VIGITIA: Unterstützung von alltäglichen Tätigkeiten an Tischen durch Projected AR

Im BMBF-Projekt VIGITIA wollen wir herausfinden, wie projizierte AR-Inhalte physische Aktionen und Interaktionen an Tischen unterstützen und erweitern können. Dazu untersuchen wir, wie Tische im Alltag und in kreativen Domänen genutzt werden. Darauf aufbauend entwickeln wir Interaktionstechniken und digitale Werkzeuge zur Unterstützung dieser Aktivitäten. Insbesondere untersuchen wir, wie persönliche digitale Geräte integriert werden können, und wie mehrere voneinander entfernte Tischoberflächen generisch virtuell verbunden werden können. Ein besonderes Augenmerk gilt auch der Entwicklung von alltagstauglichen technischen Lösungen zur Projektion von Inhalten und zur kamerabasierten Objekterkennung. Dieses Positionspapier stellt unsere Motivationen, Ziele und Methoden vor. Ein Szenario illustriert die angestrebten Nutzungsmöglichkeiten

SurfaceCast: Ubiquitous, Cross-Device Surface Sharing

Real-time online interaction is the norm today. Tabletops and other dedicated interactive surface devices with direct input and tangible interaction can enhance remote collaboration, and open up new interaction scenarios based on mixed physical/virtual components. However, they are only available to a small subset of users, as they usually require identical bespoke hardware for every participant, are complex to setup, and need custom scenario-specific applications. We present SurfaceCast, a software toolkit designed to merge multiple distributed, heterogeneous end-user devices into a single, shared mixed-reality surface. Supported devices include regular desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and mixed-reality headsets, as well as projector-camera setups and dedicated interactive tabletop systems. This device-agnostic approach provides a fundamental building block for exploration of a far wider range of usage scenarios than previously feasible, including future clients using our provided API. In this paper, we discuss the software architecture of SurfaceCast, present a formative user study and a quantitative performance analysis of our framework, and introduce five example application scenarios which we enhance through the multi-user and multi-device features of the framework. Our results show that the hardware- and content-agnostic architecture of SurfaceCast can run on a wide variety of devices with sufficient performance and fidelity for real-time interaction

Platelet GPIIb supports initial pulmonary retention but inhibits subsequent proliferation of melanoma cells during hematogenic metastasis

Platelets modulate the process of cancer metastasis. However, current knowledge on the direct interaction of platelets and tumor cells is mostly based on findings obtained in vitro. We addressed the role of the platelet fibrinogen receptor glycoprotein IIb (integrin alpha IIb) for experimental melanoma metastasis in vivo. Highly metastatic B16-D5 melanoma cells were injected intravenously into GPIIb-deficient (GPIIb(-/-)) or wildtype (WT) mice. Acute accumulation of tumor cells in the pulmonary vasculature was assessed in real-time by confocal videofluorescence microscopy. Arrest of tumor cells was dramatically reduced in GPIIb(-/-) mice as compared to WT. Importantly, we found that mainly multicellular aggregates accumulated in the pulmonary circulation of WT, instead B16-D5 aggregates were significantly smaller in GPIIb(-/-) mice. While pulmonary arrest of melanoma was clearly dependent on GPIIb in this early phase of metastasis, we also addressed tumor progression 10 days after injection. Inversely, and unexpectedly, we found that melanoma metastasis was now increased in GPIIb(-/-) mice. In contrast, GPIIb did not regulate local melanoma proliferation in a subcutaneous tumor model. Our data suggest that the platelet fibrinogen receptor has a differential role in the modulation of hematogenic melanoma metastasis. While platelets clearly support early steps in pulmonary metastasis via GPIIb-dependent formation of platelet-tumor-aggregates, at a later stage its absence is associated with an accelerated development of melanoma metastases

An LED-based multitouch sensor for LCD screens

In recent years, a large number of multitouch sensor concepts have been presented. Particularly optical sensors are highly popular due to their versatility. However, especially camera-based systems often require a significant amount of space behind the screen and are not well suited to flatscreen-based setups. While integrated sensors for flatscreens have already been presented, they are mostly complex, expensive or both. To address these problems, a novel type of multitouch sensor is presented which extends a common LCD monitor with multitouch capabilities without significant depth requirements. The sensor consists of a homogeneous matrix of cheap, mass-produced infrared LEDs. The LCD surface remains unmodified, resulting in a pleasant haptic experience for the user