Intelligent Open Data 3D Maps in a Collaborative Virtual World

Proceedings of the 2011 joint ACM workshop on Human gesture and behavior understanding

The continuous development of graphics hardware is contributing to the creation of 3D virtual worlds with high level of detail, from models of large urban areas, to complete infrastructures, such as residential buildings, stadiums, industrial settings or archaeological sites, to name just a few. Adding virtual humans or avatars adds an extra touch to the visualization providing an enhanced perception of the spaces, namely adding a sense of scale, and enabling simulations of crowds. Path planning for crowds in a meaningful way is still an open research field, particularly when it involves an unknown polygonal 3D world. Extracting the potential paths for navigation in a non automated fashion is no longer a feasible option due to the dimension and complexity of the virtual environments available nowadays. This implies that we must be able to automatically extract information from the geometry of the unknown virtual world to define potential paths, determine accessibilities, and prepare a navigation structure for real time path planning and path finding. A new image based method is proposed that deals with arbitrarily a priori unknown complex virtual worlds, namely those consisting of multilevel passages (e.g. over and below a bridge). The algorithm is capable of extracting all the information required for the actual navigation of avatars, creating a hierarchical data structure to help both high level path planning and low level path finding decisions. The algorithm is image based, hence it is tessellation independent, i.e. the algorithm does not rely on the underlying polygonal structure of the 3D world. Therefore, the number of polygons does not have a significant impact on the performance, and the topology has no weight on the results.

This chapter explores virtual worlds, or the metaverse, as spaces of and for the artistic imagination, in which the entanglement of the physical with the virtual is being exploited for its creative and imaginative potential. In particular, there are opportunities to investigate, subvert, invert, and even question our current understanding of virtual space (and the concept of the metaverse itself) through an exploration and manipulation of time, space, and identity. Creative opportunities not ordinarily available in physical world spaces are enabling artists to create new spaces of the imagination that are almost tangible, almost physical, and most certainly a ‘real’ experience for the audience. For Patrick Lichty, it is the particular characteristics of virtual worlds that closely echo the logic of the physical world that are providing ‘an existential overlay’ to the experience of virtual world spaces, and he considers how the ‘invocation of this metaphor [raises] questions about the intent of the creation of such worlds and how (or if) artists will choose to engage with virtual environments in this manner’ (Lichty, 2009, pp. 2–3). However, it is this ‘play’ of the imagination between the virtual and physical that underpins many of the themes explored by artists in projects developed on one virtual world platform, Second Life, during its lifetime (Doyle, 2010).KeywordsVirtual WorldVirtual SpaceRemote IslandWorld SpacePossibility SpaceThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

BackgroundSince their inception, virtual patients have provided health care educators with a way to engage learners in an experience simulating the clinician’s environment without danger to learners and patients. This has led this learning modality to be accepted as an essential component of medical education. With the advent of the visually and audio-rich 3-dimensional multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), a new deployment platform has emerged for educational content. Immersive, highly interactive, multimedia-rich, MUVEs that seamlessly foster collaboration provide a new hotbed for the deployment of medical education content.ObjectiveThis work aims to assess the suitability of the Second Life MUVE as a virtual patient deployment platform for undergraduate dental education, and to explore the requirements and specifications needed to meaningfully repurpose Web-based virtual patients in MUVEs.MethodsThrough the scripting capabilities and available art assets in Second Life, we repurposed an existing Web-based periodontology virtual patient into Second Life. Through a series of point-and-click interactions and multiple-choice queries, the user experienced a specific periodontology case and was asked to provide the optimal responses for each of the challenges of the case. A focus group of 9 undergraduate dentistry students experienced both the Web-based and the Second Life version of this virtual patient. The group convened 3 times and discussed relevant issues such as the group’s computer literacy, the assessment of Second Life as a virtual patient deployment platform, and compared the Web-based and MUVE-deployed virtual patients.ResultsA comparison between the Web-based and the Second Life virtual patient revealed the inherent advantages of the more experiential and immersive Second Life virtual environment. However, several challenges for the successful repurposing of virtual patients from the Web to the MUVE were identified. The identified challenges for repurposing of Web virtual patients to the MUVE platform from the focus group study were (1) increased case complexity to facilitate the user’s gaming preconception in a MUVE, (2) necessity to decrease textual narration and provide the pertinent information in a more immersive sensory way, and (3) requirement to allow the user to actuate the solutions of problems instead of describing them through narration.ConclusionsFor a successful systematic repurposing effort of virtual patients to MUVEs such as Second Life, the best practices of experiential and immersive game design should be organically incorporated in the repurposing workflow (automated or not). These findings are pivotal in an era in which open educational content is transferred to and shared among users, learners, and educators of various open repositories/environments.

Immersive environments such as virtual worlds and virtual reality platforms are being increasingly used for educational purposes. Possibilities of these environments are huge, but also are the technical challenges that have to be overcome in order for these platforms to become more usable. One of the main problems that educators have to face when designing an educational experience for virtual worlds has to do with the orchestration of the learning sequence. In this paper, we present a novel approach to support the deployment and execution of Units of Learning (UoLs), described with an Educational Modeling Language such as IMS-LD [1], into a virtual world, with the aim to facilitate the creation of well defined learning sequences for these platforms.

Reconsidering laboratory-based anatomy within the backdrop of digital transformation: Bringing an old practice into a new world.

Virtual Reality has traditionally relied on hand-created synthetic virtual worlds as approximations of real world spaces. Creation of such virtual worlds is very labour intensive. Computer vision has recently contributed greatly to the creation of the visual/graphical aspect of the virtual worlds. These techniques are classified under image-based-as opposed to geometry-based-rendering in computer graphics. Image based rendering (IBR) aims to recreate a visual world given a few real views of it. We survey some of the important image-based rendering techniques in this paper, analyzing their assumptions and limitations. We then discuss Virtualized Reality, our contribution to the creation of virtual worlds from dynamic events using a stereo technique that gives dense depth maps on all-around views of the event. The virtualized world can be represented as multiple view-dependent models or as a single view-independent model. It can then be synthesized visually given the position and properties of any virtual camera. We present a few results from 3D Dome, our virtualizing facility.

On the Web and on informatics systems, 3D virtual worlds used become big both in number and in size. Therefore, we propose in this paper a new method for retrieving 3D virtual worlds based on the semantics and the content. Firstly, we propose a new classified database of 3D virtual worlds given in VRML format. To achieve the semantic method, we construct an ontology that describes virtual worlds in various aspects including their contents (3D objects building a virtual world) and information about their contents (authors, file format, etc). This ontology is presented by OWL, the W3C recommended language. So as to extract desired 3D scenes from the proposed database we use the SPARQL query language. We propose finally a shape based method for searching desired virtual worlds by content in this database. This method is based on a new distance (metric) that define the similarity between virtual worlds. This method is evaluated using the recall vs. precision curves.

Assistant Design System of Urban Underground Pipeline Based on 3D Virtual City

In today's real-time system design, a virtual prototype can help to increase both the design speed and quality. Developing a virtual prototyping platform requires realistic modeling of the HW system, accurate simulation of the real-time SW, and integration with a reactive real-time environment. Such a VP simulation platform is often difficult to develop. In this paper, we propose a case-study of autonomous two-wheeled robot to show how to develop a virtual prototyping platform rapidly in SystemC/TLM to adequately aid in the design of this instable system with hard real-time constraints. Our approach is an integration of four major model components. Firstly, an accurate physical model of the robot is provided. Secondly, a virtual world is modeled in Java that offers a 3D environment for the robot to move in. Thirdly, the embedded control SW is developed. Finally, the overall HW system is modeled in SystemC at transaction level. This HW model wraps the physical model, interacts with the virtual world, and simulates the real-time SW by integrating an Instruction Set Simulator of the embedded CPU. By integrating these components into a platform, designers can efficiently optimize the embedded SW architecture, explore the design space and check real-time conditions for different system parameters such as buffer sizes, CPU frequency or cache configurations.

The Metaverse is a term used to describe a futuristic virtual world that goes beyond the limitations of current technological capabilities. The concept of the Metaverse has been popularized by science fiction and is now becoming a reality with the advent of virtual reality, augmented reality, and other immersive technologies. This chapter provides an overview of the Metaverse and explores its potential impact on society and culture. We examine the current state of Metaverse development, including existing virtual worlds, social networks, and gaming platforms. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities of building a true Metaverse, including technical, social, and ethical considerations. Finally, we explore the implications of the Metaverse on various industries, such as entertainment, education, and business, and discuss how it could transform the way we interact with each other and the world around us.

In today’s world, people increasingly rely on mobile apps to do their day-today activities, like checking their Instagram feed and online shopping from websites like Amazon and Flipkart. People are depending on WhatsApp and Instagram stories to communicate with local businesses and to leverage the said platforms for online advertising. Using Google Maps to find their way when they travel and finding out the immediate road and traffic conditions with digital banners around the road, has obviously led to a boom in advertising and marketing. Recently, internet users have increasingly desired to immerse themselves in a Metaverse-like platform where they can interact and socialize. Meta’s Metaverse is a tightly connected network of 3D digital spaces that allow users to escape into a virtual world. It is designed to change the way you socialize, work, shop, and connect with the real and virtual world around you. These platforms are not fully submerged in the real world; they are inclined toward virtual spaces only, making it obvious to fill this gap. Thus, the proposed framework in this chapter would be a new kind of system that may develop a socio-meta platform, powered by augmented reality and other technologies like photogrammetry and LiDAR. Augmented reality provides an interactive way of experiencing the real world, where the objects of the natural world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual vision. One of the significant problems with augmented reality is the process of building virtual 3D objects that can be augmented into real spaces, which could be solved with photogrammetry and LiDAR. Photogrammetry is the technique of producing 3D objects using 2D images of a physical object taken from different angles and orientations. LiDAR, on the other hand, is another 3D reconstruction technology used widely by Apple’s eco-system. The functioning of LIDAR is very similar to sonar and radar, and the detection and ranging part are where it stands out from the others. The idea behind this platform is to open tons of virtual dimensions in the real world using the principles of mixed reality and geographic mapping tools such as Google Maps, MapBox, and GeoJSON; it would consequently transition the way people spend their time on social media by opening a portal for generating 3D objects that can be augmented to the real-world location using photogrammetry and cloud anchors by just a few 2D digital photographs taken from their camera.

In hopes of finding an appropriate way to integrate virtual worlds into Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), this paper introduces a 3D virtual platform for language education set up by OpenSimulator and Moodle. The resulting 3D virtual world can not only create a graphic immersive context for students to practice language use, but also offer teachers a better management tool to keep student records and teaching content. Furthermore, some teaching aids and learning tools are developed to support language learning and teaching, and three types of task-based instructional activities are designed to offer an appropriate, appealing and meaningful context where the target language can be acquired naturally with less anxiety. We hope that the 3D virtual world can be an option for the English classroom to provide students an input-rich and immersive environment where learning can be fun.KeywordsComputer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)virtual worldssimulation and gameOpenSimulator (OpenSim)Moodle

Article Virtual world modeler Share on Authors: Elton K. H. Tsang Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongView Profile , Hanqiu Sun Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongView Profile , Mark Green Department of Computer Science, University of Alberta, Canada Department of Computer Science, University of Alberta, CanadaView Profile Authors Info & Claims VRST '98: Proceedings of the ACM symposium on Virtual reality software and technologyNovember 1998 Pages 179–186https://doi.org/10.1145/293701.293734Online:02 November 1998Publication History 3citation432DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations3Total Downloads432Last 12 Months4Last 6 weeks0 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteGet Access

This paper presents two contributions: (i) a system architecture capable of staging platform-independent choreographies within different virtual worlds, and (ii) an ontology-based solution for capturing and representing multi-user choreographies with reduced time/effort. We argue that choreographies for virtual worlds should be clearly separated from the technical characteristics of their execution in virtual world technological platforms. Due to the heterogeneity of the various virtual worlds and their domain requirements, we propose exploiting the modularity, generality, and granularity dimensions of ontologies to simplify and empower the choreography modeling capabilities. Instead of a unique ontology, several ontologies with different levels of generality and granularity can be progressively combined to support the modeling requirements of a given choreography. Because these ontologies are aligned with the ontology of each specific virtual world platform, the mapping and transformation between the core ontology is simplified and automated, thus reducing the development and time-to-market.