VISIONAIR NEWSLETTER – April 2014
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Visionair Newsletter #5 April 2014
VISIONAIR’s Trans National Access (TNA) Activities
are full speed ahead!
VISIONAIR Newsletter Editor’s note
Dear readers,
Trans National Access, TNA, is a major highlight of the VISIONAIR Project.
In this issue, we continue describing several TNA activities that were carried out in recent months
at several VISIONAIR laboratories and centers of excellence. As usual, you can read exciting
stories on projects that have been completed.
Through these reports we demonstrate what a transnational access project is. This should help you
consider how you can apply for such projects. Every researcher from Europe or one of the
associated countries is eligible to submit a project proposal for being supported by VISIONAIR.
Any discipline from the natural sciences through engineering to art is welcome. Whenever high
level of visualization and interaction elements are proposed, VISIONAIR will try to support your
project.
A project can take from a few days up to four weeks of research and utilization of our high level
infrastructure, including technologies such as CAVE, haptic devices, holography, and ultra-high
definition resolutions. Just go to our website, http://www.infra-visionair.eu/propose-new-
project.html, and access a simple form to describe your project and needs. We will then help you
refine the research question and emphasize its visualization content.
You are welcome to propose topics that extend the wide variety of project topics already carried
out. Not only do we help you; we also learn a lot from your research, so it is a great win-win
opportunity.
Enjoy reading, and we look forward to hearing from you!
Professor Dov Dori, VISIONAIR Newsletter
Editor
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VISIONAIR Social network
If you expect following us and exchanging with us, we have now a LinkedIn group. Just follow the link and submit to enter the group. Forums and Open questions will be possible very soon within this social network.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=5087645&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
For more direct contact about a TNA project you can also contact us by email : [email protected]
How and where to meet us?
VISIONAIR will have a presentation booth in the following conferences in the next month: you are welcome to join us and open discussions on these booths or VISIONAIR special tracks.
Booth at NEM summit in Nantes – October 28th-30th 2013: http://nem-summit.eu/about/
Booth and demonstrations at ICT Conference in Vilnius – November 6th-8th 2013: http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/ict-2013
Special track at JVRC in Paris – December 11th-13th, 2013: http://jvrc2013.sciencesconf.org/
CogInfoCom in Budapest – December 2nd-5th, 2013: http://www.coginfocom.hu/conference/CogInfoCom13/
We are also actively preparing for our Third General Assembly which will take place in Poznan, Poland, Tuesday, February 4 to Friday, February 7, 2014. An open-forum will be organized on February 5th and 6th which is open to everybody and will feature presentation of VISIONAIR results and an opportunity to find out more about what we can offer. You are warmly welcome during these two days hosted by PSNC.
VISIOANIR has been represented with posters and presentations during the last month in the following events:
PLM 2013 in Nantes : http://www.plm-conference.org/
SGP 2012 in Genova : http://sgp.ge.imati.cnr.it/
We are open to present VISIONAIR in your community to support your colleagues to understand the opportunities offered by VISIONAIR
Permanent VISIONAIR Call for projects
VISIONAIR is a European funded infrastructure that grants researchers access to high level visualization facilities and resources. Both physical access and virtual services are offered by the infrastructure, free of
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charge, based on the excellence of the project submitted. In addition to technical aspects, you take advantage of skills and knowledge of our experienced teams operating the platforms. The access to a facility will include:
Training on each specific facility
Access to the scientific environment supporting the platform
Access to networking environments
Scientific and engineering support for specific tasks development
Accommodation and logistic support
The current Call for Project leaves the topics open for you to decide based on your needs. Hosting and travel costs are covered by VISIONAIR for eligible applicants. For further information about the Call, please go to: http://www.infra-visionair.eu/propose-new-project.html
PSNC - Poznan Super Networking Center
The 3rd general assembly of VISIONAIR Poland, 4.02.14 -7.02.14. The 3rd general assembly of VISIONAIR has been hosted this year by PSNC (Poznan Super Networking Center) in Poland from February 4th to 7th. These four days were an opportunity to report the current actions, as well as to share common background about the technologies supported through VISIONAIR and proposed for access to a wide research community and results of TNA projects applied within VISIONAIR.
The capacity of VISIONAIR to create various type of research environments, including remote presence, ultra-high definition 3D and 2D, immersion in virtual words and augmented reality were presented. VISIONAIR has promoted high-level interaction between humans and these virtual words, supporting a highly multi-disciplinary activity within these virtual environments. With about 90 external projects currently running or already completed, topics span the gamut from scientific visualization, manufacturing applications, and design of innovative
processes, to ergonomics, psychology, cognitive science, art performance, and sports training. The open forum during the general assembly was the opportunity to show our results in these fields.
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With this multi-disciplinary support, VISIONAIR has become a natural connection point of many disciplines and communities. The virtual reality community, represented by officials from EURO-VR, the high performance computing community represented by PRACE officials, and the community working on ultra-high definition and streaming networks attended this event and shared common research interests. With this general assembly, VISIONAIR enters its fourth and last year of the project and the entire consortium in now looking towards the next steps towards continuing the current activities. Our primary goal remains to enable Trans National Access to our 29 Visualization and interactions facilities. New projects are still very welcome in the spirit and under the auspices of VISIONAIR.
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Networked Art Performance at the ICT 2013 in Vilnius
During the ICT 2013 conference in Vilnius (6-8.11.2013) PSNC, i2CAT, INRIA and Grenoble INP organized a networked art performance connecting real-time artistic actions in multiple cities around Europe. The Creative Ring demonstration, supported by the VISIONAIR project, presented advanced distributed research and artistic scenarios that included musicians in Poznan, Barcelona and Vilnius, dancers and 3D motion-capture system in Grenoble, as well as low-latency video transmission over the GEANT network. The event showed the potential of distributed music and dance creation over high broadband networks, combining arts and technology for creating a virtual distributed stage. The performance integrated, through the GEANT and PIONIER networks, four
European research centers working on ultra-high definition and virtual reality systems. Barcelona (i2CAT), Poznan (PSNC) and Vilnius (ICT event) hosted four musicians playing simultaneously on each venue. The audio-visual stream from the first team of musicians, hosted in PSNC, was sent to Barcelona, where it was combined with another instrumentalists. Subsequently, the integrated audio and video signal was transmitted to Grenoble. There, the real-time motion capture system tracked movements of a real dancer, and finally all the elements combined
were streamed over the network and displayed at the ICT stage in Vilnius, where the audience had the opportunity to enjoy the 3D view of the dancer dancing the composition from the four musician teams.
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The performance was the result of direct cooperation between the SPECIFI and VISIONAIR projects, and it was prepared by i2CAT, PSNC, Grenoble INP and INRIA, with the support of ENoLL and the ICUB.
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3D high-quality videoconferencing with augmented
reality in a remote sport and art training scenario The process of training athletes, especially those competing at the highest international level, involves
the transfer of very specific and often difficult to formalise knowledge from the mentor to the trainee.
Personal contact between the teacher and the trainee is crucial in any teaching arrangement, including
sports training. Even though scientific insight and findings have an ever-increasing influence on sport
preparations, the trainer is still the
authority making decisions, giving
direct advice to the athlete, and often
combining her intuition, using
psychological skills and computer
data, in order to make the right call.
The person of the coach, their
experience, example and supervision
play a very important and sometimes
underestimated role in the athlete's
success. In the end it is the athlete
who gets to perform in the spotlight using her natural and acquired skills, but the quality of guidance and
adequacy of the chosen training program often
mean the difference between hearing the
national anthem and going home with unfulfilled
hopes.
Centre d’Alt Rendiment de Sant Cugat del Vallés
(CAR) proposed an experiment and
demonstration for enhancing the training
process which makes use of a system that
combines HD videoconferencing, stereoscopy,
motion tracking, augmented reality, instant replay, and frame-by-frame analysis in a remote scenario.
The proposed demonstration took place during the EXPERIMEDIA project 2nd year review and
preparations in CAR on November 11th-14th 2013. The demonstration was prepared with VISIONAIR
visualisation support from Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center employees who were
operating the HD and 3D equipment brought from Poznan. The described experiment employed a system
allowing the coach to hold a training session without the need for his presence in the venue. He connected
remotely with his protégé trainees located in the training hall using a high definition (HD)
videoconferencing tool. Additionally, he was able to review and present archival footage of athletes
recorded with stereoscopic 3D HD cameras and stored in the system’s video repository. This footage also
contained a 3D model of a human body reflecting the athlete's movements collected via motion tracking.
The stream with the superimposed model was treated as one of the sides of the videoconference for both
the athletes and the coach to view.
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For the purposes of the experiment, a basic use case was identified and tested. It involved a coach and a
team of gymnasts who were perfecting their skills in a pommel horse exercise. The coach connected to
the system from a remote location, while the athletes used the terminal installed in their training hall.
Both sides were able to communicate in real time using HD videoconferencing. The coach additionally
had the possibility to observe the
gymnasts performing the routines
captured by 2D and 3D HD cameras
and to view instant replays and slow
motion analyses of the performances.
The CONFetti platform, which was
developed within the scope of
EXPERIMEDIA, was also demonstrated
on VISIONAIR Open Forum 2014 in
Poznan as a prime example of a
successful Trans-National Activity
project. For this event, the main subject
was the use of videoconferencing
technology for the creation of dance
choreography and training of dancers.
During the conference, Anna Beker,
choreographer and dance teacher from
Poznan dance school Jazz Dance Studio,
lead a remote dancers training session.
Anna was watching and commenting on
the choreography using SIP
videoconference in 3D in real-time,
while dancers were performing in a
remote location in another part of
the city. High resolution video (Full
HD) and high quality audio codec
allowed for reliable communication,
and the stereoscopic view enabled
watching all the details of the
dancers’ movements. After the
performance, the trainer and the
dancers had a possibility to re-play
and comment on the various parts of
the show.
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Remote Collaboration Scenario Demonstration
Remote collaboration in modification, rendering and visualization of 3D models was demonstrated during
VISIONAIR Open Forum in Poznan. The demonstration was part of a Joint Research Activity effort within
VISIONAIR. The scenario of the remote collaboration included a group of people working on a 3D model
and perceive the same virtual object from different perspectives and views using different kind of
displays, such as holographic table and UHD 3D displays. The software was originally developed by PSNC
during several years and used in many research projects. VITRALL is a distributed Web-based system
enabling real-time visualisation of complex 3D content using remote distributed servers equipped with
modern multi-GPU solutions. VITRALL uses Web-based communication between controlling servers,
rendering units, and clients, which can be located in different parts of the world. If a visualisation in some
desired resolution is too time consuming for maintaining good quality animation, more rendering units
may be added.
VITRALL was previously used in very different scenarios, but still it was necessary to implement additional
functionalities, such as a new JPEG client, in order to support UHD 3D display in PSNC and Holographic
table in KTH, and enable remote editing models. VITRALL was also enhanced so it can read remote 3D
models by using network communication and network file systems. Blender, a free and open source 3D
animation software suite, was used for model editing. Blender supports the entire 3D pipeline: modeling,
rigging, animation, simulation, motion tracking, and rendering. Using a combination of VITRALL and
Blender enables remote collaboration scenarios of pure visualization, where a group of people working
on an object needs to perceive it from the same or from different perspectives.
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Designers have access to remotely located objects and can edit them using Blender. Media people are
able to visualize 3D models in both 2D or 3D in different resolutions (up to 4K), angles, and perspectives.
This also makes it possible to use complex facilities such as holographic tables. Users can control the
synchronization of viewing accuracy, position, size, color and viewpoints parameters, which indeed was
the focus of the scenario described below. Groups of designers, editors and planners are able to
collaborate using VITRALL and different types of displays. Moreover, VITRALL is open software and it can
be integrated with other platforms.
The scenario presented during the Open Forum
conference involved designing a children playground.
Three parties, located in different places and with
different visualization capabilities, had the
opportunity to independently view a model that had
been created, discuss online changes to the model
and make decisions about further design actions. One
of the parties involved in the demonstration was a 3D
model designer located in Barcelona. He used
the Blender modeling software for editing the
3D model and making changes proposed by the
other participants. 3D models were shared
across the network, so all the participants were
able to immediately see the effect of these
changes. A second person was sitting in front
of a holographic table in Stockholm. The
VITRALL server, located in Poznan, was
rendering three different views for three
projectors serving the holographic display. The holographic table operator could move and rotate the 3D
model in order to see it from all angles.
The third party was an audience on
Open Forum in Poznan. All the views of
the models, as well as two remote sides,
were projected on a screen via 4K 3D
videoconference. In this live design and
discussion process the playground
project was modified by inserting
additional items (swings, ladders, etc.)
and changing their position and
appearance. The show generated a lot
of attention and interest, as the
audience realized the immediate applicability of this system to real-world scenarios, and may questions
followed this exciting presentation.
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TNA Uncompressed live UHDTV 3D 60p Streaming
Over 2,000 Km
During the TERENA Networking Conference, which took place in Maastricht, The Netherlands, during 3-6
June 2013, SURFNet, together with Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, University of Twente
and CIENA, presented a long-distance human-robot
interaction with multi-stream uncompressed
stereoscopic UHDTV streaming. This was one of the
first demonstrations of streaming live 4K 3D over
2,000 Km with seamless latency. VISIONAIR has
made this experiment possible by providing open
access to visualization infrastructure and services
for the European research community. For this
demonstration, PSNC and University of Twente
UHD visualization infrastructures were used.
Conference participants, located in a specially build dark room, were able to play a game called “the
leaning tower of Pisa”. The tower was located
remotely, in Poznan, Poland. Users in
Maastricht controlled a remote robot arm to
place small objects of different sizes and
weights on the tower construction. Two Haptic
Master devices from the University of Twente
were used, both were network-connected to
each other, enabling the users to precisely
control the position and movement of remote
objects at a long distance with a very small
delay: the measured video latency was only 50 ms without network transmission. Participants had several
visual live feedbacks, including stereoscopic
Ultra High Definition TV high frame rate (60p), 4K
holographic illusion, and 2D and 3D displays
through various compressed and uncompressed
video streams. Users were able to feel the haptic
response from the robot arm.
Since all the video streams generated data flow
of 30 Gbit/s, a dedicated 40 Gbit/s all-optical
path was established from Poland, via Germany
to Netherlands, reaching about 2,000 Km. For
the purpose of the experiment, Ciena provided
an Ultra-Long Haul network system to establish the 40Gbit/s connection between SURFnet and PSNC. The
link’s one-way delay was about 10 ms, making the robot collaboration and video feedback feasible.
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The demonstration proved the possibility of
combining cutting-edge visualization,
networking and remote collaboration
technologies. Picture quality of all displays
was excellent, especially the immersive
stereoscopic large screen in UHDTV
resolution. The demonstration partners
successfully combined multiple research
and education aspects and will share this
knowledge with others. Lessons learned
from the experiment and the experience
collected can be used in future
collaboration scenarios for more complex use cases
involving e-Health, e-Culture, or e-Education.
VISIONAIR support in such complex demonstrations
and collaboration of multiple partners would be much
more complicated, if not impossible.
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Visualizations of Molecular Interactions for Chemical
Education at the Technion, Israel Institute of
Technology
Proposer: Prof. Pascual Lahuerta, University of Valencia (Spain)
Visited laboratory: Enterpise Systems Modeling Laboratory (ESML), Haifa, Israel
Visit Dates: 1 May to 12 May, 2013
Pascual Lahuerta, a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Valencia (Spain), is part of a group of three
chemical education experts who collaborate to develop online materials to improve students’ conceptual
understanding of molecular interactions in chemical education. The group has focused on creating
interactive chemistry teaching materials for 12th grade or lower. Prof. Lahuerta was hosted by Prof. Judy
Dori and Prof. Dov Dori and visited the Technion's Science Teaching Visualization Laboratory and the
Enterprise Systems Modeling Laboratory )ESML( at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology during
May 1 – 13, 2013.
The motivation for this visit was to share
ideas in an attempt to analyze what is
difficult for students to understand and why,
and to develop ways to illustrate many
aspects of chemical reactions.
The visit included attending a chemistry
lesson held in Nazareth high school, in which
the teacher, Ms. Amal Jaris, and the students
learn with visualized chemistry materials
using a smart board.
At the Science Teaching Visualization
Laboratory, Prof. Lahuerta introduced his
chemistry visual materials website, which is based on simulations of reactions and other chemical
processes at the submicroscopic - molecular
level. He described the possibilities and
limitation of his tool. The common activities of
the visitor and the hosts focused on structural
data of molecules as well as solutions of
reactions with gases. The pedagogic principle
is to put forward a general claim and lead the
students to understand why this claim is true
through visual simulations. At the Enterprise
Systems Modeling Laboratory – ESML, we used
OPM to jointly model the process of Science
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Practicing, in particular, creating simulations of chemical reactions and further attempts were made to
improve this process. Prof. Lahuerta summarized his visit saying "I leave the Technion convinced that we
will continue our very productive collaboration".
Integration and Evaluation of Interaction Potential of
Handheld Devices into VR systems at University of
Kaiserslautern
Christian Weidig, Research Engineer
There is a wide set of interaction devices and interaction metaphors available to realize interaction within
virtual environments. For different applications specialized interaction metaphors are well established.
For other fields of applications and user needs choosing the best way of interaction is not that trivial. In
parallel new interaction metaphors are under development to suit users’ needs by new devices like
tablet-PCs. The bigger the choice of interaction devices for VR systems, the harder it is to choose!
Arts et Métiers ParisTech, Fraunhofer IPK, Grenoble INP, HLRS Stuttgart, INRIA Rennes, MTA Sztaki,
University College London, University Aix Marseille, University of Kaiserslautern joined forces to guide
external users, who are usually not VR and interaction experts, in choosing proper interaction metaphors
to solve their problems. This JRA aims to classify and cluster established and newly developed interaction
metaphors. By comparing available interaction metaphors, external users should be able to identify the
interaction metaphor they need without focusing on a given VR system or specific facility.
For example, in a study on immersive modelling environments, the Fraunhofer IPK investigated the use
of gesture-based interaction techniques and tangible user interfaces (TUI), and came up with a
preliminary list of advantages and challenges with respect to the categories of tangible manipulation,
spatial interaction, embodied facilitation, and expressive representation. Another example is the
implementation of tablet-based interaction within the UNIKL CAVE. The results of this research will help
focus the interaction selection on the TNA content and requirements rather than on the technical
characterization of a specific installation.
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The partners in this JRA have developed new interaction metaphors, and the range of options is now
quite broad. It covers the spectrum from predefined interaction metaphors based on tablet-PCs all the
way to completely free individual gesture recognition approaches. Each metaphor provides a different
core functionality, so VISIONAIR can now offer a wide range of various interaction metaphors requested
by external users.
An Interaction Testing Environment for Internet of
Things at the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems
& Automation - LMS-HOLO.GR
Proposer: Mario Lorenz, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany
Visited laboratory: Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems
& Automation (LMS)
We developed an immersive environment, capable of testing
usability and trust levels of different interaction techniques
and interaction devices. In business and a home scenarios
users have to fulfil predefined tasks using a real smart phone
or tablet to interact with virtual devices. The Virtual Reality
(VR) evaluation environment developed and used within the
FP7 uTRUSTit project was adapted to a power wall with active
stereoscopic
projection and a
Mixed Reality
(MR) setup using
the Vuzix STAR1200XLD see-through glasses, which enables
side-by-side stereoscopic vision.
Although the STAR 1200XLD is intended for Augmented
Reality (AR) applications, it was used to view the entire virtual
worlds in stereoscopic view, allowing the participants to see
the virtual world and the real mobile devices. During the
evaluation, the participants have to move through the virtual
world hands-free as they are holding and using a mobile
device. Two navigation methods examine the effect on the
users' presence or usability. The first uses the Nintendo Wii
Balance Board, where the user navigates by weight shifting.
Leaning forward and backward creates translational
movements, and turning to the right or to the left induce corresponding turnings. The second navigation
method uses the Microsoft Kinect Sensor. To navigate, the participants put their right foot in front for
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moving forward and back for moving backward. For rotational movement, the participants turn their
shoulders.
The project supported the development of an immersive environment capable of testing usability and
trust levels of interaction techniques (including different interaction devices). It led to a setup for an
evaluation environment where conclusions on usability and trust levels has been derived.
Presence and Usability in Virtual Environments at the
Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems & Automation
- LMS-HOLO.GR
Proposer: Peter Wolkerstorfer, CURE - Center
for Usability Research & Engineering, Austria
Visited laboratory: Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems & Automation (LMS)
We compared presence and its effect on usability
of two different virtual environments: One virtual
environment created with Power Wall and the
other was created with a Head Mounted Display
(HMD). The main objective was to learn about the
presence of the two virtual environments and the
subsequent effects on usability.
Participants experienced the same interaction tasks with an intelligent virtual environment. The project
collected measurements of participants’ perceived presence of the environment and usability of the
intelligent virtual environment.
Our objectives were to study under what
circumstances and to what extent the
level of the users’ presence in different
Virtual Reality technologies varies, and
which effect this has on perceived
usability. We examined differences in
perceived presence and usability between
power wall and HMD. The comparison
included new technologies such as optical-
see-through glasses which create a mixed-
reality environment.
The results provided valuable insight into
the presence and usability of these two virtual environments and the role of presence in these
environments, helping to make decisions regarding which environment to use for various needs. The
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overall reported presence for the Kinect navigation was higher than that for the Wii Balance Board
navigation, and this was independent of the environment. The reported presence for power wall overall
higher than that for Mixed Reality, independently of the navigation method.
ARTUR – A Digital Factory Assistant at ECN
Conducted by Ecole Centrale de Nantes, and in the scope of the visions about the factory of the future,
the ARTUR project aims to develop the concept of “Digital Factory Assistant”. The purpose of this concept
is to offer the operator in the factory the knowledge extracted from different sources and adapted to the
current working situation. This digital
assistant relies on coupling the
knowledge in the factory with
Augmented & Virtual reality, allowing
the user to react efficiently upon the task
that s/he is doing.
One of the objectives of the ARTUR
project is to design and implement a
workflow that extracts the CAD model of
the given reference and project it onto
the real part in the factory. The method, which for now is manual, transforms the CAD model and uses
an augmented reality marker to locate the exact projection position. Future results aim to automatically
transform the CAD model to a VRML model and add
locating parts. The main purpose is to modify the virtual
model according to the real working situation in the
workshop floor. The application of the first results on a
real use case showed the effectiveness of this solution
in preventing repetitive and non-value-added work,
thereby improving productivity.
Results of this project will be validated through the Joint
Research Activity 9.1 of Visionair project ‘Integration of
multimodal data and kinematic models into VR
simulations’. For more information about ARTUR project.
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