Realistic natural atmospheric phenomena and weather effects for interactive virtual environments.

Clouds and the weather are important aspects of any natural outdoor scene, but existing dynamic techniques within computer graphics only offer the simplest of cloud representations. The problem that this work looks to address is how to provide a means of simulating clouds and weather features such as precipitation, that are suitable for virtual environments. Techniques for cloud simulation are available within the area of meteorology, but numerical weather prediction systems are computationally expensive, give more numerical accuracy than we require for graphics and are restricted to the laws of physics. Within computer graphics, we often need to direct and adjust physical features or to bend reality to meet artistic goals, which is a key difference between the subjects of computer graphics and physical science. Pure physicallybased simulations, however, evolve their solutions according to pre-set rules and are notoriously difficult to control. The challenge then is for the solution to be computationally lightweight and able to be directed in some measure while at the same time producing believable results. This work presents a lightweight physically-based cloud simulation scheme that simulates the dynamic properties of cloud formation and weather effects. The system simulates water vapour, cloud water, cloud ice, rain, snow and hail. The water model incorporates control parameters and the cloud model uses an arbitrary vertical temperature profile, with a tool described to allow the user to define this. The result of this work is that clouds can now be simulated in near real-time complete with precipitation. The temperature profile and tool then provide a means of directing the resulting formation

Developing an Accessible 3D Printing Pipeline

Digital technology provides an opportunity for people with disabilities to be involved in artistic activities, such as virtual sculpting whose output can be fabricated using 3D printing. Existing accessible solutions, however, present mainly a set of separate tools rather than a whole cohesive production pipeline which takes into an account the specific needs of the user group. Challenges include accessible user interfaces for all pipeline steps, suitable shape modelling operations, ”3D Print” button and model data formats that require no post-processing or clean-up operations for the Direct Fabrication step. In this paper we discuss an accessible pipeline which includes 3D modelling and 3D printing, providing an example of a 3D modelling system with developed special-purpose applications allowing children with complex disabilities to participate in sculpting activities through accessible interfaces such as eye-gaze control

Virtual sculpting and 3D printing for young people with disabilities

In this paper, we present the SHIVA project which was designed to provide virtual sculpting tools for young people with complex disabilities, to allow them to engage with artistic and creative activities that they might otherwise never be able to access. Modern 3D printing then allows us to physically build their creations. To achieve this, we combined our expertise in education, accessible technology, user interfaces and geometric modelling. We built a generic accessible graphical user interface (GUI) and a suitable geometric modelling system and used these to produce two prototype modelling exercises. These tools were deployed in a school for students with complex disabilities and are now being used for a variety of educational and developmental purposes. In this paper, we present the project's motivations, approach and implementation details together with initial results, including 3D printed objects designed by young people who have disabilties

"Why do we not buy mass customised products?" - An investigation of consumer purchase intention of mass customised products

© 2019 University of Novi Sad. Mass customisation has become a prospective business strategy for many industries. Despite the great efforts that have been put into implementing product configuration systems (e.g., NikeID), the Deloitte Consumer Review 2019 indicated that nearly half of consumers still prefer to buy mass produced products. Another study by Khan and Haasis (2016) also concluded that the increase in mass customisation has led to a decline in customer satisfaction of the sales process. Given these considerations, this paper aims to investigate, from the consumer's perspective, the factors that influence consumer purchase intention of online mass customised products. The primary contribution of this study is that we found in addition to price and design freedom, website information quality and the visual presentation of customisable products have significant influences on consumer purchase intention. Specifically, participants preferred to have intuitive and sufficient information as well as a 3D visualisation of the products to help them understand what the customisation options are, how to interact with them and to see a full view of the final products. In addition, we found participants responded differently to new companies and well-established companies. Here, lack of trust is one of the main reasons stopping consumers from purchasing mass customised products from new companies; while for well established companies consumer individual differences especially their personal preference is more determinant. Accordingly, we suggest that new startup companies and well-established companies should take different strategies to attract potential consumers

3D Mass Customization Toolkits Design, Part I: Survey and an Evaluation Model

Mass customization (MC) allows consumers to design their own products or services through online MC toolkits. The application of geometric modeling through modern web-browsers allows for the presentation of a virtual 3D product, resulting in a number of commercial 3D MC sites. To gain a deeper understanding of the toolkits that drive these sites, this article provides a comprehensive investigation into web-based toolkit design. Based on this review, an evaluation model for 3D MC toolkits is proposed that considers four aspects: Individual Differences, Solution Space, Interaction Design and Enabling Technologies. This leads to a follow-up article that applies the 3D toolkit evaluation model to assess commercial 3D toolkits which are available on the current market

"Why do we buy mass customised products?"-consumer's perspective of success factors for online mass customisation

Mass customisation has become a prospective business strategy for many industries. Despite the great efforts that have been put into producing such systems (e.g., NikeID), a survey indicated that nearly half of consumers still prefer to buy mass produced products [8]. Another study also concluded the increase in mass customisation has led to a decline in customer satisfaction of the sales process [9]. Given these considerations, this paper aims to, from the consumer’s perspective, investigate the factors influencing consumer purchase intention of online mass customisation. Overall, 15 participants were invited to customise a product using one of the selected websites and one-to-one interviews were conducted afterwards. We have found that consumer purchase intention is influenced by multiple factors and price is the primary concern. Based on the interview results, strategies have been given for both new start-up companies and companies that are already strongly established to employ mass customisation. These findings help us learn about the consumer experience of mass customisation and contribute to the implementation of best practices for mass customisation

3D Mass Customization Toolkits Design, Part II: Heuristic Evaluation of Online Toolkits.

Web-based 3D toolkits create a virtual product environment in Mass Customization (MC) sites, allowing consumers to design their own products or services. A large amount of effort has clearly been expended to build a number of commercial web-based 3D MC systems, but few studies have been conducted to evaluate them, especially their toolkit design. In this paper we take a practical perspective and apply an Online 3D Mass Customization Toolkit Evaluation Model, proposed in our previous study [25], to evaluate four commercial web-based 3D toolkits. This evaluation indicates that current 3D toolkits are still at an early development stage and there are opportunities for improvement. We therefore conclude by identifying a number of open research questions in terms of solution space design, interaction design, enabling technologies and individual differences

Accessible digital assessments of temporal, spatial or movement concepts for profoundly motor impaired and non-verbal individuals: a pilot study

Purpose: Here we present a study of two new Assistive Technology (AT) accessible digital assessments which were developed to address the current paucity of (English) spoken language comprehension assessments accessible to individuals who are both non-verbal and have profound motor impairments. Such individuals may rely heavily upon AT for communication and control. However, many assessments require that responses are given either verbally, by physical pointing or manipulating physical objects. A further problem with many assessments is their reliance upon static images to represent language components involving temporal, spatial or movement concepts. These new assessments aim to address some of these issues. Materials and methods: The assessments were used with 2 young people who are non-verbal and have profound motor impairments (GMFCS level IV/V) and who use eye gaze as their primary method of communication and access. One assessment uses static images and the other short video clips to represent concepts containing temporal, spatial or movement elements. The assessments were carried out with each participant, both before and after an intervention, as part of a larger study. Results: The assessments were accessible using AT (eye gaze) for both participants, although assessment scores varied. The design of the assessments particularly suited one participant who scored near maximum, but they appeared less suitable for the other participant. Conclusions: Making assessments AT accessible removes a barrier to assessing aspects of the spoken language comprehension abilities of some. Video may be a better medium for representing certain concepts within assessments compared with static images

Approaches to nurturing undergraduate research in the creative industries - a UK multi-institutional exploration

Undergraduate students aspiring to pursue careers in the creative industries, such as animation, video games, and computer art, require the ability to adapt and contribute to emerging and disruptive technologies. The cultivation of research skills fosters this adaptability and innovation, which is why research skills are considered important by employers. Promoting undergraduate research in computer graphics and related techniques is therefore necessary to ensure that students graduate not only with the vocational but also with the advanced research skills desired by the creative industries. This paper describes pedagogical approaches to nurturing undergraduate research across teaching, learning and through extracurricular activities - pioneered at three UK Higher Education Institutions. Providing observations, we are sharing educational strategies - reflecting on pedagogic experiences of supporting undergraduate research projects, many of which are practice-based. With this paper, we aim to contribute to a wider discussion around challenges and opportunities of student-led research

Modeling and Visualization of Multi-material Volumes

The terminology of multi-material volumes is discussed. The classification of the multi-material volumes is given from the spatial partitions, spatial domain for material distribution, types of involved scalar fields and types of models for material distribution and composition of several materials points of view. In addition to the technical challenges of multi-material volume representations, a range of key challenges are considered before such representations can be adopted as mainstream practice