity

As prices fall, VR technology is experiencing renewed levels of consumer interest. Despite wider access, VR still requires levels of computational ability and bandwidth that often cannot be achieved with consumer-grade equipment. Foveated rendering represents one of the most promising methods for the optimization of VR content while keeping the quality of the user’s experience intact. The user’s ability to explore and move through the environment with 6DOF separates VR from traditional display technologies. In this work, we explore if the type of movement (Active versus Implied) and attentional task type (Simple Fixations versus Fixation, Discrimination, and Counting) affect the extent to which a dynamic foveated rendering method using Variable Rate Shading (VRS) optimizes a VR scene. Using psychophysics methods we conduct user studies and recover the Maximum Tolerated Diameter (MTD) at which users fail to notice drops in quality. We find that during self-movement, performing a task that requires more attention masks severe shading reductions and that only 31.7% of the headset’s FOV is required to be rendered at the native pixel sampling rate

Local competition and metapopulation processes drive long-term seagrass-epiphyte population dynamics

It is well known that ecological processes such as population regulation and natural enemy interactions potentially occur over a range of spatial scales, and there is a substantial body of literature developing theoretical understanding of the interplay between these processes. However, there are comparatively few studies quantifying the long-term effects of spatial scaling in natural ecosystems. A key challenge is that trophic complexity in real-world biological communities quickly obscures the signal from a focal process. Seagrass meadows provide an excellent opportunity in this respect: in many instances, seagrasses effectively form extensive natural monocultures, in which hypotheses about endogenous dynamics can be formulated and tested. We present amongst the longest unbroken, spatially explict time series of seagrass abundance published to date. Data include annual measures of shoot density, total above-ground abundance, and associated epiphyte cover from five Zostera marina meadows distributed around the Isles of Scilly, UK, from 1996 to 2011. We explore empirical patterns at the local and metapopulation scale using standard time series analysis and develop a simple population dynamic model, testing the hypothesis that both local and metapopulation scale feedback processes are important. We find little evidence of an interaction between scales in seagrass dynamics but that both scales contribute approximately equally to observed local epiphyte abundance. By quantifying the long-term dynamics of seagrass-epiphyte interactions we show how measures of density and extent are both important in establishing baseline information relevant to predicting responses to environmental change and developing management plans. We hope that this study complements existing mechanistic studies of physiology, genetics and productivity in seagrass, whilst highlighting the potential of seagrass as a model ecosystem. More generally, this study provides a rare opportunity to test some of the predictions of ecological theory in a natural ecosystem of global conservation and economic val

Virtual viewpoint three-dimensional panorama

Conventional panoramic images are known to provide for an enhanced field of view in which the scene always has a fixed appearance. The idea presented in this paper focuses on the use of the concept of virtual viewpoint creation to generate different panoramic images of the same scene with three-dimensional component. Three-dimensional effect in a resultant panorama is realized by superimposing a stereo-pair of panoramic images

The many faces of condominiums and various management structures - the Danish case

The concept of condominium in Denmark is traditionally associated with owner apartments used for residential purposes (individually owned by the resident). The condominium law translated from Danish: “Law of owner apartments” was primarily intended to support the housing market and was mainly introduced to allow renters to become owners of a rental apartment in a high-rise building, i.e., making it possible forthem to enter the housing market without having to invest in an (often more expensive) traditional house on a real property. However, the law also applies on other nonresidential rooms in a building, thus the expression, many faces, is appropriate. The ownership right to a condominium unit includes a share in all components of the common property. This share also includes the responsibility to pay for common expenses regarding the common components. In traditional high-rise (single-use) buildings the common components of the condominium property include e.g., the outer walls, roof, cellar and a staircase or an elevator. Because of the nature of (single-use) buildings it is often fair to say that all condominium units have an equal benefit of the common components. Thus, it is regarded as being fair that all condominium units contribute to expenses to maintain and renew those common components. Therefore, the condominium law is partly designed to support this benefit-all principle, and the allocation of rights and responsibilities is done mainly by using a co-ownership share, where each condominium unit’s share is calculated using the relative value and size of each condominium unit. The benefit-all principle does not consider the actual benefit of each condominium unit. However, the rise of mixed-use developments in Danish urban planning has made it necessary to further develop and customize the allocation of ownership rights in such mixed-use condominium schemes in order to specify the allocation of ownership rights and responsibilities of common components, mainly because it is not fair to accept that all units have the same benefit of the common components. Based on four case studies all representing mixed-use condominium developments we analyse various management structures used in Danish practice. In our conclusion we propose that condominiums are used broader than original intended for various non-residential purposes and in mixed-use developments. The effect of this, is more complicated condominium schemes that require a customized management structure and allocation of rights and restrictions of common components.