The 2012 virtual reality career award goes to Lawrence (Larry) Rosenblum, in recognition of his contributions to VR/AR research and systems, his leadership in developing the ONR Mobile Augmented Reality Program, and his service to the community. In the 1980s and early 1990s Larry developed visualization techniques that produced scientific advances in the ocean sciences. He subsequently focused his attention on virtual and augmented reality, where his research group, among other achievements, played a seminal role in the development of the field of mobile augmented reality. For his outstanding contributions to VR/AR research and for the his role in the development of government funding programs that supported these fields, the IEEE VGTC is pleased to award Larry Rosenblum the 2012 Virtual Reality Career Award.

Presents the recipient of the 2012 Virtual Reality Career Award.

We describe two engineering experiments designed to evaluate the effectiveness of Measurand's ShapeTape for wearable, mobile interaction. Our initial results suggest that the ShapeTape is not appropriate for interactions which require a high degree of accuracy. However, ShapeTape is capable of reproducing the qualitative motion the user is performing and thus could be used to support 3D gesture-based interaction.

This paper describes the software architecture of Dragon, a real-time situational awareness virtual environment for battlefield visualization. Dragon receives data from a number of different sources and creates a single, coherent, and consistent three-dimensional display. We describe the problem of Battlefield Visualization and the challenges it imposes. We discuss the Dragon architecture, the rational for its design, and its performance in an actual application. The battlefield VR system is also suitable for similar civilian domains such as large-scale disaster relief and hostage rescue.

The acoustic lens is a high-resolution, forward-looking sonar for three dimensional (3-D) underwater imaging. We discuss processing the lens data for recreating and visualizing the scene. Acoustical imaging, compared to optical imaging, is sparse and low resolution. To achieve higher resolution, we obtain a denser sample by mounting the lens on a moving platform and passing over the scene. This introduces the problem of data fusion from multiple overlapping views for scene formation, which we discuss. We also discuss the improvements in object reconstruction by combining data from several passes over an object. We present algorithms for pass registration and show that this process can be done with enough accuracy to improve the image and provide greater detail about the object. The results of in-water experiments show the degree to which size and shape can be obtained under (nearly) ideal conditions.

The Virtual Workbench (VW) is a non-immersive virtual environment that allows users to view and interact with stereoscopic objects displayed on a workspace similar to a tabletop workspace used in day-to-day life. A VW is an ideal environment for collaborative work where several colleagues can gather around the table to study 3D virtual objects. The Virtual Reality laboratory at the Naval Research Laboratory has implemented the VW using a concept similar to (Froehlich et al., 1994). This paper investigates how the VW can be used as a non-immersive display device for understanding and interpreting complex objects encountered in the scientific visualization field. Different techniques for interacting with 3D visualization objects on the table and using VW as a display device for visualization are evaluated using several cases.

Reconstruction of 3D scenes using data from an acoustic imaging sonar is addressed. The acoustic lens is described, and issues concerning underwater 3D scene reconstruction from the lens data are examined. Two methods for visualizing objects in an acoustic snapshot of the ocean are discussed: mathematical morphology and a synthesis of 3D digital imaging with volume rendering.>