Developing 3D contents for e-learning applications

Some issues concerning the development of interactive 3D models for e-learning applications are considered. Given that 3D data sets are normally large and interactive display demands high performance computation, a natural solution would be placing the computational burden on the client machine rather than on the server. Mozilla and Google opted for a combination of client-side languages, JavaScript and OpenGL, to handle 3D graphics in a web browser (Mozilla 3D and O3D respectively). Based on the O3D model, core web technologies are considered and an example of the full process involving the generation of a 3D model and their interactive visualization in a web browser is described. The challenging issue of creating realistic 3D models of objects in the real world is discussed and a method based on line projection for fast 3D reconstruction is presented. The generated model is then visualized in a web browser. The experiments demonstrate that visualization of 3D data in a web browser can provide quality user experience. Moreover, the development of web applications are facilitated by O3D JavaScript extension allowing web designers to focus on 3D contents generation

Multi-User 3D Virtual Environment for Spanish Learning: A Wonderland Experience

Proceedings of: 10th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT 2010). Sousse, Tunisia, 5-7 July 2010.In this paper, we describe a 3D virtual collaborative system designed for the learning of Spanish as a second language. Several initiatives for second language learning in 3D virtual worlds exploiting immersive, interactive and motivating features of these worlds have been carried out successfully during the last years. However, these systems tend to be sometimes too rigid from a pedagogical point of view, requiring the presence of a teacher. We have used the Wonderland development toolkit to deploy a 3D virtual learning environment, which is flexible enough to allow learners to improve their language skills with minimum teacher's help, setting up an instructional sequence in which fostered, motivating, and pre-designed collaboration is the key for self-learning. The environment includes technical issues such as natural text chatting with synthetic characters, textual tagging of virtual objects, automatic reading of texts, and the integration of a 3D mouse in learning sequences in order to exploit the capabilities of 3D virtual worlds.This research has been partially supported by the following projects: The Spanish CDTI project “España Virtual” funded by the Ingenio 2010 programme, subcontracted by Deimos Space2. The Spanish project “Learn3: Towards Learing of the Third Kind” (TIN2008-05163/TSI) funded by the Spanish “Plan Nacional de I+D+i” of the Ministry of Research and Innovation. The project “eMadrid: Investigación y desarrollo de tecnologías para el e-learning en la Comunidad de Madrid” (S2009/TIC-1650) funded by the Government of the Region of Madrid.Publicad

3D Virtual Worlds and the Metaverse: Current Status and Future Possibilities

Moving from a set of independent virtual worlds to an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds or Metaverse rests on progress in four areas: immersive realism, ubiquity of access and identity, interoperability, and scalability. For each area, the current status and needed developments in order to achieve a functional Metaverse are described. Factors that support the formation of a viable Metaverse, such as institutional and popular interest and ongoing improvements in hardware performance, and factors that constrain the achievement of this goal, including limits in computational methods and unrealized collaboration among virtual world stakeholders and developers, are also considered

3D Post Processing Methods for Web Based Integration

Adding
 interactive
 3D
 contents
 to
 a
 web
 application
 can
 significantly
 enhance
 the
 learning
 experience.
 The
 difficulty
 with
 current
 technology
 is
 that
 it
 is
 not
 fast
 enough
 to
 provide
 the
 same
 level
 of
 experience
 as
 with
 current
 2D
 images
 and
 video
 streams,
 so
 most
 3D
 contents
 on
 the
 Web
 are
 simulated,
 or
 “flat”
 3D.
 OpenGL
 is
 the
 standard
 graphics
 library
 for
 3D
 visualization
 and
 it
 comes
 pre‐ installed
 on
 all
 operating
 systems
 (Windows,
 Mac,
 Linux,
 and
 Unix).
 JavaScript
 is
 the
 most
 popular
 scripting
 language
 on
 the
 Internet
 and
 it
 is
 compatible
 with
 all
 browsers.
 Standards
 for
 3D
 contents
 are
 evolving
 and
 by
 early
 2010
 Mozilla
 will
 release
their
open
standards
based
on
JavaScript
and
OpenGL,
which
will
not
require
 additional
 plug‐ins.
 Google
 O3D
 is
 based
 on
 the
 same
 concepts
 of
 using
 JavaScript
 for
 developing
 dynamic
 content
 and
 then
 interfacing
 these
 to
 the
 underlying
 OpenGL
libraries
taking
full
advantage
of
client’s
hardware.

 This
 tutorial
 will
 cover
 an
 introduction
 to
 JavaScript
 and
 the
 development
 of
 3D
 models
 using
 tools
 such
 as
 Google
 SketchUp
 and
 the
 display
 of
 interactive
 scenes
 within
a
web
browser
using
O3D.
Once
a
model
is
created
using
a
3D
modelling
tool
 (e.g.
SketchUp,
Studio
Max,
or
Maya)
it
can
then
be
exported
to
COLLADA
file
format
 and
converted
into
a
compressed
file
that
can
be
loaded
by
O3D
and
displayed
in
the
 web
 browser.
 By
 using
 the
 mouse,
 the
 user
 can
 rotate,
 zoom‐in
 and
 out,
 and
 translate
 the
 scene
 in
 a
 very
 responsive
 way.
 A
 3D
 scene
 can
 be
 as
 elaborated
 as
 desired
including
texture
and
light
effects

Seven Ulmus minor clones tolerant to Ophiostoma novo-ulmi registered as forest reproductive material in Spain

El programa español sobre el olmo comenzó en 1986 en respuesta a los efectos devastadores de la enfermedad holandesa del olmo en los olmedos naturales y los olmos en espacios urbanos. Sus principales objetivos eran conservar los recursos genéticos restante y seleccionar y criar genotipos tolerantes en olmos nativos. Después de 27 años de trabajo en la realización de ensayos de susceptibilidad en miles de genotipos de olmos, los primeros siete árboles tolerantes a Ulmus minor están siendo ahora registrados por la administración española del Medio Ambiente. Este trabajo presenta los resultados de las pruebas de susceptibilidad de estos clones y sus características genéticas, morfológicas y fenológicas distintivos. En todos los ensayos de susceptibilidad se utilizó como control el clon comercial "Sapporo Autumn Gold", que es altamente tolerante a O. novo-ulmi. Los clones registrados fueron nombrados "Ademuz", "Dehesa de la Villa", "Majadahonda", "Toledo", "Dehesa de Amaniel", "Retiro" y "Fuente Umbría". El clon más tolerante era "Dehesa de Amaniel", ya que sus valores de marchitamiento fueron inferiores al 5% durante los dos ensayos consecutivos de inoculación realizados en Madrid. "Fuente Umbría", probado más de cuatro años consecutivos en Guadalajara y Palencia, era el clon español con el nivel de tolerancia más confiable de O. novo-ulmi. Los "Ademuz" y clones "Majadahonda" tenían las puntuaciones ornamentales más altas y son árboles prometedores para su uso en entornos urbanos por su genética forestal para la calidad ornamental. Estos dos genotipos mostraron una tardía fenología de desborre frente a los otros clones U. minor, lo que demuestra su idoneidad para zonas con heladas tardías. El programa español tiene como objetivo aumentar sustancialmente la gama de olmos nativos, tolerantes a través de nuevas selecciones y cruces, para obtener una mejor comprensión de la base genética de la resistencia.The Spanish elm programme began in 1986 in response to the devastating impact of Dutch elm disease on natural elm stands and urban trees. Its main objectives were to conserve remaining genetic resources and select and breed tolerant native elm genotypes. After 27 years of work conducting susceptibility trials on thousands of elm genotypes, the first seven tolerant Ulmus minor trees are now being registered by the Spanish Environmental Administration. This paper presents the results of the susceptibility tests on these clones and their distinctive genetic, morphological and phenological features. In all susceptibility trials the commercial “Sapporo Autumn Gold” clone, which is highly tolerant to O. novo-ulmi, was used as a control. The registered clones were named “Ademuz”, “Dehesa de la Villa”, “Majadahonda”, “Toledo”, “Dehesa de Amaniel”, “Retiro” and “Fuente Umbría”. The most tolerant clone was “Dehesa de Amaniel”, as its wilting values were below 5% during the two consecutive inoculation trials performed in Madrid. “Fuente Umbría”, tested over four consecutive years in Guadalajara and Palencia, was the Spanish clone with the most reliable tolerance level to O. novo-ulmi. The “Ademuz” and “Majadahonda” clones had the highest ornamental scores and are promising trees for use in urban environments and tree breeding for ornamental quality. These two genotypes showed a later bud burst phenology than the other U. minor clones, demonstrating suitability to areas with late frost events. The Spanish programme aims to substantially increase the range of tolerant native elms through new selections and crossings to gain a better understanding of the genetic basis of resistance.Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Dirección General de Desarrollo Rural y Política Forestal. Financiación de European Forest Resources Programme Unión Europea. Proyecto RESGEN CT96-78peerReviewe

Software assembly and open standards for driving simulation

International audienceDriving simulation systems involve a combination of different computation codes. Although some of these modules are application-specific, their majority is reusable and state-of-the-art implementations are readily available in the open source community. This study investigates whether these open source libraries can combine to build a driving simulation application with reasonable performance. To this end, a component-oriented architecture is proposed, in which modules encapsulate relevant libraries behind a standard interface and exchange simulation data through a message passing interface. By integrating a render engine, a physics library and a simple vehicle dynamics model, we were able to rapidly build a functional minimal simulation application supporting distributed execution over a cluster of computers. As this architecture allows the transparent modification of module code and simplifies the addition of new modules, this kernel represents the foundations of an extensible and reconfigurable open source system dedicated to driving simulation. Details on this kernel application and ongoing development of this platform can found at http://open-s.sourceforge.net.Les logiciels de simulation de conduite reposent sur une combinaison de différents codes de calculs. Bien qu’une partie de ces modules soit extrêmement dépendante d’un usage particulier, leur majorité est réutilisable et certaines implémentations de pointe sont disponibles dans la communauté du logiciel libre. Cette étude vise à déterminer s’il est possible de combiner ces bibliothèques libres afin de construire une application de simulation de conduite atteignant de raisonnables performances. A cette fin, nous proposons une architecture orientée composant, selon laquelle ces bibliothèques sont encapsulées dans des modules s’échangeant des données relatives à la simulation au travers d’une interface d’échange de messages. En intégrant à cette architecture un moteur graphique, une bibliothèque de simulation de physique et un simple modèle de dynamique de véhicule, nous avons pu rapidement mettre en place une application de simulation minimale, pouvant s’exécuter de manière distribuée sur un cluster d’ordinateurs. Cette architecture permettant de modifier le code d’un module de manière transparente et simplifiant l’ajout de nouveaux modules, ce noyau constitue la base d’un logiciel libre extensible et polymorphique dédié à la simulation de conduite dont les détails peuvent être consultés sur le site : http://open-s.sourceforge.net

Software assembly and open standards for driving simulation

Driving simulation systems involve a combination of different computation codes. Although some of these modules are application-specific, their majority is reusable and state-of-the-art implementations are readily available in the open source community. This study investigates whether these open source libraries can combine to build a driving simulation application with reasonable performance. To this end, a component-oriented architecture is proposed, in which modules encapsulate relevant libraries behind a standard interface and exchange simulation data through a message passing interface. By integrating a render engine, a physics library and a simple vehicle dynamics model, we were able to rapidly build a functional minimal simulation application supporting distributed execution over a cluster of computers. As this architecture allows the transparent modification of module code and simplifies the addition of new modules, this kernel represents the foundations of an extensible and reconfigurable open source system dedicated to driving simulation. Details on this kernel application and ongoing development of this platform can found at http://open-s.sourceforge.net.Les logiciels de simulation de conduite reposent sur une combinaison de différents codes de calculs. Bien qu’une partie de ces modules soit extrêmement dépendante d’un usage particulier, leur majorité est réutilisable et certaines implémentations de pointe sont disponibles dans la communauté du logiciel libre. Cette étude vise à déterminer s’il est possible de combiner ces bibliothèques libres afin de construire une application de simulation de conduite atteignant de raisonnables performances. A cette fin, nous proposons une architecture orientée composant, selon laquelle ces bibliothèques sont encapsulées dans des modules s’échangeant des données relatives à la simulation au travers d’une interface d’échange de messages. En intégrant à cette architecture un moteur graphique, une bibliothèque de simulation de physique et un simple modèle de dynamique de véhicule, nous avons pu rapidement mettre en place une application de simulation minimale, pouvant s’exécuter de manière distribuée sur un cluster d’ordinateurs. Cette architecture permettant de modifier le code d’un module de manière transparente et simplifiant l’ajout de nouveaux modules, ce noyau constitue la base d’un logiciel libre extensible et polymorphique dédié à la simulation de conduite dont les détails peuvent être consultés sur le site : http://open-s.sourceforge.net