Recent scholarship around the topic of 3D mainly deals with the visual developments that have occurred in the medium during the 21st century. A common perception in these strands of research is that in comparison to the production workflows employed in the analogue era, the 3D compositions that are being crafted through the aid of the ever-evolving digital technology have made 3D develop for the better. Yet a question that nevertheless remains is how the technology itself employed to craft these compositions has evolved. Rather than focusing on the visual developments, the primary aim of this thesis is to render visible the processes and operations of the stereoscopic technology employed to realise this 3D imagery in the first place. Utilising a media archaeological approach indebted to Wolfgang Ernst’s notion of “reverse engineering” technical media objects, I intend to analyse the primary technical components of digital and analogue 3D recording, projection and viewing devices utilised in the production of stereoscopic motion pictures. Moreover, Jonathan Crary’s writings on “the observer” will be used to highlight the important role of the human subject in relation to these binocular media technologies. I conclude that despite the varying production contexts and traditions the digital and analogue formats have been developed in, the primary methods and techniques that characterise digital 3D recording, projection and viewing systems are not specifications simply invented from scratch during the digital age. Through close scrutiny of the stereoscopic systems’ configurations with the aid of Ernst’s media archaeological approach, we are able to trace these supposed developments of the digital age back to the 19th century, when 3D was first realised.

Analisando-se os ambientes comerciais do setor imobiliário, pode-se verificar a presença frequente de maquetes que hoje fazem parte dos estandes de vendas dos edifícios. As maquetes são peças frágeis, de custo elevado, considerável prazo de execução e têm pequena vida útil, sendo usualmente descartadas no desmonte do estande de vendas. Nos estandes de vendas pode-se encontrar também o apartamento modelo decorado, com custos ainda mais elevados. É nesse ambiente que o MVE (Modelo Virtual Exploratório) se torna importante para os setores da construção e imobiliário, cujos mercados são cada vez mais competitivos, onde há a real necessidade da diminuição dos custos, da diminuição dos prazos de execução e do aumento da qualidade dos produtos. Por se tratar de um importante tema de pesquisa científica, este trabalho propôs o desenvolvimento do MVE para venda imobiliária residencial. O MVE foi modelado com um programa CAD (Computer-Aided Design) / BIM (Building Information Modeling) que se mostrou adequado às exigências levantadas na pesquisa. Avaliou-se o MVE através de estudos de caso em empreendimentos imobiliários reais, com corretores e clientes. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o MVE pode ser desenvolvido com custo e prazo muito inferiores aos da maquete ou apartamento modelo e que tem grande aceitação tanto pelos profissionais de vendas quanto pelos clientes de empreendimentos imobiliários. / Examining the business environment of the real estate sector, it can be verified the large number of architectural mockups that today are part of real estate points-of-sale. Mockups are fragile, expensive, take considerable time to be made and have a short life span, as they are discarded when the sales booth is decommissioned. In the sales booths, it is also possible to find full size furnished mock-up flats, with even higher costs. In this environment, the MVE (Exploratory Virtual Model) becomes important for the construction and real estate industries, whose markets are increasingly competitive, where there is a real need to reduce costs, to decrease in execution times and to increase product quality. As it is an important topic of scientific research, this paper proposes the MVE development for selling residential real estate property. The MVE was modeled with a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) / BIM (Building Information Modeling) tool which proved adequate to meet requirements raised in the survey. The MVE was evaluated through case studies in real estate ventures with brokers and customers. Results show that MVE can be developed with much lower cost and in shorter time than the architectural mockup or the mock-up flat and that it has very well accepted both by real estate sales professionals and clients.

The Enigma of Appearances is an examination into the medium of three-dimensional photography, with particular focus on the technique of stereoscopy. Invented in the mid-Victorian era, stereoscopy was an attempt to simulate natural three-dimensional perception via a combination of optics, neurology, and a pair of dissimilar images. Whilst successful in producing a powerful illusion of spatial depth and tangibility, the illusion produced by stereoscopy is anything but ??natural??, when compared to three-dimensional perception observed with the naked eye. Rather, stereoscopic photography creates a strange and unnatural interpretation of three-dimensional reality, devoid of atmosphere, movement and sound, where figures appear frozen in mid-motion, like waxwork models, or embalmed creatures in a museum. However, it is precisely stereoscopic photography??s unique and enigmatic interpretation of three-dimensional reality, which gives it its strength, separating it from being a mere ??realistic?? recording of the natural world. This thesis examines the unique cultural position that stereoscopy has occupied since its invention in 1838, from its early role as a tool for the study of binocular vision, to its phenomenal popularity as a form of mass entertainment in the second half of the 19th century, to its emergence in contemporary fine art practice in the late 20th and 21stt centuries. Additionally, The Enigma of Appearances gives a detailed analysis of the theory of spatial depth perception; it discusses the dichotomy between naturalia versus artificialia in relation to stereoscopic vision; and finally, traces the development of experimental studio practice and research into stereoscopic photography, undertaken for this MFA between 2005 and 2007. The resulting work, Camera Mortuaria (Italian for ??Mortuary Room??), is a powerful and innovative series of anaglyptic portraits, based upon an experimental stereoscopic technique that enables the production of extreme close-up three-dimensional photography. Applying this technique to the reproduction of the human face in three-dimensional form, Camera Mortuaria presents a series of ??photo sculptures??, which hover between reality and illusion, pushing the boundaries of stills photography to the limit, and beyond.

The research addresses current shortcomings of autonomous service robots operating in domestic environments by considering the concept of a semi-autonomous robot that would be supported by human remote operators whenever the robot cannot handle a task autonomously. The main research objective was to investigate how to design the human-robot interaction for a robotic system to assist elderly people with physical tasks at home according to this conceptual idea. The research procedure followed the principles of human-centered design and is structured into four phases: In the first phase, the context of use of the system to be designed was determined. A focus group study yielded characteristics and attitudes of several potential user groups. A survey determined the demands of elderly people and informal caregivers for services a semiautonomous assistive robot may provide. An ethnographic study investigated the living conditions of elderly people and determined technical challenges for robots operating in this type of environment. Another ethnographic study investigated the work environment in teleassistive service centers and determined the feasibility of extending their range of services to incorporate robotic teleassistance. In the second phase, two studies were carried out to understand the interaction requirements. The first study determined common types of failure of current autonomous robots and required human interventions to resolve such failure states. The second study investigated how the human assistance could be provided considering a range of potential interaction devices. In the third phase, a human-robot interaction concept with three user groups and dedicated user interfaces was designed. The concept and user interfaces were refined in an iterative process based on the results of evaluations with prospective users and received encouraging results for user satisfaction and user experience. In the fourth and final phase the utility of two specific user interface features was investigated experimentally. The first experiment investigated the utility of providing remote operators with global 3D environment maps during robot navigation and identified beneficial usage scenarios. The second experiment investigated the utility of stereoscopic display for remote manipulation and robot navigation. Results suggested temporal advantages under stereoscopic display for one of three investigated task types and potential advantages for the other two. / Forskningen behandlar problem med autonoma robotar som agerar i hemmiljö. Specifikt studeras konceptet semi-autonoma robotar, vilket innebär att robotarna stöds av mänskliga operatörer när de inte klarar uppgifter på egen hand. Syftet med forskningen är att undersöka design av människa-robotinteraktion för robotsystem som stöder äldres behov av hjälp med fysiska uppgifter i hemmiljö. Forskningen är användarcentrerad och har strukturerats i fyra faser: I den första fasen undersöktes användarkontexten för systemet. I en fokusgruppsstudie utforskades karakteristika och attityder för flera potentiella användargrupper. Kraven på en semi-autonom robot för att assistera äldre och informella vårdgivare fastställdes. En enkätstudie undersökte levnadsvillkor hos äldre för att utforska tekniska utmaningar dessa omgivningar ställer på robotar. En etnografisk studie undersökte arbetskontexten på servicecenter för teleassistans och undersökte genomförbarhet i att utöka tjänsteutbudet till att även inkludera teleassisterade robotar. I den andra fasen utfördes två studier för att få kunskap om interaktionskrav. Den första studien fastställde vanliga typer av fel som inträffar med nuvarande typer av autonoma robotar och de typer av mänsklig assistans som krävs för att hantera dessa fel. Den andra studien undersökte hur mänsklig assistans kan utformas givet en repertoar av potentiella interaktionsanordningar. I den tredje fasen utformades ett interaktionskoncept för människa-robot interaktionen för tre användargrupper med dedicerade gränssnitt. Koncepten och användargränssnitten förfinades i en iterativ process baserat på resultat från utvärderingar med tänkta användare, och resulterade i uppmuntrande resultat vad gäller användarnas uppskattning och tillfredsställelse. I den fjärde och sista fasen studerades nyttan hos två specifika gränssnitt experimentellt. Det första experimentet undersökte nyttan med att ge operatörer på distans globala 3D-kartor under robotnavigeringen och identifierade användarscenarier där detta kan utnyttjas. Det andra experimentet undersökte nyttan med en stereoskopisk display för att manipulera och navigera roboten på distans. Resultaten visar på temporala fördelar med stereoskopisk display för en av tre undersökta uppgiftstyper och potentiella fördelar för de andra två.

This thesis analyzes the problem of acquiring stereoscopic images in all gazing directions around a reference viewpoint in space with the purpose of creating stereoscopic panoramas of non-static scenes. The generation of immersive stereoscopic imagery suitable to stimulate human stereopsis requires images from two distinct viewpoints with horizontal parallax in all gazing directions, or to be able to simulate this situation in the generated imagery. The available techniques to produce omnistereoscopic imagery for human viewing are not suitable to capture dynamic scenes stereoscopically. This is a not trivial problem when considering acquiring the entire scene at once while avoiding self-occlusion between multiple cameras. In this thesis, the term omnidirectional refers to all possible gazing directions in azimuth and a limited set of directions in elevation. The acquisition of dynamic scenes restricts the problem to those techniques suitable for collecting in one simultaneous exposure all the necessary visual information to recreate stereoscopic imagery in arbitrary gazing directions. The analysis of the problem starts by defining an omnistereoscopic viewing model for the physical magnitude to be measured by a panoramic image sensor intended to produce stereoscopic imagery for human viewing. Based on this model, a novel acquisition model is proposed, which is suitable to describe the omnistereoscopic techniques based on horizontal stereo. From this acquisition model, an acquisition method based on multiple cameras combined with the rendering by mosaicking of partially overlapped stereoscopic images is identified as a good candidate to produce omnistereoscopic imagery of dynamic scenes. Experimental acquisition and rendering tests were performed for different multiple-camera configurations. Furthermore, a mosaicking criterion between partially overlapped stereoscopic images based on the continuity of the perceived depth and the prediction of the location and magnitude of unwanted vertical disparities in the final stereoscopic panorama are two main contributions of this thesis. In addition, two novel omnistereoscopic acquisition and rendering techniques were introduced. The main contributions to this field are to propose a general model for the acquisition of omnistereoscopic imagery, to devise novel methods to produce omnistereoscopic imagery, and more importantly, to contribute to the awareness of the problem of acquiring dynamic scenes within the scope of omnistereoscopic research.

The Enigma of Appearances is an examination into the medium of three-dimensional photography, with particular focus on the technique of stereoscopy. Invented in the mid-Victorian era, stereoscopy was an attempt to simulate natural three-dimensional perception via a combination of optics, neurology, and a pair of dissimilar images. Whilst successful in producing a powerful illusion of spatial depth and tangibility, the illusion produced by stereoscopy is anything but ??natural??, when compared to three-dimensional perception observed with the naked eye. Rather, stereoscopic photography creates a strange and unnatural interpretation of three-dimensional reality, devoid of atmosphere, movement and sound, where figures appear frozen in mid-motion, like waxwork models, or embalmed creatures in a museum. However, it is precisely stereoscopic photography??s unique and enigmatic interpretation of three-dimensional reality, which gives it its strength, separating it from being a mere ??realistic?? recording of the natural world. This thesis examines the unique cultural position that stereoscopy has occupied since its invention in 1838, from its early role as a tool for the study of binocular vision, to its phenomenal popularity as a form of mass entertainment in the second half of the 19th century, to its emergence in contemporary fine art practice in the late 20th and 21stt centuries. Additionally, The Enigma of Appearances gives a detailed analysis of the theory of spatial depth perception; it discusses the dichotomy between naturalia versus artificialia in relation to stereoscopic vision; and finally, traces the development of experimental studio practice and research into stereoscopic photography, undertaken for this MFA between 2005 and 2007. The resulting work, Camera Mortuaria (Italian for ??Mortuary Room??), is a powerful and innovative series of anaglyptic portraits, based upon an experimental stereoscopic technique that enables the production of extreme close-up three-dimensional photography. Applying this technique to the reproduction of the human face in three-dimensional form, Camera Mortuaria presents a series of ??photo sculptures??, which hover between reality and illusion, pushing the boundaries of stills photography to the limit, and beyond.

Virtuelle Realität (VR) wird seit Jahrzehnten in Industrie und Forschung sowie im Unterhaltungssektor genutzt. Dabei sind die verwendeten VR-Systeme meist nur auf einen Nutzer ausgelegt, wodurch es für andere Betrachter zu perspektivischen Verzerrungen kommt. Um mehreren Personen ein visuell gleichberechtigtes Nutzen des VR-Systems zu ermöglichen, muss jedem Nutzer eine individuelle Perspektive vermittelt werden. Es wird ein Klassifikationsschema vorgestellt, anhand dessen für verschiedene Interaktionsszenarien Anforderungen für eine derartige Hardwareumsetzung ableitbar sind. Um ausgewählte Aspekte der Mehrbenutzerinteraktionen zu untersuchen, wurde eine Prototypenplattform erstellt, mit der eine vielfältige Palette von Interaktionsszenarien für zwei Nutzer umgesetzt werden kann. Eine parallel zu dieser Arbeit entstandene mehrbenutzerfähige Powerwall und eine Erweiterung dieser zu einer L-Bench wurden genutzt, um mit zwei Studien ausgewählte Aspekte der Interaktion mehrerer Benutzer in VR empirisch zu untersuchen. Dazu wurden zwei Anwendungen kreiert: ein Puzzlespiel, welches eine Informationsasymmetrie zwischen den Nutzern simuliert, sowie ein Objekteinpassungsspiel, welches die Interaktion um eine körperliche Komponente erweitert. Mit diesen wurde untersucht, welche Sichtwechselmetapher zur Auflösung der Asymmetrie am besten geeignet ist.

Analisando-se os ambientes comerciais do setor imobiliário, pode-se verificar a presença frequente de maquetes que hoje fazem parte dos estandes de vendas dos edifícios. As maquetes são peças frágeis, de custo elevado, considerável prazo de execução e têm pequena vida útil, sendo usualmente descartadas no desmonte do estande de vendas. Nos estandes de vendas pode-se encontrar também o apartamento modelo decorado, com custos ainda mais elevados. É nesse ambiente que o MVE (Modelo Virtual Exploratório) se torna importante para os setores da construção e imobiliário, cujos mercados são cada vez mais competitivos, onde há a real necessidade da diminuição dos custos, da diminuição dos prazos de execução e do aumento da qualidade dos produtos. Por se tratar de um importante tema de pesquisa científica, este trabalho propôs o desenvolvimento do MVE para venda imobiliária residencial. O MVE foi modelado com um programa CAD (Computer-Aided Design) / BIM (Building Information Modeling) que se mostrou adequado às exigências levantadas na pesquisa. Avaliou-se o MVE através de estudos de caso em empreendimentos imobiliários reais, com corretores e clientes. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o MVE pode ser desenvolvido com custo e prazo muito inferiores aos da maquete ou apartamento modelo e que tem grande aceitação tanto pelos profissionais de vendas quanto pelos clientes de empreendimentos imobiliários. / Examining the business environment of the real estate sector, it can be verified the large number of architectural mockups that today are part of real estate points-of-sale. Mockups are fragile, expensive, take considerable time to be made and have a short life span, as they are discarded when the sales booth is decommissioned. In the sales booths, it is also possible to find full size furnished mock-up flats, with even higher costs. In this environment, the MVE (Exploratory Virtual Model) becomes important for the construction and real estate industries, whose markets are increasingly competitive, where there is a real need to reduce costs, to decrease in execution times and to increase product quality. As it is an important topic of scientific research, this paper proposes the MVE development for selling residential real estate property. The MVE was modeled with a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) / BIM (Building Information Modeling) tool which proved adequate to meet requirements raised in the survey. The MVE was evaluated through case studies in real estate ventures with brokers and customers. Results show that MVE can be developed with much lower cost and in shorter time than the architectural mockup or the mock-up flat and that it has very well accepted both by real estate sales professionals and clients.

This thesis analyzes the problem of acquiring stereoscopic images in all gazing directions around a reference viewpoint in space with the purpose of creating stereoscopic panoramas of non-static scenes. The generation of immersive stereoscopic imagery suitable to stimulate human stereopsis requires images from two distinct viewpoints with horizontal parallax in all gazing directions, or to be able to simulate this situation in the generated imagery. The available techniques to produce omnistereoscopic imagery for human viewing are not suitable to capture dynamic scenes stereoscopically. This is a not trivial problem when considering acquiring the entire scene at once while avoiding self-occlusion between multiple cameras. In this thesis, the term omnidirectional refers to all possible gazing directions in azimuth and a limited set of directions in elevation. The acquisition of dynamic scenes restricts the problem to those techniques suitable for collecting in one simultaneous exposure all the necessary visual information to recreate stereoscopic imagery in arbitrary gazing directions. The analysis of the problem starts by defining an omnistereoscopic viewing model for the physical magnitude to be measured by a panoramic image sensor intended to produce stereoscopic imagery for human viewing. Based on this model, a novel acquisition model is proposed, which is suitable to describe the omnistereoscopic techniques based on horizontal stereo. From this acquisition model, an acquisition method based on multiple cameras combined with the rendering by mosaicking of partially overlapped stereoscopic images is identified as a good candidate to produce omnistereoscopic imagery of dynamic scenes. Experimental acquisition and rendering tests were performed for different multiple-camera configurations. Furthermore, a mosaicking criterion between partially overlapped stereoscopic images based on the continuity of the perceived depth and the prediction of the location and magnitude of unwanted vertical disparities in the final stereoscopic panorama are two main contributions of this thesis. In addition, two novel omnistereoscopic acquisition and rendering techniques were introduced. The main contributions to this field are to propose a general model for the acquisition of omnistereoscopic imagery, to devise novel methods to produce omnistereoscopic imagery, and more importantly, to contribute to the awareness of the problem of acquiring dynamic scenes within the scope of omnistereoscopic research.

Virtuelle Realität (VR) wird seit Jahrzehnten in Industrie und Forschung sowie im Unterhaltungssektor genutzt. Dabei sind die verwendeten VR-Systeme meist nur auf einen Nutzer ausgelegt, wodurch es für andere Betrachter zu perspektivischen Verzerrungen kommt. Um mehreren Personen ein visuell gleichberechtigtes Nutzen des VR-Systems zu ermöglichen, muss jedem Nutzer eine individuelle Perspektive vermittelt werden. Es wird ein Klassifikationsschema vorgestellt, anhand dessen für verschiedene Interaktionsszenarien Anforderungen für eine derartige Hardwareumsetzung ableitbar sind. Um ausgewählte Aspekte der Mehrbenutzerinteraktionen zu untersuchen, wurde eine Prototypenplattform erstellt, mit der eine vielfältige Palette von Interaktionsszenarien für zwei Nutzer umgesetzt werden kann. Eine parallel zu dieser Arbeit entstandene mehrbenutzerfähige Powerwall und eine Erweiterung dieser zu einer L-Bench wurden genutzt, um mit zwei Studien ausgewählte Aspekte der Interaktion mehrerer Benutzer in VR empirisch zu untersuchen. Dazu wurden zwei Anwendungen kreiert: ein Puzzlespiel, welches eine Informationsasymmetrie zwischen den Nutzern simuliert, sowie ein Objekteinpassungsspiel, welches die Interaktion um eine körperliche Komponente erweitert. Mit diesen wurde untersucht, welche Sichtwechselmetapher zur Auflösung der Asymmetrie am besten geeignet ist.