Visualization of three-dimensional vector operations can be very helpful in understanding vector mathematics. However, creating these visualizations using traditional WIMP interfaces can be a troublesome exercise. In this thesis, we present VectorPad, a pen-based application for three-dimensional vector mathematics visualization. VectorPad allows users to define vectors and perform mathematical operations upon them through the recognition of handwritten mathematics. The VectorPad user interface consists of a sketching area, where the user can write vector definitions and other mathematics, and a 3D graph for visualization. After recognition, vectors are visualized dynamically on the graph, which can be manipulated by the user. A variety of mathematical operations can be performed, such as addition, subtraction, scalar multiplication, and cross product. Animations show how operations work on the vectors. We also performed a short, informal user study evaluating the user interface and visualizations of VectorPad. VectorPad's visualizations were generally well liked; results from the study show a need to provide a more comprehensive set of visualization tools as well as refinement to some of the animations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-5168 |
| Date | 01 January 2009 |
| Creators | Bott, Jared |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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