Persistent Homology for the Evaluation of Dimensionality Reduction Schemes

High‐dimensional data sets are a prevalent occurrence in many application domains. This data is commonly visualized using dimensionality reduction (DR) methods. DR methods provide e.g. a two‐dimensional embedding of the abstract data that retains relevant high‐dimensional characteristics such as local distances between data points. Since the amount of DR algorithms from which users may choose is steadily increasing, assessing their quality becomes more and more important. We present a novel technique to quantify and compare the quality of DR algorithms that is based on persistent homology. An inherent beneficial property of persistent homology is its robustness against noise which makes it well suited for real world data. Our pipeline informs about the best DR technique for a given data set and chosen metric (e.g. preservation of local distances) and provides knowledge about the local quality of an embedding, thereby helping users understand the shortcomings of the selected DR method. The utility of our method is demonstrated using application data from multiple domains and a variety of commonly used DR methods.     

Terrain Modelling from Feature Primitives

We introduce a compact hierarchical procedural model that combines feature‐based primitives to describe complex terrains with varying level of detail. Our model is inspired by skeletal implicit surfaces and defines the terrain elevation function by using a construction tree. Leaves represent terrain features and they are generic parametrized skeletal primitives, such as mountains, ridges, valleys, rivers, lakes or roads. Inner nodes combine the leaves and subtrees by carving, blending or warping operators. The elevation of the terrain at a given point is evaluated by traversing the tree and by combining the contributions of the primitives. The definition of the tree leaves and operators guarantees that the resulting elevation function is Lipschitz, which speeds up the sphere tracing used to render the terrain. Our model is compact and allows for the creation of large terrains with a high level o detail using a reduced set of primitives. We show the creation of different kinds of landscapes and demonstrate that our model allows to efficiently control the shape and distribution of landform features.     

Woodification: User‐Controlled Cambial Growth Modeling

We present a botanical simulation of secondary (cambial) tree growth coupled to a physical cracking simulation of its bark. Whereas level set growth would use a fixed resolution voxel grid, our system extends the deformable simplicial complex (DSC), supporting new biological growth functions robustly on any surface polygonal mesh with adaptive subdivision, collision detection and topological control. We extend the DSC with temporally coherent texturing, and surface cracking with a user‐controllable biological model coupled to the stresses introduced by the cambial growth model.     

组合测试研究进展

组合测试(Interaction Testing)是一种有效的测试用例生成技术,它假设被测系统中的缺陷往往由少数参数间的交互触发,所以可以使用较小规模的测试用例集(Test Suite)完成高质量的软件测试。对目前组合测试的已有工作予以研究,首先通过介绍常见的组合覆盖标准引入组合测试问题;然后总结目前常见的4种组合对象;之后依据生成策略的特征对现有的组合测试技术予以分类并简要介绍其中的典型方法;接着给出一套评价标准并对各个方法予以综合比较;最后总结并提出下一步的研究方向。     

基于C#语言的Windows应用程序设计的课堂引入

本文通过一个具体的点名应用程序的设计与实现,讲解了如何将学生引入学习基于C#语言的Windows应用程序设计的过程。     

Context Aware Terrain Visualization for Wayfinding and Navigation

To assist wayfinding and navigation, the display of maps and driving directions on mobile devices is nowadays commonplace. While existing system can naturally exploit GPS information to facilitate orientation, the inherently limited screen space is often perceived as a drawback compared to traditional street maps as it constrains the perception of contextual information. Moreover, occlusion issues add to this problem if the environment is shown from the popular egocentric perspective. In this paper we describe an interactive visualization system that addresses these problems by reallocating the available screen space. At the heart of our system are three novel visualization techniques: First, we propose a non‐standard perspective that allows to blend between the familiar pedestrian perspective and a standard map depiction with reduced occlusion. Second, we derive an efficient deformation technique that allows an interactive allocation of screen space to areas of interest like e.g. nearby touristic attractions. Finally, a path adaptive isometric perspective is proposed that reveals otherwise hidden facades in top‐down views. We describe efficient implementations of all techniques and exemplify our interactive system on real world urban models.     

基于Web的虚拟物流实验室设计与实现

通过对虚拟物流实验室设计特点的分析,提出了基于Web的虚拟物流实验室构架,并设计了实现方案.运用3D 软件结合VRML建立虚拟场景模型,通过Java 3D对模型文件的调用实现虚拟场景的构建.调用Java 3D类库实现场景漫游、人机交互等功能,并对虚拟模型进行优化、重组.最后建立一个虚拟实验室的场景实例,验证了该设计方法具有良好的开发效率以及系统的沉浸性与交互性.     

浅论互动式教学在计算机专业教学中的应用

本文针对计算机专业学生学习计算机算法语言存在的问题,引用互动式教学的理论,设计了互动式教学模式,即"建-仿-读-改-写",提出了互动式教学的环境要求,分析了互动式教学的教学效果,基本形成了一套完整的教学方案。对提高计算机专业教学效果具有一定的指导意义。     

Supporting the creative drive: investigating paralinguistic voice as a mode of interaction for artists with upper limb disabilities

For people with upper limb disabilities visual art is an important activity that allows for expression of individuality and independence. They show remarkable endurance, patience and determination to adapt their remaining capabilities to create visual art. There are significant advantages of digital technologies in assisting artists with upper limb disabilities. Paralinguistic voice recognition technologies have proven to be a particularly promising mode of interaction. Despite these benefits, technological support for people with upper limb disabilities to create visual art is scarce. This paper reports on a number of case studies of several artists with upper limb disabilities. These case studies illustrate the struggles they face to be creative and also show the significant advantages of digital technologies in assisting such artists. An investigation into people’s ability to use the volume of their voice to control cursor movement to create drawings on the screen is also reported. With motivation, training and practise, use of volume to control drawing tasks shows great promise. It is believed that paralinguistic voice has wider implications beyond assisting artists with upper limb disabilities, such as: an alternative mode of interaction for disabled people to perform tasks other than creating visual art, alternative mode of interaction for hands busy environments and as a voice training system for people with speech impairments.     

Participants matter: Effectiveness of VR-based training on the knowledge,trust in the robot,and self-efficacy of construction workers and university students

Virtual Reality (VR)-based training has gained attention from the scientific community in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry as a cost-effective and safe method that eliminates the safety risks that may impose on workers during the training compared to traditional training methods (e.g., in-person hands-on training, apprenticeship). Although researchers have developed VR-based training for construction workers, some have recruited students rather than workers to understand the effect of their VR-based training. However, students are different from construction workers in many ways, which can threaten the validity of such studies. Hence, research is needed to investigate the extent to which the findings of a VR-based training study are contingent on whether students or construction workers were used as the study sample. This paper strives to compare the effectiveness of VR-based training on university students’ and construction workers’ knowledge acquisition, trust in the robot, and robot operation self-efficacy in remote operation of a construction robot. Twenty-five construction workers and twenty-five graduate construction engineering students were recruited to complete a VR-based training for remote operating a demolition robot. We used quantitative analyses to answer our research questions. Our study shows that the results are dependent on the target sample in that students gained more knowledge, whereas construction workers gained more trust in the robot and more self-efficacy in robot operation. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of VR-based training on students may not necessarily associate with its effectiveness on construction workers.