In tourism, the product is the experience. The destination sets the stage, which facilitates the experience. First impressions, based largely on visual cues in the environment, help to determine the level of quality tourists should expect from their encounter. While much research has focused on destination image in advertising, little attention has been given to on-site assessments of tourists’ perceptions of the visual environment. This study had three specific objectives. The first was to determine if changes in the visual environment affect respondents’ attitudes, perceptions of quality and satisfaction. The second objective set out to determine which visual quality elements have the strongest influence on respondents’ attitudes, their perceptions of quality and satisfaction. The final objective was to explore the interrelationship between attitudes, quality, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Utilizing a series of digitally modified photographs and an experimental design approach with three treatments, this study examined how selected visual environmental cues affected respondents’ perceptions. The relatively high adjusted R2 values across the three treatments suggests the strong influence of visual quality elements on hedonic (R2 values ranging from .16 to .27) and utilitarian attitudes (R2 values ranging from .16 to .24), and particularly on satisfaction (R2 values ranging from .31 to .44) and overall quality (R2 values ranging from .28 to .35). The visual cues having the strongest influence on perceptions were level of crowding, available seating, maintenance and upkeep, and type of signage. Utilizing structural equation modeling, this study examined the interrelationship between the endogenous variables in the model. The influence of hedonic attitude on overall quality and satisfaction was confirmed, but the influence of utilitarian attitude on overall quality and satisfaction was not. This suggests that some tourism experiences are more hedonic in nature. This research supports previous literature suggesting that a high level of quality will result in a high level of satisfaction for the visitors (significant path estimate of .422). Additionally, standardized path coefficients indicate that overall quality (.416) and satisfaction (.486) were both related to behavioral intentions, with satisfaction being a stronger predictor.

In tourism, the product is the experience. The destination sets the stage, which facilitates the experience. First impressions, based largely on visual cues in the environment, help to determine the level of quality tourists should expect from their encounter. While much research has focused on destination image in advertising, little attention has been given to on-site assessments of tourists' perceptions of the visual environment. This study had three specific objectives. The first was to determine if changes in the visual environment affect respondents' attitudes, perceptions of quality and satisfaction. The second objective set out to determine which visual quality elements have the strongest influence on respondents' attitudes, their perceptions of quality and satisfaction. The final objective was to explore the interrelationship between attitudes, quality, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Utilizing a series of digitally modified photographs and an experimental design approach with three treatments, this study examined how selected visual environmental cues affected respondents' perceptions. The relatively high adjusted R2 values across the three treatments suggests the strong influence of visual quality elements on hedonic (R2 values ranging from .16 to .27) and utilitarian attitudes (R2 values ranging from .16 to .24), and particularly on satisfaction (R2 values ranging from .31 to .44) and overall quality (R2 values ranging from .28 to .35). The visual cues having the strongest influence on perceptions were level of crowding, available seating, maintenance and upkeep, and type of signage. Utilizing structural equation modeling, this study examined the interrelationship between the endogenous variables in the model. The influence of hedonic attitude on overall quality and satisfaction was confirmed, but the influence of utilitarian attitude on overall quality and satisfaction was not. This suggests that some tourism experiences are more hedonic in nature. This research supports previous literature suggesting that a high level of quality will result in a high level of satisfaction for the visitors (significant path estimate of .422). Additionally, standardized path coefficients indicate that overall quality (.416) and satisfaction (.486) were both related to behavioral intentions, with satisfaction being a stronger predictor.

The visual quality effects from the dynamic behavior of the tear film have been determined through measurements acquired with a high resolution Twyman-Green interferometer. The base shape of the eye has been removed to isolate the aberrations induced by the tear film. The measured tear film was then combined with a typical human eye model to simulate visual performance. Fourier theory has been implemented to calculate the incoherent point spread function, the modulation transfer function, and the subjective quality factor for this system. Analysis software has been developed for ease of automation for large data sets, and outputs movies have been made that display these visual quality metrics alongside the tear film. Post processing software was written to identify and eliminate bad frames. As a whole, this software creates the potential for increased intuition about the connection between blinks, tear film dynamics and visual quality.

Virtual simulations and serious games (video game-based technologies applied to teaching and learning) have been incorporated in the teaching and training curricula of a large number of professions including medicine/surgery. Despite their benefits, there are open, fundamental issues regarding simulation quality, multi-modal cue interaction, and the resulting effect on visual quality perception and ultimately on knowledge transfer and retention. Here the results of a series of seven studies that examined the effect of background sound (contextually related and non-related with respect to the visual scene) on the perception of visual quality (defined with respect to texture resolution, polygon count) presented in stereoscopic and non-stereoscopic 3D. Results indicate that the perception of visual quality is dependent on ambient (background) sound. The results of these studies have implications for designers and developers of serious games who typically strive for high quality virtual worlds despite the computational burden associated with doing so. The results of these studies also bring us closer to understanding the role of quality, multi-modal interactions, and their effect on visual quality perception. This thesis is part of a larger effort in developing an understanding of virtual environment rendering quality, multi-modal interactions, user-specific factors and their effect on knowledge transfer and retention. / UOIT

Visual quality is one of the major factors that determine the market value of field pea (Pisum sativum L.). Breeding for improved visual quality of pea seeds is currently a challenging task, because of the complexity and lack of sound genetic knowledge of the traits. The objectives of this research were to characterize the genetic basis and identify the genomic regions associated with four key visual quality traits (cotyledon bleaching in green pea, greenness in yellow pea, and seed shape and seed dimpling in both green and yellow types) in field pea. Biochemical and gene expression profiling to understand the molecular basis of post-harvest cotyledon bleaching in green pea was also addressed. Two F5:6 recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations (90 lines from Orb X CDC Striker cross, and 120 lines from Alfetta X CDC Bronco cross) were developed and evaluated for visual quality traits in two locations in Saskatchewan, Canada in 2006 and 2007. The four quality traits evaluated all displayed a continuous range of expression with moderate to high heritability. Two genetic linkage maps utilizing 224 markers (29 simple sequence repeat (SSR) (from Agrogene) and 195 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)) and 223 markers (27 SSR and 196 AFLP ) were constructed for the Orb X CDC Striker population and the Alfetta X CDC Bronco population, respectively. Multiple quantitative traits (QTL) mapping detected major QTLs on linkage group (LG) IV and LG V, as well as location- and year-specific QTLs on LG II and LG III associated with green cotyledon bleaching resistance. Nine QTLs controlling yellow seed lightness, three for yellow seed greenness, 15 for seed shape and nine for seed dimpling were detected. Among them, 5 QTLs located on LG II, LG IV and LG VII were consistent in at least two environments. The QTLs and their associated markers will be useful tools to assist pea breeding programs attempting to pyramid positive alleles for the traits. The bleaching resistant cultivar CDC Striker had a slower rate of chlorophyll degradation in cotyledons and a higher carotenoid to chlorophyll ratio in seed coats than the bleaching susceptible cultivar Orb when seed samples were exposed to high intensity light. An oligo-nucleotide microarray (Ps6kOLI1) was utilized to investigate the gene expression profiles of CDC Striker and Orb seed coats at different developmental stages. It clearly indicated that the expression of genes involved in the production and accumulation of secondary metabolites was significantly different between these cultivars. The results of both biochemical and gene expression studies suggested the bleaching resistance in CDC Striker was not due to the accumulation of chlorophyll pigments in the cotyledons, but rather due to the ability of seed coats to protect them from photooxidation. Accumulation of specific carotenoids which could bind with the reaction center protein complex more effectively and accumulation of phenolic secondary metabolites which could enhance the antioxidant properties and structural integrity of the seed coats may lead to the bleaching resistant phenotype. Therefore, breeding green pea cultivars with higher seed coat antioxidant properties would improve both visual and nutritional quality. This research has provided several insights into molecular approaches to improve field pea visual quality for food markets.

Visual quality is one of the major factors that determine the market value of field pea (Pisum sativum L.). Breeding for improved visual quality of pea seeds is currently a challenging task, because of the complexity and lack of sound genetic knowledge of the traits. The objectives of this research were to characterize the genetic basis and identify the genomic regions associated with four key visual quality traits (cotyledon bleaching in green pea, greenness in yellow pea, and seed shape and seed dimpling in both green and yellow types) in field pea. Biochemical and gene expression profiling to understand the molecular basis of post-harvest cotyledon bleaching in green pea was also addressed. Two F5:6 recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations (90 lines from Orb X CDC Striker cross, and 120 lines from Alfetta X CDC Bronco cross) were developed and evaluated for visual quality traits in two locations in Saskatchewan, Canada in 2006 and 2007. The four quality traits evaluated all displayed a continuous range of expression with moderate to high heritability. Two genetic linkage maps utilizing 224 markers (29 simple sequence repeat (SSR) (from Agrogene) and 195 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)) and 223 markers (27 SSR and 196 AFLP ) were constructed for the Orb X CDC Striker population and the Alfetta X CDC Bronco population, respectively. Multiple quantitative traits (QTL) mapping detected major QTLs on linkage group (LG) IV and LG V, as well as location- and year-specific QTLs on LG II and LG III associated with green cotyledon bleaching resistance. Nine QTLs controlling yellow seed lightness, three for yellow seed greenness, 15 for seed shape and nine for seed dimpling were detected. Among them, 5 QTLs located on LG II, LG IV and LG VII were consistent in at least two environments. The QTLs and their associated markers will be useful tools to assist pea breeding programs attempting to pyramid positive alleles for the traits. The bleaching resistant cultivar CDC Striker had a slower rate of chlorophyll degradation in cotyledons and a higher carotenoid to chlorophyll ratio in seed coats than the bleaching susceptible cultivar Orb when seed samples were exposed to high intensity light. An oligo-nucleotide microarray (Ps6kOLI1) was utilized to investigate the gene expression profiles of CDC Striker and Orb seed coats at different developmental stages. It clearly indicated that the expression of genes involved in the production and accumulation of secondary metabolites was significantly different between these cultivars. The results of both biochemical and gene expression studies suggested the bleaching resistance in CDC Striker was not due to the accumulation of chlorophyll pigments in the cotyledons, but rather due to the ability of seed coats to protect them from photooxidation. Accumulation of specific carotenoids which could bind with the reaction center protein complex more effectively and accumulation of phenolic secondary metabolites which could enhance the antioxidant properties and structural integrity of the seed coats may lead to the bleaching resistant phenotype. Therefore, breeding green pea cultivars with higher seed coat antioxidant properties would improve both visual and nutritional quality. This research has provided several insights into molecular approaches to improve field pea visual quality for food markets.

Due to limited hardware, effectively using the available resources is crucial for mobile games. Texture compression is a fundamental technique in game development to reduce the demand of memory and bandwidth usage. This thesis evaluates JPEG, PVRTC and uncompressed PVR with emphasis on loading time, memory footprint, application size and visual quality. The goal of this case study is to find the most suitable compression technique for a specific game. A variant of uncompressed PVR, RGBA4444, was found to be the best technique to use in this case. It was also concluded that JPEG compression in general is a bad choice for games due to the lack of an alpha channel. Severe visual artifacts were noticed on frame-by-frame animation when using PVRTC. It is therefore interesting to investigate other animation techniques, such as skeletal animation, in combination with texture compression, to avoid such artifacts.

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Dans un contexte de vieillissement de la population, et donc d’augmentation du nombre de presbytes, l’amélioration des optiques destinées à la correction de ce défaut visuel est un enjeu crucial. Nous avons cherché à optimiser le design des optiques bifocales, qui ne présentent que deux puissances différentes: une pour la vision de loin et une pour la vision de près. Pour cela, nous avons simulé des images telles qu’elles seraient vues à travers nos designs, et les avons fait noter par des sujets. La première étude s’est penchée sur le ratio d’aire optimisant la vision au loin comme au près. Les meilleurs résultats ont été obtenus pour un ratio de 40% de vision de près au centre, même si des valeurs de 20 à 50% étaient satisfaisantes. Cependant, ces optiques à deux zones concentriques ont un défaut : elles sont très sensibles au changement de diamètre pupillaire, qui est très fréquent. Un changement de taille de pupille entrainant une modification du ratio d’aires, la solution consiste à utiliser plusieurs zones concentriques alternant entre correction de loin et de près. La seconde étude s’est focalisée sur l’optimisation du nombre de zones concentriques dans ces optiques bifocales par la même méthode. Lorsque le nombre de zones est augmenté suffisamment, des interférences permettent d’augmenter également la qualité de vision intermédiaire, nos profils étant disposés comme des réseaux de Fresnel. Les profils à 5 zones permettent une bonne vision de loin et de près en redonnant une légère vision intermédiaire, et les profils à 8 zones donnent une qualité de vision similaire au loin, en intermédiaire et au près. Ces profils ont ensuite été évalués dans des conditions plus réalistes, en présence d’aberrations, de décentrement, de différents diamètres pupillaires par deux populations d’âge différent. L’âge des sujets n’influence pas leur évaluation des optiques. Les aberrations ont plus d’impact sur la qualité visuelle que le décentrement. Le diamètre pupillaire a une influence plus forte sur les profils possédant moins de zones. Enfin, nous avons comparé nos profils optimisés avec des lentilles de contact disponibles sur le marché. Du point de vue de la qualité visuelle comme de la profondeur de champ, nos profils étaient meilleurs que les lentilles du marché. Il serait donc intéressant d’en créer des prototypes pour effectuer des tests au porté. Les designs développés dans cette thèse pourraient servir à effectuer une personnalisation de la correction optique des presbytes. Différents designs pourraient être proposés pour chaque oeil, permettant de combiner deux profils par sujets. De nombreuses variations inter-individuelles, également observées dans les études précédentes, restent toujours imprévisibles. Elles pourraient être dues à des différences de sensibilité au contraste ou de tolérance au flou. Il serait donc intéressant de développer un test optométrique, consistant à faire évaluer des images floues par le sujet, de façon à prédire s’il s’agit d’un bon candidat au port de lentilles bifocales. / Giving the aging of the population, and therefore the augmentation of presbyopes, the improvement of optics used to compensate for this visual impairment are at stake. We optimized bifocal optics designs, which only have two powers: one dedicated to distance vision and one dedicated to near vision. For this, we simulated images as they would appear through our designed optics, and asked subjects to grade the quality of these simulated images. First study dealt with the ratio of area optimizing visual quality at distance and at near. The best results were obtained for a ratio of 40% of central near vision, even if values from 20 to 50% gave quite comparable satisfying results. However, these 2 zone optics have a drawback they are very sensitive to the change of pupil diameter, which happens very often. A change in pupil size leads to a change of ratio of areas, the solution consists in using several concentric zones alternating between distance and near correction. The second study was about the optimization of the number of concentric zones in these bifocal optics using the same method. When the number of zones is increased enough, interferences allow to improve intermediate visual quality, as our profiles are built as Fresnel networks. Five zone profiles give a good distance and near vision with a little intermediate vision, and 8 zone profiles give an acceptable quality of vision from far to near. These profiles were evaluated in more realistic conditions, in presence of aberrations, decentration and different pupil diameters by two populations with different age. The age of subjects did not influence their evaluation of the optics. Aberrations had more impact on visual quality than decentration. Pupil diameter had a stronger influence on the optics with less number of zones. Eventually, we compared our optimized profiles with actual contact lenses available on the market. When looking at visual quality and depth-of-focus, our profiles were better than the ones available on the market. Therefore, it would be interesting to make prototypes to try them on real subjects. The designs developed in this work could be used to personalize presbyopes optical compensation. Different designs could be tried on each eye, allowing to combine two profiles per subject. A lot of inter-individual variations, also observed in previous studies, remain unpredictable. They could be linked to differences in contrast sensitivity or tolerance to blur. It would be interesting to create a visual test consisting in evaluating blurred images, in order to predict of a subject is a good candidate to fit with bifocal optics.

Background. Secondary motion is a principle of animation, it is movement that occurs as a result of other movement, such as swinging hair or clothes. In 3D animation, such as in games, it is often simulated instead of animated manually. In game projects with time limitations, it can be interesting to know to what degree these simulations impact the visual quality in order to decide whether they should be prioritized. It is also interesting to know how the results of various methods compare to each other. To simulate in real-time means that physics simulations are running during gameplay. Baked animations on the other hand are simulations that have already been processed and saved as animation data, they are less dynamic but also less performance intensive. Objectives. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the impact of three sets of animations by conducting a survey where each set is compared. The three sets are: animations that feature real-time simulations, baked simulations and ones without simulation. The goal is to acquire a metric from the comparisons that can give an insight to the visual quality impact of each method. Methods. Three animation sets were created. Then, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire that featured side by side video comparisons of the animation sets. The videos featured a stylized character running, walking, or jumping through an empty environment. Pairwise similarity judgements were done by asking the participants to rate each video compared to each other. The results from the questionnaire were analyzed using a method that is a part of the analytical hierarchy process. The data from each comparison was averaged, put into pairwise comparison matrices, and then used to calculate priority vectors. The level of consistency of the comparisons were also calculated. Results. The priority vectors show the ratios of how each animation set were preferred compared to each other. In the priority vector for all animations combined, the set without simulations ranked at twenty-four percent, the real-time set ranked at thirty-three percent and the baked set ranked the highest at forty-three percent. The comparisons were calculated to have a very high consistency, which strengthens the result. Conclusions. The results show the impact that adding simulated secondary motion has. The simulations appear to improve the visual quality, but the margin is not extreme. The calculated ratios could be used to argue for or against a game project’s prioritization of secondary motion simulations depending on the project’s time constraints and access to preexisting methods of simulation. It should be noted that the format of video comparisons did not showcase all the advantages of each method such as creation accessibility, technical performance or dynamicity. As such, it is uncertain how fair the comparisons of the baked and real-time simulations are in a more general sense. Nevertheless, the results are considered to give at least a partial insight into how these methods compare.