Coding empowers automation. Scripts can handle mundane and repetitive tasks in an efficient and precise manner. This course will offer a glimpse into the power of using scripting in Python to automate animation-related tasks in Autodesk Maya using a hands-on interactive format. Attendees will learn how to streamline simple tasks using the magic of scripting. The course will cover Setting up the Python environment in Maya, executing Python commands in the Script Editor, manipulating objects using Python scripting, querying animation data, keyframe manipulation, and creating and modifying. By the end of the course, attendees should walk away with a strong understanding of how the Python language, Maya commands and the ability to write scripts for animating in Maya. Hopefully, they will have the tools, confidence, and initiative to explore more advanced scripts independently. Attendees should have Autodesk Maya, Python, and Visual Studio Code pre-loaded on their devices if they intend to follow along.

Virtual Reality has the potential to transform the way we work, rest and play. We are seeing use cases as diverse as education and pain management, with new applications being imagined every day. VR technology comes with new challenges, and many obstacles need to be overcome to ensure good user experience. Recently many new Virtual Reality systems with integrated eye tracking have become available. This course presents timely, relevant information on how Virtual Reality (VR) can leverage eye-tracking data to optimize the user experience and to alleviate usability issues surrounding many challenges in immersive VEs. The integration of eye tracking allows us to determine where the viewer is focusing their attention. If we, as the content creators and world builders, need the user to focus on another area of the VE we can use techniques to attract attention to these regions and also we can confirm we are doing so successful as we continually track the users gaze. Advancing these approaches could make the VR experience more comfortable, safe and effective for the user.

In this paper, we develop a technique for placing informational labels in complex Virtual Environments (VEs). The ability to effectively and efficiently present labels in VEs is valuable in Virtual Reality (VR) for many reasons, but the motivation is to bring us closer to a system that delivers information in VR in an optimal way without causing information overload. The novelty of this technique lies in the use of eye tracking as an accurate indicator of attention to identifying objects of interest. Labels associated with such objects of interest are revealed when the user attends to them. We conduct a series of experiments to evaluate label placement based on user attention. This investigation is a first step toward integrating attention into information placement strategies in VR.

In this poster, we develop a technique for placing informational labels in complex Virtual Environments (VEs). The ability to effectively and efficiently present labels in VEs is valuable in Virtual Reality (VR) for many reasons, but the motivation is to bring us closer to a system that delivers information in VR in an optimal way without causing information overload. The novelty of this technique lies in the use of eye tracking as an accurate indicator of attention to identifying objects of interest. Labels associated with such objects of interest are revealed when the user attends to them. We conduct a series of experiments to evaluate label placement based on user attention. This attention is measured using eye tracking. Results show that one method in particular results in 100% accuracy in some scenarios in a search task with little difference in time taken to complete the task.

For developers of immersive 360-degree virtual environments, directing the viewer's gaze towards Points of Interest (POIs) is a challenge. Limited research exists testing the effectiveness of various gaze direction techniques. However, there is a lack of empirical research evaluating real-time color effects designed to direct the viewer's gaze. We developed a novel VR gaze-directing stimulus using a dynamic real-time color effect and tested its effectiveness in a user study. The stimulus was influenced by color psychology research and chosen by an informal pilot study. Results suggest that the stimulus encouraged participants to direct their gaze back towards POIs. In the majority of subjects who encountered the stimulus, their gaze was successfully directed back to POIs within a few seconds. While the task of holding viewer gaze in VR remains a challenge, this experiment has uncovered new information about the potential of color effect-based VR gaze direction.

The ability to direct a viewer's attention has important applications in computer graphics, data visualization, image analysis, and training. Existing computer-based gaze manipulation techniques, which direct a viewer's attention about a display, have been shown to be effective for spatial learning, search task completion, and medical training applications. In this work we extend the concept of gaze manipulation beyond digital imagery to include controlled, real-world environments. We address two main challenges in guiding attention to real-world objects: determining what object the viewer is currently paying attention to, and providing (projecting) a visual cue on a different part of the scene in order to draw the viewer's attention there. Our system consists of a pair of eye-tracking glasses to determine the viewer's gaze location, and a projector to create the visual cue in the physical environment. The results of a user study show that we can effectively direct the viewer's gaze in the real-world scene. Our technique has applicability in a wide range of instructional environments, including pilot training and driving simulators.

We verify two hypotheses which are assumed to be true only intuitively in many rigid body simulations. I: In large scale rigid body simulation, viewers may not be able to perceive distortion incurred by an approximated simulation method. II: Fixing objects under a pile of objects does not affect the visual plausibility. Visual plausibility of scenarios simulated with these hypotheses assumed true are measured using subjective rating from viewers. As expected, analysis of results supports the truthfulness of the hypotheses under certain simulation environments. However, our analysis discovered four factors which may affect the authenticity of these hypotheses: number of collisions simulated simultaneously, homogeneity of colliding object pairs, distance from scene under simulation to camera position, and simulation method used.

This poster describes an experiment designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a seven screen tiled display. Results show that there are no statistically significant differences in performance on a simple spatial task across display technology. This work can assist researchers of panoramic display systems in evaluating the optimal spatial placement of screen hardware and limits for bezel separation.

Narrative art tells a story, either as a moment in an ongoing story or as a sequence of events unfolding over time. In many works of art separate panels within the same frame are used to depict the sequence of events. Often, there is no clear delineation between these panels, or any indication of the optimal viewing order. To improve visual literacy we propose using Subtle Gaze Direction (SGD) to direct the viewers gaze across an image in a manner which reveals the story. SGD uses small image space modulations in the luminance channel to guide a viewer's gaze about an image without disrupting their normal visual experience. Using a simple ordering task we compared performance using no modulation and using subtle modulation with the correct order of narrative episodes as intended by the artist. Results from experiments show improved performance when SGD is employed. This experiment establishes the potential of the method as an aid to visual navigation in images where the viewing order is unclear.

Contents of Visual Short-Term Memory depend highly on viewer attention. It is possible to influence where attention is allocated using a technique called Subtle Gaze Direction (SGD). SGD combines eye tracking with subtle image-space modulations to guide viewer gaze about a scene. Modulations are terminated before the viewer can scrutinize them with high acuity foveal vision. This approach is preferred to overt techniques that require permanent alterations to images to highlight areas of interest. In our study, participants were asked to recall the location of objects or regions in images. We investigated if using SGD to guide attention to these regions would improve recall. Results showed that the influence of SGD significantly improved accuracy of target count and spatial location recall. This has implications for a wide range of applications including spatial learning in virtual environments as well as image search applications, virtual training and perceptually based rendering.

We use the Subtle Gaze Direction technique (SGD) to guide novices as they try to find abnormalities in mammograms. SGD works by performing image-space modulations on specific regions of the peripheral vision to attract attention. Gaze is monitored and modulations are terminated before they are scrutinized with high-acuity foveal vision. This approach is preferred to overt techniques which permanently alter images to highlight areas of interest. SGD is used to guide novices along the scanpath of an expert radiologist. We hypothesized that this would increase the likelihood of novices correctly identifying irregularities. Results reveal that novices who were guided in this manner performed significantly better than the control group (no gaze manipulation). Furthermore, a short-term post-training lingering effect was observed among subjects guided using SGD. They continued to perform better than the control group once the training was complete and gaze manipulation was disabled.

The advent of affordable display technology and seamless integration of real-world scenes with computer graphics fuels our continuing ability to create and display stunning realistic imagery. With the arrival of new technology, algorithms and display methods comes the realization that gains can be made by tailoring output to the intended audience - humans. Human beings have amazingly complex perceptual systems, which have the ability to quickly capture and process vast amounts of complex data. With all its capability however, the Human Visual System (HVS) has some surprising nuances and limitations that can be exploited to the benefit of numerous graphics applications. This short course will provide insight into those aspects of HVS and other perceptual systems that can serve as both a guide and yard-stick to further the development and evaluation of computer graphics imagery and presentations. The literature on perception provides a rich source of knowledge that can be applied to the realm of computer graphics for immediate and direct benefit, generating images that not only exhibit higher quality, but use less time and resources to process. In addition, knowledge of the HVS serves as a guide on how best to present the images to fulfill the application at hand.

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New immersive display systems are emerging, providing new platforms to present 3D data and virtual worlds. However, little effort has been spent evaluating these systems, or providing guiding design principles from a human factors point of view. The objective of the proposed work is to compare performance and user interaction across two immersive displays. The goal is to compare a low-cost, multi-screen, spatially immersive visualization facility to a more expensive system. The low cost system is designed using off-the-shelf components and constructed by arranging LCD displays in a tiled semi-circle. The more expensive system is a semi-rigid, rear projected, continuous curved screen, designed by Rockwell Collins. Our hypothesis is that low-cost systems present a perceptually equivalent visual experience, despite image seams introduced by the connecting display screens. Psychophysical experimentation will compare the two systems through human judgements based on performance. The outcomes, through knowledge gained from the experiments, should make availability of immersive visualization systems possible in areas currently unable to afford such systems or justify the expense.

A new experiment is presented that demonstrates the usefulness of an image space modulation technique called subtle gaze direction (SGD) for guiding the user in a simple searching task. SGD uses image space modulations in the luminance channel to guide a viewer's gaze about a scene without interrupting their visual experience. The goal of SGD is to direct a viewer's gaze to certain regions of a scene without introducing noticeable changes in the image. Using a simple searching task, we compared performance using no modulation, using subtle modulation, and using obvious modulation. Results from the experiments show improved performance when using subtle gaze direction, without affecting the user's perception of the image. We then extend the experiment to evaluate performance with the presence of distractors. The distractors took the form of extra modulations, which do not correspond to a target in the image. Experimentation shows, that, even in the presence of distractors, more accurate results are returned on a simple search task using SGD, as compared to results returned when no modulation at all is used. Results establish the potential of the method for a wide range of applications including gaming, perceptually based rendering, navigation in virtual environments, and medical search tasks.

This article presents a novel technique that combines eye-tracking with subtle image-space modulation to direct a viewer's gaze about a digital image. We call this paradigm subtle gaze direction . Subtle gaze direction exploits the fact that our peripheral vision has very poor acuity compared to our foveal vision. By presenting brief, subtle modulations to the peripheral regions of the field of view, the technique presented here draws the viewer's foveal vision to the modulated region. Additionally, by monitoring saccadic velocity and exploiting the visual phenomenon of saccadic masking, modulation is automatically terminated before the viewer's foveal vision enters the modulated region. Hence, the viewer is never actually allowed to scrutinize the stimuli that attracted her gaze. This new subtle gaze directing technique has potential application in many areas including large scale display systems, perceptually adaptive rendering, and complex visual search tasks.

This paper introduces a new psychophysical experiment developed to enable observers to judge the quality of computer graphics imagery with respect to the real scene it depicts. This new framework facilitates perceptual judgment of images against a real scene. Unlike previous work, which examined primitive objects under basic illumination, this experiment examines complex geometry illuminated using a calibrated light source. To ensure valid results, a commercial lighting booth containing rapid prototyped three-dimensional (3D) objects serves as the real scene. For comparison, a series of representative images, of varying quality, were rendered using the physically based Radiance lighting simulation software. Results from these experiments show that higher parameter settings, which lead to longer processing times, do not necessarily lead to higher quality images. To demonstrate that there is only modest benefit to setting parameters higher, images are subjected to further testing using two different visual quality discrimination operators; the Visual Differences Predictor (VDP) and the Structural SIMilarity (SSIM) for image-quality assessment. The results from the automatic operators correspond well with each other, in addition to yielding comparable outcomes as the psychophysical experiment. Although, a single scene was considered in the experiment, several scenes are tested using the image-quality metrics to lend further reliability to the assertion that higher parameter settings, which lead to extended processing times, do not necessarily lead to superior quality results.

Realism is often a primary goal in computer graphics imagery, and we strive to create images that are perceptually indistinguishable from an actual scene. Rendering systems can now closely approximate the physical distribution of light in an environment. However, physical accuracy does not guarantee that the displayed images will have authentic visual appearance. In recent years the emphasis in realistic image synthesis has begun to shift from the simulation of light in an environment to images that look as real as the physical environment they portray. In other words the computer image should be not only physically correct but also perceptually equivalent to the scene it represents. This implies aspects of the Human Visual System (HVS) must be considered if realism is required. Visual perception is employed in many different guises in graphics to achieve authenticity. Certain aspects of the visual system must be considered to identify the perceptual effects that a realistic rendering system must achieve in order to reproduce effectively a similar visual response to a real scene. This paper outlines the manner in which knowledge about visual perception is increasingly appearing in state‐of‐the‐art realistic image synthesis. After a brief overview of the HVS, this paper is organized into four sections, each exploring the use of perception in realistic image synthesis, each with slightly different emphasis and application. First, Tone Mapping Operators, which attempt to map the vast range of computed radiance values to the limited range of display values, are discussed. Then perception based image quality metrics, which aim to compare images on a perceptual rather than physical basis, are presented. These metrics can be used to evaluate, validate and compare imagery. Thirdly, perception driven rendering algorithms are described. These algorithms focus on embedding models of the HVS directly into global illumination computations in order to improve their efficiency. Finally, techniques for comparing computer graphics imagery against the real world scenes they represent are discussed.