Digitizing objects and environments from real world has become an important part of creating realistic computer graphics. Through the use of structured lighting and laser time-of-flight measurements the capturing of geometric models is now a common process. The result are visualizations where viewers gain new possibilities for both visual and intellectual experiences. This thesis presents the reconstruction of the Parthenon temple and its environment in Athens, Greece by using a 3D laser-scanning technique. In order to reconstruct a realistic model using 3D scanning techniques there are various phases in which the acquired datasets have to be processed. The data has to be organized, registered and integrated in addition to pre and post processing. This thesis describes the development of a suitable and efficient data processing pipeline for the given data. The approach differs from previous scanning projects considering digitizing this large scale object at very high resolution. In particular the issue managing and processing huge datasets is described. Finally, the processing of the datasets in the different phases and the resulting 3D model of the Parthenon is presented and evaluated.

In the future network-based Swedish Defence (NBD), attaining information superiority will be of great importance. This will be achieved by a network of networks where decision-makers, information- and weapon-systems are linked together. As a part of the development of NBD, we have performed a study of user interface design for a future network-based tool package for analysis of sensor systems, referred to as the C2SR-system. This thesis was performed at Ericsson Microwave Systems AB, Sensor and Information Networks, during the autumn 2002. A pre-study concerning the requirements of usability, trustworthiness and functionality of a user interface for the C2SR-system was performed. Officers representing the future users in the NBD played an important role when gathering these requirements. Another important part of the pre-study was the evaluation of software that contains parts of the functionality necessary for the C2SR-system. On the basis of the results from the pre-study, we have designed a user interface to the future C2SR-system. To demonstrate the most important conclusions, a prototype was implemented.

When searching for better and more practical interfaces between users and their computers, additional or alternative modes of communication between the two parties would be of great use. This thesis handles the possibilities of using eye and head movements as well as voice input as these alternative modes of communication. One part of this project is devoted to find possible interaction techniques when navigating in a computer interface with movements of the eye or the head. The result of this part is four different controls of an interface, adapted to suit this kind of navigation, combined together in a demo application. Another part of the project is devoted to the development of an application, with voice control as primary input method. The application developed is a simplified version of the application ActiViewer., developed by AerotechTelub Information&Media AB.

Real-time sound synthesis in computer games using physical modeling is an area with great potential. To date, most sounds are pre-recorded to match a certain event. Instead by using a model to describe the sound producing event, a number of problems encountered when using pre-recorded sounds can be avoided. This thesis will introduce these problems and present a solution. The thesis will also evaluate one such physical model, for rain sound, and implement a real- time simulation to demonstrate the advantages of the method.

This report is a part of a diploma work, conducted as a part of a Master of Science degree. The diploma work consists of a preliminary study, two case studies, a user study, a paper and this report. It was created at the Linköping University for the department of Science and Technology, in cooperation with Unilever Research in the UK, and partly with the EC founded project, Smartdoc IST-2000-28137. Hand-held, mobile devices like Personal Digital Assistances (PDAs) are becoming increasingly popular in today’s wireless world. While trying to pack all the possible information into a small window, a nightmarish scenario is created for the interface designer to deal with. The goal for this project was to investigate different Visual User Interfaces (VUIs)on PDAs, and how to apply desktop interaction techniques to PDAs. A VUI model based on Zooming User Interface (ZUI) techniques, to adapt two complete different visualisation application areas; on-line brand-based shopping and flood warning system for PDAs, is presented. The on-line brand- based shopping was evaluated in a benchmark usability study comparing it to traditional PC based on-line shopping.

New Virtual Reality technologies provide the possibility of widening access to information in data. Haptics, the technology of touch, could be an interesting future aid and have large impact on medical applications. The use of haptic devices allows computer users to use their sense of touch, in order to feel virtual objects with a high degree of realism. The aim of the thesis is to investigate the potential deployment and the benefits of using haptic force feedback instruments in maxillo-facial surgery. Based on a produced test application, the thesis includes suggested recommendations for future haptic implementations. At the Department of Maxillo-Facial Surgery, at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, Virtual Reality technologies are used as an aid to a limited extent during the production of physical medical models. The physical medical models are produced with Rapid Prototyping techniques. This process is examined and described in the thesis. Moreover, the future of the physical medical models is outlined, and a future alternative visualizing patient data in 3D and use haptics as an interaction tool, is described. Furthermore, we have examined the present use of haptic technology in medicine, and the benefits of using the technology as an aid for diagnostic and treatment planning. Based on a presented literature study and an international outlook, we found that haptics could improve the management of medical models. The technology could be an aid, both for physical models as well as for virtual models. We found three different ways of implementing haptics in maxillo-facial surgery. A haptic system could be developed in order to only manage virtual medical models and be an alternative solution to the complete Rapid Prototyping process. A haptic system could serve as a software, handling the image processing and interfacing from a medical scanner to an Rapid Prototyping system. A haptic system could be developed as an alternative interaction tool, which could be implemented as an additional function in currently used image processing software, in order to improve the management of virtual medical models before the Rapid Prototyping process. An implementation for planning and examination in maxillo-facial surgery, using haptic force feedback interaction, is developed and evaluated. The test implementation is underlying our aim of investigating the potential deployment and the benefits of using haptic force feedback instruments in maxillo-facial surgery. After discussing the possible future of our implementation and the future of haptic force feedback in maxillo-facial surgery, a recommendation is given as a conclusion of our total work.

In this Master's thesis, Maximum Likelihood-based parametric identification methods for discrete-time SISO Hammerstein models from perturbed observations on both input and output, are investigated. Hammerstein models, consisting of a static nonlinear block followed by a dynamic linear one, are widely applied to modeling nonlinear dynamic systems, i.e., dynamic systems having nonlinearity at its input. Two identification methods are proposed. The first one assumes a Hammerstein model where the input signal is noise-free and the output signal is perturbed with colored noise. The second assumes, however, white noises added to the input and output of the nonlinearity and to the output of the whole considered Hammerstein model. Both methods operate directly in the time domain and their properties are illustrated by a number of simulated examples. It should be observed that attention is focused on derivation, numerical calculation, and simulation corresponding to the first identification method mentioned above.

Real-time MRI scanning is used to visualize tissue and organs in motion. The real-time approach requires new interaction techniques to facilitate interaction with the scanning plane. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the use of input with six degrees of freedom – 6DOF. An overview over existing 6DOF input devices is given. Three devices are chosen for implementation and evaluation, Flock of Birds, SpaceBall and SpaceMouse. A simulator application is developed to test the different input devices. The simulator purpose is to imitate the real-time scanning situation. To be able to evaluate speed andaccuracy of the different interaction techniques, methods for measuring time and error are developed. A statistical survey is done on two different tasks to gather data of the interaction. The data is analyzed and the result is that the test subjects find the SpaceMouse superior to the other devices thanks to its kinesthetic feed-back properties and ergonomic benefits. However, the statistical data shows that Flock of Birds is the fastest device and no great difference is showed in accuracy between Flock of Birds and SpaceMouse. SpaceBall was the device that generated the least satisfying data.

Todays’ systems for telecommunication are getting more and more complex. Automatic testing is required to guarantee quality of the systems produced. An actual example is the introduction of GPRS traffic in the GSM network nodes. This thesis investigates the need and demands for such an automatic testing of the traffic channels in the GSM system. A solution intended to be a part of the Ericsson TSS is proposed. One problem to be solved is that today’s tools for testing do not support testing of speech channels with the speech transcoder unit installed. As part of the investigation, a speech codec is implemented for execution on current hardware used in the test platform. The selected speech codec is the enhanced full rate codec, generating a bitstream of 12.2 kbit/s, and gives a good trade-off between compression and speech quality. The report covers the design of the test tool and the implementation of speech codec. Particularly performance problems in the implementation of the encoder will be addressed.

The color gamut, i.e. the range of reproducible colors, is in most conventional display systems not sufficient for accurate color reproduction of highly saturated colors. Any conventional three-primary display suffers from a color gamut limited within the triangle spanned by the primary colors. Even by using purer primaries, enlarging the triangle, there will still be a problem to cover all the perceivable colors. By using a system with more than three primary colors, in printing denoted Hi-Fi color, the gamut will be expanded into a polygon, yielding a larger gamut and better color reproduction. Digital Light Processing (DLP) is a projection technology developed by Texas Instrument. It uses a chip with an array of thousands of individually controllable micromirrors, each representing a single pixel in the projected image. A lamp illuminates the micromirrors, and by controlling the amount of time each mirror reflect the light, using pulse width modulation, the projected image is created. Color reproduction is achieved by letting the light pass through color filters, corresponding to the three primaries, mounted in a filter wheel. In this diploma work, the DLP projector InFocus® LP™350 has been evaluated, using the Photo Research® PR®-705 Spectroradiometer. The colorimetric performance of the projector is found to be surprisingly poor, with a color gamut noticeably smaller then that of a CRT monitor using standardized phosphors. This is due to the broad banded filters used, yielding increased brightness at the expense of the pureness of the primaries. With the intention of evaluating the potential for the DLP technology in multi- primary systems, color filters are selected for additional primary colors. The filters are selected from a set of commercially available filters, the Kodak Wratten filters for science and technology. Used as performance criteria for filter selection is the volume of the gamut in the CIE 1976 (L*u*v*) uniform color space. The selected filters are measured and evaluated in combination with the projector, verifying the theoretical results from the filter selection process. Colorimetric performance of the system is greatly improved, yielding an expansion of the color gamut in CIE 1976 (L*u*v*) color space by 79%, relative the original three-primary system. These results indicate the potential for DLP in multiprimary display systems, with the capacity to greatly expand the color gamut, by using carefully selected filters for additional primary colors.