A method for automatically creating 3d animated scenes from annotated fiction text
- Glass, Kevin A, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Glass, Kevin A , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432699 , vital:72893 , https://www.iadisportal.org/ijcsis/papers/2009110208.pdf
- Description: This paper describes a strategy for automatically converting fiction text into 3D animations. It assumes the existence of fiction text annotated with avatar, object, setting, transition and relation annotations, and presents a transformation process that converts annotated text into quantified constraint systems, the solutions to which are used in the population of 3D environments. Constraint solutions are valid over temporal intervals, ensuring that consistent dynamic behaviour is produced. A substantial level of automation is achieved, while providing opportunities for creative manual intervention in animation process. The process is demonstrated using annotated examples drawn from popular fiction text that are converted into animation sequences, confirming that the desired results can be achieved with only high-level human direction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Glass, Kevin A , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432699 , vital:72893 , https://www.iadisportal.org/ijcsis/papers/2009110208.pdf
- Description: This paper describes a strategy for automatically converting fiction text into 3D animations. It assumes the existence of fiction text annotated with avatar, object, setting, transition and relation annotations, and presents a transformation process that converts annotated text into quantified constraint systems, the solutions to which are used in the population of 3D environments. Constraint solutions are valid over temporal intervals, ensuring that consistent dynamic behaviour is produced. A substantial level of automation is achieved, while providing opportunities for creative manual intervention in animation process. The process is demonstrated using annotated examples drawn from popular fiction text that are converted into animation sequences, confirming that the desired results can be achieved with only high-level human direction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Automating the creation of 3D animation from annotated fiction text
- Glass, Kevin A, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Glass, Kevin A , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432639 , vital:72889 , https://www.iadisportal.org/digital-library/automating-the-creation-of-3d-animation-from-annotated-fiction-text
- Description: This paper describes a strategy for automatically converting fiction text into 3D animations. It assumes the existence of fiction text annotated with avatar, object, setting, transition and relation annotations, and presents a transformation process that converts annotated text into quantified constraint systems, the solutions to which are used in the population of 3D environments. Constraint solutions are valid over temporal intervals, ensuring that consistent dynamic behaviour is produced. A substantial level of automation is achieved, while providing opportunities for creative manual intervention in animation process. The process is demonstrated using annotated examples drawn from popular fiction text that are converted into animation sequences, confirming that the desired results can be achieved with only high-level human direction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Glass, Kevin A , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432639 , vital:72889 , https://www.iadisportal.org/digital-library/automating-the-creation-of-3d-animation-from-annotated-fiction-text
- Description: This paper describes a strategy for automatically converting fiction text into 3D animations. It assumes the existence of fiction text annotated with avatar, object, setting, transition and relation annotations, and presents a transformation process that converts annotated text into quantified constraint systems, the solutions to which are used in the population of 3D environments. Constraint solutions are valid over temporal intervals, ensuring that consistent dynamic behaviour is produced. A substantial level of automation is achieved, while providing opportunities for creative manual intervention in animation process. The process is demonstrated using annotated examples drawn from popular fiction text that are converted into animation sequences, confirming that the desired results can be achieved with only high-level human direction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Designing a framework for animal identification
- Krijer, Hans, Foster, Greg, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Krijer, Hans , Foster, Greg , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432726 , vital:72895 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/g99k3906/hans.pdf
- Description: The conventional methods of animal identification can be replaced with a semi-automatic image analysis tool, which distinguishes individuals based on their unique markings. A flexible framework for the analysis must encompass a combination of relevant features with interchangeable animal-specific modules. Developing a Java-ImageJ plug-in alleviates routine functionality, but enforces some degree of conformity. Zebra photographs are used as the initial data under consideration. De-interlacing, adaptive thresholding, smoothing and sharpening are identified as beneficial pre-processing steps. Binarisation and sequential thinning are discussed as essential processing stages. Pattern extraction and matching is based on vectors relative to a manually defined region of interest. Provision for enhancing the system to allow fully automatic processing must be made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Krijer, Hans , Foster, Greg , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432726 , vital:72895 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/g99k3906/hans.pdf
- Description: The conventional methods of animal identification can be replaced with a semi-automatic image analysis tool, which distinguishes individuals based on their unique markings. A flexible framework for the analysis must encompass a combination of relevant features with interchangeable animal-specific modules. Developing a Java-ImageJ plug-in alleviates routine functionality, but enforces some degree of conformity. Zebra photographs are used as the initial data under consideration. De-interlacing, adaptive thresholding, smoothing and sharpening are identified as beneficial pre-processing steps. Binarisation and sequential thinning are discussed as essential processing stages. Pattern extraction and matching is based on vectors relative to a manually defined region of interest. Provision for enhancing the system to allow fully automatic processing must be made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Optimisation of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Vectobac®) applications for the blackfly control programme on the Orange River, South Africa
- Rivers-Moore, N A, Bangay, Shaun D, Palmer, R W
- Authors: Rivers-Moore, N A , Bangay, Shaun D , Palmer, R W
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7090 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012421
- Description: The Orange River, South Africa's largest river, is a critical water resource for the country. In spite of the clear economic benefits of regulating river flows through a series of impoundments, one of the significant undesirable ecological consequences of this regulation has been the regular outbreaks of the pest blackfly species Simulium chutteri and S. damnosum s.l. (Diptera: Simuliidae). The current control programme, carried out by the South African National Department of Agriculture, uses regular applications, by helicopter, of the target-specific bacterial larvicide Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis. While cost-benefit analyses show significant benefits to the control programme, benefits could potentially be further increased through applying smaller volumes of larvicide in an optimised manner, which incorporates upstream residual amounts of pesticide through downstream carry. Using an optimisation technique applied in the West African Onchocerciasis Control Programme, to a 136 km stretch of the Orange River which includes 31 blackfly breeding sites, we demonstrate that 28.5% less larvicide could be used to potentially achieve the same control of blackfly. This translates into potential annual savings of between R540 000 and R1 800 000. A comparison of larvicide volumes estimated using traditional vs. optimised approaches at different discharges, illustrates that the savings on optimisation decline linearly with increasing flow volumes. Larvicide applications at the lowest discharge considered (40 m3·s-1) showed the greatest benefits from optimisations, with benefits remaining but decreasing to a theoretical 30% up to median flows of 100 m3·s-1. Given that almost 70% of flows in July are less than 100 m3·s-1, we suggest that an optimised approach is appropriate for the Orange River Blackfly Control Programme, particularly for flow volumes of less than 100 m3·s-1. We recommend that trials be undertaken over two reaches of the Orange River, one using the traditional approach, and another using the optimised approach, to test the efficacy of using optimised volumes of B.t.i.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Rivers-Moore, N A , Bangay, Shaun D , Palmer, R W
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7090 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012421
- Description: The Orange River, South Africa's largest river, is a critical water resource for the country. In spite of the clear economic benefits of regulating river flows through a series of impoundments, one of the significant undesirable ecological consequences of this regulation has been the regular outbreaks of the pest blackfly species Simulium chutteri and S. damnosum s.l. (Diptera: Simuliidae). The current control programme, carried out by the South African National Department of Agriculture, uses regular applications, by helicopter, of the target-specific bacterial larvicide Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis. While cost-benefit analyses show significant benefits to the control programme, benefits could potentially be further increased through applying smaller volumes of larvicide in an optimised manner, which incorporates upstream residual amounts of pesticide through downstream carry. Using an optimisation technique applied in the West African Onchocerciasis Control Programme, to a 136 km stretch of the Orange River which includes 31 blackfly breeding sites, we demonstrate that 28.5% less larvicide could be used to potentially achieve the same control of blackfly. This translates into potential annual savings of between R540 000 and R1 800 000. A comparison of larvicide volumes estimated using traditional vs. optimised approaches at different discharges, illustrates that the savings on optimisation decline linearly with increasing flow volumes. Larvicide applications at the lowest discharge considered (40 m3·s-1) showed the greatest benefits from optimisations, with benefits remaining but decreasing to a theoretical 30% up to median flows of 100 m3·s-1. Given that almost 70% of flows in July are less than 100 m3·s-1, we suggest that an optimised approach is appropriate for the Orange River Blackfly Control Programme, particularly for flow volumes of less than 100 m3·s-1. We recommend that trials be undertaken over two reaches of the Orange River, one using the traditional approach, and another using the optimised approach, to test the efficacy of using optimised volumes of B.t.i.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A naive salience-based method for speaker identification in fiction books
- Glass, Kevin A, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Glass, Kevin A , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432627 , vital:72888 , https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10350927/
- Description: This paper presents a salience-based technique for the annotation of directly quoted speech from fiction text. In particular, this paper determines to what extent a naïve (without the use of complex machine learning or knowledge-based techniques) scoring technique can be used for the identification of the speaker of speech quotes. The presented technique makes use of a scoring technique, similar to that commonly found in knowledge-poor anaphora resolution research, as well as a set of hand-coded rules for the final identification of the speaker of each quote in the text. Speaker identification is shown to be achieved using three tasks: the identification of a speech-verb associated with a quote with a recall of 94.41%; the identification of the actor associated with a quote with a recall of 88.22%; and the selection of a speaker with an accuracy of 79.40%.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Glass, Kevin A , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432627 , vital:72888 , https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10350927/
- Description: This paper presents a salience-based technique for the annotation of directly quoted speech from fiction text. In particular, this paper determines to what extent a naïve (without the use of complex machine learning or knowledge-based techniques) scoring technique can be used for the identification of the speaker of speech quotes. The presented technique makes use of a scoring technique, similar to that commonly found in knowledge-poor anaphora resolution research, as well as a set of hand-coded rules for the final identification of the speaker of each quote in the text. Speaker identification is shown to be achieved using three tasks: the identification of a speech-verb associated with a quote with a recall of 94.41%; the identification of the actor associated with a quote with a recall of 88.22%; and the selection of a speaker with an accuracy of 79.40%.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Duplicating road patterns in south african informal settlements using procedural techniques
- Glass, Kevin R, Morkel, Chantelle, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Glass, Kevin R , Morkel, Chantelle , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432875 , vital:72909 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1108590.1108616
- Description: The formation of informal settlements in and around urban complexes has largely been ignored in the context of procedural city modeling. However, many cities in South Africa and globally can attest to the presence of such settlements. This paper analyses the phenomenon of informal settlements from a procedural modeling perspective. Aerial photography from two South African urban complexes, namely Johannesburg and Cape Town is used as a basis for the extraction of various features that distinguish different types of settlements. In particular, the road patterns which have formed within such settlements are analysed, and various procedural techniques proposed (including Voronoi diagrams, subdivision and L-systems) to replicate the identified features. A qualitative assessment of the procedural techniques is provided, and the most suitable combination of techniques identified for unstructured and structured settlements. In particular it is found that a combination of Voronoi diagrams and subdivision provides the closest match to unstructured informal settlements. A combination of L-systems, Voronoi diagrams and subdivision is found to produce the closest pattern to a structured informal settlement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Glass, Kevin R , Morkel, Chantelle , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432875 , vital:72909 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1108590.1108616
- Description: The formation of informal settlements in and around urban complexes has largely been ignored in the context of procedural city modeling. However, many cities in South Africa and globally can attest to the presence of such settlements. This paper analyses the phenomenon of informal settlements from a procedural modeling perspective. Aerial photography from two South African urban complexes, namely Johannesburg and Cape Town is used as a basis for the extraction of various features that distinguish different types of settlements. In particular, the road patterns which have formed within such settlements are analysed, and various procedural techniques proposed (including Voronoi diagrams, subdivision and L-systems) to replicate the identified features. A qualitative assessment of the procedural techniques is provided, and the most suitable combination of techniques identified for unstructured and structured settlements. In particular it is found that a combination of Voronoi diagrams and subdivision provides the closest match to unstructured informal settlements. A combination of L-systems, Voronoi diagrams and subdivision is found to produce the closest pattern to a structured informal settlement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
The identification of mammalian species through the classification of hair patterns using image pattern recognition
- Moyo, Thamasanqa, Bangay, Shaun D, Foster, Greg
- Authors: Moyo, Thamasanqa , Bangay, Shaun D , Foster, Greg
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432938 , vital:72914 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1108590.1108619
- Description: The identification of mammals through the use of their hair is important in the fields of forensics and ecology. The application of computer pattern recognition techniques to this process provides a means of reducing the subjectivity found in the process, as manual techniques rely on the interpretation of a human expert rather than quantitative measures. The first application of image pattern recognition techniques to the classification of African mammalian species using hair patterns is presented. This application uses a 2D Gabor filter-bank and motivates the use of moments to classify hair scale patterns. Application of a 2D Gabor filter-bank to hair scale processing provides results of 52% accuracy when using a filter-bank of size four and 72% accuracy when using a filter-bank of size eight. These initial results indicate that 2D Gabor filters produce information that may be successfully used to classify hair according to images of its patterns.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Moyo, Thamasanqa , Bangay, Shaun D , Foster, Greg
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432938 , vital:72914 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1108590.1108619
- Description: The identification of mammals through the use of their hair is important in the fields of forensics and ecology. The application of computer pattern recognition techniques to this process provides a means of reducing the subjectivity found in the process, as manual techniques rely on the interpretation of a human expert rather than quantitative measures. The first application of image pattern recognition techniques to the classification of African mammalian species using hair patterns is presented. This application uses a 2D Gabor filter-bank and motivates the use of moments to classify hair scale patterns. Application of a 2D Gabor filter-bank to hair scale processing provides results of 52% accuracy when using a filter-bank of size four and 72% accuracy when using a filter-bank of size eight. These initial results indicate that 2D Gabor filters produce information that may be successfully used to classify hair according to images of its patterns.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Evaluating parts-of-speech taggers for use in a text-to-scene conversion system
- Glass, Kevin R, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Glass, Kevin R , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper
- Identifier: vital:6603 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009323
- Description: This paper presents parts-of-speech tagging as a first step towards an autonomous text-to-scene conversion system. It categorizes some freely available taggers, according to the techniques used by each in order to automatically identify word-classes. In addition, the performance of each identified tagger is verified experimentally. The SUSANNE corpus is used for testing and reveals the complexity of working with different tagsets, resulting in substantially lower accuracies in our tests than in those reported by the developers of each tagger. The taggers are then grouped to form a voting system to attempt to raise accuracies, but in no cases do the combined results improve upon the individual accuracies. Additionally a new metric, agreement, is tentatively proposed as an indication of confidence in the output of a group of taggers where such output cannot be validated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Glass, Kevin R , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper
- Identifier: vital:6603 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009323
- Description: This paper presents parts-of-speech tagging as a first step towards an autonomous text-to-scene conversion system. It categorizes some freely available taggers, according to the techniques used by each in order to automatically identify word-classes. In addition, the performance of each identified tagger is verified experimentally. The SUSANNE corpus is used for testing and reveals the complexity of working with different tagsets, resulting in substantially lower accuracies in our tests than in those reported by the developers of each tagger. The taggers are then grouped to form a voting system to attempt to raise accuracies, but in no cases do the combined results improve upon the individual accuracies. Additionally a new metric, agreement, is tentatively proposed as an indication of confidence in the output of a group of taggers where such output cannot be validated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Evaluating parts-of-speech taggers for use in a text-to-scene conversion system
- Glass, Kevin A, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Glass, Kevin A , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432654 , vital:72890 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/groups/vrsig/currentprojects/053texttoscene/paper01.pdf
- Description: This paper presents parts-of-speech tagging as a first step towards an autonomous text-to-scene conversion system. It categorizes some freely available taggers, according to the techniques used by each in order to automatically identify word-classes. In addition, the performance of each identified tagger is verified experimentally. The SUSANNE corpus is used for testing and reveals the complexity of working with different tagsets, resulting in substantially lower accuracies in our tests than in those reported by the developers of each tagger. The taggers are then grouped to form a voting system to attempt to raise accuracies, but in no cases do the combined results improve upon the individual accuracies. Additionally a new metric, agreement, is tentatively proposed as an indication of confidence in the output of a group of taggers where such output cannot be validated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Glass, Kevin A , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432654 , vital:72890 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/groups/vrsig/currentprojects/053texttoscene/paper01.pdf
- Description: This paper presents parts-of-speech tagging as a first step towards an autonomous text-to-scene conversion system. It categorizes some freely available taggers, according to the techniques used by each in order to automatically identify word-classes. In addition, the performance of each identified tagger is verified experimentally. The SUSANNE corpus is used for testing and reveals the complexity of working with different tagsets, resulting in substantially lower accuracies in our tests than in those reported by the developers of each tagger. The taggers are then grouped to form a voting system to attempt to raise accuracies, but in no cases do the combined results improve upon the individual accuracies. Additionally a new metric, agreement, is tentatively proposed as an indication of confidence in the output of a group of taggers where such output cannot be validated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Kaleidoscope configurations for reflectance measurement
- Bangay, Shaun D, Radloff, Judith D
- Authors: Bangay, Shaun D , Radloff, Judith D
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432891 , vital:72910 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1029949.1029979
- Description: Simulations of different configurations of the symmetrical tapered kaleidoscope are performed to assess their merits for measurement of BRDFs and BTFs. The relationship between optimal kaleidoscope layout, and factors such as hardware restrictions and the resolution of the required reflectance function, is derived. The effect on the measurement of the reflectance function of changing these independent variables is examined through the simulation. These experiments highlight issues affecting the measurement of BTFs using kaleidoscopes, and suggest configurations that allow sampling at regular parameter intervals. A number of other kaleidoscope architectures are explored, which offer the benefits of potentially doubling the range of directions that can be sampled, and allowing adaptive control of sample intervals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Bangay, Shaun D , Radloff, Judith D
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432891 , vital:72910 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1029949.1029979
- Description: Simulations of different configurations of the symmetrical tapered kaleidoscope are performed to assess their merits for measurement of BRDFs and BTFs. The relationship between optimal kaleidoscope layout, and factors such as hardware restrictions and the resolution of the required reflectance function, is derived. The effect on the measurement of the reflectance function of changing these independent variables is examined through the simulation. These experiments highlight issues affecting the measurement of BTFs using kaleidoscopes, and suggest configurations that allow sampling at regular parameter intervals. A number of other kaleidoscope architectures are explored, which offer the benefits of potentially doubling the range of directions that can be sampled, and allowing adaptive control of sample intervals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Modelling and rendering techniques for african hairstyles
- Patrick, Deborah, Bangay, Shaun D, Lobb, Adele
- Authors: Patrick, Deborah , Bangay, Shaun D , Lobb, Adele
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432905 , vital:72911 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1029949.1029971
- Description: We develop or enhance hair modelling and rendering techniques to produce three different forms of hair commonly found in African hairstyles. The forms of hair are natural curly hair, straightened hair, and braids or twists of hair. We use an implicit model, implemented as a series of textured layers to represent curly hair. Straightened hair is represented explicitly, and mod-elled by defining and replicating a few control hairs. Braids and twists are implemented as textured generalized cylinders. A synthesis of existing hair illumination models is used as a basis for an African hair illumination model. Parameter values to match African hair characteristics are discussed. A number of complete African hairstyles are shown, demonstrating that the techniques can be used to model and render African hair successfully.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Patrick, Deborah , Bangay, Shaun D , Lobb, Adele
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432905 , vital:72911 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1029949.1029971
- Description: We develop or enhance hair modelling and rendering techniques to produce three different forms of hair commonly found in African hairstyles. The forms of hair are natural curly hair, straightened hair, and braids or twists of hair. We use an implicit model, implemented as a series of textured layers to represent curly hair. Straightened hair is represented explicitly, and mod-elled by defining and replicating a few control hairs. Braids and twists are implemented as textured generalized cylinders. A synthesis of existing hair illumination models is used as a basis for an African hair illumination model. Parameter values to match African hair characteristics are discussed. A number of complete African hairstyles are shown, demonstrating that the techniques can be used to model and render African hair successfully.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Wearing your PIM: experiments with an audio enhanced PIM
- Tsegaye, Melekam, Bangay, Shaun D, Terzoli, Alfredo
- Authors: Tsegaye, Melekam , Bangay, Shaun D , Terzoli, Alfredo
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432854 , vital:72904 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/g98t4414/static/papers/wpimfinal.pdf
- Description: PIM systems help organise people’s lives by providing address book, schedule and task management facilities. Current PIM’s manage this information by collecting and storing it as textual data. With the advent of the wearable computer, using text only is no longer an efficient and convenient mechanism for managing personal information. A wearable computer should use data from various sensors (video, audio, location, environmental, user state) to organise personal information. In this paper we examine how audio can be used to enhance the facilities provided by text-only PIM’s and present an example implementation of an audio based wearable PIM (wPIM) that has the capability of storing and retrieving PIM information as audio recordings. The results of the user evaluation we conducted, which was carried out outside of the laboratory, suggests that users strongly accept audio as a way to manage their personal information and to augment their memory, supporting our hypothesis that audio enhances wearable personal information management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Tsegaye, Melekam , Bangay, Shaun D , Terzoli, Alfredo
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432854 , vital:72904 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/g98t4414/static/papers/wpimfinal.pdf
- Description: PIM systems help organise people’s lives by providing address book, schedule and task management facilities. Current PIM’s manage this information by collecting and storing it as textual data. With the advent of the wearable computer, using text only is no longer an efficient and convenient mechanism for managing personal information. A wearable computer should use data from various sensors (video, audio, location, environmental, user state) to organise personal information. In this paper we examine how audio can be used to enhance the facilities provided by text-only PIM’s and present an example implementation of an audio based wearable PIM (wPIM) that has the capability of storing and retrieving PIM information as audio recordings. The results of the user evaluation we conducted, which was carried out outside of the laboratory, suggests that users strongly accept audio as a way to manage their personal information and to augment their memory, supporting our hypothesis that audio enhances wearable personal information management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
A digital watermarking scheme for Bezier surfaces
- Chadwick, J, Bangay, Shaun D, Wentworth, Peter E
- Authors: Chadwick, J , Bangay, Shaun D , Wentworth, Peter E
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432769 , vital:72898 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/groups/vrsig/pastprojects/046watermarking/paper01.pdf
- Description: Owners and vendors are increasingly publishing their materials in digital form. Because such materials can be exactly copied, a mechanism is required that will protect the legitimate owners of these works, by providing proof of original ownership. Digital watermarking has now become one accepted method of establishing ownership of digital materials. The owner of a work embeds a pattern, called a digital watermark, in the content. This embedded watermark is normally undetectable, but its presence can be demonstrated by the owner of the work or his agent, thereby proving ownership. Digital watermarking has been used for many types of multimedia content, primarily audio, video and flat images. Recently, interest has been shown in applying digital watermarking schemes to 3D surfaces, in various formats. In this paper, we examine a method whereby a digital watermark can be embedded in a Bezier surface. A prototype watermarking method for such surfaces is presented, with some experimental results, and a discussion of directions for future research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Chadwick, J , Bangay, Shaun D , Wentworth, Peter E
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432769 , vital:72898 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/groups/vrsig/pastprojects/046watermarking/paper01.pdf
- Description: Owners and vendors are increasingly publishing their materials in digital form. Because such materials can be exactly copied, a mechanism is required that will protect the legitimate owners of these works, by providing proof of original ownership. Digital watermarking has now become one accepted method of establishing ownership of digital materials. The owner of a work embeds a pattern, called a digital watermark, in the content. This embedded watermark is normally undetectable, but its presence can be demonstrated by the owner of the work or his agent, thereby proving ownership. Digital watermarking has been used for many types of multimedia content, primarily audio, video and flat images. Recently, interest has been shown in applying digital watermarking schemes to 3D surfaces, in various formats. In this paper, we examine a method whereby a digital watermark can be embedded in a Bezier surface. A prototype watermarking method for such surfaces is presented, with some experimental results, and a discussion of directions for future research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
A lightwave 3d plug-in for modeling long hair on virtual humans
- Patrick, Deborah, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Patrick, Deborah , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432953 , vital:72916 , https://doi.org/10.1145/602330.602360
- Description: Multimedia applications today make use of virtual humans. Generating realistic virtual humans is a challenging problem owing to a number of factors, one being the simulation of realistic hair. The difficulty in simulating hair is due to the physical properties of hair. The average human head holds thousands of hairs, with the width of each hair often smaller than the size of a pixel. There are also complex lighting effects that occur within hair. This paper presents a LightWave 3D plug-in for modeling thousands of individual hairs on virtual humans. The plug-in allows the user to specify the length, thickness and distribution of the hair, as well as the number of segments a hair is made up of. The plug-in is able to add hairs to a head model, which the user then modifies to define a hairstyle. The hairs are then multiplied by the plug-in to produce many hairs. By providing a plug-in that does most of the work and produces realistic results, the user is able to produce a hairstyle without modeling each individual strand of hair. This greatly reduces the time spent on hair modeling, and makes the possibility of adding realistic long hair to virtual humans reasonable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Patrick, Deborah , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432953 , vital:72916 , https://doi.org/10.1145/602330.602360
- Description: Multimedia applications today make use of virtual humans. Generating realistic virtual humans is a challenging problem owing to a number of factors, one being the simulation of realistic hair. The difficulty in simulating hair is due to the physical properties of hair. The average human head holds thousands of hairs, with the width of each hair often smaller than the size of a pixel. There are also complex lighting effects that occur within hair. This paper presents a LightWave 3D plug-in for modeling thousands of individual hairs on virtual humans. The plug-in allows the user to specify the length, thickness and distribution of the hair, as well as the number of segments a hair is made up of. The plug-in is able to add hairs to a head model, which the user then modifies to define a hairstyle. The hairs are then multiplied by the plug-in to produce many hairs. By providing a plug-in that does most of the work and produces realistic results, the user is able to produce a hairstyle without modeling each individual strand of hair. This greatly reduces the time spent on hair modeling, and makes the possibility of adding realistic long hair to virtual humans reasonable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
An mLAN Connection Management Server for Web-Based, Multi-User, Audio Device Patching
- Foss, Richard, Fujimori, J I, Klinkradt, Bradley, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Foss, Richard , Fujimori, J I , Klinkradt, Bradley , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/427404 , vital:72436 , https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=12397
- Description: A connection management server has been developed that enables connections to be made between mLAN-compatible audio devices, via a client web browser on any web-enabled device, such as a laptop or PDA. The connections can also be made across IEEE1394 bridges, and will allow for the transport of audio and music data between mLAN devices on the same or separate IEEE 1394 buses. Multiple users will be able to make and break connections via the server.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Foss, Richard , Fujimori, J I , Klinkradt, Bradley , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/427404 , vital:72436 , https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=12397
- Description: A connection management server has been developed that enables connections to be made between mLAN-compatible audio devices, via a client web browser on any web-enabled device, such as a laptop or PDA. The connections can also be made across IEEE1394 bridges, and will allow for the transport of audio and music data between mLAN devices on the same or separate IEEE 1394 buses. Multiple users will be able to make and break connections via the server.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Rendering optimisations for stylised sketching
- Winnemöller, Holger, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Winnemöller, Holger , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432922 , vital:72913 , https://doi.org/10.1145/602330.602353
- Description: We present work that specifically pertains to the rendering stage of stylised, non-photorealistic sketching. While a substantial body of work has been published on geometric optimisations, surface topologies, space-algorithms and natural media simulation, rendering-specific issues are rarely discussed in-depth even though they are often acknowledged. We investigate the most common stylised sketching approaches and identify possible rendering optimisations. In particular, we define uncertainty-functions, which are used to describe a human-error component, discuss how these pertain to geometric perturbation and textured silhouette sketching and explain how they can be cached to improve performance. Temporal coherence, which poses a problem for textured silhouette sketching, is addressed by means of an easily computed visibility-function. Lastly, we produce an effective yet surprisingly simple solution to seamless hatching, which commonly presents a large computational overhead, by using 3-D textures in a novel fashion. All our optimisations are cost-effective, easy to implement and work in conjunction with most existing algorithms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Winnemöller, Holger , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432922 , vital:72913 , https://doi.org/10.1145/602330.602353
- Description: We present work that specifically pertains to the rendering stage of stylised, non-photorealistic sketching. While a substantial body of work has been published on geometric optimisations, surface topologies, space-algorithms and natural media simulation, rendering-specific issues are rarely discussed in-depth even though they are often acknowledged. We investigate the most common stylised sketching approaches and identify possible rendering optimisations. In particular, we define uncertainty-functions, which are used to describe a human-error component, discuss how these pertain to geometric perturbation and textured silhouette sketching and explain how they can be cached to improve performance. Temporal coherence, which poses a problem for textured silhouette sketching, is addressed by means of an easily computed visibility-function. Lastly, we produce an effective yet surprisingly simple solution to seamless hatching, which commonly presents a large computational overhead, by using 3-D textures in a novel fashion. All our optimisations are cost-effective, easy to implement and work in conjunction with most existing algorithms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Rendering Primitives for a Virtual Holodeck
- Morkel, Chantelle, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Morkel, Chantelle , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432795 , vital:72901 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/groups/vrsig/pastprojects/039virtualholodeck/paper02.pdf
- Description: The main objective of this research is to implement a “Star Trek”-like holodeck in a computer environment. An experiment to create graphical primitives and images solely out of spheres is being conducted. We investigate several approaches of creating primitives using spheres, and then using these primitives to create images. Initial results of this experiment are presented and we conclude that using spheres to create primitives and images is a viable approach to creating realistic-looking three-dimensional (3D) images.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
- Authors: Morkel, Chantelle , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432795 , vital:72901 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/groups/vrsig/pastprojects/039virtualholodeck/paper02.pdf
- Description: The main objective of this research is to implement a “Star Trek”-like holodeck in a computer environment. An experiment to create graphical primitives and images solely out of spheres is being conducted. We investigate several approaches of creating primitives using spheres, and then using these primitives to create images. Initial results of this experiment are presented and we conclude that using spheres to create primitives and images is a viable approach to creating realistic-looking three-dimensional (3D) images.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
Super-realistic rendering using real-time tweening
- Winnemöller, Holger, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Winnemöller, Holger , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432810 , vital:72902 , https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1type=pdfoi=eec3809e91a26dbf991a37a3a6a4f1291ae4ec4d
- Description: The realism of contemporary computer graphics (and especially Virtual Reality {VR}) is limited by the great computational cost of rendering objects of appropriate complexity with convincing lighting and surface effects. We introduce a framework that allows rendering of objects in true photographic quality using tweening. The simple but effective design of our system allows us not only to perform the necessary operations in real-time on standard hardware, but also achieve other effects like morphing. Furthermore, it is shown how our system can be gainfully employed in non-VR contexts like extreme low-bandwidth video-conferencing and others.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
- Authors: Winnemöller, Holger , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432810 , vital:72902 , https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1type=pdfoi=eec3809e91a26dbf991a37a3a6a4f1291ae4ec4d
- Description: The realism of contemporary computer graphics (and especially Virtual Reality {VR}) is limited by the great computational cost of rendering objects of appropriate complexity with convincing lighting and surface effects. We introduce a framework that allows rendering of objects in true photographic quality using tweening. The simple but effective design of our system allows us not only to perform the necessary operations in real-time on standard hardware, but also achieve other effects like morphing. Furthermore, it is shown how our system can be gainfully employed in non-VR contexts like extreme low-bandwidth video-conferencing and others.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
From virtual to physical reality with paper folding
- Authors: Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432669 , vital:72891 , https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-7721(99)00048-6
- Description: Objects in a virtual world can be converted into hardcopy by per-pendicular projection of each face onto a sheet of paper, cutting and gluing. Previously, use of this technique was restricted to a limited class of polyhedral objects. This paper extends this process to realis-tic virtual objects, with the traditional origami restriction of using only a single sheet of paper. A number of algorithms are explored to achieve this goal. The use of heuristics allows solutions to be found without exhaustive search of all possible layouts. Approaches to deal with pathological cases are described. The techniques have al-ready been successfully applied to a number of complex models, selected from a number of model archives on the Internet.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432669 , vital:72891 , https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-7721(99)00048-6
- Description: Objects in a virtual world can be converted into hardcopy by per-pendicular projection of each face onto a sheet of paper, cutting and gluing. Previously, use of this technique was restricted to a limited class of polyhedral objects. This paper extends this process to realis-tic virtual objects, with the traditional origami restriction of using only a single sheet of paper. A number of algorithms are explored to achieve this goal. The use of heuristics allows solutions to be found without exhaustive search of all possible layouts. Approaches to deal with pathological cases are described. The techniques have al-ready been successfully applied to a number of complex models, selected from a number of model archives on the Internet.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
A generic virtual reality interaction system and its extensions using the common object request broker architecture (CORBA)
- Rorke, Michael, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Rorke, Michael , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432684 , vital:72892 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/Groups/vrsig/pastprojects/013interaction/paper03.pdf
- Description: The paper describes the design and implementation of an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) interaction system. The system aims to provide a flexible mechanism for programmers to implement interaction in their VR applications, making good use of all accepted practices in the field. The paper further describes how the system was extended to a multi-user system using the CORBA middleware layer.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
- Authors: Rorke, Michael , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432684 , vital:72892 , https://www.cs.ru.ac.za/research/Groups/vrsig/pastprojects/013interaction/paper03.pdf
- Description: The paper describes the design and implementation of an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) interaction system. The system aims to provide a flexible mechanism for programmers to implement interaction in their VR applications, making good use of all accepted practices in the field. The paper further describes how the system was extended to a multi-user system using the CORBA middleware layer.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999