Studies of offshore petroleum leases using a cartoraphic data base system

An innovative system combining techniques of computer graphics and data base management has been developed at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The system is based on a CODASYL-type network data base management system. An interactive query language has been developed to allow standard data base retrievals as well as cartographic display of retrieval results. Map displays include both real-time display on a CRT terminal (such as a Tektronix 4014) and postprocessed full-color display on computer output microfilm. Since the system became operational early in 1978, it has been used in a number of ongoing studies for both the USGS and the Department of Energy (DOE). The primary application to date has been verification of the Lease, Production, and Revenue data (LPR) amassed by the USGS as part of its regulatory responsibility. Over 150 color-coded maps of offshore areas in the Gulf of Mexico have been produced for comparison with hand-drawn originals. This has proved to be an effective verification procedure, because differences between the maps are readily visible. Other current applications include provisions of both data and displays for statistical studies of bidding behavior of oil companies for both USGS and DOE projects

A study of navigation in virtual space

In the physical world, man has developed efficient methods for navigation and orientation. These methods are dependent on the high-fidelity stimuli presented by the environment. When placed in a virtual world which cannot offer stimuli of the same quality due to computing constraints and immature technology, tasks requiring the maintenance of position and orientation knowledge become laborious. In this paper, we present a representative set of techniques based on principles of navigation derived from real world analogs including human and avian navigation behavior and cartography. A preliminary classification of virtual worlds is presented based on the size of the world, the density of objects in the world, and the level of activity taking place in the world. We also summarize an informal study we performed to determine how the tools influenced the subjects' navigation strategies and behavior. We conclude that principles extracted from real world navigation aids such as maps can be seen to apply in virtual environments

Electronic tagging and tracking in marine fisheries : proceedings of the symposium on tagging and tracking marine fish with electronic devices, february 7-11-2000, east-west center, University of Hawaii/ Edit.: John R. Sibert

xiii, 468 hal.: ill, tab.; 25 cm

Effective Vibrotactile Cueing in a Visual Search Task

Abstract: This paper presents results from work we have done into the combination of visual and vibrotactile cues for improving user interaction in virtual environments. Using a custom-designed control system, the intensity of a large number of low-cost vibrational devices can be independently controlled. Our current task is to determine the parameters and design-space for providing this type of cueing to support effective HCI. In a visual search task, user performance was compared over three levels of visual cues and four levels of vibrotactile cue types, in an attempt to narrow the visual search field for locating a letter from a random display of letters. Our results confirm the work of others, showing that users perform significantly faster when given visual cues, and that in the absence of visual cues, vibrotactile cues significantly improve performance. We also found that the waveform of the vibrotactile cue does not seem to make a difference in performance. Keywords: Multi-modal, vibrotactile, empirical study, HCI.

The Effect of 3D Widget Representation and Simulated Surface Constraints on Interaction in Virtual Environments

This paper reports empirical results from two studies of effective user interaction in immersive virtual environments. The use of 2D interaction techniques in 3D environments has received increased attention recently. We introduce two new concepts to the previous techniques: the use of 3D widget representations; and the imposition of simulated surface constraints. The studies were identical in terms of treatments, but differed in the tasks performed by subjects. In both studies, we compared the use of two-dimensional (2D) versus threedimensional (3D) interface widget representations, as well as the effect of imposing simulated surface constraints on precise manipulation tasks. The first study entailed a drag-and-drop task, while the second study looked at a slider-bar task. We empirically show that using 3D widget representations can have mixed results on user performance. Furthermore, we show that simulated surface constraints can improve user performance on typical interaction tasks in the absence of a physical manipulation surface. Finally, based on these results, we make some recommendations to aid interface designers in constructing effective interfaces for virtual environments