Light-scattering reconstruction of transparent shapes using neural networks

We propose a cheap non-intrusive high-resolution method of visualising transparent or translucent objects which may translate, rotate and shapeshift. We propose a method of reconstructing a strongly deformed time-evolving surface from a time-series of noisy clouds of points using a lightweight neural network. We benchmark the method against three different geometries and varying levels of noise and find that the Gaussian curvature is accurately recovered when the noise level is below $2\%$ of the diameter of the surface and the data from distinct regions of the surface do not overlap

Computational Schlieren Photography with Light Field Probes

We introduce a new approach to capturing refraction in transparent media, which we call light field background oriented Schlieren photography. By optically coding the locations and directions of light rays emerging from a light field probe, we can capture changes of the refractive index field between the probe and a camera or an observer. Our prototype capture setup consists of inexpensive off-the-shelf hardware, including inkjet-printed transparencies, lenslet arrays, and a conventional camera. By carefully encoding the color and intensity variations of 4D light field probes, we show how to code both spatial and angular information of refractive phenomena. Such coding schemes are demonstrated to allow for a new, single image approach to reconstructing transparent surfaces, such as thin solids or surfaces of fluids. The captured visual information is used to reconstruct refractive surface normals and a sparse set of control points independently from a single photograph.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaAlfred P. Sloan FoundationUnited States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Young Faculty Awar

Shape Perception of Clear Water in Photo-Realistic Images

Light plays a vital role in the perception of transparency, depth and shape of liquids. The perception of the surfaces of liquids is made possible with an understanding of refraction of light and knowledge of the underlying texture geometry. Given this, what specific characteristics of the natural optical environment are essential to the perception of transparent liquids, specifically with respect to efficiency and realism? In this thesis, a light path triangulation method for the recovery of transparent surface shape and a system to estimate the perceived shape of any arbitrary-shaped object with a refractive surface are proposed. A psycho-physical experiment was conducted to investigate this using the perceived shape of water from stereo images using a real time stereoscopic 3-D depth gauge. The results suggest that people are able to consistently perceive shape of liquids from photo-realistic images and that regularity in underlying texture facilitates human judgement of surface shape

Tsunami Warning System

The effects of a tsunami on a coastline can be devastating. In an attempt to mitigate the damages caused by tsunamis, and to provide coastal communities with evacuation alerts, it is essential to have early warning systems installed offshore. Tsunami early warning systems can detect the formation of tsunami waves long before they reach shore, providing coastal communities with information about the strength of an incoming tsunami. Since providing accurate information about oceanic wave patterns is absolutely necessary to forecast the magnitude of a tsunami as it forms, the focus of this research is to develop a novel approach which will predict the height and velocity of a tsunami long before it makes landfall. The research comprises of a mathematical study of how the objects under water appear would appear to any observer outside. Also included in the research is study of water surface regeneration techniques. The investigators believe that the proposed approach will provide unprecedented detail and accuracy to help forecast the magnitude of forming tsunami waves. This research will lay the groundwork for the next tsunami early warning system, which will continue to save lives in coastal communities around the world

3D-seismic interpretation of the glacial deposits in the outer Ingøydjupet area, SW Barents Sea. Ice sheet dynamics reconstructed from glacial landforms

The late Quaternary evolution of the outer Ingøydjupet area (SW Barents Sea) is studied using a merge of conventional 3D-seismic cubes and a new generation of high-resolution 3D-seismic (TopSeis). The glacigenic sequence is subdivided into five main seismic units: unit A1 (oldest) to A5. These are separated by six glacially eroded boundaries: the Upper Regional Unconformity (URU), intra-glacial horizons (Q1-Q4) and the seafloor. A correlation to established seismic stratigraphies suggests that the units A1-A3 were deposited during middle Pleistocene and A4-A5 during late Pleistocene. The internal seismic signature of the units is described and the geomorphologies of the main surfaces are mapped. This forms the basis for a reconstruction of the ice-sheet dynamics and depositional environment during the late Quaternary evolution of the outer Ingøydjupet area. Mega-scale glacial lineations and troughs observed on the paleo-surfaces confirm that fast-flowing ice streams have occupied and eroded the outer Ingøydjupet area at least five times since the formation of the URU. The orientation of the lineations suggests that both the Ingøydjupet- and the Bjørnøyrenna Ice Streams have been active in the area during these glaciations. Buried sediment blocks, which are interpreted to have been entrained, transported and re-deposited by the paleo-ice streams indicate that the ice streams underwent phases of basal freezing. The recessional features on the URU and the seafloor suggest complex and dynamic retreats of the ice sheet following glacial maxima, where repeated halts and re-advances characterized the deglaciation. The intra-glacial horizons on the other hand show evidence of rather rapid ice sheet retreats, where mega-scale glacial lineations are preserved on the paleo-surfaces

Landscape Strategies in Architecture

The central question and purpose of the thesis is to understand how landscape as a design concept is changing our understanding of architecture. It explores the ways in which landscape is relevant for design strategies in architecture. Buildings that have been designed like landscapes have become a topic in contemporary architecture and in the recent literature about it. The apparent distinction between architecture and landscape is questioned in exemplary theoretical works and building designs with increasing interest in landscape as a phenomenon of contemporary architecture. To understand this phenomenon this thesis first explores the term of landscape and its design. The introduction focuses on the exploration of the idea of landscape and how it is applicable in architectural design. Strategies of landscape design as they are discussed in contemporary landscape architecture are defined and illustrated with specific examples. This view is contrasted with the idea of nature in architecture. Architecture's concepts of nature reveal some crucial problems that lead to the polarity of 'wild' nature and 'human' architecture. With a critique of these common architectural theories and within the methodological differentiation the thesis reveals the necessity of research through analysis of landscape spatial composition in architecture. The core of this thesis is three case studies of architectural designs that approach a building like a landscape. A selection of analytical techniques is applied to key cases in three central chapters. The main analytical model for landscape architectural composition that Steenbergen and Reh (2003) developed for the European Gardens of the Renaissance, Baroque and Enlightenment is applied as a drawing analysis of the formal composition of three selected contemporary architectural projects in a period from 1992 to 2015. Each of the three building designs is studied with the same four-layer method of design analysis. In conjunction with this comparative analysis, a project specific method that reveals unique aspects of each design has been developed. The first case is OMA's unbuilt Jussieu design for two university libraries in Paris. In 1992 Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his collaborators at OMA proposed the Jussieu project at a turning point of the discipline, where new forms of architecture with landscape design strategies were being explored. Though this project has not been realised, this thesis makes it possible to describe the building in a guided walk-through. This visualisation of the design as it could have looked if built is also the specific analytical method chosen for this example. The second case, the Rolex Learning Centre at EPF Lausanne, has been clearly declared 'landscape' as architecture by its designers. This competition winning design from 2004 and opened in 2010 is the largest scale international building of Japanese Architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA). The specific analytical method used for this case is a visual space analysis of the project using 3D-isovists. The third case is the City of Culture of Galicia in Santiago de Compostela by American architect Peter Eisenman. This project was initially designed in 1999 in a process of layering - in principle, similar to the layer model analysis of this thesis. However, the four tenets of the thesis layer model - ground form, spatial form, metaphorical form and programmatic form - will alter the reading of this project. This execution of the giant public project of "City of Culture" was interrupted half-way in 2015, with great political difficulties fo Galicia. The specific analytical method used for this case is an experiment that uses the ruins of unbuilt architecture as the base for a landscape architectural design. This design of a temporary garden mimics the design principles of architect Peter Eisenman. This experiment shows that landscape strategies developed for the design of a building can be applied in reverse for designed landscapes. In conclusion, this thesis will compare the three case studies of architectural designs with each other. While some design instruments, strategies and methods are specific, others are commonly applied in several or all of the projects. In a broader scope, the analysis is transposed into the greater societal and theoretical realm to explore whether landscape design strategies change architecture. For the discipline of architecture in general, the thesis explores how far landscape could lead the profession further as a new concept to build a sustainable human environment. Evoking potential applications and the reach of landscape in architecture in the perspective of future development, the thesis ultimately discusses unexplored potentials for landscape design strategies in the architectural discipline