3,689 research outputs found
Visualization and Human-Machine Interaction
Full text linkThe digital age offers a lot of challenges in the eld of visualization. Visual imagery has been effectively used to communicate messages through the ages, to express both abstract and concrete ideas. Today, visualization has ever-expanding applications in science, engineering, education, medicine, entertainment and many other areas. Different areas of research contribute to the innovation in the eld of interactive visualization, such as data science, visual technology, Internet of things and many more. Among them, two areas of renowned importance are Augmented Reality and Visual Analytics. This thesis presents my research in the fields of visualization and human-machine interaction. The purpose of the proposed work is to investigate existing solutions in the area of Augmented Reality (AR) for maintenance. A smaller section of this thesis presents a minor research project on an equally important theme, Visual Analytics. Overall, the main goal is to identify the most important existing problems and then design and develop innovative solutions to address them. The maintenance application domain has been chosen since it is historically one of the first fields of application for Augmented Reality and it offers all the most common and important challenges that AR can arise, as described in chapter 2. Since one of the main problem in AR application deployment is reconfigurability of the application, a framework has been designed and developed that allows the user to create, deploy and update in real-time AR applications. Furthermore, the research focused on the problems related to hand-free interaction, thus investigating the area of speech-recognition interfaces and designing innovative solutions to address the problems of intuitiveness and robustness of the interface. On the other hand, the area of Visual Analytics has been investigated: among the different areas of research, multidimensional data visualization, similarly to AR, poses specific problems related to the interaction between the user and the machine. An analysis of the existing solutions has been carried out in order to identify their limitations and to point out possible improvements. Since this analysis delineates the scatterplot as a renowned visualization tool worthy of further research, different techniques for adapting its usage to multidimensional data are analyzed. A multidimensional scatterplot has been designed and developed in order to perform a comparison with another multidimensional visualization tool, the ScatterDice. The first chapters of my thesis describe my investigations in the area of Augmented Reality for maintenance. Chapter 1 provides definitions for the most important terms and an introduction to AR. The second chapter focuses on maintenance, depicting the motivations that led to choose this application domain. Moreover, the analysis concerning open problems and related works is described along with the methodology adopted to design and develop the proposed solutions. The third chapter illustrates how the adopted methodology has been applied in order to assess the problems described in the previous one. Chapter 4 describes the methodology adopted to carry out the tests and outlines the experimental results, whereas the fifth chapter illustrates the conclusions and points out possible future developments. Chapter 6 describes the analysis and research work performed in the eld of Visual Analytics, more specifically on multidimensional data visualizations. Overall, this thesis illustrates how the proposed solutions address common problems of visualization and human-machine interaction, such as interface de- sign, robustness of the interface and acceptance of new technology, whereas other problems are related to the specific research domain, such as pose tracking and reconfigurability of the procedure for the AR domain
A preliminary study of a hybrid user interface for augmented reality applications
Full text linkAugmented Reality (AR) applications are nowadays largely diffused in many fields of use, especially for entertainment, and the market of AR applications for mobile devices grows faster and faster. Moreover, new and innovative hardware for human-computer interaction has been deployed, such as the Leap Motion Controller. This paper presents some preliminary results in the design and development of a hybrid interface for hand-free augmented reality applications. The paper introduces a framework to interact with AR applications through a speech and gesture recognition-based interface. A Leap Motion Controller is mounted on top of AR glasses and a speech recognition module completes the system. Results have shown that, using the speech or the gesture recognition modules singularly, the robustness of the user interface is strongly dependent on environmental conditions. On the other hand, a combined usage of both modules can provide a more robust input
A Survey on Applications of Augmented Reality
No full textThe term Augmented Reality (AR) refers to a set of technologies and devices able to enhance and improve human perception, thus bridging the gap between real and virtual space. Physical and artificial objects are mixed together in a hybrid space where the user can move without constraints. This mediated reality is spread in our everyday life: work, study, training, relaxation, time spent traveling are just some of the moments in which you can use AR applications. This paper aims to provide an overview of current technologies and future trends of augmented reality as well as to describe the main application domains, outlining benefits and open issue
Storyboarding in Extended Reality: leveraging real-world elements in storyboard creation
Full text linkRecent technological innovations, especially in extended reality (XR) and artificial intelligence (AI), redefine storytelling approaches. These innovations are expanding creative possibilities for filmmakers while transforming how audiences engage with and experience films and other entertainment products. Despite technological advancements, the pre-production phase depends primarily on traditional planning and visualization methods. This research proposes a novel paradigm to create storyboards in XR, leveraging the capabilities of object-detection and pose-estimation systems to benefit the storyboarding phase. An application has been designed and developed to create 3D storyboards on a real scale within a physical environment and all its furniture. Wearing a head-mounted display for XR, users can move in the physical space, enrich it with virtual elements and characters, and frame the environment to obtain storyboard panels that mix real and virtual elements. The proposed system has been tested to assess its usability, and initial findings indicate that users have appreciated this application
A State Validation System for Augmented Reality Based Maintenance Procedures
Full text linkMaintenance has been one of the most important domains for augmented reality (AR) since its inception. AR applications enable technicians to receive visual and audio computer-generated aids while performing different activities, such as assembling, repairing, or maintenance procedures. These procedures are usually organized as a sequence of steps, each one involving an elementary action to be performed by the user. However, since it is not possible to automatically validate the users actions, they might incorrectly execute or miss some steps. Thus, a relevant open problem is to provide users with some sort of automated verification tool. This paper presents a system, used to support maintenance procedures through AR, which tries to address the validation problem. The novel technology consists of a computer vision algorithm able to evaluate, at each step of a maintenance procedure, if the user correctly completed the assigned task or not. The validation occurs by comparing an image of the final status of the machinery, after the user has performed the task, and a virtual 3D representation of the expected final status. Moreover, in order to avoid false positives, the system can identify both motions in the scene and changes in the camera’s zoom and/or position, thus enhancing the robustness of the validation phase. Tests demonstrate that the proposed system can effectively help the user in detecting and avoiding errors during the maintenance process
Extended Reality for Space and Astronautical Engineering Applications
No full textExtended Reality (XR) technologies are rapidly emerging as transformative tools in space and
astronautical applications. This research explores the integration of XR techniques in astrodynamics
and space system engineering, focusing on their application to large-scale space infrastructure operation
and maintenance, scientific experiments inside space stations, and immersive visualization of different
mission scenarios. Indeed, the complexity of such applications, involving orbital dynamics and mission
design, is crucial for mission planning. To address this, we propose a Virtual Reality (VR)-based design
and development which enables users to interactively engage with mission scenarios and which provides
an immersive visualization and simulation platform to support manned or unmanned activities. Three
use cases have been selected to evaluate it, the first one focuses on mission scenarios for outreach and
simulation, the second one is about human operation inside the International Space Station; and the
third one addresses the simulation and operational planning of a Planetary Sunshade System., i.e. a very
large-scale infrastructure designed as a space-based geoengineering solution to mitigate climate change. In
particular, this last one is a system composed of a swarm of solar sail satellites that are partially, or even
totally, assembled in space, and it is positioned at the Sun-Earth-Moon photo-gravitational L1 equilibrium
point to reduce a portion of the oncoming solar radiation on Earth. This work contributes to the broader
domain of technologies that enable space systems engineering by demonstrating how XR can bridge the gap
between conceptual design and real-world implementation of innovative and near-future space technologies
Storytelling in the Metaverse: From Desktop to Immersive Virtual Reality Storyboarding
Full text linkCreatives from the animation and film industries have always been experimenting with innovative tools and methodologies to improve the creation of prototypes of their visual sequences before bringing them to life. In recent years, as realistic real-time rendering techniques have emerged, the increasing popularity of virtual reality (VR) can lead to new approaches and solutions, leveraging the immersive and interactive features provided by 3D immersive experiences. A 3D desktop application and a novel storyboarding pipeline, which can automatically generate a storyboard including camera details and a textual description of the actions performed in three-dimensional environments, have already been investigated in previous work. The aim was to exploit new technologies to improve existing 3D storytelling approaches, thus providing a software solution for expert and novice storyboarders. This research investigates 3D storyboarding in immersive virtual reality (IVR) to move toward a new storyboarding paradigm. IVR systems provide peculiarities such as body-controlled exploration of the 3D scene and a head-dependant camera view that can extend features of traditional storyboarding tools. The proposed system enables users to set up the virtual stage, adding elements to the scene and exploring the environment as they build it. After that, users can select the available characters or the camera, control them in first person, position them in the scene, and perform actions selecting from a list of options, each paired with a corresponding animation. Relying on the concept of state-machine, the system can automatically generate the list of available actions depending on the context. Finally, the descriptions for each storyboard panel are automatically generated based on the history of activities performed. The proposed application maintains all the functionalities of the desktop version and can be effectively used to create storyboards in immersive virtual environments
Augmented Reality in Industry 4.0
Full text linkSince the origins of Augmented Reality (AR), industry has always been one of its prominent application domains. The recent advances in both portable and wearable AR devices and the new challenges introduced by the fourth industrial revolution (renowned as industry 4.0) further enlarge the applicability of AR to improve the productiveness and to enhance the user experience. This paper provides an overview on the most important applications of AR regarding the industry domain. Key among the issues raised in this paper are the various applications of AR that enhance the user's ability to understand the movement of mobile robot, the movements of a robot arm and the forces applied by a robot. It is recommended that, in view of the rising need for both users and data privacy, technologies which compose basis for Industry 4.0 will need to change their own way of working to embrace data privacy
PDIF: Pupil Detection After Isolation and Fitting
Full text linkPupil detection plays a key role in eye and gaze video-based tracking algorithms. Various algorithms have been proposed through the years in order to improve the performances or the robustness in real-world scenarios. However, the development of an algorithm which excels in both execution time and pupil detection precision is still an open challenge. This paper presents a novel, feature-based eye-tracking algorithm for pupil detection. Morphological operators are used to remove corneal reflections and to reduce noise in the pupil area prior to the pupil detection step: this solution allows to significantly reduce the computational overhead without lowering the tracking precision. Moreover, a shape validation step is performed after the elliptical fitting and, if the elliptical shape is not detected properly, a set of additional steps is performed to improve the pupil estimation. The proposed solution, Pupil Detection after Isolation and Fitting (PDIF), has been compared with other state-of-the-art tracking algorithms that use morphological operations such as ElSe (Ellipse Selection) and ExCuSe (Exclusive Curve Selector) to evaluate both speed and robustness; the proposed algorithm has been tested over numerous datasets offering different pupil detection challenges. Obtained results show how PDIF provides comparable tracking precision at a significantly lower computational cost compared to ElSe and ExCuSe
A Comparison of Two Interaction Paradigms for Training Low Cost Automation Assembly in Virtual Environments
Full text linkVirtual environments have been widely adopted for design and training tasks in the industrial domain. Low-cost automation (LCA) is a technology that automatizes some activities using mostly standard automation mechanisms available off the shelf. However, LCA systems should adapt to existing standard production lines and workstations. Thus, workers must customize standard LCA templates and perform adaptation and customization steps. This activity can be very time consuming with physical LCA systems, and in case of errors, it may be necessary to rebuild many parts from scratch. Thus, LCA systems would greatly benefit from a design and prototyping step experienced in a virtual simulation environment. An immersive virtual reality (IVR) application for rapid and easy prototyping of LCA solutions has been investigated in previous work; the assessment of the system usability proved that the users highly appreciated the proposed solutions. This research explores further improvements to exploit the existing IVR application as a training tool for LCA prototyping trainees. The proposed application now provides users with two different interaction paradigms based on the VIVE controllers and the Manus Prime II data gloves. The application’s interface has been revised to allow a proper comparison of the two interaction models. The two interfaces have been compared, involving 12 participants in an LCA building task. The System Usability Scale (SUS) and the NASA Task Load Index (TLX) questionnaires have been used to assess the usability and workload of the two solutions
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