27,221 research outputs found
Sketch-based virtual human modelling and animation
Animated virtual humans created by skilled artists play a remarkable role in todayâs public entertainment. However, ordinary users are still treated as audiences due to the lack of appropriate expertise, equipment, and computer skills. We developed a new method and a novel sketching interface, which enable anyone who can draw to âsketch-outâ 3D virtual humans and animation.
We devised a âStick FigureFleshing-outSkin Mappingâ graphical pipeline, which decomposes the complexity of figure drawing and considerably boosts the modelling and animation efficiency. We developed a gesture-based method for 3D pose reconstruction from 2D stick figure drawings. We investigated a âCreative Model-based Methodâ, which performs a human perception process to transfer usersâ 2D freehand sketches into 3D human bodies of various body sizes, shapes and fat distributions. Our current system supports character animation in various forms including articulated figure animation, 3D mesh model animation, and 2D contour/NPR animation with personalised drawing styles. Moreover, this interface also supports sketch-based crowd animation and 2D storyboarding of 3D multiple character interactions. A preliminary user study was conducted to support the overall system design. Our system has been formally tested by various users on Tablet PC. After minimal training, even a beginner can create vivid virtual humans and animate them within minutes
A New Photometric Model of the Galactic Bar using Red Clump Giants
We present a study of the luminosity density distribution of the Galactic bar
using number counts of red clump giants (RCGs) from the OGLE-III survey. The
data were recently published by Nataf et al. (2013) for 9019 fields towards the
bulge and have RC stars over a viewing area of . The data include the number counts, mean distance modulus
(), dispersion in and full error matrix, from which we fit the data
with several tri-axial parametric models. We use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo
(MCMC) method to explore the parameter space and find that the best-fit model
is the model, with the distance to the GC is 8.13 kpc, the ratio of
semi-major and semi-minor bar axis scale lengths in the Galactic plane
, and vertical bar scale length , is (close to being prolate). The scale length of the stellar
density profile along the bar's major axis is 0.67 kpc and has an angle
of , slightly larger than the value obtained from a similar study
based on OGLE-II data. The number of estimated RC stars within the field of
view is , which is systematically lower than the observed
value. We subtract the smooth parametric model from the observed counts and
find that the residuals are consistent with the presence of an X-shaped
structure in the Galactic centre, the excess to the estimated mass content is
. We estimate the total mass of the bar is . Our results can be used as a key ingredient to construct new density
models of the Milky Way and will have implications on the predictions of the
optical depth to gravitational microlensing and the patterns of hydrodynamical
gas flow in the Milky Way.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables. MNRAS accepte
Sketching-out virtual humans: From 2d storyboarding to immediate 3d character animation
Virtual beings are playing a remarkable role in todayâs public entertainment, while ordinary users are still treated as audiences due to the lack of appropriate expertise, equipment, and computer skills. In this paper, we present a fast and intuitive storyboarding interface, which enables users to sketch-out 3D virtual humans, 2D/3D animations, and character intercommunication. We devised an intuitive âstick figurefleshing-outskin mappingâ graphical animation pipeline, which realises the whole process of key framing, 3D pose reconstruction, virtual human modelling, motion path/timing control, and the final animation synthesis by almost pure 2D sketching. A âcreative model-based methodâ is developed, which emulates a human perception process, to generate the 3D human bodies of variational sizes, shapes, and fat distributions. Meanwhile, our current system also supports the sketch-based crowd animation and the storyboarding of the 3D multiple character intercommunication. This system has been formally tested by various users on Tablet PC. After minimal training, even a beginner can create vivid virtual humans and animate them within minutes
Sketching-out virtual humans: A smart interface for human modelling and animation
In this paper, we present a fast and intuitive interface for sketching out
3D virtual humans and animation. The user draws stick figure key frames first and
chooses one for âfleshing-outâ with freehand body contours. The system
automatically constructs a plausible 3D skin surface from the rendered figure, and
maps it onto the posed stick figures to produce the 3D character animation. A
âcreative model-based methodâ is developed, which performs a human perception
process to generate 3D human bodies of various body sizes, shapes and fat
distributions. In this approach, an anatomical 3D generic model has been created with
three distinct layers: skeleton, fat tissue, and skin. It can be transformed sequentially
through rigid morphing, fatness morphing, and surface fitting to match the original
2D sketch. An auto-beautification function is also offered to regularise the 3D
asymmetrical bodies from usersâ imperfect figure sketches. Our current system
delivers character animation in various forms, including articulated figure animation,
3D mesh model animation, 2D contour figure animation, and even 2D NPR animation
with personalised drawing styles. The system has been formally tested by various
users on Tablet PC. After minimal training, even a beginner can create vivid virtual
humans and animate them within minutes
Delay-dependent robust stability of stochastic delay systems with Markovian switching
In recent years, stability of hybrid stochastic delay systems, one of the important issues in the study of stochastic systems, has received considerable attention. However, the existing results do not deal with the structure of the diffusion but estimate its upper bound, which induces conservatism. This paper studies delay-dependent robust stability of hybrid stochastic delay systems. A delay-dependent criterion for robust exponential stability of hybrid stochastic delay systems is presented in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which exploits the structure of the diffusion. Numerical examples are given to verify the effectiveness and less conservativeness of the proposed method
The Structure and Clustering of Lyman Break Galaxies
The number density and clustering properties of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs)
are consistent with them being the central galaxies of the most massive dark
halos present at z~3. This conclusion holds in all currently popular
hierarchical models for structure formation, and is almost independent of the
global cosmological parameters. We examine whether the sizes, luminosities,
kinematics and star-formation rates of LBGs are also consistent with this
identification. Simple formation models tuned to give good fits to low redshift
galaxies can predict the distribution of these quantities in the LBG
population. The LBGs should be small (with typical half-light radii of 0.6-2
kpc/h), should inhabit haloes of moderately high circular velocity (180-290
km/s) but have low stellar velocity dispersions (70-120 km/s) and should have
substantial star formation rates (15-100 Msun/yr). The numbers here refer to
the predicted median values in the LBG sample of Adelberger et al. (1998); the
first assumes an Omega=1 universe and the second a flat universe with
Omega=0.3. For either cosmology these predictions are consistent with the
current (rather limited) observational data. Following the work of Kennicutt
(1998) we assume stars to form more rapidly in gas of higher surface density.
This predicts that LBG samples should preferentially contain objects with low
angular momentum, and so small size, for their mass. In contrast, samples of
damped Lyman alpha systems (DLSs), should be biased towards objects with large
angular momentum. Bright LBGs and DLSs may therefore form distinct populations,
with very different sizes and star formation rates, LBGs being smaller and more
metal-rich than DLSs of similar mass and redshift.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, MNRAS submitte
A Natural Formalism for Microlensing
If the standard microlensing geometry is inverted so that the Einstein ring
is projected onto the observer plane rather than the source plane, then the
relations between the observables (\theta_E,\tilde r_E) and the underlying
physical quantities (M,\pi_rel) become immediately obvious. Here \theta_E and
\tilde r_E are the angular and projected Einstein radii, M is the mass of the
lens, and \pi_rel is the lens-source relative parallax. I recast the basic
formalism of microlensing in light of this more natural geometry and in terms
of observables. I then find that the relations between observable and physical
quantities assume an exceptionally simple form. In an appendix, I propose a set
of notational conventions for microlensing.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure tells all. Interested parties are requested to vote
on a proposed standard for microlensing notation given in the appendix.
Submitted to Ap
Anomaly Detection for Science DMZs Using System Performance Data
Science DMZs are specialized networks that enable large-scale distributed scientific research, providing efficient and guaranteed performance while transferring large amounts of data at high rates. The high-speed performance of a Science DMZ is made viable via data transfer nodes (DTNs), therefore they are a critical point of failure. DTNs are usually monitored with network intrusion detection systems (NIDS). However, NIDS do not consider system performance data, such as network I/O interrupts and context switches, which can also be useful in revealing anomalous system performance potentially arising due to external network based attacks or insider attacks. In this paper, we demonstrate how system performance metrics can be applied towards securing a DTN in a Science DMZ network. Specifically, we evaluate the effectiveness of system performance data in detecting TCP-SYN flood attacks on a DTN using DBSCAN (a density-based clustering algorithm) for anomaly detection. Our results demonstrate that system interrupts and context switches can be used to successfully detect TCP-SYN floods, suggesting that system performance data could be effective in detecting a variety of attacks not easily detected through network monitoring alone
- âŠ