Design and Evaluation of 3D Positioning Techniques for Multi-touch Displays

Multi-touch displays represent a promising technology for the display and manipulation of 3D data. To fully exploit their capabilities, appropriate interaction techniques must be designed. In this paper, we explore the design of free 3D positioning techniques for multi-touch displays to exploit the additional degrees of freedom provided by this technology. We present a first interaction technique to extend the standard four viewports technique found in commercial CAD applications and a second technique designed to allow free 3D positioning with a single view of the scene. The two techniques were then evaluated in a controlled experiment. Results show no statistical difference for the positioning time but a clear preference for the Z-technique

How can existing ground-based profiling instruments improve European weather forecasts?

Observations of profiles of winds, aerosol, clouds, winds, temperature and humidity in the lowest few km of the atmosphere from networks of ceilometers, Doppler wind lidars and microwave radiometers are starting to flow in real time to forecasting centers in Europe. To realise the promise of improved predictions of hazardous weather such as flash floods, wind storms, fog and poor air quality from high-resolution mesoscale models, the forecast models must be initialized with an accurate representation of the current state of the atmosphere, but the lowest few km are hardly accessible by satellite, especially in dynamically-active conditions. We report on recent European developments in the exploitation of existing ground-based profiling instruments so that they are networked and able to send data in real-time to forecast centers. The three classes of instruments are: (i) Automatic lidars and ceilometers providing backscatter profiles of clouds, aerosols, dust, fog and volcanic ash, the last two being especially important for air traffic control; (ii) Doppler wind lidars deriving profiles of wind, turbulence, wind shear, wind-gusts and low-level jets; and (iii) Microwave radiometers estimating profiles of temperature and humidity in nearly all weather conditions. Twenty-two European countries and fifteen European National Weather Services are collaborating in the project, that involves the implementation of common operating procedures, instrument calibrations, data formats and retrieval algorithms. Currently, data from 220 ceilometers in 17 countries are being distributed in near real-time to national weather forecast centers; this should soon rise to many hundreds. The wind lidars should start delivering real time data in late 2018, and the plan is to incorporate the microwave radiometers in 2019. Initial data assimilation tests indicate a positive impact of the new data

Imbalanced Lignin Biosynthesis Promotes the Sexual Reproduction of Homothallic Oomycete Pathogens

Lignin is incorporated into plant cell walls to maintain plant architecture and to ensure long-distance water transport. Lignin composition affects the industrial value of plant material for forage, wood and paper production, and biofuel technologies. Industrial demands have resulted in an increase in the use of genetic engineering to modify lignified plant cell wall composition. However, the interaction of the resulting plants with the environment must be analyzed carefully to ensure that there are no undesirable side effects of lignin modification. We show here that Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with impaired 5-hydroxyguaiacyl O-methyltransferase (known as caffeate O-methyltransferase; COMT) function were more susceptible to various bacterial and fungal pathogens. Unexpectedly, asexual sporulation of the downy mildew pathogen, Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis, was impaired on these mutants. Enhanced resistance to downy mildew was not correlated with increased plant defense responses in comt1 mutants but coincided with a higher frequency of oomycete sexual reproduction within mutant tissues. Comt1 mutants but not wild-type Arabidopsis accumulated soluble 2-O-5-hydroxyferuloyl-l-malate. The compound weakened mycelium vigor and promoted sexual oomycete reproduction when applied to a homothallic oomycete in vitro. These findings suggested that the accumulation of 2-O-5-hydroxyferuloyl-l-malate accounted for the observed comt1 mutant phenotypes during the interaction with H. arabidopsidis. Taken together, our study shows that an artificial downregulation of COMT can drastically alter the interaction of a plant with the biotic environment

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Etude de l'infuence de la séparation des degrés de liberté pour la manipulation 3-D à l'aide de surfaces tactiles multipoints

Invented in the mid-1980s, we are currently witnessing large-scale development of multitouch interfaces. Compared with the traditional mouse, multitouch displays require rethinking from scratch interaction techniques in order to understand the changes brought by this technology and formulate new theories. Manipulating three-dimensional (3-D) objects require the control of six degrees of freedom. Three are responsible for the object's position and three control the orientation. In this work, we focused on 3-D manipulation of an object using multitouch displays. Specifically, we studied the relationship between the input device (the multitouch display) and the task (3-D manipulation). First, we introduced a taxonomy for the representation of 3-D interaction techniques specific to multitouch displays. This taxonomy allowed us to highlight the influence of design strategies in terms of integration of degrees of freedom. Subsequently, we conducted a study of interaction techniques for 3-D positioning of an object. We presented two new techniques, which take advantage of capabilities offered by multitouch displays. The evaluation of these techniques revealed us results regarding the user coordination in realizing the task. Finally, we introduced a new interaction technique to handle 3-D manipulation. This technique was evaluated faster than existing techniques and we were able to determine the reasons for the improved performance. This work, which focus on the user coordination when using multitouch displays to perform 3-D tasks, recommend an approach that favors the separation of degrees of free- dom, in order to parallelize the user actions so as to take advantage of the extra input bandwidth offered by this type of input devices.Inventées au milieu des années 1980, nous assistons actuellement au développement à grande échelle des interfaces tactiles multipoints. Par comparaison avec la souris, les écrans multipoints nécessitent un nouveau processus d'étude afin de comprendre les changements apportés par cette technologie. Le travail déjà effectué avec d'autres périphériques d'entrée doit être repris à zéro afin de formuler de nouvelles théories pour la création d'interfaces tactiles multipoints. La manipulation à trois dimensions (3-D) d'un objet nécessite le contrôle de six degrés de liberté. Trois sont responsables de la position de l'objet et trois contrôlent son orientation. Dans ce mémoire, nous nous focalisons sur la manipulation 3-D d'un objet à l'aide de surfaces tactiles multipoints. Plus précisément, nous avons étudié le lien entre le périphérique d'entrée (ici la surface multipoint) et la tâche à effectuer (ici la manipulation 3-D). En premier lieu, nous avons introduit une taxonomie pour la représentation des techniques d'interaction 3-D spécifiques aux écrans multipoints. Cette taxonomie nous a permis de mettre en avant l'influence des stratégies de conception des techniques en termes d'intégration de degrés de liberté. Par la suite, nous avons mené une étude concernant les techniques d'interactions permettant le positionnement 3-D d'un objet. Nous avons présenté deux nouvelles techniques, tirant profit des capacités offertes par les écrans multipoints. L'évaluation de ces techniques nous révéla des conclusions quant à la coordination de l'utilisateur dans la réalisation de la tâche. Enfin, nous avons introduit une nouvelle technique d'interaction de manipulation 3-D. Cette technique a été évaluée plus rapide que les techniques existantes et nous avons pu déterminer les raisons expliquant cette performance accrue. Ces travaux, qui s'intéressent à la coordination de l'utilisateur lors de la réalisation de tâches 3-D à l'aide de surfaces multipoints, recommandent une approche favorisant la séparation des degrés de liberté, dans le but de pouvoir paralléliser les actions de l'utilisateur afin de tirer profit de la bande passante d'entrée plus importante offerte par les écrans multipoints

Study of the influence of the separation of degrees of freedom for 3-D manipulation using multitouch displays

Inventées au milieu des années 1980, nous assistons actuellement au développement à grande échelle des interfaces tactiles multipoints. Par comparaison avec la souris, les écrans multipoints nécessitent un nouveau processus d'étude afin de comprendre les changements apportés par cette technologie. Le travail déjà effectué avec d'autres périphériques d'entrée doit être repris à zéro afin de formuler de nouvelles théories pour la création d'interfaces tactiles multipoints. La manipulation à trois dimensions (3-D) d'un objet nécessite le contrôle de six degrés de liberté. Trois sont responsables de la position de l'objet et trois contrôlent son orientation. Dans ce mémoire, nous nous focalisons sur la manipulation 3-D d'un objet à l'aide de surfaces tactiles multipoints. Plus précisément, nous avons étudié le lien entre le périphérique d'entrée (ici la surface multipoint) et la tâche à effectuer (ici la manipulation 3-D). En premier lieu, nous avons introduit une taxonomie pour la représentation des techniques d'interaction 3-D spécifiques aux écrans multipoints. Cette taxonomie nous a permis de mettre en avant l'influence des stratégies de conception des techniques en termes d'intégration de degrés de liberté. Par la suite, nous avons mené une étude concernant les techniques d'interactions permettant le positionnement 3-D d'un objet. Nous avons présenté deux nouvelles techniques, tirant profit des capacités offertes par les écrans multipoints. L'évaluation de ces techniques nous révéla des conclusions quant à la coordination de l'utilisateur dans la réalisation de la tâche. Enfin, nous avons introduit une nouvelle technique d'interaction de manipulation 3-D. Cette technique a été évaluée plus rapide que les techniques existantes et nous avons pu déterminer les raisons expliquant cette performance accrue. Ces travaux, qui s'intéressent à la coordination de l'utilisateur lors de la réalisation de tâches 3-D à l'aide de surfaces multipoints, recommandent une approche favorisant la séparation des degrés de liberté, dans le but de pouvoir paralléliser les actions de l'utilisateur afin de tirer profit de la bande passante d'entrée plus importante offerte par les écrans multipoints.Invented in the mid-1980s, we are currently witnessing large-scale development of multitouch interfaces. Compared with the traditional mouse, multitouch displays require rethinking from scratch interaction techniques in order to understand the changes brought by this technology and formulate new theories. Manipulating three-dimensional (3-D) objects require the control of six degrees of freedom. Three are responsible for the object's position and three control the orientation. In this work, we focused on 3-D manipulation of an object using multitouch displays. Specifically, we studied the relationship between the input device (the multitouch display) and the task (3-D manipulation). First, we introduced a taxonomy for the representation of 3-D interaction techniques specific to multitouch displays. This taxonomy allowed us to highlight the influence of design strategies in terms of integration of degrees of freedom.Subsequently, we conducted a study of interaction techniques for 3-D positioning of an object. We presented two new techniques, which take advantage of capabilities offered by multitouch displays. The evaluation of these techniques revealed us results regarding the user coordination in realizing the task. Finally, we introduced a new interaction technique to handle 3-D manipulation. This technique was evaluated faster than existing techniques and we were able to determine the reasons for the improved performance.This work, which focus on the user coordination when using multitouch displays to perform 3-D tasks, recommend an approach that favors the separation of degrees of freedom, in order to parallelize the user actions so as to take advantage of the extra input bandwidth offered by this type of input devices

Analyzing eye fixations and gaze orientations on films and pictures

International audienc

The Effect of DOF Separation in 3D Manipulation Tasks with Multi-touch Displays

International audienc

Integrality and Separability of Multi-touch Interaction Techniques in 3D Manipulation Tasks

Abstract—Multi-touch displays represent a promising technology for the display and manipulation of data. While the manipulation of 2D data has been widely explored, 3D manipulation with multi-touch displays remains largely unexplored. Based on an analysis of the integration and separation of degrees of freedom, we propose a taxonomy for 3D manipulation techniques with multi-touch displays. Using that taxonomy, we introduce DS3 (Depth-Separated Screen-Space), a new 3D manipulation technique based on the separation of translation and rotation. In a controlled experiment, we compared DS3 with Sticky Tools and Screen-Space. Results show that separating the control of translation and rotation significantly affects performance for 3D manipulation, with DS3 performing faster than the two other techniques