Platform Independent Real-Time X3D Shaders and their Applications in Bioinformatics Visualization

Since the introduction of programmable Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and procedural shaders, hardware vendors have each developed their own individual real-time shading language standard. None of these shading languages is fully platform independent. Although this real-time programmable shader technology could be developed into 3D application on a single system, this platform dependent limitation keeps the shader technology away from 3D Internet applications. The primary purpose of this dissertation is to design a framework for translating different shader formats to platform independent shaders and embed them into the eXtensible 3D (X3D) scene for 3D web applications. This framework includes a back-end core shader converter, which translates shaders among different shading languages with a middle XML layer. Also included is a shader library containing a basic set of shaders that developers can load and add shaders to. This framework will then be applied to some applications in Biomolecular Visualization

Ontology of a scene based on Java 3D architecture

The present article seeks to make an approach to the class hierarchy of a scene built with the architecture Java 3D, to develop an ontology of a scene as from the semantic essential components for the semantic structuring of the Web3D. Java was selected because the language recommended by the W3C Consortium for the Development of the Web3D oriented applications as from X3D standard is Xj3D which compositionof their Schemas is based the architecture of Java3D In first instance identifies the domain and scope of the ontology, defining classes and subclasses that comprise from Java3D architecture and the essential elements of a scene, as its point of origin, the field of rotation, translation The limitation of the scene and the definition of shaders, then define the slots that are declared in RDF as a framework for describing the properties of the classes established from identifying the domain and range of each class, then develops composition of the OWL ontology on SWOOP Finally, be perform instantiations of the ontology building for a Iconosphere object as from class expressions defined

A WebGL application based on BIM IFC

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como partes dos requisitos para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática, ramo de Computação MóvelThe possibility of displaying high performance 3D accelerated graphics in the browser is seen as an obstacle to the conversion of applications to the web. The release of WebGL made Web3D gain new strength to overcome that obstacle. Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) tools are a type of applications that could benefit with this advance. In the AEC industry, there is a standard candidate for Building Information Modelling (BIM), called Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). This data model promotes interoperability between AEC tools, giving a common format to the applications. This work comes from the need of redesigning a legacy application that allows the user to design, display and calculate building structures. Focusing on the displaying of building structures, this work merges IFC and WebGL into an application, to replicate in a modern way the legacy application capabilities. This is done by developing a server module that processes the IFC data model and a client module that displays that model in a WebGL environment. The result is a prototype web application capable of displaying 3D IFC building models in the browser without plug-ins. A possibilidade de visualização de gráficos acelerados 3D de alto desempenho no navegador ainda é visto como um obstáculo na migração de aplicações para a web. O lançamento do WebGL fez o Web3D ganhar uma nova força para superar esse obstáculo. As ferramentas de Arquitetura, Engenharia e Construção (AEC) são um tipo de aplicações que podem beneficiar com este avanço. Na indústria AEC, há um candidato a padrão para Building Information Modelling (BIM), chamado de Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). Este modelo de dados promove a interoperabilidade entre as ferramentas de AEC, fornecendo um formato comum às aplicações. Este trabalho surge da necessidade de redesenhar uma aplicação legada que permite ao o utilizador projetar, visualizar e calcular estruturas de edifícios. Focando na visualização de estruturas de edifícios, este trabalho funde o IFC e o WebGL numa aplicação, para replicar de forma moderna as capacidades da aplicação legada. Isto é feito através do desenvolvimento de um módulo de servidor que processa o modelo de dados IFC e um módulo de cliente que mostra esse modelo num ambiente WebGL. O resultado é um protótipo duma aplicação web capaz de visualizar modelos 3D de edifícios em formato IFC no browser sem plug-ins

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

Developing serious games for cultural heritage: a state-of-the-art review

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result, the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented

Ubiquitous volume rendering in the web platform

176 p.The main thesis hypothesis is that ubiquitous volume rendering can be achieved using WebGL. The thesis enumerates the challenges that should be met to achieve that goal. The results allow web content developers the integration of interactive volume rendering within standard HTML5 web pages. Content developers only need to declare the X3D nodes that provide the rendering characteristics they desire. In contrast to the systems that provide specific GPU programs, the presented architecture creates automatically the GPU code required by the WebGL graphics pipeline. This code is generated directly from the X3D nodes declared in the virtual scene. Therefore, content developers do not need to know about the GPU.The thesis extends previous research on web compatible volume data structures for WebGL, ray-casting hybrid surface and volumetric rendering, progressive volume rendering and some specific problems related to the visualization of medical datasets. Finally, the thesis contributes to the X3D standard with some proposals to extend and improve the volume rendering component. The proposals are in an advance stage towards their acceptance by the Web3D Consortium

Ubiquitous volume rendering in the web platform

176 p.The main thesis hypothesis is that ubiquitous volume rendering can be achieved using WebGL. The thesis enumerates the challenges that should be met to achieve that goal. The results allow web content developers the integration of interactive volume rendering within standard HTML5 web pages. Content developers only need to declare the X3D nodes that provide the rendering characteristics they desire. In contrast to the systems that provide specific GPU programs, the presented architecture creates automatically the GPU code required by the WebGL graphics pipeline. This code is generated directly from the X3D nodes declared in the virtual scene. Therefore, content developers do not need to know about the GPU.The thesis extends previous research on web compatible volume data structures for WebGL, ray-casting hybrid surface and volumetric rendering, progressive volume rendering and some specific problems related to the visualization of medical datasets. Finally, the thesis contributes to the X3D standard with some proposals to extend and improve the volume rendering component. The proposals are in an advance stage towards their acceptance by the Web3D Consortium

Serious Games in Cultural Heritage

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented

Interactive volume visualization with WebGl

Web-based applications have become increasingly popular in many areas and advances in web-based 3D graphics were made accordingly. In this context, we present a web based implementation of volume rendering using the relatively new WebGL API for interactive 3D graphics. An overview of the theoretical background of volume rendering as well as of the common approaches for a GPU implementation is given, followed by detailed description of our implementation with WebGL. Afterwards the implementation of advanced features is covered, before a short introduction to X3DOM, as a possible alternative for web based volume visualization, is given. It is the aim of this work to incorporate both basic and advanced methods of volume rendering and to achieve interactive framerates with WebGL, using the power of client-side graphics hardware. With regard to that, the result of our implementation is discussed by evaluating its performance and by comparing it to an alternative solution. Finally, we draw a conclusion of our work and point out possible future work and improvements