[pt] Encontrar manualmente uma boa função de transferência para visualização volumétrica é uma tarefa difícil que exige um conhecimento prévio sobre os dados sendo visualizados. Por isso, muitas pesquisas têm sido desenvolvidas nos últimos anos, com o objetivo de facilitar esse processo. No entanto, poucos trabalhos se esforçaram em obter métodos automáticos para a detecção de funções de transferência. A grande maioria busca melhorar o controle do usuário sobre a função de transferência indicando regiões potencialmente interessantes em histogramas e facilitando sua manipulação através de interfaces. Além disso, os resultados encontrados são geralmente apresentados na área médica, buscando melhorar a visualização dos exames de ressonância magnética, tomografia computadorizada ou ultrassom. Assim, visando mostrar que os conceitos utilizados nesses trabalhos podem ser explorados na área de petróleo e gás, este trabalho propõem um novo método para detecção automática de funções de transferência com o intuito de visualizar as interfaces entre regiões de um reservatório de petróleo. A abordagem proposta também é avaliada na detecção de fronteiras entre diferentes materiais de volumes médicos e outros volumes científicos amplamente utilizados. / [en] Finding a good transfer function for volume rendering is a difficult task that requires previous knowledge about the data domain itself. Therefore, many researches have been developed in the past few years aiming to overcome this barrier. However, only a few of them have concentrated forces into obtaining an automatic transfer function detector. Most of them focus on improving user control over transfer function domain, indicating potentially interesting regions and easing its manipulation through different histograms. Also, the results are often presented in medical field, through MRI, CT scan or ultrasound images. Thus, with the purpose of showing that the concepts used in these works can be exploited on oil and gas research field, this work proposes a novel method to automatically detect transfer functions, aiming to visualize the interfaces between different regions in the reservoir. The proposed approach is also tested in detecting boundaries between different materials of medical datasets and other datasets widely used.

Direct Volume Rendering (DVR) is a visualization technique that has proved to be a very powerful tool in many scientific visualization applications. Diagnostic medical imaging is one domain where DVR could provide clear benefits in terms of unprecedented possibilities for analysis of complex cases and highly efficient work flow for certain routine examinations. The full potential of DVR in the clinical environment has not been reached, however, primarily due to limitations in conventional DVR methods and tools. This thesis presents methods addressing four major challenges for DVR in clinical use. The foundation of all methods is to incorporate the domain knowledge of the medical professional in the technical solutions. The first challenge is the very large data sets routinely produced in medical imaging today. To this end a multiresolution DVR pipeline is proposed, which dynamically prioritizes data according to the actual impact in the rendered image to be reviewed. Using this prioritization the system can reduce the data requirements throughout the pipeline and provide high performance and visual quality in any environment. Another problem addressed is how to achieve simple yet powerful interactive tissue classification in DVR. The methods presented define additional attributes that effectively captures readily available medical knowledge. The task of tissue detection is also important to solve in order to improve efficiency and consistency of diagnostic image review. Histogram-based techniques that exploit spatial relations in the data to achieve accurate and robust tissue detection are presented in this thesis. The final challenge is uncertainty visualization, which is very pertinent in clinical work for patient safety reasons. An animation method has been developed that automatically conveys feasible alternative renderings. The basis of this method is a probabilistic interpretation of the visualization parameters. Several clinically relevant evaluations of the developed techniques have been performed demonstrating their usefulness. Although there is a clear focus on DVR and medical imaging, most of the methods provide similar benefits also for other visualization techniques and application domains.

[pt] O uso de abordagens de programação estocástica e redução de cenários tem se tornado imprescindível na análise e predição de comportamento de sistemas dinâmicos. Entretanto, tais técnicas não levam em conta o conhecimento prévio sobre domínio que o usuário possui. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo o desenvolvimento de uma abordagem visual e interativa para abordar o problema de redução de cenários com dados temporais. Para tanto, nós propomos a implementação de uma série de visualizações de dados temporais integradas. Também propomos a adaptação de um algoritmo de projeção multidimensional para lidar com dados temporais. Desta forma, podemos representar graficamente a evolução de um conjunto de cenários ao longo do tempo. Outra visualização proposta no presente trabalho é uma adaptação de Bump chart para lidar com dados temporais acumulados; através dele, um usuário pode comparar a evolução das distâncias entre os diferentes cenários e um cenário de referência. Para validar a nossa proposta, fizemos uma implementação das técnicas propostas e conduzimos um estudo com usuários de diferentes áreas do conhecimento e níveis de experiência. Os resultados obtidos até então indicam que uma abordagem visual para o problema de redução de cenários é viável, e permite a seleção de um conjunto razoável de cenários. Além disso, constatamos que essa abordagem pode ser útil em um contexto de exploração de dados visando a redução de cenários. O usuário também pode explorar visualmente os resultados de outras técnicas de redução de cenários usando nossa abordagem. Os usuários entrevistados reportaram facilidade em cumprir as tarefas propostas e comentaram positivamente sobre os mecanismos de interação fornecidos pelo nosso protótipo. Também testamos os cenários escolhidos usando nossa proposta contra outras abordagens encontradas tanto na literatura quanto em uso na indústria. Os resultados obtidos foram bons, indicando que nossa proposta é viável em casos de uso reais. / [en] Stochastic programming and scenario reduction approaches have become invaluable in the analysis and behavior prediction of dynamic systems. However, such techniques often fail to take advantage of the user s own expertise about the problem domain. This work provides visual interactive support to assist users in solving the scenario reduction problem with timeseries data. We employ a series of time-based visualization techniques linked together to perform the task. By adapting a multidimensional projection algorithm to handle temporal data, we can graphically present the evolution of the ensemble. We also propose to use cumulative bump charts to visually compare the ranks of distances between the ensemble time series and a baseline series. To evaluate our approach, we developed a prototype application and conducted observation studies with volunteer users of varying backgrounds and levels of expertise. Our results indicate that a graphical approach to scenario reduction may result in a good subset of scenarios and provides a valuable tool for data exploration in this context. The users liked the interaction mechanisms provided and judged the task to be easy to perform with the tools we have developed. We tested the proposed approach against state-of-the-art techniques proposed in the literature and used in the industry and obtained good results, thus indicating that our approach is viable in a real-world scenario.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-05-30T18:07:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 joseluizribeirodesouzafilho.pdf: 14599386 bytes, checksum: b6c429c2f45228c7e68a7f951c5456ba (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-06-01T11:49:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 joseluizribeirodesouzafilho.pdf: 14599386 bytes, checksum: b6c429c2f45228c7e68a7f951c5456ba (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T11:49:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 joseluizribeirodesouzafilho.pdf: 14599386 bytes, checksum: b6c429c2f45228c7e68a7f951c5456ba (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-22 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Análise e visualização de campos tensoriais simétricos de segunda ordem é um pro blema desafiador, pois eles geralmente representam dados multivariados. Trabalhos nessa área utilizam de diferentes estratégias para tornar perceptíveis propriedades desejadas dos campos. Essas propriedades são, por exemplo, estruturas colineares e coplanares. Em casos como campos tensoriais que representam tecidos orgânicos obtidos por ressonância magnética, ressaltar essas estruturas pode ser útil para a área médica de diagnóstico e neurociência por exemplo. Um tipo específico de visualização consiste na observação da propagação de partículas sobre os campos. Mas, grande parte desses métodos não des creve interações entre partículas e são estáticos. Essa dissertação propõe um método que induz o sistema perceptual humano a perceber de forma mais intuitiva essas estruturas, utilizando dinâmica de fluidos. Foram propostas modificações de uma implementação específica das Equações de Navier-Stokes, chamada Hidrodinâmica de Partículas Suavi zadas (SPH). Diferente de outras abordagens, o modelo proposto explora interação entre partículas para ressaltar a percepção de estruturas subjacentes no campo tensorial. Foi proposta uma força externa para manter partículas em regiões de interesse e também a aplicação de uma distorção na função núcleo, ambas baseadas nas informações dos tenso res. A distorção faz com que as partículas se alinhem de acordo com estruturas colineares e coplanares consecutivas do campo, exibindo continuidades e também conectividades. / Analysis and visualization of symmetric second order tensor fields are challenging since they generally represent multivariate data. Works in this area use different approaches to enhance desired properties of the field. Those properties are, for example, colinear and coplanar structures. In some cases, such as tensor fields obtained by magnetic resonance imaging of organic tissues, highlighting those structures can be useful for studies in neu roscience and diagnostics, for example. A specific technique of visualization consists in observing particles’ trajectories along the field. But, most of those methods are static and does not present interaction between particles. This work proposes a method that induces the human perceptual system to visualize more intuitively those structures, using fluid dynamics. Modifications in a specific implementation of Navier-Stokes equations, called Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) were proposed. Different from other ap proaches, interactions between particles are used to enhance the perception of underlying structures in a tensor field. It was also proposed an external force to keep particles around areas of interest and a distortion in the kernel functions, both based on tensors’ informa tion.The distortion forces particles to align according to consecutive colinear and coplanar structures of a field, showing continuities and connectivities.

La sobriété énergétique du bâti devient aujourd’hui un élément clé en phase de conception. L’intégration en amont d’outils numériques, notamment la réalité virtuelle (RV). Nous a conduit, dans cette recherche, à nous concentrer sur les résultats de simulations thermiques visualisées dans un environnement virtuel. La contribution est portée sur la représentation et la perception dans un EV de ces données issues de simulation. Nous nous limitons à la caractérisation de l’efficacité énergétique en processus de conception. Cette étude vise la prédiction des performances thermiques dans des systèmes de réalité virtuelle. Les problématiques de formats de données et de flux de travail entre la modélisation classique CAO (Conception Assistée par Ordinateur), les simulations thermiques, et la visualisation immersive sont également traitées. Il existe plusieurs outils logiciels dédiés à la représentation de simulations thermiques en EV et le premier enjeu de ces travaux fut de sélectionner l’outil approprié. De nombreux modeleurs CAO, logiciels de simulation thermique et outils de RV sont disponibles ; ils diffèrent notamment par leurs approches (fonctionnalités et environnement logiciel). La problématique d’interopérabilité (formats d’échange entre les outils logiciels) requiert de bâtir un flux de travail structuré. Les difficultés d’intégration entre outils CAO et outils de simulation, et les barrières au transfert vers des systèmes de réalité virtuelle sont également décrits. Il est apparu pertinent d'utiliser le Building Information Model (BIM) de plus en plus utilisé parmi les acteurs de l’architecture, ingénierie et construction (AIC). Puis nous avons poursuivi par l’évaluation des tendances actuelles en matière de représentation de données thermiques issues de simulation dans un EV, par la création de méthode de transfert de données de sorte à les intégrer au flux de travail. Après un état de l’art sur la simulation thermique et une évaluation des travaux connexes, nous décrivons l'application, la méthode et les outils pour parvenir à nos objectifs. Une proposition de procédé de transfert de données et de présentation de données en EV est formulée et évaluée. Le flux d’échanges de données s’effectue en trois phases, de sorte à optimiser les passages entre la CAO, le calcul thermique et la réalité virtuelle. La représentation des données dans l’EV est réalisée grâce à une visualisation immersive et interactive. Une expérimentation a été conduite de sorte à évaluer des sujets : Le scénario consistait en une visualisation interactive de données thermiques selon 4 modalités en environnement virtuel. L’interface développée pour l’interaction a été voulue intuitive et conviviale. L’application contient un modèle 3D réaliste du projet (salle Gunzo) dans deux configurations : état actuel et état rénové. Les données thermiques sont restituées selon plusieurs métaphores de représentation. L’expérimentation développe une approche qui associe au scénario de rénovation virtuelle une configuration matérielle/logicielle. Les résultats obtenus se concentrent sur la visualisation, l'interaction et le retour subjectif des utilisateurs. Quatre métaphores de visualisation sont testées et leur évaluation porte notamment sur deux critères : leurs capacités à restituer les résultats de simulation thermique ; le degré d’interaction et la perception de l’utilisateur des impacts de ses actions. L’évaluation subjective révèle les préférences des utilisateurs et montre que les métaphores de représentation ont une influence sur la précision et l’efficience de l’interprétation des données. Ces travaux montrent que les techniques de représentation et de visualisation de données de simulation ont un effet sur la pertinence de leur interprétation. La méthode décrite spécifie les modalités de transfert de la donnée depuis la phase conception jusqu’aux outils et systèmes de RV. Sa souplesse lui permet d’être transposée à tout type de projet (…) / The importance of energy efficiency as well as integration of advances in sustainable buildingdesign and VR technology have lead this research to focus on thermal simulation results visualized in avirtual environment (VE). The emphasis is on the representation of thermal building simulation (TBS)results and on the perception of thermal data simulated in a VE. The current application of the designprocess through energy efficiency in VR systems is limited mostly to building performance predictionsand design review, as the issue of the data formats and the workflow used for 3D modeling, thermalcalculation and VR visualization.Different applications and tools involved to represent TBS in VE are become the challenge ofthis work. Many 3D modeller, thermal simulation tools and VR tools are available and they are differ intheir function and platform. Issues of data format exchange, appropriate tools and equipments from thissituation require an interoperability solution that needs to be structured in a workflow method.Significances and barriers to integration design with CAD and TBS tools are also outlined in order totransfer the model to VR system. Therefore, the idea then is to use Building Information Model (BIM)extensively used in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) community. It then continued toevaluate the current trends for TBS representation in VE, to create data transfer method, and tointegrate them in the workflow. After a review in thermal simulation and an evaluation of related works,we specify the application, method and tools for our objectives.An application of a method of data transfer and presentation of data in VE are formulated andtested. This effort conduct using a specific data workflow which performed the data transfer through 3phases. This relies on the smooth exchange of data workflow between CAD tools, thermal calculationtools and VR tools. Presentation of data in VE is conducted through immersive visualization andintuitive interaction. An experiment scenario of a thermal simulation in VR system was created tointeractively visualize the results in the immersion room and tested by some respondents. The systeminclude with friendly interface for interaction. It presents a realistic 3D model of the project (Gunzoroom) in existing condition and renovated version, and their TBS results visualized in somevisualization metaphor. In the experiment, the method which bundled in an application brings togetherwithin a couple of virtual scenario and a software/hardware solution. The obtained results concentrateon visualization, interaction and its feedback. Some visualization metaphor are tested and evaluated topresent more informative TBS results where the user can interact and perceive the impact of theiraction.Evaluation of the application prototype showed various levels of user satisfaction, andimprovements in the accuracy and efficiency of data interpretation. The research has demonstrated it ispossible to improve the representation and interpretation of building performance data, particularly TBSresults using visualization techniques. Using specific method, the data flow that starts from the designprocess is completely and accurately channelled to the VR system. The method can be used with anykind of construction project and, being a flexible application, accepts new data when necessary,allowing for a comparison between the planned and the constructed.

La simulation numérique de phénomènes physiques complexes requiert généralement l’utilisation d’un maillage. En mécanique des fluides numérique, cela consisteà représenter un objet dans un gros volume de contrôle. Cet objet étant celui dont l’on souhaite simuler le comportement. Usuellement, l’objet et la boîte englobante sont représentés par des maillage de surface linéaires et la zone intermédiaire est remplie par un maillage volumique. L’objectif de cette thèse est de s’intéresser à deux manières différentes de représenter cet objet. La première approche dite immergée consiste à mailler intégralement le volume de contrôle et ensuite à simuler le comportement autour de l’objet sans avoir à mailler explicitement dans le volume ladite géometrie. L’objet étant implicitement pris en compte par le schéma numérique. Le couplage de cette méthode avec de l’adaptation de maillage linéaire est notamment étudié. La deuxième approche dite d’ordre élevé consiste quant à elle consiste à augmenter le degré polynomial du maillage de surface de l’objet. La première étape consiste donc à générer le maillage de surface de degré élevé et ensuite àpropager l’information de degré élevé dans les éléments volumiques environnants si nécessaire. Dans ce cadre-là, il s’agit de s’assurer de la validité de telles modifications et à considérer l’extension des méthodes classiques de modification de maillages linéaires. / The numerical simulation of complex physical phenomenons usually requires a mesh. In Computational Fluid Dynamics, it consists in representing an object inside a huge control volume. This object is then the subject of some physical study. In general, this object and its bounding box are represented by linear surface meshes and the intermediary zone is filled by a volume mesh. The aim of this thesis is to have a look on two different approaches for representing the object. The first approach called embedded method consist in integrally meshing the bounding box volume without explicitly meshing the object in it. In this case, the presence of the object is implicitly simulated by the CFD solver. The coupling of this method with linear mesh adaptation is in particular discussed.The second approach called high-order method consist on the contrary by increasing the polynomial order of the surface mesh of the object. The first step is therefore to generate a suitable high-order mesh and then to propagate the high-order information in the neighboring volume if necessary. In this context, it is mandatory to make sure that such modifications are valid and then the extension of classic mesh modification techniques has to be considered.

The analysis of heterogeneous, complex data sets has become important in many scientific domains. With the help of scientific visualization, researchers can be supported in exploring their research results. One domain, where researchers have to deal with spatio-temporal data from different sources including simulation, observation and time-independent data, is meteorology. In this thesis, a concept and workflow for the 3D visualization of meteorological data was developed in cooperation with domain experts. Three case studies have been conducted based on the developed concept. In addition, the concept has been enhanced based on the experiences gained from the case studies. In contrast to existing all-in-one software applications, the proposed workflow employs a combination of existing software applications and their extensions to make a variety of already implemented visualization algorithms available. The workflow provides methods for data integration and for abstraction of the data as well as for generating representations of the variables of interest. Solutions for visualizing sets of variables, comparing results of multiple simulation runs and results of simulations based on different models are presented. The concept includes the presentation of the visualization scenes in virtual reality environments for a more comprehensible display of multifaceted data. To enable the user to navigate within the scenes, some interaction functionality was provided to control time, camera, and display of objects. The proposed methods have been selected with respect to the requirements defined in cooperation with the domain experts and have been verified with user tests. The developed visualization methods are used to analyze and present recent research results as well as for educational purposes. As the proposed approach uses generally applicable concepts, it can also be applied for the analysis of scientific data from other disciplines. / In nahezu allen Wissenschaftsdisziplinen steigt der Umfang erhobener Daten. Diese sind oftmals heterogen und besitzen eine komplexe Struktur, was ihre Analyse zu einer Herausforderung macht. Die wissenschaftliche Visualisierung bietet hier Möglichkeiten, Wissenschaftler bei der Untersuchung ihrer Forschungsergebnisse zu unterstützen. Eine der Disziplinen, in denen räumlich-zeitliche Daten aus verschiedenen Quellen inklusive Simulations- und Observationsdaten eine Rolle spielen, ist die Meteorologie. In dieser Arbeit wurde in Zusammenarbeit mit Experten der Meteorologie ein Konzept und ein Workflow für die 3D-Visualisierung meteorologischer Daten entwickelt. Dabei wurden drei Fallstudien erarbeitet, die zum einen auf dem erstellten Konzept beruhen und zum anderen durch die während der Fallstudie gesammelten Erfahrungen das Konzept erweiterten. Der Workflow besteht aus einer Kombination existierender Software sowie Erweiterungen dieser. Damit wurden Funktionen zur Verfügung gestellt, die bei anderen Lösungsansätzen in diesem Bereich, die oft nur eine geringere Anzahl an Funktionalität bieten, nicht zur Verfügung stehen. Der Workflow beinhaltet Methoden zur Datenintegration sowie für die Abstraktion und Darstellung der Daten. Es wurden Lösungen für die Visualisierung einer Vielzahl an Variablen sowie zur vergleichenden Darstellung verschiedener Simulationsläufe und Simulationen verschiedener Modelle präsentiert. Die generierten Visualisierungsszenen wurden mit Hilfe von 3D-Geräten, beispielsweise eine Virtual-Reality-Umgebung, dargestellt. Die stereoskopische Projektion bietet dabei die Möglichkeit, diese komplexen Daten mit verbessertem räumlichem Eindruck darzustellen. Um dem Nutzer eine umfassende Analyse der Daten zu ermöglichen, wurden eine Reihe von Funktionen zur Interaktion zur Verfügung gestellt, um beispielsweise Zeit, Kamera und die Anzeige von 3D-Objekten zu steuern. Das Konzept und der Workflow wurden entsprechend der Anforderungen entwickelt, die zusammen mit Fachexperten definiert wurden. Des Weiteren wurden die Anwendungen in verschiedenen Entwicklungsstadien durch Nutzer getestet und deren Feedback in die Entwicklung einbezogen. Die Ergebnisse der Fallstudien wurden von den Wissenschaftlern benutzt, um ihre Daten zu analysieren, sowie diese zu präsentieren und in der Lehre einzusetzen. Da der vorgeschlagene Workflow allgemein anwendbare Konzepte beinhaltet, kann dieser auch für die Analyse wissenschaftlicher Daten anderer Disziplinen verwendet werden.

Three-dimensional volume data is routinely produced, at increasingly high spatial resolution, in computer simulations and image acquisition tasks. In-situ visualization, the visualization of an experiment or simulation while it is running, enables new modes of interaction, including simulation steering and experiment control. These can provide the scientist a deeper understanding of the underlying phenomena, but require interactive visualization with smooth viewpoint changes and zooming to convey depth perception and spatial understanding. As the size of the volume data increases, however, it is increasingly challenging to achieve interactive visualization with smooth viewpoint changes. This thesis presents an end-to-end solution for interactive in-situ visualization based on novel extensions proposed to the Volumetric Depth Image (VDI) representation. VDIs are view-dependent, compact representations of volume data than can be rendered faster than the original data. Novel methods are proposed in this thesis for generating VDIs on large data and for rendering them faster. Together, they enable interactive in situ visualization with smooth viewpoint changes and zooming for large volume data. The generation of VDIs involves decomposing the volume rendering integral along rays into segments that store composited color and opacity, forming a representation much smaller than the volume data. This thesis introduces a technique to automatically determine the sensitivity parameter that governs the decomposition of rays, eliminating the need for manual parameter tuning in the generation of a VDI. Further, a method is proposed for sort-last parallel generation and compositing of VDIs on distributed computers, enabling their in situ generation with distributed numerical simulations. A low latency architecture is proposed for the sharing of data and hardware resources with a running simulation. The resulting VDI can be streamed for interactive visualization. A novel raycasting method is proposed for rendering VDIs. Properties of perspective projection are exploited to simplify the intersection of rays with the view-dependent segments contained within the VDI. Spatial smoothness in volume data is leveraged to minimize memory accesses. Benchmarks are performed showing that the method significantly outperforms existing methods for rendering the VDI, and achieves responsive frame rates for High Definition (HD) display resolutions near the viewpoint of generation. Further, a method is proposed to subsample the VDI for preview rendering, maintaining high frame rates even for large viewpoint deviations. The quality and performance of the approach are analyzed on multiple datasets, and the contributions are provided as extensions of established open-source tools. The thesis concludes with a discussion on the strengths, limitations, and future directions for the proposed approach.

This dissertation provides empirical evidence for the effects of the fidelity of VR system components, and novel 3D interaction techniques for analyzing volume datasets. It provides domain-independent results based on an abstract task taxonomy for visual analysis of scientific datasets. Scientific data generated through various modalities e.g. computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), etc. are in 3D spatial or volumetric format. Scientists from various domains e.g., geophysics, medical biology, etc. use visualizations to analyze data. This dissertation seeks to improve effectiveness of scientific visualizations. Traditional volume data analysis is performed on desktop computers with mouse and keyboard interfaces. Previous research and anecdotal experiences indicate improvements in volume data analysis in systems with very high fidelity of display and interaction (e.g., CAVE) over desktop environments. However, prior results are not generalizable beyond specific hardware platforms, or specific scientific domains and do not look into the effectiveness of 3D interaction techniques. We ran three controlled experiments to study the effects of a few components of VR system fidelity (field of regard, stereo and head tracking) on volume data analysis. We used volume data from paleontology, medical biology and biomechanics. Our results indicate that different components of system fidelity have different effects on the analysis of volume visualizations. One of our experiments provides evidence for validating the concept of Mixed Reality (MR) simulation. Our approach of controlled experimentation with MR simulation provides a methodology to generalize the effects of immersive virtual reality (VR) beyond individual systems. To generalize our (and other researchers') findings across disparate domains, we developed and evaluated a taxonomy of visual analysis tasks with volume visualizations. We report our empirical results tied to this taxonomy. We developed the Volume Cracker (VC) technique for improving the effectiveness of volume visualizations. This is a free-hand gesture-based novel 3D interaction (3DI) technique. We describe the design decisions in the development of the Volume Cracker (with a list of usability criteria), and provide the results from an evaluation study. Based on the results, we further demonstrate the design of a bare-hand version of the VC with the Leap Motion controller device. Our evaluations of the VC show the benefits of using 3DI over standard 2DI techniques. This body of work provides the building blocks for a three-way many-many-many mapping between the sets of VR system fidelity components, interaction techniques and visual analysis tasks with volume visualizations. Such a comprehensive mapping can inform the design of next-generation VR systems to improve the effectiveness of scientific data analysis. / Ph. D.

The MA thesis presents the discipline of information design as a large but a compact unit. The chapter about the history in the wider framework of visual communication and the chapter about information age present conditions and context of evolution of information design to its contemporary forms. These chapters are followed by information design characteristic and division into several categories completed by a selection of representative examples. In addition to information design, an area of less constrained production (cases when readability prevails over aesthetics) of information art is presented here. "Web site offers a structured overview of information design and a view of different ways of perception of information through design."