scholarly journals Seeing the Landscape Through Textual and Graphical Media Products

2020 ◽  
pp. 175-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Øyvind Eide ◽  
Zoe Schubert

Abstract Space is a central element in human communication. In this chapter, the authors compare representations of landscapes in different media types, including texts, maps, and virtual reality to show how they express spatial conceptions. Such a comparison is necessary to understand the mechanisms behind combinations and transformations among different media; hence, it forms a useful basis for analysing media interacting with spaces more generally. Taking a step back, the authors then discuss how the materiality and concreteness of space interact with the abstract conceptual level of models. This makes it possible to study traditional two-dimensional maps and texts as well as three-dimensional modelling and virtual reality systems. Finally, the authors introduce virtual reality as a new media form in the light of empirical experiments conducted at the University of Cologne.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad H Babini ◽  
Vladimir V Kulish ◽  
Hamidreza Namazi

BACKGROUND Education and learning are the most important goals of all universities. For this purpose, lecturers use various tools to grab the attention of students and improve their learning ability. Virtual reality refers to the subjective sensory experience of being immersed in a computer-mediated world, and has recently been implemented in learning environments. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of a virtual reality condition on students’ learning ability and physiological state. METHODS Students were shown 6 sets of videos (3 videos in a two-dimensional condition and 3 videos in a three-dimensional condition), and their learning ability was analyzed based on a subsequent questionnaire. In addition, we analyzed the reaction of the brain and facial muscles of the students during both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional viewing conditions and used fractal theory to investigate their attention to the videos. RESULTS The learning ability of students was increased in the three-dimensional condition compared to that in the two-dimensional condition. In addition, analysis of physiological signals showed that students paid more attention to the three-dimensional videos. CONCLUSIONS A virtual reality condition has a greater effect on enhancing the learning ability of students. The analytical approach of this study can be further extended to evaluate other physiological signals of subjects in a virtual reality condition.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel T. Westreich ◽  
Maria Nattestad ◽  
Christopher Meyer

AbstractBackgroundGenome-wide association studies (GWAS) are typically visualized using a two-dimensional Manhattan plot, displaying chromosomal location of SNPs along the x-axis and the negative log-10 of their p-value on the y-axis. This traditional plot provides a broad overview of the results, but offers little opportunity for interaction or expansion of specific regions, and is unable to show additional dimensions of the dataset.ResultsWe created BigTop, a visualization framework in virtual reality (VR), designed to render a Manhattan plot in three dimensions, wrapping the graph around the user in a simulated cylindrical room. BigTop uses the z-axis to display minor allele frequency of each SNP, allowing for the identification of allelic variants of genes. BigTop also offers additional interactivity, allowing users to select any individual SNP and receive expanded information, including SNP name, exact values, and gene location, if applicable. BigTop is built in JavaScript using the React and A-Frame frameworks, and can be rendered using commercially available VR headsets or in a two-dimensional web browser such as Google Chrome. Data is read into BigTop in JSON format, and can be provided as either JSON or a tab-separated text file.ConclusionsUsing additional dimensions and interactivity options offered through VR, we provide a new, interactive, three-dimensional representation of the traditional Manhattan plot for displaying and exploring GWAS data.


Author(s):  
Shujie Deng ◽  
Gavin Wheeler ◽  
Nicolas Toussaint ◽  
Lindsay Munroe ◽  
Suryava Bhattacharya ◽  
...  

The intricate nature of congenital heart disease requires understanding of complex, patient-specific three-dimensional dynamic anatomy of the heart, from imaging data such as three-dimensional echocardiography for successful outcomes from surgical and interventional procedures. Conventional clinical systems use flat screens and therefore display remains two-dimensional, which undermines the full understanding of the three-dimensional dynamic data. Additionally, control of three-dimensional visualisation with two-dimensional tools is often difficult, so used only by imaging specialists. In this paper we describe a virtual reality system for immersive surgery planning using dynamic three-dimensional echocardiography, which enables fast prototyping for visualisation such as volume rendering, multi-planar reformatting, flow visualisation, and advanced interaction such as three-dimensional cropping, windowing, measurement, haptic feedback, automatic image orientation, and multi-user interactions. The available features were evaluated by imaging and non-imaging clinicians, showing that the virtual reality system can help improve understanding and communication of the three-dimensional echocardiography imaging and potentially benefit congenital heart disease treatment.


Author(s):  
Anang Pramono ◽  
Martin Dwiky Setiawan

The concept of education for children is important. The aspects that must be considered are methods and learning media. In this research innovative and alternative learning media are made to understand fruits for children with Augmented Reality (AR). Augmented Reality (AR) in principle is a technology that is able to combine two-dimensional or three-dimensional virtual objects into a real environment and then project it. This learning media combines picture cards and virtual reality. Markers contained on picture cards will be captured by the mobile device camera, processed and will 3D animated pieces appear on the mobile screen in realtime. By using the concept of combining real world, real images on cards and virtual, applications can stimulate imagination and sense of desire in children and motivation to learn more and more. 3D fruit estimation created using the 3D Blender application and the Augmented Rea process lity is made using Unity and the Vuforia SDK library. The application of fruit recognition has been applied to several child respondents and has been tested on several types and brands of Android-based mobile phones. Based on research trials, 86% of 30 respondents stated that the application which was developed very effectively as a medium for the introduction of fruits.


2004 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 264-264
Author(s):  
Kunegunda F. Belle

Hero I use the MHD code, FLASH, from the University of Chicago ASCI Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes, to simulate initial two-dimensional simple models of accretion streams in magnetic CVs. These models explore the evolution of inflowing material for two white dwarf masses; 0.5M⊙ and 0.9M⊙. It is seen that a discontinuity forms at a height of 6.1 X 108 cm above the white dwarf ‘surface’ for MWD = 0.5M⊙ and at 1.6 X 109 cm for MWD = 0.9M⊙. These models will be developed further with the ultimate goal of completing a three-dimensional model of magnetic accretion onto a WD surface.


Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Fung ◽  
Bethe A. Scalettar ◽  
David A. Agard ◽  
John W. Sedat

The synaptonemal complex (SC) is a structure involved in the synapsis of homologous chromosomes during the prophase I stage of meiosis. Although the exact function of the complex is unknown, it has been suggested that one possible role might be to promote recombination by ensuring close synapsis of the homologous chromosomes. In addition, it is thought that the SC may also be required to convert the resulting recombination events into functional chiasmata to provide for proper chromosome segregation at the end of the first stage of meiosis.The SC structure itself is highly conserved across a variety of species. The organization of the SC is tripartite consisting of lateral, central and transverse elements. Two-dimensional cytological observations have been made to characterize the general features of these SC components. The lateral elements are 300 - 500 Å wide proteinaceous structures which flank the synapsed regions of the chromosome bivalent. Between the two lateral elements is a central region containing the central element commonly characterized as a less dense amorphous structure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-50
Author(s):  
David Doak ◽  
Gareth Denyer ◽  
Juliet Gerrard ◽  
Joel Mackay ◽  
Jane Allison

Science students are traditionally taught protein structure and function through textbook pictures and/or physical model building. This is not effective for most students because conceiving large, complex three-dimensional chemicals structure and dynamic molecular interactions requires a very high degree of abstract thought, imagination and extrapolation. It is intuitively reasonable to believe that a virtual reality approach would aid appreciation of nanoscale molecular structure, function and dynamics. I will describe the Virtual Reality (VR) tool, “Peppy” (1), that we have developed for exploring the molecular forces which drive protein secondary structure. Peppy allows students to build, visualise and manipulate polypeptides within the six degrees of freedom that characterises the VR environment. Peppy not only recreates traditional secondary structures dependent on hydrogen- bonding in a generic peptide backbone, it also permits students to insert any and all of the 20 amino acids and to examine the effect of the shapes and electrostatic forces of these on secondary structure. The highly extrapolative environment created by Peppy is extended with features that encourage student engagement, such as a selfie camera, interactive Ramachandran plot, and even features to emphasise the dynamics of a vibrant macromolecular structure. Being able to physically and directly grab and manipulate the atoms and angles with the virtual hand enhances the connection of students with the molecules and results in an exploration experience unmatched by traditional 3D visualisation software. I will also describe the testing and iterative improvement of Peppy during deployment to large undergraduate classes at the University of Sydney, which boasts the Immersive Learning Lab, with 26 VR (Oculus Rift) headsets. Remarkably, even students with no prior VR experience are able to interact with Peppy in an engaged and meaningful way within just 10 minutes and, after less than an hour many are able to build highly complex multi-peptide structures such as β-barrels or experiment with long peptides containing a variety of side chains and disulphide bonds. The experience resonates with the students well after the session, as evidenced by their reflections and follow-up questions regarding the physics of the simulation and ideas for extension of the software.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Gabellone

AbstractThe birth of virtual reality marked a new path forward and also gave a fresh view of reality, allowing alternative ‘readings’ of cultural heritage. This new way of representation and simulation was soon associated with the term virtual environment, used to indicate those interactive three-dimensional models that could be navigated and that simulated a place, building, or synthetic representation scheme in real time. A virtual environment is like a “microscope for the mind” that allows you to elaborate amplified projections of the material world, to “look beyond” simple appearances and to make logical connections between elements grouped together. In recent years, virtual environments have been greeted positively by the public and scholars, testified by the quantity of thematic conferences on the subject of Virtual Archaeology. Despite this, there are still many contradictions found in the varying terms and the diverse aims of the developing disciplines that gravitate around the field of virtual reality such as Cultural Virtual Environment, Virtual Restoration, Virtual Archaeology, Enhanced Reality, and Mixed Reality. The spread of new media has upset the traditional systems of communication such as books, television, radio and even the roles of some cultural stakeholder. With this in mind, the role of virtual heritage also consists in transmitting information using the language and cognitive metaphors used in video-games, considering these as cultural paradigms for a form of communication that is freed from the classic rules of elite culture. It is quite frequent to find projects of digital promotion for monuments that are characterised by difficulty of access, or for objects that have been taken from their original context. One solution to enhance the accessibility of those sites is certainly the use of some visual computing technologies which without presuming to be the ultimate answer to the problems posed, try to offer communications tools that permit an effective support to the visit.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-274
Author(s):  
Zack Lischer-Katz

Purpose This paper aims to explore the opportunities and challenges that immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies pose for archival theory and practice. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper reviews research on VR adoption in information institutions and the preservation challenges of VR to identify ways in which VR has the potential to disrupt existing archival theory and practice. Findings Existing archival approaches are found to be disrupted by the multi-layered structural characteristics of VR, the part–whole relationships between the technological elements of VR environments and the three-dimensional content they contain and the immersive, experiential nature of VR experiences. This paper argues that drawing on perspectives from phenomenology and digital materiality is helpful for addressing the preservation challenges of VR. Research limitations/implications The findings extend conceptualizations of preservation by identifying gaps in existing preservation approaches to VR and stressing the importance of “experience” as a central element of archival practice and by emphasizing the embodied dimensions of interpreting archival records and the multiple scales of materiality that archival researchers and practitioners should consider to preserve VR. Practical implications These findings provide guidance for digital curators and preservationists by outlining the current thinking on VR preservation and the impact of VR on digital preservation strategies. Originality/value This paper gives new insight into VR as an emerging area of concern to digital curation and preservation and expands archival thinking with new conceptualizations that disrupt existing paradigms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 446
Author(s):  
Nico Marek ◽  
Stefan Pollmann

In visual search, participants can incidentally learn spatial target-distractor configurations, leading to shorter search times for repeated compared to novel configurations. Usually, this is tested within the limited visual field provided by a computer monitor. While contextual cueing is typically investigated on two-dimensional screens, we present for the first time an implementation of a classic contextual cueing task (search for a T-shape among L-shapes) in a three-dimensional virtual environment. This enabled us to test if the typical finding of incidental learning of repeated search configurations, manifested by shorter search times, would hold in a three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) environment. One specific aspect that was tested by combining virtual reality and contextual cueing was if contextual cueing would hold for targets outside the initial field of view (FOV), requiring head movements to be found. In keeping with two-dimensional search studies, reduced search times were observed after the first epoch and remained stable in the remaining experiment. Importantly, comparable search time reductions were observed for targets both within and outside of the initial FOV. The results show that a repeated distractors-only configuration in the initial FOV can guide search for target locations requiring a head movement to be seen.


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