Large Scale SfM with the Distributed Camera Model

We introduce the distributed camera model, a novel model for Structure-from-Motion (SfM). This model describes image observations in terms of light rays with ray origins and directions rather than pixels. As such, the proposed model is capable of describing a single camera or multiple cameras simultaneously as the collection of all light rays observed. We show how the distributed camera model is a generalization of the standard camera model and describe a general formulation and solution to the absolute camera pose problem that works for standard or distributed cameras. The proposed method computes a solution that is up to 8 times more efficient and robust to rotation singularities in comparison with gDLS. Finally, this method is used in an novel large-scale incremental SfM pipeline where distributed cameras are accurately and robustly merged together. This pipeline is a direct generalization of traditional incremental SfM; however, instead of incrementally adding one camera at a time to grow the reconstruction the reconstruction is grown by adding a distributed camera. Our pipeline produces highly accurate reconstructions efficiently by avoiding the need for many bundle adjustment iterations and is capable of computing a 3D model of Rome from over 15,000 images in just 22 minutes.Comment: Published at 2016 3DV Conferenc

Leistungssport und österreichische Politik, Strukturen, Inhalte, Prozesse

Gegenständliche Arbeit zeigt den Zusammenhang zwischen Sport und Politik im österreichischen System

An Experimental Hybrid User Interface for Collaboration

We present EMMIE (Environment Management for Multi-user Information Environments), an experimental user interface to a collaborative augmented environment. Users share a 3D virtual space and manipulate virtual objects representing information to be discussed. This approach not only allows for cooperation in a shared physical space, but also addresses tele-collaboration in physically separate but virtually shared spaces. We refer to EMMIE as a hybrid user interface because it combines a variety of different technologies and techniques, including virtual elements such as 3D widgets, and physical objects such as tracked displays and input devices. See-through head-worn displays overlay the virtual environment on the physical environment. Our research prototype includes additional 2D and 3D displays, ranging from palm-sized to wall-sized, allowing the most appropriate one to be used for any task. Objects can be moved among displays (including across dimensionalities) through drag & drop. In analogy to 2D window managers, we describe a prototype implementation of a shared 3Denvironment manager that is distributed across displays, machines, and operating systems. We also discuss two methods we are exploring for handling information privacy in such an environment

The differential expression of alternatively polyadenylated transcripts is a common stress-induced response mechanism that modulates mammalian mRNA expression in a quantitative and qualitative fashion

Stress adaptation plays a pivotal role in biological processes and requires tight regulation of gene expression. In this study, we explored the effect of cellular stress on mRNA polyadenylation and investigated the implications of regulated polyadenylation site usage on mammalian gene expression. High-confidence polyadenylation site mapping combined with global pre-mRNA and mRNA expression profiling revealed that stress induces an accumulation of genes with differentially expressed polyadenylated mRNA isoforms in human cells. Specifically, stress provokes a global trend in polyadenylation site usage toward decreased utilization of promoter-proximal poly(A) sites in introns or ORFs and increased utilization of promoter-distal polyadenylation sites in intergenic regions. This extensively affects gene expression beyond regulating mRNA abundance by changing mRNA length and by altering the configuration of open reading frames. Our study highlights the impact of post-transcriptional mechanisms on stress-dependent gene regulation and reveals the differential expression of alternatively polyadenylated transcripts as a common stress-induced mechanism in mammalian cells

A Theoretical Model of Augmented Reality Acceptance in Urban Cultural Heritage Tourism

Latest mobile technologies have revolutionised the way people experience their environment. Recent research explored the opportunities of using augmented reality (AR) in order to enhance the user experience however, there is only limited research on users’ acceptance of AR in the tourism context. The technology acceptance model is the predominant theory for researching technology acceptance. Previous researchers used the approach of proposing external dimensions based on secondary literature; however missed the opportunity to integrate context specific dimensions. This paper therefore aims to propose an AR acceptance model in the context of urban heritage tourism. Five focus groups, with young British female tourists visiting Dublin and experiencing a mobile AR application, were conducted. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and revealed seven dimensions that should be incorporated into AR acceptance research including information quality, system quality, costs of use, recommendations, personal innovativeness and risk as well as facilitating conditions

Untranslated parts of genes interpreted: making heads or tails of high-throughput transcriptomic data via computational methods

The fate of eukaryotic transcripts is closely linked to their untranslated regions, which are determined by where transcription starts and ends on a genomic locus. The extent of alternative transcription start and alternative poly-adenylation has been revealed by sequencing methods focused on the ends of transcripts, but the application of these methods is not yet widely adopted by the community. In this review we highlight the importance of defining the untranslated parts of transcripts and suggest that computational methods applied to standard high-throughput technologies are a useful alternative to the expertise-demanding 5’ and 3’ sequencing. We present a number of computational approaches for the discovery and quantification of alternative transcription start and poly-adenylation events, focusing on technical challenges and arguing for the need to include better normalization of the data and more appropriate statistical models of the expected variation in the signal