Realtime 3D graphics programming using the Quake3 engine

We present a lab assignment that accompanies a complete module called Real-time Graphics . The students task is to get familiar with content creation and programming a (previously) commercial 3D engine. In a first task, students have to create 3D content, which is integrated into the Quake3 engine. In a second task, the students have to implement a simple animation and finally add an impressive 3D graphics effect to the Quake3 engine. The lecture has been taught four times from 2004 to 2007. We present the assignment and report on experiences that we have gained

Why Industrial Salespeople Dread Selling Digital Innovations: Understanding the Role of Fear of Losing Face

This study aims to understand why established salespeople lack success in selling digital innovations and to identify whether uncovered phenomena are expandable beyond the digital innovation context and if distinct measures can be developed in that regard. Finally, this research intends to offer managerial levers and insights to academia on how to alleviate potential issues in terms of selling digital innovations. To this end, the study begins with a literature review on the research fields of digital innovation and innovation selling. Examining key results of extant research in these fields reveals the foundational research void of a large disconnect between these two streams. In addition, the second part of the literature review explains this study’s key construct and its origin from a general conceptual standpoint. Three empirical studies are subsequently conducted. First, Zeithaml et al.’s (2020) theory developing theories-in-use (TIU) approach is employed for an initial exploratory study. Drawing on 59 interviews with experts from two international manufacturers, this study identifies a mechanism that extant literature has not explored. That is, established industrial salespeople often refrain from digital innovation selling because they are afraid to lose their face when interacting with customers. Second, drawing on 10 in-depth interviews with salespeople and managers from another global manufacturer, the subsequent empirical study provides an in-depth understanding of salespeople’s fear of losing face and its development process. The study indicates that the mechanism of fear of losing face is not only limited to the context of digital innovations but also appears in the broader context of innovation selling. Third, an additional study examines whether salespeople’s fear of losing face can be distinctly measured and if the conceptual propositions are confirmable on quantitative bases. Based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with data from 204 participants, the findings indicate that fear of losing face can be measured with strong construct validity by a scale of 10 items. In addition, the results of a structural equation modeling analysis offer nomological validity conveying that the conceptual propositions regarding the emergence of salespeople’s fear of losing face are mainly confirmed. Based on these empirical studies, this study offers several contributions to academia. Additionally, the study provides concrete guidance for manufacturers that are troubled by digital innovation selling and innovation selling in general. Finally, the present study offers several impulses for further research and possesses certain limitations

Adaptive User Perspective Rendering for Handheld Augmented Reality

Handheld Augmented Reality commonly implements some variant of magic lens rendering, which turns only a fraction of the user's real environment into AR while the rest of the environment remains unaffected. Since handheld AR devices are commonly equipped with video see-through capabilities, AR magic lens applications often suffer from spatial distortions, because the AR environment is presented from the perspective of the camera of the mobile device. Recent approaches counteract this distortion based on estimations of the user's head position, rendering the scene from the user's perspective. To this end, approaches usually apply face-tracking algorithms on the front camera of the mobile device. However, this demands high computational resources and therefore commonly affects the performance of the application beyond the already high computational load of AR applications. In this paper, we present a method to reduce the computational demands for user perspective rendering by applying lightweight optical flow tracking and an estimation of the user's motion before head tracking is started. We demonstrate the suitability of our approach for computationally limited mobile devices and we compare it to device perspective rendering, to head tracked user perspective rendering, as well as to fixed point of view user perspective rendering

Computer-aided position planning of miniplates to treat facial bone defects

In this contribution, a software system for computer-aided position planning of miniplates to treat facial bone defects is proposed. The intra-operatively used bone plates have to be passively adapted on the underlying bone contours for adequate bone fragment stabilization. However, this procedure can lead to frequent intra-operatively performed material readjustments especially in complex surgical cases. Our approach is able to fit a selection of common implant models on the surgeon's desired position in a 3D computer model. This happens with respect to the surrounding anatomical structures, always including the possibility of adjusting both the direction and the position of the used osteosynthesis material. By using the proposed software, surgeons are able to pre-plan the out coming implant in its form and morphology with the aid of a computer-visualized model within a few minutes. Further, the resulting model can be stored in STL file format, the commonly used format for 3D printing. Using this technology, surgeons are able to print the virtual generated implant, or create an individually designed bending tool. This method leads to adapted osteosynthesis materials according to the surrounding anatomy and requires further a minimum amount of money and time.Comment: 19 pages, 13 Figures, 2 Table

Design Patterns for Situated Visualization in Augmented Reality

Situated visualization has become an increasingly popular research area in the visualization community, fueled by advancements in augmented reality (AR) technology and immersive analytics. Visualizing data in spatial proximity to their physical referents affords new design opportunities and considerations not present in traditional visualization, which researchers are now beginning to explore. However, the AR research community has an extensive history of designing graphics that are displayed in highly physical contexts. In this work, we leverage the richness of AR research and apply it to situated visualization. We derive design patterns which summarize common approaches of visualizing data in situ. The design patterns are based on a survey of 293 papers published in the AR and visualization communities, as well as our own expertise. We discuss design dimensions that help to describe both our patterns and previous work in the literature. This discussion is accompanied by several guidelines which explain how to apply the patterns given the constraints imposed by the real world. We conclude by discussing future research directions that will help establish a complete understanding of the design of situated visualization, including the role of interactivity, tasks, and workflows.Comment: To appear in IEEE VIS 202