In this work we present the methodological approach applied to develop a fully immersive and interactive virtual environment that simulates an archaeological site located in Sao Paulo (Brazil). To create a realistic 3D space, which would be relevant for research through a cyber-archeology exploration, laser scanners and photometry were used for collecting 3D point clouds data from the physical. In consequence, the digital data acquired from these apparatus generated a huge density of point clouds, requiring a many gigabytes computer storage and a research work on design to compact all the information in an user friendly interactive virtual model, but realistic to archaeologists. Also to provide an immersive feeling when exploring the virtual reality we decided to allow the user to navigate through the scene using control devices (keyboard, mouse and joysticks) and a head-mounted display (Oculus Rift) to visualize the aesthetical and spatial elements of the archaeological site as if she/he was really in that place (forms, scales, proportions, perspective, textures, illumination, shadows). In resume, through a sophisticated digital simulation environment, which regards the playful of an electronic game in first-person field of vision, we created a telepresence sense to the user, as well providing archeologists a landscape (and objects) exploration through a non-destructive way.

In this work we present a simulator system for training operation and maintenance of power grids distribution lines with focus on workplace safety and risk control of fuse cutout activities. The student uses a VR goggles to visualize the virtual environment (Oculus Rift) and maneuver a real bat to interact with the 3D environment, both tracked by a high precision infrared camera system (OptiTrack). It all provides a high degree of immersion and realism to the user experience. The student arms, back and head are also tracked, and the movements are replicated in a virtual avatar, allowing the instructor to evaluate ergonomic aspects. The system consists of two modules: a) Instructor Interface, which helps her/him to create and to control different challenges in the scenario and, also, to follow the student reactions and behavior; and b) Simulation Interface, which is presented to the student through VR goggles. It is important to underline that the training session can also be viewed on a projected screen by other students, extending the learning process to the observation of mistakes and successes of their peers. The simulator features various risk scenarios such as: climate (sun, rain and wind), lighting (day and night), types of structures, transformer on fire and explosions, short-circuit and electric arc, defective equipment and many other obstacles (trees, cars, windows, swarm of bees, etc)

In this work we present an interactive and collaborative 3D object manipulation system using the shelf mobile devices coupled with Augmented Reality (AR) technology that allows multiple users to collaborate concurrently on a scene. Each user interested in participating in this collaboration uses both a mobile device running android and a desktop (or laptop) working in tandem. The 3D scene was visualized by the user in the desktop system. The changes in the scene viewpoint changes and the object manipulations were performed using a mobile device through the AR. The system leverages user's knowledge of common tasks performed on current mobile devices such as pinching for zooming in and out; swiping with one or two fingers for object rotation and press-and-hold for 2 seconds for object translation. As you will see in this video, we built a prototype system (in a maze style) and applied an informal user study with three experienced VR researchers. Users had to carry a 3D cube through three square rings along the maze. In resume, we diagnosed that working in a collaborative way (users A and B) was better and easier than individual one (user C). We registered more than 2 minutes late for the individual experience comparing to the teamwork. It may happen because the two player team shared information, functions and had a multi-perspective view during the task.

In this poster we present Portable-Spheree, an interactive spherical rear-projected 3D-content-display that provides perspective-corrected views according to the user's head position, to provide parallax, shading and occlusion depth cues. Portable-Spheree is an evolution of the Spheree and it is developed in a smaller form factor, using more projectors and a dark-translucent screen with increased contrast. We present some preliminary results of this new configuration as well as applications with spatial interaction that might benefit from this new form factor.

We present an image-based approach to relighting photographs of tree canopies. Our goal is to minimize capture overhead; thus the only input required is a set of photographs of the tree taken at a single time of day, while allowing relighting at any other time. We first analyze lighting in a tree canopy both theoretically and using simulations. From this analysis, we observe that tree canopy lighting is similar to volumetric illumination. We assume a single-scattering volumetric lighting model for tree canopies, and diffuse leaf reflectance; we validate our assumptions with synthetic renderings. We create a volumetric representation of the tree from 10-12 images taken at a single time of day and use a single-scattering participating media lighting model. An analytical sun and sky illumination model provides consistent representation of lighting for the captured input and unknown target times. We relight the input image by applying a ratio of the target and input time lighting representations. We compute this representation efficiently by simultaneously coding transmittance from the sky and to the eye in spherical harmonics. We validate our method by relighting images of synthetic trees and comparing to path-traced solutions. We also present results for photographs, validating with time-lapse ground truth sequences.

Abstract Modeling large architectural environments is a difficult task due to the intricate nature of these models and the complex dependencies between the structures represented. Moreover, textures are an essential part of architectural models. While the number of geometric primitives is usually relatively low (i.e., many walls are at surfaces), textures actually contain many detailed architectural elements. We present an approach for modeling architectural scenes by reshaping and combining existing textured models, where the manipulation of the geometry and texture are tightly coupled. For geometry, preserving angles such as oor orientation or vertical walls is of key importance. We thus allow the user to interactively modify lengths of edges, while constraining angles. Our texture reshaping solution introduces a measure of directional autosimilarity to focus stretching in areas of stochastic content and to preserve details in such areas. We show results on several challenging models, and show two applications: Building complex road structures from simple initial pieces and creating complex game‐levels from an existing game based on pre‐existing model pieces.