<p>There is a gap between low-fidelity prototyping using paper and high-fidelity prototyping using computers in web design. Both serve well in different stages of web design, but are not well integrated. Prior studies have examined the practice of web designers. The studies resulted in a number of alternative prototyping tools, which focus on informal representation and try to prolong sketching in the design process.</p><p>The thesis proposes a design of a prototyping tool that makes use of existing paper sketches. In paper prototyping, a human who acts as the “computer” makes the sketches interactive. In the prototyping tool put forward in the thesis, the interactivity of the sketches is instead created on the computer. The novel prototyping tool needs to support the interactions and behaviours used in web design, and it must be easy to use so that the web designers do not have to invest too much time learning it.</p><p>The prototype of the tool is a sketch-and-scan interface, thus allowing the use of paper the way it is. The functionality supports both documentation and computer interactivity. Usability tests and expert reviews were conducted, involving students, lecturers and researchers in human-computer interaction.</p><p>The results elaborate previous research on prototyping practice, and a designers’ wish list was formulated. A prototyping tool is expected to support communication between users, designers and developers; as well as to reduce a designer’s need to change his work practice when using the tool.</p>

A regional planning model is designed to facilitate coordinated land use and transportation planning, yet have a sufficiently simple structure to enable quick scenario turnaround. The model, TransPLUM, is built on two existing commercial software products: the Population and Land Use Model (PLUM); and a four-stage travel model implemented in a standard software package. Upon creating scenarios users are able to examine a host of results (zonal densities, origin-destination trip flows and travel times by mode, network link flows, etc) which may prompt modification of a reference land use plan and/or network plan. A zonal density-accessibility ratio is described: an index which identifies the relative utilization of a zone and which could serve as a coordinating feedback mechanism. The model was implemented for a pilot study area – the Winnipeg Capital Region. Development of a baseline scenario is discussed.

A regional planning model is designed to facilitate coordinated land use and transportation planning, yet have a sufficiently simple structure to enable quick scenario turnaround. The model, TransPLUM, is built on two existing commercial software products: the Population and Land Use Model (PLUM); and a four-stage travel model implemented in a standard software package. Upon creating scenarios users are able to examine a host of results (zonal densities, origin-destination trip flows and travel times by mode, network link flows, etc) which may prompt modification of a reference land use plan and/or network plan. A zonal density-accessibility ratio is described: an index which identifies the relative utilization of a zone and which could serve as a coordinating feedback mechanism. The model was implemented for a pilot study area – the Winnipeg Capital Region. Development of a baseline scenario is discussed.

Gemeinsamer Workshop von Universitaetsrechenzentrum und Professur Rechnernetze und verteilte Systeme (Fakultaet fuer Informatik) der TU Chemnitz. Workshop-Thema: Infrastruktur der ¨Digitalen Universitaet¨ Vortrag-Thema: Grafiksoftwrae für Linux Alternativen zu kommerziellen Produkten aus dem OpenSource- und FreeWarebereich.

BlobTree modelling has been used in several solid modelling packages to rapidly prototype models by making use of boolean and sketch-based modelling. Using these two techniques, a user can quickly create complex models as combinations of simple primitives and sketched objects. Because the BlobTree is based on continuous field-values, it offers a lot of possibilities to create and control smooth transitions between surfaces, something more complicated in other modelling approaches. In addition, the data required to describe a BlobTree is very compact. Despite these advantages, the BlobTree has not yet been integrated into state of the art industrial workflows to create models. This thesis identifies some shortcomings of the BlobTree, presents potential solutions to those problems and demonstrates an application that makes use of the BlobTree's compact representation. A main criticism is that the evaluation of a large BlobTree can be quite expensive, and, therefore, many applications are limited in the complexity of models that can be created interactively. This work presents an alternative way of traversing a BlobTree that lowers the time to calculate field-values by at least an order of magnitude. As a result, the limit of model complexity is raised for interactive modelling applications. In some domains, certain models need more than one designer or engineer to be created. Often, several iterations of a model are shared between multiple participants until it is finalized. Because the description of a BlobTree is very compact, it can be synchronized efficiently in a collaborative modelling environment. This work presents CollabBlob, an approach to collaborative modelling based on the BlobTree. CollabBlob is lock-free, and provides interactive feedback for all the participants, which helps with a fast iteration in the modelling process. In order to extend the range of models that can be created within CollabBlob, two areas of BlobTree modelling are improved in the context of this thesis. CAD modelling often makes use of a feature called filleting to add additional surface features, which could be caused by a manufacturing process. Filleting in general creates smooth transitions between surfaces, something that the BlobTree can do with less mathematical complexity than approaches needed in Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG), in the case of fillets between primitives. However, little research has been done on the construction of fillets between surfaces of a single BlobTree primitive. This work outlines Angle-Based Filleting and the Surface Fillet Curve, two solutions to improve the specification of fillets in the BlobTree. Sketch-based implicit modelling generates 3D shapes from 2D sketches by sampling the drawn shape and using the samples to create the implicit field via variational interpolation. Additional samples inside and outside the sketched shape are needed to generate a field compatible with BlobTree modelling and state of the art approaches use offset curves of the sketch to generate these samples. The approach presented in this work reduces the number of sample points, thus accelerating the interpolation time and improving the resulting implicit field. / Graduate / 0984 / herbert.grasberger@gmail.com

My thesis involves studying the nature of chimera through history and how certain aspects of chimeras represent specific features of dualities in human nature. The research was reflected in a series of sketches, where one sketch was finalized into a fully realized 3D model. To aid in this goal, I created a system that will randomly generate chimera based on different characteristics. This system was created using Max 5, and was programmed to place images with alphas on top of each other to create unique chimeras. The variables within this system are derived from the research on chimeras depicted in art and mythology throughout history, and will be used as an inspirational tool to help generate unique combinations of chimeras that may not otherwise have been imagined.

Resumo: A presença e utilização de sistemas de navegação em automóveis no mundo, atualmente, é cada vez maior. Esses sistemas são utilizados por pessoas que necessitam de informações navegacionais para alcançarem seus destinos. Entretanto, em muitos casos, são fornecidas apenas a localização do veículo no visor dos sistemas e setas de direção. Diferentes estudos realizados nos EUA, Inglaterra, Japão e Suécia, buscam analisar quais informações os motoristas selecionam do ambiente urbano a partir de sua memória, para assim indicar e conceber sistemas de navegação com informações que auxiliem os motoristas em sua navegação. Esses estudos apontam que o mapa cognitivo dos motoristas é a melhor fonte de informações de guia de rota, pois possui as informações realmente úteis para auxiliar a navegação em automóveis, o que indica ser necessário conhecer as representações internas do ambiente dos motoristas, para assim conceber sistemas que propiciem maior eficiência navegacional. Desse modo, esta dissertação de mestrado objetivou investigar quais aspectos do ambiente os motoristas utilizam durante a navegação. Para tanto, aplico-se o método de esboço cartográfico para seleção de informação de guia de rota em automóvel. No desenvolvimento do método desse estudo participaram 50 (cinquenta) motoristas ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The presence and use of navigation systems in cars in the world is currently increasing. These systems are used by people in need of navigational information to reach their destinations. However, in many cases, are given only the vehicle's location on the systems display and directional arrows. Different studies indicate that the cognitive map of the drivers is the best source of information for route guidance, it has the really useful information to aid navigation in cars, which indicates the need to understand the internal representations of the environment of motorists, so as to conceive systems that provide navigational efficiency. Thus, this dissertation aims to investigate which environmental aspects drivers use when navigate. For that, were applied the method of sketch map for selection of route guidance information in car. In developing the method of this study involved fifty (50) drivers (undergraduate students, postgraduate students and taxi drivers) familiar with ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Mônica Modesta Santos Decanini / Coorientador: Vilma Mayumi Tachibana / Coorientador: Edmur Azevedo Pugliesi / Banca: Fátima Aparecida Dias Gomes Marin / Banca: Claudia Robbi Sluter / Mestre

abstract: Conceptual change has been a large part of science education research for several decades due to the fact that it allows teachers to think about what students' preconceptions are and how to change these to the correct scientific conceptions. To have students change their preconceptions teachers need to allow students to confront what they think they know in the presence of the phenomena. Students then collect and analyze evidence pertaining to the phenomena. The goal in the end is for students to reorganize their concepts and change or correct their preconceptions, so that they hold more accurate scientific conceptions. The purpose of this study was to investigate how students' conceptions of the Earth's surface, specifically weathering and erosion, change using the conceptual change framework to guide the instructional decisions. The subjects of the study were a class of 25 seventh grade students. This class received a three-week unit on weathering and erosion that was structured using the conceptual change framework set by Posner, Strike, Hewson, and Gertzog (1982). This framework starts by looking at students' misconceptions, then uses scientific data that students collect to confront their misconceptions. The changes in students' conceptions were measured by a pre concept sketch and post concept sketch. The results of this study showed that the conceptual change framework can modify students' preconceptions of weathering and erosion to correct scientific conceptions. There was statistical significant difference between students' pre concept sketches and post concept sketches scores. After examining the concept sketches, differences were found in how students' concepts had changed from pre to post concept sketch. Further research needs to be done with conceptual change and the geosciences to see if conceptual change is an effective method to use to teach students about the geosciences. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Curriculum and Instruction 2011

Para criar representações do mundo real, ilustradores utilizam técnicas baseadas em princípios perceptuais para criar efeitos e comunicar informação de maneira eficiente e elegante. Nos últimos anos, essas técnicas têm sido adotadas na computação gráfica para melhorar a visualização de dados científicos. Os ilustradores tradicionais conseguem compor imagens utilizando apenas linhas, gerando representações limpas e simples e com grande poder de comunicar forma. Apesar de alguns trabalhos tentarem reproduzir os efeitos das ilustrações tradicionais com linhas, os princípios perceptuais utilizados pelos artistas ainda não foram bem explorados. Esses princípios são importantes para gerar uma imagem fácil de interpretar, sem ambigüidades e criar efeitos como focos de atenção, sombreamento, noção de profundidade, etc. Este trabalho explora as técnicas utilizadas pelos ilustradores profissionais na criação de visualizações digitais, propondo a adaptação de um método chamado perspective contouring, utilizado para criar focos de atenção em ilustrações baseadas em linhas de contorno. O sistema de ilustração desenvolvido utiliza uma interface baseada em esboço para a definição das regiões de interesse, onde se quer dar ênfase, para determinação de curvas de eixo do modelo e para o desenho de curvas de controle dos atributos das linhas de desenho, como espessura e espaçamento. A título de resultado, são apresentadas comparações de imagens criadas por um ilustrador profissional e imagens criadas pelo sistema desenvolvido. / To create representations of the real world, illustrators use techniques based on perceptual principles to create effects and communicate information in an efficient and elegant manner. In the last years, these techniques have been adopted in computer graphics to improve the visualization of scientific data. Traditional illustrators can compose images using only lines, creating representations that are clean, simple and are suitable to communicate form. Although some works try to reproduce the effects of traditional line illustration, the perceptual principles used by artists are not fully explored. These principles are important to create an image that is easy to interpret and has no ambiguity, and also to create effects like focus of attention, shading, depth perception, etc. In this work, we aim at exploring the techniques used by professional illustrators in the creation of digital visualizations, by proposing the adaptation of a method called perspective contouring, used to create focus of attention in contour lines illustrations. We implemented an illustration system that uses a sketch-based interface to define the regions of interest, where the emphasis is desirable, to create axis curves for the model, and to draw curves that control line attributes like width and spacing. As results, we present a comparison of images by a professional illustrator and images created with the developed system.

Para criar representações do mundo real, ilustradores utilizam técnicas baseadas em princípios perceptuais para criar efeitos e comunicar informação de maneira eficiente e elegante. Nos últimos anos, essas técnicas têm sido adotadas na computação gráfica para melhorar a visualização de dados científicos. Os ilustradores tradicionais conseguem compor imagens utilizando apenas linhas, gerando representações limpas e simples e com grande poder de comunicar forma. Apesar de alguns trabalhos tentarem reproduzir os efeitos das ilustrações tradicionais com linhas, os princípios perceptuais utilizados pelos artistas ainda não foram bem explorados. Esses princípios são importantes para gerar uma imagem fácil de interpretar, sem ambigüidades e criar efeitos como focos de atenção, sombreamento, noção de profundidade, etc. Este trabalho explora as técnicas utilizadas pelos ilustradores profissionais na criação de visualizações digitais, propondo a adaptação de um método chamado perspective contouring, utilizado para criar focos de atenção em ilustrações baseadas em linhas de contorno. O sistema de ilustração desenvolvido utiliza uma interface baseada em esboço para a definição das regiões de interesse, onde se quer dar ênfase, para determinação de curvas de eixo do modelo e para o desenho de curvas de controle dos atributos das linhas de desenho, como espessura e espaçamento. A título de resultado, são apresentadas comparações de imagens criadas por um ilustrador profissional e imagens criadas pelo sistema desenvolvido. / To create representations of the real world, illustrators use techniques based on perceptual principles to create effects and communicate information in an efficient and elegant manner. In the last years, these techniques have been adopted in computer graphics to improve the visualization of scientific data. Traditional illustrators can compose images using only lines, creating representations that are clean, simple and are suitable to communicate form. Although some works try to reproduce the effects of traditional line illustration, the perceptual principles used by artists are not fully explored. These principles are important to create an image that is easy to interpret and has no ambiguity, and also to create effects like focus of attention, shading, depth perception, etc. In this work, we aim at exploring the techniques used by professional illustrators in the creation of digital visualizations, by proposing the adaptation of a method called perspective contouring, used to create focus of attention in contour lines illustrations. We implemented an illustration system that uses a sketch-based interface to define the regions of interest, where the emphasis is desirable, to create axis curves for the model, and to draw curves that control line attributes like width and spacing. As results, we present a comparison of images by a professional illustrator and images created with the developed system.