Browsing by Author "Sharlin, Ehud"
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Item Open Access 3D Geological Modeling from Concept Sketches and Annotations(2017) Mendonça Amorim, Ronan; Costa Sousa, Mário; Famil Samavati, Faramarz; Eaton, David W. S.; Sharlin, Ehud; Katz, Larry; Mould, DavidDuring the early stages of any design project, specialists explore and refine ideas collaboratively by constructing conceptual models through hand-drawn sketches and renderings. The resulting models are then used to make decisions before moving to the detailed design phase of development. Sketch-Based Interfaces and Modeling (SBIM) is an area of research devoted to the development of computational tools to aid in this prototyping process. The main goal of SBIM is to construct models directly from hand-drawn sketches, leveraging the sketching skills of experts in different domains such as art, science, and engineering. In this thesis, I investigate the theory and practice of concept sketching applied to the problem of constructing conceptual models of geological structures describing subsurface environments. Geological models describe the disposition, geometry, and types of rocks in the subsurface, and are critical to a wide range of applications, such as oil/gas exploration. Current subsurface modeling workflows lack more interpretive and interactive modeling tools, which could enable experts to rapidly construct a variety of digital conceptual geological models directly from their interpretation sketches. In this thesis, I am addressing fundamental research in SBIM motivated by the challenges of constructing conceptual geological models from 2D hand-drawn sketches. This thesis explores the use of SBIM to complement existing geological modeling tools with more interpretive and interactive methods, with the goal of expediting the construction of concept geological structures described at the early stages of subsurface modeling. To this end, two new SBIM methods are proposed: (1) Geo-Editor aims to enable experts to more easily and rapidly edit/augment existing geological surfaces, using sketches directly in 3D with/without geological data. (2) Geo-Sketcher complements the previous approach by allowing the rapid construction of conceptual geological models from a blank-screen environment using rule-based SBIM. It leverages the standard language provided by geological and topographic maps to provide experts with a familiar notation for sketching. The results and feedback from domain experts demonstrate that the proposed methods can significantly reduce the time necessary to create or edit 3D geological models.Item Open Access 3d sketching and collaborative design with napkin sketch(2011) Xin, Min; Sharlin, Ehud; Costa Sousa, MárioItem Open Access 3D Sketching and Collaborative Design with Napkin Sketch-The Video(2011-04-19T16:37:51Z) Xin, Min; Sharlin, Ehud; Costa Sousa, MarioThis is a video presentation of our work on Napkin Sketch, a new 3D Sketching and Collaborative Design tool. The video presentation is based on Min Xin's M.Sc. defense talk. Computer-supported 3D design tools have become increasingly popular and abundant because they offer easy editing, efficient content management, extensive sharing, and rich rendering capabilities. However, many of these tools are focused on generating high quality, visually appealing, and detailed models of baked ideas but often seem to fail in effectively supporting the intricate process and environment which help to create and nurture these ideas in the early design stages. Inspired by the simple yet rich interactions afforded by traditional design tools such as pencil, paper, or napkin in supporting the creative process of the early design stages, this thesis attempts to capture their essential qualities like portability, flexibility, fluidity, expressiveness, ambiguity, and sociability in Napkin Sketch, a computer supported tool which enables 3D sketching and collaborative design. Concepts such as tangible interaction and freeform interaction are explored and applied to create a sketching experience which leverages users' innate ability to physically interact with tools, media, and collaborators and provides freedom to suggest ideas and invite changes without having to commit prematurely. The contributions of the thesis are centered around Napkin Sketch which include a hardware platform that enables users to tangibly explore the 3D design space and manipulate the sketching media, a complementary software platform that facilitates the creation of 3D sketches while maintaining the familiar paradigm of sketching on a flat physical surface, a collaborative sketching environment that supports ad hoc co-located collaboration via multiple instances of the system, and three design critiques that provide preliminary assessment of the potential effectiveness of Napkin Sketch as a useful tool for supporting creativity in the early design stages. This video report highlights the main points of the our project.Item Open Access The 3D Tractus: A Three-Dimensional Drawing Board(2005-08-26) Lapides, Paul; Sharlin, Ehud; Costa Sousa, Mario; Streit, LisaWe present the 3D Tractus: a simple and inexpensive system for interaction and exploration of three-dimensional (3D) data. The device is based on a traditional drawing board-like mechanical structure that can be easily moved up and down while its surface height is being tracked using a simple sensor. Users interact with a tablet or tablet PC that rests on the surface while simultaneously changing its height. The result is direct mapping of virtual and physical spaces allowing intuitive 3D interaction and data exploration. The 3D Tractus allows us to investigate novel 3D interaction techniques based on sketching and drawing as well as intuitive visual indicators and GUI layouts. The 3D Tractus' simple design concept can be easily adapted to other tabletop systems and the simple nature of the physical interaction allows the design of various exciting applications. We detail here the design and development of the 3D Tractus hardware and software as well as preliminary evaluation of a 3D drawing and sketching application realized using the new tabletop interface.Item Open Access 3De Interactive Lenses for Visualization in Virtual Environments(2018-10) Mota, Roberta Cabral Ramos; Rocha, Allan; Silva, Julio Daniel; Alim, Usman; Sharlin, EhudWe present 3De lens, a technique for focus+context 3D visualization of multiple geometric representations. Our lens fuses two categories of lenses (3D and Decal) into a single coherent entity, thus enabling flexible use of either one or the two lenses combined depending on the underlying data geometry. In addition, we incorporate our lens into virtual reality as it enables a rich and natural style of direct spatial manipulation for exploratory 3D data analysis. To demonstrate its potential use, we discuss two domain examples in which our lens technique creates customized visualizations of both surfaces and streamlines.Item Open Access An Affective Music Recommendation System(2010-12-22T18:17:08Z) Pon, Aura; Sharlin, Ehud; Eagle, DavidGiven that the affective features of music are often the most relevant criteria in selecting music, we propose in this abstract that a music database should be able to be categorized according to its affective influence, and likewise, music recommendations made with consideration to the user’s current affective state. This can be made possible using pre-existing emotion-measuring technology with new algorithms for selecting music with appropriate affective influence, as proven by several studies. An affective music recommender system could avoid many of the inadequacies of traditional recommender systems.Item Open Access Applications of Interactive Topographic Maps: Tangibility with Improved Spatial Awareness and Readability(2019-07-02) Li, Hao; Sharlin, Ehud; Costa Sousa, Mario; Takashima, Kazuki; Chen, Zhangxing; Figueroa, Pablo; Willett, Wesley J.Traditional flat topographic maps are difficult to understand due to the distortion and compromise of the 3-dimensional (3D) spatial representation when it is folded into lower-dimension media (e.g. 2D). During the process, the x-y coordinate of a location can be captured but its physical elevation must be transformed using some visualization techniques, resulting in noticeable cognitive effort in comprehending the original geometric and geographic properties of the original terrain. In this manuscript-based dissertation, I present a collection of my past publications that aim to increase the readability of topographic maps by restoring the original spatiality of the terrain - including the elevations - with a physical map representation and then superimpose additional data visualization on top of it. In this way, the entire terrain topology is kept in a scaled physical representation, allowing users to view it with natural human perceptions. Additionally, user gestures can be tracked in real-time as a sketch-based input to allow novel dynamic interaction of the map interface and data manipulation of the spatial information. Through the chapters, I present the aforementioned concept, named interactive topographic interface, along with a few applications of it in different academic and industrial environments. I also report the design and results of a user study that compares the interface with traditional flat topographic maps. In the long-term, I hope that research mentioned in this dissertation inspires future interactive physical cartography to not only improve map comprehension but also facilitate better spatial and situational awareness over the map interface, resulting in an evolved map usefulness.Item Open Access Augmented QArt: Interactive Art Recreation by Mobile Augmented Reality(2024-03-21) Booshehrian, Mahnaz; Alim, Usman; Hushlak, Gerald; Sharlin, EhudThe integration of technology into art galleries and museums has opened new avenues for enhancing visitors' experiences and addressing challenges related to accessibility, interactivity, and artistic attraction. Inspired by Picasso’s Cubism paintings and Augmented Reality technology, this thesis explores the design of aesthetically detectable codes, known as QArt codes, to enhance accessibility and visual appeal and to enrich traditional art experiences in settings where space and time are limited. The project aims to answer questions about how technology can be leveraged to enhance artistic environments, offer interactive access to artwork information, and seamlessly blend the actual and virtual realms. Through the implementation of QArt codes, people can easily access and explore various artworks, including Picasso's Harlequin paintings, while saving time and money. This approach offers visitors a chance to learn about different aspects of the artwork, such as style, techniques, and historical context. Interacting with QArt codes provides an engaging and memorable experience, leaving a lasting impression on visitors. A qualitative user study conducted at the end of the project revealed that QArt codes can provide a nuanced understanding of Picasso's artistic range and insight into the Cubism style through multiple dimensions. Overall, QArt codes are an effective and captivating way to share artworks with the world.Item Open Access Build notifications for agile software development teams(2007) Ablett, Ruth Margaret; Sharlin, Ehud; Maurer, Frank OliverItem Open Access Build Notifications in Agile Environments(2008-01-14) Ablett, Ruth; Maurer, Frank; Sharlin, Ehud; Denzinger, Joerg; Schock, CraigIn an agile software development environment, developers write code that should work together to fulfill the wishes of the customer. Continuous integration (CI) ensures that code from different individuals integrates properly. CI compiles the entire codebase, deploys and tests it with each change. CI alerts developers of any problems as errors can be fixed more easily if caught earlier in the process. This paper compares the effectiveness of different types of mechanisms for notifying developers to a successful or unsuccessful build. Two different quantitative and qualitative user studies were performed testing the effectiveness of three types of notification devices one virtual e-mail based mechanism, one using ambient lava lamps, and one robotic device. The results show that most developers preferred an easily visible but unobtrusive ambient device combined with an e-mail describing the problem in more detail.Item Open Access BuildBot: A Robotic Software Development Monitor in an Agile Environment(2006-05-18) Ablett, Ruth; Maurer, Frank; Sharlin, Ehud; Denzinger, JoergIn this paper, we describe BuildBot, a robot developed to assist with continuous integration of a software build in Agile development teams. BuildBot can interact physically with individual members of the team and be an active part of the development process by bringing together human-robot interaction with human group dynamics and knowledge about software engineering concepts. This paper describes the design and implementation of a robot that can sense virtual stimuli, in this case the state of a software build, and react accordingly in a physical way. By increasing awareness of the state of the software build, BuildBot assists in the self-supervision of teams.Item Open Access Collocated Interaction with Flying Robots(2011-03-21T15:43:58Z) Sharlin, Ehud; Ng, Wai Shan (Florence)We introduce a socially motivated interaction technique with collocated flying robots (a quadrotor in our current prototype). Instead of the traditional remote interaction controllers often used when interacting with flying robots and UAVs, we explore the collocated interaction space and suggest a direct interaction technique motivated by social human-robot interaction themes. Our approach is inspired by the types of interaction humans have with birds, specifically falconeering, and is facilitated by gestures-based interaction, while the user is within the field of view of the flying robot. This paper outlines our research goals, task examples, and our overall design approach. The paper also discusses our current prototyping efforts, as well as a preliminary evaluation of our approach, performed through two design critiques, studying our collocated interaction technique concept, and its potential, drawbacks and benefits for users.Item Open Access Communicating Awareness and Intent in Autonomous Vehicle-Pedestrian Interaction(2017-10-26) Mahadevan, Karthik; Somanath, Sowmya; Sharlin, EhudDrivers use nonverbal cues such as vehicle speed, eye gaze, and hand gestures to communicate awareness and intent to pedestrians. Conversely, in autonomous vehicles, drivers can be distracted or absent, leaving pedestrians to infer awareness and intent from the vehicle alone. In this paper, we investigate the usefulness of interfaces (beyond vehicle movement) that explicitly communicate awareness and intent of autonomous vehicles to pedestrians, focusing on crosswalk scenarios. We conducted a preliminary study to gain insight on designing interfaces that communicate autonomous vehicle awareness and intent to pedestrians. Based on study outcomes, we developed four prototype interfaces and deployed them in studies involving a Segway and a car. We found interfaces communicating vehicle awareness and intent: (1) can help pedestrians attempting to cross; (2) are not limited to the vehicle and can exist in the environment; and (3) should use a combination of modalities like visual, auditory, and physical.Item Open Access Contemporary Ornament for Circularity: Exploring Synergies Through Digital Design and Fabrication(2019-09-22) Forward, Kristen Michelle; Taron, Joshua M.; Sharlin, Ehud; Johnson, Jason S.; Hachem-Vermette, CarolineContemporary design practices have enhanced the potential of architectural ornament to be innovative, beautiful, and highly sustainable. Historically, ornament has been known to express character and reveal relationships between materiality, technological advances, and societal evolution. Though ornament rapidly declined in the late 1800s, it has recently returned in contemporary design as a critical and discursive topic, while a new theme in sustainability, entitled “Circular Design,” has begun to gain popularity in the past few years. Circular Design goals aim to address the tremendous consumption of materials and energy present in the building industry by proposing the efficient management of both the energy embodied in building materials and the energy consumed in buildings during operation; although, circularity in design struggles to be widely adopted by the building industry largely due to its lack of a social dimension. Contrastingly, contemporary forms of ornament strive to participate in the expression of social values, hierarchies, and order - considerations that Circular Design could adopt to enhance its contribution to subjective wellbeing. Furthermore, contemporary ornament’s close link to advancements in digital design and fabrication have brought a wave new applications of architectural ornament along with capabilities for generating and producing building products that perform socially as well as work to overcome some of the inefficiencies and waste production currently present in traditional manufacturing methods. Contemporary Ornament for Circularity thus aims to effectively intersect research into Circular Design, ornamentation, and digital design and fabrication, in order to ask why buildings that aspire to be environmentally sensitive and technically advanced can’t also operate through aesthetic and cultural dimensions.Item Open Access Design of Anthropomorphic Interfaces for Autonomous Vehicle-Pedestrian Interaction(2023-01) Wei, Wei; Sharlin, Ehud; Chen, Zhangxing; Sharlin, Ehud; Oehlberg, Lora; Somanath, SowmyaAutonomous Vehicle (AV) technology promises to revolutionize human life. The promise of AVs includes reduced highway congestion, more efficient energy usage, and cheaper goods and services. However, without careful design, removing human drivers from vehicles will eliminate the natural communication channels which enable pedestrians to navigate safely. This thesis aims to design, present, and study anthropomorphic interfaces for autonomous vehicles, with the objective of enabling AVs to communicate with pedestrians through non-verbal cues. Non-verbal human communication is vital in human relationships. People use non-verbal communication when speech is impractical, such as when interacting with vehicles. When looking into ways in which AVs can use non-verbal communication to interact with pedestrians, we were inspired by the prospect of using anthropomorphic interfaces. This concept is well explored in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) but has not been investigated in the context of AVs. For this thesis, we explored the design of anthropomorphic interfaces for autonomous vehicles. First, we proposed three types of anthropomorphic interfaces for AVs: facial expressions, hand gestures, and humanoid torsos. We developed a design space for each category using sketches and a low-fi prototype. Then, to research the benefits and limitations of anthropomorphic AVs, we implemented our AV interfaces in a Virtual Reality (VR) environment and developed two testbeds to evaluate their feasibility and scalability. Finally, we conducted two studies using the two testbeds. We investigated the study results using immersive analytics alongside traditional methods and revealed that anthropomorphic AVs could be helpful in AV-pedestrian interaction when designed by specific guidelines. Since we studied anthropomorphic AVs in VR, we were interested in the possibilities of analyzing the data of our study in an immersive environment. We designed a VR prototype specifically to analyze the data collected from the anthropomorphic AV study. The prototype provided basic immersive analytics features for the AV study data. We conducted an expert session with two domain experts to evaluate our immersive analytics prototype. The study contributed insights into the opportunities and challenges of utilizing immersive analytics to analyze AV studies.Item Open Access Designing Camera Controls for Map Environments(2019-01-16) Danyluk, Kurtis; Willett, Wesley J.; Willett, Wesley J.; Sharlin, Ehud; Samavati, FaramarzWe present an exploration of two classes of navigation techniques designed for representations of real-world terrain. The first introduces look-from camera controls, a new style of camera control for touch devices designed with representations of real world-terrain in mind and provides an evaluation of three different implementations of this style of control. The second looks to virtual reality and compares the effectiveness of four existing and common camera control techniques within the context of a representations of real world-terrain. Effective camera controls greatly increase a user’s ability to engage with a virtual environment, and virtual map environments are no different. However, current camera controls are difficult to use within map-like environments, requiring burdensome sequences of interactions or performing poorly within ragged terrain. To examine the effectiveness of different camera controls in this space we conducted two studies in which we asked participants to perform map reading and interaction tasks. In both studies the camera control technique greatly influenced participant engagement and enjoyment within a scene. The first study highlights the effectiveness of look-from camera controls as light-weight additions to direct manipulation controls and provides design guidelines for the construction of look-from camera controls. The second study highlights which existing common navigation techniques are most appropriate within a map-like environment presented in immersive virtual reality and how combinations of these controls can combine the strengths of the controls to cover for the weaknesses of others.Item Open Access Designing Interaction with Autonomous Vehicles: External Displays and Interfaces for Vulnerable Road Users(2021-09-02) Asha, Ashratuz Zavin; Sharlin, Ehud; John Jacobson Jr., Michael; Wylant, Barry; Finn, PatrickIn the near future, mixed traffic consisting of manual and autonomous vehicles (AVs) will be common. Autonomous vehicles with advanced technology offer opportunities for innovative designs and introduce communication challenges for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. Our goal is to explore the emerging new domain of interaction between different road users and autonomous vehicles in a future AV transportation ecosystem. This led us to conduct the thesis following these two themes: 1) understanding design opportunities for external automotive displays (EADs) of AVs; 2) exploring the design of interactions between vulnerable road users (VRUs) and AVs. In theme 1, our work extends contemporary research into visualizations and related applications for autonomous vehicles. Focusing on external car bodies as a design space we introduce a set of EADs. EADs show visualizations to share context and user-specific information and offer opportunities for interaction between users and AVs. We conducted a design study to explore design concepts for EADs to provide services to different road users: pedestrians, passengers, and drivers of other vehicles. Based on the design study, we prototyped four EADs in virtual reality (VR) to demonstrate the potential of our approach. This exploration contributes to our vision for EADs, a design critique of the prototypes, and a discussion of the possible impact and future usage of external automotive displays. In theme 2, we are interested in the ways pedestrians will interact with autonomous vehicles in the absence of non-verbal cues from the driver (such as eye movements, hand gestures, etc.). Crossing streets in these new situations could be more dangerous for VRUs without a proper communication medium. We examined a subset of this challenge with two groups of pedestrians: interaction between AVs and pedestrians with hearing aids (PHAs), and pedestrians in wheelchairs (PWs). First, we worked with hearing aid users as a preliminary exploration of this research. We conduct a co-design study with a co-designer with hearing impairment who has lived experience of wearing hearing aid enhancements. This study contributes several insights and design recommendations on how potential audio cues can be designed to enhance direct communications between PHAs and AVs. For the second part of our research, we designed interactions between pedestrians in wheelchairs and AVs. From an early exploration of potential interface designs through a design study with interaction designers, we prototyped different interfaces in VR. Then, we evaluated the implemented simulations during a co-design study with a powered wheelchair user following inclusive design practices. We identify and reflect on interface design ideas that can help PWs make safe crossing decisions at intersections and discuss design insights for implementing different inclusive interfaces.Item Open Access Designing NeuroSimVR: A Stereoscopic Virtual Reality Spine Surgery Simulator(2017-11-01) Mostafa, Ahmed E.; Ryu, Won Hyung A.; Chan, Sonny; Takashima, Kazuki; Kopp, Gail; Costa Sousa, Mario; Sharlin, EhudThis paper contributes NeuroSimVR, a stereoscopic virtual reality spine surgery simulator that allows novice surgeons to learn and practice a spinal pedicle screw insertion (PSI) procedure using simplified interaction capabilities and 3D haptic user interfaces. By collaborating with medical experts and following an iterative approach, we provide characterization of the PSI task, and derive requirements for applying this procedure in a 3D immersive interactive simulation system. We describe how these requirements were realized in our NeuroSimVR prototype, and outline the educational benefits of our 3D interactive system for training the PSI procedure. We conclude the paper with the results of a preliminary evaluation of NeuroSimVR and reflect on our interface benefits and limitations.Item Open Access Designing Remote Collaboration Technologies for Wilderness Search and Rescue(2021-06-28) Jones, Brennan David Gorham; Tang, Anthony; Neustaedter, Carman; Sharlin, Ehud; Willett, Wesley; Suzuki, Ryo; Semaan, BryanWilderness search and rescue (WSAR) is the search for and extraction of one or more lost people (e.g., hikers, skiers) from a wilderness area. WSAR is time-critical, and even with current technologies, workers still face challenges in effective remote collaboration, information sharing, and awareness. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to understand how user interfaces can be designed to better support WSAR distributed collaboration. I approach this first by understanding how WSAR workers collaborate remotely using today's technologies. In the first phase of my research, I ran an investigative study in which I interviewed WSAR workers and observed a mock WSAR response. My findings demonstrate that the main goal of a system for WSAR distributed collaboration should be to help workers construct and maintain a shared mental model, but there are unique challenges to doing this when scattered and moving around the wilderness. Following this, I designed a prototype of a system for WSAR commanders. This system aims to provide commanders with more implicit awareness of events in the field and the experiences of field teams. It does this through (1) body cameras worn by field teams, streaming photos periodically to the command post; and (2) aggregating existing information channels together into one interface, allowing commanders to explore this information together as part of a bigger picture. I then evaluated this system through a remote user study. I found that the awareness provided by body-camera footage could give commanders additional confidence and comfort while reducing the need for explicit communications with field teams. However, it could also shift the burden of responsibility toward commanders. Overall, this work contributes the following: (1) an understanding of WSAR remote collaboration practices; (2) the design of an interface for providing commanders awareness of events in the field; (3) a method for studying WSAR user-interface technologies remotely through simulated scenarios; and (4) an understanding of the potential opportunities and challenges of new information streams and communication modalities in WSAR. Beyond WSAR, this work contributes more broadly to our understanding of how to design remote collaboration technologies for serious team-based activities in large outdoor environments.Item Open Access Designing Social Greetings and Proxemics in Human Robot Interaction(2013-08-07) Heenan, Brandon; Greenberg, Saul; Aghelmanesh, Setareh; Sharlin, EhudWe operationalize on a robot a subset of social behaviors as described by Hall’s proxemics theory and Kendon’s observations of greetings. Our hypothesis is that basing robot behaviors on the social science of such human behaviors will make the robot appear to convey social intelligence. Specifically, we track the location and orientation of a Nao humanoid robot relative to a person, and programmed the robot to engage in a distance salutation, approach, close salutation and transition as described by theory. Overall, our design appears effective in simulating social intelligence, especially with respect to eye contact. However, mechanical limits affects the robot’s ability to express necessary social nuances, including seemingly fine distinctions such as the robot’s slow speed in moving into position, or its inability to direct gaze independent of head position. Our findings suggest that HRI design must consider detailed nuances of how particular expressions of social theory are realized as robotic behaviors.