Peripheral visual cues and their effect on the perception of egocentric depth in virtual and augmented environments

The underestimation of depth in virtual environments at mediumield distances is a well studied phenomenon. However, the degree by which underestimation occurs varies widely from one study to the next, with some studies reporting as much as 68% underestimation in distance and others with as little as 6% (Thompson et al. [38] and Jones et al. [14]). In particular, the study detailed in Jones et al. [14] found a surprisingly small underestimation effect in a virtual environment (VE) and no effect in an augmented environment (AE). These are highly unusual results when compared to the large body of existing work in virtual and augmented distance judgments [16, 31, 36–38, 40–43]. The series of experiments described in this document attempted to determine the cause of these unusual results. Specifically, Experiment I aimed to determine if the experimental design was a factor and also to determine if participants were improving their performance throughout the course of the experiment. Experiment II analyzed two possible sources of implicit feedback in the experimental procedures and identified visual information available in the lower periphery as a key source of feedback. Experiment III analyzed distance estimation when all peripheral visual information was eliminated. Experiment IV then illustrated that optical flow in a participant’s periphery is a key factor in facilitating improved depth judgments in both virtual and augmented environments. Experiment V attempted to further reduce cues in the periphery by removing a strongly contrasting white surveyor’s tape from the center of the hallway, and found that participants continued to significantly adapt even when given very sparse peripheral cues. The final experiment, Experiment VI, found that when participants’ views are restricted to the field-of-view of the screen area on the return walk, adaptation still occurs in both virtual and augmented environments

Expanding the Practice of Newsmaking Criminology to Enlist Criminologists, Criminal Justicians, and Social Workers in Shaping Discussions of School Violence: A Review of School Shootings from 1992-2013

Newsmaking criminology argues that criminologists should interpret, influence, and even shape the direction of newsworthy information about crime and justice to the extent that they aggressively make their presence known by engaging the media. This article calls for an expansion in the practice of newsmaking criminology to also include criminal justicians, as well as social workers when it comes to the issue of school violence. Recently, a number of shootings have occurred on school campuses in rural, urban, and suburban America. When these shootings are reported, they quickly become politicized and generate widespread attention from parents, law enforcement, politicians, community activists, and policy-makers. However, what appears to be missing from the discussion is input from criminologists, criminal justicians, and social workers who could bring a wealth of knowledge and understanding to these atrocities. This study used a random sample of 129 items from over a twenty-one year period in a content analysis to categorize the spokespersons used by the mass media to discuss school violence and school shootings

For Want of (not) Measuring

"For Want of (not) Measuring" brings together artists Jim Hobbs and Patrick Adam Jones who explore the problematic and poetic use of systems and measurement within their work. Whereas measurement often focuses on quantitative results, the two artists instead choose a more metaphysical approach to exploit the corporeal use of measuring apparatuses to subvert their intended outcome. Surveying sticks, physical grids, light meters (amongst many other tools) are all used to point out the futility, absurdity and impossibility of truly knowing the world around us. For this exhibition, both artists will present new work including drawings, photographs, objects, sound, and a film/video installation

A Tri-state Investigation of Firearms Confiscation on Three Regional University Campuses

While the use of firearms is pronounced throughout the US, there are few studies that address the availability of firearms on university campuses in states that are adjacent to each other. This study uses a five-year longitudinal design to investigate three universities that were randomly selected in the neighboring states of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina to examine the extent of firearm confiscation by public safety officers. In the final analysis, we conclude that unless viable strategies that target preventing firearms used in domestic violence, alleviating access to guns, and addressing mental health illnesses among college students are created to effectively confiscate firearms on university campuses, deadly violence could become an inevitable occurrence

Police Violence Against Black Protesters: A Public Health Issue

With the increased number of documented cases of violence perpetrated by police against protesters of the Black Lives Matter movement, public health officials are starting to list police violence as a health risk or a public health issue for black Americans. Using several timely theoretical explanations, we explore reasons why law enforcement officers routinely inflict violence against black protesters and avoid criminal stigma. Although police use of excessive force and untimely killings of blacks have always been criminal justice issues, the number of negative health consequences that are emerging after violent police confrontations implicates public health concerns. We argue that several strategies can be used to reduce police violence in the future

Challenges Faced by the Clayton County, Georgia Public Defender’s Office

While the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees indigent defendant’s legal representation in state and federal courts, public defenders’ offices are challenged by the lack of resources to represent an endless flow of clients, attract and retain talented counsel, enlist the help of expert witnesses, as well as deliver the best quality defense. This study addresses the daily strain of defending clients who are not always the most cooperative in helping their own defense, but it also reveals the struggles and challenges faced by an urban southern public defender’s office and what changes need to be implemented to improve the public defender system. In the end, this study finds that public defender programs need adequate funding to fully deliver a quality legal defense

The Spectra of T Dwarfs I: Near-Infrared Data and Spectral Classification

We present near-infrared spectra for a sample of T dwarfs, including eleven new discoveries made using the Two Micron All Sky Survey. These objects are distinguished from warmer (L-type) brown dwarfs by the presence of methane absorption bands in the 1--2.5 \micron spectral region. A first attempt at a near-infrared classification scheme for T dwarfs is made, based on the strengths of CH$_4$ and H$_2$O bands and the shapes of the 1.25, 1.6, and 2.1 \micron flux peaks. Subtypes T1 V through T8 V are defined, and spectral indices useful for classification are presented. The subclasses appear to follow a decreasing T$_{eff}$ scale, based on the evolution of CH$_4$ and H$_2$O bands and the properties of L and T dwarfs with known distances. However, we speculate that this scale is not linear with spectral type for cool dwarfs, due to the settling of dust layers below the photosphere and subsequent rapid evolution of spectral morphology around T$_{eff}$ $\sim$ 1300--1500 K. Similarities in near-infrared colors and continuity of spectral features suggest that the gap between the latest L dwarfs and earliest T dwarfs has been nearly bridged. This argument is strengthened by the possible role of CH$_4$ as a minor absorber shaping the K-band spectra of the latest L dwarfs. Finally, we discuss one peculiar T dwarf, 2MASS 0937+2931, which has very blue near-infrared colors (J-K$_s$ = $-0.89\pm$0.24) due to suppression of the 2.1 \micron peak. The feature is likely caused by enhanced collision-induced H$_2$ absorption in a high pressure or low metallicity photosphere.Comment: 74 pages including 26 figures, accepted by ApJ v563 December 2001; full paper including all of Table 3 may be downloaded from http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~pa/adam/classification ;also see submission 010844