People-oriented Information Visualization Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhiyong; Zhang, Bolun

2018-04-01

In the 21st century with rapid development, in the wake of the continuous progress of science and technology, human society enters the information era and the era of big data, and the lifestyle and aesthetic system also change accordingly, so the emerging field of information visualization is increasingly popular. Information visualization design is the process of visualizing all kinds of tedious information data, so as to quickly accept information and save time-cost. Along with the development of the process of information visualization, information design, also becomes hotter and hotter, and emotional design, people-oriented design is an indispensable part of in the design of information. This paper probes information visualization design through emotional analysis of information design based on the social context of people-oriented experience from the perspective of art design. Based on the three levels of emotional information design: instinct level, behavior level and reflective level research, to explore and discuss information visualization design.

Introduction to Information Visualization (InfoVis) Techniques for Model-Based Systems Engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sindiy, Oleg; Litomisky, Krystof; Davidoff, Scott; Dekens, Frank

2013-01-01

This paper presents insights that conform to numerous system modeling languages/representation standards. The insights are drawn from best practices of Information Visualization as applied to aerospace-based applications.

Rendering visual events as sounds: Spatial attention capture by auditory augmented reality.

PubMed

Stone, Scott A; Tata, Matthew S

2017-01-01

Many salient visual events tend to coincide with auditory events, such as seeing and hearing a car pass by. Information from the visual and auditory senses can be used to create a stable percept of the stimulus. Having access to related coincident visual and auditory information can help for spatial tasks such as localization. However not all visual information has analogous auditory percepts, such as viewing a computer monitor. Here, we describe a system capable of detecting and augmenting visual salient events into localizable auditory events. The system uses a neuromorphic camera (DAVIS 240B) to detect logarithmic changes of brightness intensity in the scene, which can be interpreted as salient visual events. Participants were blindfolded and asked to use the device to detect new objects in the scene, as well as determine direction of motion for a moving visual object. Results suggest the system is robust enough to allow for the simple detection of new salient stimuli, as well accurately encoding direction of visual motion. Future successes are probable as neuromorphic devices are likely to become faster and smaller in the future, making this system much more feasible.

Rendering visual events as sounds: Spatial attention capture by auditory augmented reality

PubMed Central

Tata, Matthew S.

2017-01-01

Many salient visual events tend to coincide with auditory events, such as seeing and hearing a car pass by. Information from the visual and auditory senses can be used to create a stable percept of the stimulus. Having access to related coincident visual and auditory information can help for spatial tasks such as localization. However not all visual information has analogous auditory percepts, such as viewing a computer monitor. Here, we describe a system capable of detecting and augmenting visual salient events into localizable auditory events. The system uses a neuromorphic camera (DAVIS 240B) to detect logarithmic changes of brightness intensity in the scene, which can be interpreted as salient visual events. Participants were blindfolded and asked to use the device to detect new objects in the scene, as well as determine direction of motion for a moving visual object. Results suggest the system is robust enough to allow for the simple detection of new salient stimuli, as well accurately encoding direction of visual motion. Future successes are probable as neuromorphic devices are likely to become faster and smaller in the future, making this system much more feasible. PMID:28792518

How Information Visualization Systems Change Users' Understandings of Complex Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allendoerfer, Kenneth Robert

2009-01-01

User-centered evaluations of information systems often focus on the usability of the system rather its usefulness. This study examined how a using an interactive knowledge-domain visualization (KDV) system affected users' understanding of a domain. Interactive KDVs allow users to create graphical representations of domains that depict important…

Comparing the quality of accessing medical literature using content-based visual and textual information retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Henning; Kalpathy-Cramer, Jayashree; Kahn, Charles E., Jr.; Hersh, William

2009-02-01

Content-based visual information (or image) retrieval (CBIR) has been an extremely active research domain within medical imaging over the past ten years, with the goal of improving the management of visual medical information. Many technical solutions have been proposed, and application scenarios for image retrieval as well as image classification have been set up. However, in contrast to medical information retrieval using textual methods, visual retrieval has only rarely been applied in clinical practice. This is despite the large amount and variety of visual information produced in hospitals every day. This information overload imposes a significant burden upon clinicians, and CBIR technologies have the potential to help the situation. However, in order for CBIR to become an accepted clinical tool, it must demonstrate a higher level of technical maturity than it has to date. Since 2004, the ImageCLEF benchmark has included a task for the comparison of visual information retrieval algorithms for medical applications. In 2005, a task for medical image classification was introduced and both tasks have been run successfully for the past four years. These benchmarks allow an annual comparison of visual retrieval techniques based on the same data sets and the same query tasks, enabling the meaningful comparison of various retrieval techniques. The datasets used from 2004-2007 contained images and annotations from medical teaching files. In 2008, however, the dataset used was made up of 67,000 images (along with their associated figure captions and the full text of their corresponding articles) from two Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) scientific journals. This article describes the results of the medical image retrieval task of the ImageCLEF 2008 evaluation campaign. We compare the retrieval results of both visual and textual information retrieval systems from 15 research groups on the aforementioned data set. The results show clearly that, currently, visual retrieval alone does not achieve the performance necessary for real-world clinical applications. Most of the common visual retrieval techniques have a MAP (Mean Average Precision) of around 2-3%, which is much lower than that achieved using textual retrieval (MAP=29%). Advanced machine learning techniques, together with good training data, have been shown to improve the performance of visual retrieval systems in the past. Multimodal retrieval (basing retrieval on both visual and textual information) can achieve better results than purely visual, but only when carefully applied. In many cases, multimodal retrieval systems performed even worse than purely textual retrieval systems. On the other hand, some multimodal retrieval systems demonstrated significantly increased early precision, which has been shown to be a desirable behavior in real-world systems.

Smart-system of distance learning of visually impaired people based on approaches of artificial intelligence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samigulina, Galina A.; Shayakhmetova, Assem S.

2016-11-01

Research objective is the creation of intellectual innovative technology and information Smart-system of distance learning for visually impaired people. The organization of the available environment for receiving quality education for visually impaired people, their social adaptation in society are important and topical issues of modern education.The proposed Smart-system of distance learning for visually impaired people can significantly improve the efficiency and quality of education of this category of people. The scientific novelty of proposed Smart-system is using intelligent and statistical methods of processing multi-dimensional data, and taking into account psycho-physiological characteristics of perception and awareness learning information by visually impaired people.

Information Visualization and Proposing New Interface for Movie Retrieval System (IMDB)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Etemadpour, Ronak; Masood, Mona; Belaton, Bahari

2010-01-01

This research studies the development of a new prototype of visualization in support of movie retrieval. The goal of information visualization is unveiling of large amounts of data or abstract data set using visual presentation. With this knowledge the main goal is to develop a 2D presentation of information on movies from the IMDB (Internet Movie…

Modeling human comprehension of data visualizations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matzen, Laura E.; Haass, Michael Joseph; Divis, Kristin Marie

This project was inspired by two needs. The first is a need for tools to help scientists and engineers to design effective data visualizations for communicating information, whether to the user of a system, an analyst who must make decisions based on complex data, or in the context of a technical report or publication. Most scientists and engineers are not trained in visualization design, and they could benefit from simple metrics to assess how well their visualization's design conveys the intended message. In other words, will the most important information draw the viewer's attention? The second is the need formore » cognition-based metrics for evaluating new types of visualizations created by researchers in the information visualization and visual analytics communities. Evaluating visualizations is difficult even for experts. However, all visualization methods and techniques are intended to exploit the properties of the human visual system to convey information efficiently to a viewer. Thus, developing evaluation methods that are rooted in the scientific knowledge of the human visual system could be a useful approach. In this project, we conducted fundamental research on how humans make sense of abstract data visualizations, and how this process is influenced by their goals and prior experience. We then used that research to develop a new model, the Data Visualization Saliency Model, that can make accurate predictions about which features in an abstract visualization will draw a viewer's attention. The model is an evaluation tool that can address both of the needs described above, supporting both visualization research and Sandia mission needs.« less

How do field of view and resolution affect the information content of panoramic scenes for visual navigation? A computational investigation.

PubMed

Wystrach, Antoine; Dewar, Alex; Philippides, Andrew; Graham, Paul

2016-02-01

The visual systems of animals have to provide information to guide behaviour and the informational requirements of an animal's behavioural repertoire are often reflected in its sensory system. For insects, this is often evident in the optical array of the compound eye. One behaviour that insects share with many animals is the use of learnt visual information for navigation. As ants are expert visual navigators it may be that their vision is optimised for navigation. Here we take a computational approach in asking how the details of the optical array influence the informational content of scenes used in simple view matching strategies for orientation. We find that robust orientation is best achieved with low-resolution visual information and a large field of view, similar to the optical properties seen for many ant species. A lower resolution allows for a trade-off between specificity and generalisation for stored views. Additionally, our simulations show that orientation performance increases if different portions of the visual field are considered as discrete visual sensors, each giving an independent directional estimate. This suggests that ants might benefit by processing information from their two eyes independently.

Can Visualizing Document Space Improve Users' Information Foraging?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Min

1998-01-01

This study shows how users access relevant information in a visualized document space and determine whether BiblioMapper, a visualization tool, strengthens an information retrieval (IR) system and makes it more usable. BiblioMapper, developed for a CISI collection, was evaluated by accuracy, time, and user satisfaction. Users' navigation…

The development of a white cane which navigates the visually impaired.

PubMed

Shiizu, Yuriko; Hirahara, Yoshiaki; Yanashima, Kenji; Magatani, Kazushige

2007-01-01

In this paper, we describe about a developed navigation system that supports the independent walking of the visually impaired in the indoor space. This system is composed of colored navigation lines, RFID tags and an intelligent white cane. In our system, some colored marking tapes are set on along the walking route. These lines are called navigation line. And also RFID tags are set on this line at each landmark point. The intelligent white cane can sense a color of navigation line and receive tag information. By vibration of white cane, the system informs the visually impaired that he/she is walking along the navigation line. At the landmark point, the system also notifies area information to him/her by pre-recorded voice. Ten normal subjects who were blind folded with an eye mask were tested with this system. All of them were able to walk along the navigation line. The performance of the area information system was good. Therefore, we have concluded that our system will be extremely valuable in supporting the activities of the visually impaired.

The Ecological Approach to Text Visualization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wise, James A.

1999-01-01

Presents both theoretical and technical bases on which to build a "science of text visualization." The Spatial Paradigm for Information Retrieval and Exploration (SPIRE) text-visualization system, which images information from free-text documents as natural terrains, serves as an example of the "ecological approach" in its visual metaphor, its…

Retinal Information Processing for Minimum Laser Lesion Detection and Cumulative Damage

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-09-17

TAL3Unaqr~orJ:ccd [] J ,;--Wicic tion --------------... MYRON....... . ................... ... ....... ...........................MYRON L. WOLBARSHT B D ist...possible beneficial visual function of the small retinal image movements. B . Visual System Models Prior models of visual system information processing have...against standard secondary sources whose calibrations can be traced to the National Bureau of Standards. B . Electrophysiological Techniques Extracellular

Measuring the performance of visual to auditory information conversion.

PubMed

Tan, Shern Shiou; Maul, Tomás Henrique Bode; Mennie, Neil Russell

2013-01-01

Visual to auditory conversion systems have been in existence for several decades. Besides being among the front runners in providing visual capabilities to blind users, the auditory cues generated from image sonification systems are still easier to learn and adapt to compared to other similar techniques. Other advantages include low cost, easy customizability, and universality. However, every system developed so far has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. In order to improve these systems further, we propose an automated and quantitative method to measure the performance of such systems. With these quantitative measurements, it is possible to gauge the relative strengths and weaknesses of different systems and rank the systems accordingly. Performance is measured by both the interpretability and also the information preservation of visual to auditory conversions. Interpretability is measured by computing the correlation of inter image distance (IID) and inter sound distance (ISD) whereas the information preservation is computed by applying Information Theory to measure the entropy of both visual and corresponding auditory signals. These measurements provide a basis and some insights on how the systems work. With an automated interpretability measure as a standard, more image sonification systems can be developed, compared, and then improved. Even though the measure does not test systems as thoroughly as carefully designed psychological experiments, a quantitative measurement like the one proposed here can compare systems to a certain degree without incurring much cost. Underlying this research is the hope that a major breakthrough in image sonification systems will allow blind users to cost effectively regain enough visual functions to allow them to lead secure and productive lives.

Beyond Control Panels: Direct Manipulation for Visual Analytics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Endert, Alexander; Bradel, Lauren; North, Chris

2013-07-19

Information Visualization strives to provide visual representations through which users can think about and gain insight into information. By leveraging the visual and cognitive systems of humans, complex relationships and phenomena occurring within datasets can be uncovered by exploring information visually. Interaction metaphors for such visualizations are designed to enable users direct control over the filters, queries, and other parameters controlling how the data is visually represented. Through the evolution of information visualization, more complex mathematical and data analytic models are being used to visualize relationships and patterns in data – creating the field of Visual Analytics. However, the expectationsmore » for how users interact with these visualizations has remained largely unchanged – focused primarily on the direct manipulation of parameters of the underlying mathematical models. In this article we present an opportunity to evolve the methodology for user interaction from the direct manipulation of parameters through visual control panels, to interactions designed specifically for visual analytic systems. Instead of focusing on traditional direct manipulation of mathematical parameters, the evolution of the field can be realized through direct manipulation within the visual representation – where users can not only gain insight, but also interact. This article describes future directions and research challenges that fundamentally change the meaning of direct manipulation with regards to visual analytics, advancing the Science of Interaction.« less

An Empirical Comparison of Visualization Tools To Assist Information Retrieval on the Web.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heo, Misook; Hirtle, Stephen C.

2001-01-01

Discusses problems with navigation in hypertext systems, including cognitive overload, and describes a study that tested information visualization techniques to see which best represented the underlying structure of Web space. Considers the effects of visualization techniques on user performance on information searching tasks and the effects of…

Natural language query system design for interactive information storage and retrieval systems. Presentation visuals. M.S. Thesis Final Report, 1 Jul. 1985 - 31 Dec. 1987

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Liu, I-Hsiung

1985-01-01

This Working Paper Series entry represents a collection of presentation visuals associated with the companion report entitled Natural Language Query System Design for Interactive Information Storage and Retrieval Systems, USL/DBMS NASA/RECON Working Paper Series report number DBMS.NASA/RECON-17.

User-centered evaluation of Arizona BioPathway: an information extraction, integration, and visualization system.

PubMed

Quiñones, Karin D; Su, Hua; Marshall, Byron; Eggers, Shauna; Chen, Hsinchun

2007-09-01

Explosive growth in biomedical research has made automated information extraction, knowledge integration, and visualization increasingly important and critically needed. The Arizona BioPathway (ABP) system extracts and displays biological regulatory pathway information from the abstracts of journal articles. This study uses relations extracted from more than 200 PubMed abstracts presented in a tabular and graphical user interface with built-in search and aggregation functionality. This paper presents a task-centered assessment of the usefulness and usability of the ABP system focusing on its relation aggregation and visualization functionalities. Results suggest that our graph-based visualization is more efficient in supporting pathway analysis tasks and is perceived as more useful and easier to use as compared to a text-based literature-viewing method. Relation aggregation significantly contributes to knowledge-acquisition efficiency. Together, the graphic and tabular views in the ABP Visualizer provide a flexible and effective interface for pathway relation browsing and analysis. Our study contributes to pathway-related research and biological information extraction by assessing the value of a multiview, relation-based interface that supports user-controlled exploration of pathway information across multiple granularities.

Novel Web-based Education Platforms for Information Communication utilizing Gamification, Virtual and Immersive Reality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, I.

2015-12-01

Recent developments in internet technologies make it possible to manage and visualize large data on the web. Novel visualization techniques and interactive user interfaces allow users to create realistic environments, and interact with data to gain insight from simulations and environmental observations. This presentation showcase information communication interfaces, games, and virtual and immersive reality applications for supporting teaching and learning of concepts in atmospheric and hydrological sciences. The information communication platforms utilizes latest web technologies and allow accessing and visualizing large scale data on the web. The simulation system is a web-based 3D interactive learning environment for teaching hydrological and atmospheric processes and concepts. The simulation systems provides a visually striking platform with realistic terrain and weather information, and water simulation. The web-based simulation system provides an environment for students to learn about the earth science processes, and effects of development and human activity on the terrain. Users can access the system in three visualization modes including virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive reality using heads-up display. The system provides various scenarios customized to fit the age and education level of various users.

VisGets: coordinated visualizations for web-based information exploration and discovery.

PubMed

Dörk, Marian; Carpendale, Sheelagh; Collins, Christopher; Williamson, Carey

2008-01-01

In common Web-based search interfaces, it can be difficult to formulate queries that simultaneously combine temporal, spatial, and topical data filters. We investigate how coordinated visualizations can enhance search and exploration of information on the World Wide Web by easing the formulation of these types of queries. Drawing from visual information seeking and exploratory search, we introduce VisGets--interactive query visualizations of Web-based information that operate with online information within a Web browser. VisGets provide the information seeker with visual overviews of Web resources and offer a way to visually filter the data. Our goal is to facilitate the construction of dynamic search queries that combine filters from more than one data dimension. We present a prototype information exploration system featuring three linked VisGets (temporal, spatial, and topical), and used it to visually explore news items from online RSS feeds.

a Web-Based Platform for Visualizing Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Big Taxi Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, H.; Chen, L.; Gui, Z.

2017-09-01

With more and more vehicles equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS), access to large-scale taxi trajectory data has become increasingly easy. Taxis are valuable sensors and information associated with taxi trajectory can provide unprecedented insight into many aspects of city life. But analysing these data presents many challenges. Visualization of taxi data is an efficient way to represent its distributions and structures and reveal hidden patterns in the data. However, Most of the existing visualization systems have some shortcomings. On the one hand, the passenger loading status and speed information cannot be expressed. On the other hand, mono-visualization form limits the information presentation. In view of these problems, this paper designs and implements a visualization system in which we use colour and shape to indicate passenger loading status and speed information and integrate various forms of taxi visualization. The main work as follows: 1. Pre-processing and storing the taxi data into MongoDB database. 2. Visualization of hotspots for taxi pickup points. Through DBSCAN clustering algorithm, we cluster the extracted taxi passenger's pickup locations to produce passenger hotspots. 3. Visualizing the dynamic of taxi moving trajectory using interactive animation. We use a thinning algorithm to reduce the amount of data and design a preloading strategyto load the data smoothly. Colour and shape are used to visualize the taxi trajectory data.

Effects of body lean and visual information on the equilibrium maintenance during stance.

PubMed

Duarte, Marcos; Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M

2002-09-01

Maintenance of equilibrium was tested in conditions when humans assume different leaning postures during upright standing. Subjects ( n=11) stood in 13 different body postures specified by visual center of pressure (COP) targets within their base of support (BOS). Different types of visual information were tested: continuous presentation of visual target, no vision after target presentation, and with simultaneous visual feedback of the COP. The following variables were used to describe the equilibrium maintenance: the mean of the COP position, the area of the ellipse covering the COP sway, and the resultant median frequency of the power spectral density of the COP displacement. The variability of the COP displacement, quantified by the COP area variable, increased when subjects occupied leaning postures, irrespective of the kind of visual information provided. This variability also increased when vision was removed in relation to when vision was present. Without vision, drifts in the COP data were observed which were larger for COP targets farther away from the neutral position. When COP feedback was given in addition to the visual target, the postural control system did not control stance better than in the condition with only visual information. These results indicate that the visual information is used by the postural control system at both short and long time scales.

Designing stereoscopic information visualization for 3D-TV: What can we can learn from S3D gaming?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schild, Jonas; Masuch, Maic

2012-03-01

This paper explores graphical design and spatial alignment of visual information and graphical elements into stereoscopically filmed content, e.g. captions, subtitles, and especially more complex elements in 3D-TV productions. The method used is a descriptive analysis of existing computer- and video games that have been adapted for stereoscopic display using semi-automatic rendering techniques (e.g. Nvidia 3D Vision) or games which have been specifically designed for stereoscopic vision. Digital games often feature compelling visual interfaces that combine high usability with creative visual design. We explore selected examples of game interfaces in stereoscopic vision regarding their stereoscopic characteristics, how they draw attention, how we judge effect and comfort and where the interfaces fail. As a result, we propose a list of five aspects which should be considered when designing stereoscopic visual information: explicit information, implicit information, spatial reference, drawing attention, and vertical alignment. We discuss possible consequences, opportunities and challenges for integrating visual information elements into 3D-TV content. This work shall further help to improve current editing systems and identifies a need for future editing systems for 3DTV, e.g., live editing and real-time alignment of visual information into 3D footage.

The Effect of User Characteristics on the Efficiency of Visual Querying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bak, Peter; Meyer, Joachim

2011-01-01

Information systems increasingly provide options for visually inspecting data during the process of information discovery and exploration. Little research has dealt so far with user interactions with these systems, and specifically with the effects of characteristics of the displayed data and the user on performance with such systems. The study…

Using Visualization in Cockpit Decision Support Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aragon, Cecilia R.

2005-01-01

In order to safely operate their aircraft, pilots must make rapid decisions based on integrating and processing large amounts of heterogeneous information. Visual displays are often the most efficient method of presenting safety-critical data to pilots in real time. However, care must be taken to ensure the pilot is provided with the appropriate amount of information to make effective decisions and not become cognitively overloaded. The results of two usability studies of a prototype airflow hazard visualization cockpit decision support system are summarized. The studies demonstrate that such a system significantly improves the performance of helicopter pilots landing under turbulent conditions. Based on these results, design principles and implications for cockpit decision support systems using visualization are presented.

Cognitive processing in the primary visual cortex: from perception to memory.

PubMed

Supèr, Hans

2002-01-01

The primary visual cortex is the first cortical area of the visual system that receives information from the external visual world. Based on the receptive field characteristics of the neurons in this area, it has been assumed that the primary visual cortex is a pure sensory area extracting basic elements of the visual scene. This information is then subsequently further processed upstream in the higher-order visual areas and provides us with perception and storage of the visual environment. However, recent findings show that such neural implementations are observed in the primary visual cortex. These neural correlates are expressed by the modulated activity of the late response of a neuron to a stimulus, and most likely depend on recurrent interactions between several areas of the visual system. This favors the concept of a distributed nature of visual processing in perceptual organization.

Understanding pictorial information in biology: students' cognitive activities and visual reading strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandstetter, Miriam; Sandmann, Angela; Florian, Christine

2017-06-01

In classroom, scientific contents are increasingly communicated through visual forms of representations. Students' learning outcomes rely on their ability to read and understand pictorial information. Understanding pictorial information in biology requires cognitive effort and can be challenging to students. Yet evidence-based knowledge about students' visual reading strategies during the process of understanding pictorial information is pending. Therefore, 42 students at the age of 14-15 were asked to think aloud while trying to understand visual representations of the blood circulatory system and the patellar reflex. A category system was developed differentiating 16 categories of cognitive activities. A Principal Component Analysis revealed two underlying patterns of activities that can be interpreted as visual reading strategies: 1. Inferences predominated by using a problem-solving schema; 2. Inferences predominated by recall of prior content knowledge. Each pattern consists of a specific set of cognitive activities that reflect selection, organisation and integration of pictorial information as well as different levels of expertise. The results give detailed insights into cognitive activities of students who were required to understand the pictorial information of complex organ systems. They provide an evidence-based foundation to derive instructional aids that can promote students pictorial-information-based learning on different levels of expertise.

The visual information system

Treesearch

Merlyn J. Paulson

1979-01-01

This paper outlines a project level process (V.I.S.) which utilizes very accurate and flexible computer algorithms in combination with contemporary site analysis and design techniques for visual evaluation, design and management. The process provides logical direction and connecting bridges through problem identification, information collection and verification, visual...

Robot Evolutionary Localization Based on Attentive Visual Short-Term Memory

PubMed Central

Vega, Julio; Perdices, Eduardo; Cañas, José M.

2013-01-01

Cameras are one of the most relevant sensors in autonomous robots. However, two of their challenges are to extract useful information from captured images, and to manage the small field of view of regular cameras. This paper proposes implementing a dynamic visual memory to store the information gathered from a moving camera on board a robot, followed by an attention system to choose where to look with this mobile camera, and a visual localization algorithm that incorporates this visual memory. The visual memory is a collection of relevant task-oriented objects and 3D segments, and its scope is wider than the current camera field of view. The attention module takes into account the need to reobserve objects in the visual memory and the need to explore new areas. The visual memory is useful also in localization tasks, as it provides more information about robot surroundings than the current instantaneous image. This visual system is intended as underlying technology for service robot applications in real people's homes. Several experiments have been carried out, both with simulated and real Pioneer and Nao robots, to validate the system and each of its components in office scenarios. PMID:23337333

On Assisting a Visual-Facial Affect Recognition System with Keyboard-Stroke Pattern Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stathopoulou, I.-O.; Alepis, E.; Tsihrintzis, G. A.; Virvou, M.

Towards realizing a multimodal affect recognition system, we are considering the advantages of assisting a visual-facial expression recognition system with keyboard-stroke pattern information. Our work is based on the assumption that the visual-facial and keyboard modalities are complementary to each other and that their combination can significantly improve the accuracy in affective user models. Specifically, we present and discuss the development and evaluation process of two corresponding affect recognition subsystems, with emphasis on the recognition of 6 basic emotional states, namely happiness, sadness, surprise, anger and disgust as well as the emotion-less state which we refer to as neutral. We find that emotion recognition by the visual-facial modality can be aided greatly by keyboard-stroke pattern information and the combination of the two modalities can lead to better results towards building a multimodal affect recognition system.

CasCADe: A Novel 4D Visualization System for Virtual Construction Planning.

PubMed

Ivson, Paulo; Nascimento, Daniel; Celes, Waldemar; Barbosa, Simone Dj

2018-01-01

Building Information Modeling (BIM) provides an integrated 3D environment to manage large-scale engineering projects. The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry explores 4D visualizations over these datasets for virtual construction planning. However, existing solutions lack adequate visual mechanisms to inspect the underlying schedule and make inconsistencies readily apparent. The goal of this paper is to apply best practices of information visualization to improve 4D analysis of construction plans. We first present a review of previous work that identifies common use cases and limitations. We then consulted with AEC professionals to specify the main design requirements for such applications. These guided the development of CasCADe, a novel 4D visualization system where task sequencing and spatio-temporal simultaneity are immediately apparent. This unique framework enables the combination of diverse analytical features to create an information-rich analysis environment. We also describe how engineering collaborators used CasCADe to review the real-world construction plans of an Oil & Gas process plant. The system made evident schedule uncertainties, identified work-space conflicts and helped analyze other constructability issues. The results and contributions of this paper suggest new avenues for future research in information visualization for the AEC industry.

Design and implementation of information visualization system on science and technology industry based on GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Xiaofang; Jiang, Liushi

2011-02-01

Usually in the traditional science and technology information system, the only text and table form are used to manage the data, and the mathematic statistics method is applied to analyze the data. It lacks for the spatial analysis and management of data. Therefore, GIS technology is introduced to visualize and analyze the information data on science and technology industry. Firstly, by using the developed platform-microsoft visual studio 2005 and ArcGIS Engine, the information visualization system on science and technology industry based on GIS is built up, which implements various functions, such as data storage and management, inquiry, statistics, chart analysis, thematic map representation. It can show the change of science and technology information from the space and time axis intuitively. Then, the data of science and technology in Guangdong province are taken as experimental data and are applied to the system. And by considering the factors of humanities, geography and economics so on, the situation and change tendency of science and technology information of different regions are analyzed and researched, and the corresponding suggestion and method are brought forward in order to provide the auxiliary support for development of science and technology industry in Guangdong province.

Semantic extraction and processing of medical records for patient-oriented visual index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Weilin; Dong, Wenjie; Chen, Xiangjiao; Zhang, Jianguo

2012-02-01

To have comprehensive and completed understanding healthcare status of a patient, doctors need to search patient medical records from different healthcare information systems, such as PACS, RIS, HIS, USIS, as a reference of diagnosis and treatment decisions for the patient. However, it is time-consuming and tedious to do these procedures. In order to solve this kind of problems, we developed a patient-oriented visual index system (VIS) to use the visual technology to show health status and to retrieve the patients' examination information stored in each system with a 3D human model. In this presentation, we present a new approach about how to extract the semantic and characteristic information from the medical record systems such as RIS/USIS to create the 3D Visual Index. This approach includes following steps: (1) Building a medical characteristic semantic knowledge base; (2) Developing natural language processing (NLP) engine to perform semantic analysis and logical judgment on text-based medical records; (3) Applying the knowledge base and NLP engine on medical records to extract medical characteristics (e.g., the positive focus information), and then mapping extracted information to related organ/parts of 3D human model to create the visual index. We performed the testing procedures on 559 samples of radiological reports which include 853 focuses, and achieved 828 focuses' information. The successful rate of focus extraction is about 97.1%.

A Novel Method of Notification to Profile Childhood Visual Impairment in Scotland to Meet the Needs of Children with Visual Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ravenscroft, John; Blaikie, Andrew; Macewen, Caroline; O'Hare, Anne; Creswell, Lyn; Dutton, Gordon N.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is to pilot a new notification system for children with visual impairment (VI) and describe the initial summary findings. A system of notification of children in Scotland with VI was established. Information concerning this system was distributed to professionals working with visually impaired children to forward to…

Semantics of the visual environment encoded in parahippocampal cortex

PubMed Central

Bonner, Michael F.; Price, Amy Rose; Peelle, Jonathan E.; Grossman, Murray

2016-01-01

Semantic representations capture the statistics of experience and store this information in memory. A fundamental component of this memory system is knowledge of the visual environment, including knowledge of objects and their associations. Visual semantic information underlies a range of behaviors, from perceptual categorization to cognitive processes such as language and reasoning. Here we examine the neuroanatomic system that encodes visual semantics. Across three experiments, we found converging evidence indicating that knowledge of verbally mediated visual concepts relies on information encoded in a region of the ventral-medial temporal lobe centered on parahippocampal cortex. In an fMRI study, this region was strongly engaged by the processing of concepts relying on visual knowledge but not by concepts relying on other sensory modalities. In a study of patients with the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (semantic dementia), atrophy that encompassed this region was associated with a specific impairment in verbally mediated visual semantic knowledge. Finally, in a structural study of healthy adults from the fMRI experiment, gray matter density in this region related to individual variability in the processing of visual concepts. The anatomic location of these findings aligns with recent work linking the ventral-medial temporal lobe with high-level visual representation, contextual associations, and reasoning through imagination. Together this work suggests a critical role for parahippocampal cortex in linking the visual environment with knowledge systems in the human brain. PMID:26679216

Semantics of the Visual Environment Encoded in Parahippocampal Cortex.

PubMed

Bonner, Michael F; Price, Amy Rose; Peelle, Jonathan E; Grossman, Murray

2016-03-01

Semantic representations capture the statistics of experience and store this information in memory. A fundamental component of this memory system is knowledge of the visual environment, including knowledge of objects and their associations. Visual semantic information underlies a range of behaviors, from perceptual categorization to cognitive processes such as language and reasoning. Here we examine the neuroanatomic system that encodes visual semantics. Across three experiments, we found converging evidence indicating that knowledge of verbally mediated visual concepts relies on information encoded in a region of the ventral-medial temporal lobe centered on parahippocampal cortex. In an fMRI study, this region was strongly engaged by the processing of concepts relying on visual knowledge but not by concepts relying on other sensory modalities. In a study of patients with the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (semantic dementia), atrophy that encompassed this region was associated with a specific impairment in verbally mediated visual semantic knowledge. Finally, in a structural study of healthy adults from the fMRI experiment, gray matter density in this region related to individual variability in the processing of visual concepts. The anatomic location of these findings aligns with recent work linking the ventral-medial temporal lobe with high-level visual representation, contextual associations, and reasoning through imagination. Together, this work suggests a critical role for parahippocampal cortex in linking the visual environment with knowledge systems in the human brain.

Widespread correlation patterns of fMRI signal across visual cortex reflect eccentricity organization.

PubMed

Arcaro, Michael J; Honey, Christopher J; Mruczek, Ryan E B; Kastner, Sabine; Hasson, Uri

2015-02-19

The human visual system can be divided into over two-dozen distinct areas, each of which contains a topographic map of the visual field. A fundamental question in vision neuroscience is how the visual system integrates information from the environment across different areas. Using neuroimaging, we investigated the spatial pattern of correlated BOLD signal across eight visual areas on data collected during rest conditions and during naturalistic movie viewing. The correlation pattern between areas reflected the underlying receptive field organization with higher correlations between cortical sites containing overlapping representations of visual space. In addition, the correlation pattern reflected the underlying widespread eccentricity organization of visual cortex, in which the highest correlations were observed for cortical sites with iso-eccentricity representations including regions with non-overlapping representations of visual space. This eccentricity-based correlation pattern appears to be part of an intrinsic functional architecture that supports the integration of information across functionally specialized visual areas.

Identifying the computational requirements of an integrated top-down-bottom-up model for overt visual attention within an active vision system.

PubMed

McBride, Sebastian; Huelse, Martin; Lee, Mark

2013-01-01

Computational visual attention systems have been constructed in order for robots and other devices to detect and locate regions of interest in their visual world. Such systems often attempt to take account of what is known of the human visual system and employ concepts, such as 'active vision', to gain various perceived advantages. However, despite the potential for gaining insights from such experiments, the computational requirements for visual attention processing are often not clearly presented from a biological perspective. This was the primary objective of this study, attained through two specific phases of investigation: 1) conceptual modeling of a top-down-bottom-up framework through critical analysis of the psychophysical and neurophysiological literature, 2) implementation and validation of the model into robotic hardware (as a representative of an active vision system). Seven computational requirements were identified: 1) transformation of retinotopic to egocentric mappings, 2) spatial memory for the purposes of medium-term inhibition of return, 3) synchronization of 'where' and 'what' information from the two visual streams, 4) convergence of top-down and bottom-up information to a centralized point of information processing, 5) a threshold function to elicit saccade action, 6) a function to represent task relevance as a ratio of excitation and inhibition, and 7) derivation of excitation and inhibition values from object-associated feature classes. The model provides further insight into the nature of data representation and transfer between brain regions associated with the vertebrate 'active' visual attention system. In particular, the model lends strong support to the functional role of the lateral intraparietal region of the brain as a primary area of information consolidation that directs putative action through the use of a 'priority map'.

Identifying the Computational Requirements of an Integrated Top-Down-Bottom-Up Model for Overt Visual Attention within an Active Vision System

PubMed Central

McBride, Sebastian; Huelse, Martin; Lee, Mark

2013-01-01

Computational visual attention systems have been constructed in order for robots and other devices to detect and locate regions of interest in their visual world. Such systems often attempt to take account of what is known of the human visual system and employ concepts, such as ‘active vision’, to gain various perceived advantages. However, despite the potential for gaining insights from such experiments, the computational requirements for visual attention processing are often not clearly presented from a biological perspective. This was the primary objective of this study, attained through two specific phases of investigation: 1) conceptual modeling of a top-down-bottom-up framework through critical analysis of the psychophysical and neurophysiological literature, 2) implementation and validation of the model into robotic hardware (as a representative of an active vision system). Seven computational requirements were identified: 1) transformation of retinotopic to egocentric mappings, 2) spatial memory for the purposes of medium-term inhibition of return, 3) synchronization of ‘where’ and ‘what’ information from the two visual streams, 4) convergence of top-down and bottom-up information to a centralized point of information processing, 5) a threshold function to elicit saccade action, 6) a function to represent task relevance as a ratio of excitation and inhibition, and 7) derivation of excitation and inhibition values from object-associated feature classes. The model provides further insight into the nature of data representation and transfer between brain regions associated with the vertebrate ‘active’ visual attention system. In particular, the model lends strong support to the functional role of the lateral intraparietal region of the brain as a primary area of information consolidation that directs putative action through the use of a ‘priority map’. PMID:23437044

Smart unattended sensor networks with scene understanding capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuvich, Gary

2006-05-01

Unattended sensor systems are new technologies that are supposed to provide enhanced situation awareness to military and law enforcement agencies. A network of such sensors cannot be very effective in field conditions only if it can transmit visual information to human operators or alert them on motion. In the real field conditions, events may happen in many nodes of a network simultaneously. But the real number of control personnel is always limited, and attention of human operators can be simply attracted to particular network nodes, while more dangerous threat may be unnoticed at the same time in the other nodes. Sensor networks would be more effective if equipped with a system that is similar to human vision in its abilities to understand visual information. Human vision uses for that a rough but wide peripheral system that tracks motions and regions of interests, narrow but precise foveal vision that analyzes and recognizes objects in the center of selected region of interest, and visual intelligence that provides scene and object contexts and resolves ambiguity and uncertainty in the visual information. Biologically-inspired Network-Symbolic models convert image information into an 'understandable' Network-Symbolic format, which is similar to relational knowledge models. The equivalent of interaction between peripheral and foveal systems in the network-symbolic system is achieved via interaction between Visual and Object Buffers and the top-level knowledge system.

Company and Below Command and Control Information Exchange Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-10-22

between text and graphical forms of visual communication as well. With limited exceptions, verbal/auditory communication remains the best choice...Text and graphics. At the squad level and above visual communication system is best for complex information and/or less time critical information...Battalion o 13.2.2 Request Casualty Evacuation (CASEVAC) from Battalion Best: A mixed auditory/ visual communication would be ideal for a CASEVAC

Auditory biofeedback substitutes for loss of sensory information in maintaining stance.

PubMed

Dozza, Marco; Horak, Fay B; Chiari, Lorenzo

2007-03-01

The importance of sensory feedback for postural control in stance is evident from the balance improvements occurring when sensory information from the vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems is available. However, the extent to which also audio-biofeedback (ABF) information can improve balance has not been determined. It is also unknown why additional artificial sensory feedback is more effective for some subjects than others and in some environmental contexts than others. The aim of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness of an ABF system to reduce postural sway in stance in healthy control subjects and in subjects with bilateral vestibular loss, under conditions of reduced vestibular, visual, and somatosensory inputs. This ABF system used a threshold region and non-linear scaling parameters customized for each individual, to provide subjects with pitch and volume coding of their body sway. ABF had the largest effect on reducing the body sway of the subjects with bilateral vestibular loss when the environment provided limited visual and somatosensory information; it had the smallest effect on reducing the sway of subjects with bilateral vestibular loss, when the environment provided full somatosensory information. The extent that all subjects substituted ABF information for their loss of sensory information was related to the extent that each subject was visually dependent or somatosensory-dependent for their postural control. Comparison of postural sway under a variety of sensory conditions suggests that patients with profound bilateral loss of vestibular function show larger than normal information redundancy among the remaining senses and ABF of trunk sway. The results support the hypothesis that the nervous system uses augmented sensory information differently depending both on the environment and on individual proclivities to rely on vestibular, somatosensory or visual information to control sway.

Information Processing in Cognition Process and New Artificial Intelligent Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Nanning; Xue, Jianru

In this chapter, we discuss, in depth, visual information processing and a new artificial intelligent (AI) system that is based upon cognitive mechanisms. The relationship between a general model of intelligent systems and cognitive mechanisms is described, and in particular we explore visual information processing with selective attention. We also discuss a methodology for studying the new AI system and propose some important basic research issues that have emerged in the intersecting fields of cognitive science and information science. To this end, a new scheme for associative memory and a new architecture for an AI system with attractors of chaos are addressed.

Helmet-mounted display systems for flight simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haworth, Loren A.; Bucher, Nancy M.

1989-01-01

Simulation scientists are continually improving simulation technology with the goal of more closely replicating the physical environment of the real world. The presentation or display of visual information is one area in which recent technical improvements have been made that are fundamental to conducting simulated operations close to the terrain. Detailed and appropriate visual information is especially critical for nap-of-the-earth helicopter flight simulation where the pilot maintains an 'eyes-out' orientation to avoid obstructions and terrain. This paper describes visually coupled wide field of view helmet-mounted display (WFOVHMD) system technology as a viable visual presentation system for helicopter simulation. Tradeoffs associated with this mode of presentation as well as research and training applications are discussed.

HS3 Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maskey, M.; Conover, H.; Ramachandran, R.; Kulkarni, A.; Mceniry, M.; Stone, B.

2015-12-01

The Global Hydrology Resource Center (GHRC) is developing an enterprise information system to manage and better serve data for Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3), a NASA airborne field campaign. HS3 is a multiyear campaign aimed at helping scientists understand the physical processes that contribute to hurricane intensification. For in-depth analysis, HS3 encompasses not only airborne data but also variety of in-situ, satellite, simulation, and flight report data. Thus, HS3 provides a unique challenge in information system design. The GHRC team is experienced with previous airborne campaigns to handle such challenge. Many supplementary information and reports collected during the mission include information rich contents that provide mission snapshots. In particular, flight information, instrument status, weather reports, and summary statistics offer vital knowledge about the corresponding science data. Furthermore, such information help narrow the science data of interest. Therefore, the GHRC team is building HS3 information system that augments the current GHRC data management framework to support search and discover of airborne science data with interactive visual exploration. Specifically, the HS3 information system is developing a tool to visually playback mission flights along with other traditional search and discover interfaces. This playback capability allows the users to follow the flight in time and visualize collected data. The flight summary and analyzed information are also presented during the playback. If the observed data is of interest, then they can order the data from GHRC using the interface. The users will be able to order just the data for the part of the flight that they are interested in. This presentation will demonstrate use of visual exploration to data download along with other components that comprise the HS3 information system.

Assisting the visually impaired to deal with telephone interview jobs using information and commutation technology.

PubMed

Yeh, Fung-Huei; Yang, Chung-Chieh

2014-12-01

This study proposed a new information and commutation technology assisted blind telephone interview (ICT-ABTI) system to help visually impaired people to do telephone interview jobs as normal sighted people and create more diverse employment opportunities for them. The study also used an ABAB design to assess the system with seven visually impaired people. As the results, they can accomplish 3070 effective telephone interviews per month independently. The results also show that working performance of the visually impaired can be improved effectively with appropriate design of operation working flow and accessible software. The visually impaired become productive, lucrative, and self-sufficient by using ICT-ABTI system to do telephone interview jobs. The results were also shared through the APEC Digital Opportunity Center platform to help visually impaired in Philippines, Malaysia and China. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Protein-Protein Interaction Network and Gene Ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Yunkyu; Kim, Seok; Yi, Gwan-Su; Park, Jinah

Evolution of computer technologies makes it possible to access a large amount and various kinds of biological data via internet such as DNA sequences, proteomics data and information discovered about them. It is expected that the combination of various data could help researchers find further knowledge about them. Roles of a visualization system are to invoke human abilities to integrate information and to recognize certain patterns in the data. Thus, when the various kinds of data are examined and analyzed manually, an effective visualization system is an essential part. One instance of these integrated visualizations can be combination of protein-protein interaction (PPI) data and Gene Ontology (GO) which could help enhance the analysis of PPI network. We introduce a simple but comprehensive visualization system that integrates GO and PPI data where GO and PPI graphs are visualized side-by-side and supports quick reference functions between them. Furthermore, the proposed system provides several interactive visualization methods for efficiently analyzing the PPI network and GO directedacyclic- graph such as context-based browsing and common ancestors finding.

Bandwidth Optimization On Design Of Visual Display Information System Based Networking At Politeknik Negeri Bali

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudiartha, IKG; Catur Bawa, IGNB

2018-01-01

Information can not be separated from the social life of the community, especially in the world of education. One of the information fields is academic calendar information, activity agenda, announcement and campus activity news. In line with technological developments, text-based information is becoming obsolete. For that need creativity to present information more quickly, accurately and interesting by exploiting the development of digital technology and internet. In this paper will be developed applications for the provision of information in the form of visual display, applied to computer network system with multimedia applications. Network-based applications provide ease in updating data through internet services, attractive presentations with multimedia support. The application “Networking Visual Display Information Unit” can be used as a medium that provides information services for students and academic employee more interesting and ease in updating information than the bulletin board. The information presented in the form of Running Text, Latest Information, Agenda, Academic Calendar and Video provide an interesting presentation and in line with technological developments at the Politeknik Negeri Bali. Through this research is expected to create software “Networking Visual Display Information Unit” with optimal bandwidth usage by combining local data sources and data through the network. This research produces visual display design with optimal bandwidth usage and application in the form of supporting software.

The Impact of New Electronic Imaging Systems on U.S. Air Force Visual Information Professionals.

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-06-01

modernizing the functions left in their control. This process started by converting combat camera assets from 16mm film to Betacam "camcorder’ systems. Combat...upgraded to computer-controlled editing with 1-inch helical machines or component-video Betacam equipment. For the base visual information centers, new

Design and application of pulse information acquisition and analysis system with dynamic recognition in traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Zhang, Jian; Niu, Xin; Yang, Xue-zhi; Zhu, Qing-wen; Li, Hai-yan; Wang, Xuan; Zhang, Zhi-guo; Sha, Hong

2014-09-01

To design the pulse information which includes the parameter of pulse-position, pulse-number, pulse-shape and pulse-force acquisition and analysis system with function of dynamic recognition, and research the digitalization and visualization of some common cardiovascular mechanism of single pulse. To use some flexible sensors to catch the radial artery pressure pulse wave and utilize the high frequency B mode ultrasound scanning technology to synchronously obtain the information of radial extension and axial movement, by the way of dynamic images, then the gathered information was analyzed and processed together with ECG. Finally, the pulse information acquisition and analysis system was established which has the features of visualization and dynamic recognition, and it was applied to serve for ten healthy adults. The new system overcome the disadvantage of one-dimensional pulse information acquisition and process method which was common used in current research area of pulse diagnosis in traditional Chinese Medicine, initiated a new way of pulse diagnosis which has the new features of dynamic recognition, two-dimensional information acquisition, multiplex signals combination and deep data mining. The newly developed system could translate the pulse signals into digital, visual and measurable motion information of vessel.

HPIminer: A text mining system for building and visualizing human protein interaction networks and pathways.

PubMed

Subramani, Suresh; Kalpana, Raja; Monickaraj, Pankaj Moses; Natarajan, Jeyakumar

2015-04-01

The knowledge on protein-protein interactions (PPI) and their related pathways are equally important to understand the biological functions of the living cell. Such information on human proteins is highly desirable to understand the mechanism of several diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. Because much of that information is buried in biomedical literature, an automated text mining system for visualizing human PPI and pathways is highly desirable. In this paper, we present HPIminer, a text mining system for visualizing human protein interactions and pathways from biomedical literature. HPIminer extracts human PPI information and PPI pairs from biomedical literature, and visualize their associated interactions, networks and pathways using two curated databases HPRD and KEGG. To our knowledge, HPIminer is the first system to build interaction networks from literature as well as curated databases. Further, the new interactions mined only from literature and not reported earlier in databases are highlighted as new. A comparative study with other similar tools shows that the resultant network is more informative and provides additional information on interacting proteins and their associated networks. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Visual processing in the central bee brain.

PubMed

Paulk, Angelique C; Dacks, Andrew M; Phillips-Portillo, James; Fellous, Jean-Marc; Gronenberg, Wulfila

2009-08-12

Visual scenes comprise enormous amounts of information from which nervous systems extract behaviorally relevant cues. In most model systems, little is known about the transformation of visual information as it occurs along visual pathways. We examined how visual information is transformed physiologically as it is communicated from the eye to higher-order brain centers using bumblebees, which are known for their visual capabilities. We recorded intracellularly in vivo from 30 neurons in the central bumblebee brain (the lateral protocerebrum) and compared these neurons to 132 neurons from more distal areas along the visual pathway, namely the medulla and the lobula. In these three brain regions (medulla, lobula, and central brain), we examined correlations between the neurons' branching patterns and their responses primarily to color, but also to motion stimuli. Visual neurons projecting to the anterior central brain were generally color sensitive, while neurons projecting to the posterior central brain were predominantly motion sensitive. The temporal response properties differed significantly between these areas, with an increase in spike time precision across trials and a decrease in average reliable spiking as visual information processing progressed from the periphery to the central brain. These data suggest that neurons along the visual pathway to the central brain not only are segregated with regard to the physical features of the stimuli (e.g., color and motion), but also differ in the way they encode stimuli, possibly to allow for efficient parallel processing to occur.

A navigation system for the visually impaired an intelligent white cane.

PubMed

Fukasawa, A Jin; Magatani, Kazusihge

2012-01-01

In this paper, we describe about a developed navigation system that supports the independent walking of the visually impaired in the indoor space. Our developed instrument consists of a navigation system and a map information system. These systems are installed on a white cane. Our navigation system can follow a colored navigation line that is set on the floor. In this system, a color sensor installed on the tip of a white cane, this sensor senses a color of navigation line and the system informs the visually impaired that he/she is walking along the navigation line by vibration. This color recognition system is controlled by a one-chip microprocessor. RFID tags and a receiver for these tags are used in the map information system. RFID tags are set on the colored navigation line. An antenna for RFID tags and a tag receiver are also installed on a white cane. The receiver receives the area information as a tag-number and notifies map information to the user by mp3 formatted pre-recorded voice. And now, we developed the direction identification technique. Using this technique, we can detect a user's walking direction. A triaxiality acceleration sensor is used in this system. Three normal subjects who were blindfolded with an eye mask were tested with our developed navigation system. All of them were able to walk along the navigation line perfectly. We think that the performance of the system is good. Therefore, our system will be extremely valuable in supporting the activities of the visually impaired.

Evidence from Visuomotor Adaptation for Two Partially Independent Visuomotor Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thaler, Lore; Todd, James T.

2010-01-01

Visual information can specify spatial layout with respect to the observer (egocentric) or with respect to an external frame of reference (allocentric). People can use both of these types of visual spatial information to guide their hands. The question arises if movements based on egocentric and movements based on allocentric visual information…

How the blind "see" Braille: lessons from functional magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Sadato, Norihiro

2005-12-01

What does the visual cortex of the blind do during Braille reading? This process involves converting simple tactile information into meaningful patterns that have lexical and semantic properties. The perceptual processing of Braille might be mediated by the somatosensory system, whereas visual letter identity is accomplished within the visual system in sighted people. Recent advances in functional neuroimaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, have enabled exploration of the neural substrates of Braille reading. The primary visual cortex of early-onset blind subjects is functionally relevant to Braille reading, suggesting that the brain shows remarkable plasticity that potentially permits the additional processing of tactile information in the visual cortical areas.

Force sensor attachable to thin fiberscopes/endoscopes utilizing high elasticity fabric.

PubMed

Watanabe, Tetsuyou; Iwai, Takanobu; Fujihira, Yoshinori; Wakako, Lina; Kagawa, Hiroyuki; Yoneyama, Takeshi

2014-03-12

An endoscope/fiberscope is a minimally invasive tool used for directly observing tissues in areas deep inside the human body where access is limited. However, this tool only yields visual information. If force feedback information were also available, endoscope/fiberscope operators would be able to detect indurated areas that are visually hard to recognize. Furthermore, obtaining such feedback information from tissues in areas where collecting visual information is a challenge would be highly useful. The major obstacle is that such force information is difficult to acquire. This paper presents a novel force sensing system that can be attached to a very thin fiberscope/endoscope. To ensure a small size, high resolution, easy sterilization, and low cost, the proposed force visualization-based system uses a highly elastic material-panty stocking fabric. The paper also presents the methodology for deriving the force value from the captured image. The system has a resolution of less than 0.01 N and sensitivity of greater than 600 pixels/N within the force range of 0-0.2 N.

Altered transfer of visual motion information to parietal association cortex in untreated first-episode psychosis: Implications for pursuit eye tracking

PubMed Central

Lencer, Rebekka; Keedy, Sarah K.; Reilly, James L.; McDonough, Bruce E.; Harris, Margret S. H.; Sprenger, Andreas; Sweeney, John A.

2011-01-01

Visual motion processing and its use for pursuit eye movement control represent a valuable model for studying the use of sensory input for action planning. In psychotic disorders, alterations of visual motion perception have been suggested to cause pursuit eye tracking deficits. We evaluated this system in functional neuroimaging studies of untreated first-episode schizophrenia (N=24), psychotic bipolar disorder patients (N=13) and healthy controls (N=20). During a passive visual motion processing task, both patient groups showed reduced activation in the posterior parietal projection fields of motion-sensitive extrastriate area V5, but not in V5 itself. This suggests reduced bottom-up transfer of visual motion information from extrastriate cortex to perceptual systems in parietal association cortex. During active pursuit, activation was enhanced in anterior intraparietal sulcus and insula in both patient groups, and in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsomedial thalamus in schizophrenia patients. This may result from increased demands on sensorimotor systems for pursuit control due to the limited availability of perceptual motion information about target speed and tracking error. Visual motion information transfer deficits to higher -level association cortex may contribute to well-established pursuit tracking abnormalities, and perhaps to a wider array of alterations in perception and action planning in psychotic disorders. PMID:21873035

Video content parsing based on combined audio and visual information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tong; Kuo, C.-C. Jay

1999-08-01

While previous research on audiovisual data segmentation and indexing primarily focuses on the pictorial part, significant clues contained in the accompanying audio flow are often ignored. A fully functional system for video content parsing can be achieved more successfully through a proper combination of audio and visual information. By investigating the data structure of different video types, we present tools for both audio and visual content analysis and a scheme for video segmentation and annotation in this research. In the proposed system, video data are segmented into audio scenes and visual shots by detecting abrupt changes in audio and visual features, respectively. Then, the audio scene is categorized and indexed as one of the basic audio types while a visual shot is presented by keyframes and associate image features. An index table is then generated automatically for each video clip based on the integration of outputs from audio and visual analysis. It is shown that the proposed system provides satisfying video indexing results.

Knowledge Discovery for Smart Grid Operation, Control, and Situation Awareness -- A Big Data Visualization Platform

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gu, Yi; Jiang, Huaiguang; Zhang, Yingchen

In this paper, a big data visualization platform is designed to discover the hidden useful knowledge for smart grid (SG) operation, control and situation awareness. The spawn of smart sensors at both grid side and customer side can provide large volume of heterogeneous data that collect information in all time spectrums. Extracting useful knowledge from this big-data poll is still challenging. In this paper, the Apache Spark, an open source cluster computing framework, is used to process the big-data to effectively discover the hidden knowledge. A high-speed communication architecture utilizing the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model is designed to transmitmore » the data to a visualization platform. This visualization platform uses Google Earth, a global geographic information system (GIS) to link the geological information with the SG knowledge and visualize the information in user defined fashion. The University of Denver's campus grid is used as a SG test bench and several demonstrations are presented for the proposed platform.« less

Visualization of Computational Fluid Dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gerald-Yamasaki, Michael; Hultquist, Jeff; Bryson, Steve; Kenwright, David; Lane, David; Walatka, Pamela; Clucas, Jean; Watson, Velvin; Lasinski, T. A. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

Scientific visualization serves the dual purpose of exploration and exposition of the results of numerical simulations of fluid flow. Along with the basic visualization process which transforms source data into images, there are four additional components to a complete visualization system: Source Data Processing, User Interface and Control, Presentation, and Information Management. The requirements imposed by the desired mode of operation (i.e. real-time, interactive, or batch) and the source data have their effect on each of these visualization system components. The special requirements imposed by the wide variety and size of the source data provided by the numerical simulation of fluid flow presents an enormous challenge to the visualization system designer. We describe the visualization system components including specific visualization techniques and how the mode of operation and source data requirements effect the construction of computational fluid dynamics visualization systems.

Geovisualization for Smart Video Surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oves García, R.; Valentín, L.; Serrano, S. A.; Palacios-Alonso, M. A.; Sucar, L. Enrique

2017-09-01

Nowadays with the emergence of smart cities and the creation of new sensors capable to connect to the network, it is not only possible to monitor the entire infrastructure of a city, including roads, bridges, rail/subways, airports, communications, water, power, but also to optimize its resources, plan its preventive maintenance and monitor security aspects while maximizing services for its citizens. In particular, the security aspect is one of the most important issues due to the need to ensure the safety of people. However, if we want to have a good security system, it is necessary to take into account the way that we are going to present the information. In order to show the amount of information generated by sensing devices in real time in an understandable way, several visualization techniques are proposed for both local (involves sensing devices in a separated way) and global visualization (involves sensing devices as a whole). Taking into consideration that the information is produced and transmitted from a geographic location, the integration of a Geographic Information System to manage and visualize the behavior of data becomes very relevant. With the purpose of facilitating the decision-making process in a security system, we have integrated the visualization techniques and the Geographic Information System to produce a smart security system, based on a cloud computing architecture, to show relevant information about a set of monitored areas with video cameras.

Ocelli contribute to the encoding of celestial compass information in the Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti.

PubMed

Schwarz, Sebastian; Albert, Laurence; Wystrach, Antoine; Cheng, Ken

2011-03-15

Many animal species, including some social hymenoptera, use the visual system for navigation. Although the insect compound eyes have been well studied, less is known about the second visual system in some insects, the ocelli. Here we demonstrate navigational functions of the ocelli in the visually guided Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti. These ants are known to rely on both visual landmark learning and path integration. We conducted experiments to reveal the role of ocelli in the perception and use of celestial compass information and landmark guidance. Ants with directional information from their path integration system were tested with covered compound eyes and open ocelli on an unfamiliar test field where only celestial compass cues were available for homing. These full-vector ants, using only their ocelli for visual information, oriented significantly towards the fictive nest on the test field, indicating the use of celestial compass information that is presumably based on polarised skylight, the sun's position or the colour gradient of the sky. Ants without any directional information from their path-integration system (zero-vector) were tested, also with covered compound eyes and open ocelli, on a familiar training field where they have to use the surrounding panorama to home. These ants failed to orient significantly in the homeward direction. Together, our results demonstrated that M. bagoti could perceive and process celestial compass information for directional orientation with their ocelli. In contrast, the ocelli do not seem to contribute to terrestrial landmark-based navigation in M. bagoti.

A method for automatically abstracting visual documents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rorvig, Mark E.

1994-01-01

Visual documents--motion sequences on film, videotape, and digital recording--constitute a major source of information for the Space Agency, as well as all other government and private sector entities. This article describes a method for automatically selecting key frames from visual documents. These frames may in turn be used to represent the total image sequence of visual documents in visual libraries, hypermedia systems, and training algorithm reduces 51 minutes of video sequences to 134 frames; a reduction of information in the range of 700:1.

Models Extracted from Text for System-Software Safety Analyses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malin, Jane T.

2010-01-01

This presentation describes extraction and integration of requirements information and safety information in visualizations to support early review of completeness, correctness, and consistency of lengthy and diverse system safety analyses. Software tools have been developed and extended to perform the following tasks: 1) extract model parts and safety information from text in interface requirements documents, failure modes and effects analyses and hazard reports; 2) map and integrate the information to develop system architecture models and visualizations for safety analysts; and 3) provide model output to support virtual system integration testing. This presentation illustrates the methods and products with a rocket motor initiation case.

Visual and Non-Visual Contributions to the Perception of Object Motion during Self-Motion

PubMed Central

Fajen, Brett R.; Matthis, Jonathan S.

2013-01-01

Many locomotor tasks involve interactions with moving objects. When observer (i.e., self-)motion is accompanied by object motion, the optic flow field includes a component due to self-motion and a component due to object motion. For moving observers to perceive the movement of other objects relative to the stationary environment, the visual system could recover the object-motion component – that is, it could factor out the influence of self-motion. In principle, this could be achieved using visual self-motion information, non-visual self-motion information, or a combination of both. In this study, we report evidence that visual information about the speed (Experiment 1) and direction (Experiment 2) of self-motion plays a role in recovering the object-motion component even when non-visual self-motion information is also available. However, the magnitude of the effect was less than one would expect if subjects relied entirely on visual self-motion information. Taken together with previous studies, we conclude that when self-motion is real and actively generated, both visual and non-visual self-motion information contribute to the perception of object motion. We also consider the possible role of this process in visually guided interception and avoidance of moving objects. PMID:23408983

Multisensory guidance of orienting behavior.

PubMed

Maier, Joost X; Groh, Jennifer M

2009-12-01

We use both vision and audition when localizing objects and events in our environment. However, these sensory systems receive spatial information in different coordinate systems: sounds are localized using inter-aural and spectral cues, yielding a head-centered representation of space, whereas the visual system uses an eye-centered representation of space, based on the site of activation on the retina. In addition, the visual system employs a place-coded, retinotopic map of space, whereas the auditory system's representational format is characterized by broad spatial tuning and a lack of topographical organization. A common view is that the brain needs to reconcile these differences in order to control behavior, such as orienting gaze to the location of a sound source. To accomplish this, it seems that either auditory spatial information must be transformed from a head-centered rate code to an eye-centered map to match the frame of reference used by the visual system, or vice versa. Here, we review a number of studies that have focused on the neural basis underlying such transformations in the primate auditory system. Although, these studies have found some evidence for such transformations, many differences in the way the auditory and visual system encode space exist throughout the auditory pathway. We will review these differences at the neural level, and will discuss them in relation to differences in the way auditory and visual information is used in guiding orienting movements.

Information visualization of the minority game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, W.; Herbert, R. D.; Webber, R.

2008-02-01

Many dynamical systems produce large quantities of data. How can the system be understood from the output data? Often people are simply overwhelmed by the data. Traditional tools such as tables and plots are often not adequate, and new techniques are needed to help people to analyze the system. In this paper, we propose the use of two spacefilling visualization tools to examine the output from a complex agent-based financial model. We measure the effectiveness and performance of these tools through usability experiments. Based on the experimental results, we develop two new visualization techniques that combine the advantages and discard the disadvantages of the information visualization tools. The model we use is an evolutionary version of the Minority Game which simulates a financial market.

Saccadic Eye Movements Impose a Natural Bottleneck on Visual Short-Term Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohl, Sven; Rolfs, Martin

2017-01-01

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) is a crucial repository of information when events unfold rapidly before our eyes, yet it maintains only a fraction of the sensory information encoded by the visual system. Here, we tested the hypothesis that saccadic eye movements provide a natural bottleneck for the transition of fragile content in sensory memory…

The NAS Computational Aerosciences Archive

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miceli, Kristina D.; Globus, Al; Lasinski, T. A. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

In order to further the state-of-the-art in computational aerosciences (CAS) technology, researchers must be able to gather and understand existing work in the field. One aspect of this information gathering is studying published work available in scientific journals and conference proceedings. However, current scientific publications are very limited in the type and amount of information that they can disseminate. Information is typically restricted to text, a few images, and a bibliography list. Additional information that might be useful to the researcher, such as additional visual results, referenced papers, and datasets, are not available. New forms of electronic publication, such as the World Wide Web (WWW), limit publication size only by available disk space and data transmission bandwidth, both of which are improving rapidly. The Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS) Systems Division at NASA Ames Research Center is in the process of creating an archive of CAS information on the WWW. This archive will be based on the large amount of information produced by researchers associated with the NAS facility. The archive will contain technical summaries and reports of research performed on NAS supercomputers, visual results (images, animations, visualization system scripts), datasets, and any other supporting meta-information. This information will be available via the WWW through the NAS homepage, located at http://www.nas.nasa.gov/, fully indexed for searching. The main components of the archive are technical summaries and reports, visual results, and datasets. Technical summaries are gathered every year by researchers who have been allotted resources on NAS supercomputers. These summaries, together with supporting visual results and references, are browsable by interested researchers. Referenced papers made available by researchers can be accessed through hypertext links. Technical reports are in-depth accounts of tools and applications research projects performed by NAS staff members and collaborators. Visual results, which may be available in the form of images, animations, and/or visualization scripts, are generated by researchers with respect to a certain research project, depicting dataset features that were determined important by the investigating researcher. For example, script files for visualization systems (e.g. FAST, PLOT3D, AVS) are provided to create visualizations on the user's local workstation to elucidate the key points of the numerical study. Users can then interact with the data starting where the investigator left off. Datasets are intended to give researchers an opportunity to understand previous work, 'mine' solutions for new information (for example, have you ever read a paper thinking "I wonder what the helicity density looks like?"), compare new techniques with older results, collaborate with remote colleagues, and perform validation. Supporting meta-information associated with the research projects is also important to provide additional context for research projects. This may include information such as the software used in the simulation (e.g. grid generators, flow solvers, visualization). In addition to serving the CAS research community, the information archive will also be helpful to students, visualization system developers and researchers, and management. Students (of any age) can use the data to study fluid dynamics, compare results from different flow solvers, learn about meshing techniques, etc., leading to better informed individuals. For these users it is particularly important that visualization be integrated into dataset archives. Visualization researchers can use dataset archives to test algorithms and techniques, leading to better visualization systems, Management can use the data to figure what is really going on behind the viewgraphs. All users will benefit from fast, easy, and convenient access to CFD datasets. The CAS information archive hopes to serve as a useful resource to those interested in computational sciences. At present, only information that may be distributed internationally is made available via the archive. Studies are underway to determine security requirements and solutions to make additional information available. By providing access to the archive via the WWW, the process of information gathering can be more productive and fruitful due to ease of access and ability to manage many different types of information. As the archive grows, additional resources from outside NAS will be added, providing a dynamic source of research results.

Ontology-driven data integration and visualization for exploring regional geologic time and paleontological information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chengbin; Ma, Xiaogang; Chen, Jianguo

2018-06-01

Initiatives of open data promote the online publication and sharing of large amounts of geologic data. How to retrieve information and discover knowledge from the big data is an ongoing challenge. In this paper, we developed an ontology-driven data integration and visualization pilot system for exploring information of regional geologic time, paleontology, and fundamental geology. The pilot system (http://www2.cs.uidaho.edu/%7Emax/gts/)

Cognitive approaches for patterns analysis and security applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogiela, Marek R.; Ogiela, Lidia

2017-08-01

In this paper will be presented new opportunities for developing innovative solutions for semantic pattern classification and visual cryptography, which will base on cognitive and bio-inspired approaches. Such techniques can be used for evaluation of the meaning of analyzed patterns or encrypted information, and allow to involve such meaning into the classification task or encryption process. It also allows using some crypto-biometric solutions to extend personalized cryptography methodologies based on visual pattern analysis. In particular application of cognitive information systems for semantic analysis of different patterns will be presented, and also a novel application of such systems for visual secret sharing will be described. Visual shares for divided information can be created based on threshold procedure, which may be dependent on personal abilities to recognize some image details visible on divided images.

"Commentary": Object and Spatial Visualization in Geosciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kastens, Kim

2010-01-01

Cognitive science research shows that the brain has two systems for processing visual information, one specialized for spatial information such as position, orientation, and trajectory, and the other specialized for information used to identify objects, such as color, shape and texture. Some individuals seem to be more facile with the spatial…

Visual slant misperception and the Black-Hole landing situation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perrone, J. A.

1983-01-01

A theory which explains the tendency for dangerously low approaches during night landing situations is presented. The two dimensional information at the pilot's eye contains sufficient information for the visual system to extract the angle of slant of the runway relative to the approach path. The analysis is depends upon perspective information which is available at a certain distance out from the aimpoint, to either side of the runway edgelights. Under black hole landing conditions, however, this information is not available, and it is proposed that the visual system use instead the only available information, the perspective gradient of the runway edgelights. An equation is developed which predicts the perceived approach angle when this incorrect parameter is used. The predictions are in close agreement with existing experimental data.

Widespread correlation patterns of fMRI signal across visual cortex reflect eccentricity organization

PubMed Central

Arcaro, Michael J; Honey, Christopher J; Mruczek, Ryan EB; Kastner, Sabine; Hasson, Uri

2015-01-01

The human visual system can be divided into over two-dozen distinct areas, each of which contains a topographic map of the visual field. A fundamental question in vision neuroscience is how the visual system integrates information from the environment across different areas. Using neuroimaging, we investigated the spatial pattern of correlated BOLD signal across eight visual areas on data collected during rest conditions and during naturalistic movie viewing. The correlation pattern between areas reflected the underlying receptive field organization with higher correlations between cortical sites containing overlapping representations of visual space. In addition, the correlation pattern reflected the underlying widespread eccentricity organization of visual cortex, in which the highest correlations were observed for cortical sites with iso-eccentricity representations including regions with non-overlapping representations of visual space. This eccentricity-based correlation pattern appears to be part of an intrinsic functional architecture that supports the integration of information across functionally specialized visual areas. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.03952.001 PMID:25695154

Soldier-worn augmented reality system for tactical icon visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, David; Menozzi, Alberico; Clipp, Brian; Russler, Patrick; Cook, James; Karl, Robert; Wenger, Eric; Church, William; Mauger, Jennifer; Volpe, Chris; Argenta, Chris; Wille, Mark; Snarski, Stephen; Sherrill, Todd; Lupo, Jasper; Hobson, Ross; Frahm, Jan-Michael; Heinly, Jared

2012-06-01

This paper describes the development and demonstration of a soldier-worn augmented reality system testbed that provides intuitive 'heads-up' visualization of tactically-relevant geo-registered icons. Our system combines a robust soldier pose estimation capability with a helmet mounted see-through display to accurately overlay geo-registered iconography (i.e., navigation waypoints, blue forces, aircraft) on the soldier's view of reality. Applied Research Associates (ARA), in partnership with BAE Systems and the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), has developed this testbed system in Phase 2 of the DARPA ULTRA-Vis (Urban Leader Tactical, Response, Awareness, and Visualization) program. The ULTRA-Vis testbed system functions in unprepared outdoor environments and is robust to numerous magnetic disturbances. We achieve accurate and robust pose estimation through fusion of inertial, magnetic, GPS, and computer vision data acquired from helmet kit sensors. Icons are rendered on a high-brightness, 40°×30° field of view see-through display. The system incorporates an information management engine to convert CoT (Cursor-on-Target) external data feeds into mil-standard icons for visualization. The user interface provides intuitive information display to support soldier navigation and situational awareness of mission-critical tactical information.

3D interactive surgical visualization system using mobile spatial information acquisition and autostereoscopic display.

PubMed

Fan, Zhencheng; Weng, Yitong; Chen, Guowen; Liao, Hongen

2017-07-01

Three-dimensional (3D) visualization of preoperative and intraoperative medical information becomes more and more important in minimally invasive surgery. We develop a 3D interactive surgical visualization system using mobile spatial information acquisition and autostereoscopic display for surgeons to observe surgical target intuitively. The spatial information of regions of interest (ROIs) is captured by the mobile device and transferred to a server for further image processing. Triangular patches of intraoperative data with texture are calculated with a dimension-reduced triangulation algorithm and a projection-weighted mapping algorithm. A point cloud selection-based warm-start iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm is also developed for fusion of the reconstructed 3D intraoperative image and the preoperative image. The fusion images are rendered for 3D autostereoscopic display using integral videography (IV) technology. Moreover, 3D visualization of medical image corresponding to observer's viewing direction is updated automatically using mutual information registration method. Experimental results show that the spatial position error between the IV-based 3D autostereoscopic fusion image and the actual object was 0.38±0.92mm (n=5). The system can be utilized in telemedicine, operating education, surgical planning, navigation, etc. to acquire spatial information conveniently and display surgical information intuitively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Promoting Visualization Skills through Deconstruction Using Physical Models and a Visualization Activity Intervention

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schiltz, Holly Kristine

Visualization skills are important in learning chemistry, as these skills have been shown to correlate to high ability in problem solving. Students' understanding of visual information and their problem-solving processes may only ever be accessed indirectly: verbalization, gestures, drawings, etc. In this research, deconstruction of complex visual concepts was aligned with the promotion of students' verbalization of visualized ideas to teach students to solve complex visual tasks independently. All instructional tools and teaching methods were developed in accordance with the principles of the theoretical framework, the Modeling Theory of Learning: deconstruction of visual representations into model components, comparisons to reality, and recognition of students' their problemsolving strategies. Three physical model systems were designed to provide students with visual and tangible representations of chemical concepts. The Permanent Reflection Plane Demonstration provided visual indicators that students used to support or invalidate the presence of a reflection plane. The 3-D Coordinate Axis system provided an environment that allowed students to visualize and physically enact symmetry operations in a relevant molecular context. The Proper Rotation Axis system was designed to provide a physical and visual frame of reference to showcase multiple symmetry elements that students must identify in a molecular model. Focus groups of students taking Inorganic chemistry working with the physical model systems demonstrated difficulty documenting and verbalizing processes and descriptions of visual concepts. Frequently asked student questions were classified, but students also interacted with visual information through gestures and model manipulations. In an effort to characterize how much students used visualization during lecture or recitation, we developed observation rubrics to gather information about students' visualization artifacts and examined the effect instructors' modeled visualization artifacts had on students. No patterns emerged from the passive observation of visualization artifacts in lecture or recitation, but the need to elicit visual information from students was made clear. Deconstruction proved to be a valuable method for instruction and assessment of visual information. Three strategies for using deconstruction in teaching were distilled from the lessons and observations of the student focus groups: begin with observations of what is given in an image and what it's composed of, identify the relationships between components to find additional operations in different environments about the molecule, and deconstructing steps of challenging questions can reveal mistakes. An intervention was developed to teach students to use deconstruction and verbalization to analyze complex visualization tasks and employ the principles of the theoretical framework. The activities were scaffolded to introduce increasingly challenging concepts to students, but also support them as they learned visually demanding chemistry concepts. Several themes were observed in the analysis of the visualization activities. Students used deconstruction by documenting which parts of the images were useful for interpretation of the visual. Students identified valid patterns and rules within the images, which signified understanding of arrangement of information presented in the representation. Successful strategy communication was identified when students documented personal strategies that allowed them to complete the activity tasks. Finally, students demonstrated the ability to extend symmetry skills to advanced applications they had not previously seen. This work shows how the use of deconstruction and verbalization may have a great impact on how students master difficult topics and combined, they offer students a powerful strategy to approach visually demanding chemistry problems and to the instructor a unique insight to mentally constructed strategies.

Design of UAV-Embedded Microphone Array System for Sound Source Localization in Outdoor Environments †

PubMed Central

Hoshiba, Kotaro; Washizaki, Kai; Wakabayashi, Mizuho; Ishiki, Takahiro; Bando, Yoshiaki; Gabriel, Daniel; Nakadai, Kazuhiro; Okuno, Hiroshi G.

2017-01-01

In search and rescue activities, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) should exploit sound information to compensate for poor visual information. This paper describes the design and implementation of a UAV-embedded microphone array system for sound source localization in outdoor environments. Four critical development problems included water-resistance of the microphone array, efficiency in assembling, reliability of wireless communication, and sufficiency of visualization tools for operators. To solve these problems, we developed a spherical microphone array system (SMAS) consisting of a microphone array, a stable wireless network communication system, and intuitive visualization tools. The performance of SMAS was evaluated with simulated data and a demonstration in the field. Results confirmed that the SMAS provides highly accurate localization, water resistance, prompt assembly, stable wireless communication, and intuitive information for observers and operators. PMID:29099790

Design of UAV-Embedded Microphone Array System for Sound Source Localization in Outdoor Environments.

PubMed

Hoshiba, Kotaro; Washizaki, Kai; Wakabayashi, Mizuho; Ishiki, Takahiro; Kumon, Makoto; Bando, Yoshiaki; Gabriel, Daniel; Nakadai, Kazuhiro; Okuno, Hiroshi G

2017-11-03

In search and rescue activities, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) should exploit sound information to compensate for poor visual information. This paper describes the design and implementation of a UAV-embedded microphone array system for sound source localization in outdoor environments. Four critical development problems included water-resistance of the microphone array, efficiency in assembling, reliability of wireless communication, and sufficiency of visualization tools for operators. To solve these problems, we developed a spherical microphone array system (SMAS) consisting of a microphone array, a stable wireless network communication system, and intuitive visualization tools. The performance of SMAS was evaluated with simulated data and a demonstration in the field. Results confirmed that the SMAS provides highly accurate localization, water resistance, prompt assembly, stable wireless communication, and intuitive information for observers and operators.

The visual system in migraine: from the bench side to the office.

PubMed

Kowacs, Pedro A; Utiumi, Marco A; Piovesan, Elcio J

2015-02-01

Throughout history, migraine-associated visual symptoms have puzzled patients, doctors, and neuroscientists. The visual aspects of migraine extend far beyond the aura phenomena, and have several clinical implications. A narrative review was conducted, beginning with migraine mechanisms, then followed by pertinent aspects of the anatomy of visual pathways, clinical features, implications of the visual system on therapy, migraine on visually impaired populations, treatment of visual auras and ocular (retinal) migraine, effect of prophylactic migraine treatments on visual aura, visual symptoms induced by anti-migraine or anti-headache drugs, and differential diagnosis. A comprehensive narrative review from both basic and clinical standpoints on the visual aspects of migraine was attained; however, the results were biased to provide any useful information for the clinician. This paper achieved its goals of addressing and condensing information on the pathophysiology of the visual aspects of migraine and its clinical aspects, especially with regards to therapy, making it useful not only for those unfamiliar to the theme but to experienced physicians as well. © 2015 American Headache Society.

Developing Visualization Techniques for Semantics-based Information Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.; Hall, David R.

2003-01-01

Information systems incorporating complex network structured information spaces with a semantic underpinning - such as hypermedia networks, semantic networks, topic maps, and concept maps - are being deployed to solve some of NASA s critical information management problems. This paper describes some of the human interaction and navigation problems associated with complex semantic information spaces and describes a set of new visual interface approaches to address these problems. A key strategy is to leverage semantic knowledge represented within these information spaces to construct abstractions and views that will be meaningful to the human user. Human-computer interaction methodologies will guide the development and evaluation of these approaches, which will benefit deployed NASA systems and also apply to information systems based on the emerging Semantic Web.

Forecasting and visualization of wildfires in a 3D geographical information system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castrillón, M.; Jorge, P. A.; López, I. J.; Macías, A.; Martín, D.; Nebot, R. J.; Sabbagh, I.; Quintana, F. M.; Sánchez, J.; Sánchez, A. J.; Suárez, J. P.; Trujillo, A.

2011-03-01

This paper describes a wildfire forecasting application based on a 3D virtual environment and a fire simulation engine. A novel open-source framework is presented for the development of 3D graphics applications over large geographic areas, offering high performance 3D visualization and powerful interaction tools for the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) community. The application includes a remote module that allows simultaneous connections of several users for monitoring a real wildfire event. The system is able to make a realistic composition of what is really happening in the area of the wildfire with dynamic 3D objects and location of human and material resources in real time, providing a new perspective to analyze the wildfire information. The user is enabled to simulate and visualize the propagation of a fire on the terrain integrating at the same time spatial information on topography and vegetation types with weather and wind data. The application communicates with a remote web service that is in charge of the simulation task. The user may specify several parameters through a friendly interface before the application sends the information to the remote server responsible of carrying out the wildfire forecasting using the FARSITE simulation model. During the process, the server connects to different external resources to obtain up-to-date meteorological data. The client application implements a realistic 3D visualization of the fire evolution on the landscape. A Level Of Detail (LOD) strategy contributes to improve the performance of the visualization system.

Target recognition and scene interpretation in image/video understanding systems based on network-symbolic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuvich, Gary

2004-08-01

Vision is only a part of a system that converts visual information into knowledge structures. These structures drive the vision process, resolving ambiguity and uncertainty via feedback, and provide image understanding, which is an interpretation of visual information in terms of these knowledge models. These mechanisms provide a reliable recognition if the object is occluded or cannot be recognized as a whole. It is hard to split the entire system apart, and reliable solutions to the target recognition problems are possible only within the solution of a more generic Image Understanding Problem. Brain reduces informational and computational complexities, using implicit symbolic coding of features, hierarchical compression, and selective processing of visual information. Biologically inspired Network-Symbolic representation, where both systematic structural/logical methods and neural/statistical methods are parts of a single mechanism, is the most feasible for such models. It converts visual information into relational Network-Symbolic structures, avoiding artificial precise computations of 3-dimensional models. Network-Symbolic Transformations derive abstract structures, which allows for invariant recognition of an object as exemplar of a class. Active vision helps creating consistent models. Attention, separation of figure from ground and perceptual grouping are special kinds of network-symbolic transformations. Such Image/Video Understanding Systems will be reliably recognizing targets.

Illustrative visualization of 3D city models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doellner, Juergen; Buchholz, Henrik; Nienhaus, Marc; Kirsch, Florian

2005-03-01

This paper presents an illustrative visualization technique that provides expressive representations of large-scale 3D city models, inspired by the tradition of artistic and cartographic visualizations typically found in bird"s-eye view and panoramic maps. We define a collection of city model components and a real-time multi-pass rendering algorithm that achieves comprehensible, abstract 3D city model depictions based on edge enhancement, color-based and shadow-based depth cues, and procedural facade texturing. Illustrative visualization provides an effective visual interface to urban spatial information and associated thematic information complementing visual interfaces based on the Virtual Reality paradigm, offering a huge potential for graphics design. Primary application areas include city and landscape planning, cartoon worlds in computer games, and tourist information systems.

DIA2: Web-based Cyberinfrastructure for Visual Analysis of Funding Portfolios.

PubMed

Madhavan, Krishna; Elmqvist, Niklas; Vorvoreanu, Mihaela; Chen, Xin; Wong, Yuetling; Xian, Hanjun; Dong, Zhihua; Johri, Aditya

2014-12-01

We present a design study of the Deep Insights Anywhere, Anytime (DIA2) platform, a web-based visual analytics system that allows program managers and academic staff at the U.S. National Science Foundation to search, view, and analyze their research funding portfolio. The goal of this system is to facilitate users' understanding of both past and currently active research awards in order to make more informed decisions of their future funding. This user group is characterized by high domain expertise yet not necessarily high literacy in visualization and visual analytics-they are essentially casual experts-and thus require careful visual and information design, including adhering to user experience standards, providing a self-instructive interface, and progressively refining visualizations to minimize complexity. We discuss the challenges of designing a system for casual experts and highlight how we addressed this issue by modeling the organizational structure and workflows of the NSF within our system. We discuss each stage of the design process, starting with formative interviews, prototypes, and finally live deployments and evaluation with stakeholders.

Transient visual responses reset the phase of low-frequency oscillations in the skeletomotor periphery.

PubMed

Wood, Daniel K; Gu, Chao; Corneil, Brian D; Gribble, Paul L; Goodale, Melvyn A

2015-08-01

We recorded muscle activity from an upper limb muscle while human subjects reached towards peripheral targets. We tested the hypothesis that the transient visual response sweeps not only through the central nervous system, but also through the peripheral nervous system. Like the transient visual response in the central nervous system, stimulus-locked muscle responses (< 100 ms) were sensitive to stimulus contrast, and were temporally and spatially dissociable from voluntary orienting activity. Also, the arrival of visual responses reduced the variability of muscle activity by resetting the phase of ongoing low-frequency oscillations. This latter finding critically extends the emerging evidence that the feedforward visual sweep reduces neural variability via phase resetting. We conclude that, when sensory information is relevant to a particular effector, detailed information about the sensorimotor transformation, even from the earliest stages, is found in the peripheral nervous system. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Display of Visual Information in Mission Command Systems: Implications for Cognitive Performance in the Command Post of the Future

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

position unless so designated by other authorized documents. Citation of manufacturer’s or trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or...the presence of large volumes of time critical information. CPOF was designed to support the Army transformation to network-enabled operations. The...Cognitive Performance The visual display of information is vital to cognitive performance. For example, the poor visual design of the radar display

Peripheral Processing Facilitates Optic Flow-Based Depth Perception

PubMed Central

Li, Jinglin; Lindemann, Jens P.; Egelhaaf, Martin

2016-01-01

Flying insects, such as flies or bees, rely on consistent information regarding the depth structure of the environment when performing their flight maneuvers in cluttered natural environments. These behaviors include avoiding collisions, approaching targets or spatial navigation. Insects are thought to obtain depth information visually from the retinal image displacements (“optic flow”) during translational ego-motion. Optic flow in the insect visual system is processed by a mechanism that can be modeled by correlation-type elementary motion detectors (EMDs). However, it is still an open question how spatial information can be extracted reliably from the responses of the highly contrast- and pattern-dependent EMD responses, especially if the vast range of light intensities encountered in natural environments is taken into account. This question will be addressed here by systematically modeling the peripheral visual system of flies, including various adaptive mechanisms. Different model variants of the peripheral visual system were stimulated with image sequences that mimic the panoramic visual input during translational ego-motion in various natural environments, and the resulting peripheral signals were fed into an array of EMDs. We characterized the influence of each peripheral computational unit on the representation of spatial information in the EMD responses. Our model simulations reveal that information about the overall light level needs to be eliminated from the EMD input as is accomplished under light-adapted conditions in the insect peripheral visual system. The response characteristics of large monopolar cells (LMCs) resemble that of a band-pass filter, which reduces the contrast dependency of EMDs strongly, effectively enhancing the representation of the nearness of objects and, especially, of their contours. We furthermore show that local brightness adaptation of photoreceptors allows for spatial vision under a wide range of dynamic light conditions. PMID:27818631

Neural practice effect during cross-modal selective attention: Supra-modal and modality-specific effects.

PubMed

Xia, Jing; Zhang, Wei; Jiang, Yizhou; Li, You; Chen, Qi

2018-05-16

Practice and experiences gradually shape the central nervous system, from the synaptic level to large-scale neural networks. In natural multisensory environment, even when inundated by streams of information from multiple sensory modalities, our brain does not give equal weight to different modalities. Rather, visual information more frequently receives preferential processing and eventually dominates consciousness and behavior, i.e., visual dominance. It remains unknown, however, the supra-modal and modality-specific practice effect during cross-modal selective attention, and moreover whether the practice effect shows similar modality preferences as the visual dominance effect in the multisensory environment. To answer the above two questions, we adopted a cross-modal selective attention paradigm in conjunction with the hybrid fMRI design. Behaviorally, visual performance significantly improved while auditory performance remained constant with practice, indicating that visual attention more flexibly adapted behavior with practice than auditory attention. At the neural level, the practice effect was associated with decreasing neural activity in the frontoparietal executive network and increasing activity in the default mode network, which occurred independently of the modality attended, i.e., the supra-modal mechanisms. On the other hand, functional decoupling between the auditory and the visual system was observed with the progress of practice, which varied as a function of the modality attended. The auditory system was functionally decoupled with both the dorsal and ventral visual stream during auditory attention while was decoupled only with the ventral visual stream during visual attention. To efficiently suppress the irrelevant visual information with practice, auditory attention needs to additionally decouple the auditory system from the dorsal visual stream. The modality-specific mechanisms, together with the behavioral effect, thus support the visual dominance model in terms of the practice effect during cross-modal selective attention. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatial Paradigm for Information Retrieval and Exploration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

The SPIRE system consists of software for visual analysis of primarily text based information sources. This technology enables the content analysis of text documents without reading all the documents. It employs several algorithms for text and word proximity analysis. It identifies the key themes within the text documents. From this analysis, it projects the results onto a visual spatial proximity display (Galaxies or Themescape) where items (documents and/or themes) visually close to each other are known to have content which is close to each other. Innovative interaction techniques then allow for dynamic visual analysis of large text based information spaces.

SPIRE1.03. Spatial Paradigm for Information Retrieval and Exploration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adams, K.J.; Bohn, S.; Crow, V.

The SPIRE system consists of software for visual analysis of primarily text based information sources. This technology enables the content analysis of text documents without reading all the documents. It employs several algorithms for text and word proximity analysis. It identifies the key themes within the text documents. From this analysis, it projects the results onto a visual spatial proximity display (Galaxies or Themescape) where items (documents and/or themes) visually close to each other are known to have content which is close to each other. Innovative interaction techniques then allow for dynamic visual analysis of large text based information spaces.

Processing of Visual Imagery by an Adaptive Model of the Visual System: Its Performance and its Significance. Final Report, June 1969-March 1970.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tallman, Oliver H.

A digital simulation of a model for the processing of visual images is derived from known aspects of the human visual system. The fundamental principle of computation suggested by a biological model is a transformation that distributes information contained in an input stimulus everywhere in a transform domain. Each sensory input contributes under…

A knowledge based system for scientific data visualization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Senay, Hikmet; Ignatius, Eve

1992-01-01

A knowledge-based system, called visualization tool assistant (VISTA), which was developed to assist scientists in the design of scientific data visualization techniques, is described. The system derives its knowledge from several sources which provide information about data characteristics, visualization primitives, and effective visual perception. The design methodology employed by the system is based on a sequence of transformations which decomposes a data set into a set of data partitions, maps this set of partitions to visualization primitives, and combines these primitives into a composite visualization technique design. Although the primary function of the system is to generate an effective visualization technique design for a given data set by using principles of visual perception the system also allows users to interactively modify the design, and renders the resulting image using a variety of rendering algorithms. The current version of the system primarily supports visualization techniques having applicability in earth and space sciences, although it may easily be extended to include other techniques useful in other disciplines such as computational fluid dynamics, finite-element analysis and medical imaging.

Image-plane processing of visual information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huck, F. O.; Fales, C. L.; Park, S. K.; Samms, R. W.

1984-01-01

Shannon's theory of information is used to optimize the optical design of sensor-array imaging systems which use neighborhood image-plane signal processing for enhancing edges and compressing dynamic range during image formation. The resultant edge-enhancement, or band-pass-filter, response is found to be very similar to that of human vision. Comparisons of traits in human vision with results from information theory suggest that: (1) Image-plane processing, like preprocessing in human vision, can improve visual information acquisition for pattern recognition when resolving power, sensitivity, and dynamic range are constrained. Improvements include reduced sensitivity to changes in lighter levels, reduced signal dynamic range, reduced data transmission and processing, and reduced aliasing and photosensor noise degradation. (2) Information content can be an appropriate figure of merit for optimizing the optical design of imaging systems when visual information is acquired for pattern recognition. The design trade-offs involve spatial response, sensitivity, and sampling interval.

Rethinking Visual Analytics for Streaming Data Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Crouser, R. Jordan; Franklin, Lyndsey; Cook, Kris

In the age of data science, the use of interactive information visualization techniques has become increasingly ubiquitous. From online scientific journals to the New York Times graphics desk, the utility of interactive visualization for both storytelling and analysis has become ever more apparent. As these techniques have become more readily accessible, the appeal of combining interactive visualization with computational analysis continues to grow. Arising out of a need for scalable, human-driven analysis, primary objective of visual analytics systems is to capitalize on the complementary strengths of human and machine analysis, using interactive visualization as a medium for communication between themore » two. These systems leverage developments from the fields of information visualization, computer graphics, machine learning, and human-computer interaction to support insight generation in areas where purely computational analyses fall short. Over the past decade, visual analytics systems have generated remarkable advances in many historically challenging analytical contexts. These include areas such as modeling political systems [Crouser et al. 2012], detecting financial fraud [Chang et al. 2008], and cybersecurity [Harrison et al. 2012]. In each of these contexts, domain expertise and human intuition is a necessary component of the analysis. This intuition is essential to building trust in the analytical products, as well as supporting the translation of evidence into actionable insight. In addition, each of these examples also highlights the need for scalable analysis. In each case, it is infeasible for a human analyst to manually assess the raw information unaided, and the communication overhead to divide the task between a large number of analysts makes simple parallelism intractable. Regardless of the domain, visual analytics tools strive to optimize the allocation of human analytical resources, and to streamline the sensemaking process on data that is massive, complex, incomplete, and uncertain in scenarios requiring human judgment.« less

Information theoretic analysis of canny edge detection in visual communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Bo; Rahman, Zia-ur

2011-06-01

In general edge detection evaluation, the edge detectors are examined, analyzed, and compared either visually or with a metric for specific an application. This analysis is usually independent of the characteristics of the image-gathering, transmission and display processes that do impact the quality of the acquired image and thus, the resulting edge image. We propose a new information theoretic analysis of edge detection that unites the different components of the visual communication channel and assesses edge detection algorithms in an integrated manner based on Shannon's information theory. The edge detection algorithm here is considered to achieve high performance only if the information rate from the scene to the edge approaches the maximum possible. Thus, by setting initial conditions of the visual communication system as constant, different edge detection algorithms could be evaluated. This analysis is normally limited to linear shift-invariant filters so in order to examine the Canny edge operator in our proposed system, we need to estimate its "power spectral density" (PSD). Since the Canny operator is non-linear and shift variant, we perform the estimation for a set of different system environment conditions using simulations. In our paper we will first introduce the PSD of the Canny operator for a range of system parameters. Then, using the estimated PSD, we will assess the Canny operator using information theoretic analysis. The information-theoretic metric is also used to compare the performance of the Canny operator with other edge-detection operators. This also provides a simple tool for selecting appropriate edgedetection algorithms based on system parameters, and for adjusting their parameters to maximize information throughput.

A hierarchical, retinotopic proto-organization of the primate visual system at birth

PubMed Central

Arcaro, Michael J; Livingstone, Margaret S

2017-01-01

The adult primate visual system comprises a series of hierarchically organized areas. Each cortical area contains a topographic map of visual space, with different areas extracting different kinds of information from the retinal input. Here we asked to what extent the newborn visual system resembles the adult organization. We find that hierarchical, topographic organization is present at birth and therefore constitutes a proto-organization for the entire primate visual system. Even within inferior temporal cortex, this proto-organization was already present, prior to the emergence of category selectivity (e.g., faces or scenes). We propose that this topographic organization provides the scaffolding for the subsequent development of visual cortex that commences at the onset of visual experience DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.26196.001 PMID:28671063

Multivariable manual control with simultaneous visual and auditory presentation of information. [for improved compensatory tracking performance of human operator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uhlemann, H.; Geiser, G.

1975-01-01

Multivariable manual compensatory tracking experiments were carried out in order to determine typical strategies of the human operator and conditions for improvement of his performance if one of the visual displays of the tracking errors is supplemented by an auditory feedback. Because the tracking error of the system which is only visually displayed is found to decrease, but not in general that of the auditorally supported system, it was concluded that the auditory feedback unloads the visual system of the operator who can then concentrate on the remaining exclusively visual displays.

A review of visual memory capacity: Beyond individual items and towards structured representations

PubMed Central

Brady, Timothy F.; Konkle, Talia; Alvarez, George A.

2012-01-01

Traditional memory research has focused on identifying separate memory systems and exploring different stages of memory processing. This approach has been valuable for establishing a taxonomy of memory systems and characterizing their function, but has been less informative about the nature of stored memory representations. Recent research on visual memory has shifted towards a representation-based emphasis, focusing on the contents of memory, and attempting to determine the format and structure of remembered information. The main thesis of this review will be that one cannot fully understand memory systems or memory processes without also determining the nature of memory representations. Nowhere is this connection more obvious than in research that attempts to measure the capacity of visual memory. We will review research on the capacity of visual working memory and visual long-term memory, highlighting recent work that emphasizes the contents of memory. This focus impacts not only how we estimate the capacity of the system - going beyond quantifying how many items can be remembered, and moving towards structured representations - but how we model memory systems and memory processes. PMID:21617025

Experience and information loss in auditory and visual memory.

PubMed

Gloede, Michele E; Paulauskas, Emily E; Gregg, Melissa K

2017-07-01

Recent studies show that recognition memory for sounds is inferior to memory for pictures. Four experiments were conducted to examine the nature of auditory and visual memory. Experiments 1-3 were conducted to evaluate the role of experience in auditory and visual memory. Participants received a study phase with pictures/sounds, followed by a recognition memory test. Participants then completed auditory training with each of the sounds, followed by a second memory test. Despite auditory training in Experiments 1 and 2, visual memory was superior to auditory memory. In Experiment 3, we found that it is possible to improve auditory memory, but only after 3 days of specific auditory training and 3 days of visual memory decay. We examined the time course of information loss in auditory and visual memory in Experiment 4 and found a trade-off between visual and auditory recognition memory: Visual memory appears to have a larger capacity, while auditory memory is more enduring. Our results indicate that visual and auditory memory are inherently different memory systems and that differences in visual and auditory recognition memory performance may be due to the different amounts of experience with visual and auditory information, as well as structurally different neural circuitry specialized for information retention.

Examining the Use of a Visual Analytics System for Sensemaking Tasks: Case Studies with Domain Experts.

PubMed

Kang, Youn-Ah; Stasko, J

2012-12-01

While the formal evaluation of systems in visual analytics is still relatively uncommon, particularly rare are case studies of prolonged system use by domain analysts working with their own data. Conducting case studies can be challenging, but it can be a particularly effective way to examine whether visual analytics systems are truly helping expert users to accomplish their goals. We studied the use of a visual analytics system for sensemaking tasks on documents by six analysts from a variety of domains. We describe their application of the system along with the benefits, issues, and problems that we uncovered. Findings from the studies identify features that visual analytics systems should emphasize as well as missing capabilities that should be addressed. These findings inform design implications for future systems.

Location perception: the X-Files parable.

PubMed

Prinzmetal, William

2005-01-01

Three aspects of visual object location were investigated: (1) how the visual system integrates information for locating objects, (2) how attention operates to affect location perception, and (3) how the visual system deals with locating an object when multiple objects are present. The theories were described in terms of a parable (the X-Files parable). Then, computer simulations were developed. Finally, predictions derived from the simulations were tested. In the scenario described in the parable, we ask how a system of detectors might locate an alien spaceship, how attention might be implemented in such a spaceship detection system, and how the presence of one spaceship might influence the location perception of another alien spaceship. Experiment 1 demonstrated that location information is integrated with a spatial average rule. In Experiment 2, this rule was applied to a more-samples theory of attention. Experiment 3 demonstrated how the integration rule could account for various visual illusions.

Individual Differences in a Spatial-Semantic Virtual Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Chaomei

2000-01-01

Presents two empirical case studies concerning the role of individual differences in searching through a spatial-semantic virtual environment. Discusses information visualization in information systems; cognitive factors, including associative memory, spatial ability, and visual memory; user satisfaction; and cognitive abilities and search…

Cognitive load reducing in destination decision system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Chunhua; Wang, Cong; Jiang, Qien; Wang, Jian; Chen, Hong

2007-12-01

With limited cognitive resource, the quantity of information can be processed by a person is limited. If the limitation is broken, the whole cognitive process would be affected, so did the final decision. The research of effective ways to reduce the cognitive load is launched from two aspects: cutting down the number of alternatives and directing the user to allocate his limited attention resource based on the selective visual attention theory. Decision-making is such a complex process that people usually have difficulties to express their requirements completely. An effective method to get user's hidden requirements is put forward in this paper. With more requirements be caught, the destination decision system can filtering more quantity of inappropriate alternatives. Different information piece has different utility, if the information with high utility would get attention easily, the decision might be made more easily. After analyzing the current selective visual attention theory, a new presentation style based on user's visual attention also put forward in this paper. This model arranges information presentation according to the movement of sightline. Through visual attention, the user can put their limited attention resource on the important information. Hidden requirements catching and presenting information based on the selective visual attention are effective ways to reducing the cognitive load.

Teaching Poverty with Geographic Visualization and Geographic Information Systems (GIS): A Case Study of East Buffalo and Food Access

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gjesfjeld, Christopher D.; Jung, Jin-Kyu

2014-01-01

Although various methods have been used to teach about poverty in the social work classroom (e.g., quantitative, historical, and qualitative), the use of geographic visualization and geographic information systems (GIS) has become a relatively new method. In our analysis of food access on the East Side of Buffalo, New York, we demonstrate the…

Contextual Cueing Effect in Spatial Layout Defined by Binocular Disparity

PubMed Central

Zhao, Guang; Zhuang, Qian; Ma, Jie; Tu, Shen; Liu, Qiang; Sun, Hong-jin

2017-01-01

Repeated visual context induces higher search efficiency, revealing a contextual cueing effect, which depends on the association between the target and its visual context. In this study, participants performed a visual search task where search items were presented with depth information defined by binocular disparity. When the 3-dimensional (3D) configurations were repeated over blocks, the contextual cueing effect was obtained (Experiment 1). When depth information was in chaos over repeated configurations, visual search was not facilitated and the contextual cueing effect largely crippled (Experiment 2). However, when we made the search items within a tiny random displacement in the 2-dimentional (2D) plane but maintained the depth information constant, the contextual cueing was preserved (Experiment 3). We concluded that the contextual cueing effect was robust in the context provided by 3D space with stereoscopic information, and more importantly, the visual system prioritized stereoscopic information in learning of spatial information when depth information was available. PMID:28912739

Contextual Cueing Effect in Spatial Layout Defined by Binocular Disparity.

PubMed

Zhao, Guang; Zhuang, Qian; Ma, Jie; Tu, Shen; Liu, Qiang; Sun, Hong-Jin

2017-01-01

Repeated visual context induces higher search efficiency, revealing a contextual cueing effect, which depends on the association between the target and its visual context. In this study, participants performed a visual search task where search items were presented with depth information defined by binocular disparity. When the 3-dimensional (3D) configurations were repeated over blocks, the contextual cueing effect was obtained (Experiment 1). When depth information was in chaos over repeated configurations, visual search was not facilitated and the contextual cueing effect largely crippled (Experiment 2). However, when we made the search items within a tiny random displacement in the 2-dimentional (2D) plane but maintained the depth information constant, the contextual cueing was preserved (Experiment 3). We concluded that the contextual cueing effect was robust in the context provided by 3D space with stereoscopic information, and more importantly, the visual system prioritized stereoscopic information in learning of spatial information when depth information was available.

Preprocessing of emotional visual information in the human piriform cortex.

PubMed

Schulze, Patrick; Bestgen, Anne-Kathrin; Lech, Robert K; Kuchinke, Lars; Suchan, Boris

2017-08-23

This study examines the processing of visual information by the olfactory system in humans. Recent data point to the processing of visual stimuli by the piriform cortex, a region mainly known as part of the primary olfactory cortex. Moreover, the piriform cortex generates predictive templates of olfactory stimuli to facilitate olfactory processing. This study fills the gap relating to the question whether this region is also capable of preprocessing emotional visual information. To gain insight into the preprocessing and transfer of emotional visual information into olfactory processing, we recorded hemodynamic responses during affective priming using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Odors of different valence (pleasant, neutral and unpleasant) were primed by images of emotional facial expressions (happy, neutral and disgust). Our findings are the first to demonstrate that the piriform cortex preprocesses emotional visual information prior to any olfactory stimulation and that the emotional connotation of this preprocessing is subsequently transferred and integrated into an extended olfactory network for olfactory processing.

A neural correlate of working memory in the monkey primary visual cortex.

PubMed

Supèr, H; Spekreijse, H; Lamme, V A

2001-07-06

The brain frequently needs to store information for short periods. In vision, this means that the perceptual correlate of a stimulus has to be maintained temporally once the stimulus has been removed from the visual scene. However, it is not known how the visual system transfers sensory information into a memory component. Here, we identify a neural correlate of working memory in the monkey primary visual cortex (V1). We propose that this component may link sensory activity with memory activity.

Visualization and Analytics Software Tools for Peregrine System |

Science.gov Websites

R is a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. Go to the R web site for System Visualization and Analytics Software Tools for Peregrine System Learn about the available visualization for OpenGL-based applications. For more information, please go to the FastX page. ParaView An open

[Development and application of emergency medical information management system].

PubMed

Wang, Fang; Zhu, Baofeng; Chen, Jianrong; Wang, Jian; Gu, Chaoli; Liu, Buyun

2011-03-01

To meet the needs of clinical practice of rescuing critical illness and develop the information management system of the emergency medicine. Microsoft Visual FoxPro, which is one of Microsoft's visual programming tool, is used to develop computer-aided system included the information management system of the emergency medicine. The system mainly consists of the module of statistic analysis, the module of quality control of emergency rescue, the module of flow path of emergency rescue, the module of nursing care in emergency rescue, and the module of rescue training. It can realize the system management of emergency medicine and,process and analyze the emergency statistical data. This system is practical. It can optimize emergency clinical pathway, and meet the needs of clinical rescue.

Image understanding systems based on the unifying representation of perceptual and conceptual information and the solution of mid-level and high-level vision problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuvychko, Igor

2001-10-01

Vision is a part of a larger information system that converts visual information into knowledge structures. These structures drive vision process, resolving ambiguity and uncertainty via feedback, and provide image understanding, that is an interpretation of visual information in terms of such knowledge models. A computer vision system based on such principles requires unifying representation of perceptual and conceptual information. Computer simulation models are built on the basis of graphs/networks. The ability of human brain to emulate similar graph/networks models is found. That means a very important shift of paradigm in our knowledge about brain from neural networks to the cortical software. Starting from the primary visual areas, brain analyzes an image as a graph-type spatial structure. Primary areas provide active fusion of image features on a spatial grid-like structure, where nodes are cortical columns. The spatial combination of different neighbor features cannot be described as a statistical/integral characteristic of the analyzed region, but uniquely characterizes such region itself. Spatial logic and topology naturally present in such structures. Mid-level vision processes like clustering, perceptual grouping, multilevel hierarchical compression, separation of figure from ground, etc. are special kinds of graph/network transformations. They convert low-level image structure into the set of more abstract ones, which represent objects and visual scene, making them easy for analysis by higher-level knowledge structures. Higher-level vision phenomena like shape from shading, occlusion, etc. are results of such analysis. Such approach gives opportunity not only to explain frequently unexplainable results of the cognitive science, but also to create intelligent computer vision systems that simulate perceptional processes in both what and where visual pathways. Such systems can open new horizons for robotic and computer vision industries.

Development of a geographic visualization and communications systems (GVCS) for monitoring remote vehicles

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-03-30

The purpose of this project is to integrate a variety of geographic information systems : capabilities and telecommunication technologies for potential use in geographic network and : visualization applications. The specific technical goals of the pr...

Regional information guidance system based on hypermedia concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matoba, Hiroshi; Hara, Yoshinori; Kasahara, Yutako

1990-08-01

A regional information guidance system has been developed on an image workstation. Two main features of this system are hypermedia data structure and friendly visual interface realized by the full-color frame memory system. As the hypermedia data structure manages regional information such as maps, pictures and explanations of points of interest, users can retrieve those information one by one, next to next according to their interest change. For example, users can retrieve explanation of a picture through the link between pictures and text explanations. Users can also traverse from one document to another by using keywords as cross reference indices. The second feature is to utilize a full-color, high resolution and wide space frame memory for visual interface design. This frame memory system enables real-time operation of image data and natural scene representation. The system also provides half tone representing function which enables fade-in/out presentations. This fade-in/out functions used in displaying and erasing menu and image data, makes visual interface soft for human eyes. The system we have developed is a typical example of multimedia applications. We expect the image workstation will play an important role as a platform for multimedia applications.

Blindsight and Unconscious Vision: What They Teach Us about the Human Visual System

PubMed Central

Ajina, Sara; Bridge, Holly

2017-01-01

Damage to the primary visual cortex removes the major input from the eyes to the brain, causing significant visual loss as patients are unable to perceive the side of the world contralateral to the damage. Some patients, however, retain the ability to detect visual information within this blind region; this is known as blindsight. By studying the visual pathways that underlie this residual vision in patients, we can uncover additional aspects of the human visual system that likely contribute to normal visual function but cannot be revealed under physiological conditions. In this review, we discuss the residual abilities and neural activity that have been described in blindsight and the implications of these findings for understanding the intact system. PMID:27777337

External Visual Representations in Science Learning: The Case of Relations among System Components

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eilam, Billie; Poyas, Yael

2010-01-01

How do external visual representations (e.g., graph, diagram) promote or constrain students' ability to identify system components and their interrelations, to reinforce a systemic view through the application of the STS approach? University students (N = 150) received information cards describing cellphones' communication system and its subsystem…

Bionic Vision-Based Intelligent Power Line Inspection System

PubMed Central

Ma, Yunpeng; He, Feijia; Xu, Jinxin

2017-01-01

Detecting the threats of the external obstacles to the power lines can ensure the stability of the power system. Inspired by the attention mechanism and binocular vision of human visual system, an intelligent power line inspection system is presented in this paper. Human visual attention mechanism in this intelligent inspection system is used to detect and track power lines in image sequences according to the shape information of power lines, and the binocular visual model is used to calculate the 3D coordinate information of obstacles and power lines. In order to improve the real time and accuracy of the system, we propose a new matching strategy based on the traditional SURF algorithm. The experimental results show that the system is able to accurately locate the position of the obstacles around power lines automatically, and the designed power line inspection system is effective in complex backgrounds, and there are no missing detection instances under different conditions. PMID:28203269

Predictive and postdictive mechanisms jointly contribute to visual awareness.

PubMed

Soga, Ryosuke; Akaishi, Rei; Sakai, Katsuyuki

2009-09-01

One of the fundamental issues in visual awareness is how we are able to perceive the scene in front of our eyes on time despite the delay in processing visual information. The prediction theory postulates that our visual system predicts the future to compensate for such delays. On the other hand, the postdiction theory postulates that our visual awareness is inevitably a delayed product. In the present study we used flash-lag paradigms in motion and color domains and examined how the perception of visual information at the time of flash is influenced by prior and subsequent visual events. We found that both types of event additively influence the perception of the present visual image, suggesting that our visual awareness results from joint contribution of predictive and postdictive mechanisms.

Through evolution's eyes: extracting mate preferences by linking visual attention to adaptive design.

PubMed

Krupp, Daniel Brian

2008-02-01

Information is crucial to decision-making, including mate choice decisions. Perceptual systems, such as attention, evolved in part to forage for reproductive information; consequently, these systems can be used to reveal mate preferences. Here, I consider the place of visual information in human mate choice and provide a rationale for pressing into service methods drawn from the attention literature for the study of mate choice decisions. Because visual attention is allocated automatically and selectively, it may be used to complement common methods of mate preference assessment, such as self-report questionnaires and measures of genital arousal, while avoiding some of the pitfalls of these methods. Beyond the utility of increasing confidence in extant research findings by employing relatively unobtrusive methods, visual attention paradigms can also allow researchers to explore a variety of questions that are rarely asked, such as those concerned with signal efficiency and tradeoffs in the assessment of mate value.

Pyramidal neurovision architecture for vision machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Madan M.; Knopf, George K.

1993-08-01

The vision system employed by an intelligent robot must be active; active in the sense that it must be capable of selectively acquiring the minimal amount of relevant information for a given task. An efficient active vision system architecture that is based loosely upon the parallel-hierarchical (pyramidal) structure of the biological visual pathway is presented in this paper. Although the computational architecture of the proposed pyramidal neuro-vision system is far less sophisticated than the architecture of the biological visual pathway, it does retain some essential features such as the converging multilayered structure of its biological counterpart. In terms of visual information processing, the neuro-vision system is constructed from a hierarchy of several interactive computational levels, whereupon each level contains one or more nonlinear parallel processors. Computationally efficient vision machines can be developed by utilizing both the parallel and serial information processing techniques within the pyramidal computing architecture. A computer simulation of a pyramidal vision system for active scene surveillance is presented.

Battlefield Visualization

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-12-15

A study analyzing battlefield visualization (BV) as a component of information dominance and superiority. This study outlines basic requirements for effective BV in terms of terrain data, information systems (synthetic environment; COA development and analysis tools) and BV development management, with a focus on technology insertion strategies. This study also reports on existing BV systems and provides 16 recommendations for Army BV support efforts, including interested organization, funding levels and duration of effort for each recommended action.

Role of somatosensory and vestibular cues in attenuating visually induced human postural sway

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterka, Robert J.; Benolken, Martha S.

1993-01-01

The purpose was to determine the contribution of visual, vestibular, and somatosensory cues to the maintenance of stance in humans. Postural sway was induced by full field, sinusoidal visual surround rotations about an axis at the level of the ankle joints. The influences of vestibular and somatosensory cues were characterized by comparing postural sway in normal and bilateral vestibular absent subjects in conditions that provided either accurate or inaccurate somatosensory orientation information. In normal subjects, the amplitude of visually induced sway reached a saturation level as stimulus amplitude increased. The saturation amplitude decreased with increasing stimulus frequency. No saturation phenomena was observed in subjects with vestibular loss, implying that vestibular cues were responsible for the saturation phenomenon. For visually induced sways below the saturation level, the stimulus-response curves for both normal and vestibular loss subjects were nearly identical implying that (1) normal subjects were not using vestibular information to attenuate their visually induced sway, possibly because sway was below a vestibular-related threshold level, and (2) vestibular loss subjects did not utilize visual cues to a greater extent than normal subjects; that is, a fundamental change in visual system 'gain' was not used to compensate for a vestibular deficit. An unexpected finding was that the amplitude of body sway induced by visual surround motion could be almost three times greater than the amplitude of the visual stimulus in normals and vestibular loss subjects. This occurred in conditions where somatosensory cues were inaccurate and at low stimulus amplitudes. A control system model of visually induced postural sway was developed to explain this finding. For both subject groups, the amplitude of visually induced sway was smaller by a factor of about four in tests where somatosensory cues provided accurate versus inaccurate orientation information. This implied that (1) the vestibular loss subjects did not utilize somatosensory cues to a greater extent than normal subjects; that is, changes in somatosensory system 'gain' were not used to compensate for a vestibular deficit, and (2) the threshold for the use of vestibular cues in normals was apparently lower in test conditions where somatosensory cues were providing accurate orientation information.

Visualizing Mobility of Public Transportation System.

PubMed

Zeng, Wei; Fu, Chi-Wing; Arisona, Stefan Müller; Erath, Alexander; Qu, Huamin

2014-12-01

Public transportation systems (PTSs) play an important role in modern cities, providing shared/massive transportation services that are essential for the general public. However, due to their increasing complexity, designing effective methods to visualize and explore PTS is highly challenging. Most existing techniques employ network visualization methods and focus on showing the network topology across stops while ignoring various mobility-related factors such as riding time, transfer time, waiting time, and round-the-clock patterns. This work aims to visualize and explore passenger mobility in a PTS with a family of analytical tasks based on inputs from transportation researchers. After exploring different design alternatives, we come up with an integrated solution with three visualization modules: isochrone map view for geographical information, isotime flow map view for effective temporal information comparison and manipulation, and OD-pair journey view for detailed visual analysis of mobility factors along routes between specific origin-destination pairs. The isotime flow map linearizes a flow map into a parallel isoline representation, maximizing the visualization of mobility information along the horizontal time axis while presenting clear and smooth pathways from origin to destinations. Moreover, we devise several interactive visual query methods for users to easily explore the dynamics of PTS mobility over space and time. Lastly, we also construct a PTS mobility model from millions of real passenger trajectories, and evaluate our visualization techniques with assorted case studies with the transportation researchers.

Processing reafferent and exafferent visual information for action and perception.

PubMed

Reichenbach, Alexandra; Diedrichsen, Jörn

2015-01-01

A recent study suggests that reafferent hand-related visual information utilizes a privileged, attention-independent processing channel for motor control. This process was termed visuomotor binding to reflect its proposed function: linking visual reafferences to the corresponding motor control centers. Here, we ask whether the advantage of processing reafferent over exafferent visual information is a specific feature of the motor processing stream or whether the improved processing also benefits the perceptual processing stream. Human participants performed a bimanual reaching task in a cluttered visual display, and one of the visual hand cursors could be displaced laterally during the movement. We measured the rapid feedback responses of the motor system as well as matched perceptual judgments of which cursor was displaced. Perceptual judgments were either made by watching the visual scene without moving or made simultaneously to the reaching tasks, such that the perceptual processing stream could also profit from the specialized processing of reafferent information in the latter case. Our results demonstrate that perceptual judgments in the heavily cluttered visual environment were improved when performed based on reafferent information. Even in this case, however, the filtering capability of the perceptual processing stream suffered more from the increasing complexity of the visual scene than the motor processing stream. These findings suggest partly shared and partly segregated processing of reafferent information for vision for motor control versus vision for perception.

Complexity Level Analysis Revisited: What Can 30 Years of Hindsight Tell Us about How the Brain Might Represent Visual Information?

PubMed Central

Tsotsos, John K.

2017-01-01

Much has been written about how the biological brain might represent and process visual information, and how this might inspire and inform machine vision systems. Indeed, tremendous progress has been made, and especially during the last decade in the latter area. However, a key question seems too often, if not mostly, be ignored. This question is simply: do proposed solutions scale with the reality of the brain's resources? This scaling question applies equally to brain and to machine solutions. A number of papers have examined the inherent computational difficulty of visual information processing using theoretical and empirical methods. The main goal of this activity had three components: to understand the deep nature of the computational problem of visual information processing; to discover how well the computational difficulty of vision matches to the fixed resources of biological seeing systems; and, to abstract from the matching exercise the key principles that lead to the observed characteristics of biological visual performance. This set of components was termed complexity level analysis in Tsotsos (1987) and was proposed as an important complement to Marr's three levels of analysis. This paper revisits that work with the advantage that decades of hindsight can provide. PMID:28848458

Complexity Level Analysis Revisited: What Can 30 Years of Hindsight Tell Us about How the Brain Might Represent Visual Information?

PubMed

Tsotsos, John K

2017-01-01

Much has been written about how the biological brain might represent and process visual information, and how this might inspire and inform machine vision systems. Indeed, tremendous progress has been made, and especially during the last decade in the latter area. However, a key question seems too often, if not mostly, be ignored. This question is simply: do proposed solutions scale with the reality of the brain's resources? This scaling question applies equally to brain and to machine solutions. A number of papers have examined the inherent computational difficulty of visual information processing using theoretical and empirical methods. The main goal of this activity had three components: to understand the deep nature of the computational problem of visual information processing; to discover how well the computational difficulty of vision matches to the fixed resources of biological seeing systems; and, to abstract from the matching exercise the key principles that lead to the observed characteristics of biological visual performance. This set of components was termed complexity level analysis in Tsotsos (1987) and was proposed as an important complement to Marr's three levels of analysis. This paper revisits that work with the advantage that decades of hindsight can provide.

Octopus vulgaris uses visual information to determine the location of its arm.

PubMed

Gutnick, Tamar; Byrne, Ruth A; Hochner, Binyamin; Kuba, Michael

2011-03-22

Octopuses are intelligent, soft-bodied animals with keen senses that perform reliably in a variety of visual and tactile learning tasks. However, researchers have found them disappointing in that they consistently fail in operant tasks that require them to combine central nervous system reward information with visual and peripheral knowledge of the location of their arms. Wells claimed that in order to filter and integrate an abundance of multisensory inputs that might inform the animal of the position of a single arm, octopuses would need an exceptional computing mechanism, and "There is no evidence that such a system exists in Octopus, or in any other soft bodied animal." Recent electrophysiological experiments, which found no clear somatotopic organization in the higher motor centers, support this claim. We developed a three-choice maze that required an octopus to use a single arm to reach a visually marked goal compartment. Using this operant task, we show for the first time that Octopus vulgaris is capable of guiding a single arm in a complex movement to a location. Thus, we claim that octopuses can combine peripheral arm location information with visual input to control goal-directed complex movements. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Role of the Human Extrastriate Visual Cortex in Mirror Symmetry Discrimination: A TMS-Adaptation Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cattaneo, Zaira; Mattavelli, Giulia; Papagno, Costanza; Herbert, Andrew; Silvanto, Juha

2011-01-01

The human visual system is able to efficiently extract symmetry information from the visual environment. Prior neuroimaging evidence has revealed symmetry-preferring neuronal representations in the dorsolateral extrastriate visual cortex; the objective of the present study was to investigate the necessity of these representations in symmetry…

Cross-modal interactions during perception of audiovisual speech and nonspeech signals: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Hertrich, Ingo; Dietrich, Susanne; Ackermann, Hermann

2011-01-01

During speech communication, visual information may interact with the auditory system at various processing stages. Most noteworthy, recent magnetoencephalography (MEG) data provided first evidence for early and preattentive phonetic/phonological encoding of the visual data stream--prior to its fusion with auditory phonological features [Hertrich, I., Mathiak, K., Lutzenberger, W., & Ackermann, H. Time course of early audiovisual interactions during speech and non-speech central-auditory processing: An MEG study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21, 259-274, 2009]. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the present follow-up study aims to further elucidate the topographic distribution of visual-phonological operations and audiovisual (AV) interactions during speech perception. Ambiguous acoustic syllables--disambiguated to /pa/ or /ta/ by the visual channel (speaking face)--served as test materials, concomitant with various control conditions (nonspeech AV signals, visual-only and acoustic-only speech, and nonspeech stimuli). (i) Visual speech yielded an AV-subadditive activation of primary auditory cortex and the anterior superior temporal gyrus (STG), whereas the posterior STG responded both to speech and nonspeech motion. (ii) The inferior frontal and the fusiform gyrus of the right hemisphere showed a strong phonetic/phonological impact (differential effects of visual /pa/ vs. /ta/) upon hemodynamic activation during presentation of speaking faces. Taken together with the previous MEG data, these results point at a dual-pathway model of visual speech information processing: On the one hand, access to the auditory system via the anterior supratemporal “what" path may give rise to direct activation of "auditory objects." On the other hand, visual speech information seems to be represented in a right-hemisphere visual working memory, providing a potential basis for later interactions with auditory information such as the McGurk effect.

Age-related declines of stability in visual perceptual learning.

PubMed

Chang, Li-Hung; Shibata, Kazuhisa; Andersen, George J; Sasaki, Yuka; Watanabe, Takeo

2014-12-15

One of the biggest questions in learning is how a system can resolve the plasticity and stability dilemma. Specifically, the learning system needs to have not only a high capability of learning new items (plasticity) but also a high stability to retain important items or processing in the system by preventing unimportant or irrelevant information from being learned. This dilemma should hold true for visual perceptual learning (VPL), which is defined as a long-term increase in performance on a visual task as a result of visual experience. Although it is well known that aging influences learning, the effect of aging on the stability and plasticity of the visual system is unclear. To address the question, we asked older and younger adults to perform a task while a task-irrelevant feature was merely exposed. We found that older individuals learned the task-irrelevant features that younger individuals did not learn, both the features that were sufficiently strong for younger individuals to suppress and the features that were too weak for younger individuals to learn. At the same time, there was no plasticity reduction in older individuals within the task tested. These results suggest that the older visual system is less stable to unimportant information than the younger visual system. A learning problem with older individuals may be due to a decrease in stability rather than a decrease in plasticity, at least in VPL. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Weighted integration of short-term memory and sensory signals in the oculomotor system.

PubMed

Deravet, Nicolas; Blohm, Gunnar; de Xivry, Jean-Jacques Orban; Lefèvre, Philippe

2018-05-01

Oculomotor behaviors integrate sensory and prior information to overcome sensory-motor delays and noise. After much debate about this process, reliability-based integration has recently been proposed and several models of smooth pursuit now include recurrent Bayesian integration or Kalman filtering. However, there is a lack of behavioral evidence in humans supporting these theoretical predictions. Here, we independently manipulated the reliability of visual and prior information in a smooth pursuit task. Our results show that both smooth pursuit eye velocity and catch-up saccade amplitude were modulated by visual and prior information reliability. We interpret these findings as the continuous reliability-based integration of a short-term memory of target motion with visual information, which support modeling work. Furthermore, we suggest that saccadic and pursuit systems share this short-term memory. We propose that this short-term memory of target motion is quickly built and continuously updated, and constitutes a general building block present in all sensorimotor systems.

A survey of visualization systems for network security.

PubMed

Shiravi, Hadi; Shiravi, Ali; Ghorbani, Ali A

2012-08-01

Security Visualization is a very young term. It expresses the idea that common visualization techniques have been designed for use cases that are not supportive of security-related data, demanding novel techniques fine tuned for the purpose of thorough analysis. Significant amount of work has been published in this area, but little work has been done to study this emerging visualization discipline. We offer a comprehensive review of network security visualization and provide a taxonomy in the form of five use-case classes encompassing nearly all recent works in this area. We outline the incorporated visualization techniques and data sources and provide an informative table to display our findings. From the analysis of these systems, we examine issues and concerns regarding network security visualization and provide guidelines and directions for future researchers and visual system developers.

Design and Development of a Linked Open Data-Based Health Information Representation and Visualization System: Potentials and Preliminary Evaluation

PubMed Central

Kauppinen, Tomi; Keßler, Carsten; Fritz, Fleur

2014-01-01

Background Healthcare organizations around the world are challenged by pressures to reduce cost, improve coordination and outcome, and provide more with less. This requires effective planning and evidence-based practice by generating important information from available data. Thus, flexible and user-friendly ways to represent, query, and visualize health data becomes increasingly important. International organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) regularly publish vital data on priority health topics that can be utilized for public health policy and health service development. However, the data in most portals is displayed in either Excel or PDF formats, which makes information discovery and reuse difficult. Linked Open Data (LOD)—a new Semantic Web set of best practice of standards to publish and link heterogeneous data—can be applied to the representation and management of public level health data to alleviate such challenges. However, the technologies behind building LOD systems and their effectiveness for health data are yet to be assessed. Objective The objective of this study is to evaluate whether Linked Data technologies are potential options for health information representation, visualization, and retrieval systems development and to identify the available tools and methodologies to build Linked Data-based health information systems. Methods We used the Resource Description Framework (RDF) for data representation, Fuseki triple store for data storage, and Sgvizler for information visualization. Additionally, we integrated SPARQL query interface for interacting with the data. We primarily use the WHO health observatory dataset to test the system. All the data were represented using RDF and interlinked with other related datasets on the Web of Data using Silk—a link discovery framework for Web of Data. A preliminary usability assessment was conducted following the System Usability Scale (SUS) method. Results We developed an LOD-based health information representation, querying, and visualization system by using Linked Data tools. We imported more than 20,000 HIV-related data elements on mortality, prevalence, incidence, and related variables, which are freely available from the WHO global health observatory database. Additionally, we automatically linked 5312 data elements from DBpedia, Bio2RDF, and LinkedCT using the Silk framework. The system users can retrieve and visualize health information according to their interests. For users who are not familiar with SPARQL queries, we integrated a Linked Data search engine interface to search and browse the data. We used the system to represent and store the data, facilitating flexible queries and different kinds of visualizations. The preliminary user evaluation score by public health data managers and users was 82 on the SUS usability measurement scale. The need to write queries in the interface was the main reported difficulty of LOD-based systems to the end user. Conclusions The system introduced in this article shows that current LOD technologies are a promising alternative to represent heterogeneous health data in a flexible and reusable manner so that they can serve intelligent queries, and ultimately support decision-making. However, the development of advanced text-based search engines is necessary to increase its usability especially for nontechnical users. Further research with large datasets is recommended in the future to unfold the potential of Linked Data and Semantic Web for future health information systems development. PMID:25601195

Design and development of a linked open data-based health information representation and visualization system: potentials and preliminary evaluation.

PubMed

Tilahun, Binyam; Kauppinen, Tomi; Keßler, Carsten; Fritz, Fleur

2014-10-25

Healthcare organizations around the world are challenged by pressures to reduce cost, improve coordination and outcome, and provide more with less. This requires effective planning and evidence-based practice by generating important information from available data. Thus, flexible and user-friendly ways to represent, query, and visualize health data becomes increasingly important. International organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) regularly publish vital data on priority health topics that can be utilized for public health policy and health service development. However, the data in most portals is displayed in either Excel or PDF formats, which makes information discovery and reuse difficult. Linked Open Data (LOD)-a new Semantic Web set of best practice of standards to publish and link heterogeneous data-can be applied to the representation and management of public level health data to alleviate such challenges. However, the technologies behind building LOD systems and their effectiveness for health data are yet to be assessed. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether Linked Data technologies are potential options for health information representation, visualization, and retrieval systems development and to identify the available tools and methodologies to build Linked Data-based health information systems. We used the Resource Description Framework (RDF) for data representation, Fuseki triple store for data storage, and Sgvizler for information visualization. Additionally, we integrated SPARQL query interface for interacting with the data. We primarily use the WHO health observatory dataset to test the system. All the data were represented using RDF and interlinked with other related datasets on the Web of Data using Silk-a link discovery framework for Web of Data. A preliminary usability assessment was conducted following the System Usability Scale (SUS) method. We developed an LOD-based health information representation, querying, and visualization system by using Linked Data tools. We imported more than 20,000 HIV-related data elements on mortality, prevalence, incidence, and related variables, which are freely available from the WHO global health observatory database. Additionally, we automatically linked 5312 data elements from DBpedia, Bio2RDF, and LinkedCT using the Silk framework. The system users can retrieve and visualize health information according to their interests. For users who are not familiar with SPARQL queries, we integrated a Linked Data search engine interface to search and browse the data. We used the system to represent and store the data, facilitating flexible queries and different kinds of visualizations. The preliminary user evaluation score by public health data managers and users was 82 on the SUS usability measurement scale. The need to write queries in the interface was the main reported difficulty of LOD-based systems to the end user. The system introduced in this article shows that current LOD technologies are a promising alternative to represent heterogeneous health data in a flexible and reusable manner so that they can serve intelligent queries, and ultimately support decision-making. However, the development of advanced text-based search engines is necessary to increase its usability especially for nontechnical users. Further research with large datasets is recommended in the future to unfold the potential of Linked Data and Semantic Web for future health information systems development.

Attention affects visual perceptual processing near the hand.

PubMed

Cosman, Joshua D; Vecera, Shaun P

2010-09-01

Specialized, bimodal neural systems integrate visual and tactile information in the space near the hand. Here, we show that visuo-tactile representations allow attention to influence early perceptual processing, namely, figure-ground assignment. Regions that were reached toward were more likely than other regions to be assigned as foreground figures, and hand position competed with image-based information to bias figure-ground assignment. Our findings suggest that hand position allows attention to influence visual perceptual processing and that visual processes typically viewed as unimodal can be influenced by bimodal visuo-tactile representations.

Anatomy and physiology of the afferent visual system.

PubMed

Prasad, Sashank; Galetta, Steven L

2011-01-01

The efficient organization of the human afferent visual system meets enormous computational challenges. Once visual information is received by the eye, the signal is relayed by the retina, optic nerve, chiasm, tracts, lateral geniculate nucleus, and optic radiations to the striate cortex and extrastriate association cortices for final visual processing. At each stage, the functional organization of these circuits is derived from their anatomical and structural relationships. In the retina, photoreceptors convert photons of light to an electrochemical signal that is relayed to retinal ganglion cells. Ganglion cell axons course through the optic nerve, and their partial decussation in the chiasm brings together corresponding inputs from each eye. Some inputs follow pathways to mediate pupil light reflexes and circadian rhythms. However, the majority of inputs arrive at the lateral geniculate nucleus, which relays visual information via second-order neurons that course through the optic radiations to arrive in striate cortex. Feedback mechanisms from higher cortical areas shape the neuronal responses in early visual areas, supporting coherent visual perception. Detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the afferent visual system, in combination with skilled examination, allows precise localization of neuropathological processes and guides effective diagnosis and management of neuro-ophthalmic disorders. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Patient-Clinician Encounter Information Modeling Through Web Based Intelligent 3D Visual Interface

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-09-01

system must allow immediate access to the lab data without the need to abort the evaluation process), and (5) must apply visual thinking principles. It... Systems Research, Incorporated For a period of five (5) years after completion of the project from which the data was generated, the Government’s rights...Report 3 Sigma Systems Research, Inc. List of Figures FIGURE 1. THE TWO MAJOR ELEMENTS OF THE DEVELOPED MEDICAL DATA VISUALIZATION FRAMEWORK ..... 7

Information Design for Visualizing History Museum Artifacts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Yulin; Lai, Tingsheng; Yasuda, Takami; Yokoi, Shigeki

2011-01-01

In the past few years, museum visualization systems have become a hot topic that attracts many researchers' interests. Several systems provide Web services for browsing museum collections through the Web. In this paper, we proposed an intelligent museum system for history museum artifacts, and described a study in which we enable access to China…

On the Measurement and Visualization of Analysis Activity: A Study of Successful Strategies for Web-Based Information Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zelik, Daniel J.

2012-01-01

Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE) has a history built, in part, on leveraging representational design to improve system performance. Traditionally, however, CSE has focused on visual representation of "monitored" processes--active, ongoing, and interconnected activities occurring in a system of interest and monitored by human…

Navigation system for a mobile robot with a visual sensor using a fish-eye lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurata, Junichi; Grattan, Kenneth T. V.; Uchiyama, Hironobu

1998-02-01

Various position sensing and navigation systems have been proposed for the autonomous control of mobile robots. Some of these systems have been installed with an omnidirectional visual sensor system that proved very useful in obtaining information on the environment around the mobile robot for position reckoning. In this article, this type of navigation system is discussed. The sensor is composed of one TV camera with a fish-eye lens, using a reference target on a ceiling and hybrid image processing circuits. The position of the robot, with respect to the floor, is calculated by integrating the information obtained from a visual sensor and a gyroscope mounted in the mobile robot, and the use of a simple algorithm based on PTP control for guidance is discussed. An experimental trial showed that the proposed system was both valid and useful for the navigation of an indoor vehicle.

Public health nurse perceptions of Omaha System data visualization.

PubMed

Lee, Seonah; Kim, Era; Monsen, Karen A

2015-10-01

Electronic health records (EHRs) provide many benefits related to the storage, deployment, and retrieval of large amounts of patient data. However, EHRs have not fully met the need to reuse data for decision making on follow-up care plans. Visualization offers new ways to present health data, especially in EHRs. Well-designed data visualization allows clinicians to communicate information efficiently and effectively, contributing to improved interpretation of clinical data and better patient care monitoring and decision making. Public health nurse (PHN) perceptions of Omaha System data visualization prototypes for use in EHRs have not been evaluated. To visualize PHN-generated Omaha System data and assess PHN perceptions regarding the visual validity, helpfulness, usefulness, and importance of the visualizations, including interactive functionality. Time-oriented visualization for problems and outcomes and Matrix visualization for problems and interventions were developed using PHN-generated Omaha System data to help PHNs consume data and plan care at the point of care. Eleven PHNs evaluated prototype visualizations. Overall PHNs response to visualizations was positive, and feedback for improvement was provided. This study demonstrated the potential for using visualization techniques within EHRs to summarize Omaha System patient data for clinicians. Further research is needed to improve and refine these visualizations and assess the potential to incorporate visualizations within clinical EHRs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Creating visual explanations improves learning.

PubMed

Bobek, Eliza; Tversky, Barbara

2016-01-01

Many topics in science are notoriously difficult for students to learn. Mechanisms and processes outside student experience present particular challenges. While instruction typically involves visualizations, students usually explain in words. Because visual explanations can show parts and processes of complex systems directly, creating them should have benefits beyond creating verbal explanations. We compared learning from creating visual or verbal explanations for two STEM domains, a mechanical system (bicycle pump) and a chemical system (bonding). Both kinds of explanations were analyzed for content and learning assess by a post-test. For the mechanical system, creating a visual explanation increased understanding particularly for participants of low spatial ability. For the chemical system, creating both visual and verbal explanations improved learning without new teaching. Creating a visual explanation was superior and benefitted participants of both high and low spatial ability. Visual explanations often included crucial yet invisible features. The greater effectiveness of visual explanations appears attributable to the checks they provide for completeness and coherence as well as to their roles as platforms for inference. The benefits should generalize to other domains like the social sciences, history, and archeology where important information can be visualized. Together, the findings provide support for the use of learner-generated visual explanations as a powerful learning tool.

An exploratory study of temporal integration in the peripheral retina of myopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macedo, Antonio F.; Encarnação, Tito J.; Vilarinho, Daniel; Baptista, António M. G.

2017-08-01

The visual system takes time to respond to visual stimuli, neurons need to accumulate information over a time span in order to fire. Visual information perceived by the peripheral retina might be impaired by imperfect peripheral optics leading to myopia development. This study explored the effect of eccentricity, moderate myopia and peripheral refraction in temporal visual integration. Myopes and emmetropes showed similar performance at detecting briefly flashed stimuli in different retinal locations. Our results show evidence that moderate myopes have normal visual integration when refractive errors are corrected with contact lens; however, the tendency to increased temporal integration thresholds observed in myopes deserves further investigation.

Alerts Visualization and Clustering in Network-based Intrusion Detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Dr. Li; Gasior, Wade C; Dasireddy, Swetha

2010-04-01

Today's Intrusion detection systems when deployed on a busy network overload the network with huge number of alerts. This behavior of producing too much raw information makes it less effective. We propose a system which takes both raw data and Snort alerts to visualize and analyze possible intrusions in a network. Then we present with two models for the visualization of clustered alerts. Our first model gives the network administrator with the logical topology of the network and detailed information of each node that involves its associated alerts and connections. In the second model, flocking model, presents the network administratormore » with the visual representation of IDS data in which each alert is represented in different color and the alerts with maximum similarity move together. This gives network administrator with the idea of detecting various of intrusions through visualizing the alert patterns.« less

Visualization index for image-enabled medical records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Wenjie; Zheng, Weilin; Sun, Jianyong; Zhang, Jianguo

2011-03-01

With the widely use of healthcare information technology in hospitals, the patients' medical records are more and more complex. To transform the text- or image-based medical information into easily understandable and acceptable form for human, we designed and developed an innovation indexing method which can be used to assign an anatomical 3D structure object to every patient visually to store indexes of the patients' basic information, historical examined image information and RIS report information. When a doctor wants to review patient historical records, he or she can first load the anatomical structure object and the view the 3D index of this object using a digital human model tool kit. This prototype system helps doctors to easily and visually obtain the complete historical healthcare status of patients, including large amounts of medical data, and quickly locate detailed information, including both reports and images, from medical information systems. In this way, doctors can save time that may be better used to understand information, obtain a more comprehensive understanding of their patients' situations, and provide better healthcare services to patients.

The architecture of visual narrative comprehension: the interaction of narrative structure and page layout in understanding comics.

PubMed

Cohn, Neil

2014-01-01

How do people make sense of the sequential images in visual narratives like comics? A growing literature of recent research has suggested that this comprehension involves the interaction of multiple systems: The creation of meaning across sequential images relies on a "narrative grammar" that packages conceptual information into categorical roles organized in hierarchic constituents. These images are encapsulated into panels arranged in the layout of a physical page. Finally, how panels frame information can impact both the narrative structure and page layout. Altogether, these systems operate in parallel to construct the Gestalt whole of comprehension of this visual language found in comics.

Infants' prospective control during object manipulation in an uncertain environment.

PubMed

Gottwald, Janna M; Gredebäck, Gustaf

2015-08-01

This study investigates how infants use visual and sensorimotor information to prospectively control their actions. We gave 14-month-olds two objects of different weight and observed how high they were lifted, using a Qualisys Motion Capture System. In one condition, the two objects were visually distinct (different color condition) in another they were visually identical (same color condition). Lifting amplitudes of the first movement unit were analyzed in order to assess prospective control. Results demonstrate that infants lifted a light object higher than a heavy object, especially when vision could be used to assess weight (different color condition). When being confronted with two visually identical objects of different weight (same color condition), infants showed a different lifting pattern than what could be observed in the different color condition, expressed by a significant interaction effect between object weight and color condition on lifting amplitude. These results indicate that (a) visual information about object weight can be used to prospectively control lifting actions and that (b) infants are able to prospectively control their lifting actions even without visual information about object weight. We argue that infants, in the absence of reliable visual information about object weight, heighten their dependence on non-visual information (tactile, sensorimotor memory) in order to estimate weight and pre-adjust their lifting actions in a prospective manner.

A Core Knowledge Architecture of Visual Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Justin N.

2011-01-01

Visual working memory (VWM) is widely thought to contain specialized buffers for retaining spatial and object information: a "spatial-object architecture." However, studies of adults, infants, and nonhuman animals show that visual cognition builds on core knowledge systems that retain more specialized representations: (1) spatiotemporal…

Structural organization of parallel information processing within the tectofugal visual system of the pigeon.

PubMed

Hellmann, B; Güntürkün, O

2001-01-01

Visual information processing within the ascending tectofugal pathway to the forebrain undergoes essential rearrangements between the mesencephalic tectum opticum and the diencephalic nucleus rotundus of birds. The outer tectal layers constitute a two-dimensional map of the visual surrounding, whereas nucleus rotundus is characterized by functional domains in which different visual features such as movement, color, or luminance are processed in parallel. Morphologic correlates of this reorganization were investigated by means of focal injections of the neuronal tracer choleratoxin subunit B into different regions of the nuclei rotundus and triangularis of the pigeon. Dependent on the thalamic injection site, variations in the retrograde labeling pattern of ascending tectal efferents were observed. All rotundal projecting neurons were located within the deep tectal layer 13. Five different cell populations were distinguished that could be differentiated according to their dendritic ramifications within different retinorecipient laminae and their axons projecting to different subcomponents of the nucleus rotundus. Because retinorecipient tectal layers differ in their input from distinct classes of retinal ganglion cells, each tectorotundal cell type probably processes different aspects of the visual surrounding. Therefore, the differential input/output connections of the five tectorotundal cell groups might constitute the structural basis for spatially segregated parallel information processing of different stimulus aspects within the tectofugal visual system. Because two of five rotundal projecting cell groups additionally exhibited quantitative shifts along the dorsoventral extension of the tectum, data also indicate visual field-dependent alterations in information processing for particular visual features. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

77 FR 69899 - Public Conference on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Transportation Safety

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-21

... NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Public Conference on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in... Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in transportation safety on December 4-5, 2012. GIS is a rapidly... visualization of data. The meeting will bring researchers and practitioners in transportation safety and GIS...

Considerations for the composition of visual scene displays: potential contributions of information from visual and cognitive sciences.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Krista M; Light, Janice; Drager, Kathryn

2012-09-01

Aided augmentative and alternative (AAC) interventions have been demonstrated to facilitate a variety of communication outcomes in persons with intellectual disabilities. Most aided AAC systems rely on a visual modality. When the medium for communication is visual, it seems likely that the effectiveness of intervention depends in part on the effectiveness and efficiency with which the information presented in the display can be perceived, identified, and extracted by communicators and their partners. Understanding of visual-cognitive processing - that is, how a user attends, perceives, and makes sense of the visual information on the display - therefore seems critical to designing effective aided AAC interventions. In this Forum Note, we discuss characteristics of one particular type of aided AAC display, that is, Visual Scene Displays (VSDs) as they may relate to user visual and cognitive processing. We consider three specific ways in which bodies of knowledge drawn from the visual cognitive sciences may be relevant to the composition of VSDs, with the understanding the direct research with children with complex communication needs is necessary to verify or refute our speculations.

The design of PC/MISI, a PC-based common user interface to remote information storage and retrieval systems. Presentation visuals. M.S. Thesis Final Report, 1 Jul. 1985 - 31 Dec. 1987

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Hall, Philip P.

1985-01-01

This Working Paper Series entry represents a collection of presentation visuals associated with the companion report entitled, The Design of PC/MISI, a PC-Based Common User Interface to Remote Information Storage and Retrieval Systems, USL/DBMS NASA/RECON Working Paper Series report number DBMS.NASA/RECON-15. The paper discusses the following: problem definition; the PC solution; the goals of system design; the design description; future considerations, the research environment; conclusions.

Formulating qualitative features using interactive visualization for analysis of multivariate spatiotemporal data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porter, M.; Hill, M. C.; Pierce, S. A.; Gil, Y.; Pennington, D. D.

2017-12-01

DiscoverWater is a web-based visualization tool developed to enable the visual representation of data, and thus, aid scientific and societal understanding of hydrologic systems. Open data sources are coalesced to, for example, illustrate the impacts on streamflow of irrigation withdrawals. Scientists and stakeholders are informed through synchronized time-series data plots that correlate multiple spatiotemporal datasets and an interactive time-evolving map that provides a spatial analytical context. Together, these components elucidate trends so that the user can try to envision the relations between groundwater-surface water interactions, the impacts of pumping on these interactions, and the interplay of climate. Aligning data in this manner has the capacity for interdisciplinary knowledge discovery and motivates dialogue about system processes that we seek to enhance through qualitative features informed through quantitative models. DiscoverWater and its connection is demonstrated using two field cases. First, it is used to visualize data sets from the High Plains aquifer, where reservoir- and groundwater-supported irrigation has affected the Arkansas River in western Kansas. Second, data and model results from Barton Springs segment of the Edwards aquifer in Texas reveal the effects of regional pumping on this important urbanizing aquifer system. Identifying what is interesting about the data and the modeled system in the two different case studies is a step towards moving typically static visualization capabilities to an adaptive framework. Additionally, the dashboard interface incorporates both quantitative and qualitative information about distinctive case studies in a machine-readable form, such that a catalog of qualitative models can capture subject matter expertise alongside associated datasets. As the catalog is expanded to include other case studies, the collection has potential to establish a standard framework able to inform intelligent system reasoning.

A Visual Means of Organizing Career Information.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amundson, Norman E.

1987-01-01

Describes a visual means, the centric system, of organizing career information which allows clients to consider a number of external and internal factors and their relative importance. Takes into account psychological, social, and economic factors and is consistent with a view of work as one part of a total life style. (Author/ABB)

A New System To Support Knowledge Discovery: Telemakus.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Revere, Debra; Fuller, Sherrilynne S.; Bugni, Paul F.; Martin, George M.

2003-01-01

The Telemakus System builds on the areas of concept representation, schema theory, and information visualization to enhance knowledge discovery from scientific literature. This article describes the underlying theories and an overview of a working implementation designed to enhance the knowledge discovery process through retrieval, visual and…

A Dynamic Three-Dimensional Network Visualization Program for Integration into CyberCIEGE and Other Network Visualization Scenarios

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-01

information flow involved in network attacks. This kind of information can be invaluable in learning how to best setup and defend computer networks...administrators, and those interested in learning about securing networks a way to conceptualize this complex system of computing. NTAV3D will provide a three...teaching with visual and other components can make learning more effective” (Baxley et al, 2006). A hyperbox (Alpern and Carter, 1991) is

Brain processing of visual information during fast eye movements maintains motor performance.

PubMed

Panouillères, Muriel; Gaveau, Valérie; Socasau, Camille; Urquizar, Christian; Pélisson, Denis

2013-01-01

Movement accuracy depends crucially on the ability to detect errors while actions are being performed. When inaccuracies occur repeatedly, both an immediate motor correction and a progressive adaptation of the motor command can unfold. Of all the movements in the motor repertoire of humans, saccadic eye movements are the fastest. Due to the high speed of saccades, and to the impairment of visual perception during saccades, a phenomenon called "saccadic suppression", it is widely believed that the adaptive mechanisms maintaining saccadic performance depend critically on visual error signals acquired after saccade completion. Here, we demonstrate that, contrary to this widespread view, saccadic adaptation can be based entirely on visual information presented during saccades. Our results show that visual error signals introduced during saccade execution--by shifting a visual target at saccade onset and blanking it at saccade offset--induce the same level of adaptation as error signals, presented for the same duration, but after saccade completion. In addition, they reveal that this processing of intra-saccadic visual information for adaptation depends critically on visual information presented during the deceleration phase, but not the acceleration phase, of the saccade. These findings demonstrate that the human central nervous system can use short intra-saccadic glimpses of visual information for motor adaptation, and they call for a reappraisal of current models of saccadic adaptation.

Understanding the operational environment: implications for advanced visualizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aleva, Denise; Fitzhugh, Elisabeth; Dixon, Sharon

2009-05-01

With the changing character of warfare, information superiority is a high priority. Given the complexity of current and future operating environments, analysts, strategists and planners need a multidimensional understanding of the battlespace. Asymmetric warfare necessitates that our strategists look beyond targets-based operations, where we simply identify and destroy enemy entities. Effects-based operations models the enemy as a system which reacts to our actions. This requires the capability to predict the adversary response to a selected action. Actions may be diplomatic, information, military or economic (DIME). Effects may be political, military, economic, social, information or infrastructure (PMESII). Timing must be explicitly considered and effects dynamically assessed. Visualizations of intelligence information are needed which will promote full understanding of all aspects of adversary strengths and weaknesses by providing the extensive data about adversary forces, organic essentials, infrastructure, leadership, population, and science and technology in an easily accessible and understandable format. This will enhance Effectsbased operations, and therefore, the capability to predict and counter adversary courses of action. This paper outlines a systems engineering approach to designing visualizations which convey the multidimensional information to decision makers. Visualization issues inherent in understanding the multidimensional operational environment will be discussed.

MindSeer: a portable and extensible tool for visualization of structural and functional neuroimaging data

PubMed Central

Moore, Eider B; Poliakov, Andrew V; Lincoln, Peter; Brinkley, James F

2007-01-01

Background Three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of multimodality neuroimaging data provides a powerful technique for viewing the relationship between structure and function. A number of applications are available that include some aspect of 3-D visualization, including both free and commercial products. These applications range from highly specific programs for a single modality, to general purpose toolkits that include many image processing functions in addition to visualization. However, few if any of these combine both stand-alone and remote multi-modality visualization in an open source, portable and extensible tool that is easy to install and use, yet can be included as a component of a larger information system. Results We have developed a new open source multimodality 3-D visualization application, called MindSeer, that has these features: integrated and interactive 3-D volume and surface visualization, Java and Java3D for true cross-platform portability, one-click installation and startup, integrated data management to help organize large studies, extensibility through plugins, transparent remote visualization, and the ability to be integrated into larger information management systems. We describe the design and implementation of the system, as well as several case studies that demonstrate its utility. These case studies are available as tutorials or demos on the associated website: . Conclusion MindSeer provides a powerful visualization tool for multimodality neuroimaging data. Its architecture and unique features also allow it to be extended into other visualization domains within biomedicine. PMID:17937818

MindSeer: a portable and extensible tool for visualization of structural and functional neuroimaging data.

PubMed

Moore, Eider B; Poliakov, Andrew V; Lincoln, Peter; Brinkley, James F

2007-10-15

Three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of multimodality neuroimaging data provides a powerful technique for viewing the relationship between structure and function. A number of applications are available that include some aspect of 3-D visualization, including both free and commercial products. These applications range from highly specific programs for a single modality, to general purpose toolkits that include many image processing functions in addition to visualization. However, few if any of these combine both stand-alone and remote multi-modality visualization in an open source, portable and extensible tool that is easy to install and use, yet can be included as a component of a larger information system. We have developed a new open source multimodality 3-D visualization application, called MindSeer, that has these features: integrated and interactive 3-D volume and surface visualization, Java and Java3D for true cross-platform portability, one-click installation and startup, integrated data management to help organize large studies, extensibility through plugins, transparent remote visualization, and the ability to be integrated into larger information management systems. We describe the design and implementation of the system, as well as several case studies that demonstrate its utility. These case studies are available as tutorials or demos on the associated website: http://sig.biostr.washington.edu/projects/MindSeer. MindSeer provides a powerful visualization tool for multimodality neuroimaging data. Its architecture and unique features also allow it to be extended into other visualization domains within biomedicine.

Cooperative Monocular-Based SLAM for Multi-UAV Systems in GPS-Denied Environments †

PubMed Central

Guerra, Edmundo

2018-01-01

This work presents a cooperative monocular-based SLAM approach for multi-UAV systems that can operate in GPS-denied environments. The main contribution of the work is to show that, using visual information obtained from monocular cameras mounted onboard aerial vehicles flying in formation, the observability properties of the whole system are improved. This fact is especially notorious when compared with other related visual SLAM configurations. In order to improve the observability properties, some measurements of the relative distance between the UAVs are included in the system. These relative distances are also obtained from visual information. The proposed approach is theoretically validated by means of a nonlinear observability analysis. Furthermore, an extensive set of computer simulations is presented in order to validate the proposed approach. The numerical simulation results show that the proposed system is able to provide a good position and orientation estimation of the aerial vehicles flying in formation. PMID:29701722

Hadoop-based implementation of processing medical diagnostic records for visual patient system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yuanyuan; Shi, Liehang; Xie, Zhe; Zhang, Jianguo

2018-03-01

We have innovatively introduced Visual Patient (VP) concept and method visually to represent and index patient imaging diagnostic records (IDR) in last year SPIE Medical Imaging (SPIE MI 2017), which can enable a doctor to review a large amount of IDR of a patient in a limited appointed time slot. In this presentation, we presented a new approach to design data processing architecture of VP system (VPS) to acquire, process and store various kinds of IDR to build VP instance for each patient in hospital environment based on Hadoop distributed processing structure. We designed this system architecture called Medical Information Processing System (MIPS) with a combination of Hadoop batch processing architecture and Storm stream processing architecture. The MIPS implemented parallel processing of various kinds of clinical data with high efficiency, which come from disparate hospital information system such as PACS, RIS LIS and HIS.

Cooperative Monocular-Based SLAM for Multi-UAV Systems in GPS-Denied Environments.

PubMed

Trujillo, Juan-Carlos; Munguia, Rodrigo; Guerra, Edmundo; Grau, Antoni

2018-04-26

This work presents a cooperative monocular-based SLAM approach for multi-UAV systems that can operate in GPS-denied environments. The main contribution of the work is to show that, using visual information obtained from monocular cameras mounted onboard aerial vehicles flying in formation, the observability properties of the whole system are improved. This fact is especially notorious when compared with other related visual SLAM configurations. In order to improve the observability properties, some measurements of the relative distance between the UAVs are included in the system. These relative distances are also obtained from visual information. The proposed approach is theoretically validated by means of a nonlinear observability analysis. Furthermore, an extensive set of computer simulations is presented in order to validate the proposed approach. The numerical simulation results show that the proposed system is able to provide a good position and orientation estimation of the aerial vehicles flying in formation.

A web-based 3D geological information visualization system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Renbo; Jiang, Nan

2013-03-01

Construction of 3D geological visualization system has attracted much more concern in GIS, computer modeling, simulation and visualization fields. It not only can effectively help geological interpretation and analysis work, but also can it can help leveling up geosciences professional education. In this paper, an applet-based method was introduced for developing a web-based 3D geological information visualization system. The main aims of this paper are to explore a rapid and low-cost development method for constructing a web-based 3D geological system. First, the borehole data stored in Excel spreadsheets was extracted and then stored in SQLSERVER database of a web server. Second, the JDBC data access component was utilized for providing the capability of access the database. Third, the user interface was implemented with applet component embedded in JSP page and the 3D viewing and querying functions were implemented with PickCanvas of Java3D. Last, the borehole data acquired from geological survey were used for test the system, and the test results has shown that related methods of this paper have a certain application values.

Visualizing speciation in artificial cichlid fish.

PubMed

Clement, Ross

2006-01-01

The Cichlid Speciation Project (CSP) is an ALife simulation system for investigating open problems in the speciation of African cichlid fish. The CSP can be used to perform a wide range of experiments that show that speciation is a natural consequence of certain biological systems. A visualization system capable of extracting the history of speciation from low-level trace data and creating a phylogenetic tree has been implemented. Unlike previous approaches, this visualization system presents a concrete trace of speciation, rather than a summary of low-level information from which the viewer can make subjective decisions on how speciation progressed. The phylogenetic trees are a more objective visualization of speciation, and enable automated collection and summarization of the results of experiments. The visualization system is used to create a phylogenetic tree from an experiment that models sympatric speciation.

Nebhydro: Sharing Geospatial Data to Supportwater Management in Nebraska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamble, B.; Irmak, A.; Hubbard, K.; Deogun, J.; Dvorak, B.

2012-12-01

Recent advances in web-enabled geographical technologies have the potential to make a dramatic impact on development of highly interactive spatial applications on the web for visualization of large-scale geospatial data by water resources and irrigation scientists. Spatial and point scale water resources data visualization are an emerging and challenging application domain. Query based visual explorations of geospatial hydrological data can play an important role in stimulating scientific hypotheses and seeking causal relationships among hydro variables. The Nebraska Hydrological Information System (NebHydro) utilizes ESRI's ArcGIS server technology to increase technological awareness among farmers, irrigation managers and policy makers. Web-based geospatial applications are an effective way to expose scientific hydrological datasets to the research community and the public. NebHydro uses Adobe Flex technology to offer an online visualization and data analysis system for presentation of social and economic data. Internet mapping services is an integrated product of GIS and Internet technologies; it is a favored solution to achieve the interoperability of GIS. The development of Internet based GIS services in the state of Nebraska showcases the benefits of sharing geospatial hydrological data among agencies, resource managers and policy makers. Geospatial hydrological Information (Evapotranspiration from Remote Sensing, vegetation indices (NDVI), USGS Stream gauge data, Climatic data etc.) is generally generated through model simulation (METRIC, SWAP, Linux, Python based scripting etc). Information is compiled into and stored within object oriented relational spatial databases using a geodatabase information model that supports the key data types needed by applications including features, relationships, networks, imagery, terrains, maps and layers. The system provides online access, querying, visualization, and analysis of the hydrological data from several sources at one place. The study indicates that internet GIS, developed using advanced technologies, provides valuable education potential to users in hydrology and irrigation engineering and suggests that such a system can support advanced hydrological data access and analysis tools to improve utility of data in operations. Keywords: Hydrological Information System, NebHydro, Water Management, data sharing, data visualization, ArcGIS server.

Information Processing in the Cerebral Hemispheres: Selective Hemispheric Activation and Capacity Limitations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hellige, Joseph B.; And Others

1979-01-01

Five experiments are reported concerning the effect on visual information processing of concurrently maintaining verbal information. The results suggest that the left cerebral hemisphere functions as a typical limited-capacity information processing system that can be influenced somewhat separately from the right hemisphere system. (Author/CTM)

The cannabinoid system and visual processing: a review on experimental findings and clinical presumptions.

PubMed

Schwitzer, Thomas; Schwan, Raymund; Angioi-Duprez, Karine; Ingster-Moati, Isabelle; Lalanne, Laurence; Giersch, Anne; Laprevote, Vincent

2015-01-01

Cannabis is one of the most prevalent drugs used worldwide. Regular cannabis use is associated with impairments in highly integrative cognitive functions such as memory, attention and executive functions. To date, the cerebral mechanisms of these deficits are still poorly understood. Studying the processing of visual information may offer an innovative and relevant approach to evaluate the cerebral impact of exogenous cannabinoids on the human brain. Furthermore, this knowledge is required to understand the impact of cannabis intake in everyday life, and especially in car drivers. Here we review the role of the endocannabinoids in the functioning of the visual system and the potential involvement of cannabis use in visual dysfunctions. This review describes the presence of the endocannabinoids in the critical stages of visual information processing, and their role in the modulation of visual neurotransmission and visual synaptic plasticity, thereby enabling them to alter the transmission of the visual signal. We also review several induced visual changes, together with experimental dysfunctions reported in cannabis users. In the discussion, we consider these results in relation to the existing literature. We argue for more involvement of public health research in the study of visual function in cannabis users, especially because cannabis use is implicated in driving impairments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

Chromatic information and feature detection in fast visual analysis

DOE PAGES

Del Viva, Maria M.; Punzi, Giovanni; Shevell, Steven K.; ...

2016-08-01

The visual system is able to recognize a scene based on a sketch made of very simple features. This ability is likely crucial for survival, when fast image recognition is necessary, and it is believed that a primal sketch is extracted very early in the visual processing. Such highly simplified representations can be sufficient for accurate object discrimination, but an open question is the role played by color in this process. Rich color information is available in natural scenes, yet artist's sketches are usually monochromatic; and, black-andwhite movies provide compelling representations of real world scenes. Also, the contrast sensitivity ofmore » color is low at fine spatial scales. We approach the question from the perspective of optimal information processing by a system endowed with limited computational resources. We show that when such limitations are taken into account, the intrinsic statistical properties of natural scenes imply that the most effective strategy is to ignore fine-scale color features and devote most of the bandwidth to gray-scale information. We find confirmation of these information-based predictions from psychophysics measurements of fast-viewing discrimination of natural scenes. As a result, we conclude that the lack of colored features in our visual representation, and our overall low sensitivity to high-frequency color components, are a consequence of an adaptation process, optimizing the size and power consumption of our brain for the visual world we live in.« less

Chromatic information and feature detection in fast visual analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Del Viva, Maria M.; Punzi, Giovanni; Shevell, Steven K.

The visual system is able to recognize a scene based on a sketch made of very simple features. This ability is likely crucial for survival, when fast image recognition is necessary, and it is believed that a primal sketch is extracted very early in the visual processing. Such highly simplified representations can be sufficient for accurate object discrimination, but an open question is the role played by color in this process. Rich color information is available in natural scenes, yet artist's sketches are usually monochromatic; and, black-andwhite movies provide compelling representations of real world scenes. Also, the contrast sensitivity ofmore » color is low at fine spatial scales. We approach the question from the perspective of optimal information processing by a system endowed with limited computational resources. We show that when such limitations are taken into account, the intrinsic statistical properties of natural scenes imply that the most effective strategy is to ignore fine-scale color features and devote most of the bandwidth to gray-scale information. We find confirmation of these information-based predictions from psychophysics measurements of fast-viewing discrimination of natural scenes. As a result, we conclude that the lack of colored features in our visual representation, and our overall low sensitivity to high-frequency color components, are a consequence of an adaptation process, optimizing the size and power consumption of our brain for the visual world we live in.« less

A Trusted Platform for Transportation Data Sharing & Stakeholder Engagement

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-03-01

Information sharing to support critical transportation systems presents numerous challenges given the diversity of information sources and visual representations typically used to portray system performance and characteristics12. This research projec...

What is the optimal architecture for visual information routing?

PubMed

Wolfrum, Philipp; von der Malsburg, Christoph

2007-12-01

Analyzing the design of networks for visual information routing is an underconstrained problem due to insufficient anatomical and physiological data. We propose here optimality criteria for the design of routing networks. For a very general architecture, we derive the number of routing layers and the fanout that minimize the required neural circuitry. The optimal fanout l is independent of network size, while the number k of layers scales logarithmically (with a prefactor below 1), with the number n of visual resolution units to be routed independently. The results are found to agree with data of the primate visual system.

Using Auditory Cues to Perceptually Extract Visual Data in Collaborative, Immersive Big-Data Display Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Wendy

The advent of multisensory display systems, such as virtual and augmented reality, has fostered a new relationship between humans and space. Not only can these systems mimic real-world environments, they have the ability to create a new space typology made solely of data. In these spaces, two-dimensional information is displayed in three dimensions, requiring human senses to be used to understand virtual, attention-based elements. Studies in the field of big data have predominately focused on visual representations and extractions of information with little focus on sounds. The goal of this research is to evaluate the most efficient methods of perceptually extracting visual data using auditory stimuli in immersive environments. Using Rensselaer's CRAIVE-Lab, a virtual reality space with 360-degree panorama visuals and an array of 128 loudspeakers, participants were asked questions based on complex visual displays using a variety of auditory cues ranging from sine tones to camera shutter sounds. Analysis of the speed and accuracy of participant responses revealed that auditory cues that were more favorable for localization and were positively perceived were best for data extraction and could help create more user-friendly systems in the future.

[Artificial sight: recent developments].

PubMed

Zeitz, O; Keserü, M; Hornig, R; Richard, G

2009-03-01

The implantation of electronic retina stimulators appears to be a future possibility to restore vision, at least partially in patients with retinal degeneration. The idea of such visual prostheses is not new but due to the general technical progress it has become more likely that a functioning implant will be on the market soon. Visual prosthesis may be integrated in the visual system in various places. Thus there are subretinal and epiretinal implants, as well as implants that are connected directly to the optic nerve or the visual cortex. The epiretinal approach is the most promising at the moment, but the problem of appropriate modulation of the image information is unsolved so far. This will be necessary to provide a interpretable visual information to the brain. The present article summarises the concepts and includes some latest information from recent conferences.

Role of somatosensory and vestibular cues in attenuating visually induced human postural sway

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterka, R. J.; Benolken, M. S.

1995-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of visual, vestibular, and somatosensory cues to the maintenance of stance in humans. Postural sway was induced by full-field, sinusoidal visual surround rotations about an axis at the level of the ankle joints. The influences of vestibular and somatosensory cues were characterized by comparing postural sway in normal and bilateral vestibular absent subjects in conditions that provided either accurate or inaccurate somatosensory orientation information. In normal subjects, the amplitude of visually induced sway reached a saturation level as stimulus amplitude increased. The saturation amplitude decreased with increasing stimulus frequency. No saturation phenomena were observed in subjects with vestibular loss, implying that vestibular cues were responsible for the saturation phenomenon. For visually induced sways below the saturation level, the stimulus-response curves for both normal subjects and subjects experiencing vestibular loss were nearly identical, implying (1) that normal subjects were not using vestibular information to attenuate their visually induced sway, possibly because sway was below a vestibular-related threshold level, and (2) that subjects with vestibular loss did not utilize visual cues to a greater extent than normal subjects; that is, a fundamental change in visual system "gain" was not used to compensate for a vestibular deficit. An unexpected finding was that the amplitude of body sway induced by visual surround motion could be almost 3 times greater than the amplitude of the visual stimulus in normal subjects and subjects with vestibular loss. This occurred in conditions where somatosensory cues were inaccurate and at low stimulus amplitudes. A control system model of visually induced postural sway was developed to explain this finding. For both subject groups, the amplitude of visually induced sway was smaller by a factor of about 4 in tests where somatosensory cues provided accurate versus inaccurate orientation information. This implied (1) that the subjects experiencing vestibular loss did not utilize somatosensory cues to a greater extent than normal subjects; that is, changes in somatosensory system "gain" were not used to compensate for a vestibular deficit, and (2) that the threshold for the use of vestibular cues in normal subjects was apparently lower in test conditions where somatosensory cues were providing accurate orientation information.

The Location of Sources of Human Computer Processed Cerebral Potentials for the Automated Assessment of Visual Field Impairment

PubMed Central

Leisman, Gerald; Ashkenazi, Maureen

1979-01-01

Objective psychophysical techniques for investigating visual fields are described. The paper concerns methods for the collection and analysis of evoked potentials using a small laboratory computer and provides efficient methods for obtaining information about the conduction pathways of the visual system.

Designing a visualization system for hydrological data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuhrmann, Sven

2000-02-01

The field of hydrology is, as any other scientific field, strongly affected by a massive technological evolution. The spread of modern information and communication technology within the last three decades has led to an increased collection, availability and use of spatial and temporal digital hydrological data. In a two-year research period a working group in Muenster applied and developed methods for the visualization of digital hydrological data and the documentation of hydrological models. A low-cost multimedial, hydrological visualization system (HydroVIS) for the Weser river catchment was developed. The research group designed HydroVIS under freeware constraints and tried to show what kind of multimedia visualization techniques can be effectively used with a nonprofit hydrological visualization system. The system's visual components include features such as electronic maps, temporal and nontemporal cartographic animations, the display of geologic profiles, interactive diagrams and hypertext, including photographs and tables.

Guidance of visual attention by semantic information in real-world scenes

PubMed Central

Wu, Chia-Chien; Wick, Farahnaz Ahmed; Pomplun, Marc

2014-01-01

Recent research on attentional guidance in real-world scenes has focused on object recognition within the context of a scene. This approach has been valuable for determining some factors that drive the allocation of visual attention and determine visual selection. This article provides a review of experimental work on how different components of context, especially semantic information, affect attentional deployment. We review work from the areas of object recognition, scene perception, and visual search, highlighting recent studies examining semantic structure in real-world scenes. A better understanding on how humans parse scene representations will not only improve current models of visual attention but also advance next-generation computer vision systems and human-computer interfaces. PMID:24567724

A risk-based coverage model for video surveillance camera control optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hongzhou; Du, Zhiguo; Zhao, Xingtao; Li, Peiyue; Li, Dehua

2015-12-01

Visual surveillance system for law enforcement or police case investigation is different from traditional application, for it is designed to monitor pedestrians, vehicles or potential accidents. Visual surveillance risk is defined as uncertainty of visual information of targets and events monitored in present work and risk entropy is introduced to modeling the requirement of police surveillance task on quality and quantity of vide information. the prosed coverage model is applied to calculate the preset FoV position of PTZ camera.

Driver Distraction Using Visual-Based Sensors and Algorithms.

PubMed

Fernández, Alberto; Usamentiaga, Rubén; Carús, Juan Luis; Casado, Rubén

2016-10-28

Driver distraction, defined as the diversion of attention away from activities critical for safe driving toward a competing activity, is increasingly recognized as a significant source of injuries and fatalities on the roadway. Additionally, the trend towards increasing the use of in-vehicle information systems is critical because they induce visual, biomechanical and cognitive distraction and may affect driving performance in qualitatively different ways. Non-intrusive methods are strongly preferred for monitoring distraction, and vision-based systems have appeared to be attractive for both drivers and researchers. Biomechanical, visual and cognitive distractions are the most commonly detected types in video-based algorithms. Many distraction detection systems only use a single visual cue and therefore, they may be easily disturbed when occlusion or illumination changes appear. Moreover, the combination of these visual cues is a key and challenging aspect in the development of robust distraction detection systems. These visual cues can be extracted mainly by using face monitoring systems but they should be completed with more visual cues (e.g., hands or body information) or even, distraction detection from specific actions (e.g., phone usage). Additionally, these algorithms should be included in an embedded device or system inside a car. This is not a trivial task and several requirements must be taken into account: reliability, real-time performance, low cost, small size, low power consumption, flexibility and short time-to-market. The key points for the development and implementation of sensors to carry out the detection of distraction will also be reviewed. This paper shows a review of the role of computer vision technology applied to the development of monitoring systems to detect distraction. Some key points considered as both future work and challenges ahead yet to be solved will also be addressed.

Driver Distraction Using Visual-Based Sensors and Algorithms

PubMed Central

Fernández, Alberto; Usamentiaga, Rubén; Carús, Juan Luis; Casado, Rubén

2016-01-01

Driver distraction, defined as the diversion of attention away from activities critical for safe driving toward a competing activity, is increasingly recognized as a significant source of injuries and fatalities on the roadway. Additionally, the trend towards increasing the use of in-vehicle information systems is critical because they induce visual, biomechanical and cognitive distraction and may affect driving performance in qualitatively different ways. Non-intrusive methods are strongly preferred for monitoring distraction, and vision-based systems have appeared to be attractive for both drivers and researchers. Biomechanical, visual and cognitive distractions are the most commonly detected types in video-based algorithms. Many distraction detection systems only use a single visual cue and therefore, they may be easily disturbed when occlusion or illumination changes appear. Moreover, the combination of these visual cues is a key and challenging aspect in the development of robust distraction detection systems. These visual cues can be extracted mainly by using face monitoring systems but they should be completed with more visual cues (e.g., hands or body information) or even, distraction detection from specific actions (e.g., phone usage). Additionally, these algorithms should be included in an embedded device or system inside a car. This is not a trivial task and several requirements must be taken into account: reliability, real-time performance, low cost, small size, low power consumption, flexibility and short time-to-market. The key points for the development and implementation of sensors to carry out the detection of distraction will also be reviewed. This paper shows a review of the role of computer vision technology applied to the development of monitoring systems to detect distraction. Some key points considered as both future work and challenges ahead yet to be solved will also be addressed. PMID:27801822

A Free Program for Using and Teaching an Accessible Electronic Wayfinding Device

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberg, Maya Delgado; Kuns, Jerry

2012-01-01

Accessible Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are changing the way many people with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) travel. GPS provides real-time orientation information so that a traveler with a visual impairment can make informed decisions about path of travel and destination. Orientation and mobility (O&M)…

Management of Information Technology Access Controls

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

Management Information Systems , (New York: American Elsevier Publishing Company, 1968), 8. 2. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged... Management Information Systems (New York: American Elsevier Publishing company, 1968), 37. 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid. 7. Gerald M. Ward and Jonathan D. Harris, "Data...Controls: A Visual Approach Through Integrated Management Information Systems . New York: American Elsevier Publishing Company, 1968. Brancheau, James C

A Hybrid Synthetic Vision System for the Tele-operation of Unmanned Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delgado, Frank; Abernathy, Mike

2004-01-01

A system called SmartCam3D (SC3D) has been developed to provide enhanced situational awareness for operators of a remotely piloted vehicle. SC3D is a Hybrid Synthetic Vision System (HSVS) that combines live sensor data with information from a Synthetic Vision System (SVS). By combining the dual information sources, the operators are afforded the advantages of each approach. The live sensor system provides real-time information for the region of interest. The SVS provides information rich visuals that will function under all weather and visibility conditions. Additionally, the combination of technologies allows the system to circumvent some of the limitations from each approach. Video sensor systems are not very useful when visibility conditions are hampered by rain, snow, sand, fog, and smoke, while a SVS can suffer from data freshness problems. Typically, an aircraft or satellite flying overhead collects the data used to create the SVS visuals. The SVS data could have been collected weeks, months, or even years ago. To that extent, the information from an SVS visual could be outdated and possibly inaccurate. SC3D was used in the remote cockpit during flight tests of the X-38 132 and 131R vehicles at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. SC3D was also used during the operation of military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. This presentation will provide an overview of the system, the evolution of the system, the results of flight tests, and future plans. Furthermore, the safety benefits of the SC3D over traditional and pure synthetic vision systems will be discussed.

Understanding visualization: a formal approach using category theory and semiotics.

PubMed

Vickers, Paul; Faith, Joe; Rossiter, Nick

2013-06-01

This paper combines the vocabulary of semiotics and category theory to provide a formal analysis of visualization. It shows how familiar processes of visualization fit the semiotic frameworks of both Saussure and Peirce, and extends these structures using the tools of category theory to provide a general framework for understanding visualization in practice, including: Relationships between systems, data collected from those systems, renderings of those data in the form of representations, the reading of those representations to create visualizations, and the use of those visualizations to create knowledge and understanding of the system under inspection. The resulting framework is validated by demonstrating how familiar information visualization concepts (such as literalness, sensitivity, redundancy, ambiguity, generalizability, and chart junk) arise naturally from it and can be defined formally and precisely. This paper generalizes previous work on the formal characterization of visualization by, inter alia, Ziemkiewicz and Kosara and allows us to formally distinguish properties of the visualization process that previous work does not.

The architecture of visual narrative comprehension: the interaction of narrative structure and page layout in understanding comics

PubMed Central

Cohn, Neil

2014-01-01

How do people make sense of the sequential images in visual narratives like comics? A growing literature of recent research has suggested that this comprehension involves the interaction of multiple systems: The creation of meaning across sequential images relies on a “narrative grammar” that packages conceptual information into categorical roles organized in hierarchic constituents. These images are encapsulated into panels arranged in the layout of a physical page. Finally, how panels frame information can impact both the narrative structure and page layout. Altogether, these systems operate in parallel to construct the Gestalt whole of comprehension of this visual language found in comics. PMID:25071651

Human factors evaluation of the effectiveness of multi-modality displays in advanced traveler information systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-12-01

To achieve the goals for Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS), significant information will necessarily be provided to the driver. A primary ATIS design issue is the display modality (i.e., visual, auditory, or the combination) selected for p...

Visual Reliance for Balance Control in Older Adults Persists When Visual Information Is Disrupted by Artificial Feedback Delays

PubMed Central

Balasubramaniam, Ramesh

2014-01-01

Sensory information from our eyes, skin and muscles helps guide and correct balance. Less appreciated, however, is that delays in the transmission of sensory information between our eyes, limbs and central nervous system can exceed several 10s of milliseconds. Investigating how these time-delayed sensory signals influence balance control is central to understanding the postural system. Here, we investigate how delayed visual feedback and cognitive performance influence postural control in healthy young and older adults. The task required that participants position their center of pressure (COP) in a fixed target as accurately as possible without visual feedback about their COP location (eyes-open balance), or with artificial time delays imposed on visual COP feedback. On selected trials, the participants also performed a silent arithmetic task (cognitive dual task). We separated COP time series into distinct frequency components using low and high-pass filtering routines. Visual feedback delays affected low frequency postural corrections in young and older adults, with larger increases in postural sway noted for the group of older adults. In comparison, cognitive performance reduced the variability of rapid center of pressure displacements in young adults, but did not alter postural sway in the group of older adults. Our results demonstrate that older adults prioritize vision to control posture. This visual reliance persists even when feedback about the task is delayed by several hundreds of milliseconds. PMID:24614576

Relating Standardized Visual Perception Measures to Simulator Visual System Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaiser, Mary K.; Sweet, Barbara T.

2013-01-01

Human vision is quantified through the use of standardized clinical vision measurements. These measurements typically include visual acuity (near and far), contrast sensitivity, color vision, stereopsis (a.k.a. stereo acuity), and visual field periphery. Simulator visual system performance is specified in terms such as brightness, contrast, color depth, color gamut, gamma, resolution, and field-of-view. How do these simulator performance characteristics relate to the perceptual experience of the pilot in the simulator? In this paper, visual acuity and contrast sensitivity will be related to simulator visual system resolution, contrast, and dynamic range; similarly, color vision will be related to color depth/color gamut. Finally, we will consider how some characteristics of human vision not typically included in current clinical assessments could be used to better inform simulator requirements (e.g., relating dynamic characteristics of human vision to update rate and other temporal display characteristics).

Organization of the Drosophila larval visual circuit

PubMed Central

Gendre, Nanae; Neagu-Maier, G Larisa; Fetter, Richard D; Schneider-Mizell, Casey M; Truman, James W; Zlatic, Marta; Cardona, Albert

2017-01-01

Visual systems transduce, process and transmit light-dependent environmental cues. Computation of visual features depends on photoreceptor neuron types (PR) present, organization of the eye and wiring of the underlying neural circuit. Here, we describe the circuit architecture of the visual system of Drosophila larvae by mapping the synaptic wiring diagram and neurotransmitters. By contacting different targets, the two larval PR-subtypes create two converging pathways potentially underlying the computation of ambient light intensity and temporal light changes already within this first visual processing center. Locally processed visual information then signals via dedicated projection interneurons to higher brain areas including the lateral horn and mushroom body. The stratified structure of the larval optic neuropil (LON) suggests common organizational principles with the adult fly and vertebrate visual systems. The complete synaptic wiring diagram of the LON paves the way to understanding how circuits with reduced numerical complexity control wide ranges of behaviors.

Comparing capacity coefficient and dual task assessment of visual multitasking workload

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blaha, Leslie M.

Capacity coefficient analysis could offer a theoretically grounded alternative approach to subjective measures and dual task assessment of cognitive workload. Workload capacity or workload efficiency is a human information processing modeling construct defined as the amount of information that can be processed by the visual cognitive system given a specified of amount of time. In this paper, I explore the relationship between capacity coefficient analysis of workload efficiency and dual task response time measures. To capture multitasking performance, I examine how the relatively simple assumptions underlying the capacity construct generalize beyond the single visual decision making tasks. The fundamental toolsmore » for measuring workload efficiency are the integrated hazard and reverse hazard functions of response times, which are defined by log transforms of the response time distribution. These functions are used in the capacity coefficient analysis to provide a functional assessment of the amount of work completed by the cognitive system over the entire range of response times. For the study of visual multitasking, capacity coefficient analysis enables a comparison of visual information throughput as the number of tasks increases from one to two to any number of simultaneous tasks. I illustrate the use of capacity coefficients for visual multitasking on sample data from dynamic multitasking in the modified Multi-attribute Task Battery.« less

Unconscious analyses of visual scenes based on feature conjunctions.

PubMed

Tachibana, Ryosuke; Noguchi, Yasuki

2015-06-01

To efficiently process a cluttered scene, the visual system analyzes statistical properties or regularities of visual elements embedded in the scene. It is controversial, however, whether those scene analyses could also work for stimuli unconsciously perceived. Here we show that our brain performs the unconscious scene analyses not only using a single featural cue (e.g., orientation) but also based on conjunctions of multiple visual features (e.g., combinations of color and orientation information). Subjects foveally viewed a stimulus array (duration: 50 ms) where 4 types of bars (red-horizontal, red-vertical, green-horizontal, and green-vertical) were intermixed. Although a conscious perception of those bars was inhibited by a subsequent mask stimulus, the brain correctly analyzed the information about color, orientation, and color-orientation conjunctions of those invisible bars. The information of those features was then used for the unconscious configuration analysis (statistical processing) of the central bars, which induced a perceptual bias and illusory feature binding in visible stimuli at peripheral locations. While statistical analyses and feature binding are normally 2 key functions of the visual system to construct coherent percepts of visual scenes, our results show that a high-level analysis combining those 2 functions is correctly performed by unconscious computations in the brain. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Improving visual spatial working memory in younger and older adults: effects of cross-modal cues.

PubMed

Curtis, Ashley F; Turner, Gary R; Park, Norman W; Murtha, Susan J E

2017-11-06

Spatially informative auditory and vibrotactile (cross-modal) cues can facilitate attention but little is known about how similar cues influence visual spatial working memory (WM) across the adult lifespan. We investigated the effects of cues (spatially informative or alerting pre-cues vs. no cues), cue modality (auditory vs. vibrotactile vs. visual), memory array size (four vs. six items), and maintenance delay (900 vs. 1800 ms) on visual spatial location WM recognition accuracy in younger adults (YA) and older adults (OA). We observed a significant interaction between spatially informative pre-cue type, array size, and delay. OA and YA benefitted equally from spatially informative pre-cues, suggesting that attentional orienting prior to WM encoding, regardless of cue modality, is preserved with age.  Contrary to predictions, alerting pre-cues generally impaired performance in both age groups, suggesting that maintaining a vigilant state of arousal by facilitating the alerting attention system does not help visual spatial location WM.

The attentive brain: insights from developmental cognitive neuroscience.

PubMed

Amso, Dima; Scerif, Gaia

2015-10-01

Visual attention functions as a filter to select environmental information for learning and memory, making it the first step in the eventual cascade of thought and action systems. Here, we review studies of typical and atypical visual attention development and explain how they offer insights into the mechanisms of adult visual attention. We detail interactions between visual processing and visual attention, as well as the contribution of visual attention to memory. Finally, we discuss genetic mechanisms underlying attention disorders and how attention may be modified by training.

Value-driven attentional capture in the auditory domain.

PubMed

Anderson, Brian A

2016-01-01

It is now well established that the visual attention system is shaped by reward learning. When visual features are associated with a reward outcome, they acquire high priority and can automatically capture visual attention. To date, evidence for value-driven attentional capture has been limited entirely to the visual system. In the present study, I demonstrate that previously reward-associated sounds also capture attention, interfering more strongly with the performance of a visual task. This finding suggests that value-driven attention reflects a broad principle of information processing that can be extended to other sensory modalities and that value-driven attention can bias cross-modal stimulus competition.

The impact of front-of-pack marketing attributes versus nutrition and health information on parents' food choices.

PubMed

Georgina Russell, Catherine; Burke, Paul F; Waller, David S; Wei, Edward

2017-09-01

Front-of-pack attributes have the potential to affect parents' food choices on behalf of their children and form one avenue through which strategies to address the obesogenic environment can be developed. Previous work has focused on the isolated effects of nutrition and health information (e.g. labeling systems, health claims), and how parents trade off this information against co-occurring marketing features (e.g. product imagery, cartoons) is unclear. A Discrete Choice Experiment was utilized to understand how front-of-pack nutrition, health and marketing attributes, as well as pricing, influenced parents' choices of cereal for their child. Packages varied with respect to the two elements of the Australian Health Star Rating system (stars and nutrient facts panel), along with written claims, product visuals, additional visuals, and price. A total of 520 parents (53% male) with a child aged between five and eleven years were recruited via an online panel company and completed the survey. Product visuals, followed by star ratings, were found to be the most significant attributes in driving choice, while written claims and other visuals were the least significant. Use of the Health Star Rating (HSR) system and other features were related to the child's fussiness level and parents' concerns about their child's weight with parents of fussy children, in particular, being less influenced by the HSR star information and price. The findings suggest that front-of-pack health labeling systems can affect choice when parents trade this information off against marketing attributes, yet some marketing attributes can be more influential, and not all parents utilize this information in the same way. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

An indoor navigation system for the visually impaired.

PubMed

Guerrero, Luis A; Vasquez, Francisco; Ochoa, Sergio F

2012-01-01

Navigation in indoor environments is highly challenging for the severely visually impaired, particularly in spaces visited for the first time. Several solutions have been proposed to deal with this challenge. Although some of them have shown to be useful in real scenarios, they involve an important deployment effort or use artifacts that are not natural for blind users. This paper presents an indoor navigation system that was designed taking into consideration usability as the quality requirement to be maximized. This solution enables one to identify the position of a person and calculates the velocity and direction of his movements. Using this information, the system determines the user's trajectory, locates possible obstacles in that route, and offers navigation information to the user. The solution has been evaluated using two experimental scenarios. Although the results are still not enough to provide strong conclusions, they indicate that the system is suitable to guide visually impaired people through an unknown built environment.

Visual analytics as a translational cognitive science.

PubMed

Fisher, Brian; Green, Tera Marie; Arias-Hernández, Richard

2011-07-01

Visual analytics is a new interdisciplinary field of study that calls for a more structured scientific approach to understanding the effects of interaction with complex graphical displays on human cognitive processes. Its primary goal is to support the design and evaluation of graphical information systems that better support cognitive processes in areas as diverse as scientific research and emergency management. The methodologies that make up this new field are as yet ill defined. This paper proposes a pathway for development of visual analytics as a translational cognitive science that bridges fundamental research in human/computer cognitive systems and design and evaluation of information systems in situ. Achieving this goal will require the development of enhanced field methods for conceptual decomposition of human/computer cognitive systems that maps onto laboratory studies, and improved methods for conducting laboratory investigations that might better map onto real-world cognitive processes in technology-rich environments. Copyright © 2011 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Visualizing Opportunities: GIS Skills for Retail Marketing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Peter Y.; Rathswohl, Eugene

2011-01-01

Business students need to develop skills in the intelligent use of information, especially spatial information, for decision-making. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a viable tool for that purpose. Yet the few GIS courses in the Information Systems curriculum offered in various business schools tend to focus on different concepts and skills.…

A new method for text detection and recognition in indoor scene for assisting blind people

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jabnoun, Hanen; Benzarti, Faouzi; Amiri, Hamid

2017-03-01

Developing assisting system of handicapped persons become a challenging ask in research projects. Recently, a variety of tools are designed to help visually impaired or blind people object as a visual substitution system. The majority of these tools are based on the conversion of input information into auditory or tactile sensory information. Furthermore, object recognition and text retrieval are exploited in the visual substitution systems. Text detection and recognition provides the description of the surrounding environments, so that the blind person can readily recognize the scene. In this work, we aim to introduce a method for detecting and recognizing text in indoor scene. The process consists on the detection of the regions of interest that should contain the text using the connected component. Then, the text detection is provided by employing the images correlation. This component of an assistive blind person should be simple, so that the users are able to obtain the most informative feedback within the shortest time.

FROMS3D: New Software for 3-D Visualization of Fracture Network System in Fractured Rock Masses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noh, Y. H.; Um, J. G.; Choi, Y.

2014-12-01

A new software (FROMS3D) is presented to visualize fracture network system in 3-D. The software consists of several modules that play roles in management of borehole and field fracture data, fracture network modelling, visualization of fracture geometry in 3-D and calculation and visualization of intersections and equivalent pipes between fractures. Intel Parallel Studio XE 2013, Visual Studio.NET 2010 and the open source VTK library were utilized as development tools to efficiently implement the modules and the graphical user interface of the software. The results have suggested that the developed software is effective in visualizing 3-D fracture network system, and can provide useful information to tackle the engineering geological problems related to strength, deformability and hydraulic behaviors of the fractured rock masses.

Considerations for the Composition of Visual Scene Displays: Potential Contributions of Information from Visual and Cognitive Sciences (Forum Note)

PubMed Central

Wilkinson, Krista M.; Light, Janice; Drager, Kathryn

2013-01-01

Aided augmentative and alternative (AAC) interventions have been demonstrated to facilitate a variety of communication outcomes in persons with intellectual disabilities. Most aided AAC systems rely on a visual modality. When the medium for communication is visual, it seems likely that the effectiveness of intervention depends in part on the effectiveness and efficiency with which the information presented in the display can be perceived, identified, and extracted by communicators and their partners. Understanding of visual-cognitive processing – that is, how a user attends, perceives, and makes sense of the visual information on the display – therefore seems critical to designing effective aided AAC interventions. In this Forum Note, we discuss characteristics of one particular type of aided AAC display, that is, Visual Scene Displays (VSDs) as they may relate to user visual and cognitive processing. We consider three specific ways in which bodies of knowledge drawn from the visual cognitive sciences may be relevant to the composition of VSDs, with the understanding the direct research with children with complex communication needs is necessary to verify or refute our speculations. PMID:22946989

Eyes Matched to the Prize: The State of Matched Filters in Insect Visual Circuits.

PubMed

Kohn, Jessica R; Heath, Sarah L; Behnia, Rudy

2018-01-01

Confronted with an ever-changing visual landscape, animals must be able to detect relevant stimuli and translate this information into behavioral output. A visual scene contains an abundance of information: to interpret the entirety of it would be uneconomical. To optimally perform this task, neural mechanisms exist to enhance the detection of important features of the sensory environment while simultaneously filtering out irrelevant information. This can be accomplished by using a circuit design that implements specific "matched filters" that are tuned to relevant stimuli. Following this rule, the well-characterized visual systems of insects have evolved to streamline feature extraction on both a structural and functional level. Here, we review examples of specialized visual microcircuits for vital behaviors across insect species, including feature detection, escape, and estimation of self-motion. Additionally, we discuss how these microcircuits are modulated to weigh relevant input with respect to different internal and behavioral states.

An amodal shared resource model of language-mediated visual attention

PubMed Central

Smith, Alastair C.; Monaghan, Padraic; Huettig, Falk

2013-01-01

Language-mediated visual attention describes the interaction of two fundamental components of the human cognitive system, language and vision. Within this paper we present an amodal shared resource model of language-mediated visual attention that offers a description of the information and processes involved in this complex multimodal behavior and a potential explanation for how this ability is acquired. We demonstrate that the model is not only sufficient to account for the experimental effects of Visual World Paradigm studies but also that these effects are emergent properties of the architecture of the model itself, rather than requiring separate information processing channels or modular processing systems. The model provides an explicit description of the connection between the modality-specific input from language and vision and the distribution of eye gaze in language-mediated visual attention. The paper concludes by discussing future applications for the model, specifically its potential for investigating the factors driving observed individual differences in language-mediated eye gaze. PMID:23966967

Interactive Visualization of Large-Scale Hydrological Data using Emerging Technologies in Web Systems and Parallel Programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.

2013-12-01

As geoscientists are confronted with increasingly massive datasets from environmental observations to simulations, one of the biggest challenges is having the right tools to gain scientific insight from the data and communicate the understanding to stakeholders. Recent developments in web technologies make it easy to manage, visualize and share large data sets with general public. Novel visualization techniques and dynamic user interfaces allow users to interact with data, and modify the parameters to create custom views of the data to gain insight from simulations and environmental observations. This requires developing new data models and intelligent knowledge discovery techniques to explore and extract information from complex computational simulations or large data repositories. Scientific visualization will be an increasingly important component to build comprehensive environmental information platforms. This presentation provides an overview of the trends and challenges in the field of scientific visualization, and demonstrates information visualization and communication tools developed within the light of these challenges.

Visual perception and imagery: a new molecular hypothesis.

PubMed

Bókkon, I

2009-05-01

Here, we put forward a redox molecular hypothesis about the natural biophysical substrate of visual perception and visual imagery. This hypothesis is based on the redox and bioluminescent processes of neuronal cells in retinotopically organized cytochrome oxidase-rich visual areas. Our hypothesis is in line with the functional roles of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in living cells that are not part of haphazard process, but rather a very strict mechanism used in signaling pathways. We point out that there is a direct relationship between neuronal activity and the biophoton emission process in the brain. Electrical and biochemical processes in the brain represent sensory information from the external world. During encoding or retrieval of information, electrical signals of neurons can be converted into synchronized biophoton signals by bioluminescent radical and non-radical processes. Therefore, information in the brain appears not only as an electrical (chemical) signal but also as a regulated biophoton (weak optical) signal inside neurons. During visual perception, the topological distribution of photon stimuli on the retina is represented by electrical neuronal activity in retinotopically organized visual areas. These retinotopic electrical signals in visual neurons can be converted into synchronized biophoton signals by radical and non-radical processes in retinotopically organized mitochondria-rich areas. As a result, regulated bioluminescent biophotons can create intrinsic pictures (depictive representation) in retinotopically organized cytochrome oxidase-rich visual areas during visual imagery and visual perception. The long-term visual memory is interpreted as epigenetic information regulated by free radicals and redox processes. This hypothesis does not claim to solve the secret of consciousness, but proposes that the evolution of higher levels of complexity made the intrinsic picture representation of the external visual world possible by regulated redox and bioluminescent reactions in the visual system during visual perception and visual imagery.

Image Information Mining Utilizing Hierarchical Segmentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, James C.; Marchisio, Giovanni; Koperski, Krzysztof; Datcu, Mihai

2002-01-01

The Hierarchical Segmentation (HSEG) algorithm is an approach for producing high quality, hierarchically related image segmentations. The VisiMine image information mining system utilizes clustering and segmentation algorithms for reducing visual information in multispectral images to a manageable size. The project discussed herein seeks to enhance the VisiMine system through incorporating hierarchical segmentations from HSEG into the VisiMine system.

AWE: Aviation Weather Data Visualization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spirkovska, Lilly; Lodha, Suresh K.

2001-01-01

The two official sources for aviation weather reports both require the pilot to mentally visualize the provided information. In contrast, our system, Aviation Weather Environment (AWE) presents aviation specific weather available to pilots in an easy to visualize form. We start with a computer-generated textual briefing for a specific area. We map this briefing onto a grid specific to the pilot's route that includes only information relevant to his flight route that includes only information relevant to his flight as defined by route, altitude, true airspeed, and proposed departure time. By modifying various parameters, the pilot can use AWE as a planning tool as well as a weather briefing tool.

Interactive visual comparison of multimedia data through type-specific views

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burtner, Edwin R.; Bohn, Shawn J.; Payne, Deborah A.

2013-02-05

Analysts who work with collections of multimedia to perform information foraging understand how difficult it is to connect information across diverse sets of mixed media. The wealth of information from blogs, social media, and news sites often can provide actionable intelligence; however, many of the tools used on these sources of content are not capable of multimedia analysis because they only analyze a single media type. As such, analysts are taxed to keep a mental model of the relationships among each of the media types when generating the broader content picture. To address this need, we have developed Canopy, amore » novel visual analytic tool for analyzing multimedia. Canopy provides insight into the multimedia data relationships by exploiting the linkages found in text, images, and video co-occurring in the same document and across the collection. Canopy connects derived and explicit linkages and relationships through multiple connected visualizations to aid analysts in quickly summarizing, searching, and browsing collected information to explore relationships and align content. In this paper, we will discuss the features and capabilities of the Canopy system and walk through a scenario illustrating how this system might be used in an operational environment. Keywords: Multimedia (Image/Video/Music) Visualization.« less

Asynchronous Visualization of Spatiotemporal Information for Multiple Moving Targets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Huadong

2013-01-01

In the modern information age, the quantity and complexity of spatiotemporal data is increasing both rapidly and continuously. Sensor systems with multiple feeds that gather multidimensional spatiotemporal data will result in information clusters and overload, as well as a high cognitive load for users of these systems. To meet future…

A standard-enabled workflow for synthetic biology.

PubMed

Myers, Chris J; Beal, Jacob; Gorochowski, Thomas E; Kuwahara, Hiroyuki; Madsen, Curtis; McLaughlin, James Alastair; Mısırlı, Göksel; Nguyen, Tramy; Oberortner, Ernst; Samineni, Meher; Wipat, Anil; Zhang, Michael; Zundel, Zach

2017-06-15

A synthetic biology workflow is composed of data repositories that provide information about genetic parts, sequence-level design tools to compose these parts into circuits, visualization tools to depict these designs, genetic design tools to select parts to create systems, and modeling and simulation tools to evaluate alternative design choices. Data standards enable the ready exchange of information within such a workflow, allowing repositories and tools to be connected from a diversity of sources. The present paper describes one such workflow that utilizes, among others, the Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) to describe genetic designs, the Systems Biology Markup Language to model these designs, and SBOL Visual to visualize these designs. We describe how a standard-enabled workflow can be used to produce types of design information, including multiple repositories and software tools exchanging information using a variety of data standards. Recently, the ACS Synthetic Biology journal has recommended the use of SBOL in their publications. © 2017 The Author(s); published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

Mapping female bodily features of attractiveness

PubMed Central

Bovet, Jeanne; Lao, Junpeng; Bartholomée, Océane; Caldara, Roberto; Raymond, Michel

2016-01-01

“Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye” (Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost), but the bodily features governing this critical biological choice are still debated. Eye movement studies have demonstrated that males sample coarse body regions expanding from the face, the breasts and the midriff, while making female attractiveness judgements with natural vision. However, the visual system ubiquitously extracts diagnostic extra-foveal information in natural conditions, thus the visual information actually used by men is still unknown. We thus used a parametric gaze-contingent design while males rated attractiveness of female front- and back-view bodies. Males used extra-foveal information when available. Critically, when bodily features were only visible through restricted apertures, fixations strongly shifted to the hips, to potentially extract hip-width and curvature, then the breast and face. Our hierarchical mapping suggests that the visual system primary uses hip information to compute the waist-to-hip ratio and the body mass index, the crucial factors in determining sexual attractiveness and mate selection. PMID:26791105

Telerobotic Haptic Exploration in Art Galleries and Museums for Individuals with Visual Impairments.

PubMed

Park, Chung Hyuk; Ryu, Eun-Seok; Howard, Ayanna M

2015-01-01

This paper presents a haptic telepresence system that enables visually impaired users to explore locations with rich visual observation such as art galleries and museums by using a telepresence robot, a RGB-D sensor (color and depth camera), and a haptic interface. The recent improvement on RGB-D sensors has enabled real-time access to 3D spatial information in the form of point clouds. However, the real-time representation of this data in the form of tangible haptic experience has not been challenged enough, especially in the case of telepresence for individuals with visual impairments. Thus, the proposed system addresses the real-time haptic exploration of remote 3D information through video encoding and real-time 3D haptic rendering of the remote real-world environment. This paper investigates two scenarios in haptic telepresence, i.e., mobile navigation and object exploration in a remote environment. Participants with and without visual impairments participated in our experiments based on the two scenarios, and the system performance was validated. In conclusion, the proposed framework provides a new methodology of haptic telepresence for individuals with visual impairments by providing an enhanced interactive experience where they can remotely access public places (art galleries and museums) with the aid of haptic modality and robotic telepresence.

Development of High-speed Visualization System of Hypocenter Data Using CUDA-based GPU computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumagai, T.; Okubo, K.; Uchida, N.; Matsuzawa, T.; Kawada, N.; Takeuchi, N.

2014-12-01

After the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, intelligent visualization of seismic information is becoming important to understand the earthquake phenomena. On the other hand, to date, the quantity of seismic data becomes enormous as a progress of high accuracy observation network; we need to treat many parameters (e.g., positional information, origin time, magnitude, etc.) to efficiently display the seismic information. Therefore, high-speed processing of data and image information is necessary to handle enormous amounts of seismic data. Recently, GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) is used as an acceleration tool for data processing and calculation in various study fields. This movement is called GPGPU (General Purpose computing on GPUs). In the last few years the performance of GPU keeps on improving rapidly. GPU computing gives us the high-performance computing environment at a lower cost than before. Moreover, use of GPU has an advantage of visualization of processed data, because GPU is originally architecture for graphics processing. In the GPU computing, the processed data is always stored in the video memory. Therefore, we can directly write drawing information to the VRAM on the video card by combining CUDA and the graphics API. In this study, we employ CUDA and OpenGL and/or DirectX to realize full-GPU implementation. This method makes it possible to write drawing information to the VRAM on the video card without PCIe bus data transfer: It enables the high-speed processing of seismic data. The present study examines the GPU computing-based high-speed visualization and the feasibility for high-speed visualization system of hypocenter data.

The representation of visual depth perception based on the plenoptic function in the retina and its neural computation in visual cortex V1.

PubMed

Songnian, Zhao; Qi, Zou; Chang, Liu; Xuemin, Liu; Shousi, Sun; Jun, Qiu

2014-04-23

How it is possible to "faithfully" represent a three-dimensional stereoscopic scene using Cartesian coordinates on a plane, and how three-dimensional perceptions differ between an actual scene and an image of the same scene are questions that have not yet been explored in depth. They seem like commonplace phenomena, but in fact, they are important and difficult issues for visual information processing, neural computation, physics, psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. The results of this study show that the use of plenoptic (or all-optical) functions and their dual plane parameterizations can not only explain the nature of information processing from the retina to the primary visual cortex and, in particular, the characteristics of the visual pathway's optical system and its affine transformation, but they can also clarify the reason why the vanishing point and line exist in a visual image. In addition, they can better explain the reasons why a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system can be introduced into the two-dimensional plane to express a real three-dimensional scene. 1. We introduce two different mathematical expressions of the plenoptic functions, Pw and Pv that can describe the objective world. We also analyze the differences between these two functions when describing visual depth perception, that is, the difference between how these two functions obtain the depth information of an external scene.2. The main results include a basic method for introducing a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system into a two-dimensional plane to express the depth of a scene, its constraints, and algorithmic implementation. In particular, we include a method to separate the plenoptic function and proceed with the corresponding transformation in the retina and visual cortex.3. We propose that size constancy, the vanishing point, and vanishing line form the basis of visual perception of the outside world, and that the introduction of a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system into a two dimensional plane reveals a corresponding mapping between a retinal image and the vanishing point and line.

The representation of visual depth perception based on the plenoptic function in the retina and its neural computation in visual cortex V1

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background How it is possible to “faithfully” represent a three-dimensional stereoscopic scene using Cartesian coordinates on a plane, and how three-dimensional perceptions differ between an actual scene and an image of the same scene are questions that have not yet been explored in depth. They seem like commonplace phenomena, but in fact, they are important and difficult issues for visual information processing, neural computation, physics, psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. Results The results of this study show that the use of plenoptic (or all-optical) functions and their dual plane parameterizations can not only explain the nature of information processing from the retina to the primary visual cortex and, in particular, the characteristics of the visual pathway’s optical system and its affine transformation, but they can also clarify the reason why the vanishing point and line exist in a visual image. In addition, they can better explain the reasons why a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system can be introduced into the two-dimensional plane to express a real three-dimensional scene. Conclusions 1. We introduce two different mathematical expressions of the plenoptic functions, P w and P v that can describe the objective world. We also analyze the differences between these two functions when describing visual depth perception, that is, the difference between how these two functions obtain the depth information of an external scene. 2. The main results include a basic method for introducing a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system into a two-dimensional plane to express the depth of a scene, its constraints, and algorithmic implementation. In particular, we include a method to separate the plenoptic function and proceed with the corresponding transformation in the retina and visual cortex. 3. We propose that size constancy, the vanishing point, and vanishing line form the basis of visual perception of the outside world, and that the introduction of a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system into a two dimensional plane reveals a corresponding mapping between a retinal image and the vanishing point and line. PMID:24755246

Driver memory retention of in-vehicle information system messages

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-01-01

Memory retention of drivers was tested for traffic- and traveler-related messages displayed on an in-vehicle information system (IVIS). Three research questions were asked: (a) How does in-vehicle visual message format affect comprehension? (b) How d...

A 3-D terrain visualization database for highway information management

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-07-26

A Multimedia based Highway Information System (MMHIS) is described in the paper to improve the existing photologging system for various operation and management needs. The full digital, computer based MMHIS uses technologies of video, multimedia data...

Envision: An interactive system for the management and visualization of large geophysical data sets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Searight, K. R.; Wojtowicz, D. P.; Walsh, J. E.; Pathi, S.; Bowman, K. P.; Wilhelmson, R. B.

1995-01-01

Envision is a software project at the University of Illinois and Texas A&M, funded by NASA's Applied Information Systems Research Project. It provides researchers in the geophysical sciences convenient ways to manage, browse, and visualize large observed or model data sets. Envision integrates data management, analysis, and visualization of geophysical data in an interactive environment. It employs commonly used standards in data formats, operating systems, networking, and graphics. It also attempts, wherever possible, to integrate with existing scientific visualization and analysis software. Envision has an easy-to-use graphical interface, distributed process components, and an extensible design. It is a public domain package, freely available to the scientific community.

Visualization tool for human-machine interface designers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prevost, Michael P.; Banda, Carolyn P.

1991-06-01

As modern human-machine systems continue to grow in capabilities and complexity, system operators are faced with integrating and managing increased quantities of information. Since many information components are highly related to each other, optimizing the spatial and temporal aspects of presenting information to the operator has become a formidable task for the human-machine interface (HMI) designer. The authors describe a tool in an early stage of development, the Information Source Layout Editor (ISLE). This tool is to be used for information presentation design and analysis; it uses human factors guidelines to assist the HMI designer in the spatial layout of the information required by machine operators to perform their tasks effectively. These human factors guidelines address such areas as the functional and physical relatedness of information sources. By representing these relationships with metaphors such as spring tension, attractors, and repellers, the tool can help designers visualize the complex constraint space and interacting effects of moving displays to various alternate locations. The tool contains techniques for visualizing the relative 'goodness' of a configuration, as well as mechanisms such as optimization vectors to provide guidance toward a more optimal design. Also available is a rule-based design checker to determine compliance with selected human factors guidelines.

Visual perception system and method for a humanoid robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chelian, Suhas E. (Inventor); Linn, Douglas Martin (Inventor); Wampler, II, Charles W. (Inventor); Bridgwater, Lyndon (Inventor); Wells, James W. (Inventor); Mc Kay, Neil David (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A robotic system includes a humanoid robot with robotic joints each moveable using an actuator(s), and a distributed controller for controlling the movement of each of the robotic joints. The controller includes a visual perception module (VPM) for visually identifying and tracking an object in the field of view of the robot under threshold lighting conditions. The VPM includes optical devices for collecting an image of the object, a positional extraction device, and a host machine having an algorithm for processing the image and positional information. The algorithm visually identifies and tracks the object, and automatically adapts an exposure time of the optical devices to prevent feature data loss of the image under the threshold lighting conditions. A method of identifying and tracking the object includes collecting the image, extracting positional information of the object, and automatically adapting the exposure time to thereby prevent feature data loss of the image.

Text Stream Trend Analysis using Multiscale Visual Analytics with Applications to Social Media Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steed, Chad A; Beaver, Justin M; BogenII, Paul L.

In this paper, we introduce a new visual analytics system, called Matisse, that allows exploration of global trends in textual information streams with specific application to social media platforms. Despite the potential for real-time situational awareness using these services, interactive analysis of such semi-structured textual information is a challenge due to the high-throughput and high-velocity properties. Matisse addresses these challenges through the following contributions: (1) robust stream data management, (2) automated sen- timent/emotion analytics, (3) inferential temporal, geospatial, and term-frequency visualizations, and (4) a flexible drill-down interaction scheme that progresses from macroscale to microscale views. In addition to describing thesemore » contributions, our work-in-progress paper concludes with a practical case study focused on the analysis of Twitter 1% sample stream information captured during the week of the Boston Marathon bombings.« less

Neurophysiology underlying influence of stimulus reliability on audiovisual integration.

PubMed

Shatzer, Hannah; Shen, Stanley; Kerlin, Jess R; Pitt, Mark A; Shahin, Antoine J

2018-01-24

We tested the predictions of the dynamic reweighting model (DRM) of audiovisual (AV) speech integration, which posits that spectrotemporally reliable (informative) AV speech stimuli induce a reweighting of processing from low-level to high-level auditory networks. This reweighting decreases sensitivity to acoustic onsets and in turn increases tolerance to AV onset asynchronies (AVOA). EEG was recorded while subjects watched videos of a speaker uttering trisyllabic nonwords that varied in spectrotemporal reliability and asynchrony of the visual and auditory inputs. Subjects judged the stimuli as in-sync or out-of-sync. Results showed that subjects exhibited greater AVOA tolerance for non-blurred than blurred visual speech and for less than more degraded acoustic speech. Increased AVOA tolerance was reflected in reduced amplitude of the P1-P2 auditory evoked potentials, a neurophysiological indication of reduced sensitivity to acoustic onsets and successful AV integration. There was also sustained visual alpha band (8-14 Hz) suppression (desynchronization) following acoustic speech onsets for non-blurred vs. blurred visual speech, consistent with continuous engagement of the visual system as the speech unfolds. The current findings suggest that increased spectrotemporal reliability of acoustic and visual speech promotes robust AV integration, partly by suppressing sensitivity to acoustic onsets, in support of the DRM's reweighting mechanism. Increased visual signal reliability also sustains the engagement of the visual system with the auditory system to maintain alignment of information across modalities. © 2018 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development of voice navigation system for the visually impaired by using IC tags.

PubMed

Takatori, Norihiko; Nojima, Kengo; Matsumoto, Masashi; Yanashima, Kenji; Magatani, Kazushige

2006-01-01

There are about 300,000 visually impaired persons in Japan. Most of them are old persons and, cannot become skillful in using a white cane, even if they make effort to learn how to use a white cane. Therefore, some guiding system that supports the independent activities of the visually impaired are required. In this paper, we will describe about a developed white cane system that supports the independent walking of the visually impaired in the indoor space. This system is composed of colored navigation lines that include IC tags and an intelligent white cane that has a navigation computer. In our system colored navigation lines that are put on the floor of the target space from the start point to the destination and IC tags that are set at the landmark point are used for indication of the route to the destination. The white cane has a color sensor, an IC tag transceiver and a computer system that includes a voice processor. This white cane senses the navigation line that has target color by a color sensor. When a color sensor finds the target color, the white cane informs a white cane user that he/she is on the navigation line by vibration. So, only following this vibration, the user can reach the destination. However, at some landmark points, guidance is necessary. At these points, an IC tag is set under the navigation line. The cane makes communication with the tag and informs the user about the land mark pint by pre recorded voice. Ten normal subjects who were blindfolded were tested with our developed system. All of them could walk along navigation line. And the IC tag information system worked well. Therefore, we have concluded that our system will be a very valuable one to support activities of the visually impaired.

ATS displays: A reasoning visualization tool for expert systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Selig, William John; Johannes, James D.

1990-01-01

Reasoning visualization is a useful tool that can help users better understand the inherently non-sequential logic of an expert system. While this is desirable in most all expert system applications, it is especially so for such critical systems as those destined for space-based operations. A hierarchical view of the expert system reasoning process and some characteristics of these various levels is presented. Also presented are Abstract Time Slice (ATS) displays, a tool to visualize the plethora of interrelated information available at the host inferencing language level of reasoning. The usefulness of this tool is illustrated with some examples from a prototype potable water expert system for possible use aboard Space Station Freedom.

Reconnecting Eye to Brain

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Although much is known about the regenerative capacity of retinal ganglion cells, very significant barriers remain in our ability to restore visual function following traumatic injury or disease-induced degeneration. Here we summarize our current understanding of the factors regulating axon guidance and target engagement in regenerating axons, and review the state of the field of neural regeneration, focusing on the visual system and highlighting studies using other model systems that can inform analysis of visual system regeneration. This overview is motivated by a Society for Neuroscience Satellite meeting, “Reconnecting Neurons in the Visual System,” held in October 2015 sponsored by the National Eye Institute as part of their “Audacious Goals Initiative” and co-organized by Carol Mason (Columbia University) and Michael Crair (Yale University). The collective wisdom of the conference participants pointed to important gaps in our knowledge and barriers to progress in promoting the restoration of visual system function. This article is thus a summary of our existing understanding of visual system regeneration and provides a blueprint for future progress in the field. PMID:27798125

Visualization of Traffic Accidents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Jie; Shen, Yuzhong; Khattak, Asad

2010-01-01

Traffic accidents have tremendous impact on society. Annually approximately 6.4 million vehicle accidents are reported by police in the US and nearly half of them result in catastrophic injuries. Visualizations of traffic accidents using geographic information systems (GIS) greatly facilitate handling and analysis of traffic accidents in many aspects. Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), Inc. is the world leader in GIS research and development. ArcGIS, a software package developed by ESRI, has the capabilities to display events associated with a road network, such as accident locations, and pavement quality. But when event locations related to a road network are processed, the existing algorithm used by ArcGIS does not utilize all the information related to the routes of the road network and produces erroneous visualization results of event locations. This software bug causes serious problems for applications in which accurate location information is critical for emergency responses, such as traffic accidents. This paper aims to address this problem and proposes an improved method that utilizes all relevant information of traffic accidents, namely, route number, direction, and mile post, and extracts correct event locations for accurate traffic accident visualization and analysis. The proposed method generates a new shape file for traffic accidents and displays them on top of the existing road network in ArcGIS. Visualization of traffic accidents along Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel is included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Evaluation of the 3d Urban Modelling Capabilities in Geographical Information Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dogru, A. O.; Seker, D. Z.

2010-12-01

Geographical Information System (GIS) Technology, which provides successful solutions to basic spatial problems, is currently widely used in 3 dimensional (3D) modeling of physical reality with its developing visualization tools. The modeling of large and complicated phenomenon is a challenging problem in terms of computer graphics currently in use. However, it is possible to visualize that phenomenon in 3D by using computer systems. 3D models are used in developing computer games, military training, urban planning, tourism and etc. The use of 3D models for planning and management of urban areas is very popular issue of city administrations. In this context, 3D City models are produced and used for various purposes. However the requirements of the models vary depending on the type and scope of the application. While a high level visualization, where photorealistic visualization techniques are widely used, is required for touristy and recreational purposes, an abstract visualization of the physical reality is generally sufficient for the communication of the thematic information. The visual variables, which are the principle components of cartographic visualization, such as: color, shape, pattern, orientation, size, position, and saturation are used for communicating the thematic information. These kinds of 3D city models are called as abstract models. Standardization of technologies used for 3D modeling is now available by the use of CityGML. CityGML implements several novel concepts to support interoperability, consistency and functionality. For example it supports different Levels-of-Detail (LoD), which may arise from independent data collection processes and are used for efficient visualization and efficient data analysis. In one CityGML data set, the same object may be represented in different LoD simultaneously, enabling the analysis and visualization of the same object with regard to different degrees of resolution. Furthermore, two CityGML data sets containing the same object in different LoD may be combined and integrated. In this study GIS tools used for 3D modeling issues were examined. In this context, the availability of the GIS tools for obtaining different LoDs of CityGML standard. Additionally a 3D GIS application that covers a small part of the city of Istanbul was implemented for communicating the thematic information rather than photorealistic visualization by using 3D model. An abstract model was created by using a commercial GIS software modeling tools and the results of the implementation were also presented in the study.

Visual Motion Perception and Visual Attentive Processes.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-01

88-0551 Visual Motion Perception and Visual Attentive Processes George Spering , New YorkUnivesity A -cesson For DTIC TAB rant AFOSR 85-0364... Spering . HIPSt: A Unix-based image processing syslem. Computer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing, 1984,25. 331-347. ’HIPS is the Human Information...Processing Laboratory’s Image Processing System. 1985 van Santen, Jan P. It, and George Spering . Elaborated Reichardt detectors. Journal of the Optical

Visualizing Cloud Properties and Satellite Imagery: A Tool for Visualization and Information Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chee, T.; Nguyen, L.; Smith, W. L., Jr.; Spangenberg, D.; Palikonda, R.; Bedka, K. M.; Minnis, P.; Thieman, M. M.; Nordeen, M.

2017-12-01

Providing public access to research products including cloud macro and microphysical properties and satellite imagery are a key concern for the NASA Langley Research Center Cloud and Radiation Group. This work describes a web based visualization tool and API that allows end users to easily create customized cloud product and satellite imagery, ground site data and satellite ground track information that is generated dynamically. The tool has two uses, one to visualize the dynamically created imagery and the other to provide access to the dynamically generated imagery directly at a later time. Internally, we leverage our practical experience with large, scalable application practices to develop a system that has the largest potential for scalability as well as the ability to be deployed on the cloud to accommodate scalability issues. We build upon NASA Langley Cloud and Radiation Group's experience with making real-time and historical satellite cloud product information, satellite imagery, ground site data and satellite track information accessible and easily searchable. This tool is the culmination of our prior experience with dynamic imagery generation and provides a way to build a "mash-up" of dynamically generated imagery and related kinds of information that are visualized together to add value to disparate but related information. In support of NASA strategic goals, our group aims to make as much scientific knowledge, observations and products available to the citizen science, research and interested communities as well as for automated systems to acquire the same information for data mining or other analytic purposes. This tool and the underlying API's provide a valuable research tool to a wide audience both as a standalone research tool and also as an easily accessed data source that can easily be mined or used with existing tools.

Getting from Here to There and Knowing Where: Teaching Global Positioning Systems to Students with Visual Impairments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, Craig L.

2011-01-01

Global Positioning Systems' (GPS) technology is available for individuals with visual impairments to use in wayfinding and address Lowenfeld's "three limitations of blindness." The considerations and methodologies for teaching GPS usage have developed over time as GPS information and devices have been integrated into orientation and mobility…

MRIVIEW: An interactive computational tool for investigation of brain structure and function

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ranken, D.; George, J.

MRIVIEW is a software system which uses image processing and visualization to provide neuroscience researchers with an integrated environment for combining functional and anatomical information. Key features of the software include semi-automated segmentation of volumetric head data and an interactive coordinate reconciliation method which utilizes surface visualization. The current system is a precursor to a computational brain atlas. We describe features this atlas will incorporate, including methods under development for visualizing brain functional data obtained from several different research modalities.

Filling gaps in visual motion for target capture

PubMed Central

Bosco, Gianfranco; Delle Monache, Sergio; Gravano, Silvio; Indovina, Iole; La Scaleia, Barbara; Maffei, Vincenzo; Zago, Myrka; Lacquaniti, Francesco

2015-01-01

A remarkable challenge our brain must face constantly when interacting with the environment is represented by ambiguous and, at times, even missing sensory information. This is particularly compelling for visual information, being the main sensory system we rely upon to gather cues about the external world. It is not uncommon, for example, that objects catching our attention may disappear temporarily from view, occluded by visual obstacles in the foreground. Nevertheless, we are often able to keep our gaze on them throughout the occlusion or even catch them on the fly in the face of the transient lack of visual motion information. This implies that the brain can fill the gaps of missing sensory information by extrapolating the object motion through the occlusion. In recent years, much experimental evidence has been accumulated that both perceptual and motor processes exploit visual motion extrapolation mechanisms. Moreover, neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies have identified brain regions potentially involved in the predictive representation of the occluded target motion. Within this framework, ocular pursuit and manual interceptive behavior have proven to be useful experimental models for investigating visual extrapolation mechanisms. Studies in these fields have pointed out that visual motion extrapolation processes depend on manifold information related to short-term memory representations of the target motion before the occlusion, as well as to longer term representations derived from previous experience with the environment. We will review recent oculomotor and manual interception literature to provide up-to-date views on the neurophysiological underpinnings of visual motion extrapolation. PMID:25755637

Filling gaps in visual motion for target capture.

PubMed

Bosco, Gianfranco; Monache, Sergio Delle; Gravano, Silvio; Indovina, Iole; La Scaleia, Barbara; Maffei, Vincenzo; Zago, Myrka; Lacquaniti, Francesco

2015-01-01

A remarkable challenge our brain must face constantly when interacting with the environment is represented by ambiguous and, at times, even missing sensory information. This is particularly compelling for visual information, being the main sensory system we rely upon to gather cues about the external world. It is not uncommon, for example, that objects catching our attention may disappear temporarily from view, occluded by visual obstacles in the foreground. Nevertheless, we are often able to keep our gaze on them throughout the occlusion or even catch them on the fly in the face of the transient lack of visual motion information. This implies that the brain can fill the gaps of missing sensory information by extrapolating the object motion through the occlusion. In recent years, much experimental evidence has been accumulated that both perceptual and motor processes exploit visual motion extrapolation mechanisms. Moreover, neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies have identified brain regions potentially involved in the predictive representation of the occluded target motion. Within this framework, ocular pursuit and manual interceptive behavior have proven to be useful experimental models for investigating visual extrapolation mechanisms. Studies in these fields have pointed out that visual motion extrapolation processes depend on manifold information related to short-term memory representations of the target motion before the occlusion, as well as to longer term representations derived from previous experience with the environment. We will review recent oculomotor and manual interception literature to provide up-to-date views on the neurophysiological underpinnings of visual motion extrapolation.

Local statistics of retinal optic flow for self-motion through natural sceneries.

PubMed

Calow, Dirk; Lappe, Markus

2007-12-01

Image analysis in the visual system is well adapted to the statistics of natural scenes. Investigations of natural image statistics have so far mainly focused on static features. The present study is dedicated to the measurement and the analysis of the statistics of optic flow generated on the retina during locomotion through natural environments. Natural locomotion includes bouncing and swaying of the head and eye movement reflexes that stabilize gaze onto interesting objects in the scene while walking. We investigate the dependencies of the local statistics of optic flow on the depth structure of the natural environment and on the ego-motion parameters. To measure these dependencies we estimate the mutual information between correlated data sets. We analyze the results with respect to the variation of the dependencies over the visual field, since the visual motions in the optic flow vary depending on visual field position. We find that retinal flow direction and retinal speed show only minor statistical interdependencies. Retinal speed is statistically tightly connected to the depth structure of the scene. Retinal flow direction is statistically mostly driven by the relation between the direction of gaze and the direction of ego-motion. These dependencies differ at different visual field positions such that certain areas of the visual field provide more information about ego-motion and other areas provide more information about depth. The statistical properties of natural optic flow may be used to tune the performance of artificial vision systems based on human imitating behavior, and may be useful for analyzing properties of natural vision systems.

High contrast sensitivity for visually guided flight control in bumblebees.

PubMed

Chakravarthi, Aravin; Kelber, Almut; Baird, Emily; Dacke, Marie

2017-12-01

Many insects rely on vision to find food, to return to their nest and to carefully control their flight between these two locations. The amount of information available to support these tasks is, in part, dictated by the spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity of their visual systems. Here, we investigate the absolute limits of these visual properties for visually guided position and speed control in Bombus terrestris. Our results indicate that the limit of spatial vision in the translational motion detection system of B. terrestris lies at 0.21 cycles deg -1 with a peak contrast sensitivity of at least 33. In the perspective of earlier findings, these results indicate that bumblebees have higher contrast sensitivity in the motion detection system underlying position control than in their object discrimination system. This suggests that bumblebees, and most likely also other insects, have different visual thresholds depending on the behavioral context.

Interaction Junk: User Interaction-Based Evaluation of Visual Analytic Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Endert, Alexander; North, Chris

2012-10-14

With the growing need for visualization to aid users in understanding large, complex datasets, the ability for users to interact and explore these datasets is critical. As visual analytic systems have advanced to leverage powerful computational models and data analytics capabilities, the modes by which users engage and interact with the information are limited. Often, users are taxed with directly manipulating parameters of these models through traditional GUIs (e.g., using sliders to directly manipulate the value of a parameter). However, the purpose of user interaction in visual analytic systems is to enable visual data exploration – where users can focusmore » on their task, as opposed to the tool or system. As a result, users can engage freely in data exploration and decision-making, for the purpose of gaining insight. In this position paper, we discuss how evaluating visual analytic systems can be approached through user interaction analysis, where the goal is to minimize the cognitive translation between the visual metaphor and the mode of interaction (i.e., reducing the “Interactionjunk”). We motivate this concept through a discussion of traditional GUIs used in visual analytics for direct manipulation of model parameters, and the importance of designing interactions the support visual data exploration.« less

Visual Analytics in Public Safety: Example Capabilities for Example Government Agencies

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

is not limited to: the Police Records Information Management Environment for British Columbia (PRIME-BC), the Police Reporting and Occurrence System...and filtering for rapid identification of relevant documents - Graphical environment for visual evidence marshaling - Interactive linking and...analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces and integration with computational analytics. Indeed, a wide variety of technologies

Visualizations and Mental Models - The Educational Implications of GEOWALL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rapp, D.; Kendeou, P.

2003-12-01

Work in the earth sciences has outlined many of the faulty beliefs that students possess concerning particular geological systems and processes. Evidence from educational and cognitive psychology has demonstrated that students often have difficulty overcoming their na‹ve beliefs about science. Prior knowledge is often remarkably resistant to change, particularly when students' existing mental models for geological principles may be faulty or inaccurate. Figuring out how to help students revise their mental models to include appropriate information is a major challenge. Up until this point, research has tended to focus on whether 2-dimensional computer visualizations are useful tools for helping students develop scientifically correct models. Research suggests that when students are given the opportunity to use dynamic computer-based visualizations, they are more likely to recall the learned information, and are more likely to transfer that knowledge to novel settings. Unfortunately, 2-dimensional visualization systems are often inadequate representations of the material that educators would like students to learn. For example, a 2-dimensional image of the Earth's surface does not adequately convey particular features that are critical for visualizing the geological environment. This may limit the models that students can construct following these visualizations. GEOWALL is a stereo projection system that has attempted to address this issue. It can display multidimensional static geologic images and dynamic geologic animations in a 3-dimensional format. Our current research examines whether multidimensional visualization systems such as GEOWALL may facilitate learning by helping students to develop more complex mental models. This talk will address some of the cognitive issues that influence the construction of mental models, and the difficulty of updating existing mental models. We will also discuss our current work that seeks to examine whether GEOWALL is an effective tool for helping students to learn geological information (and potentially restructure their na‹ve conceptions of geologic principles).

A comparative psychophysical approach to visual perception in primates.

PubMed

Matsuno, Toyomi; Fujita, Kazuo

2009-04-01

Studies on the visual processing of primates, which have well developed visual systems, provide essential information about the perceptual bases of their higher-order cognitive abilities. Although the mechanisms underlying visual processing are largely shared between human and nonhuman primates, differences have also been reported. In this article, we review psychophysical investigations comparing the basic visual processing that operates in human and nonhuman species, and discuss the future contributions potentially deriving from such comparative psychophysical approaches to primate minds.

Science information systems: Visualization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wall, Ray J.

1991-01-01

Future programs in earth science, planetary science, and astrophysics will involve complex instruments that produce data at unprecedented rates and volumes. Current methods for data display, exploration, and discovery are inadequate. Visualization technology offers a means for the user to comprehend, explore, and examine complex data sets. The goal of this program is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of scientists in extracting scientific information from large volumes of instrument data.

Eye-Tracking Measures Reveal How Changes in the Design of Aided AAC Displays Influence the Efficiency of Locating Symbols by School-Age Children without Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkinson, Krista M.; O'Neill, Tara; McIlvane, William J.

2014-01-01

Purpose: Many individuals with communication impairments use aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems involving letters, words, or line drawings that rely on the visual modality. It seems reasonable to suggest that display design should incorporate information about how users attend to and process visual information. The…

Interactive SIGHT: textual access to simple bar charts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, Seniz; Oliver, David; Schwartz, Edward; Elzer, Stephanie; Carberry, Sandra; Mccoy, Kathleen F.; Chester, Daniel

2010-12-01

Information graphics, such as bar charts and line graphs, are an important component of many articles from popular media. The majority of such graphics have an intention (a high-level message) to communicate to the graph viewer. Since the intended message of a graphic is often not repeated in the accompanying text, graphics together with the textual segments contribute to the overall purpose of an article and cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, these visual displays are provided in a format which is not readily accessible to everyone. For example, individuals with sight impairments who use screen readers to listen to documents have limited access to the graphics. This article presents a new accessibility tool, the Interactive SIGHT (Summarizing Information GrapHics Textually) system, that is intended to enable visually impaired users to access the knowledge that one would gain from viewing information graphics found on the web. The current system, which is implemented as a browser extension that works on simple bar charts, can be invoked by a user via a keystroke combination while navigating the web. Once launched, Interactive SIGHT first provides a brief summary that conveys the underlying intention of a bar chart along with the chart's most significant and salient features, and then produces history-aware follow-up responses to provide further information about the chart upon request from the user. We present two user studies that were conducted with sighted and visually impaired users to determine how effective the initial summary and follow-up responses are in conveying the informational content of bar charts, and to evaluate how easy it is to use the system interface. The evaluation results are promising and indicate that the system responses are well-structured and enable visually impaired users to answer key questions about bar charts in an easy-to-use manner. Post-experimental interviews revealed that visually impaired participants were very satisfied with the system offering different options to access the content of a chart to meet their specific needs and that they would use Interactive SIGHT if it was publicly available so as not to have to ignore graphics on the web. Being a language based assistive technology designed to compensate for the lack of sight, our work paves the road for a stronger acceptance of natural language interfaces to graph interpretation that we believe will be of great benefit to the visually impaired community.

Other ways of seeing: From behavior to neural mechanisms in the online “visual” control of action with sensory substitution

PubMed Central

Proulx, Michael J.; Gwinnutt, James; Dell’Erba, Sara; Levy-Tzedek, Shelly; de Sousa, Alexandra A.; Brown, David J.

2015-01-01

Vision is the dominant sense for perception-for-action in humans and other higher primates. Advances in sight restoration now utilize the other intact senses to provide information that is normally sensed visually through sensory substitution to replace missing visual information. Sensory substitution devices translate visual information from a sensor, such as a camera or ultrasound device, into a format that the auditory or tactile systems can detect and process, so the visually impaired can see through hearing or touch. Online control of action is essential for many daily tasks such as pointing, grasping and navigating, and adapting to a sensory substitution device successfully requires extensive learning. Here we review the research on sensory substitution for vision restoration in the context of providing the means of online control for action in the blind or blindfolded. It appears that the use of sensory substitution devices utilizes the neural visual system; this suggests the hypothesis that sensory substitution draws on the same underlying mechanisms as unimpaired visual control of action. Here we review the current state of the art for sensory substitution approaches to object recognition, localization, and navigation, and the potential these approaches have for revealing a metamodal behavioral and neural basis for the online control of action. PMID:26599473

Eye guidance during real-world scene search: The role color plays in central and peripheral vision.

PubMed

Nuthmann, Antje; Malcolm, George L

2016-01-01

The visual system utilizes environmental features to direct gaze efficiently when locating objects. While previous research has isolated various features' contributions to gaze guidance, these studies generally used sparse displays and did not investigate how features facilitated search as a function of their location on the visual field. The current study investigated how features across the visual field--particularly color--facilitate gaze guidance during real-world search. A gaze-contingent window followed participants' eye movements, restricting color information to specified regions. Scene images were presented in full color, with color in the periphery and gray in central vision or gray in the periphery and color in central vision, or in grayscale. Color conditions were crossed with a search cue manipulation, with the target cued either with a word label or an exact picture. Search times increased as color information in the scene decreased. A gaze-data based decomposition of search time revealed color-mediated effects on specific subprocesses of search. Color in peripheral vision facilitated target localization, whereas color in central vision facilitated target verification. Picture cues facilitated search, with the effects of cue specificity and scene color combining additively. When available, the visual system utilizes the environment's color information to facilitate different real-world visual search behaviors based on the location within the visual field.

A Software Developer’s Guide to Informal Evaluation of Visual Analytics Environments Using VAST Challenge Information

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cook, Kristin A.; Scholtz, Jean; Whiting, Mark A.

The VAST Challenge has been a popular venue for academic and industry participants for over ten years. Many participants comment that the majority of their time in preparing VAST Challenge entries is discovering elements in their software environments that need to be redesigned in order to solve the given task. Fortunately, there is no need to wait until the VAST Challenge is announced to test out software systems. The Visual Analytics Benchmark Repository contains all past VAST Challenge tasks, data, solutions and submissions. This paper details the various types of evaluations that may be conducted using the Repository information. Inmore » this paper we describe how developers can do informal evaluations of various aspects of their visual analytics environments using VAST Challenge information. Aspects that can be evaluated include the appropriateness of the software for various tasks, the various data types and formats that can be accommodated, the effectiveness and efficiency of the process supported by the software, and the intuitiveness of the visualizations and interactions. Researchers can compare their visualizations and interactions to those submitted to determine novelty. In addition, the paper provides pointers to various guidelines that software teams can use to evaluate the usability of their software. While these evaluations are not a replacement for formal evaluation methods, this information can be extremely useful during the development of visual analytics environments.« less

A Web-based Visualization System for Three Dimensional Geological Model using Open GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nemoto, T.; Masumoto, S.; Nonogaki, S.

2017-12-01

A three dimensional geological model is an important information in various fields such as environmental assessment, urban planning, resource development, waste management and disaster mitigation. In this study, we have developed a web-based visualization system for 3D geological model using free and open source software. The system has been successfully implemented by integrating web mapping engine MapServer and geographic information system GRASS. MapServer plays a role of mapping horizontal cross sections of 3D geological model and a topographic map. GRASS provides the core components for management, analysis and image processing of the geological model. Online access to GRASS functions has been enabled using PyWPS that is an implementation of WPS (Web Processing Service) Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard. The system has two main functions. Two dimensional visualization function allows users to generate horizontal and vertical cross sections of 3D geological model. These images are delivered via WMS (Web Map Service) and WPS OGC standards. Horizontal cross sections are overlaid on the topographic map. A vertical cross section is generated by clicking a start point and an end point on the map. Three dimensional visualization function allows users to visualize geological boundary surfaces and a panel diagram. The user can visualize them from various angles by mouse operation. WebGL is utilized for 3D visualization. WebGL is a web technology that brings hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the browser without installing additional software. The geological boundary surfaces can be downloaded to incorporate the geologic structure in a design on CAD and model for various simulations. This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16K00158.

The SCHEIE Visual Field Grading System

PubMed Central

Sankar, Prithvi S.; O’Keefe, Laura; Choi, Daniel; Salowe, Rebecca; Miller-Ellis, Eydie; Lehman, Amanda; Addis, Victoria; Ramakrishnan, Meera; Natesh, Vikas; Whitehead, Gideon; Khachatryan, Naira; O’Brien, Joan

2017-01-01

Objective No method of grading visual field (VF) defects has been widely accepted throughout the glaucoma community. The SCHEIE (Systematic Classification of Humphrey visual fields-Easy Interpretation and Evaluation) grading system for glaucomatous visual fields was created to convey qualitative and quantitative information regarding visual field defects in an objective, reproducible, and easily applicable manner for research purposes. Methods The SCHEIE grading system is composed of a qualitative and quantitative score. The qualitative score consists of designation in one or more of the following categories: normal, central scotoma, paracentral scotoma, paracentral crescent, temporal quadrant, nasal quadrant, peripheral arcuate defect, expansive arcuate, or altitudinal defect. The quantitative component incorporates the Humphrey visual field index (VFI), location of visual defects for superior and inferior hemifields, and blind spot involvement. Accuracy and speed at grading using the qualitative and quantitative components was calculated for non-physician graders. Results Graders had a median accuracy of 96.67% for their qualitative scores and a median accuracy of 98.75% for their quantitative scores. Graders took a mean of 56 seconds per visual field to assign a qualitative score and 20 seconds per visual field to assign a quantitative score. Conclusion The SCHEIE grading system is a reproducible tool that combines qualitative and quantitative measurements to grade glaucomatous visual field defects. The system aims to standardize clinical staging and to make specific visual field defects more easily identifiable. Specific patterns of visual field loss may also be associated with genetic variants in future genetic analysis. PMID:28932621

Modeling and Analysis of Information Product Maps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heien, Christopher Harris

2012-01-01

Information Product Maps are visual diagrams used to represent the inputs, processing, and outputs of data within an Information Manufacturing System. A data unit, drawn as an edge, symbolizes a grouping of raw data as it travels through this system. Processes, drawn as vertices, transform each data unit input into various forms prior to delivery…

A medical application integrating remote 3D visualization tools to access picture archiving and communication system on mobile devices.

PubMed

He, Longjun; Ming, Xing; Liu, Qian

2014-04-01

With computing capability and display size growing, the mobile device has been used as a tool to help clinicians view patient information and medical images anywhere and anytime. However, for direct interactive 3D visualization, which plays an important role in radiological diagnosis, the mobile device cannot provide a satisfactory quality of experience for radiologists. This paper developed a medical system that can get medical images from the picture archiving and communication system on the mobile device over the wireless network. In the proposed application, the mobile device got patient information and medical images through a proxy server connecting to the PACS server. Meanwhile, the proxy server integrated a range of 3D visualization techniques, including maximum intensity projection, multi-planar reconstruction and direct volume rendering, to providing shape, brightness, depth and location information generated from the original sectional images for radiologists. Furthermore, an algorithm that changes remote render parameters automatically to adapt to the network status was employed to improve the quality of experience. Finally, performance issues regarding the remote 3D visualization of the medical images over the wireless network of the proposed application were also discussed. The results demonstrated that this proposed medical application could provide a smooth interactive experience in the WLAN and 3G networks.

Matisse: A Visual Analytics System for Exploring Emotion Trends in Social Media Text Streams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steed, Chad A; Drouhard, Margaret MEG G; Beaver, Justin M

Dynamically mining textual information streams to gain real-time situational awareness is especially challenging with social media systems where throughput and velocity properties push the limits of a static analytical approach. In this paper, we describe an interactive visual analytics system, called Matisse, that aids with the discovery and investigation of trends in streaming text. Matisse addresses the challenges inherent to text stream mining through the following technical contributions: (1) robust stream data management, (2) automated sentiment/emotion analytics, (3) interactive coordinated visualizations, and (4) a flexible drill-down interaction scheme that accesses multiple levels of detail. In addition to positive/negative sentiment prediction,more » Matisse provides fine-grained emotion classification based on Valence, Arousal, and Dominance dimensions and a novel machine learning process. Information from the sentiment/emotion analytics are fused with raw data and summary information to feed temporal, geospatial, term frequency, and scatterplot visualizations using a multi-scale, coordinated interaction model. After describing these techniques, we conclude with a practical case study focused on analyzing the Twitter sample stream during the week of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. The case study demonstrates the effectiveness of Matisse at providing guided situational awareness of significant trends in social media streams by orchestrating computational power and human cognition.« less

RAVEL: retrieval and visualization in ELectronic health records.

PubMed

Thiessard, Frantz; Mougin, Fleur; Diallo, Gayo; Jouhet, Vianney; Cossin, Sébastien; Garcelon, Nicolas; Campillo, Boris; Jouini, Wassim; Grosjean, Julien; Massari, Philippe; Griffon, Nicolas; Dupuch, Marie; Tayalati, Fayssal; Dugas, Edwige; Balvet, Antonio; Grabar, Natalia; Pereira, Suzanne; Frandji, Bruno; Darmoni, Stefan; Cuggia, Marc

2012-01-01

Because of the ever-increasing amount of information in patients' EHRs, healthcare professionals may face difficulties for making diagnoses and/or therapeutic decisions. Moreover, patients may misunderstand their health status. These medical practitioners need effective tools to locate in real time relevant elements within the patients' EHR and visualize them according to synthetic and intuitive presentation models. The RAVEL project aims at achieving this goal by performing a high profile industrial research and development program on the EHR considering the following areas: (i) semantic indexing, (ii) information retrieval, and (iii) data visualization. The RAVEL project is expected to implement a generic, loosely coupled to data sources prototype so that it can be transposed into different university hospitals information systems.

Exploring Scientific Information for Policy Making under Deep Uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forni, L.; Galaitsi, S.; Mehta, V. K.; Escobar, M.; Purkey, D. R.; Depsky, N. J.; Lima, N. A.

2016-12-01

Each actor evaluating potential management strategies brings her/his own distinct set of objectives to a complex decision space of system uncertainties. The diversity of these objectives require detailed and rigorous analyses that responds to multifaceted challenges. However, the utility of this information depends on the accessibility of scientific information to decision makers. This paper demonstrates data visualization tools for presenting scientific results to decision makers in two case studies, La Paz/ El Alto, Bolivia, and Yuba County,California. Visualization output from the case studies combines spatiotemporal, multivariate and multirun/multiscenario information to produce information corresponding to the objectives defined by key actors and stakeholders. These tools can manage complex data and distill scientific information into accessible formats. Using the visualizations, scientists and decision makers can navigate the decision space and potential objective trade-offs to facilitate discussion and consensus building. These efforts can support identifying stable negotiatedagreements between different stakeholders.

Stream specificity and asymmetries in feature binding and content-addressable access in visual encoding and memory.

PubMed

Huynh, Duong L; Tripathy, Srimant P; Bedell, Harold E; Ögmen, Haluk

2015-01-01

Human memory is content addressable-i.e., contents of the memory can be accessed using partial information about the bound features of a stored item. In this study, we used a cross-feature cuing technique to examine how the human visual system encodes, binds, and retains information about multiple stimulus features within a set of moving objects. We sought to characterize the roles of three different features (position, color, and direction of motion, the latter two of which are processed preferentially within the ventral and dorsal visual streams, respectively) in the construction and maintenance of object representations. We investigated the extent to which these features are bound together across the following processing stages: during stimulus encoding, sensory (iconic) memory, and visual short-term memory. Whereas all features examined here can serve as cues for addressing content, their effectiveness shows asymmetries and varies according to cue-report pairings and the stage of information processing and storage. Position-based indexing theories predict that position should be more effective as a cue compared to other features. While we found a privileged role for position as a cue at the stimulus-encoding stage, position was not the privileged cue at the sensory and visual short-term memory stages. Instead, the pattern that emerged from our findings is one that mirrors the parallel processing streams in the visual system. This stream-specific binding and cuing effectiveness manifests itself in all three stages of information processing examined here. Finally, we find that the Leaky Flask model proposed in our previous study is applicable to all three features.

Vibrotactile Feedbacks System for Assisting the Physically Impaired Persons for Easy Navigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safa, M.; Geetha, G.; Elakkiya, U.; Saranya, D.

2018-04-01

NAYAN architecture is for a visually impaired person to help for navigation. As well known, all visually impaired people desperately requires special requirements even to access services like the public transportation. This prototype system is a portable device; it is so easy to carry in any conduction to travel through a familiar and unfamiliar environment. The system consists of GPS receiver and it can get NEMA data through the satellite and it is provided to user's Smartphone through Arduino board. This application uses two vibrotactile feedbacks that will be placed in the left and right shoulder for vibration feedback, which gives information about the current location. The ultrasonic sensor is used for obstacle detection which is found in front of the visually impaired person. The Bluetooth modules connected with Arduino board is to send information to the user's mobile phone which it receives from GPS.

Prefrontal contributions to visual selective attention.

PubMed

Squire, Ryan F; Noudoost, Behrad; Schafer, Robert J; Moore, Tirin

2013-07-08

The faculty of attention endows us with the capacity to process important sensory information selectively while disregarding information that is potentially distracting. Much of our understanding of the neural circuitry underlying this fundamental cognitive function comes from neurophysiological studies within the visual modality. Past evidence suggests that a principal function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is selective attention and that this function involves the modulation of sensory signals within posterior cortices. In this review, we discuss recent progress in identifying the specific prefrontal circuits controlling visual attention and its neural correlates within the primate visual system. In addition, we examine the persisting challenge of precisely defining how behavior should be affected when attentional function is lost.

How Therapists Use Visualizations of Upper Limb Movement Information From Stroke Patients: A Qualitative Study With Simulated Information

PubMed Central

Fong, Justin; Klaic, Marlena; Nair, Siddharth; Vetere, Frank; Cofré Lizama, L. Eduardo; Galea, Mary Pauline

2016-01-01

Background Stroke is a leading cause of disability worldwide, with upper limb deficits affecting an estimated 30% to 60% of survivors. The effectiveness of upper limb rehabilitation relies on numerous factors, particularly patient compliance to home programs and exercises set by therapists. However, therapists lack objective information about their patients’ adherence to rehabilitation exercises as well as other uses of the affected arm and hand in everyday life outside the clinic. We developed a system that consists of wearable sensor technology to monitor a patient’s arm movement and a Web-based dashboard to visualize this information for therapists. Objective The aim of our study was to evaluate how therapists use upper limb movement information visualized on a dashboard to support the rehabilitation process. Methods An interactive dashboard prototype with simulated movement information was created and evaluated through a user-centered design process with therapists (N=8) at a rehabilitation clinic. Data were collected through observations of therapists interacting with an interactive dashboard prototype, think-aloud data, and interviews. Data were analyzed qualitatively through thematic analysis. Results Therapists use visualizations of upper limb information in the following ways: (1) to obtain objective data of patients’ activity levels, exercise, and neglect outside the clinic, (2) to engage patients in the rehabilitation process through education, motivation, and discussion of experiences with activities of daily living, and (3) to engage with other clinicians and researchers based on objective data. A major limitation is the lack of contextual data, which is needed by therapists to discern how movement data visualized on the dashboard relate to activities of daily living. Conclusions Upper limb information captured through wearable devices provides novel insights for therapists and helps to engage patients and other clinicians in therapy. Consideration needs to be given to the collection and visualization of contextual information to provide meaningful insights into patient engagement in activities of daily living. These findings open the door for further work to develop a fully functioning system and to trial it with patients and clinicians during therapy. PMID:28582257

A Model-Driven Visualization Tool for Use with Model-Based Systems Engineering Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trase, Kathryn; Fink, Eric

2014-01-01

Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) promotes increased consistency between a system's design and its design documentation through the use of an object-oriented system model. The creation of this system model facilitates data presentation by providing a mechanism from which information can be extracted by automated manipulation of model content. Existing MBSE tools enable model creation, but are often too complex for the unfamiliar model viewer to easily use. These tools do not yet provide many opportunities for easing into the development and use of a system model when system design documentation already exists. This study creates a Systems Modeling Language (SysML) Document Traceability Framework (SDTF) for integrating design documentation with a system model, and develops an Interactive Visualization Engine for SysML Tools (InVEST), that exports consistent, clear, and concise views of SysML model data. These exported views are each meaningful to a variety of project stakeholders with differing subjects of concern and depth of technical involvement. InVEST allows a model user to generate multiple views and reports from a MBSE model, including wiki pages and interactive visualizations of data. System data can also be filtered to present only the information relevant to the particular stakeholder, resulting in a view that is both consistent with the larger system model and other model views. Viewing the relationships between system artifacts and documentation, and filtering through data to see specialized views improves the value of the system as a whole, as data becomes information

Image/video understanding systems based on network-symbolic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuvich, Gary

2004-03-01

Vision is a part of a larger information system that converts visual information into knowledge structures. These structures drive vision process, resolve ambiguity and uncertainty via feedback projections, and provide image understanding that is an interpretation of visual information in terms of such knowledge models. Computer simulation models are built on the basis of graphs/networks. The ability of human brain to emulate similar graph/network models is found. Symbols, predicates and grammars naturally emerge in such networks, and logic is simply a way of restructuring such models. Brain analyzes an image as a graph-type relational structure created via multilevel hierarchical compression of visual information. Primary areas provide active fusion of image features on a spatial grid-like structure, where nodes are cortical columns. Spatial logic and topology naturally present in such structures. Mid-level vision processes like perceptual grouping, separation of figure from ground, are special kinds of network transformations. They convert primary image structure into the set of more abstract ones, which represent objects and visual scene, making them easy for analysis by higher-level knowledge structures. Higher-level vision phenomena are results of such analysis. Composition of network-symbolic models combines learning, classification, and analogy together with higher-level model-based reasoning into a single framework, and it works similar to frames and agents. Computational intelligence methods transform images into model-based knowledge representation. Based on such principles, an Image/Video Understanding system can convert images into the knowledge models, and resolve uncertainty and ambiguity. This allows creating intelligent computer vision systems for design and manufacturing.

Visual field information in Nap-of-the-Earth flight by teleoperated Helmet-Mounted displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grunwald, Arthur J.; Kohn, S.; Merhav, S. J.

1991-01-01

The human ability to derive Control-Oriented Visual Field Information from teleoperated Helmet-Mounted displays in Nap-of-the-Earth flight, is investigated. The visual field with these types of displays originates from a Forward Looking Infrared Radiation Camera, gimbal-mounted at the front of the aircraft and slaved to the pilot's line-of-sight, to obtain wide-angle visual coverage. Although these displays are proved to be effective in Apache and Cobra helicopter night operations, they demand very high pilot proficiency and work load. Experimental work presented in the paper has shown that part of the difficulties encountered in vehicular control by means of these displays can be attributed to the narrow viewing aperture and head/camera slaving system phase lags. Both these shortcomings will impair visuo-vestibular coordination, when voluntary head rotation is present. This might result in errors in estimating the Control-Oriented Visual Field Information vital in vehicular control, such as the vehicle yaw rate or the anticipated flight path, or might even lead to visuo-vestibular conflicts (motion sickness). Since, under these conditions, the pilot will tend to minimize head rotation, the full wide-angle coverage of the Helmet-Mounted Display, provided by the line-of-sight slaving system, is not always fully utilized.

Differential modulation of visual object processing in dorsal and ventral stream by stimulus visibility.

PubMed

Ludwig, Karin; Sterzer, Philipp; Kathmann, Norbert; Hesselmann, Guido

2016-10-01

As a functional organization principle in cortical visual information processing, the influential 'two visual systems' hypothesis proposes a division of labor between a dorsal "vision-for-action" and a ventral "vision-for-perception" stream. A core assumption of this model is that the two visual streams are differentially involved in visual awareness: ventral stream processing is closely linked to awareness while dorsal stream processing is not. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with human observers, we directly probed the stimulus-related information encoded in fMRI response patterns in both visual streams as a function of stimulus visibility. We parametrically modulated the visibility of face and tool stimuli by varying the contrasts of the masks in a continuous flash suppression (CFS) paradigm. We found that visibility - operationalized by objective and subjective measures - decreased proportionally with increasing log CFS mask contrast. Neuronally, this relationship was closely matched by ventral visual areas, showing a linear decrease of stimulus-related information with increasing mask contrast. Stimulus-related information in dorsal areas also showed a dependency on mask contrast, but the decrease rather followed a step function instead of a linear function. Together, our results suggest that both the ventral and the dorsal visual stream are linked to visual awareness, but neural activity in ventral areas more closely reflects graded differences in awareness compared to dorsal areas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brief report: the relationship between visual acuity, the embedded figures test and systemizing in autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Brosnan, Mark J; Gwilliam, Lucy R; Walker, Ian

2012-11-01

Enhanced performance upon the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has informed psychological theories of the non-social aspects that characterise ASD. The Extreme Male Brain theory of autism proposes that enhanced visual acuity underpins greater attention to detail (assessed by the EFT) which is a prerequisite for Systemizing. To date, however, no study has empirically examined these relationships. 13 males with ASD and 13 male controls were assessed upon tasks argued to reflect these levels of processing. The ASD group were found to have significantly greater visual acuity, EFT performance and Systemizing ability than the control group. However, regression analysis revealed that the strongest relationship was between visual acuity and EFT performance.

Stereo depth and the control of locomotive heading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rushton, Simon K.; Harris, Julie M.

1998-04-01

Does the addition of stereoscopic depth aid steering--the perceptual control of locomotor heading--around an environment? This is a critical question when designing a tele-operation or Virtual Environment system, with implications for computational resources and visual comfort. We examined the role of stereoscopic depth in the perceptual control of heading by employing an active steering task. Three conditions were tested: stereoscopic depth; incorrect stereoscopic depth and no stereoscopic depth. Results suggest that stereoscopic depth does not improve performance in a visual control task. A further set of experiments examined the importance of a ground plane. As a ground plane is a common feature of all natural environments and provides a pictorial depth cue, it has been suggested that the visual system may be especially attuned to exploit its presence. Thus it would be predicted that a ground plane would aid judgments of locomotor heading. Results suggest that the presence of rich motion information in the lower visual field produces significant performance advantages and that provision of such information may prove a better target for system resources than stereoscopic depth. These findings have practical consequences for a system designer and also challenge previous theoretical and psychophysical perceptual research.

VisIRR: A Visual Analytics System for Information Retrieval and Recommendation for Large-Scale Document Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Choo, Jaegul; Kim, Hannah; Clarkson, Edward

In this paper, we present an interactive visual information retrieval and recommendation system, called VisIRR, for large-scale document discovery. VisIRR effectively combines the paradigms of (1) a passive pull through query processes for retrieval and (2) an active push that recommends items of potential interest to users based on their preferences. Equipped with an efficient dynamic query interface against a large-scale corpus, VisIRR organizes the retrieved documents into high-level topics and visualizes them in a 2D space, representing the relationships among the topics along with their keyword summary. In addition, based on interactive personalized preference feedback with regard to documents,more » VisIRR provides document recommendations from the entire corpus, which are beyond the retrieved sets. Such recommended documents are visualized in the same space as the retrieved documents, so that users can seamlessly analyze both existing and newly recommended ones. This article presents novel computational methods, which make these integrated representations and fast interactions possible for a large-scale document corpus. We illustrate how the system works by providing detailed usage scenarios. Finally, we present preliminary user study results for evaluating the effectiveness of the system.« less

VisIRR: A Visual Analytics System for Information Retrieval and Recommendation for Large-Scale Document Data

DOE PAGES

Choo, Jaegul; Kim, Hannah; Clarkson, Edward; ...

2018-01-31

In this paper, we present an interactive visual information retrieval and recommendation system, called VisIRR, for large-scale document discovery. VisIRR effectively combines the paradigms of (1) a passive pull through query processes for retrieval and (2) an active push that recommends items of potential interest to users based on their preferences. Equipped with an efficient dynamic query interface against a large-scale corpus, VisIRR organizes the retrieved documents into high-level topics and visualizes them in a 2D space, representing the relationships among the topics along with their keyword summary. In addition, based on interactive personalized preference feedback with regard to documents,more » VisIRR provides document recommendations from the entire corpus, which are beyond the retrieved sets. Such recommended documents are visualized in the same space as the retrieved documents, so that users can seamlessly analyze both existing and newly recommended ones. This article presents novel computational methods, which make these integrated representations and fast interactions possible for a large-scale document corpus. We illustrate how the system works by providing detailed usage scenarios. Finally, we present preliminary user study results for evaluating the effectiveness of the system.« less

Aligning Where to See and What to Tell: Image Captioning with Region-Based Attention and Scene-Specific Contexts.

PubMed

Fu, Kun; Jin, Junqi; Cui, Runpeng; Sha, Fei; Zhang, Changshui

2017-12-01

Recent progress on automatic generation of image captions has shown that it is possible to describe the most salient information conveyed by images with accurate and meaningful sentences. In this paper, we propose an image captioning system that exploits the parallel structures between images and sentences. In our model, the process of generating the next word, given the previously generated ones, is aligned with the visual perception experience where the attention shifts among the visual regions-such transitions impose a thread of ordering in visual perception. This alignment characterizes the flow of latent meaning, which encodes what is semantically shared by both the visual scene and the text description. Our system also makes another novel modeling contribution by introducing scene-specific contexts that capture higher-level semantic information encoded in an image. The contexts adapt language models for word generation to specific scene types. We benchmark our system and contrast to published results on several popular datasets, using both automatic evaluation metrics and human evaluation. We show that either region-based attention or scene-specific contexts improves systems without those components. Furthermore, combining these two modeling ingredients attains the state-of-the-art performance.

Evaluation of in-vehicle HMI using occlusion techniques: experimental results and practical implications.

PubMed

Baumann, Martin; Keinath, Andreas; Krems, Josef F; Bengler, Klaus

2004-05-01

Despite the usefulness of new on-board information systems one has to be concerned about the potential distraction effects that they impose on the driver. Therefore, methods and procedures are necessary to assess the visual demand that is connected to the usage of an on-board system. The occlusion-method is considered a strong candidate as a procedure for evaluating display designs with regard to their visual demand. This paper reports results from two experimental studies conducted to further evaluate this method. In the first study, performance in using an in-car navigation system was measured under three conditions: static (parking lot), occlusion (shutter glasses), and driving. The results show that the occlusion-procedure can be used to simulate visual requirements of real traffic conditions. In a second study the occlusion method was compared to a global evaluation criterion based on the total task time. It can be demonstrated that the occlusion method can identify tasks which meet this criterion, but are yet irresolvable under driving conditions. It is concluded that the occlusion technique seems to be a reliable and valid method for evaluating visual and dialogue aspects of in-car information systems.

Acoustic-tactile rendering of visual information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Pubudu Madhawa; Pappas, Thrasyvoulos N.; Atkins, Joshua; West, James E.; Hartmann, William M.

2012-03-01

In previous work, we have proposed a dynamic, interactive system for conveying visual information via hearing and touch. The system is implemented with a touch screen that allows the user to interrogate a two-dimensional (2-D) object layout by active finger scanning while listening to spatialized auditory feedback. Sound is used as the primary source of information for object localization and identification, while touch is used both for pointing and for kinesthetic feedback. Our previous work considered shape and size perception of simple objects via hearing and touch. The focus of this paper is on the perception of a 2-D layout of simple objects with identical size and shape. We consider the selection and rendition of sounds for object identification and localization. We rely on the head-related transfer function for rendering sound directionality, and consider variations of sound intensity and tempo as two alternative approaches for rendering proximity. Subjective experiments with visually-blocked subjects are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. Our results indicate that intensity outperforms tempo as a proximity cue, and that the overall system for conveying a 2-D layout is quite promising.

Implications of Sustained and Transient Channels for Theories of Visual Pattern Masking, Saccadic Suppression, and Information Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breitmeyer, Bruno G.; Ganz, Leo

1976-01-01

This paper reviewed briefly the major types of masking effects obtained with various methods and the major theories or models that have been proposed to account for these effects, and outlined a three-mechanism model of visual pattern masking based on psychophysical and neurophysiological properties of the visual system. (Author/RK)

Data mining and visualization techniques

DOEpatents

Wong, Pak Chung [Richland, WA; Whitney, Paul [Richland, WA; Thomas, Jim [Richland, WA

2004-03-23

Disclosed are association rule identification and visualization methods, systems, and apparatus. An association rule in data mining is an implication of the form X.fwdarw.Y where X is a set of antecedent items and Y is the consequent item. A unique visualization technique that provides multiple antecedent, consequent, confidence, and support information is disclosed to facilitate better presentation of large quantities of complex association rules.

VID-R and SCAN: Tools and Methods for the Automated Analysis of Visual Records.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ekman, Paul; And Others

The VID-R (Visual Information Display and Retrieval) system that enables computer-aided analysis of visual records is composed of a film-to-television chain, two videotape recorders with complete remote control of functions, a video-disc recorder, three high-resolution television monitors, a teletype, a PDP-8, a video and audio interface, three…

Interactive Exploration of Cosmological Dark-Matter Simulation Data.

PubMed

Scherzinger, Aaron; Brix, Tobias; Drees, Dominik; Volker, Andreas; Radkov, Kiril; Santalidis, Niko; Fieguth, Alexander; Hinrichs, Klaus H

2017-01-01

The winning entry of the 2015 IEEE Scientific Visualization Contest, this article describes a visualization tool for cosmological data resulting from dark-matter simulations. The proposed system helps users explore all aspects of the data at once and receive more detailed information about structures of interest at any time. Moreover, novel methods for visualizing and interactively exploring dark-matter halo substructures are proposed.

Touch influences perceived gloss

PubMed Central

Adams, Wendy J.; Kerrigan, Iona S.; Graf, Erich W.

2016-01-01

Identifying an object’s material properties supports recognition and action planning: we grasp objects according to how heavy, hard or slippery we expect them to be. Visual cues to material qualities such as gloss have recently received attention, but how they interact with haptic (touch) information has been largely overlooked. Here, we show that touch modulates gloss perception: objects that feel slippery are perceived as glossier (more shiny).Participants explored virtual objects that varied in look and feel. A discrimination paradigm (Experiment 1) revealed that observers integrate visual gloss with haptic information. Observers could easily detect an increase in glossiness when it was paired with a decrease in friction. In contrast, increased glossiness coupled with decreased slipperiness produced a small perceptual change: the visual and haptic changes counteracted each other. Subjective ratings (Experiment 2) reflected a similar interaction – slippery objects were rated as glossier and vice versa. The sensory system treats visual gloss and haptic friction as correlated cues to surface material. Although friction is not a perfect predictor of gloss, the visual system appears to know and use a probabilistic relationship between these variables to bias perception – a sensible strategy given the ambiguity of visual clues to gloss. PMID:26915492

Optoelectronic aid for patients with severely restricted visual fields in daylight conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peláez-Coca, María Dolores; Sobrado-Calvo, Paloma; Vargas-Martín, Fernando

2011-11-01

In this study we evaluated the immediate effectiveness of an optoelectronic visual field expander in a sample of subjects with retinitis pigmentosa suffering from a severe peripheral visual field restriction. The aid uses the augmented view concept and provides subjects with visual information from outside their visual field. The tests were carried out in daylight conditions. The optoelectronic aid comprises a FPGA (real-time video processor), a wide-angle mini camera and a transparent see-through head-mounted display. This optoelectronic aid is called SERBA (Sistema Electro-óptico Reconfigurable de Ayuda para Baja Visión). We previously showed that, without compromising residual vision, the SERBA system provides information about objects within an area about three times greater on average than the remaining visual field of the subjects [1]. In this paper we address the effects of the device on mobility under daylight conditions with and without SERBA. The participants were six subjects with retinitis pigmentosa. In this mobility test, better results were obtained when subjects were wearing the SERBA system; specifically, both the number of contacts with low-level obstacles and mobility errors decreased significantly. A longer training period with the device might improve its usefulness.

Solid object visualization of 3D ultrasound data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, Thomas R.; Bailey, Michael J.

2000-04-01

Visualization of volumetric medical data is challenging. Rapid-prototyping (RP) equipment producing solid object prototype models of computer generated structures is directly applicable to visualization of medical anatomic data. The purpose of this study was to develop methods for transferring 3D Ultrasound (3DUS) data to RP equipment for visualization of patient anatomy. 3DUS data were acquired using research and clinical scanning systems. Scaling information was preserved and the data were segmented using threshold and local operators to extract features of interest, converted from voxel raster coordinate format to a set of polygons representing an iso-surface and transferred to the RP machine to create a solid 3D object. Fabrication required 30 to 60 minutes depending on object size and complexity. After creation the model could be touched and viewed. A '3D visualization hardcopy device' has advantages for conveying spatial relations compared to visualization using computer display systems. The hardcopy model may be used for teaching or therapy planning. Objects may be produced at the exact dimension of the original object or scaled up (or down) to facilitate matching the viewers reference frame more optimally. RP models represent a useful means of communicating important information in a tangible fashion to patients and physicians.

An Indoor Navigation System for the Visually Impaired

PubMed Central

Guerrero, Luis A.; Vasquez, Francisco; Ochoa, Sergio F.

2012-01-01

Navigation in indoor environments is highly challenging for the severely visually impaired, particularly in spaces visited for the first time. Several solutions have been proposed to deal with this challenge. Although some of them have shown to be useful in real scenarios, they involve an important deployment effort or use artifacts that are not natural for blind users. This paper presents an indoor navigation system that was designed taking into consideration usability as the quality requirement to be maximized. This solution enables one to identify the position of a person and calculates the velocity and direction of his movements. Using this information, the system determines the user's trajectory, locates possible obstacles in that route, and offers navigation information to the user. The solution has been evaluated using two experimental scenarios. Although the results are still not enough to provide strong conclusions, they indicate that the system is suitable to guide visually impaired people through an unknown built environment. PMID:22969398

Content-based Music Search and Recommendation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takegawa, Kazuki; Hijikata, Yoshinori; Nishida, Shogo

Recently, the turn volume of music data on the Internet has increased rapidly. This has increased the user's cost to find music data suiting their preference from such a large data set. We propose a content-based music search and recommendation system. This system has an interface for searching and finding music data and an interface for editing a user profile which is necessary for music recommendation. By exploiting the visualization of the feature space of music and the visualization of the user profile, the user can search music data and edit the user profile. Furthermore, by exploiting the infomation which can be acquired from each visualized object in a mutually complementary manner, we make it easier for the user to search music data and edit the user profile. Concretely, the system gives to the user an information obtained from the user profile when searching music data and an information obtained from the feature space of music when editing the user profile.

Audio-Visual Situational Awareness for General Aviation Pilots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spirkovska, Lilly; Lodha, Suresh K.; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Weather is one of the major causes of general aviation accidents. Researchers are addressing this problem from various perspectives including improving meteorological forecasting techniques, collecting additional weather data automatically via on-board sensors and "flight" modems, and improving weather data dissemination and presentation. We approach the problem from the improved presentation perspective and propose weather visualization and interaction methods tailored for general aviation pilots. Our system, Aviation Weather Data Visualization Environment (AWE), utilizes information visualization techniques, a direct manipulation graphical interface, and a speech-based interface to improve a pilot's situational awareness of relevant weather data. The system design is based on a user study and feedback from pilots.

Visual/motion cue mismatch in a coordinated roll maneuver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shirachi, D. K.; Shirley, R. S.

1981-01-01

The effects of bandwidth differences between visual and motion cueing systems on pilot performance for a coordinated roll task were investigated. Visual and motion cue configurations which were acceptable and the effects of reduced motion cue scaling on pilot performance were studied to determine the scale reduction threshold for which pilot performance was significantly different from full scale pilot performance. It is concluded that: (1) the presence or absence of high frequency error information in the visual and/or motion display systems significantly affects pilot performance; and (2) the attenuation of motion scaling while maintaining other display dynamic characteristics constant, affects pilot performance.

An Active System for Visually-Guided Reaching in 3D across Binocular Fixations

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Based on the importance of relative disparity between objects for accurate hand-eye coordination, this paper presents a biological approach inspired by the cortical neural architecture. So, the motor information is coded in egocentric coordinates obtained from the allocentric representation of the space (in terms of disparity) generated from the egocentric representation of the visual information (image coordinates). In that way, the different aspects of the visuomotor coordination are integrated: an active vision system, composed of two vergent cameras; a module for the 2D binocular disparity estimation based on a local estimation of phase differences performed through a bank of Gabor filters; and a robotic actuator to perform the corresponding tasks (visually-guided reaching). The approach's performance is evaluated through experiments on both simulated and real data. PMID:24672295

Crossmodal association of auditory and visual material properties in infants.

PubMed

Ujiie, Yuta; Yamashita, Wakayo; Fujisaki, Waka; Kanazawa, So; Yamaguchi, Masami K

2018-06-18

The human perceptual system enables us to extract visual properties of an object's material from auditory information. In monkeys, the neural basis underlying such multisensory association develops through experience of exposure to a material; material information could be processed in the posterior inferior temporal cortex, progressively from the high-order visual areas. In humans, however, the development of this neural representation remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated for the first time the presence of a mapping of the auditory material property with visual material ("Metal" and "Wood") in the right temporal region in preverbal 4- to 8-month-old infants, using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Furthermore, we found that infants acquired the audio-visual mapping for a property of the "Metal" material later than for the "Wood" material, since infants form the visual property of "Metal" material after approximately 6 months of age. These findings indicate that multisensory processing of material information induces the activation of brain areas related to sound symbolism. Our findings also indicate that the material's familiarity might facilitate the development of multisensory processing during the first year of life.

Novel Scientific Visualization Interfaces for Interactive Information Visualization and Sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.

2012-12-01

As geoscientists are confronted with increasingly massive datasets from environmental observations to simulations, one of the biggest challenges is having the right tools to gain scientific insight from the data and communicate the understanding to stakeholders. Recent developments in web technologies make it easy to manage, visualize and share large data sets with general public. Novel visualization techniques and dynamic user interfaces allow users to interact with data, and modify the parameters to create custom views of the data to gain insight from simulations and environmental observations. This requires developing new data models and intelligent knowledge discovery techniques to explore and extract information from complex computational simulations or large data repositories. Scientific visualization will be an increasingly important component to build comprehensive environmental information platforms. This presentation provides an overview of the trends and challenges in the field of scientific visualization, and demonstrates information visualization and communication tools in the Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS), developed within the light of these challenges. The IFIS is a web-based platform developed by the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) to provide access to and visualization of flood inundation maps, real-time flood conditions, flood forecasts both short-term and seasonal, and other flood-related data for communities in Iowa. The key element of the system's architecture is the notion of community. Locations of the communities, those near streams and rivers, define basin boundaries. The IFIS provides community-centric watershed and river characteristics, weather (rainfall) conditions, and streamflow data and visualization tools. Interactive interfaces allow access to inundation maps for different stage and return period values, and flooding scenarios with contributions from multiple rivers. Real-time and historical data of water levels, gauge heights, and rainfall conditions are available in the IFIS. 2D and 3D interactive visualizations in the IFIS make the data more understandable to general public. Users are able to filter data sources for their communities and selected rivers. The data and information on IFIS is also accessible through web services and mobile applications. The IFIS is optimized for various browsers and screen sizes to provide access through multiple platforms including tablets and mobile devices. Multiple view modes in the IFIS accommodate different user types from general public to researchers and decision makers by providing different level of tools and details. River view mode allows users to visualize data from multiple IFC bridge sensors and USGS stream gauges to follow flooding condition along a river. The IFIS will help communities make better-informed decisions on the occurrence of floods, and will alert communities in advance to help minimize damage of floods.

Change blindness and visual memory: visual representations get rich and act poor.

PubMed

Varakin, D Alexander; Levin, Daniel T

2006-02-01

Change blindness is often taken as evidence that visual representations are impoverished, while successful recognition of specific objects is taken as evidence that they are richly detailed. In the current experiments, participants performed cover tasks that required each object in a display to be attended. Change detection trials were unexpectedly introduced and surprise recognition tests were given for nonchanging displays. For both change detection and recognition, participants had to distinguish objects from the same basic-level category, making it likely that specific visual information had to be used for successful performance. Although recognition was above chance, incidental change detection usually remained at floor. These results help reconcile demonstrations of poor change detection with demonstrations of good memory because they suggest that the capability to store visual information in memory is not reflected by the visual system's tendency to utilize these representations for purposes of detecting unexpected changes.

Computer systems and methods for the query and visualization of multidimensional databases

DOEpatents

Stolte, Chris; Tang, Diane L; Hanrahan, Patrick

2015-03-03

A computer displays a graphical user interface on its display. The graphical user interface includes a schema information region and a data visualization region. The schema information region includes multiple operand names, each operand corresponding to one or more fields of a multi-dimensional database that includes at least one data hierarchy. The data visualization region includes a columns shelf and a rows shelf. The computer detects user actions to associate one or more first operands with the columns shelf and to associate one or more second operands with the rows shelf. The computer generates a visual table in the data visualization region in accordance with the user actions. The visual table includes one or more panes. Each pane has an x-axis defined based on data for the one or more first operands, and each pane has a y-axis defined based on data for the one or more second operands.

Storage of features, conjunctions and objects in visual working memory.

PubMed

Vogel, E K; Woodman, G F; Luck, S J

2001-02-01

Working memory can be divided into separate subsystems for verbal and visual information. Although the verbal system has been well characterized, the storage capacity of visual working memory has not yet been established for simple features or for conjunctions of features. The authors demonstrate that it is possible to retain information about only 3-4 colors or orientations in visual working memory at one time. Observers are also able to retain both the color and the orientation of 3-4 objects, indicating that visual working memory stores integrated objects rather than individual features. Indeed, objects defined by a conjunction of four features can be retained in working memory just as well as single-feature objects, allowing many individual features to be retained when distributed across a small number of objects. Thus, the capacity of visual working memory must be understood in terms of integrated objects rather than individual features.

Computer systems and methods for the query and visualization of multidimensional databases

DOEpatents

Stolte, Chris; Tang, Diane L.; Hanrahan, Patrick

2015-11-10

A computer displays a graphical user interface on its display. The graphical user interface includes a schema information region and a data visualization region. The schema information region includes a plurality of fields of a multi-dimensional database that includes at least one data hierarchy. The data visualization region includes a columns shelf and a rows shelf. The computer detects user actions to associate one or more first fields with the columns shelf and to associate one or more second fields with the rows shelf. The computer generates a visual table in the data visualization region in accordance with the user actions. The visual table includes one or more panes. Each pane has an x-axis defined based on data for the one or more first fields, and each pane has a y-axis defined based on data for the one or more second fields.

Neuronal Representation of Ultraviolet Visual Stimuli in Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

PubMed Central

Tan, Zhongchao; Sun, Wenzhi; Chen, Tsai-Wen; Kim, Douglas; Ji, Na

2015-01-01

The mouse has become an important model for understanding the neural basis of visual perception. Although it has long been known that mouse lens transmits ultraviolet (UV) light and mouse opsins have absorption in the UV band, little is known about how UV visual information is processed in the mouse brain. Using a custom UV stimulation system and in vivo calcium imaging, we characterized the feature selectivity of layer 2/3 neurons in mouse primary visual cortex (V1). In adult mice, a comparable percentage of the neuronal population responds to UV and visible stimuli, with similar pattern selectivity and receptive field properties. In young mice, the orientation selectivity for UV stimuli increased steadily during development, but not direction selectivity. Our results suggest that, by expanding the spectral window through which the mouse can acquire visual information, UV sensitivity provides an important component for mouse vision. PMID:26219604

Dopaminergic and cholinergic modulations of visual-spatial attention and working memory: insights from molecular genetic research and implications for adult cognitive development.

PubMed

Störmer, Viola S; Passow, Susanne; Biesenack, Julia; Li, Shu-Chen

2012-05-01

Attention and working memory are fundamental for selecting and maintaining behaviorally relevant information. Not only do both processes closely intertwine at the cognitive level, but they implicate similar functional brain circuitries, namely the frontoparietal and the frontostriatal networks, which are innervated by cholinergic and dopaminergic pathways. Here we review the literature on cholinergic and dopaminergic modulations of visual-spatial attention and visual working memory processes to gain insights on aging-related changes in these processes. Some extant findings have suggested that the cholinergic system plays a role in the orienting of attention to enable the detection and discrimination of visual information, whereas the dopaminergic system has mainly been associated with working memory processes such as updating and stabilizing representations. However, since visual-spatial attention and working memory processes are not fully dissociable, there is also evidence of interacting cholinergic and dopaminergic modulations of both processes. We further review gene-cognition association studies that have shown that individual differences in visual-spatial attention and visual working memory are associated with acetylcholine- and dopamine-relevant genes. The efficiency of these 2 transmitter systems declines substantially during healthy aging. These declines, in part, contribute to age-related deficits in attention and working memory functions. We report novel data showing an effect of dopamine COMT gene on spatial updating processes in older but not in younger adults, indicating potential magnification of genetic effects in old age.

Research on the Design of Visually Impaired Interactive Accessibility in Large Urban Public Transport System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Weiru

2017-12-01

In medieval times, due to people’s reliance on belief, public space of Christianity came into being. With the rise of secularization, religion gradually turned into private belief, and accordingly public space returned to private space. In the 21st century, due to people’s reliance on intelligent devices, information-interactive public space emerges, and as information interaction is constantly constraining the visually impaired, public space regressed to the exclusive space of limited people[1]. Modernity is marked by technical rationality, but an ensuing basic problem lies in the separation between human action, ethics and public space. When technology fails to overcome obstacles for a particular group, the gap between the burgeoning intelligent phenomena and the increasing ratio of visually impaired is also expanding, ultimately resulting in a growing number of “blind spots” in information-interactive space. Technological innovation not only promotes the development of the information industry, but also promotes the rapid development of the transportation industry. Traffic patterns are diversifying and diverging nowadays, but it’s a fatal blow for people with visually disabilities, Because they still can only experience the most traditional mode of transportation, sometimes even not go out. How to guarantee their interactive accessibility in large urban public transport system right, currently, is a very important research direction.

Brain functional network connectivity based on a visual task: visual information processing-related brain regions are significantly activated in the task state.

PubMed

Yang, Yan-Li; Deng, Hong-Xia; Xing, Gui-Yang; Xia, Xiao-Luan; Li, Hai-Fang

2015-02-01

It is not clear whether the method used in functional brain-network related research can be applied to explore the feature binding mechanism of visual perception. In this study, we investigated feature binding of color and shape in visual perception. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected from 38 healthy volunteers at rest and while performing a visual perception task to construct brain networks active during resting and task states. Results showed that brain regions involved in visual information processing were obviously activated during the task. The components were partitioned using a greedy algorithm, indicating the visual network existed during the resting state. Z-values in the vision-related brain regions were calculated, confirming the dynamic balance of the brain network. Connectivity between brain regions was determined, and the result showed that occipital and lingual gyri were stable brain regions in the visual system network, the parietal lobe played a very important role in the binding process of color features and shape features, and the fusiform and inferior temporal gyri were crucial for processing color and shape information. Experimental findings indicate that understanding visual feature binding and cognitive processes will help establish computational models of vision, improve image recognition technology, and provide a new theoretical mechanism for feature binding in visual perception.

RGB-D SLAM Combining Visual Odometry and Extended Information Filter

PubMed Central

Zhang, Heng; Liu, Yanli; Tan, Jindong; Xiong, Naixue

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present a novel RGB-D SLAM system based on visual odometry and an extended information filter, which does not require any other sensors or odometry. In contrast to the graph optimization approaches, this is more suitable for online applications. A visual dead reckoning algorithm based on visual residuals is devised, which is used to estimate motion control input. In addition, we use a novel descriptor called binary robust appearance and normals descriptor (BRAND) to extract features from the RGB-D frame and use them as landmarks. Furthermore, considering both the 3D positions and the BRAND descriptors of the landmarks, our observation model avoids explicit data association between the observations and the map by marginalizing the observation likelihood over all possible associations. Experimental validation is provided, which compares the proposed RGB-D SLAM algorithm with just RGB-D visual odometry and a graph-based RGB-D SLAM algorithm using the publicly-available RGB-D dataset. The results of the experiments demonstrate that our system is quicker than the graph-based RGB-D SLAM algorithm. PMID:26263990

Vision for navigation: What can we learn from ants?

PubMed

Graham, Paul; Philippides, Andrew

2017-09-01

The visual systems of all animals are used to provide information that can guide behaviour. In some cases insects demonstrate particularly impressive visually-guided behaviour and then we might reasonably ask how the low-resolution vision and limited neural resources of insects are tuned to particular behavioural strategies. Such questions are of interest to both biologists and to engineers seeking to emulate insect-level performance with lightweight hardware. One behaviour that insects share with many animals is the use of learnt visual information for navigation. Desert ants, in particular, are expert visual navigators. Across their foraging life, ants can learn long idiosyncratic foraging routes. What's more, these routes are learnt quickly and the visual cues that define them can be implemented for guidance independently of other social or personal information. Here we review the style of visual navigation in solitary foraging ants and consider the physiological mechanisms that underpin it. Our perspective is to consider that robust navigation comes from the optimal interaction between behavioural strategy, visual mechanisms and neural hardware. We consider each of these in turn, highlighting the value of ant-like mechanisms in biomimetic endeavours. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced in Visualization of 3D Time-Dependent CFD Solutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lane, David A.; Lasinski, T. A. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

Numerical simulations of complex 3D time-dependent (unsteady) flows are becoming increasingly feasible because of the progress in computing systems. Unfortunately, many existing flow visualization systems were developed for time-independent (steady) solutions and do not adequately depict solutions from unsteady flow simulations. Furthermore, most systems only handle one time step of the solutions individually and do not consider the time-dependent nature of the solutions. For example, instantaneous streamlines are computed by tracking the particles using one time step of the solution. However, for streaklines and timelines, particles need to be tracked through all time steps. Streaklines can reveal quite different information about the flow than those revealed by instantaneous streamlines. Comparisons of instantaneous streamlines with dynamic streaklines are shown. For a complex 3D flow simulation, it is common to generate a grid system with several millions of grid points and to have tens of thousands of time steps. The disk requirement for storing the flow data can easily be tens of gigabytes. Visualizing solutions of this magnitude is a challenging problem with today's computer hardware technology. Even interactive visualization of one time step of the flow data can be a problem for some existing flow visualization systems because of the size of the grid. Current approaches for visualizing complex 3D time-dependent CFD solutions are described. The flow visualization system developed at NASA Ames Research Center to compute time-dependent particle traces from unsteady CFD solutions is described. The system computes particle traces (streaklines) by integrating through the time steps. This system has been used by several NASA scientists to visualize their CFD time-dependent solutions. The flow visualization capabilities of this system are described, and visualization results are shown.

Neural Pathways Conveying Novisual Information to the Visual Cortex

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

The visual cortex has been traditionally considered as a stimulus-driven, unimodal system with a hierarchical organization. However, recent animal and human studies have shown that the visual cortex responds to non-visual stimuli, especially in individuals with visual deprivation congenitally, indicating the supramodal nature of the functional representation in the visual cortex. To understand the neural substrates of the cross-modal processing of the non-visual signals in the visual cortex, we firstly showed the supramodal nature of the visual cortex. We then reviewed how the nonvisual signals reach the visual cortex. Moreover, we discussed if these non-visual pathways are reshaped by early visual deprivation. Finally, the open question about the nature (stimulus-driven or top-down) of non-visual signals is also discussed. PMID:23840972

Visuomotor Transformation in the Fly Gaze Stabilization System

PubMed Central

Huston, Stephen J; Krapp, Holger G

2008-01-01

For sensory signals to control an animal's behavior, they must first be transformed into a format appropriate for use by its motor systems. This fundamental problem is faced by all animals, including humans. Beyond simple reflexes, little is known about how such sensorimotor transformations take place. Here we describe how the outputs of a well-characterized population of fly visual interneurons, lobula plate tangential cells (LPTCs), are used by the animal's gaze-stabilizing neck motor system. The LPTCs respond to visual input arising from both self-rotations and translations of the fly. The neck motor system however is involved in gaze stabilization and thus mainly controls compensatory head rotations. We investigated how the neck motor system is able to selectively extract rotation information from the mixed responses of the LPTCs. We recorded extracellularly from fly neck motor neurons (NMNs) and mapped the directional preferences across their extended visual receptive fields. Our results suggest that—like the tangential cells—NMNs are tuned to panoramic retinal image shifts, or optic flow fields, which occur when the fly rotates about particular body axes. In many cases, tangential cells and motor neurons appear to be tuned to similar axes of rotation, resulting in a correlation between the coordinate systems the two neural populations employ. However, in contrast to the primarily monocular receptive fields of the tangential cells, most NMNs are sensitive to visual motion presented to either eye. This results in the NMNs being more selective for rotation than the LPTCs. Thus, the neck motor system increases its rotation selectivity by a comparatively simple mechanism: the integration of binocular visual motion information. PMID:18651791

Designing visual displays and system models for safe reactor operations based on the user`s perspective of the system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown-VanHoozer, S.A.

Most designers are not schooled in the area of human-interaction psychology and therefore tend to rely on the traditional ergonomic aspects of human factors when designing complex human-interactive workstations related to reactor operations. They do not take into account the differences in user information processing behavior and how these behaviors may affect individual and team performance when accessing visual displays or utilizing system models in process and control room areas. Unfortunately, by ignoring the importance of the integration of the user interface at the information process level, the result can be sub-optimization and inherently error- and failure-prone systems. Therefore, tomore » minimize or eliminate failures in human-interactive systems, it is essential that the designers understand how each user`s processing characteristics affects how the user gathers information, and how the user communicates the information to the designer and other users. A different type of approach in achieving this understanding is Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The material presented in this paper is based on two studies involving the design of visual displays, NLP, and the user`s perspective model of a reactor system. The studies involve the methodology known as NLP, and its use in expanding design choices from the user`s ``model of the world,`` in the areas of virtual reality, workstation design, team structure, decision and learning style patterns, safety operations, pattern recognition, and much, much more.« less

SocialMood: an information visualization tool to measure the mood of the people in social networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amorim, Guilherme; Franco, Roberto; Moraes, Rodolfo; Figueiredo, Bruno; Miranda, João.; Dobrões, José; Afonso, Ricardo; Meiguins, Bianchi

2013-12-01

Based on the arena of social networks, the tool developed in this study aims to identify trends mood among undergraduate students. Combining the methodology Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM), which originated in the field of Psychology, the system filters the content provided on the Web and isolates certain words, establishing a range of values as perceived positive, negative or neutral. A Big Data summarizing the results, assisting in the construction and visualization of behavioral profiles generic, so we have a guideline for the development of information visualization tools for social networks.

Welcome to health information science and systems.

PubMed

Zhang, Yanchun

2013-01-01

Health Information Science and Systems is an exciting, new, multidisciplinary journal that aims to use technologies in computer science to assist in disease diagnoses, treatment, prediction and monitoring through the modeling, design, development, visualization, integration and management of health related information. These computer-science technologies include such as information systems, web technologies, data mining, image processing, user interaction and interface, sensors and wireless networking and are applicable to a wide range of health related information including medical data, biomedical data, bioinformatics data, public health data.

JUICE: a data management system that facilitates the analysis of large volumes of information in an EST project workflow.

PubMed

Latorre, Mariano; Silva, Herman; Saba, Juan; Guziolowski, Carito; Vizoso, Paula; Martinez, Veronica; Maldonado, Jonathan; Morales, Andrea; Caroca, Rodrigo; Cambiazo, Veronica; Campos-Vargas, Reinaldo; Gonzalez, Mauricio; Orellana, Ariel; Retamales, Julio; Meisel, Lee A

2006-11-23

Expressed sequence tag (EST) analyses provide a rapid and economical means to identify candidate genes that may be involved in a particular biological process. These ESTs are useful in many Functional Genomics studies. However, the large quantity and complexity of the data generated during an EST sequencing project can make the analysis of this information a daunting task. In an attempt to make this task friendlier, we have developed JUICE, an open source data management system (Apache + PHP + MySQL on Linux), which enables the user to easily upload, organize, visualize and search the different types of data generated in an EST project pipeline. In contrast to other systems, the JUICE data management system allows a branched pipeline to be established, modified and expanded, during the course of an EST project. The web interfaces and tools in JUICE enable the users to visualize the information in a graphical, user-friendly manner. The user may browse or search for sequences and/or sequence information within all the branches of the pipeline. The user can search using terms associated with the sequence name, annotation or other characteristics stored in JUICE and associated with sequences or sequence groups. Groups of sequences can be created by the user, stored in a clipboard and/or downloaded for further analyses. Different user profiles restrict the access of each user depending upon their role in the project. The user may have access exclusively to visualize sequence information, access to annotate sequences and sequence information, or administrative access. JUICE is an open source data management system that has been developed to aid users in organizing and analyzing the large amount of data generated in an EST Project workflow. JUICE has been used in one of the first functional genomics projects in Chile, entitled "Functional Genomics in nectarines: Platform to potentiate the competitiveness of Chile in fruit exportation". However, due to its ability to organize and visualize data from external pipelines, JUICE is a flexible data management system that should be useful for other EST/Genome projects. The JUICE data management system is released under the Open Source GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). JUICE may be downloaded from http://genoma.unab.cl/juice_system/ or http://www.genomavegetal.cl/juice_system/.

Cognitive programs: software for attention's executive

PubMed Central

Tsotsos, John K.; Kruijne, Wouter

2014-01-01

What are the computational tasks that an executive controller for visual attention must solve? This question is posed in the context of the Selective Tuning model of attention. The range of required computations go beyond top-down bias signals or region-of-interest determinations, and must deal with overt and covert fixations, process timing and synchronization, information routing, memory, matching control to task, spatial localization, priming, and coordination of bottom-up with top-down information. During task execution, results must be monitored to ensure the expected results. This description includes the kinds of elements that are common in the control of any kind of complex machine or system. We seek a mechanistic integration of the above, in other words, algorithms that accomplish control. Such algorithms operate on representations, transforming a representation of one kind into another, which then forms the input to yet another algorithm. Cognitive Programs (CPs) are hypothesized to capture exactly such representational transformations via stepwise sequences of operations. CPs, an updated and modernized offspring of Ullman's Visual Routines, impose an algorithmic structure to the set of attentional functions and play a role in the overall shaping of attentional modulation of the visual system so that it provides its best performance. This requires that we consider the visual system as a dynamic, yet general-purpose processor tuned to the task and input of the moment. This differs dramatically from the almost universal cognitive and computational views, which regard vision as a passively observing module to which simple questions about percepts can be posed, regardless of task. Differing from Visual Routines, CPs explicitly involve the critical elements of Visual Task Executive (vTE), Visual Attention Executive (vAE), and Visual Working Memory (vWM). Cognitive Programs provide the software that directs the actions of the Selective Tuning model of visual attention. PMID:25505430

[Development and application of information management system for advanced schistosomiasis chemotherapy and assistance in Jiangxi Province].

PubMed

Mao, Yuan-Hua; Li, Dong; Ning, An; Qiu, Ling; Xiong, Ji-Jie

2011-04-01

To develop the information management system for advanced schistosomiasis chemotherapy and assistance in Jiangxi Province. Based on Access 2003, the system was programmed by Visual Basic 6.0 and packaged by Setup Factory 8.0. In the system, advanced schistosomiasis data were able to be input, printed, indexed, and statistically analyzed. The system could be operated and maintained easily and timely. The information management system for advanced schistosomiasis chemotherapy and assistance in Jiangxi Province is successfully developed.

Beyond the cockpit: The visual world as a flight instrument

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, W. W.; Kaiser, M. K.; Foyle, D. C.

1992-01-01

The use of cockpit instruments to guide flight control is not always an option (e.g., low level rotorcraft flight). Under such circumstances the pilot must use out-the-window information for control and navigation. Thus it is important to determine the basis of visually guided flight for several reasons: (1) to guide the design and construction of the visual displays used in training simulators; (2) to allow modeling of visibility restrictions brought about by weather, cockpit constraints, or distortions introduced by sensor systems; and (3) to aid in the development of displays that augment the cockpit window scene and are compatible with the pilot's visual extraction of information from the visual scene. The authors are actively pursuing these questions. We have on-going studies using both low-cost, lower fidelity flight simulators, and state-of-the-art helicopter simulation research facilities. Research results will be presented on: (1) the important visual scene information used in altitude and speed control; (2) the utility of monocular, stereo, and hyperstereo cues for the control of flight; (3) perceptual effects due to the differences between normal unaided daylight vision, and that made available by various night vision devices (e.g., light intensifying goggles and infra-red sensor displays); and (4) the utility of advanced contact displays in which instrument information is made part of the visual scene, as on a 'scene linked' head-up display (e.g., displaying altimeter information on a virtual billboard located on the ground).

Usability of stereoscopic view in teleoperation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boonsuk, Wutthigrai

2015-03-01

Recently, there are tremendous growths in the area of 3D stereoscopic visualization. The 3D stereoscopic visualization technology has been used in a growing number of consumer products such as the 3D televisions and the 3D glasses for gaming systems. This technology refers to the idea that human brain develops depth of perception by retrieving information from the two eyes. Our brain combines the left and right images on the retinas and extracts depth information. Therefore, viewing two video images taken at slightly distance apart as shown in Figure 1 can create illusion of depth [8]. Proponents of this technology argue that the stereo view of 3D visualization increases user immersion and performance as more information is gained through the 3D vision as compare to the 2D view. However, it is still uncertain if additional information gained from the 3D stereoscopic visualization can actually improve user performance in real world situations such as in the case of teleoperation.

[Automated anesthesia record system].

PubMed

Zhu, Tao; Liu, Jin

2005-12-01

Based on Client/Server architecture, a software of automated anesthesia record system running under Windows operation system and networks has been developed and programmed with Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, Visual Basic 6.0 and SQL Server. The system can deal with patient's information throughout the anesthesia. It can collect and integrate the data from several kinds of medical equipment such as monitor, infusion pump and anesthesia machine automatically and real-time. After that, the system presents the anesthesia sheets automatically. The record system makes the anesthesia record more accurate and integral and can raise the anesthesiologist's working efficiency.

Synthesis maps: visual knowledge translation for the CanIMPACT clinical system and patient cancer journeys.

PubMed

Jones, P H; Shakdher, S; Singh, P

2017-04-01

Salient findings and interpretations from the canimpact clinical cancer research study are visually represented in two synthesis maps for the purpose of communicating an integrated presentation of the study to clinical cancer researchers and policymakers. Synthesis maps integrate evidence and expertise into a visual narrative for knowledge translation and communication. A clinical system synthesis map represents the current Canadian primary care and cancer practice systems, proposed as a visual knowledge translation from the mixed-methods canimpact study to inform Canadian clinical research, policy, and practice discourses. Two synthesis maps, drawn together from multiple canimpact investigations and sources, were required to articulate critical differences between the clinical system and patient perspectives. The synthesis map of Canada-wide clinical cancer systems illustrates the relationships between primary care and the full cancer continuum. A patient-centred map was developed to represent the cancer (and primary care) journeys as experienced by breast and colorectal cancer patients.

Models of Speed Discrimination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The prime purpose of this project was to investigate various theoretical issues concerning the integration of information across visual space. To date, most of the research efforts in the study of the visual system seem to have been focused in two almost non-overlaping directions. One research focus has been the low level perception as studied by psychophysics. The other focus has been the study of high level vision exemplified by the study of object perception. Most of the effort in psychophysics has been devoted to the search for the fundamental "features" of perception. The general idea is that the most peripheral processes of the visual system decompose the input into features that are then used for classification and recognition. The experimental and theoretical focus has been on finding and describing these analyzers that decompose images into useful components. Various models are then compared to the physiological measurements performed on neurons in the sensory systems. In the study of higher level perception, the work has been focused on the representation of objects and on the connections between various physical effects and object perception. In this category we find the perception of 3D from a variety of physical measurements including motion, shading and other physical phenomena. With few exceptions, there seem to be very limited development of theories describing how the visual system might combine the output of the analyzers to form the representation of visual objects. Therefore, the processes underlying the integration of information over space represent critical aspects of vision system. The understanding of these processes will have implications on our expectations for the underlying physiological mechanisms, as well as for our models of the internal representation for visual percepts. In this project, we explored several mechanisms related to spatial summation, attention, and eye movements. The project comprised three components: 1. Modeling visual search for the detection of speed deviation. 2. Perception of moving objects. 3. Exploring the role of eye movements in various visual tasks.

A Spot Reminder System for the Visually Impaired Based on a Smartphone Camera

PubMed Central

Takizawa, Hotaka; Orita, Kazunori; Aoyagi, Mayumi; Ezaki, Nobuo; Mizuno, Shinji

2017-01-01

The present paper proposes a smartphone-camera-based system to assist visually impaired users in recalling their memories related to important locations, called spots, that they visited. The memories are recorded as voice memos, which can be played back when the users return to the spots. Spot-to-spot correspondence is determined by image matching based on the scale invariant feature transform. The main contribution of the proposed system is to allow visually impaired users to associate arbitrary voice memos with arbitrary spots. The users do not need any special devices or systems except smartphones and do not need to remember the spots where the voice memos were recorded. In addition, the proposed system can identify spots in environments that are inaccessible to the global positioning system. The proposed system has been evaluated by two experiments: image matching tests and a user study. The experimental results suggested the effectiveness of the system to help visually impaired individuals, including blind individuals, recall information about regularly-visited spots. PMID:28165403

A Spot Reminder System for the Visually Impaired Based on a Smartphone Camera.

PubMed

Takizawa, Hotaka; Orita, Kazunori; Aoyagi, Mayumi; Ezaki, Nobuo; Mizuno, Shinji

2017-02-04

The present paper proposes a smartphone-camera-based system to assist visually impaired users in recalling their memories related to important locations, called spots, that they visited. The memories are recorded as voice memos, which can be played back when the users return to the spots. Spot-to-spot correspondence is determined by image matching based on the scale invariant feature transform. The main contribution of the proposed system is to allow visually impaired users to associate arbitrary voice memos with arbitrary spots. The users do not need any special devices or systems except smartphones and do not need to remember the spots where the voice memos were recorded. In addition, the proposed system can identify spots in environments that are inaccessible to the global positioning system. The proposed system has been evaluated by two experiments: image matching tests and a user study. The experimental results suggested the effectiveness of the system to help visually impaired individuals, including blind individuals, recall information about regularly-visited spots.

Applied estimation for hybrid dynamical systems using perceptional information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plotnik, Aaron M.

This dissertation uses the motivating example of robotic tracking of mobile deep ocean animals to present innovations in robotic perception and estimation for hybrid dynamical systems. An approach to estimation for hybrid systems is presented that utilizes uncertain perceptional information about the system's mode to improve tracking of its mode and continuous states. This results in significant improvements in situations where previously reported methods of estimation for hybrid systems perform poorly due to poor distinguishability of the modes. The specific application that motivates this research is an automatic underwater robotic observation system that follows and films individual deep ocean animals. A first version of such a system has been developed jointly by the Stanford Aerospace Robotics Laboratory and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). This robotic observation system is successfully fielded on MBARI's ROVs, but agile specimens often evade the system. When a human ROV pilot performs this task, one advantage that he has over the robotic observation system in these situations is the ability to use visual perceptional information about the target, immediately recognizing any changes in the specimen's behavior mode. With the approach of the human pilot in mind, a new version of the robotic observation system is proposed which is extended to (a) derive perceptional information (visual cues) about the behavior mode of the tracked specimen, and (b) merge this dissimilar, discrete and uncertain information with more traditional continuous noisy sensor data by extending existing algorithms for hybrid estimation. These performance enhancements are enabled by integrating techniques in hybrid estimation, computer vision and machine learning. First, real-time computer vision and classification algorithms extract a visual observation of the target's behavior mode. Existing hybrid estimation algorithms are extended to admit this uncertain but discrete observation, complementing the information available from more traditional sensors. State tracking is achieved using a new form of Rao-Blackwellized particle filter called the mode-observed Gaussian Particle Filter. Performance is demonstrated using data from simulation and data collected on actual specimens in the ocean. The framework for estimation using both traditional and perceptional information is easily extensible to other stochastic hybrid systems with mode-related perceptional observations available.

Design and implementation of visualization methods for the CHANGES Spatial Decision Support System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cristal, Irina; van Westen, Cees; Bakker, Wim; Greiving, Stefan

2014-05-01

The CHANGES Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) is a web-based system aimed for risk assessment and the evaluation of optimal risk reduction alternatives at local level as a decision support tool in long-term natural risk management. The SDSS use multidimensional information, integrating thematic, spatial, temporal and documentary data. The role of visualization in this context becomes of vital importance for efficiently representing each dimension. This multidimensional aspect of the required for the system risk information, combined with the diversity of the end-users imposes the use of sophisticated visualization methods and tools. The key goal of the present work is to exploit efficiently the large amount of data in relation to the needs of the end-user, utilizing proper visualization techniques. Three main tasks have been accomplished for this purpose: categorization of the end-users, the definition of system's modules and the data definition. The graphical representation of the data and the visualization tools were designed to be relevant to the data type and the purpose of the analysis. Depending on the end-users category, each user should have access to different modules of the system and thus, to the proper visualization environment. The technologies used for the development of the visualization component combine the latest and most innovative open source JavaScript frameworks, such as OpenLayers 2.13.1, ExtJS 4 and GeoExt 2. Moreover, the model-view-controller (MVC) pattern is used in order to ensure flexibility of the system at the implementation level. Using the above technologies, the visualization techniques implemented so far offer interactive map navigation, querying and comparison tools. The map comparison tools are of great importance within the SDSS and include the following: swiping tool for comparison of different data of the same location; raster subtraction for comparison of the same phenomena varying in time; linked views for comparison of data from different locations and a time slider tool for monitoring changes in spatio-temporal data. All these techniques are part of the interactive interface of the system and make use of spatial and spatio-temporal data. Further significant aspects of the visualization component include conventional cartographic techniques and visualization of non-spatial data. The main expectation from the present work is to offer efficient visualization of risk-related data in order to facilitate the decision making process, which is the final purpose of the CHANGES SDSS. This work is part of the "CHANGES" project, funded by the European Community's 7th Framework Programme.

Integrating visual learning within a model-based ATR system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlotto, Mark; Nebrich, Mark

2017-05-01

Automatic target recognition (ATR) systems, like human photo-interpreters, rely on a variety of visual information for detecting, classifying, and identifying manmade objects in aerial imagery. We describe the integration of a visual learning component into the Image Data Conditioner (IDC) for target/clutter and other visual classification tasks. The component is based on an implementation of a model of the visual cortex developed by Serre, Wolf, and Poggio. Visual learning in an ATR context requires the ability to recognize objects independent of location, scale, and rotation. Our method uses IDC to extract, rotate, and scale image chips at candidate target locations. A bootstrap learning method effectively extends the operation of the classifier beyond the training set and provides a measure of confidence. We show how the classifier can be used to learn other features that are difficult to compute from imagery such as target direction, and to assess the performance of the visual learning process itself.

A novel visualization model for web search results.

PubMed

Nguyen, Tien N; Zhang, Jin

2006-01-01

This paper presents an interactive visualization system, named WebSearchViz, for visualizing the Web search results and acilitating users' navigation and exploration. The metaphor in our model is the solar system with its planets and asteroids revolving around the sun. Location, color, movement, and spatial distance of objects in the visual space are used to represent the semantic relationships between a query and relevant Web pages. Especially, the movement of objects and their speeds add a new dimension to the visual space, illustrating the degree of relevance among a query and Web search results in the context of users' subjects of interest. By interacting with the visual space, users are able to observe the semantic relevance between a query and a resulting Web page with respect to their subjects of interest, context information, or concern. Users' subjects of interest can be dynamically changed, redefined, added, or deleted from the visual space.

Water tunnel flow visualization using a laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beckner, C.; Curry, R. E.

1985-01-01

Laser systems for flow visualization in water tunnels (similar to the vapor screen technique used in wind tunnels) can provide two-dimensional cross-sectional views of complex flow fields. This parametric study documents the practical application of the laser-enhanced visualization (LEV) technique to water tunnel testing. Aspects of the study include laser power levels, flow seeding (using flourescent dyes and embedded particulates), model preparation, and photographic techniques. The results of this study are discussed to provide potential users with basic information to aid in the design and setup of an LEV system.

Difference in Visual Processing Assessed by Eye Vergence Movements

PubMed Central

Solé Puig, Maria; Puigcerver, Laura; Aznar-Casanova, J. Antonio; Supèr, Hans

2013-01-01

Orienting visual attention is closely linked to the oculomotor system. For example, a shift of attention is usually followed by a saccadic eye movement and can be revealed by micro saccades. Recently we reported a novel role of another type of eye movement, namely eye vergence, in orienting visual attention. Shifts in visuospatial attention are characterized by the response modulation to a selected target. However, unlike (micro-) saccades, eye vergence movements do not carry spatial information (except for depth) and are thus not specific to a particular visual location. To further understand the role of eye vergence in visual attention, we tested subjects with different perceptual styles. Perceptual style refers to the characteristic way individuals perceive environmental stimuli, and is characterized by a spatial difference (local vs. global) in perceptual processing. We tested field independent (local; FI) and field dependent (global; FD) observers in a cue/no-cue task and a matching task. We found that FI observers responded faster and had stronger modulation in eye vergence in both tasks than FD subjects. The results may suggest that eye vergence modulation may relate to the trade-off between the size of spatial region covered by attention and the processing efficiency of sensory information. Alternatively, vergence modulation may have a role in the switch in cortical state to prepare the visual system for new incoming sensory information. In conclusion, vergence eye movements may be added to the growing list of functions of fixational eye movements in visual perception. However, further studies are needed to elucidate its role. PMID:24069140

Information-Driven Active Audio-Visual Source Localization

PubMed Central

Schult, Niclas; Reineking, Thomas; Kluss, Thorsten; Zetzsche, Christoph

2015-01-01

We present a system for sensorimotor audio-visual source localization on a mobile robot. We utilize a particle filter for the combination of audio-visual information and for the temporal integration of consecutive measurements. Although the system only measures the current direction of the source, the position of the source can be estimated because the robot is able to move and can therefore obtain measurements from different directions. These actions by the robot successively reduce uncertainty about the source’s position. An information gain mechanism is used for selecting the most informative actions in order to minimize the number of actions required to achieve accurate and precise position estimates in azimuth and distance. We show that this mechanism is an efficient solution to the action selection problem for source localization, and that it is able to produce precise position estimates despite simplified unisensory preprocessing. Because of the robot’s mobility, this approach is suitable for use in complex and cluttered environments. We present qualitative and quantitative results of the system’s performance and discuss possible areas of application. PMID:26327619

Vision System Measures Motions of Robot and External Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Talukder, Ashit; Matthies, Larry

2008-01-01

A prototype of an advanced robotic vision system both (1) measures its own motion with respect to a stationary background and (2) detects other moving objects and estimates their motions, all by use of visual cues. Like some prior robotic and other optoelectronic vision systems, this system is based partly on concepts of optical flow and visual odometry. Whereas prior optoelectronic visual-odometry systems have been limited to frame rates of no more than 1 Hz, a visual-odometry subsystem that is part of this system operates at a frame rate of 60 to 200 Hz, given optical-flow estimates. The overall system operates at an effective frame rate of 12 Hz. Moreover, unlike prior machine-vision systems for detecting motions of external objects, this system need not remain stationary: it can detect such motions while it is moving (even vibrating). The system includes a stereoscopic pair of cameras mounted on a moving robot. The outputs of the cameras are digitized, then processed to extract positions and velocities. The initial image-data-processing functions of this system are the same as those of some prior systems: Stereoscopy is used to compute three-dimensional (3D) positions for all pixels in the camera images. For each pixel of each image, optical flow between successive image frames is used to compute the two-dimensional (2D) apparent relative translational motion of the point transverse to the line of sight of the camera. The challenge in designing this system was to provide for utilization of the 3D information from stereoscopy in conjunction with the 2D information from optical flow to distinguish between motion of the camera pair and motions of external objects, compute the motion of the camera pair in all six degrees of translational and rotational freedom, and robustly estimate the motions of external objects, all in real time. To meet this challenge, the system is designed to perform the following image-data-processing functions: The visual-odometry subsystem (the subsystem that estimates the motion of the camera pair relative to the stationary background) utilizes the 3D information from stereoscopy and the 2D information from optical flow. It computes the relationship between the 3D and 2D motions and uses a least-mean-squares technique to estimate motion parameters. The least-mean-squares technique is suitable for real-time implementation when the number of external-moving-object pixels is smaller than the number of stationary-background pixels.

Applications of aerospace technology in industry: A technology transfer profile. Visual display systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

The growth of common as well as emerging visual display technologies are surveyed. The major inference is that contemporary society is rapidly growing evermore reliant on visual display for a variety of purposes. Because of its unique mission requirements, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has contributed in an important and specific way to the growth of visual display technology. These contributions are characterized by the use of computer-driven visual displays to provide an enormous amount of information concisely, rapidly and accurately.

Driver Vision Based Perception-Response Time Prediction and Assistance Model on Mountain Highway Curve.

PubMed

Li, Yi; Chen, Yuren

2016-12-30

To make driving assistance system more humanized, this study focused on the prediction and assistance of drivers' perception-response time on mountain highway curves. Field tests were conducted to collect real-time driving data and driver vision information. A driver-vision lane model quantified curve elements in drivers' vision. A multinomial log-linear model was established to predict perception-response time with traffic/road environment information, driver-vision lane model, and mechanical status (last second). A corresponding assistance model showed a positive impact on drivers' perception-response times on mountain highway curves. Model results revealed that the driver-vision lane model and visual elements did have important influence on drivers' perception-response time. Compared with roadside passive road safety infrastructure, proper visual geometry design, timely visual guidance, and visual information integrality of a curve are significant factors for drivers' perception-response time.

Usability and Visual Communication for Southern California Tsunami Evacuation Information: The importance of information design in disaster risk management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaenichen, C.; Schandler, S.; Wells, M.; Danielsen, T.

2015-12-01

Evacuation behavior, including participation and response, is rarely an individual and isolated process and the outcomes are usually systemic. Ineffective evacuation information can easily attribute to delayed evacuation response. Delays increase demands on already extended emergency personal, increase the likelihood of traffic congestion, and can cause harm to self and property. From an information design perspective, addressing issues in cognitive recall and emergency psychology, this case study examines evacuation messaging including written, audio, and visual presentation of information, and describes the application of design principles and role of visual communication for Southern California tsunami evacuation outreach. The niche of this project is the inclusion of cognitive processing as the driving influence when making formal design decisions and measurable data from a 4-year cognitive recall study to support the solution. Image included shows a tsunami evacaution map before and after the redesign.

Learning and Prediction of Slip from Visual Information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Angelova, Anelia; Matthies, Larry; Helmick, Daniel; Perona, Pietro

2007-01-01

This paper presents an approach for slip prediction from a distance for wheeled ground robots using visual information as input. Large amounts of slippage which can occur on certain surfaces, such as sandy slopes, will negatively affect rover mobility. Therefore, obtaining information about slip before entering such terrain can be very useful for better planning and avoiding these areas. To address this problem, terrain appearance and geometry information about map cells are correlated to the slip measured by the rover while traversing each cell. This relationship is learned from previous experience, so slip can be predicted remotely from visual information only. The proposed method consists of terrain type recognition and nonlinear regression modeling. The method has been implemented and tested offline on several off-road terrains including: soil, sand, gravel, and woodchips. The final slip prediction error is about 20%. The system is intended for improved navigation on steep slopes and rough terrain for Mars rovers.

Image-Based Visual Servoing for Robotic Systems: A Nonlinear Lyapunov-Based Control Approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dixon, Warren

2004-06-01

There is significant motivation to provide robotic systems with improved autonomy as a means to significantly accelerate deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) operations while also reducing the associated costs, removing human operators from hazardous environments, and reducing the required burden and skill of human operators. To achieve improved autonomy, this project focused on the basic science challenges leading to the development of visual servo controllers. The challenge in developing these controllers is that a camera provides 2-dimensional image information about the 3-dimensional Euclidean-space through a perspective (range dependent) projection that can be corrupted by uncertainty in the camera calibration matrix andmore » by disturbances such as nonlinear radial distortion. Disturbances in this relationship (i.e., corruption in the sensor information) propagate erroneous information to the feedback controller of the robot, leading to potentially unpredictable task execution. This research project focused on the development of a visual servo control methodology that targets compensating for disturbances in the camera model (i.e., camera calibration and the recovery of range information) as a means to achieve predictable response by the robotic system operating in unstructured environments. The fundamental idea is to use nonlinear Lyapunov-based techniques along with photogrammetry methods to overcome the complex control issues and alleviate many of the restrictive assumptions that impact current robotic applications. The outcome of this control methodology is a plug-and-play visual servoing control module that can be utilized in conjunction with current technology such as feature recognition and extraction to enable robotic systems with the capabilities of increased accuracy, autonomy, and robustness, with a larger field of view (and hence a larger workspace). The developed methodology has been reported in numerous peer-reviewed publications and the performance and enabling capabilities of the resulting visual servo control modules have been demonstrated on mobile robot and robot manipulator platforms.« less

Human interface to large multimedia databases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Ben; Marks, Linn; Collins, Dave; Mack, Robert; Malkin, Peter; Nguyen, Tam

1994-04-01

The emergence of high-speed networking for multimedia will have the effect of turning the computer screen into a window on a very large information space. As this information space increases in size and complexity, providing users with easy and intuitive means of accessing information will become increasingly important. Providing access to large amounts of text has been the focus of work for hundreds of years and has resulted in the evolution of a set of standards, from the Dewey Decimal System for libraries to the recently proposed ANSI standards for representing information on-line: KIF, Knowledge Interchange Format, and CG's, Conceptual Graphs. Certain problems remain unsolved by these efforts, though: how to let users know the contents of the information space, so that they know whether or not they want to search it in the first place, how to facilitate browsing, and, more specifically, how to facilitate visual browsing. These issues are particularly important for users in educational contexts and have been the focus of much of our recent work. In this paper we discuss some of the solutions we have prototypes: specifically, visual means, visual browsers, and visual definitional sequences.

Information technology aided exploration of system design spaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feather, Martin S.; Kiper, James D.; Kalafat, Selcuk

2004-01-01

We report on a practical application of information technology techniques to aid system engineers effectively explore large design spaces. We make use of heuristic search, visualization and data mining, the combination of which we have implemented wtihin a risk management tool in use at JPL and NASA.

Combining Multiple Forms Of Visual Information To Specify Contact Relations In Spatial Layout

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sedgwick, Hal A.

1990-03-01

An expert system, called Layout2, has been described, which models a subset of available visual information for spatial layout. The system is used to examine detailed interactions between multiple, partially redundant forms of information in an environment-centered geometrical model of an environment obeying certain rather general constraints. This paper discusses the extension of Layout2 to include generalized contact relations between surfaces. In an environment-centered model, the representation of viewer-centered distance is replaced by the representation of environmental location. This location information is propagated through the representation of the environment by a network of contact relations between contiguous surfaces. Perspective information interacts with other forms of information to specify these contact relations. The experimental study of human perception of contact relations in extended spatial layouts is also discussed. Differences between human results and Layout2 results reveal limitations in the human ability to register available information; they also point to the existence of certain forms of information not yet formalized in Layout2.

Neurophysiological Estimates of Human Performance Capabilities in Aerospace Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-01-27

effects on the visual system (in lateral geniculate bodies and optic cortex) depending on the frequency of auditory stimulation. 27 SECTION VI...of spa- tial positions. Correct responses were rewarded with food. EEG activity was recorded in the hippocampus, hypothalamus and lateral geniculate ...movement or an object movement reduce transmission of visual information through the lateral geniculate nucleus. This may be a mechanism for saccadic

Iowa Flood Information System: Towards Integrated Data Management, Analysis and Visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.; Goska, R.; Mantilla, R.; Weber, L. J.; Young, N.

2012-04-01

The Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS) is a web-based platform developed by the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) to provide access to flood inundation maps, real-time flood conditions, flood forecasts both short-term and seasonal, flood-related data, information and interactive visualizations for communities in Iowa. The key element of the system's architecture is the notion of community. Locations of the communities, those near streams and rivers, define basin boundaries. The IFIS provides community-centric watershed and river characteristics, weather (rainfall) conditions, and streamflow data and visualization tools. Interactive interfaces allow access to inundation maps for different stage and return period values, and flooding scenarios with contributions from multiple rivers. Real-time and historical data of water levels, gauge heights, and rainfall conditions are available in the IFIS by streaming data from automated IFC bridge sensors, USGS stream gauges, NEXRAD radars, and NWS forecasts. Simple 2D and 3D interactive visualizations in the IFIS make the data more understandable to general public. Users are able to filter data sources for their communities and selected rivers. The data and information on IFIS is also accessible through web services and mobile applications. The IFIS is optimized for various browsers and screen sizes to provide access through multiple platforms including tablets and mobile devices. The IFIS includes a rainfall-runoff forecast model to provide a five-day flood risk estimate for around 500 communities in Iowa. Multiple view modes in the IFIS accommodate different user types from general public to researchers and decision makers by providing different level of tools and details. River view mode allows users to visualize data from multiple IFC bridge sensors and USGS stream gauges to follow flooding condition along a river. The IFIS will help communities make better-informed decisions on the occurrence of floods, and will alert communities in advance to help minimize damage of floods. This presentation provides an overview and live demonstration of the tools and interfaces in the IFIS developed to date to provide a platform for one-stop access to flood related data, visualizations, flood conditions, and forecast.

A visual metaphor describing neural dynamics in schizophrenia.

PubMed

van Beveren, Nico J M; de Haan, Lieuwe

2008-07-09

In many scientific disciplines the use of a metaphor as an heuristic aid is not uncommon. A well known example in somatic medicine is the 'defense army metaphor' used to characterize the immune system. In fact, probably a large part of the everyday work of doctors consists of 'translating' scientific and clinical information (i.e. causes of disease, percentage of success versus risk of side-effects) into information tailored to the needs and capacities of the individual patient. The ability to do so in an effective way is at least partly what makes a clinician a good communicator. Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder which affects approximately 1% of the population. Over the last two decades a large amount of molecular-biological, imaging and genetic data have been accumulated regarding the biological underpinnings of schizophrenia. However, it remains difficult to understand how the characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations and delusions are related to disturbances on the molecular-biological level. In general, psychiatry seems to lack a conceptual framework with sufficient explanatory power to link the mental- and molecular-biological domains. Here, we present an essay-like study in which we propose to use visualized concepts stemming from the theory on dynamical complex systems as a 'visual metaphor' to bridge the mental- and molecular-biological domains in schizophrenia. We first describe a computer model of neural information processing; we show how the information processing in this model can be visualized, using concepts from the theory on complex systems. We then describe two computer models which have been used to investigate the primary theory on schizophrenia, the neurodevelopmental model, and show how disturbed information processing in these two computer models can be presented in terms of the visual metaphor previously described. Finally, we describe the effects of dopamine neuromodulation, of which disturbances have been frequently described in schizophrenia, in terms of the same visualized metaphor. The conceptual framework and metaphor described offers a heuristic tool to understand the relationship between the mental- and molecular-biological domains in an intuitive way. The concepts we present may serve to facilitate communication between researchers, clinicians and patients.

A New Definition for Ground Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

LandForm(R) VisualFlight(R) blends the power of a geographic information system with the speed of a flight simulator to transform a user's desktop computer into a "virtual cockpit." The software product, which is fully compatible with all Microsoft(R) Windows(R) operating systems, provides distributed, real-time three-dimensional flight visualization over a host of networks. From a desktop, a user can immediately obtain a cockpit view, a chase-plane view, or an airborne tracker view. A customizable display also allows the user to overlay various flight parameters, including latitude, longitude, altitude, pitch, roll, and heading information. Rapid Imaging Software sought assistance from NASA, and the VisualFlight technology came to fruition under a Phase II SBIR contract with Johnson Space Center in 1998. Three years later, on December 13, 2001, Ken Ham successfully flew NASA's X-38 spacecraft from a remote, ground-based cockpit using LandForm VisualFlight as part of his primary situation awareness display in a flight test at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Crosswatch: a System for Providing Guidance to Visually Impaired Travelers at Traffic Intersections

PubMed Central

Coughlan, James M.; Shen, Huiying

2013-01-01

Purpose This paper describes recent progress on the “Crosswatch” project, a smartphone-based system developed for providing guidance to blind and visually impaired travelers at traffic intersections. Building on past work on Crosswatch functionality to help the user achieve proper alignment with the crosswalk and read the status of walk lights to know when it is time to cross, we outline the directions Crosswatch is now taking to help realize its potential for becoming a practical system: namely, augmenting computer vision with other information sources, including geographic information systems (GIS) and sensor data, and inferring the user's location much more precisely than is possible through GPS alone, to provide a much larger range of information about traffic intersections to the pedestrian. Design/methodology/approach The paper summarizes past progress on Crosswatch and describes details about the development of new Crosswatch functionalities. One such functionality, which is required for determination of the user's precise location, is studied in detail, including the design of a suitable user interface to support this functionality and preliminary tests of this interface with visually impaired volunteer subjects. Findings The results of the tests of the new Crosswatch functionality demonstrate that the functionality is feasible in that it is usable by visually impaired persons. Research limitations/implications While the tests that were conducted of the new Crosswatch functionality are preliminary, the results of the tests have suggested several possible improvements, to be explored in the future. Practical implications The results described in this paper suggest that the necessary technologies used by the Crosswatch system are rapidly maturing, implying that the system has an excellent chance of becoming practical in the near future. Originality/value The paper addresses an innovative solution to a key problem faced by blind and visually impaired travelers, which has the potential to greatly improve independent travel for these individuals. PMID:24353745

Subconscious Visual Cues during Movement Execution Allow Correct Online Choice Reactions

PubMed Central

Leukel, Christian; Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper; Christensen, Mark Schram; Gollhofer, Albert; Nielsen, Jens Bo; Taube, Wolfgang

2012-01-01

Part of the sensory information is processed by our central nervous system without conscious perception. Subconscious processing has been shown to be capable of triggering motor reactions. In the present study, we asked the question whether visual information, which is not consciously perceived, could influence decision-making in a choice reaction task. Ten healthy subjects (28±5 years) executed two different experimental protocols. In the Motor reaction protocol, a visual target cue was shown on a computer screen. Depending on the displayed cue, subjects had to either complete a reaching movement (go-condition) or had to abort the movement (stop-condition). The cue was presented with different display durations (20–160 ms). In the second Verbalization protocol, subjects verbalized what they experienced on the screen. Again, the cue was presented with different display durations. This second protocol tested for conscious perception of the visual cue. The results of this study show that subjects achieved significantly more correct responses in the Motor reaction protocol than in the Verbalization protocol. This difference was only observed at the very short display durations of the visual cue. Since correct responses in the Verbalization protocol required conscious perception of the visual information, our findings imply that the subjects performed correct motor responses to visual cues, which they were not conscious about. It is therefore concluded that humans may reach decisions based on subconscious visual information in a choice reaction task. PMID:23049749

[Clarity of flight information in the cockpit of the new aircraft generation].

PubMed

Stern, C; Schwartz, R; Groenhoff, S; Draeger, J; Hüttig, G; Bernhard, H

1994-08-01

Fundamental changes of cockpit design in recent years, especially the transition from analogue to digital flight information systems and the use of colour-coded displays, lead to new demands on the visual system of the pilot. Twenty experienced pilots each participated in four 15-min sessions with a simulator program in the new Airbus 340 Simulator of the Technical University of Berlin. The pilots were confronted with various flight situations and events. The simulation program was carried out with visual acuity of 1.0 or better, with acuity reduced to 0.5 and with red and green filters. The time between the display of information and the pilot's reaction was determined. The probands were classified into two groups according to their age (< or = 45 years, > or = 45 years). In both age groups a significant difference was found only with green filters. There was no difference with reduced visual acuity or with red filters, and no differences were seen between the two age groups.

Chasing the negawatt: visualization for sustainable living.

PubMed

Bartram, Lyn; Rodgers, Johnny; Muise, Kevin

2010-01-01

Energy and resource management is an important and growing research area at the intersection of conservation, sustainable design, alternative energy production, and social behavior. Energy consumption can be significantly reduced by simply changing how occupants inhabit and use buildings, with little or no additional costs. Reflecting this fact, an emerging measure of grid energy capacity is the negawatt: a unit of power saved by increasing efficiency or reducing consumption.Visualization clearly has an important role in enabling residents to understand and manage their energy use. This role is tied to providing real-time feedback of energy use, which encourages people to conserve energy.The challenge is to understand not only what kinds of visualizations are most effective but also where and how they fit into a larger information system to help residents make informed decisions. In this article, we also examine the effective display of home energy-use data using a net-zero solar-powered home (North House) and the Adaptive Living Interface System (ALIS), North House's information backbone.

SCSODC: Integrating Ocean Data for Visualization Sharing and Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, C.; Li, S.; Wang, D.; Xie, Q.

2014-02-01

The South China Sea Ocean Data Center (SCSODC) was founded in 2010 in order to improve collecting and managing of ocean data of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO). The mission of SCSODC is to ensure the long term scientific stewardship of ocean data, information and products - collected through research groups, monitoring stations and observation cruises - and to facilitate the efficient use and distribution to possible users. However, data sharing and applications were limited due to the characteristics of distribution and heterogeneity that made it difficult to integrate the data. To surmount those difficulties, the Data Sharing System has been developed by the SCSODC using the most appropriate information management and information technology. The Data Sharing System uses open standards and tools to promote the capability to integrate ocean data and to interact with other data portals or users and includes a full range of processes such as data discovery, evaluation and access combining C/S and B/S mode. It provides a visualized management interface for the data managers and a transparent and seamless data access and application environment for users. Users are allowed to access data using the client software and to access interactive visualization application interface via a web browser. The architecture, key technologies and functionality of the system are discussed briefly in this paper. It is shown that the system of SCSODC is able to implement web visualization sharing and seamless access to ocean data in a distributed and heterogeneous environment.

The Visual System

MedlinePlus Videos and Cool Tools

... is to “conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to blinding ... NEI Office of Communications (301)496-5248 Health Information Frequently asked questions Clinical Studies Publications Catalog Photos ...

Using Visualization Science to Evaluate Effective Communication of Climate Indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerst, M.; Kenney, M. A.; Wolfinger, F.; Lloyd, A.

2015-12-01

Indicators are observations or calculations that are used to track social and environmental conditions over time. For a large coupled system such as the economy and environment, the choice of indicators requires a structured process that involves co-production among facilitators, subject-matter experts, decision-makers, and the general public. This co-production is needed in part because such indicators serve a duel role of scientifically tracking change and of communicating to non-scientists important changes and information that may be useful in decision contexts. Because the goal is to communicate and inform decisions it is critical that indicators be understood by non-scientific audiences, which may require different visualization techniques than for scientific audiences. Here we describe a process of rigorously evaluating visual communication efficacy by using a simplified taxonomy of visualization design problems and trade-offs to assess existing and redesigned indicator images. The experimental design is three-part. It involves testing non-scientific audiences' understandability of scientific images found in the literature along with similar information shaped by a partial co-production process that informed the U.S. Global Change Research Program prototype indicators system, released in Spring 2015. These recommendations for physical, natural, and societal indicators of changes and impacts involved input from over 200 subject-matter experts, organized into 13 technical teams. Using results from the first two parts, we then explore visualization design improvements that may increase understandability to non-scientific audiences. We anticipate that this work will highlight important trade-offs in visualization design when moving between audiences that will be of great use to scientists who wish to communicate their results broader audiences.

Tachistoscopic exposure and masking of real three-dimensional scenes

PubMed Central

Pothier, Stephen; Philbeck, John; Chichka, David; Gajewski, Daniel A.

2010-01-01

Although there are many well-known forms of visual cues specifying absolute and relative distance, little is known about how visual space perception develops at small temporal scales. How much time does the visual system require to extract the information in the various absolute and relative distance cues? In this article, we describe a system that may be used to address this issue by presenting brief exposures of real, three-dimensional scenes, followed by a masking stimulus. The system is composed of an electronic shutter (a liquid crystal smart window) for exposing the stimulus scene, and a liquid crystal projector coupled with an electromechanical shutter for presenting the masking stimulus. This system can be used in both full- and reduced-cue viewing conditions, under monocular and binocular viewing, and at distances limited only by the testing space. We describe a configuration that may be used for studying the microgenesis of visual space perception in the context of visually directed walking. PMID:19182129

Visualizing complex hydrodynamic features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kempf, Jill L.; Marshall, Robert E.; Yen, Chieh-Cheng

1990-08-01

The Lake Erie Forecasting System is a cooperative project by university, private and governmental institutions to provide continuous forecasting of three-dimensional structure within the lake. The forecasts will include water velocity and temperature distributions throughout the body of water, as well as water level and wind-wave distributions at the lake's surface. Many hydrodynamic features can be extracted from this data, including coastal jets, large-scale thermocline motion and zones of upwelling and downwelling. A visualization system is being developed that will aid in understanding these features and their interactions. Because of the wide variety of features, they cannot all be adequately represented by a single rendering technique. Particle tracing, surface rendering, and volumetric techniques are all necessary. This visualization effortis aimed towards creating a system that will provide meaningful forecasts for those using the lake for recreational and commercial purposes. For example, the fishing industry needs to know about large-scale thermocline motion in order to find the best fishing areas and power plants need to know water intAke temperatures. The visualization system must convey this information in a manner that is easily understood by these users. Scientists must also be able to use this system to verify their hydrodynamic simulation. The focus of the system, therefore, is to provide the information to serve these diverse interests, without overwhelming any single user with unnecessary data.

Computer interfaces for the visually impaired

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Higgins, Gerry

1991-01-01

Information access via computer terminals extends to blind and low vision persons employed in many technical and nontechnical disciplines. Two aspects are detailed of providing computer technology for persons with a vision related handicap. First, research into the most effective means of integrating existing adaptive technologies into information systems was made. This was conducted to integrate off the shelf products with adaptive equipment for cohesive integrated information processing systems. Details are included that describe the type of functionality required in software to facilitate its incorporation into a speech and/or braille system. The second aspect is research into providing audible and tactile interfaces to graphics based interfaces. Parameters are included for the design and development of the Mercator Project. The project will develop a prototype system for audible access to graphics based interfaces. The system is being built within the public domain architecture of X windows to show that it is possible to provide access to text based applications within a graphical environment. This information will be valuable to suppliers to ADP equipment since new legislation requires manufacturers to provide electronic access to the visually impaired.

Architecture Analysis of Evolving Complex Systems of Systems: Technical Presentation [and Executive Status Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindvall, Mikael; Godfrey, Sally; Ackermann, Chris; Ray, Arnab; Yonkwa, Lyly; Ganesan, Dharma; Stratton, William C.; Sibol, Deane E.

2008-01-01

Analyze, Visualize, and Evaluate structure and behavior using static and dynamic information, individual systems as well as systems of systems. Next steps: Refine software tool support; Apply to other systems; and Apply earlier in system life cycle.

Efficient encoding of motion is mediated by gap junctions in the fly visual system.

PubMed

Wang, Siwei; Borst, Alexander; Zaslavsky, Noga; Tishby, Naftali; Segev, Idan

2017-12-01

Understanding the computational implications of specific synaptic connectivity patterns is a fundamental goal in neuroscience. In particular, the computational role of ubiquitous electrical synapses operating via gap junctions remains elusive. In the fly visual system, the cells in the vertical-system network, which play a key role in visual processing, primarily connect to each other via axonal gap junctions. This network therefore provides a unique opportunity to explore the functional role of gap junctions in sensory information processing. Our information theoretical analysis of a realistic VS network model shows that within 10 ms following the onset of the visual input, the presence of axonal gap junctions enables the VS system to efficiently encode the axis of rotation, θ, of the fly's ego motion. This encoding efficiency, measured in bits, is near-optimal with respect to the physical limits of performance determined by the statistical structure of the visual input itself. The VS network is known to be connected to downstream pathways via a subset of triplets of the vertical system cells; we found that because of the axonal gap junctions, the efficiency of this subpopulation in encoding θ is superior to that of the whole vertical system network and is robust to a wide range of signal to noise ratios. We further demonstrate that this efficient encoding of motion by this subpopulation is necessary for the fly's visually guided behavior, such as banked turns in evasive maneuvers. Because gap junctions are formed among the axons of the vertical system cells, they only impact the system's readout, while maintaining the dendritic input intact, suggesting that the computational principles implemented by neural circuitries may be much richer than previously appreciated based on point neuron models. Our study provides new insights as to how specific network connectivity leads to efficient encoding of sensory stimuli.

Path integration: effect of curved path complexity and sensory system on blindfolded walking.

PubMed

Koutakis, Panagiotis; Mukherjee, Mukul; Vallabhajosula, Srikant; Blanke, Daniel J; Stergiou, Nicholas

2013-02-01

Path integration refers to the ability to integrate continuous information of the direction and distance traveled by the system relative to the origin. Previous studies have investigated path integration through blindfolded walking along simple paths such as straight line and triangles. However, limited knowledge exists regarding the role of path complexity in path integration. Moreover, little is known about how information from different sensory input systems (like vision and proprioception) contributes to accurate path integration. The purpose of the current study was to investigate how sensory information and curved path complexity affect path integration. Forty blindfolded participants had to accurately reproduce a curved path and return to the origin. They were divided into four groups that differed in the curved path, circle (simple) or figure-eight (complex), and received either visual (previously seen) or proprioceptive (previously guided) information about the path before they reproduced it. The dependent variables used were average trajectory error, walking speed, and distance traveled. The results indicated that (a) both groups that walked on a circular path and both groups that received visual information produced greater accuracy in reproducing the path. Moreover, the performance of the group that received proprioceptive information and later walked on a figure-eight path was less accurate than their corresponding circular group. The groups that had the visual information also walked faster compared to the group that had proprioceptive information. Results of the current study highlight the roles of different sensory inputs while performing blindfolded walking for path integration. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Advanced Multimodal Solutions for Information Presentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wenzel, Elizabeth M.; Godfroy-Cooper, Martine

2018-01-01

High-workload, fast-paced, and degraded sensory environments are the likeliest candidates to benefit from multimodal information presentation. For example, during EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) and telerobotic operations, the sensory restrictions associated with a space environment provide a major challenge to maintaining the situation awareness (SA) required for safe operations. Multimodal displays hold promise to enhance situation awareness and task performance by utilizing different sensory modalities and maximizing their effectiveness based on appropriate interaction between modalities. During EVA, the visual and auditory channels are likely to be the most utilized with tasks such as monitoring the visual environment, attending visual and auditory displays, and maintaining multichannel auditory communications. Previous studies have shown that compared to unimodal displays (spatial auditory or 2D visual), bimodal presentation of information can improve operator performance during simulated extravehicular activity on planetary surfaces for tasks as diverse as orientation, localization or docking, particularly when the visual environment is degraded or workload is increased. Tactile displays offer a third sensory channel that may both offload information processing effort and provide a means to capture attention when urgently required. For example, recent studies suggest that including tactile cues may result in increased orientation and alerting accuracy, improved task response time and decreased workload, as well as provide self-orientation cues in microgravity on the ISS (International Space Station). An important overall issue is that context-dependent factors like task complexity, sensory degradation, peripersonal vs. extrapersonal space operations, workload, experience level, and operator fatigue tend to vary greatly in complex real-world environments and it will be difficult to design a multimodal interface that performs well under all conditions. As a possible solution, adaptive systems have been proposed in which the information presented to the user changes as a function of taskcontext-dependent factors. However, this presupposes that adequate methods for detecting andor predicting such factors are developed. Further, research in adaptive systems for aviation suggests that they can sometimes serve to increase workload and reduce situational awareness. It will be critical to develop multimodal display guidelines that include consideration of smart systems that can select the best display method for a particular contextsituation.The scope of the current work is an analysis of potential multimodal display technologies for long duration missions and, in particular, will focus on their potential role in EVA activities. The review will address multimodal (combined visual, auditory andor tactile) displays investigated by NASA, industry, and DoD (Dept. of Defense). It also considers the need for adaptive information systems to accommodate a variety of operational contexts such as crew status (e.g., fatigue, workload level) and task environment (e.g., EVA, habitat, rover, spacecraft). Current approaches to guidelines and best practices for combining modalities for the most effective information displays are also reviewed. Potential issues in developing interface guidelines for the Exploration Information System (EIS) are briefly considered.

Acquisition and Visualization Techniques of Human Motion Using Master-Slave System and Haptograph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katsura, Seiichiro; Ohishi, Kiyoshi

Artificial acquisition and reproduction of human sensations are basic technologies of communication engineering. For example, auditory information is obtained by a microphone, and a speaker reproduces it by artificial means. Furthermore, a video camera and a television make it possible to transmit visual sensation by broadcasting. On the contrary, since tactile or haptic information is subject to the Newton's “law of action and reaction” in the real world, a device which acquires, transmits, and reproduces the information has not been established. From the point of view, real-world haptics is the key technology for future haptic communication engineering. This paper proposes a novel acquisition method of haptic information named “haptograph”. The haptograph visualizes the haptic information like photograph. Since temporal and spatial analyses are conducted to represent haptic information as the haptograph, it is possible to be recognized and to be evaluated intuitively. In this paper, the proposed haptograph is applied to visualization of human motion. It is possible to represent the motion characteristics, the expert's skill and the personal habit, and so on. In other words, a personal encyclopedia is attained. Once such a personal encyclopedia is stored in ubiquitous environment, the future human support technology will be developed.

Depth reversals in stereoscopic displays driven by apparent size

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sacher, Gunnar; Hayes, Amy; Thornton, Ian M.; Sereno, Margaret E.; Malony, Allen D.

1998-04-01

In visual scenes, depth information is derived from a variety of monocular and binocular cues. When in conflict, a monocular cue is sometimes able to override the binocular information. We examined the accuracy of relative depth judgments in orthographic, stereoscopic displays and found that perceived relative size can override binocular disparity as a depth cue in a situation where the relative size information is itself generated from disparity information, not from retinal size difference. A size discrimination task confirmed the assumption that disparity information was perceived and used to generate apparent size differences. The tendency for the apparent size cue to override disparity information can be modulated by varying the strength of the apparent size cue. In addition, an analysis of reaction times provides supporting evidence for this novel depth reversal effect. We believe that human perception must be regarded as an important component of stereoscopic applications. Hence, if applications are to be effective and accurate, it is necessary to take into account the richness and complexity of the human visual perceptual system that interacts with them. We discuss implications of this and similar research for human performance in virtual environments, the design of visual presentations for virtual worlds, and the design of visualization tools.

[Digital administrative maps - a tool for visualization of epidemiological data].

PubMed

Niewiadomska, Ewa; Kowalska, Malgorzata; Czech, Elibieta; Skrzypek, Michal

2013-01-01

The aim of the study is to present the methods for visualization of epidemiological data using digital contour maps that take into account administrative division of Poland. The possibility of epidemiological data visualization in a geographical order, limited to the administrative level of the country, voivodeships and poviats (countics), are presented. They are crucial for the process of identifying and undertaking adequate prophylactic activities directed towards decreasing the risk and improving the population's health. This paper presents tools and techniques available in Geographic Information System ArcGIS and statistical software package R. The work includes our own data reflecting: 1) the values of specific mortality rates due to respiratory diseases, Poland, 2010, based on the Central Statistical Office data, using the R statistical software package; 2) the averaged registered incidence rates of sarcoidosis in 2006-2010 for the population aged 19+ in the Silesian voivodeship, using G(eographic Information System ArcGIS; and 3) the number of children with diagnosed respiratory diseases in the city of L.egnica in 2009, taking into account their place of residence, using layered maps in Geographic Information System ArcGIS. The tools presented and described in this paper make it possible to visualize the results of research, to increase attractiveness of courses for students, as well as to enhance the skills and competence of students and participants of courses.

Design of smart home sensor visualizations for older adults.

PubMed

Le, Thai; Reeder, Blaine; Chung, Jane; Thompson, Hilaire; Demiris, George

2014-01-01

Smart home sensor systems provide a valuable opportunity to continuously and unobtrusively monitor older adult wellness. However, the density of sensor data can be challenging to visualize, especially for an older adult consumer with distinct user needs. We describe the design of sensor visualizations informed by interviews with older adults. The goal of the visualizations is to present sensor activity data to an older adult consumer audience that supports both longitudinal detection of trends and on-demand display of activity details for any chosen day. The design process is grounded through participatory design with older adult interviews during a six-month pilot sensor study. Through a secondary analysis of interviews, we identified the visualization needs of older adults. We incorporated these needs with cognitive perceptual visualization guidelines and the emotional design principles of Norman to develop sensor visualizations. We present a design of sensor visualization that integrate both temporal and spatial components of information. The visualization supports longitudinal detection of trends while allowing the viewer to view activity within a specific date. Appropriately designed visualizations for older adults not only provide insight into health and wellness, but also are a valuable resource to promote engagement within care.

Design of smart home sensor visualizations for older adults.

PubMed

Le, Thai; Reeder, Blaine; Chung, Jane; Thompson, Hilaire; Demiris, George

2014-07-24

Smart home sensor systems provide a valuable opportunity to continuously and unobtrusively monitor older adult wellness. However, the density of sensor data can be challenging to visualize, especially for an older adult consumer with distinct user needs. We describe the design of sensor visualizations informed by interviews with older adults. The goal of the visualizations is to present sensor activity data to an older adult consumer audience that supports both longitudinal detection of trends and on-demand display of activity details for any chosen day. The design process is grounded through participatory design with older adult interviews during a six-month pilot sensor study. Through a secondary analysis of interviews, we identified the visualization needs of older adults. We incorporated these needs with cognitive perceptual visualization guidelines and the emotional design principles of Norman to develop sensor visualizations. We present a design of sensor visualization that integrate both temporal and spatial components of information. The visualization supports longitudinal detection of trends while allowing the viewer to view activity within a specific date.CONCLUSIONS: Appropriately designed visualizations for older adults not only provide insight into health and wellness, but also are a valuable resource to promote engagement within care.

Geographic Information System (GIS) Applications at a Multi-Site Community College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pottle, Laura

This report presents the Front Range Community College (FRCC) (Colorado) Office of Institutional Research's recent expansion of its data analysis and reporting capabilities to include a geographic information system (GIS). Utilizing ArcView GIS software, the college is better able to visualize institutional and environmental data. They have…

Tailored information for cancer patients on the Internet: effects of visual cues and language complexity on information recall and satisfaction.

PubMed

van Weert, Julia C M; van Noort, Guda; Bol, Nadine; van Dijk, Liset; Tates, Kiek; Jansen, Jesse

2011-09-01

This study was designed to investigate the effects of visual cues and language complexity on satisfaction and information recall using a personalised website for lung cancer patients. In addition, age effects were investigated. An experiment using a 2 (complex vs. non-complex language)×3 (text only vs. photograph vs. drawing) factorial design was conducted. In total, 200 respondents without cancer were exposed to one of the six conditions. Respondents were more satisfied with the comprehensibility of both websites when they were presented with a visual cue. A significant interaction effect was found between language complexity and photograph use such that satisfaction with comprehensibility improved when a photograph was added to the complex language condition. Next, an interaction effect was found between age and satisfaction, which indicates that adding a visual cue is more important for older adults than younger adults. Finally, respondents who were exposed to a website with less complex language showed higher recall scores. The use of visual cues enhances satisfaction with the information presented on the website, and the use of non-complex language improves recall. The results of the current study can be used to improve computer-based information systems for patients. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parallel Processing Strategies of the Primate Visual System

PubMed Central

Nassi, Jonathan J.; Callaway, Edward M.

2009-01-01

Preface Incoming sensory information is sent to the brain along modality-specific channels corresponding to the five senses. Each of these channels further parses the incoming signals into parallel streams to provide a compact, efficient input to the brain. Ultimately, these parallel input signals must be elaborated upon and integrated within the cortex to provide a unified and coherent percept. Recent studies in the primate visual cortex have greatly contributed to our understanding of how this goal is accomplished. Multiple strategies including retinal tiling, hierarchical and parallel processing and modularity, defined spatially and by cell type-specific connectivity, are all used by the visual system to recover the rich detail of our visual surroundings. PMID:19352403

The role of pulvinar in the transmission of information in the visual hierarchy.

PubMed

Cortes, Nelson; van Vreeswijk, Carl

2012-01-01

VISUAL RECEPTIVE FIELD (RF) ATTRIBUTES IN VISUAL CORTEX OF PRIMATES HAVE BEEN EXPLAINED MAINLY FROM CORTICAL CONNECTIONS: visual RFs progress from simple to complex through cortico-cortical pathways from lower to higher levels in the visual hierarchy. This feedforward flow of information is paired with top-down processes through the feedback pathway. Although the hierarchical organization explains the spatial properties of RFs, is unclear how a non-linear transmission of activity through the visual hierarchy can yield smooth contrast response functions in all level of the hierarchy. Depending on the gain, non-linear transfer functions create either a bimodal response to contrast, or no contrast dependence of the response in the highest level of the hierarchy. One possible mechanism to regulate this transmission of visual contrast information from low to high level involves an external component that shortcuts the flow of information through the hierarchy. A candidate for this shortcut is the Pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus. To investigate representation of stimulus contrast a hierarchical model network of ten cortical areas is examined. In each level of the network, the activity from the previous layer is integrated and then non-linearly transmitted to the next level. The arrangement of interactions creates a gradient from simple to complex RFs of increasing size as one moves from lower to higher cortical levels. The visual input is modeled as a Gaussian random input, whose width codes for the contrast. This input is applied to the first area. The output activity ratio among different contrast values is analyzed for the last level to observe sensitivity to a contrast and contrast invariant tuning. For a purely cortical system, the output of the last area can be approximately contrast invariant, but the sensitivity to contrast is poor. To account for an alternative visual processing pathway, non-reciprocal connections from and to a parallel pulvinar like structure of nine areas is coupled to the system. Compared to the pure feedforward model, cortico-pulvino-cortical output presents much more sensitivity to contrast and has a similar level of contrast invariance of the tuning.

The Role of Pulvinar in the Transmission of Information in the Visual Hierarchy

PubMed Central

Cortes, Nelson; van Vreeswijk, Carl

2012-01-01

Visual receptive field (RF) attributes in visual cortex of primates have been explained mainly from cortical connections: visual RFs progress from simple to complex through cortico-cortical pathways from lower to higher levels in the visual hierarchy. This feedforward flow of information is paired with top-down processes through the feedback pathway. Although the hierarchical organization explains the spatial properties of RFs, is unclear how a non-linear transmission of activity through the visual hierarchy can yield smooth contrast response functions in all level of the hierarchy. Depending on the gain, non-linear transfer functions create either a bimodal response to contrast, or no contrast dependence of the response in the highest level of the hierarchy. One possible mechanism to regulate this transmission of visual contrast information from low to high level involves an external component that shortcuts the flow of information through the hierarchy. A candidate for this shortcut is the Pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus. To investigate representation of stimulus contrast a hierarchical model network of ten cortical areas is examined. In each level of the network, the activity from the previous layer is integrated and then non-linearly transmitted to the next level. The arrangement of interactions creates a gradient from simple to complex RFs of increasing size as one moves from lower to higher cortical levels. The visual input is modeled as a Gaussian random input, whose width codes for the contrast. This input is applied to the first area. The output activity ratio among different contrast values is analyzed for the last level to observe sensitivity to a contrast and contrast invariant tuning. For a purely cortical system, the output of the last area can be approximately contrast invariant, but the sensitivity to contrast is poor. To account for an alternative visual processing pathway, non-reciprocal connections from and to a parallel pulvinar like structure of nine areas is coupled to the system. Compared to the pure feedforward model, cortico-pulvino-cortical output presents much more sensitivity to contrast and has a similar level of contrast invariance of the tuning. PMID:22654750

The Future of Access Technology for Blind and Visually Impaired People.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schreier, E. M.

1990-01-01

This article describes potential use of new technological products and services by blind/visually impaired people. Items discussed include computer input devices, public telephones, automatic teller machines, airline and rail arrival/departure displays, ticketing machines, information retrieval systems, order-entry terminals, optical character…

What can neuromorphic event-driven precise timing add to spike-based pattern recognition?

PubMed

Akolkar, Himanshu; Meyer, Cedric; Clady, Zavier; Marre, Olivier; Bartolozzi, Chiara; Panzeri, Stefano; Benosman, Ryad

2015-03-01

This letter introduces a study to precisely measure what an increase in spike timing precision can add to spike-driven pattern recognition algorithms. The concept of generating spikes from images by converting gray levels into spike timings is currently at the basis of almost every spike-based modeling of biological visual systems. The use of images naturally leads to generating incorrect artificial and redundant spike timings and, more important, also contradicts biological findings indicating that visual processing is massively parallel, asynchronous with high temporal resolution. A new concept for acquiring visual information through pixel-individual asynchronous level-crossing sampling has been proposed in a recent generation of asynchronous neuromorphic visual sensors. Unlike conventional cameras, these sensors acquire data not at fixed points in time for the entire array but at fixed amplitude changes of their input, resulting optimally sparse in space and time-pixel individually and precisely timed only if new, (previously unknown) information is available (event based). This letter uses the high temporal resolution spiking output of neuromorphic event-based visual sensors to show that lowering time precision degrades performance on several recognition tasks specifically when reaching the conventional range of machine vision acquisition frequencies (30-60 Hz). The use of information theory to characterize separability between classes for each temporal resolution shows that high temporal acquisition provides up to 70% more information that conventional spikes generated from frame-based acquisition as used in standard artificial vision, thus drastically increasing the separability between classes of objects. Experiments on real data show that the amount of information loss is correlated with temporal precision. Our information-theoretic study highlights the potentials of neuromorphic asynchronous visual sensors for both practical applications and theoretical investigations. Moreover, it suggests that representing visual information as a precise sequence of spike times as reported in the retina offers considerable advantages for neuro-inspired visual computations.

Accuracy and Tuning of Flow Parsing for Visual Perception of Object Motion During Self-Motion

PubMed Central

Niehorster, Diederick C.

2017-01-01

How do we perceive object motion during self-motion using visual information alone? Previous studies have reported that the visual system can use optic flow to identify and globally subtract the retinal motion component resulting from self-motion to recover scene-relative object motion, a process called flow parsing. In this article, we developed a retinal motion nulling method to directly measure and quantify the magnitude of flow parsing (i.e., flow parsing gain) in various scenarios to examine the accuracy and tuning of flow parsing for the visual perception of object motion during self-motion. We found that flow parsing gains were below unity for all displays in all experiments; and that increasing self-motion and object motion speed did not alter flow parsing gain. We conclude that visual information alone is not sufficient for the accurate perception of scene-relative motion during self-motion. Although flow parsing performs global subtraction, its accuracy also depends on local motion information in the retinal vicinity of the moving object. Furthermore, the flow parsing gain was constant across common self-motion or object motion speeds. These results can be used to inform and validate computational models of flow parsing. PMID:28567272

Caudate nucleus reactivity predicts perceptual learning rate for visual feature conjunctions.

PubMed

Reavis, Eric A; Frank, Sebastian M; Tse, Peter U

2015-04-15

Useful information in the visual environment is often contained in specific conjunctions of visual features (e.g., color and shape). The ability to quickly and accurately process such conjunctions can be learned. However, the neural mechanisms responsible for such learning remain largely unknown. It has been suggested that some forms of visual learning might involve the dopaminergic neuromodulatory system (Roelfsema et al., 2010; Seitz and Watanabe, 2005), but this hypothesis has not yet been directly tested. Here we test the hypothesis that learning visual feature conjunctions involves the dopaminergic system, using functional neuroimaging, genetic assays, and behavioral testing techniques. We use a correlative approach to evaluate potential associations between individual differences in visual feature conjunction learning rate and individual differences in dopaminergic function as indexed by neuroimaging and genetic markers. We find a significant correlation between activity in the caudate nucleus (a component of the dopaminergic system connected to visual areas of the brain) and visual feature conjunction learning rate. Specifically, individuals who showed a larger difference in activity between positive and negative feedback on an unrelated cognitive task, indicative of a more reactive dopaminergic system, learned visual feature conjunctions more quickly than those who showed a smaller activity difference. This finding supports the hypothesis that the dopaminergic system is involved in visual learning, and suggests that visual feature conjunction learning could be closely related to associative learning. However, no significant, reliable correlations were found between feature conjunction learning and genotype or dopaminergic activity in any other regions of interest. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Material and shape perception based on two types of intensity gradient information

PubMed Central

Nishida, Shin'ya

2018-01-01

Visual estimation of the material and shape of an object from a single image includes a hard ill-posed computational problem. However, in our daily life we feel we can estimate both reasonably well. The neural computation underlying this ability remains poorly understood. Here we propose that the human visual system uses different aspects of object images to separately estimate the contributions of the material and shape. Specifically, material perception relies mainly on the intensity gradient magnitude information, while shape perception relies mainly on the intensity gradient order information. A clue to this hypothesis was provided by the observation that luminance-histogram manipulation, which changes luminance gradient magnitudes but not the luminance-order map, effectively alters the material appearance but not the shape of an object. In agreement with this observation, we found that the simulated physical material changes do not significantly affect the intensity order information. A series of psychophysical experiments further indicate that human surface shape perception is robust against intensity manipulations provided they do not disturb the intensity order information. In addition, we show that the two types of gradient information can be utilized for the discrimination of albedo changes from highlights. These findings suggest that the visual system relies on these diagnostic image features to estimate physical properties in a distal world. PMID:29702644

Visualization maps for the evolution of research hotspots in the field of regional health information networks.

PubMed

Wang, Yanjun; Zheng, Jianzhong; Zhang, Ailian; Zhou, Wei; Dong, Haiyuan

2018-03-01

The aim of this study was to reveal research hotspots in the field of regional health information networks (RHINs) and use visualization techniques to explore their evolution over time and differences between countries. We conducted a literature review for a 50-year period and compared the prevalence of certain index terms during the periods 1963-1993 and 1994-2014 and in six countries. We applied keyword frequency analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis, multidimensional scaling analysis, and network visualization technology. The total number of keywords was found to increase with time. From 1994 to 2014, the research priorities shifted from hospital planning to community health planning. The number of keywords reflecting information-based research increased. The density of the knowledge network increased significantly, and partial keywords condensed into knowledge groups. All six countries focus on keywords including Information Systems; Telemedicine; Information Service; Medical Records Systems, Computerized; Internet; etc.; however, the level of development and some research priorities are different. RHIN research has generally increased in popularity over the past 50 years. The research hotspots are evolving and are at different levels of development in different countries. Knowledge network mapping and perceptual maps provide useful information for scholars, managers, and policy-makers.

Bottlenecks of Motion Processing during a Visual Glance: The Leaky Flask Model

PubMed Central

Öğmen, Haluk; Ekiz, Onur; Huynh, Duong; Bedell, Harold E.; Tripathy, Srimant P.

2013-01-01

Where do the bottlenecks for information and attention lie when our visual system processes incoming stimuli? The human visual system encodes the incoming stimulus and transfers its contents into three major memory systems with increasing time scales, viz., sensory (or iconic) memory, visual short-term memory (VSTM), and long-term memory (LTM). It is commonly believed that the major bottleneck of information processing resides in VSTM. In contrast to this view, we show major bottlenecks for motion processing prior to VSTM. In the first experiment, we examined bottlenecks at the stimulus encoding stage through a partial-report technique by delivering the cue immediately at the end of the stimulus presentation. In the second experiment, we varied the cue delay to investigate sensory memory and VSTM. Performance decayed exponentially as a function of cue delay and we used the time-constant of the exponential-decay to demarcate sensory memory from VSTM. We then decomposed performance in terms of quality and quantity measures to analyze bottlenecks along these dimensions. In terms of the quality of information, two thirds to three quarters of the motion-processing bottleneck occurs in stimulus encoding rather than memory stages. In terms of the quantity of information, the motion-processing bottleneck is distributed, with the stimulus-encoding stage accounting for one third of the bottleneck. The bottleneck for the stimulus-encoding stage is dominated by the selection compared to the filtering function of attention. We also found that the filtering function of attention is operating mainly at the sensory memory stage in a specific manner, i.e., influencing only quantity and sparing quality. These results provide a novel and more complete understanding of information processing and storage bottlenecks for motion processing. PMID:24391806

Bottlenecks of motion processing during a visual glance: the leaky flask model.

PubMed

Öğmen, Haluk; Ekiz, Onur; Huynh, Duong; Bedell, Harold E; Tripathy, Srimant P

2013-01-01

Where do the bottlenecks for information and attention lie when our visual system processes incoming stimuli? The human visual system encodes the incoming stimulus and transfers its contents into three major memory systems with increasing time scales, viz., sensory (or iconic) memory, visual short-term memory (VSTM), and long-term memory (LTM). It is commonly believed that the major bottleneck of information processing resides in VSTM. In contrast to this view, we show major bottlenecks for motion processing prior to VSTM. In the first experiment, we examined bottlenecks at the stimulus encoding stage through a partial-report technique by delivering the cue immediately at the end of the stimulus presentation. In the second experiment, we varied the cue delay to investigate sensory memory and VSTM. Performance decayed exponentially as a function of cue delay and we used the time-constant of the exponential-decay to demarcate sensory memory from VSTM. We then decomposed performance in terms of quality and quantity measures to analyze bottlenecks along these dimensions. In terms of the quality of information, two thirds to three quarters of the motion-processing bottleneck occurs in stimulus encoding rather than memory stages. In terms of the quantity of information, the motion-processing bottleneck is distributed, with the stimulus-encoding stage accounting for one third of the bottleneck. The bottleneck for the stimulus-encoding stage is dominated by the selection compared to the filtering function of attention. We also found that the filtering function of attention is operating mainly at the sensory memory stage in a specific manner, i.e., influencing only quantity and sparing quality. These results provide a novel and more complete understanding of information processing and storage bottlenecks for motion processing.

Indoor space 3D visual reconstruction using mobile cart with laser scanner and cameras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gashongore, Prince Dukundane; Kawasue, Kikuhito; Yoshida, Kumiko; Aoki, Ryota

2017-02-01

Indoor space 3D visual reconstruction has many applications and, once done accurately, it enables people to conduct different indoor activities in an efficient manner. For example, an effective and efficient emergency rescue response can be accomplished in a fire disaster situation by using 3D visual information of a destroyed building. Therefore, an accurate Indoor Space 3D visual reconstruction system which can be operated in any given environment without GPS has been developed using a Human-Operated mobile cart equipped with a laser scanner, CCD camera, omnidirectional camera and a computer. By using the system, accurate indoor 3D Visual Data is reconstructed automatically. The obtained 3D data can be used for rescue operations, guiding blind or partially sighted persons and so forth.

Disappearance of the inversion effect during memory-guided tracking of scrambled biological motion.

PubMed

Jiang, Changhao; Yue, Guang H; Chen, Tingting; Ding, Jinhong

2016-08-01

The human visual system is highly sensitive to biological motion. Even when a point-light walker is temporarily occluded from view by other objects, our eyes are still able to maintain tracking continuity. To investigate how the visual system establishes a correspondence between the biological-motion stimuli visible before and after the disruption, we used the occlusion paradigm with biological-motion stimuli that were intact or scrambled. The results showed that during visually guided tracking, both the observers' predicted times and predictive smooth pursuit were more accurate for upright biological motion (intact and scrambled) than for inverted biological motion. During memory-guided tracking, however, the processing advantage for upright as compared with inverted biological motion was not found in the scrambled condition, but in the intact condition only. This suggests that spatial location information alone is not sufficient to build and maintain the representational continuity of the biological motion across the occlusion, and that the object identity may act as an important information source in visual tracking. The inversion effect disappeared when the scrambled biological motion was occluded, which indicates that when biological motion is temporarily occluded and there is a complete absence of visual feedback signals, an oculomotor prediction is executed to maintain the tracking continuity, which is established not only by updating the target's spatial location, but also by the retrieval of identity information stored in long-term memory.

Basic examination of a technique to visualize space filled with dense smoke using millimeter-wave radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omine, Yukio; Sakai, Masaki; Aoki, Yoshimitsu; Takagi, Mikio

2004-10-01

In recent years, crisis management in response to terrorist attacks and natural disasters, as well as accelerating rescue operations has become an important issue. Rescue operations greatly influence human lives, and require the ability to accurately and swiftly communicate information as well as assess the status of the site. Currently, considerable amount of research is being conducted for assisting rescue operations, with the application of various engineering techniques such as information technology and radar technology. In the present research, we believe that assessing the status of the site is most crucial in rescue and firefighting operations at a fire disaster site, and aim to visualize the space that is smothered with dense smoke. In a space filled with dense smoke, where visual or infrared sensing techniques are not feasible, three-dimensional measurements can be realized using a compact millimeter wave radar device combined with directional information from a gyro sensor. Using these techniques, we construct a system that can build and visualize a three-dimensional geometric model of the space. The final objective is to implement such a system on a wearable computer, which will improve the firefighters' spatial perception, assisting them in the baseline assessment and the decision-making process. In the present paper, we report the results of the basic experiments on three-dimensional measurement and visualization of a space that is smoke free, using a millimeter wave radar.

Texture characterization for joint compression and classification based on human perception in the wavelet domain.

PubMed

Fahmy, Gamal; Black, John; Panchanathan, Sethuraman

2006-06-01

Today's multimedia applications demand sophisticated compression and classification techniques in order to store, transmit, and retrieve audio-visual information efficiently. Over the last decade, perceptually based image compression methods have been gaining importance. These methods take into account the abilities (and the limitations) of human visual perception (HVP) when performing compression. The upcoming MPEG 7 standard also addresses the need for succinct classification and indexing of visual content for efficient retrieval. However, there has been no research that has attempted to exploit the characteristics of the human visual system to perform both compression and classification jointly. One area of HVP that has unexplored potential for joint compression and classification is spatial frequency perception. Spatial frequency content that is perceived by humans can be characterized in terms of three parameters, which are: 1) magnitude; 2) phase; and 3) orientation. While the magnitude of spatial frequency content has been exploited in several existing image compression techniques, the novel contribution of this paper is its focus on the use of phase coherence for joint compression and classification in the wavelet domain. Specifically, this paper describes a human visual system-based method for measuring the degree to which an image contains coherent (perceptible) phase information, and then exploits that information to provide joint compression and classification. Simulation results that demonstrate the efficiency of this method are presented.

Robotic Attention Processing And Its Application To Visual Guidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barth, Matthew; Inoue, Hirochika

1988-03-01

This paper describes a method of real-time visual attention processing for robots performing visual guidance. This robot attention processing is based on a novel vision processor, the multi-window vision system that was developed at the University of Tokyo. The multi-window vision system is unique in that it only processes visual information inside local area windows. These local area windows are quite flexible in their ability to move anywhere on the visual screen, change their size and shape, and alter their pixel sampling rate. By using these windows for specific attention tasks, it is possible to perform high speed attention processing. The primary attention skills of detecting motion, tracking an object, and interpreting an image are all performed at high speed on the multi-window vision system. A basic robotic attention scheme using the attention skills was developed. The attention skills involved detection and tracking of salient visual features. The tracking and motion information thus obtained was utilized in producing the response to the visual stimulus. The response of the attention scheme was quick enough to be applicable to the real-time vision processing tasks of playing a video 'pong' game, and later using an automobile driving simulator. By detecting the motion of a 'ball' on a video screen and then tracking the movement, the attention scheme was able to control a 'paddle' in order to keep the ball in play. The response was faster than that of a human's, allowing the attention scheme to play the video game at higher speeds. Further, in the application to the driving simulator, the attention scheme was able to control both direction and velocity of a simulated vehicle following a lead car. These two applications show the potential of local visual processing in its use for robotic attention processing.

Extracting heading and temporal range from optic flow: Human performance issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaiser, Mary K.; Perrone, John A.; Stone, Leland; Banks, Martin S.; Crowell, James A.

1993-01-01

Pilots are able to extract information about their vehicle motion and environmental structure from dynamic transformations in the out-the-window scene. In this presentation, we focus on the information in the optic flow which specifies vehicle heading and distance to objects in the environment, scaled to a temporal metric. In particular, we are concerned with modeling how the human operators extract the necessary information, and what factors impact their ability to utilize the critical information. In general, the psychophysical data suggest that the human visual system is fairly robust to degradations in the visual display, e.g., reduced contrast and resolution or restricted field of view. However, extraneous motion flow, i.e., introduced by sensor rotation, greatly compromises human performance. The implications of these models and data for enhanced/synthetic vision systems are discussed.

Educating the blind brain: a panorama of neural bases of vision and of training programs in organic neurovisual deficits

PubMed Central

Coubard, Olivier A.; Urbanski, Marika; Bourlon, Clémence; Gaumet, Marie

2014-01-01

Vision is a complex function, which is achieved by movements of the eyes to properly foveate targets at any location in 3D space and to continuously refresh neural information in the different visual pathways. The visual system involves five main routes originating in the retinas but varying in their destination within the brain: the occipital cortex, but also the superior colliculus (SC), the pretectum, the supra-chiasmatic nucleus, the nucleus of the optic tract and terminal dorsal, medial and lateral nuclei. Visual pathway architecture obeys systematization in sagittal and transversal planes so that visual information from left/right and upper/lower hemi-retinas, corresponding respectively to right/left and lower/upper visual fields, is processed ipsilaterally and ipsialtitudinally to hemi-retinas in left/right hemispheres and upper/lower fibers. Organic neurovisual deficits may occur at any level of this circuitry from the optic nerve to subcortical and cortical destinations, resulting in low or high-level visual deficits. In this didactic review article, we provide a panorama of the neural bases of eye movements and visual systems, and of related neurovisual deficits. Additionally, we briefly review the different schools of rehabilitation of organic neurovisual deficits, and show that whatever the emphasis is put on action or perception, benefits may be observed at both motor and perceptual levels. Given the extent of its neural bases in the brain, vision in its motor and perceptual aspects is also a useful tool to assess and modulate central nervous system (CNS) in general. PMID:25538575

Developing a Data Visualization System for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon (Chicago, Illinois USA).

PubMed

Hanken, Taylor; Young, Sam; Smilowitz, Karen; Chiampas, George; Waskowski, David

2016-10-01

As one of the largest marathons worldwide, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon (BACCM; Chicago, Illinois USA) accumulates high volumes of data. Race organizers and engaged agencies need the ability to access specific data in real-time. This report details a data visualization system designed for the Chicago Marathon and establishes key principles for event management data visualization. The data visualization system allows for efficient data communication among the organizing agencies of Chicago endurance events. Agencies can observe the progress of the race throughout the day and obtain needed information, such as the number and location of runners on the course and current weather conditions. Implementation of the system can reduce time-consuming, face-to-face interactions between involved agencies by having key data streams in one location, streamlining communications with the purpose of improving race logistics, as well as medical preparedness and response. Hanken T , Young S , Smilowitz K , Chiampas G , Waskowski D . Developing a data visualization system for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon (Chicago, Illinois USA). Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(5):572-577.

Survey of Visual and Force/Tactile Control of Robots for Physical Interaction in Spain

PubMed Central

Garcia, Gabriel J.; Corrales, Juan A.; Pomares, Jorge; Torres, Fernando

2009-01-01

Sensors provide robotic systems with the information required to perceive the changes that happen in unstructured environments and modify their actions accordingly. The robotic controllers which process and analyze this sensory information are usually based on three types of sensors (visual, force/torque and tactile) which identify the most widespread robotic control strategies: visual servoing control, force control and tactile control. This paper presents a detailed review on the sensor architectures, algorithmic techniques and applications which have been developed by Spanish researchers in order to implement these mono-sensor and multi-sensor controllers which combine several sensors. PMID:22303146

Rocinante, a virtual collaborative visualizer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McDonald, M.J.; Ice, L.G.

1996-12-31

With the goal of improving the ability of people around the world to share the development and use of intelligent systems, Sandia National Laboratories` Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center is developing new Virtual Collaborative Engineering (VCE) and Virtual Collaborative Control (VCC) technologies. A key area of VCE and VCC research is in shared visualization of virtual environments. This paper describes a Virtual Collaborative Visualizer (VCV), named Rocinante, that Sandia developed for VCE and VCC applications. Rocinante allows multiple participants to simultaneously view dynamic geometrically-defined environments. Each viewer can exclude extraneous detail or include additional information in the scene as desired.more » Shared information can be saved and later replayed in a stand-alone mode. Rocinante automatically scales visualization requirements with computer system capabilities. Models with 30,000 polygons and 4 Megabytes of texture display at 12 to 15 frames per second (fps) on an SGI Onyx and at 3 to 8 fps (without texture) on Indigo 2 Extreme computers. In its networked mode, Rocinante synchronizes its local geometric model with remote simulators and sensory systems by monitoring data transmitted through UDP packets. Rocinante`s scalability and performance make it an ideal VCC tool. Users throughout the country can monitor robot motions and the thinking behind their motion planners and simulators.« less

Geoinformation web-system for processing and visualization of large archives of geo-referenced data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordov, E. P.; Okladnikov, I. G.; Titov, A. G.; Shulgina, T. M.

2010-12-01

Developed working model of information-computational system aimed at scientific research in area of climate change is presented. The system will allow processing and analysis of large archives of geophysical data obtained both from observations and modeling. Accumulated experience of developing information-computational web-systems providing computational processing and visualization of large archives of geo-referenced data was used during the implementation (Gordov et al, 2007; Okladnikov et al, 2008; Titov et al, 2009). Functional capabilities of the system comprise a set of procedures for mathematical and statistical analysis, processing and visualization of data. At present five archives of data are available for processing: 1st and 2nd editions of NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis, ECMWF ERA-40 Reanalysis, JMA/CRIEPI JRA-25 Reanalysis, and NOAA-CIRES XX Century Global Reanalysis Version I. To provide data processing functionality a computational modular kernel and class library providing data access for computational modules were developed. Currently a set of computational modules for climate change indices approved by WMO is available. Also a special module providing visualization of results and writing to Encapsulated Postscript, GeoTIFF and ESRI shape files was developed. As a technological basis for representation of cartographical information in Internet the GeoServer software conforming to OpenGIS standards is used. Integration of GIS-functionality with web-portal software to provide a basis for web-portal’s development as a part of geoinformation web-system is performed. Such geoinformation web-system is a next step in development of applied information-telecommunication systems offering to specialists from various scientific fields unique opportunities of performing reliable analysis of heterogeneous geophysical data using approved computational algorithms. It will allow a wide range of researchers to work with geophysical data without specific programming knowledge and to concentrate on solving their specific tasks. The system would be of special importance for education in climate change domain. This work is partially supported by RFBR grant #10-07-00547, SB RAS Basic Program Projects 4.31.1.5 and 4.31.2.7, SB RAS Integration Projects 4 and 9.

Early and Late Inhibitions Elicited by a Peripheral Visual Cue on Manual Response to a Visual Target: Are They Based on Cartesian Coordinates?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gawryszewski, Luiz G.; Carreiro, Luiz Renato R.; Magalhaes, Fabio V.

2005-01-01

A non-informative cue (C) elicits an inhibition of manual reaction time (MRT) to a visual target (T). We report an experiment to examine if the spatial distribution of this inhibitory effect follows Polar or Cartesian coordinate systems. C appeared at one out of 8 isoeccentric (7[degrees]) positions, the C-T angular distances (in polar…

JUICE: a data management system that facilitates the analysis of large volumes of information in an EST project workflow

PubMed Central

Latorre, Mariano; Silva, Herman; Saba, Juan; Guziolowski, Carito; Vizoso, Paula; Martinez, Veronica; Maldonado, Jonathan; Morales, Andrea; Caroca, Rodrigo; Cambiazo, Veronica; Campos-Vargas, Reinaldo; Gonzalez, Mauricio; Orellana, Ariel; Retamales, Julio; Meisel, Lee A

2006-01-01

Background Expressed sequence tag (EST) analyses provide a rapid and economical means to identify candidate genes that may be involved in a particular biological process. These ESTs are useful in many Functional Genomics studies. However, the large quantity and complexity of the data generated during an EST sequencing project can make the analysis of this information a daunting task. Results In an attempt to make this task friendlier, we have developed JUICE, an open source data management system (Apache + PHP + MySQL on Linux), which enables the user to easily upload, organize, visualize and search the different types of data generated in an EST project pipeline. In contrast to other systems, the JUICE data management system allows a branched pipeline to be established, modified and expanded, during the course of an EST project. The web interfaces and tools in JUICE enable the users to visualize the information in a graphical, user-friendly manner. The user may browse or search for sequences and/or sequence information within all the branches of the pipeline. The user can search using terms associated with the sequence name, annotation or other characteristics stored in JUICE and associated with sequences or sequence groups. Groups of sequences can be created by the user, stored in a clipboard and/or downloaded for further analyses. Different user profiles restrict the access of each user depending upon their role in the project. The user may have access exclusively to visualize sequence information, access to annotate sequences and sequence information, or administrative access. Conclusion JUICE is an open source data management system that has been developed to aid users in organizing and analyzing the large amount of data generated in an EST Project workflow. JUICE has been used in one of the first functional genomics projects in Chile, entitled "Functional Genomics in nectarines: Platform to potentiate the competitiveness of Chile in fruit exportation". However, due to its ability to organize and visualize data from external pipelines, JUICE is a flexible data management system that should be useful for other EST/Genome projects. The JUICE data management system is released under the Open Source GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). JUICE may be downloaded from or . PMID:17123449

Mapping multisensory parietal face and body areas in humans.

PubMed

Huang, Ruey-Song; Chen, Ching-fu; Tran, Alyssa T; Holstein, Katie L; Sereno, Martin I

2012-10-30

Detection and avoidance of impending obstacles is crucial to preventing head and body injuries in daily life. To safely avoid obstacles, locations of objects approaching the body surface are usually detected via the visual system and then used by the motor system to guide defensive movements. Mediating between visual input and motor output, the posterior parietal cortex plays an important role in integrating multisensory information in peripersonal space. We used functional MRI to map parietal areas that see and feel multisensory stimuli near or on the face and body. Tactile experiments using full-body air-puff stimulation suits revealed somatotopic areas of the face and multiple body parts forming a higher-level homunculus in the superior posterior parietal cortex. Visual experiments using wide-field looming stimuli revealed retinotopic maps that overlap with the parietal face and body areas in the postcentral sulcus at the most anterior border of the dorsal visual pathway. Starting at the parietal face area and moving medially and posteriorly into the lower-body areas, the median of visual polar-angle representations in these somatotopic areas gradually shifts from near the horizontal meridian into the lower visual field. These results suggest the parietal face and body areas fuse multisensory information in peripersonal space to guard an individual from head to toe.

Intermittently-visual Tracking Experiments Reveal the Roles of Error-correction and Predictive Mechanisms in the Human Visual-motor Control System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayashi, Yoshikatsu; Tamura, Yurie; Sase, Kazuya; Sugawara, Ken; Sawada, Yasuji

Prediction mechanism is necessary for human visual motion to compensate a delay of sensory-motor system. In a previous study, “proactive control” was discussed as one example of predictive function of human beings, in which motion of hands preceded the virtual moving target in visual tracking experiments. To study the roles of the positional-error correction mechanism and the prediction mechanism, we carried out an intermittently-visual tracking experiment where a circular orbit is segmented into the target-visible regions and the target-invisible regions. Main results found in this research were following. A rhythmic component appeared in the tracer velocity when the target velocity was relatively high. The period of the rhythm in the brain obtained from environmental stimuli is shortened more than 10%. The shortening of the period of rhythm in the brain accelerates the hand motion as soon as the visual information is cut-off, and causes the precedence of hand motion to the target motion. Although the precedence of the hand in the blind region is reset by the environmental information when the target enters the visible region, the hand motion precedes the target in average when the predictive mechanism dominates the error-corrective mechanism.

Transformation of an uncertain video search pipeline to a sketch-based visual analytics loop.

PubMed

Legg, Philip A; Chung, David H S; Parry, Matthew L; Bown, Rhodri; Jones, Mark W; Griffiths, Iwan W; Chen, Min

2013-12-01

Traditional sketch-based image or video search systems rely on machine learning concepts as their core technology. However, in many applications, machine learning alone is impractical since videos may not be semantically annotated sufficiently, there may be a lack of suitable training data, and the search requirements of the user may frequently change for different tasks. In this work, we develop a visual analytics systems that overcomes the shortcomings of the traditional approach. We make use of a sketch-based interface to enable users to specify search requirement in a flexible manner without depending on semantic annotation. We employ active machine learning to train different analytical models for different types of search requirements. We use visualization to facilitate knowledge discovery at the different stages of visual analytics. This includes visualizing the parameter space of the trained model, visualizing the search space to support interactive browsing, visualizing candidature search results to support rapid interaction for active learning while minimizing watching videos, and visualizing aggregated information of the search results. We demonstrate the system for searching spatiotemporal attributes from sports video to identify key instances of the team and player performance.

Visual cueing considerations in Nap-of-the-Earth helicopter flight head-slaved helmet-mounted displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grunwald, Arthur J.; Kohn, Silvia

1993-01-01

The pilot's ability to derive Control-Oriented Visual Field Information from teleoperated Helmet-Mounted displays in Nap-of-the-Earth flight, is investigated. The visual field with these types of displays, commonly used in Apache and Cobra helicopter night operations, originates from a relatively narrow field-of-view Forward Looking Infrared Radiation Camera, gimbal-mounted at the nose of the aircraft and slaved to the pilot's line-of-sight, in order to obtain a wide-angle field-of-regard. Pilots have encountered considerable difficulties in controlling the aircraft by these devices. Experimental simulator results presented here indicate that part of these difficulties can be attributed to head/camera slaving system phase lags and errors. In the presence of voluntary head rotation, these slaving system imperfections are shown to impair the Control-Oriented Visual Field Information vital in vehicular control, such as the perception of the anticipated flight path or the vehicle yaw rate. Since, in the presence of slaving system imperfections, the pilot will tend to minimize head rotation, the full wide-angle field-of-regard of the line-of-sight slaved Helmet-Mounted Display, is not always fully utilized.

Prestimulus neural oscillations inhibit visual perception via modulation of response gain.

PubMed

Chaumon, Maximilien; Busch, Niko A

2014-11-01

The ongoing state of the brain radically affects how it processes sensory information. How does this ongoing brain activity interact with the processing of external stimuli? Spontaneous oscillations in the alpha range are thought to inhibit sensory processing, but little is known about the psychophysical mechanisms of this inhibition. We recorded ongoing brain activity with EEG while human observers performed a visual detection task with stimuli of different contrast intensities. To move beyond qualitative description, we formally compared psychometric functions obtained under different levels of ongoing alpha power and evaluated the inhibitory effect of ongoing alpha oscillations in terms of contrast or response gain models. This procedure opens the way to understanding the actual functional mechanisms by which ongoing brain activity affects visual performance. We found that strong prestimulus occipital alpha oscillations-but not more anterior mu oscillations-reduce performance most strongly for stimuli of the highest intensities tested. This inhibitory effect is best explained by a divisive reduction of response gain. Ongoing occipital alpha oscillations thus reflect changes in the visual system's input/output transformation that are independent of the sensory input to the system. They selectively scale the system's response, rather than change its sensitivity to sensory information.

Active vision and image/video understanding with decision structures based on the network-symbolic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuvich, Gary

2003-08-01

Vision is a part of a larger information system that converts visual information into knowledge structures. These structures drive vision process, resolve ambiguity and uncertainty via feedback projections, and provide image understanding that is an interpretation of visual information in terms of such knowledge models. The ability of human brain to emulate knowledge structures in the form of networks-symbolic models is found. And that means an important shift of paradigm in our knowledge about brain from neural networks to "cortical software". Symbols, predicates and grammars naturally emerge in such active multilevel hierarchical networks, and logic is simply a way of restructuring such models. Brain analyzes an image as a graph-type decision structure created via multilevel hierarchical compression of visual information. Mid-level vision processes like clustering, perceptual grouping, separation of figure from ground, are special kinds of graph/network transformations. They convert low-level image structure into the set of more abstract ones, which represent objects and visual scene, making them easy for analysis by higher-level knowledge structures. Higher-level vision phenomena are results of such analysis. Composition of network-symbolic models works similar to frames and agents, combines learning, classification, analogy together with higher-level model-based reasoning into a single framework. Such models do not require supercomputers. Based on such principles, and using methods of Computational intelligence, an Image Understanding system can convert images into the network-symbolic knowledge models, and effectively resolve uncertainty and ambiguity, providing unifying representation for perception and cognition. That allows creating new intelligent computer vision systems for robotic and defense industries.

A Rules-Based Service for Suggesting Visualizations to Analyze Earth Science Phenomena.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prabhu, A.; Zednik, S.; Fox, P. A.; Ramachandran, R.; Maskey, M.; Shie, C. L.; Shen, S.

2016-12-01

Current Earth Science Information Systems lack support for new or interdisciplinary researchers, who may be unfamiliar with the domain vocabulary or the breadth of relevant data available. We need to evolve the current information systems, to reduce the time required for data preparation, processing and analysis. This can be done by effectively salvaging the "dark" resources in Earth Science. We assert that Earth science metadata assets are dark resources, information resources that organizations collect, process, and store for regular business or operational activities but fail to utilize for other purposes. In order to effectively use these dark resources, especially for data processing and visualization, we need a combination of domain, data product and processing knowledge, i.e. a knowledge base from which specific data operations can be performed. In this presentation, we describe a semantic, rules based approach to provide i.e. a service to visualize Earth Science phenomena, based on the data variables extracted using the "dark" metadata resources. We use Jena rules to make assertions about compatibility between a phenomena and various visualizations based on multiple factors. We created separate orthogonal rulesets to map each of these factors to the various phenomena. Some of the factors we have considered include measurements, spatial resolution and time intervals. This approach enables easy additions and deletions based on newly obtained domain knowledge or phenomena related information and thus improving the accuracy of the rules service overall.

Perceived Average Orientation Reflects Effective Gist of the Surface.

PubMed

Cha, Oakyoon; Chong, Sang Chul

2018-03-01

The human ability to represent ensemble visual information, such as average orientation and size, has been suggested as the foundation of gist perception. To effectively summarize different groups of objects into the gist of a scene, observers should form ensembles separately for different groups, even when objects have similar visual features across groups. We hypothesized that the visual system utilizes perceptual groups characterized by spatial configuration and represents separate ensembles for different groups. Therefore, participants could not integrate ensembles of different perceptual groups on a task basis. We asked participants to determine the average orientation of visual elements comprising a surface with a contour situated inside. Although participants were asked to estimate the average orientation of all the elements, they ignored orientation signals embedded in the contour. This constraint may help the visual system to keep the visual features of occluding objects separate from those of the occluded objects.

IEEE Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems - Natural and Synthetic Held in Denver, Colorado on 28 November-1 December 1988

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-14

DISCRIMINATE SIMILAR KANJt CHARACTERS. Yoshihiro Mori, Kazuhiko Yokosawa . 12 FURTHER EXPLORATIONS IN THE LEARNING OF VISUALLY-GUIDED REACHING: MAKING MURPHY...NETWORKS THAT LEARN TO DISCRIMINATE SIMILAR KANJI CHARACTERS YOSHIHIRO MORI, KAZUHIKO YOKOSAWA , ATR Auditory and Visual Perception Research Laboratories

Concept Mapping: A Graphical System for Understanding the Relationship between Concepts. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plotnick, Eric

This ERIC Digest discusses concept mapping, a technique for representing the structure of information visually. Concept mapping can be used to brainstorm, design complex structures, communicate complex ideas, aid learning by explicitly integrating new and old knowledge, and assess understanding or diagnose misunderstanding. Visual representation…

Sharpening of Hierarchical Visual Feature Representations of Blurred Images.

PubMed

Abdelhack, Mohamed; Kamitani, Yukiyasu

2018-01-01

The robustness of the visual system lies in its ability to perceive degraded images. This is achieved through interacting bottom-up, recurrent, and top-down pathways that process the visual input in concordance with stored prior information. The interaction mechanism by which they integrate visual input and prior information is still enigmatic. We present a new approach using deep neural network (DNN) representation to reveal the effects of such integration on degraded visual inputs. We transformed measured human brain activity resulting from viewing blurred images to the hierarchical representation space derived from a feedforward DNN. Transformed representations were found to veer toward the original nonblurred image and away from the blurred stimulus image. This indicated deblurring or sharpening in the neural representation, and possibly in our perception. We anticipate these results will help unravel the interplay mechanism between bottom-up, recurrent, and top-down pathways, leading to more comprehensive models of vision.

Intelligent Data Visualization for Cross-Checking Spacecraft System Diagnosis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ong, James C.; Remolina, Emilio; Breeden, David; Stroozas, Brett A.; Mohammed, John L.

2012-01-01

Any reasoning system is fallible, so crew members and flight controllers must be able to cross-check automated diagnoses of spacecraft or habitat problems by considering alternate diagnoses and analyzing related evidence. Cross-checking improves diagnostic accuracy because people can apply information processing heuristics, pattern recognition techniques, and reasoning methods that the automated diagnostic system may not possess. Over time, cross-checking also enables crew members to become comfortable with how the diagnostic reasoning system performs, so the system can earn the crew s trust. We developed intelligent data visualization software that helps users cross-check automated diagnoses of system faults more effectively. The user interface displays scrollable arrays of timelines and time-series graphs, which are tightly integrated with an interactive, color-coded system schematic to show important spatial-temporal data patterns. Signal processing and rule-based diagnostic reasoning automatically identify alternate hypotheses and data patterns that support or rebut the original and alternate diagnoses. A color-coded matrix display summarizes the supporting or rebutting evidence for each diagnosis, and a drill-down capability enables crew members to quickly view graphs and timelines of the underlying data. This system demonstrates that modest amounts of diagnostic reasoning, combined with interactive, information-dense data visualizations, can accelerate system diagnosis and cross-checking.

The display of spatial information and visually guided behavior

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bennett, C. Thomas

1991-01-01

The basic informational elements of spatial orientation are attitude and position within a coordinate system. The problem that faces aeronautical designers is that a pilot must deal with several coordinate systems, sometimes simultaneously. The display must depict unambiguously not only position and attitude, but also designate the relevant coordinate system. If this is not done accurately, spatial disorientation can occur. The different coordinate systems used in aeronautical tasks and the problems that occur in the display of spatial information are explained.

Interactive visualization for scar transmurality in cardiac resynchronization therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reiml, Sabrina; Toth, Daniel; Panayiotou, Maria; Fahn, Bernhard; Karim, Rashed; Behar, Jonathan M.; Rinaldi, Christopher A.; Razavi, Reza; Rhode, Kawal S.; Brost, Alexander; Mountney, Peter

2016-03-01

Heart failure is a serious disease affecting about 23 million people worldwide. Cardiac resynchronization therapy is used to treat patients suffering from symptomatic heart failure. However, 30% to 50% of patients have limited clinical benefit. One of the main causes is suboptimal placement of the left ventricular lead. Pacing in areas of myocardial scar correlates with poor clinical outcomes. Therefore precise knowledge of the individual patient's scar characteristics is critical for delivering tailored treatments capable of improving response rates. Current research methods for scar assessment either map information to an alternative non-anatomical coordinate system or they use the image coordinate system but lose critical information about scar extent and scar distribution. This paper proposes two interactive methods for visualizing relevant scar information. A 2-D slice based approach with a scar mask overlaid on a 16 segment heart model and a 3-D layered mesh visualization which allows physicians to scroll through layers of scar from endocardium to epicardium. These complementary methods enable physicians to evaluate scar location and transmurality during planning and guidance. Six physicians evaluated the proposed system by identifying target regions for lead placement. With the proposed method more target regions could be identified.

Real-time 3D visualization of volumetric video motion sensor data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carlson, J.; Stansfield, S.; Shawver, D.

1996-11-01

This paper addresses the problem of improving detection, assessment, and response capabilities of security systems. Our approach combines two state-of-the-art technologies: volumetric video motion detection (VVMD) and virtual reality (VR). This work capitalizes on the ability of VVMD technology to provide three-dimensional (3D) information about the position, shape, and size of intruders within a protected volume. The 3D information is obtained by fusing motion detection data from multiple video sensors. The second component involves the application of VR technology to display information relating to the sensors and the sensor environment. VR technology enables an operator, or security guard, to bemore » immersed in a 3D graphical representation of the remote site. VVMD data is transmitted from the remote site via ordinary telephone lines. There are several benefits to displaying VVMD information in this way. Because the VVMD system provides 3D information and because the sensor environment is a physical 3D space, it seems natural to display this information in 3D. Also, the 3D graphical representation depicts essential details within and around the protected volume in a natural way for human perception. Sensor information can also be more easily interpreted when the operator can `move` through the virtual environment and explore the relationships between the sensor data, objects and other visual cues present in the virtual environment. By exploiting the powerful ability of humans to understand and interpret 3D information, we expect to improve the means for visualizing and interpreting sensor information, allow a human operator to assess a potential threat more quickly and accurately, and enable a more effective response. This paper will detail both the VVMD and VR technologies and will discuss a prototype system based upon their integration.« less

High Performance Real-Time Visualization of Voluminous Scientific Data Through the NOAA Earth Information System (NEIS).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stewart, J.; Hackathorn, E. J.; Joyce, J.; Smith, J. S.

2014-12-01

Within our community data volume is rapidly expanding. These data have limited value if one cannot interact or visualize the data in a timely manner. The scientific community needs the ability to dynamically visualize, analyze, and interact with these data along with other environmental data in real-time regardless of the physical location or data format. Within the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's), the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) is actively developing the NOAA Earth Information System (NEIS). Previously, the NEIS team investigated methods of data discovery and interoperability. The recent focus shifted to high performance real-time visualization allowing NEIS to bring massive amounts of 4-D data, including output from weather forecast models as well as data from different observations (surface obs, upper air, etc...) in one place. Our server side architecture provides a real-time stream processing system which utilizes server based NVIDIA Graphical Processing Units (GPU's) for data processing, wavelet based compression, and other preparation techniques for visualization, allows NEIS to minimize the bandwidth and latency for data delivery to end-users. Client side, users interact with NEIS services through the visualization application developed at ESRL called TerraViz. Terraviz is developed using the Unity game engine and takes advantage of the GPU's allowing a user to interact with large data sets in real time that might not have been possible before. Through these technologies, the NEIS team has improved accessibility to 'Big Data' along with providing tools allowing novel visualization and seamless integration of data across time and space regardless of data size, physical location, or data format. These capabilities provide the ability to see the global interactions and their importance for weather prediction. Additionally, they allow greater access than currently exists helping to foster scientific collaboration and new ideas. This presentation will provide an update of the recent enhancements of the NEIS architecture and visualization capabilities, challenges faced, as well as ongoing research activities related to this project.

Preserved figure-ground segregation and symmetry perception in visual neglect.

PubMed

Driver, J; Baylis, G C; Rafal, R D

1992-11-05

A central controversy in current research on visual attention is whether figures are segregated from their background preattentively, or whether attention is first directed to unstructured regions of the image. Here we present neurological evidence for the former view from studies of a brain-injured patient with visual neglect. His attentional impairment arises after normal segmentation of the image into figures and background has taken place. Our results indicate that information which is neglected and unavailable to higher levels of visual processing can nevertheless be processed by earlier stages in the visual system concerned with segmentation.

Realistic terrain visualization based on 3D virtual world technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Fengru; Lin, Hui; Chen, Bin; Xiao, Cai

2009-09-01

The rapid advances in information technologies, e.g., network, graphics processing, and virtual world, have provided challenges and opportunities for new capabilities in information systems, Internet applications, and virtual geographic environments, especially geographic visualization and collaboration. In order to achieve meaningful geographic capabilities, we need to explore and understand how these technologies can be used to construct virtual geographic environments to help to engage geographic research. The generation of three-dimensional (3D) terrain plays an important part in geographical visualization, computer simulation, and virtual geographic environment applications. The paper introduces concepts and technologies of virtual worlds and virtual geographic environments, explores integration of realistic terrain and other geographic objects and phenomena of natural geographic environment based on SL/OpenSim virtual world technologies. Realistic 3D terrain visualization is a foundation of construction of a mirror world or a sand box model of the earth landscape and geographic environment. The capabilities of interaction and collaboration on geographic information are discussed as well. Further virtual geographic applications can be developed based on the foundation work of realistic terrain visualization in virtual environments.

Realistic terrain visualization based on 3D virtual world technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Fengru; Lin, Hui; Chen, Bin; Xiao, Cai

2010-11-01

The rapid advances in information technologies, e.g., network, graphics processing, and virtual world, have provided challenges and opportunities for new capabilities in information systems, Internet applications, and virtual geographic environments, especially geographic visualization and collaboration. In order to achieve meaningful geographic capabilities, we need to explore and understand how these technologies can be used to construct virtual geographic environments to help to engage geographic research. The generation of three-dimensional (3D) terrain plays an important part in geographical visualization, computer simulation, and virtual geographic environment applications. The paper introduces concepts and technologies of virtual worlds and virtual geographic environments, explores integration of realistic terrain and other geographic objects and phenomena of natural geographic environment based on SL/OpenSim virtual world technologies. Realistic 3D terrain visualization is a foundation of construction of a mirror world or a sand box model of the earth landscape and geographic environment. The capabilities of interaction and collaboration on geographic information are discussed as well. Further virtual geographic applications can be developed based on the foundation work of realistic terrain visualization in virtual environments.

Visual information processing; Proceedings of the Meeting, Orlando, FL, Apr. 20-22, 1992

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huck, Friedrich O. (Editor); Juday, Richard D. (Editor)

1992-01-01

Topics discussed in these proceedings include nonlinear processing and communications; feature extraction and recognition; image gathering, interpolation, and restoration; image coding; and wavelet transform. Papers are presented on noise reduction for signals from nonlinear systems; driving nonlinear systems with chaotic signals; edge detection and image segmentation of space scenes using fractal analyses; a vision system for telerobotic operation; a fidelity analysis of image gathering, interpolation, and restoration; restoration of images degraded by motion; and information, entropy, and fidelity in visual communication. Attention is also given to image coding methods and their assessment, hybrid JPEG/recursive block coding of images, modified wavelets that accommodate causality, modified wavelet transform for unbiased frequency representation, and continuous wavelet transform of one-dimensional signals by Fourier filtering.

SAKURA-viewer: intelligent order history viewer based on two-viewpoint architecture.

PubMed

Toyoda, Shuichi; Niki, Noboru; Nishitani, Hiromu

2007-03-01

We propose a new intelligent order history viewer applied to consolidating and visualizing data. SAKURA-viewer is a highly effective tool, as: 1) it visualizes both the semantic viewpoint and the temporal viewpoint of patient records simultaneously; 2) it promotes awareness of contextual information among the daily data; and 3) it implements patient-centric data entry methods. This viewer contributes to decrease the user's workload in an order entry system. This viewer is now incorporated into an order entry system being run on an experimental basis. We describe the evaluation of this system using results of a user satisfaction survey, analysis of information consolidation within the database, and analysis of the frequency of use of data entry methods.

Visual attention mitigates information loss in small- and large-scale neural codes

PubMed Central

Sprague, Thomas C; Saproo, Sameer; Serences, John T

2015-01-01

Summary The visual system transforms complex inputs into robust and parsimonious neural codes that efficiently guide behavior. Because neural communication is stochastic, the amount of encoded visual information necessarily decreases with each synapse. This constraint requires processing sensory signals in a manner that protects information about relevant stimuli from degradation. Such selective processing – or selective attention – is implemented via several mechanisms, including neural gain and changes in tuning properties. However, examining each of these effects in isolation obscures their joint impact on the fidelity of stimulus feature representations by large-scale population codes. Instead, large-scale activity patterns can be used to reconstruct representations of relevant and irrelevant stimuli, providing a holistic understanding about how neuron-level modulations collectively impact stimulus encoding. PMID:25769502

Trifocal Tensor-Based Adaptive Visual Trajectory Tracking Control of Mobile Robots.

PubMed

Chen, Jian; Jia, Bingxi; Zhang, Kaixiang

2017-11-01

In this paper, a trifocal tensor-based approach is proposed for the visual trajectory tracking task of a nonholonomic mobile robot equipped with a roughly installed monocular camera. The desired trajectory is expressed by a set of prerecorded images, and the robot is regulated to track the desired trajectory using visual feedback. Trifocal tensor is exploited to obtain the orientation and scaled position information used in the control system, and it works for general scenes owing to the generality of trifocal tensor. In the previous works, the start, current, and final images are required to share enough visual information to estimate the trifocal tensor. However, this requirement can be easily violated for perspective cameras with limited field of view. In this paper, key frame strategy is proposed to loosen this requirement, extending the workspace of the visual servo system. Considering the unknown depth and extrinsic parameters (installing position of the camera), an adaptive controller is developed based on Lyapunov methods. The proposed control strategy works for almost all practical circumstances, including both trajectory tracking and pose regulation tasks. Simulations are made based on the virtual experimentation platform (V-REP) to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Image gathering and restoration - Information and visual quality

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccormick, Judith A.; Alter-Gartenberg, Rachel; Huck, Friedrich O.

1989-01-01

A method is investigated for optimizing the end-to-end performance of image gathering and restoration for visual quality. To achieve this objective, one must inevitably confront the problems that the visual quality of restored images depends on perceptual rather than mathematical considerations and that these considerations vary with the target, the application, and the observer. The method adopted in this paper is to optimize image gathering informationally and to restore images interactively to obtain the visually preferred trade-off among fidelity resolution, sharpness, and clarity. The results demonstrate that this method leads to significant improvements in the visual quality obtained by the traditional digital processing methods. These traditional methods allow a significant loss of visual quality to occur because they treat the design of the image-gathering system and the formulation of the image-restoration algorithm as two separate tasks and fail to account for the transformations between the continuous and the discrete representations in image gathering and reconstruction.

Learning Science Through Visualization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chaudhury, S. Raj

2005-01-01

In the context of an introductory physical science course for non-science majors, I have been trying to understand how scientific visualizations of natural phenomena can constructively impact student learning. I have also necessarily been concerned with the instructional and assessment approaches that need to be considered when focusing on learning science through visually rich information sources. The overall project can be broken down into three distinct segments : (i) comparing students' abilities to demonstrate proportional reasoning competency on visual and verbal tasks (ii) decoding and deconstructing visualizations of an object falling under gravity (iii) the role of directed instruction to elicit alternate, valid scientific visualizations of the structure of the solar system. Evidence of student learning was collected in multiple forms for this project - quantitative analysis of student performance on written, graded assessments (tests and quizzes); qualitative analysis of videos of student 'think aloud' sessions. The results indicate that there are significant barriers for non-science majors to succeed in mastering the content of science courses, but with informed approaches to instruction and assessment, these barriers can be overcome.

Spatiotopic updating of visual feature information.

PubMed

Zimmermann, Eckart; Weidner, Ralph; Fink, Gereon R

2017-10-01

Saccades shift the retina with high-speed motion. In order to compensate for the sudden displacement, the visuomotor system needs to combine saccade-related information and visual metrics. Many neurons in oculomotor but also in visual areas shift their receptive field shortly before the execution of a saccade (Duhamel, Colby, & Goldberg, 1992; Nakamura & Colby, 2002). These shifts supposedly enable the binding of information from before and after the saccade. It is a matter of current debate whether these shifts are merely location based (i.e., involve remapping of abstract spatial coordinates) or also comprise information about visual features. We have recently presented fMRI evidence for a feature-based remapping mechanism in visual areas V3, V4, and VO (Zimmermann, Weidner, Abdollahi, & Fink, 2016). In particular, we found fMRI adaptation in cortical regions representing a stimulus' retinotopic as well as its spatiotopic position. Here, we asked whether spatiotopic adaptation exists independently from retinotopic adaptation and which type of information is behaviorally more relevant after saccade execution. We first adapted at the saccade target location only and found a spatiotopic tilt aftereffect. Then, we simultaneously adapted both the fixation and the saccade target location but with opposite tilt orientations. As a result, adaptation from the fixation location was carried retinotopically to the saccade target position. The opposite tilt orientation at the retinotopic location altered the effects induced by spatiotopic adaptation. More precisely, it cancelled out spatiotopic adaptation at the saccade target location. We conclude that retinotopic and spatiotopic visual adaptation are independent effects.

Visualization and characterization of users in a citizen science project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morais, Alessandra M. M.; Raddick, Jordan; Coelho dos Santos, Rafael D.

2013-05-01

Recent technological advances allowed the creation and use of internet-based systems where many users can collaborate gathering and sharing information for specific or general purposes: social networks, e-commerce review systems, collaborative knowledge systems, etc. Since most of the data collected in these systems is user-generated, understanding of the motivations and general behavior of users is a very important issue. Of particular interest are citizen science projects, where users without scientific training are asked for collaboration labeling and classifying information (either automatically by giving away idle computer time or manually by actually seeing data and providing information about it). Understanding behavior of users of those types of data collection systems may help increase the involvement of the users, categorize users accordingly to different parameters, facilitate their collaboration with the systems, design better user interfaces, and allow better planning and deployment of similar projects and systems. Behavior of those users could be estimated through analysis of their collaboration track: registers of which user did what and when can be easily and unobtrusively collected in several different ways, the simplest being a log of activities. In this paper we present some results on the visualization and characterization of almost 150.000 users with more than 80.000.000 collaborations with a citizen science project - Galaxy Zoo I, which asked users to classify galaxies' images. Basic visualization techniques are not applicable due to the number of users, so techniques to characterize users' behavior based on feature extraction and clustering are used.

Data management in Oceanography at SOCIB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joaquin, Tintoré; March, David; Lora, Sebastian; Sebastian, Kristian; Frontera, Biel; Gómara, Sonia; Pau Beltran, Joan

2014-05-01

SOCIB, the Balearic Islands Coastal Ocean Observing and Forecasting System (http://www.socib.es), is a Marine Research Infrastructure, a multiplatform distributed and integrated system, a facility of facilities that extends from the nearshore to the open sea and provides free, open and quality control data. SOCIB is a facility o facilities and has three major infrastructure components: (1) a distributed multiplatform observing system, (2) a numerical forecasting system, and (3) a data management and visualization system. We present the spatial data infrastructure and applications developed at SOCIB. One of the major goals of the SOCIB Data Centre is to provide users with a system to locate and download the data of interest (near real-time and delayed mode) and to visualize and manage the information. Following SOCIB principles, data need to be (1) discoverable and accessible, (2) freely available, and (3) interoperable and standardized. In consequence, SOCIB Data Centre Facility is implementing a general data management system to guarantee international standards, quality assurance and interoperability. The combination of different sources and types of information requires appropriate methods to ingest, catalogue, display, and distribute this information. SOCIB Data Centre is responsible for directing the different stages of data management, ranging from data acquisition to its distribution and visualization through web applications. The system implemented relies on open source solutions. In other words, the data life cycle relies in the following stages: • Acquisition: The data managed by SOCIB mostly come from its own observation platforms, numerical models or information generated from the activities in the SIAS Division. • Processing: Applications developed at SOCIB to deal with all collected platform data performing data calibration, derivation, quality control and standardization. • Archival: Storage in netCDF and spatial databases. • Distribution: Data web services using Thredds, Geoserver and RESTful own services. • Catalogue: Metadata is provided through the ncISO plugin in Thredds and Geonetwork. • Visualization: web and mobile applications to present SOCIB data to different user profiles. SOCIB data services and applications have been developed to provide response to science and society needs (eg. European initiatives such as Emodnet or Copernicus), by targeting different user profiles (eg. researchers, technicians, policy and decision makers, educators, students, and society in general). For example, SOCIB has developed applications to: 1) allow researchers and technicians to access oceanographic information; 2) provide decision support for oil spills response; 3) disseminate information about the coastal state for tourists and recreational users; 4) present coastal research in educational programs; and 5) offer easy and fast access to marine information through mobile devices. In conclusion, the organizational and conceptual structure of SOCIB's Data Centre and the components developed provide an example of marine information systems within the framework of new ocean observatories and/or marine research infrastructures.

Grammatical Gender and Mental Representation of Object: The Case of Musical Instruments.

PubMed

Vuksanović, Jasmina; Bjekić, Jovana; Radivojević, Natalija

2015-08-01

A body of research shows that grammatical gender, although an arbitrary category, is viewed as the system with its own meaning. However, the question remains to what extent does grammatical gender influence shaping our notions about objects when both verbal and visual information are available. Two experiments were conducted. The results obtained in Experiment 1 have shown that grammatical gender as a linguistic property of the pseudo-nouns used as names for musical instruments significantly affects people's representations about these instruments. The purpose of Experiment 2 was to examine how the representation of musical instruments will be shaped in the presence of both language and visual information. The results indicate that the co-existence of linguistic and visual information results in formation of concepts about selected instruments by all available information from both sources, thus suggesting that grammatical gender influences nonverbal concepts' forming, but has no privileged status in the matter.

How a surgeon becomes superman by visualization of intelligently fused multi-modalities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erat, Okan; Pauly, Olivier; Weidert, Simon; Thaller, Peter; Euler, Ekkehard; Mutschler, Wolf; Navab, Nassir; Fallavollita, Pascal

2013-03-01

Motivation: The existing visualization of the Camera augmented mobile C-arm (CamC) system does not have enough cues for depth information and presents the anatomical information in a confusing way to surgeons. Methods: We propose a method that segments anatomical information from X-ray and then augment it on the video images. To provide depth cues, pixels belonging to video images are classified as skin and object classes. The augmentation of anatomical information from X-ray is performed only when pixels have a larger probability of belonging to skin class. Results: We tested our algorithm by displaying the new visualization to 2 expert surgeons and 1 medical student during three surgical workflow sequences of the interlocking of intramedullary nail procedure, namely: skin incision, center punching, and drilling. Via a survey questionnaire, they were asked to assess the new visualization when compared to the current alphablending overlay image displayed by CamC. The participants all agreed (100%) that occlusion and instrument tip position detection were immediately improved with our technique. When asked if our visualization has potential to replace the existing alpha-blending overlay during interlocking procedures, all participants did not hesitate to suggest an immediate integration of the visualization for the correct navigation and guidance of the procedure. Conclusion: Current alpha blending visualizations lack proper depth cues and can be a source of confusion for the surgeons when performing surgery. Our visualization concept shows great potential in alleviating occlusion and facilitating clinician understanding during specific workflow steps of the intramedullary nailing procedure.

Stroboscopic visual training improves information encoding in short-term memory.

PubMed

Appelbaum, L Gregory; Cain, Matthew S; Schroeder, Julia E; Darling, Elise F; Mitroff, Stephen R

2012-11-01

The visual system has developed to transform an undifferentiated and continuous flow of information into discrete and manageable representations, and this ability rests primarily on the uninterrupted nature of the input. Here we explore the impact of altering how visual information is accumulated over time by assessing how intermittent vision influences memory retention. Previous work has shown that intermittent, or stroboscopic, visual training (i.e., practicing while only experiencing snapshots of vision) can enhance visual-motor control and visual cognition, yet many questions remain unanswered about the mechanisms that are altered. In the present study, we used a partial-report memory paradigm to assess the possible changes in visual memory following training under stroboscopic conditions. In Experiment 1, the memory task was completed before and immediately after a training phase, wherein participants engaged in physical activities (e.g., playing catch) while wearing either specialized stroboscopic eyewear or transparent control eyewear. In Experiment 2, an additional group of participants underwent the same stroboscopic protocol but were delayed 24 h between training and assessment, so as to measure retention. In comparison to the control group, both stroboscopic groups (immediate and delayed retest) revealed enhanced retention of information in short-term memory, leading to better recall at longer stimulus-to-cue delays (640-2,560 ms). These results demonstrate that training under stroboscopic conditions has the capacity to enhance some aspects of visual memory, that these faculties generalize beyond the specific tasks that were trained, and that trained improvements can be maintained for at least a day.

Learning effects of dynamic postural control by auditory biofeedback versus visual biofeedback training.

PubMed

Hasegawa, Naoya; Takeda, Kenta; Sakuma, Moe; Mani, Hiroki; Maejima, Hiroshi; Asaka, Tadayoshi

2017-10-01

Augmented sensory biofeedback (BF) for postural control is widely used to improve postural stability. However, the effective sensory information in BF systems of motor learning for postural control is still unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning effects of visual versus auditory BF training in dynamic postural control. Eighteen healthy young adults were randomly divided into two groups (visual BF and auditory BF). In test sessions, participants were asked to bring the real-time center of pressure (COP) in line with a hidden target by body sway in the sagittal plane. The target moved in seven cycles of sine curves at 0.23Hz in the vertical direction on a monitor. In training sessions, the visual and auditory BF groups were required to change the magnitude of a visual circle and a sound, respectively, according to the distance between the COP and target in order to reach the target. The perceptual magnitudes of visual and auditory BF were equalized according to Stevens' power law. At the retention test, the auditory but not visual BF group demonstrated decreased postural performance errors in both the spatial and temporal parameters under the no-feedback condition. These findings suggest that visual BF increases the dependence on visual information to control postural performance, while auditory BF may enhance the integration of the proprioceptive sensory system, which contributes to motor learning without BF. These results suggest that auditory BF training improves motor learning of dynamic postural control. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Topography from shading and stereo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horn, Berthold K. P.

1994-01-01

Methods exploiting photometric information in images that have been developed in machine vision can be applied to planetary imagery. Integrating shape from shading, binocular stereo, and photometric stereo yields a robust system for recovering detailed surface shape and surface reflectance information. Such a system is useful in producing quantitative information from the vast volume of imagery being received, as well as in helping visualize the underlying surface.

Locomotion Enhances Neural Encoding of Visual Stimuli in Mouse V1

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Neurons in mouse primary visual cortex (V1) are selective for particular properties of visual stimuli. Locomotion causes a change in cortical state that leaves their selectivity unchanged but strengthens their responses. Both locomotion and the change in cortical state are thought to be initiated by projections from the mesencephalic locomotor region, the latter through a disinhibitory circuit in V1. By recording simultaneously from a large number of single neurons in alert mice viewing moving gratings, we investigated the relationship between locomotion and the information contained within the neural population. We found that locomotion improved encoding of visual stimuli in V1 by two mechanisms. First, locomotion-induced increases in firing rates enhanced the mutual information between visual stimuli and single neuron responses over a fixed window of time. Second, stimulus discriminability was improved, even for fixed population firing rates, because of a decrease in noise correlations across the population. These two mechanisms contributed differently to improvements in discriminability across cortical layers, with changes in firing rates most important in the upper layers and changes in noise correlations most important in layer V. Together, these changes resulted in a threefold to fivefold reduction in the time needed to precisely encode grating direction and orientation. These results support the hypothesis that cortical state shifts during locomotion to accommodate an increased load on the visual system when mice are moving. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This paper contains three novel findings about the representation of information in neurons within the primary visual cortex of the mouse. First, we show that locomotion reduces by at least a factor of 3 the time needed for information to accumulate in the visual cortex that allows the distinction of different visual stimuli. Second, we show that the effect of locomotion is to increase information in cells of all layers of the visual cortex. Third, we show that the means by which information is enhanced by locomotion differs between the upper layers, where the major effect is the increasing of firing rates, and in layer V, where the major effect is the reduction in noise correlations. PMID:28264980

GeoCrystal: graphic-interactive access to geodata archives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goebel, Stefan; Haist, Joerg; Jasnoch, Uwe

2002-03-01

Recently there is spent a lot of effort to establish information systems and global infrastructures enabling both data suppliers and users to describe (-> eCommerce, metadata) as well as to find appropriate data. Examples for this are metadata information systems, online-shops or portals for geodata. The main disadvantages of existing approaches are insufficient methods and mechanisms leading users to (e.g. spatial) data archives. This affects aspects concerning usability and personalization in general as well as visual feedback techniques in the different steps of the information retrieval process. Several approaches aim at the improvement of graphical user interfaces by using intuitive metaphors, but only some of them offer 3D interfaces in the form of information landscapes or geographic result scenes in the context of information systems for geodata. This paper presents GeoCrystal, which basic idea is to adopt Venn diagrams to compose complex queries and to visualize search results in a 3D information and navigation space for geodata. These concepts are enhanced with spatial metaphors and 3D information landscapes (library for geodata) wherein users can specify searches for appropriate geodata and are enabled to graphic-interactively communicate with search results (book metaphor).

Interactive Learning Environment: Web-based Virtual Hydrological Simulation System using Augmented and Immersive Reality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, I.

2014-12-01

Recent developments in internet technologies make it possible to manage and visualize large data on the web. Novel visualization techniques and interactive user interfaces allow users to create realistic environments, and interact with data to gain insight from simulations and environmental observations. The hydrological simulation system is a web-based 3D interactive learning environment for teaching hydrological processes and concepts. The simulation systems provides a visually striking platform with realistic terrain information, and water simulation. Students can create or load predefined scenarios, control environmental parameters, and evaluate environmental mitigation alternatives. The web-based simulation system provides an environment for students to learn about the hydrological processes (e.g. flooding and flood damage), and effects of development and human activity in the floodplain. The system utilizes latest web technologies and graphics processing unit (GPU) for water simulation and object collisions on the terrain. Users can access the system in three visualization modes including virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive reality using heads-up display. The system provides various scenarios customized to fit the age and education level of various users. This presentation provides an overview of the web-based flood simulation system, and demonstrates the capabilities of the system for various visualization and interaction modes.

Integrated visualization of remote sensing data using Google Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castella, M.; Rigo, T.; Argemi, O.; Bech, J.; Pineda, N.; Vilaclara, E.

2009-09-01

The need for advanced visualization tools for meteorological data has lead in the last years to the development of sophisticated software packages either by observing systems manufacturers or by third-party solution providers. For example, manufacturers of remote sensing systems such as weather radars or lightning detection systems include zoom, product selection, archive access capabilities, as well as quantitative tools for data analysis, as standard features which are highly appreciated in weather surveillance or post-event case study analysis. However, the fact that each manufacturer has its own visualization system and data formats hampers the usability and integration of different data sources. In this context, Google Earth (GE) offers the possibility of combining several graphical information types in a unique visualization system which can be easily accessed by users. The Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) has been evaluating the use of GE as a visualization platform for surveillance tasks in adverse weather events. First experiences are related to the integration in real-time of remote sensing data: radar, lightning, and satellite. The tool shows the animation of the combined products in the last hour, giving a good picture of the meteorological situation. One of the main advantages of this product is that is easy to be installed in many computers and does not need high computational requirements. Besides this, the capability of GE provides information about the most affected areas by heavy rain or other weather phenomena. On the opposite, the main disadvantage is that the product offers only qualitative information, and quantitative data is only available though the graphical display (i.e. trough color scales but not associated to physical values that can be accessed by users easily). The procedure developed to run in real time is divided in three parts. First of all, a crontab file launches different applications, depending on the data type (satellite, radar, or lightning) to be treated. For each type of data, the time of launching is different, and goes from 5 (satellite and lightning) to 6 minutes (radar). The second part is the use of IDL and ENVI programs, which search in each archive file the last images in one hour. In the case of lightning data, the files are generated for the procedure, while for the others the procedure searches for existing imagery. Finally, the procedure generates metadata information required by GE, kml files, and sends them to the internal server. At the same time, in the local computer where GE is running, there exists kml files which update the information referring to the server ones. Another application that has been evaluated is the analysis of past events. In this sense, further work is devoted to develop access procedures to archived data via cgi scripts in order to retrieve and convert the information in a format suitable for GE. The presentation includes examples of the evaluation of the use of GE, and a brief comparison with other existing visualization systems available within the SMC.

A Fuzzy-Based Approach for Sensing, Coding and Transmission Configuration of Visual Sensors in Smart City Applications

PubMed Central

Costa, Daniel G.; Collotta, Mario; Pau, Giovanni; Duran-Faundez, Cristian

2017-01-01

The advance of technologies in several areas has allowed the development of smart city applications, which can improve the way of life in modern cities. When employing visual sensors in that scenario, still images and video streams may be retrieved from monitored areas, potentially providing valuable data for many applications. Actually, visual sensor networks may need to be highly dynamic, reflecting the changing of parameters in smart cities. In this context, characteristics of visual sensors and conditions of the monitored environment, as well as the status of other concurrent monitoring systems, may affect how visual sensors collect, encode and transmit information. This paper proposes a fuzzy-based approach to dynamically configure the way visual sensors will operate concerning sensing, coding and transmission patterns, exploiting different types of reference parameters. This innovative approach can be considered as the basis for multi-systems smart city applications based on visual monitoring, potentially bringing significant results for this research field. PMID:28067777

A Fuzzy-Based Approach for Sensing, Coding and Transmission Configuration of Visual Sensors in Smart City Applications.

PubMed

Costa, Daniel G; Collotta, Mario; Pau, Giovanni; Duran-Faundez, Cristian

2017-01-05

The advance of technologies in several areas has allowed the development of smart city applications, which can improve the way of life in modern cities. When employing visual sensors in that scenario, still images and video streams may be retrieved from monitored areas, potentially providing valuable data for many applications. Actually, visual sensor networks may need to be highly dynamic, reflecting the changing of parameters in smart cities. In this context, characteristics of visual sensors and conditions of the monitored environment, as well as the status of other concurrent monitoring systems, may affect how visual sensors collect, encode and transmit information. This paper proposes a fuzzy-based approach to dynamically configure the way visual sensors will operate concerning sensing, coding and transmission patterns, exploiting different types of reference parameters. This innovative approach can be considered as the basis for multi-systems smart city applications based on visual monitoring, potentially bringing significant results for this research field.

Judgment in crossing a road between objects coming in the opposite lane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumiya, Kazumichi; Kaneko, Hirohiko

2008-05-01

When cars are oncoming in the opposite lane of a road, a driver is able to judge whether his/her car can cross the road at an intersection without a collision with the oncoming cars. We developed a model for the human judgment used to cross a road between oncoming objects. In the model, in order to make the judgment to cross the road, the human visual system compares the time interval it takes for an oncoming object to pass the observer with the time interval it takes for the observer to cross the road. We conducted a psychophysical experiment to test the model prediction. The result showed that human performance is in good agreement with the theoretical consequence provided by the model, suggesting that the human visual system uses not only the visually timed information of the approaching object but also the timed information of self-action for the judgment about crossing the road.

Technique and cue selection for graphical presentation of generic hyperdimensional data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howard, Lee M.; Burton, Robert P.

2013-12-01

Several presentation techniques have been created for visualization of data with more than three variables. Packages have been written, each of which implements a subset of these techniques. However, these packages generally fail to provide all the features needed by the user during the visualization process. Further, packages generally limit support for presentation techniques to a few techniques. A new package called Petrichor accommodates all necessary and useful features together in one system. Any presentation technique may be added easily through an extensible plugin system. Features are supported by a user interface that allows easy interaction with data. Annotations allow users to mark up visualizations and share information with others. By providing a hyperdimensional graphics package that easily accommodates presentation techniques and includes a complete set of features, including those that are rarely or never supported elsewhere, the user is provided with a tool that facilitates improved interaction with multivariate data to extract and disseminate information.

Conscious Vision Proceeds from Global to Local Content in Goal-Directed Tasks and Spontaneous Vision.

PubMed

Campana, Florence; Rebollo, Ignacio; Urai, Anne; Wyart, Valentin; Tallon-Baudry, Catherine

2016-05-11

The reverse hierarchy theory (Hochstein and Ahissar, 2002) makes strong, but so far untested, predictions on conscious vision. In this theory, local details encoded in lower-order visual areas are unconsciously processed before being automatically and rapidly combined into global information in higher-order visual areas, where conscious percepts emerge. Contingent on current goals, local details can afterward be consciously retrieved. This model therefore predicts that (1) global information is perceived faster than local details, (2) global information is computed regardless of task demands during early visual processing, and (3) spontaneous vision is dominated by global percepts. We designed novel textured stimuli that are, as opposed to the classic Navon's letters, truly hierarchical (i.e., where global information is solely defined by local information but where local and global orientations can still be manipulated separately). In line with the predictions, observers were systematically faster reporting global than local properties of those stimuli. Second, global information could be decoded from magneto-encephalographic data during early visual processing regardless of task demands. Last, spontaneous subjective reports were dominated by global information and the frequency and speed of spontaneous global perception correlated with the accuracy and speed in the global task. No such correlation was observed for local information. We therefore show that information at different levels of the visual hierarchy is not equally likely to become conscious; rather, conscious percepts emerge preferentially at a global level. We further show that spontaneous reports can be reliable and are tightly linked to objective performance at the global level. Is information encoded at different levels of the visual system (local details in low-level areas vs global shapes in high-level areas) equally likely to become conscious? We designed new hierarchical stimuli and provide the first empirical evidence based on behavioral and MEG data that global information encoded at high levels of the visual hierarchy dominates perception. This result held both in the presence and in the absence of task demands. The preferential emergence of percepts at high levels can account for two properties of conscious vision, namely, the dominance of global percepts and the feeling of visual richness reported independently of the perception of local details. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/365200-14$15.00/0.

A Bayesian Account of Visual-Vestibular Interactions in the Rod-and-Frame Task.

PubMed

Alberts, Bart B G T; de Brouwer, Anouk J; Selen, Luc P J; Medendorp, W Pieter

2016-01-01

Panoramic visual cues, as generated by the objects in the environment, provide the brain with important information about gravity direction. To derive an optimal, i.e., Bayesian, estimate of gravity direction, the brain must combine panoramic information with gravity information detected by the vestibular system. Here, we examined the individual sensory contributions to this estimate psychometrically. We asked human subjects to judge the orientation (clockwise or counterclockwise relative to gravity) of a briefly flashed luminous rod, presented within an oriented square frame (rod-in-frame). Vestibular contributions were manipulated by tilting the subject's head, whereas visual contributions were manipulated by changing the viewing distance of the rod and frame. Results show a cyclical modulation of the frame-induced bias in perceived verticality across a 90° range of frame orientations. The magnitude of this bias decreased significantly with larger viewing distance, as if visual reliability was reduced. Biases increased significantly when the head was tilted, as if vestibular reliability was reduced. A Bayesian optimal integration model, with distinct vertical and horizontal panoramic weights, a gain factor to allow for visual reliability changes, and ocular counterroll in response to head tilt, provided a good fit to the data. We conclude that subjects flexibly weigh visual panoramic and vestibular information based on their orientation-dependent reliability, resulting in the observed verticality biases and the associated response variabilities.

USL NASA/RECON project presentations at the 1985 ACM Computer Science Conference: Abstracts and visuals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Chum, Frank Y.; Gallagher, Suzy; Granier, Martin; Hall, Philip P.; Moreau, Dennis R.; Triantafyllopoulos, Spiros

1985-01-01

This Working Paper Series entry represents the abstracts and visuals associated with presentations delivered by six USL NASA/RECON research team members at the above named conference. The presentations highlight various aspects of NASA contract activities pursued by the participants as they relate to individual research projects. The titles of the six presentations are as follows: (1) The Specification and Design of a Distributed Workstation; (2) An Innovative, Multidisciplinary Educational Program in Interactive Information Storage and Retrieval; (3) Critical Comparative Analysis of the Major Commercial IS and R Systems; (4) Design Criteria for a PC-Based Common User Interface to Remote Information Systems; (5) The Design of an Object-Oriented Graphics Interface; and (6) Knowledge-Based Information Retrieval: Techniques and Applications.

Preliminary Thoughts on Netted Cable Communication Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eldridge, Frank; Mason, William

There are five categories of cable communication systems: Conventional Community Antenna Television (CATV), Pay-TV, Subscriber Response Systems, Electronic Information Handling Systems, and Two-Way Audio/Visual Systems. CATV and Pay-TV systems are designed for the one-way transmission of programs, the former providing for better quality…

The neural representation of objects formed through the spatiotemporal integration of visual transients

PubMed Central

Erlikhman, Gennady; Gurariy, Gennadiy; Mruczek, Ryan E.B.; Caplovitz, Gideon P.

2016-01-01

Oftentimes, objects are only partially and transiently visible as parts of them become occluded during observer or object motion. The visual system can integrate such object fragments across space and time into perceptual wholes or spatiotemporal objects. This integrative and dynamic process may involve both ventral and dorsal visual processing pathways, along which shape and spatial representations are thought to arise. We measured fMRI BOLD response to spatiotemporal objects and used multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to decode shape information across 20 topographic regions of visual cortex. Object identity could be decoded throughout visual cortex, including intermediate (V3A, V3B, hV4, LO1-2,) and dorsal (TO1-2, and IPS0-1) visual areas. Shape-specific information, therefore, may not be limited to early and ventral visual areas, particularly when it is dynamic and must be integrated. Contrary to the classic view that the representation of objects is the purview of the ventral stream, intermediate and dorsal areas may play a distinct and critical role in the construction of object representations across space and time. PMID:27033688

Interactive visual comparison of multimedia data through type-specific views

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burtner, Russ; Bohn, Shawn; Payne, Debbie

2013-01-01

Analysts who work with collections of multimedia to perform information foraging understand how difficult it is to connect information across diverse sets of mixed media. The wealth of information from blogs, social media, and news sites often can provide actionable intelligence; however, many of the tools used on these sources of content are not capable of multimedia analysis because they only analyze a single media type. As such, analysts are taxed to keep a mental model of the relationships among each of the media types when generating the broader content picture. To address this need, we have developed Canopy, a novel visual analytic tool for analyzing multimedia. Canopy provides insight into the multimedia data relationships by exploiting the linkages found in text, images, and video co-occurring in the same document and across the collection. Canopy connects derived and explicit linkages and relationships through multiple connected visualizations to aid analysts in quickly summarizing, searching, and browsing collected information to explore relationships and align content. In this paper, we will discuss the features and capabilities of the Canopy system and walk through a scenario illustrating how this system might be used in an operational environment.

Natural language processing and visualization in the molecular imaging domain.

PubMed

Tulipano, P Karina; Tao, Ying; Millar, William S; Zanzonico, Pat; Kolbert, Katherine; Xu, Hua; Yu, Hong; Chen, Lifeng; Lussier, Yves A; Friedman, Carol

2007-06-01

Molecular imaging is at the crossroads of genomic sciences and medical imaging. Information within the molecular imaging literature could be used to link to genomic and imaging information resources and to organize and index images in a way that is potentially useful to researchers. A number of natural language processing (NLP) systems are available to automatically extract information from genomic literature. One existing NLP system, known as BioMedLEE, automatically extracts biological information consisting of biomolecular substances and phenotypic data. This paper focuses on the adaptation, evaluation, and application of BioMedLEE to the molecular imaging domain. In order to adapt BioMedLEE for this domain, we extend an existing molecular imaging terminology and incorporate it into BioMedLEE. BioMedLEE's performance is assessed with a formal evaluation study. The system's performance, measured as recall and precision, is 0.74 (95% CI: [.70-.76]) and 0.70 (95% CI [.63-.76]), respectively. We adapt a JAVA viewer known as PGviewer for the simultaneous visualization of images with NLP extracted information.

Theoretical aspects of color vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolbarsht, M. L.

1972-01-01

The three color receptors of Young-Helmholtz and the opponent colors type of information processing postulated by Hering are both present in the human visual system. This mixture accounts for both the phenomena of color matching or hue discrimination and such perceptual qualities of color as the division of the spectrum into color bands. The functioning of the cells in the visual system, especially within the retina, and the relation of this function to color perception are discussed.

Visual guidance of mobile platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blissett, Rodney J.

1993-12-01

Two systems are described and results presented demonstrating aspects of real-time visual guidance of autonomous mobile platforms. The first approach incorporates prior knowledge in the form of rigid geometrical models linking visual references within the environment. The second approach is based on a continuous synthesis of information extracted from image tokens to generate a coarse-grained world model, from which potential obstacles are inferred. The use of these techniques in workplace applications is discussed.

Functional MRI Representational Similarity Analysis Reveals a Dissociation between Discriminative and Relative Location Information in the Human Visual System.

PubMed

Roth, Zvi N

2016-01-01

Neural responses in visual cortex are governed by a topographic mapping from retinal locations to cortical responses. Moreover, at the voxel population level early visual cortex (EVC) activity enables accurate decoding of stimuli locations. However, in many cases information enabling one to discriminate between locations (i.e., discriminative information) may be less relevant than information regarding the relative location of two objects (i.e., relative information). For example, when planning to grab a cup, determining whether the cup is located at the same retinal location as the hand is hardly relevant, whereas the location of the cup relative to the hand is crucial for performing the action. We have previously used multivariate pattern analysis techniques to measure discriminative location information, and found the highest levels in EVC, in line with other studies. Here we show, using representational similarity analysis, that availability of discriminative information in fMRI activation patterns does not entail availability of relative information. Specifically, we find that relative location information can be reliably extracted from activity patterns in posterior intraparietal sulcus (pIPS), but not from EVC, where we find the spatial representation to be warped. We further show that this variability in relative information levels between regions can be explained by a computational model based on an array of receptive fields. Moreover, when the model's receptive fields are extended to include inhibitory surround regions, the model can account for the spatial warping in EVC. These results demonstrate how size and shape properties of receptive fields in human visual cortex contribute to the transformation of discriminative spatial representations into relative spatial representations along the visual stream.

Functional MRI Representational Similarity Analysis Reveals a Dissociation between Discriminative and Relative Location Information in the Human Visual System

PubMed Central

Roth, Zvi N.

2016-01-01

Neural responses in visual cortex are governed by a topographic mapping from retinal locations to cortical responses. Moreover, at the voxel population level early visual cortex (EVC) activity enables accurate decoding of stimuli locations. However, in many cases information enabling one to discriminate between locations (i.e., discriminative information) may be less relevant than information regarding the relative location of two objects (i.e., relative information). For example, when planning to grab a cup, determining whether the cup is located at the same retinal location as the hand is hardly relevant, whereas the location of the cup relative to the hand is crucial for performing the action. We have previously used multivariate pattern analysis techniques to measure discriminative location information, and found the highest levels in EVC, in line with other studies. Here we show, using representational similarity analysis, that availability of discriminative information in fMRI activation patterns does not entail availability of relative information. Specifically, we find that relative location information can be reliably extracted from activity patterns in posterior intraparietal sulcus (pIPS), but not from EVC, where we find the spatial representation to be warped. We further show that this variability in relative information levels between regions can be explained by a computational model based on an array of receptive fields. Moreover, when the model's receptive fields are extended to include inhibitory surround regions, the model can account for the spatial warping in EVC. These results demonstrate how size and shape properties of receptive fields in human visual cortex contribute to the transformation of discriminative spatial representations into relative spatial representations along the visual stream. PMID:27242455

Technical parameters for specifying imagery requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coan, Paul P.; Dunnette, Sheri J.

1994-01-01

Providing visual information acquired from remote events to various operators, researchers, and practitioners has become progressively more important as the application of special skills in alien or hazardous situations increases. To provide an understanding of the technical parameters required to specify imagery, we have identified, defined, and discussed seven salient characteristics of images: spatial resolution, linearity, luminance resolution, spectral discrimination, temporal discrimination, edge definition, and signal-to-noise ratio. We then describe a generalizing imaging system and identified how various parts of the system affect the image data. To emphasize the different applications of imagery, we have constrasted the common television system with the significant parameters of a televisual imaging system for technical applications. Finally, we have established a method by which the required visual information can be specified by describing certain technical parameters which are directly related to the information content of the imagery. This method requires the user to complete a form listing all pertinent data requirements for the imagery.

Emergency Response Virtual Environment for Safe Schools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wasfy, Ayman; Walker, Teresa

2008-01-01

An intelligent emergency response virtual environment (ERVE) that provides emergency first responders, response planners, and managers with situational awareness as well as training and support for safe schools is presented. ERVE incorporates an intelligent agent facility for guiding and assisting the user in the context of the emergency response operations. Response information folders capture key information about the school. The system enables interactive 3D visualization of schools and academic campuses, including the terrain and the buildings' exteriors and interiors in an easy to use Web..based interface. ERVE incorporates live camera and sensors feeds and can be integrated with other simulations such as chemical plume simulation. The system is integrated with a Geographical Information System (GIS) to enable situational awareness of emergency events and assessment of their effect on schools in a geographic area. ERVE can also be integrated with emergency text messaging notification systems. Using ERVE, it is now possible to address safe schools' emergency management needs with a scaleable, seamlessly integrated and fully interactive intelligent and visually compelling solution.

Evaluation and Verification of the Global Rapid Identification of Threats System for Infectious Diseases in Textual Data Sources.

PubMed

Huff, Andrew G; Breit, Nathan; Allen, Toph; Whiting, Karissa; Kiley, Christopher

2016-01-01

The Global Rapid Identification of Threats System (GRITS) is a biosurveillance application that enables infectious disease analysts to monitor nontraditional information sources (e.g., social media, online news outlets, ProMED-mail reports, and blogs) for infectious disease threats. GRITS analyzes these textual data sources by identifying, extracting, and succinctly visualizing epidemiologic information and suggests potentially associated infectious diseases. This manuscript evaluates and verifies the diagnoses that GRITS performs and discusses novel aspects of the software package. Via GRITS' web interface, infectious disease analysts can examine dynamic visualizations of GRITS' analyses and explore historical infectious disease emergence events. The GRITS API can be used to continuously analyze information feeds, and the API enables GRITS technology to be easily incorporated into other biosurveillance systems. GRITS is a flexible tool that can be modified to conduct sophisticated medical report triaging, expanded to include customized alert systems, and tailored to address other biosurveillance needs.

Evaluation and Verification of the Global Rapid Identification of Threats System for Infectious Diseases in Textual Data Sources

PubMed Central

Breit, Nathan

2016-01-01

The Global Rapid Identification of Threats System (GRITS) is a biosurveillance application that enables infectious disease analysts to monitor nontraditional information sources (e.g., social media, online news outlets, ProMED-mail reports, and blogs) for infectious disease threats. GRITS analyzes these textual data sources by identifying, extracting, and succinctly visualizing epidemiologic information and suggests potentially associated infectious diseases. This manuscript evaluates and verifies the diagnoses that GRITS performs and discusses novel aspects of the software package. Via GRITS' web interface, infectious disease analysts can examine dynamic visualizations of GRITS' analyses and explore historical infectious disease emergence events. The GRITS API can be used to continuously analyze information feeds, and the API enables GRITS technology to be easily incorporated into other biosurveillance systems. GRITS is a flexible tool that can be modified to conduct sophisticated medical report triaging, expanded to include customized alert systems, and tailored to address other biosurveillance needs. PMID:27698665

Two different streams form the dorsal visual system: anatomy and functions.

PubMed

Rizzolatti, Giacomo; Matelli, Massimo

2003-11-01

There are two radically different views on the functional role of the dorsal visual stream. One considers it as a system involved in space perception. The other is of a system that codes visual information for action organization. On the basis of new anatomical data and a reconsideration of previous functional and clinical data, we propose that the dorsal stream and its recipient parietal areas form two distinct functional systems: the dorso-dorsal stream (d-d stream) and the ventro-dorsal stream (v-d stream). The d-d stream is formed by area V6 (main d-d extrastriate visual node) and areas V6A and MIP of the superior parietal lobule. Its major functional role is the control of actions "on line". Its damage leads to optic ataxia. The v-d stream is formed by area MT (main v-d extrastriate visual node) and by the visual areas of the inferior parietal lobule. As the d-d stream, v-d stream is responsible for action organization. It, however, also plays a crucial role in space perception and action understanding. The putative mechanisms linking action and perception in the v-d stream is discussed.

Development of image processing techniques for applications in flow visualization and analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Disimile, Peter J.; Shoe, Bridget; Toy, Norman; Savory, Eric; Tahouri, Bahman

1991-01-01

A comparison between two flow visualization studies of an axi-symmetric circular jet issuing into still fluid, using two different experimental techniques, is described. In the first case laser induced fluorescence is used to visualize the flow structure, whilst smoke is utilized in the second. Quantitative information was obtained from these visualized flow regimes using two different digital imaging systems. Results are presented of the rate at which the jet expands in the downstream direction and these compare favorably with the more established data.

Adaptation to sensory-motor reflex perturbations is blind to the source of errors.

PubMed

Hudson, Todd E; Landy, Michael S

2012-01-06

In the study of visual-motor control, perhaps the most familiar findings involve adaptation to externally imposed movement errors. Theories of visual-motor adaptation based on optimal information processing suppose that the nervous system identifies the sources of errors to effect the most efficient adaptive response. We report two experiments using a novel perturbation based on stimulating a visually induced reflex in the reaching arm. Unlike adaptation to an external force, our method induces a perturbing reflex within the motor system itself, i.e., perturbing forces are self-generated. This novel method allows a test of the theory that error source information is used to generate an optimal adaptive response. If the self-generated source of the visually induced reflex perturbation is identified, the optimal response will be via reflex gain control. If the source is not identified, a compensatory force should be generated to counteract the reflex. Gain control is the optimal response to reflex perturbation, both because energy cost and movement errors are minimized. Energy is conserved because neither reflex-induced nor compensatory forces are generated. Precision is maximized because endpoint variance is proportional to force production. We find evidence against source-identified adaptation in both experiments, suggesting that sensory-motor information processing is not always optimal.

SystemSketch Poster

EPA Science Inventory

SystemSketch is a dynamic, graphic visualization tool to help stakeholders better understand system context and access information resources.  It is constructed using the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response framework, and functions both as a stand-alone tool and as a component ...

Sensing Super-Position: Human Sensing Beyond the Visual Spectrum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maluf, David A.; Schipper, John F.

2007-01-01

The coming decade of fast, cheap and miniaturized electronics and sensory devices opens new pathways for the development of sophisticated equipment to overcome limitations of the human senses. This paper addresses the technical feasibility of augmenting human vision through Sensing Super-position by mixing natural Human sensing. The current implementation of the device translates visual and other passive or active sensory instruments into sounds, which become relevant when the visual resolution is insufficient for very difficult and particular sensing tasks. A successful Sensing Super-position meets many human and pilot vehicle system requirements. The system can be further developed into cheap, portable, and low power taking into account the limited capabilities of the human user as well as the typical characteristics of his dynamic environment. The system operates in real time, giving the desired information for the particular augmented sensing tasks. The Sensing Super-position device increases the image resolution perception and is obtained via an auditory representation as well as the visual representation. Auditory mapping is performed to distribute an image in time. The three-dimensional spatial brightness and multi-spectral maps of a sensed image are processed using real-time image processing techniques (e.g. histogram normalization) and transformed into a two-dimensional map of an audio signal as a function of frequency and time. This paper details the approach of developing Sensing Super-position systems as a way to augment the human vision system by exploiting the capabilities of Lie human hearing system as an additional neural input. The human hearing system is capable of learning to process and interpret extremely complicated and rapidly changing auditory patterns. The known capabilities of the human hearing system to learn and understand complicated auditory patterns provided the basic motivation for developing an image-to-sound mapping system. The human brain is superior to most existing computer systems in rapidly extracting relevant information from blurred, noisy, and redundant images. From a theoretical viewpoint, this means that the available bandwidth is not exploited in an optimal way. While image-processing techniques can manipulate, condense and focus the information (e.g., Fourier Transforms), keeping the mapping as direct and simple as possible might also reduce the risk of accidentally filtering out important clues. After all, especially a perfect non-redundant sound representation is prone to loss of relevant information in the non-perfect human hearing system. Also, a complicated non-redundant image-to-sound mapping may well be far more difficult to learn and comprehend than a straightforward mapping, while the mapping system would increase in complexity and cost. This work will demonstrate some basic information processing for optimal information capture for headmounted systems.

The Processing of Biologically Plausible and Implausible forms in American Sign Language: Evidence for Perceptual Tuning.

PubMed

Almeida, Diogo; Poeppel, David; Corina, David

The human auditory system distinguishes speech-like information from general auditory signals in a remarkably fast and efficient way. Combining psychophysics and neurophysiology (MEG), we demonstrate a similar result for the processing of visual information used for language communication in users of sign languages. We demonstrate that the earliest visual cortical responses in deaf signers viewing American Sign Language (ASL) signs show specific modulations to violations of anatomic constraints that would make the sign either possible or impossible to articulate. These neural data are accompanied with a significantly increased perceptual sensitivity to the anatomical incongruity. The differential effects in the early visual evoked potentials arguably reflect an expectation-driven assessment of somatic representational integrity, suggesting that language experience and/or auditory deprivation may shape the neuronal mechanisms underlying the analysis of complex human form. The data demonstrate that the perceptual tuning that underlies the discrimination of language and non-language information is not limited to spoken languages but extends to languages expressed in the visual modality.

OOMM--Object-Oriented Matrix Modelling: an instrument for the integration of the Brasilia Regional Health Information System.

PubMed

Cammarota, M; Huppes, V; Gaia, S; Degoulet, P

1998-01-01

The development of Health Information Systems is widely determined by the establishment of the underlying information models. An Object-Oriented Matrix Model (OOMM) is described which target is to facilitate the integration of the overall health system. The model is based on information modules named micro-databases that are structured in a three-dimensional network: planning, health structures and information systems. The modelling tool has been developed as a layer on top of a relational database system. A visual browser facilitates the development and maintenance of the information model. The modelling approach has been applied to the Brasilia University Hospital since 1991. The extension of the modelling approach to the Brasilia regional health system is considered.

Interactive Model-Centric Systems Engineering (IMCSE) Phase 5

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-02-28

Conducting Program Team Launches ................................................................................................. 12 Informing Policy...research advances knowledge relevant to human interaction with models and model-generated information . Figure 1 highlights several questions the...stakeholders interact using models and model generated information ; facets of human interaction with visualizations and large data sets; and underlying

Assisting the visually impaired: obstacle detection and warning system by acoustic feedback.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Alberto; Yebes, J Javier; Alcantarilla, Pablo F; Bergasa, Luis M; Almazán, Javier; Cela, Andrés

2012-12-17

The aim of this article is focused on the design of an obstacle detection system for assisting visually impaired people. A dense disparity map is computed from the images of a stereo camera carried by the user. By using the dense disparity map, potential obstacles can be detected in 3D in indoor and outdoor scenarios. A ground plane estimation algorithm based on RANSAC plus filtering techniques allows the robust detection of the ground in every frame. A polar grid representation is proposed to account for the potential obstacles in the scene. The design is completed with acoustic feedback to assist visually impaired users while approaching obstacles. Beep sounds with different frequencies and repetitions inform the user about the presence of obstacles. Audio bone conducting technology is employed to play these sounds without interrupting the visually impaired user from hearing other important sounds from its local environment. A user study participated by four visually impaired volunteers supports the proposed system.

Assisting the Visually Impaired: Obstacle Detection and Warning System by Acoustic Feedback

PubMed Central

Rodríguez, Alberto; Yebes, J. Javier; Alcantarilla, Pablo F.; Bergasa, Luis M.; Almazán, Javier; Cela, Andrés

2012-01-01

The aim of this article is focused on the design of an obstacle detection system for assisting visually impaired people. A dense disparity map is computed from the images of a stereo camera carried by the user. By using the dense disparity map, potential obstacles can be detected in 3D in indoor and outdoor scenarios. A ground plane estimation algorithm based on RANSAC plus filtering techniques allows the robust detection of the ground in every frame. A polar grid representation is proposed to account for the potential obstacles in the scene. The design is completed with acoustic feedback to assist visually impaired users while approaching obstacles. Beep sounds with different frequencies and repetitions inform the user about the presence of obstacles. Audio bone conducting technology is employed to play these sounds without interrupting the visually impaired user from hearing other important sounds from its local environment. A user study participated by four visually impaired volunteers supports the proposed system. PMID:23247413

A Low-Cost Audio Prescription Labeling System Using RFID for Thai Visually-Impaired People.

PubMed

Lertwiriyaprapa, Titipong; Fakkheow, Pirapong

2015-01-01

This research aims to develop a low-cost audio prescription labeling (APL) system for visually-impaired people by using the RFID system. The developed APL system includes the APL machine and APL software. The APL machine is for visually-impaired people while APL software allows caregivers to record all important information into the APL machine. The main objective of the development of the APL machine is to reduce costs and size by designing all of the electronic devices to fit into one print circuit board. Also, it is designed so that it is easy to use and can become an electronic aid for daily living. The developed APL software is based on Java and MySQL, both of which can operate on various operating platforms and are easy to develop as commercial software. The developed APL system was first evaluated by 5 experts. The APL system was also evaluated by 50 actual visually-impaired people (30 elders and 20 blind individuals) and 20 caregivers, pharmacists and nurses. After using the APL system, evaluations were carried out, and it can be concluded from the evaluation results that this proposed APL system can be effectively used for helping visually-impaired people in terms of self-medication.

A Tool for the Analysis of Motion Picture Film or Video Tape.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ekman, Paul; Friesen, Wallace V.

1969-01-01

A visual information display and retrieval system (VID-R) is described for application to visual records. VID-R searches and retrieves events by time address (location) or by previously stored ovservations or measurements. Fields are labeled by writing discriminable binary addresses on the horizontal lines outside the normal viewing area. The…

Pictorial Visual Rotation Ability of Engineering Design Graphics Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ernst, Jeremy Vaughn; Lane, Diarmaid; Clark, Aaron C.

2015-01-01

The ability to rotate visual mental images is a complex cognitive skill. It requires the building of graphical libraries of information through short or long term memory systems and the subsequent retrieval and manipulation of these towards a specified goal. The development of mental rotation skill is of critical importance within engineering…

Cued American English: A Variety in the Visual Mode

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portolano, Marlana

2008-01-01

Cued American English (CAE) is a visual variety of English derived from a mode of communication called Cued Speech (CS). CS, or cueing, is a system of communication for use with the deaf, which consists of hand shapes, hand placements, and mouth shapes that signify the phonemic information conventionally conveyed through speech in spoken…

Cross-Modal Interactions during Perception of Audiovisual Speech and Nonspeech Signals: An fMRI Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hertrich, Ingo; Dietrich, Susanne; Ackermann, Hermann

2011-01-01

During speech communication, visual information may interact with the auditory system at various processing stages. Most noteworthy, recent magnetoencephalography (MEG) data provided first evidence for early and preattentive phonetic/phonological encoding of the visual data stream--prior to its fusion with auditory phonological features [Hertrich,…

Monitoring an Online Course with the GISMO Tool: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazza, Riccardo; Botturi, Luca

2007-01-01

This article presents GISMO, a novel, open source, graphic student-tracking tool integrated into Moodle. GISMO represents a further step in information visualization applied to education, and also a novelty in the field of learning management systems applications. The visualizations of the tool, its uses and the benefits it can bring are…

Impact of stride-coupled gaze shifts of walking blowflies on the neuronal representation of visual targets

PubMed Central

Kress, Daniel; Egelhaaf, Martin

2014-01-01

During locomotion animals rely heavily on visual cues gained from the environment to guide their behavior. Examples are basic behaviors like collision avoidance or the approach to a goal. The saccadic gaze strategy of flying flies, which separates translational from rotational phases of locomotion, has been suggested to facilitate the extraction of environmental information, because only image flow evoked by translational self-motion contains relevant distance information about the surrounding world. In contrast to the translational phases of flight during which gaze direction is kept largely constant, walking flies experience continuous rotational image flow that is coupled to their stride-cycle. The consequences of these self-produced image shifts for the extraction of environmental information are still unclear. To assess the impact of stride-coupled image shifts on visual information processing, we performed electrophysiological recordings from the HSE cell, a motion sensitive wide-field neuron in the blowfly visual system. This cell has been concluded to play a key role in mediating optomotor behavior, self-motion estimation and spatial information processing. We used visual stimuli that were based on the visual input experienced by walking blowflies while approaching a black vertical bar. The response of HSE to these stimuli was dominated by periodic membrane potential fluctuations evoked by stride-coupled image shifts. Nevertheless, during the approach the cell’s response contained information about the bar and its background. The response components evoked by the bar were larger than the responses to its background, especially during the last phase of the approach. However, as revealed by targeted modifications of the visual input during walking, the extraction of distance information on the basis of HSE responses is much impaired by stride-coupled retinal image shifts. Possible mechanisms that may cope with these stride-coupled responses are discussed. PMID:25309362

Study of the cerrado vegetation in the Federal District area from orbital data. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dejesusparada, N. (Principal Investigator); Aoki, H.; Dossantos, J. R.

1980-01-01

The physiognomic units of cerrado in the area of Distrito Federal (DF) were studied through the visual and automatic analysis of products provided by Multispectral Scanning System (MSS) of LANDSAT. The visual analysis of the multispectral images in black and white, at the 1:250,000 scale, was made based on the texture and tonal patterns. The automatic analysis of the compatible computer tapes (CCT) was made by means of IMAGE-100 system. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) the delimitation of cerrado vegetation forms can be made by the visual and automatic analysis; (2) in the visual analysis, the principal parameter used to discriminate the cerrado forms was the tonal pattern, independently of the year's seasons, and the channel 5 gave better information; (3) in the automatic analysis, the data of the four channels of MSS can be used in the discrimination of the cerrado forms; and (4) in the automatic analysis, the four channels combination possibilities gave more information in the separation of cerrado units when soil types were considered.

Multichannel optical mapping: investigation of depth information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sase, Ichiro; Eda, Hideo; Seiyama, Akitoshi; Tanabe, Hiroki C.; Takatsuki, Akira; Yanagida, Toshio

2001-06-01

Near infrared (NIR) light has become a powerful tool for non-invasive imaging of human brain activity. Many systems have been developed to capture the changes in regional brain blood flow and hemoglobin oxygenation, which occur in the human cortex in response to neural activity. We have developed a multi-channel reflectance imaging system, which can be used as a `mapping device' and also as a `multi-channel spectrophotometer'. In the present study, we visualized changes in the hemodynamics of the human occipital region in multiple ways. (1) Stimulating left and right primary visual cortex independently by showing sector shaped checkerboards sequentially over the contralateral visual field, resulted in corresponding changes in the hemodynamics observed by `mapping' measurement. (2) Simultaneous measurement of functional-MRI and NIR (changes in total hemoglobin) during visual stimulation showed good spatial and temporal correlation with each other. (3) Placing multiple channels densely over the occipital region demonstrated spatial patterns more precisely, and depth information was also acquired by placing each pair of illumination and detection fibers at various distances. These results indicate that optical method can provide data for 3D analysis of human brain functions.

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

PubMed Central

Kent, Brendon W.; Yang, Fang-Chi; Burwell, Rebecca D.

2014-01-01

Neuropsychological tasks used in primates to investigate mechanisms of learning and memory are typically visually guided cognitive tasks. We have developed visual cognitive tasks for rats using the Floor Projection Maze1,2 that are optimized for visual abilities of rats permitting stronger comparisons of experimental findings with other species. In order to investigate neural correlates of learning and memory, we have integrated electrophysiological recordings into fully automated cognitive tasks on the Floor Projection Maze1,2. Behavioral software interfaced with an animal tracking system allows monitoring of the animal's behavior with precise control of image presentation and reward contingencies for better trained animals. Integration with an in vivo electrophysiological recording system enables examination of behavioral correlates of neural activity at selected epochs of a given cognitive task. We describe protocols for a model system that combines automated visual presentation of information to rodents and intracranial reward with electrophysiological approaches. Our model system offers a sophisticated set of tools as a framework for other cognitive tasks to better isolate and identify specific mechanisms contributing to particular cognitive processes. PMID:24638057

Selecting and perceiving multiple visual objects

PubMed Central

Xu, Yaoda; Chun, Marvin M.

2010-01-01

To explain how multiple visual objects are attended and perceived, we propose that our visual system first selects a fixed number of about four objects from a crowded scene based on their spatial information (object individuation) and then encode their details (object identification). We describe the involvement of the inferior intra-parietal sulcus (IPS) in object individuation and the superior IPS and higher visual areas in object identification. Our neural object-file theory synthesizes and extends existing ideas in visual cognition and is supported by behavioral and neuroimaging results. It provides a better understanding of the role of the different parietal areas in encoding visual objects and can explain various forms of capacity-limited processing in visual cognition such as working memory. PMID:19269882

Visual function, driving safety, and the elderly.

PubMed

Keltner, J L; Johnson, C A

1987-09-01

The authors have conducted a survey of the Departments of Motor Vehicles in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico requesting information about the visual standards, accidents, and conviction rates for different age groups. In addition, we have reviewed the literature on visual function and traffic safety. Elderly drivers have a greater number of vision problems that affect visual acuity and/or peripheral visual fields. Although the elderly are responsible for a small percentage of the total number of traffic accidents, the types of accidents they are involved in (e.g., failure to yield the right-of-way, intersection collisions, left turns onto crossing streets) may be related to peripheral and central visual field problems. Because age-related changes in performance occur at different rates for various individuals, licensing of the elderly driver should be based on functional abilities rather than age. Based on information currently available, we can make the following recommendations: (1) periodic evaluations of visual acuity and visual fields should be performed every 1 to 2 years in the population over age 65; (2) drivers of any age with multiple accidents or moving violations should have visual acuity and visual fields evaluated; and (3) a system should be developed for physicians to report patients with potentially unsafe visual function. The authors believe that these recommendations may help to reduce the number of traffic accidents that result from peripheral visual field deficits.

Congruent representation of visual and acoustic space in the superior colliculus of the echolocating bat Phyllostomus discolor.

PubMed

Hoffmann, Susanne; Vega-Zuniga, Tomas; Greiter, Wolfgang; Krabichler, Quirin; Bley, Alexandra; Matthes, Mariana; Zimmer, Christiane; Firzlaff, Uwe; Luksch, Harald

2016-11-01

The midbrain superior colliculus (SC) commonly features a retinotopic representation of visual space in its superficial layers, which is congruent with maps formed by multisensory neurons and motor neurons in its deep layers. Information flow between layers is suggested to enable the SC to mediate goal-directed orienting movements. While most mammals strongly rely on vision for orienting, some species such as echolocating bats have developed alternative strategies, which raises the question how sensory maps are organized in these animals. We probed the visual system of the echolocating bat Phyllostomus discolor and found that binocular high acuity vision is frontally oriented and thus aligned with the biosonar system, whereas monocular visual fields cover a large area of peripheral space. For the first time in echolocating bats, we could show that in contrast with other mammals, visual processing is restricted to the superficial layers of the SC. The topographic representation of visual space, however, followed the general mammalian pattern. In addition, we found a clear topographic representation of sound azimuth in the deeper collicular layers, which was congruent with the superficial visual space map and with a previously documented map of orienting movements. Especially for bats navigating at high speed in densely structured environments, it is vitally important to transfer and coordinate spatial information between sensors and motor systems. Here, we demonstrate first evidence for the existence of congruent maps of sensory space in the bat SC that might serve to generate a unified representation of the environment to guide motor actions. © 2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Neural Mechanisms of Selective Visual Attention.

PubMed

Moore, Tirin; Zirnsak, Marc

2017-01-03

Selective visual attention describes the tendency of visual processing to be confined largely to stimuli that are relevant to behavior. It is among the most fundamental of cognitive functions, particularly in humans and other primates for whom vision is the dominant sense. We review recent progress in identifying the neural mechanisms of selective visual attention. We discuss evidence from studies of different varieties of selective attention and examine how these varieties alter the processing of stimuli by neurons within the visual system, current knowledge of their causal basis, and methods for assessing attentional dysfunctions. In addition, we identify some key questions that remain in identifying the neural mechanisms that give rise to the selective processing of visual information.

Classification of cognitive systems dedicated to data sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogiela, Lidia; Ogiela, Marek R.

2017-08-01

In this paper will be presented classification of new cognitive information systems dedicated to cryptographic data splitting and sharing processes. Cognitive processes of semantic data analysis and interpretation, will be used to describe new classes of intelligent information and vision systems. In addition, cryptographic data splitting algorithms and cryptographic threshold schemes will be used to improve processes of secure and efficient information management with application of such cognitive systems. The utility of the proposed cognitive sharing procedures and distributed data sharing algorithms will be also presented. A few possible application of cognitive approaches for visual information management and encryption will be also described.

System to provide 3D information on geological anomaly zone in deep subsea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, W.; Kwon, O.; Kim, D.

2017-12-01

The study on building the ultra long and deep subsea tunnel of which length is 50km and depth is 200m at least, respectively, is underway in Korea. To analyze the geotechnical information required for designing and building subsea tunnel, topographic/geologiccal information analysis using 2D seabed geophysical prospecting and topographic, geologic, exploration and boring data were analyzed comprehensively and as a result, automation method to identify the geological structure zone under seabed which is needed to design the deep and long seabed tunnel was developed using geostatistical analysis. In addition, software using 3D visualized ground information to provide the information includes Gocad, MVS, Vulcan and DIMINE. This study is intended to analyze the geological anomaly zone for ultra deep seabed l and visualize the geological investigation result so as to develop the exclusive system for processing the ground investigation information which is convenient for the users. Particularly it's compatible depending on file of geophysical prospecting result and is realizable in Layer form and for 3D view as well. The data to be processed by 3D seabed information system includes (1) deep seabed topographic information, (2) geological anomaly zone, (3) geophysical prospecting, (4) boring investigation result and (5) 3D visualization of the section on seabed tunnel route. Each data has own characteristics depending on data and interface to allow interlocking with other data is granted. In each detail function, input data is displayed in a single space and each element is selectable to identify the further information as a project. Program creates the project when initially implemented and all output from detail information is stored by project unit. Each element representing detail information is stored in image file and is supported to store in text file as well. It also has the function to transfer, expand/reduce and rotate the model. To represent the all elements in 3D visualized platform, coordinate and time information are added to the data or data group to establish the conceptual model as a whole. This research was supported by the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Korean government(Project Number: 13 Construction Research T01).

Image and information management system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robertson, Tina L. (Inventor); Raney, Michael C. (Inventor); Dougherty, Dennis M. (Inventor); Kent, Peter C. (Inventor); Brucker, Russell X. (Inventor); Lampert, Daryl A. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A system and methods through which pictorial views of an object's configuration, arranged in a hierarchical fashion, are navigated by a person to establish a visual context within the configuration. The visual context is automatically translated by the system into a set of search parameters driving retrieval of structured data and content (images, documents, multimedia, etc.) associated with the specific context. The system places ''hot spots'', or actionable regions, on various portions of the pictorials representing the object. When a user interacts with an actionable region, a more detailed pictorial from the hierarchy is presented representing that portion of the object, along with real-time feedback in the form of a popup pane containing information about that region, and counts-by-type reflecting the number of items that are available within the system associated with the specific context and search filters established at that point in time.

An interactive web-based system using cloud for large-scale visual analytics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaseb, Ahmed S.; Berry, Everett; Rozolis, Erik; McNulty, Kyle; Bontrager, Seth; Koh, Youngsol; Lu, Yung-Hsiang; Delp, Edward J.

2015-03-01

Network cameras have been growing rapidly in recent years. Thousands of public network cameras provide tremendous amount of visual information about the environment. There is a need to analyze this valuable information for a better understanding of the world around us. This paper presents an interactive web-based system that enables users to execute image analysis and computer vision techniques on a large scale to analyze the data from more than 65,000 worldwide cameras. This paper focuses on how to use both the system's website and Application Programming Interface (API). Given a computer program that analyzes a single frame, the user needs to make only slight changes to the existing program and choose the cameras to analyze. The system handles the heterogeneity of the geographically distributed cameras, e.g. different brands, resolutions. The system allocates and manages Amazon EC2 and Windows Azure cloud resources to meet the analysis requirements.

Image and information management system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robertson, Tina L. (Inventor); Kent, Peter C. (Inventor); Raney, Michael C. (Inventor); Dougherty, Dennis M. (Inventor); Brucker, Russell X. (Inventor); Lampert, Daryl A. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A system and methods through which pictorial views of an object's configuration, arranged in a hierarchical fashion, are navigated by a person to establish a visual context within the configuration. The visual context is automatically translated by the system into a set of search parameters driving retrieval of structured data and content (images, documents, multimedia, etc.) associated with the specific context. The system places hot spots, or actionable regions, on various portions of the pictorials representing the object. When a user interacts with an actionable region, a more detailed pictorial from the hierarchy is presented representing that portion of the object, along with real-time feedback in the form of a popup pane containing information about that region, and counts-by-type reflecting the number of items that are available within the system associated with the specific context and search filters established at that point in time.

Integrating a geographic information system, a scientific visualization system and an orographic precipitation model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hay, L.; Knapp, L.

1996-01-01

Investigating natural, potential, and man-induced impacts on hydrological systems commonly requires complex modelling with overlapping data requirements, and massive amounts of one- to four-dimensional data at multiple scales and formats. Given the complexity of most hydrological studies, the requisite software infrastructure must incorporate many components including simulation modelling, spatial analysis and flexible, intuitive displays. There is a general requirement for a set of capabilities to support scientific analysis which, at this time, can only come from an integration of several software components. Integration of geographic information systems (GISs) and scientific visualization systems (SVSs) is a powerful technique for developing and analysing complex models. This paper describes the integration of an orographic precipitation model, a GIS and a SVS. The combination of these individual components provides a robust infrastructure which allows the scientist to work with the full dimensionality of the data and to examine the data in a more intuitive manner.

Temporal Processing in the Olfactory System: Can We See a Smell?

PubMed Central

Gire, David H.; Restrepo, Diego; Sejnowski, Terrence J.; Greer, Charles; De Carlos, Juan A.; Lopez-Mascaraque, Laura

2013-01-01

Sensory processing circuits in the visual and olfactory systems receive input from complex, rapidly changing environments. Although patterns of light and plumes of odor create different distributions of activity in the retina and olfactory bulb, both structures use what appears on the surface similar temporal coding strategies to convey information to higher areas in the brain. We compare temporal coding in the early stages of the olfactory and visual systems, highlighting recent progress in understanding the role of time in olfactory coding during active sensing by behaving animals. We also examine studies that address the divergent circuit mechanisms that generate temporal codes in the two systems, and find that they provide physiological information directly related to functional questions raised by neuroanatomical studies of Ramon y Cajal over a century ago. Consideration of differences in neural activity in sensory systems contributes to generating new approaches to understand signal processing. PMID:23664611

Modeling for Visual Feature Extraction Using Spiking Neural Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, Ichiro; Kuroe, Yasuaki; Kotera, Hiromichi; Murata, Tomoya

This paper develops models for “visual feature extraction” in biological systems by using “spiking neural network (SNN)”. The SNN is promising for developing the models because the information is encoded and processed by spike trains similar to biological neural networks. Two architectures of SNN are proposed for modeling the directionally selective and the motion parallax cell in neuro-sensory systems and they are trained so as to possess actual biological responses of each cell. To validate the developed models, their representation ability is investigated and their visual feature extraction mechanisms are discussed from the neurophysiological viewpoint. It is expected that this study can be the first step to developing a sensor system similar to the biological systems and also a complementary approach to investigating the function of the brain.

Natural Inspired Intelligent Visual Computing and Its Application to Viticulture.

PubMed

Ang, Li Minn; Seng, Kah Phooi; Ge, Feng Lu

2017-05-23

This paper presents an investigation of natural inspired intelligent computing and its corresponding application towards visual information processing systems for viticulture. The paper has three contributions: (1) a review of visual information processing applications for viticulture; (2) the development of natural inspired computing algorithms based on artificial immune system (AIS) techniques for grape berry detection; and (3) the application of the developed algorithms towards real-world grape berry images captured in natural conditions from vineyards in Australia. The AIS algorithms in (2) were developed based on a nature-inspired clonal selection algorithm (CSA) which is able to detect the arcs in the berry images with precision, based on a fitness model. The arcs detected are then extended to perform the multiple arcs and ring detectors information processing for the berry detection application. The performance of the developed algorithms were compared with traditional image processing algorithms like the circular Hough transform (CHT) and other well-known circle detection methods. The proposed AIS approach gave a Fscore of 0.71 compared with Fscores of 0.28 and 0.30 for the CHT and a parameter-free circle detection technique (RPCD) respectively.

Development of the workflow kine systems for support on KAIZEN.

PubMed

Mizuno, Yuki; Ito, Toshihiko; Yoshikawa, Toru; Yomogida, Satoshi; Morio, Koji; Sakai, Kazuhiro

2012-01-01

In this paper, we introduce the new workflow line system consisted of the location and image recording, which led to the acquisition of workflow information and the analysis display. From the results of workflow line investigation, we considered the anticipated effects and the problems on KAIZEN. Workflow line information included the location information and action contents information. These technologies suggest the viewpoints to help improvement, for example, exclusion of useless movement, the redesign of layout and the review of work procedure. Manufacturing factory, it was clear that there was much movement from the standard operation place and accumulation residence time. The following was shown as a result of this investigation, to be concrete, the efficient layout was suggested by this system. In the case of the hospital, similarly, it is pointed out that the workflow has the problem of layout and setup operations based on the effective movement pattern of the experts. This system could adapt to routine work, including as well as non-routine work. By the development of this system which can fit and adapt to industrial diversification, more effective "visual management" (visualization of work) is expected in the future.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cook, Kris A.; Scholtz, Jean; Whiting, Mark A.

The VAST Challenge has been a popular venue for academic and industry participants for over ten years. Many participants comment that the majority of their time in preparing VAST Challenge entries is discovering elements in their software environments that need to be redesigned in order to solve the given task. Fortunately, there is no need to wait until the VAST Challenge is announced to test out software systems. The Visual Analytics Benchmark Repository contains all past VAST Challenge tasks, data, solutions and submissions. This paper details the various types of evaluations that may be conducted using the Repository information. Inmore » this paper we describe how developers can do informal evaluations of various aspects of their visual analytics environments using VAST Challenge information. Aspects that can be evaluated include the appropriateness of the software for various tasks, the various data types and formats that can be accommodated, the effectiveness and efficiency of the process supported by the software, and the intuitiveness of the visualizations and interactions. Researchers can compare their visualizations and interactions to those submitted to determine novelty. In addition, the paper provides pointers to various guidelines that software teams can use to evaluate the usability of their software. While these evaluations are not a replacement for formal evaluation methods, this information can be extremely useful during the development of visual analytics environments.« less

Regions of mid-level human visual cortex sensitive to the global coherence of local image patches.

PubMed

Mannion, Damien J; Kersten, Daniel J; Olman, Cheryl A

2014-08-01

The global structural arrangement and spatial layout of the visual environment must be derived from the integration of local signals represented in the lower tiers of the visual system. This interaction between the spatially local and global properties of visual stimulation underlies many of our visual capacities, and how this is achieved in the brain is a central question for visual and cognitive neuroscience. Here, we examine the sensitivity of regions of the posterior human brain to the global coordination of spatially displaced naturalistic image patches. We presented observers with image patches in two circular apertures to the left and right of central fixation, with the patches drawn from either the same (coherent condition) or different (noncoherent condition) extended image. Using fMRI at 7T (n = 5), we find that global coherence affected signal amplitude in regions of dorsal mid-level cortex. Furthermore, we find that extensive regions of mid-level visual cortex contained information in their local activity pattern that could discriminate coherent and noncoherent stimuli. These findings indicate that the global coordination of local naturalistic image information has important consequences for the processing in human mid-level visual cortex.

Insect cyborgs: a new frontier in flight control systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reissman, Timothy; Crawford, Jackie H.; Garcia, Ephrahim

2007-04-01

The development of a micro-UAV via a cybernetic organism, primarily the Manduca sexta moth, is presented. An observer to gather output data of the system response of the moth is given by means of an image following system. The visual tracking was implemented to gather the required information about the time history of the moth's six degrees of freedom. This was performed with three cameras tracking a white line as a marker on the moth's thorax to maximize contrast between the moth and the marker. Evaluation of the implemented six degree of freedom visual tracking system finds precision greater than 0.1 mm within three standard deviations and accuracy on the order of 1 mm. Acoustic and visual response systems are presented to lay the groundwork for creating a stochastic response catalog of the organisms to varied stimuli.

[What potential do geographic information systems have for population-wide health monitoring in Germany? : Perspectives and challenges for the health monitoring of the Robert Koch Institute].

PubMed

Thißen, Martin; Niemann, Hildegard; Varnaccia, Gianni; Rommel, Alexander; Teti, Andrea; Butschalowsky, Hans; Manz, Kristin; Finger, Jonas David; Kroll, Lars Eric; Ziese, Thomas

2017-12-01

Geographic information systems (GISs) are computer-based systems with which geographical data can be recorded, stored, managed, analyzed, visualized and provided. In recent years, they have become an integral part of public health research. They offer a broad range of analysis tools, which enable innovative solutions for health-related research questions. An analysis of nationwide studies that applied geographic information systems underlines the potential this instrument bears for health monitoring in Germany. Geographic information systems provide up-to-date mapping and visualization options to be used for national health monitoring at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Furthermore, objective information on the residential environment as an influencing factor on population health and on health behavior can be gathered and linked to RKI survey data at different geographic scales. Besides using physical information, such as climate, vegetation or land use, as well as information on the built environment, the instrument can link socioeconomic and sociodemographic data as well as information on health care and environmental stress to the survey data and integrate them into concepts for analyses. Therefore, geographic information systems expand the potential of the RKI to present nationwide, representative and meaningful health-monitoring results. In doing so, data protection regulations must always be followed. To conclude, the development of a national spatial data infrastructure and the identification of important data sources can prospectively improve access to high quality data sets that are relevant for the health monitoring.

Surfing a spike wave down the ventral stream.

PubMed

VanRullen, Rufin; Thorpe, Simon J

2002-10-01

Numerous theories of neural processing, often motivated by experimental observations, have explored the computational properties of neural codes based on the absolute or relative timing of spikes in spike trains. Spiking neuron models and theories however, as well as their experimental counterparts, have generally been limited to the simulation or observation of isolated neurons, isolated spike trains, or reduced neural populations. Such theories would therefore seem inappropriate to capture the properties of a neural code relying on temporal spike patterns distributed across large neuronal populations. Here we report a range of computer simulations and theoretical considerations that were designed to explore the possibilities of one such code and its relevance for visual processing. In a unified framework where the relation between stimulus saliency and spike relative timing plays the central role, we describe how the ventral stream of the visual system could process natural input scenes and extract meaningful information, both rapidly and reliably. The first wave of spikes generated in the retina in response to a visual stimulation carries information explicitly in its spatio-temporal structure: the most salient information is represented by the first spikes over the population. This spike wave, propagating through a hierarchy of visual areas, is regenerated at each processing stage, where its temporal structure can be modified by (i). the selectivity of the cortical neurons, (ii). lateral interactions and (iii). top-down attentional influences from higher order cortical areas. The resulting model could account for the remarkable efficiency and rapidity of processing observed in the primate visual system.

Progressive Visual Analytics: User-Driven Visual Exploration of In-Progress Analytics.

PubMed

Stolper, Charles D; Perer, Adam; Gotz, David

2014-12-01

As datasets grow and analytic algorithms become more complex, the typical workflow of analysts launching an analytic, waiting for it to complete, inspecting the results, and then re-Iaunching the computation with adjusted parameters is not realistic for many real-world tasks. This paper presents an alternative workflow, progressive visual analytics, which enables an analyst to inspect partial results of an algorithm as they become available and interact with the algorithm to prioritize subspaces of interest. Progressive visual analytics depends on adapting analytical algorithms to produce meaningful partial results and enable analyst intervention without sacrificing computational speed. The paradigm also depends on adapting information visualization techniques to incorporate the constantly refining results without overwhelming analysts and provide interactions to support an analyst directing the analytic. The contributions of this paper include: a description of the progressive visual analytics paradigm; design goals for both the algorithms and visualizations in progressive visual analytics systems; an example progressive visual analytics system (Progressive Insights) for analyzing common patterns in a collection of event sequences; and an evaluation of Progressive Insights and the progressive visual analytics paradigm by clinical researchers analyzing electronic medical records.

NEONATAL VISUAL INFORMATION PROCESSING IN COCAINE-EXPOSED AND NON-EXPOSED INFANTS

PubMed Central

Singer, Lynn T.; Arendt, Robert; Fagan, Joseph; Minnes, Sonia; Salvator, Ann; Bolek, Tina; Becker, Michael

2014-01-01

This study investigated early neonatal visual preferences in 267 poly drug exposed neonates (131 cocaine-exposed and 136 non-cocaine exposed) whose drug exposure was documented through interviews and urine and meconium drug screens. Infants were given four visual recognition memory tasks comparing looking time to familiarized stimuli of lattices and rectangular shapes to novel stimuli of a schematic face and curved hourglass and bull’s eye forms. Cocaine-exposed infants performed more poorly, after consideration of confounding factors, with a relationship of severity of cocaine exposure to lower novelty score found for both self-report and biologic measures of exposure, Findings support theories which link prenatal cocaine exposure to deficits in information processing entailing attentional and arousal organizational systems. Neonatal visual discrimination and attention tasks should be further explored as potentially sensitive behavioral indicators of teratologic effects. PMID:25717215

Design and application of BIM based digital sand table for construction management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuquan, JI; Jianqiang, LI; Weijia, LIU

2018-05-01

This paper explores the design and application of BIM based digital sand table for construction management. Aiming at the demands and features of construction management plan for bridge and tunnel engineering, the key functional features of digital sand table should include three-dimensional GIS, model navigation, virtual simulation, information layers, and data exchange, etc. That involving the technology of 3D visualization and 4D virtual simulation of BIM, breakdown structure of BIM model and project data, multi-dimensional information layers, and multi-source data acquisition and interaction. Totally, the digital sand table is a visual and virtual engineering information integrated terminal, under the unified data standard system. Also, the applications shall contain visual constructing scheme, virtual constructing schedule, and monitoring of construction, etc. Finally, the applicability of several basic software to the digital sand table is analyzed.

Visual attention mitigates information loss in small- and large-scale neural codes.

PubMed

Sprague, Thomas C; Saproo, Sameer; Serences, John T

2015-04-01

The visual system transforms complex inputs into robust and parsimonious neural codes that efficiently guide behavior. Because neural communication is stochastic, the amount of encoded visual information necessarily decreases with each synapse. This constraint requires that sensory signals are processed in a manner that protects information about relevant stimuli from degradation. Such selective processing--or selective attention--is implemented via several mechanisms, including neural gain and changes in tuning properties. However, examining each of these effects in isolation obscures their joint impact on the fidelity of stimulus feature representations by large-scale population codes. Instead, large-scale activity patterns can be used to reconstruct representations of relevant and irrelevant stimuli, thereby providing a holistic understanding about how neuron-level modulations collectively impact stimulus encoding. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Size Constancy in Bat Biosonar? Perceptual Interaction of Object Aperture and Distance

PubMed Central

Heinrich, Melina; Wiegrebe, Lutz

2013-01-01

Perception and encoding of object size is an important feature of sensory systems. In the visual system object size is encoded by the visual angle (visual aperture) on the retina, but the aperture depends on the distance of the object. As object distance is not unambiguously encoded in the visual system, higher computational mechanisms are needed. This phenomenon is termed “size constancy”. It is assumed to reflect an automatic re-scaling of visual aperture with perceived object distance. Recently, it was found that in echolocating bats, the ‘sonar aperture’, i.e., the range of angles from which sound is reflected from an object back to the bat, is unambiguously perceived and neurally encoded. Moreover, it is well known that object distance is accurately perceived and explicitly encoded in bat sonar. Here, we addressed size constancy in bat biosonar, recruiting virtual-object techniques. Bats of the species Phyllostomus discolor learned to discriminate two simple virtual objects that only differed in sonar aperture. Upon successful discrimination, test trials were randomly interspersed using virtual objects that differed in both aperture and distance. It was tested whether the bats spontaneously assigned absolute width information to these objects by combining distance and aperture. The results showed that while the isolated perceptual cues encoding object width, aperture, and distance were all perceptually well resolved by the bats, the animals did not assign absolute width information to the test objects. This lack of sonar size constancy may result from the bats relying on different modalities to extract size information at different distances. Alternatively, it is conceivable that familiarity with a behaviorally relevant, conspicuous object is required for sonar size constancy, as it has been argued for visual size constancy. Based on the current data, it appears that size constancy is not necessarily an essential feature of sonar perception in bats. PMID:23630598

Size constancy in bat biosonar? Perceptual interaction of object aperture and distance.

PubMed

Heinrich, Melina; Wiegrebe, Lutz

2013-01-01

Perception and encoding of object size is an important feature of sensory systems. In the visual system object size is encoded by the visual angle (visual aperture) on the retina, but the aperture depends on the distance of the object. As object distance is not unambiguously encoded in the visual system, higher computational mechanisms are needed. This phenomenon is termed "size constancy". It is assumed to reflect an automatic re-scaling of visual aperture with perceived object distance. Recently, it was found that in echolocating bats, the 'sonar aperture', i.e., the range of angles from which sound is reflected from an object back to the bat, is unambiguously perceived and neurally encoded. Moreover, it is well known that object distance is accurately perceived and explicitly encoded in bat sonar. Here, we addressed size constancy in bat biosonar, recruiting virtual-object techniques. Bats of the species Phyllostomus discolor learned to discriminate two simple virtual objects that only differed in sonar aperture. Upon successful discrimination, test trials were randomly interspersed using virtual objects that differed in both aperture and distance. It was tested whether the bats spontaneously assigned absolute width information to these objects by combining distance and aperture. The results showed that while the isolated perceptual cues encoding object width, aperture, and distance were all perceptually well resolved by the bats, the animals did not assign absolute width information to the test objects. This lack of sonar size constancy may result from the bats relying on different modalities to extract size information at different distances. Alternatively, it is conceivable that familiarity with a behaviorally relevant, conspicuous object is required for sonar size constancy, as it has been argued for visual size constancy. Based on the current data, it appears that size constancy is not necessarily an essential feature of sonar perception in bats.

Proprioceptive Distance Cues Restore Perfect Size Constancy in Grasping, but Not Perception, When Vision Is Limited.

PubMed

Chen, Juan; Sperandio, Irene; Goodale, Melvyn Alan

2018-03-19

Our brain integrates information from multiple modalities in the control of behavior. When information from one sensory source is compromised, information from another source can compensate for the loss. What is not clear is whether the nature of this multisensory integration and the re-weighting of different sources of sensory information are the same across different control systems. Here, we investigated whether proprioceptive distance information (position sense of body parts) can compensate for the loss of visual distance cues that support size constancy in perception (mediated by the ventral visual stream) [1, 2] versus size constancy in grasping (mediated by the dorsal visual stream) [3-6], in which the real-world size of an object is computed despite changes in viewing distance. We found that there was perfect size constancy in both perception and grasping in a full-viewing condition (lights on, binocular viewing) and that size constancy in both tasks was dramatically disrupted in the restricted-viewing condition (lights off; monocular viewing of the same but luminescent object through a 1-mm pinhole). Importantly, in the restricted-viewing condition, proprioceptive cues about viewing distance originating from the non-grasping limb (experiment 1) or the inclination of the torso and/or the elbow angle of the grasping limb (experiment 2) compensated for the loss of visual distance cues to enable a complete restoration of size constancy in grasping but only a modest improvement of size constancy in perception. This suggests that the weighting of different sources of sensory information varies as a function of the control system being used. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification and comprehension of symbolic exit signs for small transport-category airplanes.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-02-01

Global growth in travel has resulted in the need to standardize safety information and guidance systems : for communication of significant information to the widest audience possible. Through uniform design and : common visual components, persons in ...

Tools for visually exploring biological networks.

PubMed

Suderman, Matthew; Hallett, Michael

2007-10-15

Many tools exist for visually exploring biological networks including well-known examples such as Cytoscape, VisANT, Pathway Studio and Patika. These systems play a key role in the development of integrative biology, systems biology and integrative bioinformatics. The trend in the development of these tools is to go beyond 'static' representations of cellular state, towards a more dynamic model of cellular processes through the incorporation of gene expression data, subcellular localization information and time-dependent behavior. We provide a comprehensive review of the relative advantages and disadvantages of existing systems with two goals in mind: to aid researchers in efficiently identifying the appropriate existing tools for data visualization; to describe the necessary and realistic goals for the next generation of visualization tools. In view of the first goal, we provide in the Supplementary Material a systematic comparison of more than 35 existing tools in terms of over 25 different features. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

SoundView: an auditory guidance system based on environment understanding for the visually impaired people.

PubMed

Nie, Min; Ren, Jie; Li, Zhengjun; Niu, Jinhai; Qiu, Yihong; Zhu, Yisheng; Tong, Shanbao

2009-01-01

Without visual information, the blind people live in various hardships with shopping, reading, finding objects and etc. Therefore, we developed a portable auditory guide system, called SoundView, for visually impaired people. This prototype system consists of a mini-CCD camera, a digital signal processing unit and an earphone, working with built-in customizable auditory coding algorithms. Employing environment understanding techniques, SoundView processes the images from a camera and detects objects tagged with barcodes. The recognized objects in the environment are then encoded into stereo speech signals for the blind though an earphone. The user would be able to recognize the type, motion state and location of the interested objects with the help of SoundView. Compared with other visual assistant techniques, SoundView is object-oriented and has the advantages of cheap cost, smaller size, light weight, low power consumption and easy customization.

A Crime Analysis Decision Support System for Crime Report Classification and Visualization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ku, Chih-Hao

2012-01-01

Today's Internet-based crime reporting systems make timely and anonymous crime reporting possible. However, these reports also result in a rapidly growing set of unstructured text files. Complicating the problem is that the information has not been filtered or guided in a detective-led interview resulting in much irrelevant information. To…