Historically, Devonian Corniferous hydrocarbon production in south-central Kentucky has been a major contributor to the total hydrocarbon resources within Butler, Edmonson, and Warren counties. The Corniferous adds to the already large hydrocarbon totals produced from the Illinois Basin; however, this hydrocarbon contribution does not come without major pitfalls and inconsistencies. The south-central Kentucky Devonian Corniferous rocks comprise a diverse and complex hydrocarbon system made up of multiple migration pathways, trapping mechanisms, and seals. The multiple Corniferous units all derive production from the same source rock: the New Albany Shale. A Geographic Information System (GIS) containing data on surface elevations, structure contours and faults, geophysical well logs, well-scale oil and gas production, and lease to regional-scale oil and gas production has been compiled to produce a threedimensional (3-D) model using kriging with barriers to explain spatially the complexities of the Devonian Corniferous in south-central Kentucky. This model identifies the potential source rocks, the hydrocarbon charging and migration pathways, reservoirs, and reservoir seals. This model also utilizes kernel density estimation for developing an understanding of the spatial relationship of stratigraphic units being targeted within the Devonian relative to the spatially modeled Devonian Corniferous structures. This model also indicates locations and depths of key producing zones within south-central Kentucky. This project also explains the potential reasoning leading to the development of the Devonian Corniferous as a major hydrocarbon resource by placing it in the context of the underlying Silurian Corniferous and the multiple Siluro-Devonian unconformities positioned throughout the entire Siluro-Devonian section. This project bridges the gap between: 1) potential buried Silurian-age reef systems located south of the Pennyrile Fault zone, 2) the pervasive high porosity sections found in the lower Clear Creek Limestone unit, and 3) the development of expansive secondary partial dolomitization related to unconformable surfaces in the Middle and Upper Devonian Corniferous.

This study presents an integrated framework for the automatic generation of the photorealistic 3-d building models from satellite and ground-level imagery. First, the 2-d building patches and the corresponding footprints are extracted from a high resolution imagery using an adaptive fuzzy-genetic algorithm approach. Next, the photorealistic facade textures are automatically extracted from the single ground-level building images using a developed approach, which includes facade image extraction, rectification, and occlusion removal. Finally, the textured 3-d building models are generated automatically by mapping the corresponding textures onto the facades of the models. The developed 2-d building extraction and delineation approach was implemented on a selected urban area of the Batikent district of Ankara, Turkey. The building regions were extracted with an approximate detection rate of 93%. Moreover, the overall delineation accuracy was computed to be 3.9 meters. The developed concept for facade image extraction was tested on two distinct datasets. The facade image extraction accuracies were computed to be 82% and 81% for the Batikent and eTrims datasets, respectively. As to rectification results, 60% and 80% of the facade images provided errors under ten pixels for the Batikent and eTrims datasets, respectively. In the evaluation of occlusion removal, the average scores were computed to be 2.58 and 2.28 for the Batikent and eTrims datasets, respectively. The scores are ranked between 1 (Excellent) to 6 (Unusable). The modeling of the total 110 single buildings with the photorealistic textures took about 50 minutes of processor running time and yielded a satisfactory level of accuracy.

Digital Craft is a project that explores the interface between three-dimensional (3-D) computer technology and costume technology. I combine seasoned millinery techniques with modern methods of object construction and design to diversify the costume artisan’s toolbox and encourage practical and useful ways of moving between the virtual and physical world. Through a series of theoretical projects the dichotomy of modern artistic process is explored. The task of this thesis project is to explore the impact of 3-D imaging software on design and construction methods by applying them to the sculptural process of hat making. I collaborate with designers and technicians to develop methods of hat making for performance culminating in an exhibition presented at the University Co-op Cohen New Works Festival, April 2011. This research is applied to cultivate new methods of hat making, by exploring new media and expanding creative possibilities. Craft objects are created directly through the hand of the maker; it is thorough technique that the hand informs the craft object (Risatti, 108). Furthermore, the traditional notion of tools and craft objects is that they are conditioned, controlled and limited by the hands. In order to update and improve methods of object construction, this project will expand the traditional concept of craft, combining hands-on methods with machining. I hope to improve efficiency and decrease the cost of realizing authentic and original hat designs by exploring alternative digital spaces that can be used to communicate, develop and actualize ideas. / text

Il y a une décennie, le contenu numérique virtuel était limité à quelques applications – majoritairementles jeux vidéos, les films en 3D et la simulation numérique. Aujourd’hui, grâce à l’apparition de cartes graphiques performantes et bon marché, les objets 3D sont utilisés dans de nombreuses applications. A peu près tous les terminaux possédant des capacités d’affichage – des clusters de visualisation haute performance jusqu’aux smart phones – intègrent maintenant une puce graphique qui leur permet de faire du rendu 3D. Ainsi, les applications 3D sont bien plus variées qu’il y a quelques années. On citera par exemple la réalité virtuelle et augmentée en temps réel ou les mondes virtuels 3D. Dans ce contexte, le besoin de méthodes efficaces pour la transmission et la visualisation des données 3D est toujours plus pressant. De plus, la taille des maillages 3D ne cesse de s’accroître avec la précision de la représentation. Par exemple, les scanners 3D actuels sont capables de numériser des objets du monde réel avec une précision de seulement quelques micromètres, et génèrent des maillages contenant plusieurs centaines de millions d’´el´ements. D’un autre côté, une précision accrue en simulation numérique requiert des maillages plus fins, et les méthodes massivement parallèles actuelles sont capables de travailler avec des milliards de mailles. Dans ce contexte, la compression de ces données – en particulier la compression de maillages – est un enjeu important. Durant la décennie passée, de nombreuses méthodes ont été développées pour coder les maillages polygonaux. Néanmoins, ces techniques ne sont plus adaptées au contexte actuel, car elles supposentque la compression et la d´ecompression sont des processus sym´etriques qui ont lieu sur un mat´erielsimilaire. Dans le cadre actuel, au contraire, le contenu 3D se trouve cr´e´e, compressé et distribué par des machines de hautes performances, tandis que l’exploitation des données – par exemple, la visualisation – est effectuée à distance sur des périphériques de capacité plus modeste – éventuellement mobiles – qui ne peuvent traiter les maillages de grande taille dans leur int´egralité. Ceci fait de lacompression de maillage un processus intrinsèquement asymétrique.Dans cette thèse, notre objectif est d’étudier et de proposer des méthodes pour la compression de maillages de grande taille. Nous nous intéressons plus particulièrement aux méthodes d’accès aléatoire, qui voient la compression comme un problème intrinsèquement asymétrique. Dans ce modèle, le codeur a accès à des ressources informatiques importantes, tandis que la décompression estun processus temps réel (souple) qui se fait avec du matériel de plus faible puissance. Nous décrivons un algorithme de ce type et l’appliquons au cas de la visualisation interactive. Nous proposons aussi un algorithme streaming pour compresser des maillages hexaèdriques de très grande taille utilisés dans le contexte de la simulation numérique. Nous sommes ainsi capables decompresser des maillages comportant de l’ordre de 50 millions de mailles en moins de deux minutes, et en n’utilisant que quelques mégaoctets de mémoire vive. Enfin, nous proposons, indépendamment de ces deux algorithmes, un cadre théorique général pour améliorer la compression de géométrie. Cet algorithme peut être utilisé pour développer des méthodes de prédiction pour n’importe quel algorithme basé sur un paradigme prédictif – ce qui est la cas dela majorité des méthodes existantes. Nous dérivons ainsi des schémas de prédictions compatibles avec plusieurs méthodes de la littérature. Ces schémas augmentent les taux de compression de 9% enmoyenne. Sous des hypothèses usuelles, nous utilisons aussi ces résultats pour prouver l’optimalité de certains algorithmes existants. / A decade ago, 3D content was restricted to a few applications – mainly games, 3D graphics andscientific simulations. Nowadays, thanks to the development cheap and efficient specialized renderingdevices, 3D objects are ubiquitous. Virtually all devices with a display – from a large visualizationclusters to smart phones – now integrate 3D rendering capabilities. Therefore, 3D applications arenow far more diverse than a few years ago, and include for example real-time virtual and augmentedreality, as well as 3D virtual worlds. In this context, there is an ever increasing need for efficient toolsto transmit and visualize 3D content.In addition, the size of 3D meshes always increases with accuracy of representation. On one hand,recent 3D scanners are able to digitalize real-world objects with a precision of a few micrometers, andgenerate meshes with several hundred million elements. On the other hand, numerical simulationsalways require finer meshes for better accuracy, and massively parallel simulation methods now generatemeshes with billions of elements. In this context, 3D data compression – in particular 3D meshcompression – services are of strategic importance.The previous decade has seen the development of many efficient methods for encoding polygonalmeshes. However, these techniques are no longer adapted to the current context, because they supposethat encoding and decoding are symmetric processes that take place on the same kind of hardware.In contrast, remote 3D content will typically be created, compressed and served by high-performancemachines, while exploitation (e.g. visualization) will be carried out remotely on smaller – possiblyhand held – devices that cannot handle large meshes as a whole. This makes mesh compression anintrinsically asymmetric process.Our objective in this dissertation is to address the compression of these large meshes. In particularwe study random-accessible compression schemes, that consider mesh compression as an asymmetricproblem where the compressor is an off-line process and has access to a large amount of resources,while decompression is a time-critical process with limited resources. We design such a compressionscheme and apply it to interactive visualization.In addition, we propose a streaming compression algorithm that targets the very large hexahedralmeshes that are common in the context of scientific numerical simulation. Using this scheme, we areable to compress meshes of 50 million hexahedra in less than two minutes using a few megabytes ofmemory.Independently from these two specific algorithms, we develop a generic theoretical framework toaddress mesh geometry compression. This framework can be used to derive geometry compressionschemes for any mesh compression algorithm based on a predictive paradigm – which is the case of thelarge majority of compression schemes. Using this framework, we derive new geometry compressionschemes that are compatible with existing mesh compression algorithms but improve compressionratios – by approximately 9% on average. We also prove the optimality of some other schemes underusual smoothness assumptions.

Many applications have been developed for Virtual Reality (VR) during the new wave of VR technology. These new technologies make it possible to create 3D meshes in a virtual environment in real time. However, the usability of VR as a modelling tool is still a new area of research. This study’s research created a VR 3D modeling tool that will provide the user with tools to interactively generate and edit 3D meshes in real-time and teach the users how to create 3D models. The study had two groups of participants, one group used Autodesk Maya, and another used the VR modeling tool. All participants were from Purdue University and all data was collected in the Polytechnic Institute. Both groups were given a task to create a teacup with the time it took to complete it recorded. The VR tool was evaluated with a SUS (System Usability Scale). The participants provided feedback and rated how difficult it was to use the application. With the SUS, it was determined that the application did not meet the industry standard average score of 68. However, further analysis on users’ responses showed many areas to improve in the application. A few recommendations for future research include implementation of multi-selection, a undo and redo feature, and improvements of how the user interacts with the 3D meshes.

No description available.

No description available.

The Cretaceous Nanushuk Formation of northern Alaska records extremely rapid shoreline progradation across the Colville Basin during the Albian-Cenomanian epochs. Additionally, it records a period of tectonic realignment in the region, as the main sediment source began to transition from the Chukotkan orogeny to the west to a more local sediment source of the proximal Brooks Range to the south. Through detailed outcrop characterization and 3-D modeling of three exposed outcrops along the axial trend of the Colville Basin on the North Slope and the Upper section of the Nanushuk, this study clarifies the relative timing of the early Brookian orogenic uplift. Outcrop characterization also allows for a detailed description of spatial and temporal distribution of deltaic facies associations within the Nanushuk Formation. Previously these outcrops were hypothesized to represent dominantly shoreface depositional processes, but field studies indicate the Nanushuk Formation has a complex facies architecture consistent with deltaic environments. This work has important significance for geometry predictions for hydrocarbon exploration and development targeting the Nanushuk sands as a reservoir unit. This new interpretation of both dominant sedimentary process and provenance has implications for 1) reservoir architecture and connectivity, and 2) textural and compositional maturity of Nanushuk sandstones, an emerging hydrocarbon play along the North Slope of Alaska. A detailed mineralogical analysis of 50 samples, coming from the three key outcrops and two additional outcrops from previous studies, using TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA), an automated system that utilizes Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), shows increased amounts of chromite and biotite associated with key outcrops proximal to the Brooks Range. Chromite mass weight percent ranges from 0.00 % to 0.15 % across five outcrops, with Tuktu Bluff, which is proximal to the Brookian orogenic front having weight percentages that range from 0.01 % to 0.15 % with an average of 0.06 %, in contrast to the other outcrops, which range from 0.00 % to 0.03 % with an average of 0.01 %. In contrast, non-diagnostic elements such as quartz do not show meaningful variance, ranging from 42.66 % to 93.78 % across all outcrops, with proximal outcrop showing an average of 60.64 % while the rest of the outcrops have an average of 64.36 %. Substantial localized enrichment in both chromite and biotite found within outcrops of the Nanushuk Formation at the Tuktu Bluff locality support subaerial exposure of the Brooks Range within the Albian-Cenomanian epochs. The non-uniform distribution of these minerals on both a strike and dip direction show that uplift was non-uniform and suggest specific point sources dominated Brookian input. A better understanding of these patterns will help to focus exploration in areas of best potential reservoir quality. Measured sections and 3-d models were created to better understand the depositional architecture and how the deltaic influence in this highly progradational system affects the reservoir geometries. In all three outcrops of interest along the axial trend and higher up in the Nanushuk section, we observed current ripples, lensoidal geometries, low angle trough cross bedding, scoured bases, and wood chunks and pebble lags at channel basses, all of which, are consistent with fluvial dominated deltas. Deltaic deposition complicates predicting the geometry of the reservoir away from outcrop control with lateral avulsions of the delta system and laterally changing distributary channels. At Ninuluk, Kanayut, and Rooftop Ridge, distributary and interdistributary channels comprise approximately 19.5 %, 23.5 % and 20.36 % of the outcrop, respectively. Overall, net to gross sand ratios of 38.69 %, 66.54 % and 55.47 % were calculates at Ninuluk, Kanayut, and Rooftop Ridge, respectively. If assuming the sands in the net to gross are the reservoir rock, then approximately half of the reservoir rocks at each outcrop are in distributary channel settings which adds to the complexity of facies prediction away from the control outcrops.

Collaboration between the playwright, director, designer and technicians is the backbone of theater. Costume designers, after discussion with the director and the other designers, rely on costume technicians to realize their ideas. The technician’s hands then realize the artistic vision. But what would the technicians try if there were no constraints? I am a technician, a craftsperson who is inspired not just by the play, but also by process, by methods. With every new technique I learn, I imagine the new ways it could be put to use, and the objects I would create if time and resources were not a factor. Imagined objects are seldom created. Once made, these objects exist without a performance, without a purpose. A costume not worn is an unfulfilled destiny. But maybe the pieces I want to make can be given a narrative after the act of construction, or during construction. I’m interested in exploring my ability to be a generative artist. How can my inspiration feed back into the theater community? Can a costume technician’s experimentation have a place in creating new theater? My thesis has two components, exploring my two interests. Those two interests are the creation of objects and the creation of a story. The first component, object creation, was an exploratory study of mask and headdress making techniques. I experimented with new techniques, such as 3-D printing, testing the limitations of new technology. The second component, story creation, was a collaborative process. My collaborator, Brian Oglesby, and I worked concurrently. Brian is a playwright, and as he wrote the play, I made the objects. Our processes mirrored each other. The narrative of the play incorporated the masks and headpieces I made. This project created a theater piece based on the experimentation of a costume technician, and presents a new way for future technicians to think about their work and to have their stories told. / text

La chirurgie arthroscopique présente actuellement un essor très important pour le bénéfice du plus grand nombre des patients. Cependant, cette technique possède un certain nombre d'inconvénients et il est donc nécessaire pour le médecin de s'entrainer et répéter ses gestes afin de pouvoir exécuter ce type d'opération d'une façon efficace et certaine. En effet, les méthodes traditionnelles d'enseignement de la chirurgie sont basées sur l'autopsie des cadavres et l'entrainement sur des animaux. Avec l'évolution de notre société, ces deux pratiques deviennent de plus en plus critiquées et font l'objet de réglementations très restrictives. Afin d'atteindre un niveau plus élevé, de nouveaux moyens d'apprentissage sont nécessaires pour les chirurgiens. Récemment, la réalité virtuelle commence d'être de plus en plus utilisée dans la médecine et surtout la chirurgie. Les simulateurs chirurgicaux sont devenus une des matières les plus récentes dans la recherche de la réalité virtuelle. Ils sont également devenus une méthode de formation et un outil d'entrainement valable pour les chirurgiens aussi bien que les étudiants en médecine. Dans ce travail, un simulateur de réalité virtuelle pour l'enseignement de la chirurgie arthroscopique, surtout la chirurgie du poignet, a été préesenté. Deux questions principales sont abordées : la reconstruction et l'interaction 3-D. Une séquence d'images CT a été traitée afin de générer un modèle 3-D du poignet. Les deux principales composantes de l'interface du système sont illustrées : l'interaction 3-D pour guider les instruments chirurgicaux et l'interface de l'utilisateur pour le retour d'effort. Dans ce contexte, les algorithmes qui modélisent les objets en utilisant les approches de "Convex Hull" et qui simulent la détection de collision entre les objets virtuels en temps réel, sont présentés. En outre, un dispositif de retour d'effort est utilisé comme une interface haptique avec le système. Cela conduit au développement d'un système à faible coût, avec les mêmes avantages que les appareils professionnels. A cet égard, l'arthroscopie du poignet peut être simulée et les étudiants en médecine peuvent facilement utiliser le système et peuvent apprendre les compétences de base requises en sécurité, flexibilité et moindre coût