Not Just a Game … When We Play Together, We Learn Together: Interactive Virtual Environments and Gaming Engines for Geospatial Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Shipman, J. S.; Anderson, J. W.

2017-12-01

An ideal tool for ecologists and land managers to investigate the impacts of both projected environmental changes and policy alternatives is the creation of immersive, interactive, virtual landscapes. As a new frontier in visualizing and understanding geospatial data, virtual landscapes require a new toolbox for data visualization that includes traditional GIS tools and uncommon tools such as the Unity3d game engine. Game engines provide capabilities to not only explore data but to build and interact with dynamic models collaboratively. These virtual worlds can be used to display and illustrate data that is often more understandable and plausible to both stakeholders and policy makers than is achieved using traditional maps.Within this context we will present funded research that has been developed utilizing virtual landscapes for geographic visualization and decision support among varied stakeholders. We will highlight the challenges and lessons learned when developing interactive virtual environments that require large multidisciplinary team efforts with varied competences. The results will emphasize the importance of visualization and interactive virtual environments and the link with emerging research disciplines within Visual Analytics.

NASA World Wind, Open Source 4D Geospatial Visualization Platform: *.NET & Java* for EDUCATION

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, P.; Kuehnel, F.

2006-12-01

NASA World Wind has only one goal, to provide the maximum opportunity for geospatial information to be experienced, be it education, science, research, business, or government. The benefits to understanding for information delivered in the context of its 4D virtual reality are extraordinary. The NASA World Wind visualization platform is open source and therefore lends itself well to being extended to service *any* requirements, be they proprietary and commercial or simply available. Data accessibility is highly optimized using standard formats including internationally certified open standards (W*S). Although proprietary applications can be built based on World Wind, and proprietary data delivered that leverage World Wind, there is nothing proprietary about the visualization platform itself or the multiple planetary data sets readily available, including global animations of live weather. NASA World Wind is being used by NASA research teams as well as being a formal part of high school and university curriculum. The National Guard uses World Wind for emergency response activities and State governments have incorporated high resolution imagery for GIS management as well as for their cross-agency emergency response activities. The U.S. federal government uses NASA World Wind for a myriad of GIS and security-related issues (NSA, NGA, DOE, FAA, etc.).

Mapping the world: cartographic and geographic visualization by the United Nations Geospatial Information Section (formerly Cartographic Section)

Science.gov (United States)

Kagawa, Ayako; Le Sourd, Guillaume

2018-05-01

United Nations Secretariat activities, mapping began in 1946, and by 1951, the need for maps increased and an office with a team of cartographers was established. Since then, with the development of technologies including internet, remote sensing, unmanned aerial systems, relationship database management and information systems, geospatial information provides an ever-increasing variation of support to the work of the Organization for planning of operations, decision-making and monitoring of crises. However, the need for maps has remained intact. This presentation aims to highlight some of the cartographic representation styles over the decades by reviewing the evolution of selected maps by the office, and noting the changing cognitive and semiotic aspects of cartographic and geographic visualization required by the United Nations. Through presentation and analysis of these maps, the changing dynamics of the Organization in information management can be reflected, with a reminder of the continuing and expanding deconstructionist role of a cartographer, now geospatial information management experts.

Geospatial Visualization of Scientific Data Through Keyhole Markup Language

Science.gov (United States)

Wernecke, J.; Bailey, J. E.

2008-12-01

The development of virtual globes has provided a fun and innovative tool for exploring the surface of the Earth. However, it has been the paralleling maturation of Keyhole Markup Language (KML) that has created a new medium and perspective through which to visualize scientific datasets. Originally created by Keyhole Inc., and then acquired by Google in 2004, in 2007 KML was given over to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It became an OGC international standard on 14 April 2008, and has subsequently been adopted by all major geobrowser developers (e.g., Google, Microsoft, ESRI, NASA) and many smaller ones (e.g., Earthbrowser). By making KML a standard at a relatively young stage in its evolution, developers of the language are seeking to avoid the issues that plagued the early World Wide Web and development of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The popularity and utility of Google Earth, in particular, has been enhanced by KML features such as the Smithsonian volcano layer and the dynamic weather layers. Through KML, users can view real-time earthquake locations (USGS), view animations of polar sea-ice coverage (NSIDC), or read about the daily activities of chimpanzees (Jane Goodall Institute). Perhaps even more powerful is the fact that any users can create, edit, and share their own KML, with no or relatively little knowledge of manipulating computer code. We present an overview of the best current scientific uses of KML and a guide to how scientists can learn to use KML themselves.

3D Geospatial Models for Visualization and Analysis of Groundwater Contamination at a Nuclear Materials Processing Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Stirewalt, G. L.; Shepherd, J. C.

2003-12-01

Analysis of hydrostratigraphy and uranium and nitrate contamination in groundwater at a former nuclear materials processing facility in Oklahoma were undertaken employing 3-dimensional (3D) geospatial modeling software. Models constructed played an important role in the regulatory decision process of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) because they enabled visualization of temporal variations in contaminant concentrations and plume geometry. Three aquifer systems occur at the site, comprised of water-bearing fractured shales separated by indurated sandstone aquitards. The uppermost terrace groundwater system (TGWS) aquifer is composed of terrace and alluvial deposits and a basal shale. The shallow groundwater system (SGWS) aquifer is made up of three shale units and two sandstones. It is separated from the overlying TGWS and underlying deep groundwater system (DGWS) aquifer by sandstone aquitards. Spills of nitric acid solutions containing uranium and radioactive decay products around the main processing building (MPB), leakage from storage ponds west of the MPB, and leaching of radioactive materials from discarded equipment and waste containers contaminated both the TGWS and SGWS aquifers during facility operation between 1970 and 1993. Constructing 3D geospatial property models for analysis of groundwater contamination at the site involved use of EarthVision (EV), a 3D geospatial modeling software developed by Dynamic Graphics, Inc. of Alameda, CA. A viable 3D geohydrologic framework model was initially constructed so property data could be spatially located relative to subsurface geohydrologic units. The framework model contained three hydrostratigraphic zones equivalent to the TGWS, SGWS, and DGWS aquifers in which groundwater samples were collected, separated by two sandstone aquitards. Groundwater data collected in the three aquifer systems since 1991 indicated high concentrations of uranium (>10,000 micrograms/liter) and nitrate (> 500 milligrams

Spatial analysis statistics, visualization, and computational methods

CERN Document Server

Oyana, Tonny J

2015-01-01

An introductory text for the next generation of geospatial analysts and data scientists, Spatial Analysis: Statistics, Visualization, and Computational Methods focuses on the fundamentals of spatial analysis using traditional, contemporary, and computational methods. Outlining both non-spatial and spatial statistical concepts, the authors present practical applications of geospatial data tools, techniques, and strategies in geographic studies. They offer a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to spatial analysis-containing hands-on problem-sets that can be worked out in MS Excel or ArcGIS-as well as detailed illustrations and numerous case studies. The book enables readers to: Identify types and characterize non-spatial and spatial data Demonstrate their competence to explore, visualize, summarize, analyze, optimize, and clearly present statistical data and results Construct testable hypotheses that require inferential statistical analysis Process spatial data, extract explanatory variables, conduct statisti...

Visualizing NASA's Planetary Data with Google Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Beyer, R. A.; Hancher, M. D.; Broxton, M.; Weiss-Malik, M.; Gorelick, N.; Kolb, E.

2008-12-01

There is a vast store of planetary geospatial data that has been collected by NASA but is difficult to access and visualize. As a 3D geospatial browser, the Google Earth client is one way to visualize planetary data. KML imagery super-overlays enable us to create a non-Earth planetary globe within Google Earth, and conversion of planetary meta-data allows display of the footprint locations of various higher-resolution data sets. Once our group, or any group, performs these data conversions the KML can be made available on the Web, where anyone can download it and begin using it in Google Earth (or any other geospatial browser), just like a Web page. Lucian Plesea at JPL offers several KML basemaps (MDIM, colorized MDIM, MOC composite, THEMIS day time infrared, and both grayscale and colorized MOLA). We have created TES Thermal Inertia maps, and a THEMIS night time infrared overlay, as well. Many data sets for Mars have already been converted to KML. We provide coverage polygons overlaid on the globe, whose icons can be clicked on and lead to the full PDS data URL. We have built coverage maps for the following data sets: MOC narrow angle, HRSC imagery and DTMs, SHARAD tracks, CTX, and HiRISE. The CRISM team is working on providing their coverage data via publicly-accessible KML. The MSL landing site process is also providing data for potential landing sites via KML. The Google Earth client and KML allow anyone to contribute data for everyone to see via the Web. The Earth sciences community is already utilizing KML and Google Earth in a variety of ways as a geospatial browser, and we hope that the planetary sciences community will do the same. Using this paradigm for sharing geospatial data will not only enable planetary scientists to more easily build and share data within the scientific community, but will also provide an easy platform for public outreach and education efforts, and will easily allow anyone to layer geospatial information on top of planetary data

Architecture of a spatial data service system for statistical analysis and visualization of regional climate changes

Science.gov (United States)

Titov, A. G.; Okladnikov, I. G.; Gordov, E. P.

2017-11-01

The use of large geospatial datasets in climate change studies requires the development of a set of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) elements, including geoprocessing and cartographical visualization web services. This paper presents the architecture of a geospatial OGC web service system as an integral part of a virtual research environment (VRE) general architecture for statistical processing and visualization of meteorological and climatic data. The architecture is a set of interconnected standalone SDI nodes with corresponding data storage systems. Each node runs a specialized software, such as a geoportal, cartographical web services (WMS/WFS), a metadata catalog, and a MySQL database of technical metadata describing geospatial datasets available for the node. It also contains geospatial data processing services (WPS) based on a modular computing backend realizing statistical processing functionality and, thus, providing analysis of large datasets with the results of visualization and export into files of standard formats (XML, binary, etc.). Some cartographical web services have been developed in a system’s prototype to provide capabilities to work with raster and vector geospatial data based on OGC web services. The distributed architecture presented allows easy addition of new nodes, computing and data storage systems, and provides a solid computational infrastructure for regional climate change studies based on modern Web and GIS technologies.

Two Contrasting Approaches to Building High School Teacher Capacity to Teach About Local Climate Change Using Powerful Geospatial Data and Visualization Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Zalles, D. R.

2011-12-01

The presentation will compare and contrast two different place-based approaches to helping high school science teachers use geospatial data visualization technology to teach about climate change in their local regions. The approaches are being used in the development, piloting, and dissemination of two projects for high school science led by the author: the NASA-funded Data-enhanced Investigations for Climate Change Education (DICCE) and the NSF funded Studying Topography, Orographic Rainfall, and Ecosystems with Geospatial Information Technology (STORE). DICCE is bringing an extensive portal of Earth observation data, the Goddard Interactive Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure, to high school classrooms. STORE is making available data for viewing results of a particular IPCC-sanctioned climate change model in relation to recent data about average temperatures, precipitation, and land cover for study areas in central California and western New York State. Across the two projects, partner teachers of academically and ethnically diverse students from five states are participating in professional development and pilot testing. Powerful geospatial data representation technologies are difficult to implement in high school science because of challenges that teachers and students encounter navigating data access and making sense of data characteristics and nomenclature. Hence, on DICCE, the researchers are testing the theory that by providing a scaffolded technology-supported process for instructional design, starting from fundamental questions about the content domain, teachers will make better instructional decisions. Conversely, the STORE approach is rooted in the perspective that co-design of curricular materials among researchers and teacher partners that work off of "starter" lessons covering focal skills and understandings will lead to the most effective utilizations of the technology in the classroom. The projects' goals and strategies for student

Geoscience data visualization and analysis using GeoMapApp

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrini, Vicki; Carbotte, Suzanne; Ryan, William; Chan, Samantha

2013-04-01

Increased availability of geoscience data resources has resulted in new opportunities for developing visualization and analysis tools that not only promote data integration and synthesis, but also facilitate quantitative cross-disciplinary access to data. Interdisciplinary investigations, in particular, frequently require visualizations and quantitative access to specialized data resources across disciplines, which has historically required specialist knowledge of data formats and software tools. GeoMapApp (www.geomapapp.org) is a free online data visualization and analysis tool that provides direct quantitative access to a wide variety of geoscience data for a broad international interdisciplinary user community. While GeoMapApp provides access to online data resources, it can also be packaged to work offline through the deployment of a small portable hard drive. This mode of operation can be particularly useful during field programs to provide functionality and direct access to data when a network connection is not possible. Hundreds of data sets from a variety of repositories are directly accessible in GeoMapApp, without the need for the user to understand the specifics of file formats or data reduction procedures. Available data include global and regional gridded data, images, as well as tabular and vector datasets. In addition to basic visualization and data discovery functionality, users are provided with simple tools for creating customized maps and visualizations and to quantitatively interrogate data. Specialized data portals with advanced functionality are also provided for power users to further analyze data resources and access underlying component datasets. Users may import and analyze their own geospatial datasets by loading local versions of geospatial data and can access content made available through Web Feature Services (WFS) and Web Map Services (WMS). Once data are loaded in GeoMapApp, a variety options are provided to export data and/or 2D/3D

Nebhydro: Sharing Geospatial Data to Supportwater Management in Nebraska

Science.gov (United States)

Kamble, B.; Irmak, A.; Hubbard, K.; Deogun, J.; Dvorak, B.

2012-12-01

Recent advances in web-enabled geographical technologies have the potential to make a dramatic impact on development of highly interactive spatial applications on the web for visualization of large-scale geospatial data by water resources and irrigation scientists. Spatial and point scale water resources data visualization are an emerging and challenging application domain. Query based visual explorations of geospatial hydrological data can play an important role in stimulating scientific hypotheses and seeking causal relationships among hydro variables. The Nebraska Hydrological Information System (NebHydro) utilizes ESRI's ArcGIS server technology to increase technological awareness among farmers, irrigation managers and policy makers. Web-based geospatial applications are an effective way to expose scientific hydrological datasets to the research community and the public. NebHydro uses Adobe Flex technology to offer an online visualization and data analysis system for presentation of social and economic data. Internet mapping services is an integrated product of GIS and Internet technologies; it is a favored solution to achieve the interoperability of GIS. The development of Internet based GIS services in the state of Nebraska showcases the benefits of sharing geospatial hydrological data among agencies, resource managers and policy makers. Geospatial hydrological Information (Evapotranspiration from Remote Sensing, vegetation indices (NDVI), USGS Stream gauge data, Climatic data etc.) is generally generated through model simulation (METRIC, SWAP, Linux, Python based scripting etc). Information is compiled into and stored within object oriented relational spatial databases using a geodatabase information model that supports the key data types needed by applications including features, relationships, networks, imagery, terrains, maps and layers. The system provides online access, querying, visualization, and analysis of the hydrological data from several sources

Design and Development of a Framework Based on Ogc Web Services for the Visualization of Three Dimensional Large-Scale Geospatial Data Over the Web

Science.gov (United States)

Roccatello, E.; Nozzi, A.; Rumor, M.

2013-05-01

This paper illustrates the key concepts behind the design and the development of a framework, based on OGC services, capable to visualize 3D large scale geospatial data streamed over the web. WebGISes are traditionally bounded to a bi-dimensional simplified representation of the reality and though they are successfully addressing the lack of flexibility and simplicity of traditional desktop clients, a lot of effort is still needed to reach desktop GIS features, like 3D visualization. The motivations behind this work lay in the widespread availability of OGC Web Services inside government organizations and in the technology support to HTML 5 and WebGL standard of the web browsers. This delivers an improved user experience, similar to desktop applications, therefore allowing to augment traditional WebGIS features with a 3D visualization framework. This work could be seen as an extension of the Cityvu project, started in 2008 with the aim of a plug-in free OGC CityGML viewer. The resulting framework has also been integrated in existing 3DGIS software products and will be made available in the next months.

Ocean Thermal Extractable Energy Visualization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ascari, Matthew [Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, MD (United States)

2012-10-28

The Ocean Thermal Extractable Energy Visualization (OTEEV) project focuses on assessing the Maximum Practicably Extractable Energy (MPEE) from the world’s ocean thermal resources. MPEE is defined as being sustainable and technically feasible, given today’s state-of-the-art ocean energy technology. Under this project the OTEEV team developed a comprehensive Geospatial Information System (GIS) dataset and software tool, and used the tool to provide a meaningful assessment of MPEE from the global and domestic U.S. ocean thermal resources.

Visual analytics of inherently noisy crowdsourced data on ultra high resolution displays

Science.gov (United States)

Huynh, Andrew; Ponto, Kevin; Lin, Albert Yu-Min; Kuester, Falko

The increasing prevalence of distributed human microtasking, crowdsourcing, has followed the exponential increase in data collection capabilities. The large scale and distributed nature of these microtasks produce overwhelming amounts of information that is inherently noisy due to the nature of human input. Furthermore, these inputs create a constantly changing dataset with additional information added on a daily basis. Methods to quickly visualize, filter, and understand this information over temporal and geospatial constraints is key to the success of crowdsourcing. This paper present novel methods to visually analyze geospatial data collected through crowdsourcing on top of remote sensing satellite imagery. An ultra high resolution tiled display system is used to explore the relationship between human and satellite remote sensing data at scale. A case study is provided that evaluates the presented technique in the context of an archaeological field expedition. A team in the field communicated in real-time with and was guided by researchers in the remote visual analytics laboratory, swiftly sifting through incoming crowdsourced data to identify target locations that were identified as viable archaeological sites.

Investigating Methods for Serving Visualizations of Vertical Profiles

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, J. T.; Cechini, M. F.; Lanjewar, K.; Rodriguez, J.; Boller, R. A.; Baynes, K.

2017-12-01

Several geospatial web servers, web service standards, and mapping clients exist for the visualization of two-dimensional raster and vector-based Earth science data products. However, data products with a vertical component (i.e., vertical profiles) do not have the same mature set of technologies and pose a greater technical challenge when it comes to visualizations. There are a variety of tools and proposed standards, but no obvious solution that can handle the variety of visualizations found with vertical profiles. An effort is being led by members of the NASA Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) team to gather a list of technologies relevant to existing vertical profile data products and user stories. The goal is to find a subset of technologies, standards, and tools that can be used to build publicly accessible web services that can handle the greatest number of use cases for the widest audience possible. This presentation will describe results of the investigation and offer directions for moving forward with building a system that is capable of effectively and efficiently serving visualizations of vertical profiles.

The LandCarbon Web Application: Advanced Geospatial Data Delivery and Visualization Tools for Communication about Ecosystem Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, N.; Galey, B.; Zhu, Z.; Sleeter, B. M.; Lehmer, E.

2015-12-01

The LandCarbon web application (http://landcarbon.org) is a collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and U.C. Berkeley's Geospatial Innovation Facility (GIF). The LandCarbon project is a national assessment focused on improved understanding of carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas fluxes in and out of ecosystems related to land use, using scientific capabilities from USGS and other organizations. The national assessment is conducted at a regional scale, covers all 50 states, and incorporates data from remote sensing, land change studies, aquatic and wetland data, hydrological and biogeochemical modeling, and wildfire mapping to estimate baseline and future potential carbon storage and greenhouse gas fluxes. The LandCarbon web application is a geospatial portal that allows for a sophisticated data delivery system as well as a suite of engaging tools that showcase the LandCarbon data using interactive web based maps and charts. The web application was designed to be flexible and accessible to meet the needs of a variety of users. Casual users can explore the input data and results of the assessment for a particular area of interest in an intuitive and interactive map, without the need for specialized software. Users can view and interact with maps, charts, and statistics that summarize the baseline and future potential carbon storage and fluxes for U.S. Level 2 Ecoregions for 3 IPCC emissions scenarios. The application allows users to access the primary data sources and assessment results for viewing and download, and also to learn more about the assessment's objectives, methods, and uncertainties through published reports and documentation. The LandCarbon web application is built on free and open source libraries including Django and D3. The GIF has developed the Django-Spillway package, which facilitates interactive visualization and serialization of complex geospatial raster data. The underlying LandCarbon data is available through an open application

GEOSPATIAL DATA PROCESSING FOR 3D CITY MODEL GENERATION, MANAGEMENT AND VISUALIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Toschi

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Recent developments of 3D technologies and tools have increased availability and relevance of 3D data (from 3D points to complete city models in the geospatial and geo-information domains. Nevertheless, the potential of 3D data is still underexploited and mainly confined to visualization purposes. Therefore, the major challenge today is to create automatic procedures that make best use of available technologies and data for the benefits and needs of public administrations (PA and national mapping agencies (NMA involved in “smart city” applications. The paper aims to demonstrate a step forward in this process by presenting the results of the SENECA project (Smart and SustaiNablE City from Above – http://seneca.fbk.eu. State-of-the-art processing solutions are investigated in order to (i efficiently exploit the photogrammetric workflow (aerial triangulation and dense image matching, (ii derive topologically and geometrically accurate 3D geo-objects (i.e. building models at various levels of detail and (iii link geometries with non-spatial information within a 3D geo-database management system accessible via web-based client. The developed methodology is tested on two case studies, i.e. the cities of Trento (Italy and Graz (Austria. Both spatial (i.e. nadir and oblique imagery and non-spatial (i.e. cadastral information and building energy consumptions data are collected and used as input for the project workflow, starting from 3D geometry capture and modelling in urban scenarios to geometry enrichment and management within a dedicated webGIS platform.

Geospatial Data Processing for 3d City Model Generation, Management and Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Toschi, I.; Nocerino, E.; Remondino, F.; Revolti, A.; Soria, G.; Piffer, S.

2017-05-01

Recent developments of 3D technologies and tools have increased availability and relevance of 3D data (from 3D points to complete city models) in the geospatial and geo-information domains. Nevertheless, the potential of 3D data is still underexploited and mainly confined to visualization purposes. Therefore, the major challenge today is to create automatic procedures that make best use of available technologies and data for the benefits and needs of public administrations (PA) and national mapping agencies (NMA) involved in "smart city" applications. The paper aims to demonstrate a step forward in this process by presenting the results of the SENECA project (Smart and SustaiNablE City from Above - http://seneca.fbk.eu). State-of-the-art processing solutions are investigated in order to (i) efficiently exploit the photogrammetric workflow (aerial triangulation and dense image matching), (ii) derive topologically and geometrically accurate 3D geo-objects (i.e. building models) at various levels of detail and (iii) link geometries with non-spatial information within a 3D geo-database management system accessible via web-based client. The developed methodology is tested on two case studies, i.e. the cities of Trento (Italy) and Graz (Austria). Both spatial (i.e. nadir and oblique imagery) and non-spatial (i.e. cadastral information and building energy consumptions) data are collected and used as input for the project workflow, starting from 3D geometry capture and modelling in urban scenarios to geometry enrichment and management within a dedicated webGIS platform.

Learning Visualizations by Analogy: Promoting Visual Literacy through Visualization Morphing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruchikachorn, Puripant; Mueller, Klaus

2015-09-01

We propose the concept of teaching (and learning) unfamiliar visualizations by analogy, that is, demonstrating an unfamiliar visualization method by linking it to another more familiar one, where the in-betweens are designed to bridge the gap of these two visualizations and explain the difference in a gradual manner. As opposed to a textual description, our morphing explains an unfamiliar visualization through purely visual means. We demonstrate our idea by ways of four visualization pair examples: data table and parallel coordinates, scatterplot matrix and hyperbox, linear chart and spiral chart, and hierarchical pie chart and treemap. The analogy is commutative i.e. any member of the pair can be the unfamiliar visualization. A series of studies showed that this new paradigm can be an effective teaching tool. The participants could understand the unfamiliar visualization methods in all of the four pairs either fully or at least significantly better after they observed or interacted with the transitions from the familiar counterpart. The four examples suggest how helpful visualization pairings be identified and they will hopefully inspire other visualization morphings and associated transition strategies to be identified.

Math for visualization, visualizing math

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijk, van J.J.; Hart, G.; Sarhangi, R.

2013-01-01

I present an overview of our work in visualization, and reflect on the role of mathematics therein. First, mathematics can be used as a tool to produce visualizations, which is illustrated with examples from information visualization, flow visualization, and cartography. Second, mathematics itself

KOLAM: a cross-platform architecture for scalable visualization and tracking in wide-area imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, Joshua; Haridas, Anoop; Seetharaman, Guna; Rao, Raghuveer M.; Palaniappan, Kannappan

2013-05-01

KOLAM is an open, cross-platform, interoperable, scalable and extensible framework supporting a novel multi- scale spatiotemporal dual-cache data structure for big data visualization and visual analytics. This paper focuses on the use of KOLAM for target tracking in high-resolution, high throughput wide format video also known as wide-area motion imagery (WAMI). It was originally developed for the interactive visualization of extremely large geospatial imagery of high spatial and spectral resolution. KOLAM is platform, operating system and (graphics) hardware independent, and supports embedded datasets scalable from hundreds of gigabytes to feasibly petabytes in size on clusters, workstations, desktops and mobile computers. In addition to rapid roam, zoom and hyper- jump spatial operations, a large number of simultaneously viewable embedded pyramid layers (also referred to as multiscale or sparse imagery), interactive colormap and histogram enhancement, spherical projection and terrain maps are supported. The KOLAM software architecture was extended to support airborne wide-area motion imagery by organizing spatiotemporal tiles in very large format video frames using a temporal cache of tiled pyramid cached data structures. The current version supports WAMI animation, fast intelligent inspection, trajectory visualization and target tracking (digital tagging); the latter by interfacing with external automatic tracking software. One of the critical needs for working with WAMI is a supervised tracking and visualization tool that allows analysts to digitally tag multiple targets, quickly review and correct tracking results and apply geospatial visual analytic tools on the generated trajectories. One-click manual tracking combined with multiple automated tracking algorithms are available to assist the analyst and increase human effectiveness.

Exploring U.S Cropland - A Web Service based Cropland Data Layer Visualization, Dissemination and Querying System (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Z.; Han, W.; di, L.

2010-12-01

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the USDA produces the Cropland Data Layer (CDL) product, which is a raster-formatted, geo-referenced, U.S. crop specific land cover classification. These digital data layers are widely used for a variety of applications by universities, research institutions, government agencies, and private industry in climate change studies, environmental ecosystem studies, bioenergy production & transportation planning, environmental health research and agricultural production decision making. The CDL is also used internally by NASS for crop acreage and yield estimation. Like most geospatial data products, the CDL product is only available by CD/DVD delivery or online bulk file downloading via the National Research Conservation Research (NRCS) Geospatial Data Gateway (external users) or in a printed paper map format. There is no online geospatial information access and dissemination, no crop visualization & browsing, no geospatial query capability, nor online analytics. To facilitate the application of this data layer and to help disseminating the data, a web-service based CDL interactive map visualization, dissemination, querying system is proposed. It uses Web service based service oriented architecture, adopts open standard geospatial information science technology and OGC specifications and standards, and re-uses functions/algorithms from GeoBrain Technology (George Mason University developed). This system provides capabilities of on-line geospatial crop information access, query and on-line analytics via interactive maps. It disseminates all data to the decision makers and users via real time retrieval, processing and publishing over the web through standards-based geospatial web services. A CDL region of interest can also be exported directly to Google Earth for mashup or downloaded for use with other desktop application. This web service based system greatly improves equal-accessibility, interoperability, usability

Visual art and visual perception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koenderink, Jan J.

2015-01-01

Visual art and visual perception ‘Visual art’ has become a minor cul-de-sac orthogonal to THE ART of the museum directors and billionaire collectors. THE ART is conceptual, instead of visual. Among its cherished items are the tins of artist’s shit (Piero Manzoni, 1961, Merda d’Artista) “worth their

Geospatial Services in Special Libraries: A Needs Assessment Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Ilana

2013-01-01

Once limited to geographers and mapmakers, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has taken a growing central role in information management and visualization. Geospatial services run a gamut of different products and services from Google maps to ArcGIS servers to Mobile development. Geospatial services are not new. Libraries have been writing about…

Visualization rhetoric: framing effects in narrative visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Hullman, Jessica; Diakopoulos, Nicholas

2011-12-01

Narrative visualizations combine conventions of communicative and exploratory information visualization to convey an intended story. We demonstrate visualization rhetoric as an analytical framework for understanding how design techniques that prioritize particular interpretations in visualizations that "tell a story" can significantly affect end-user interpretation. We draw a parallel between narrative visualization interpretation and evidence from framing studies in political messaging, decision-making, and literary studies. Devices for understanding the rhetorical nature of narrative information visualizations are presented, informed by the rigorous application of concepts from critical theory, semiotics, journalism, and political theory. We draw attention to how design tactics represent additions or omissions of information at various levels-the data, visual representation, textual annotations, and interactivity-and how visualizations denote and connote phenomena with reference to unstated viewing conventions and codes. Classes of rhetorical techniques identified via a systematic analysis of recent narrative visualizations are presented, and characterized according to their rhetorical contribution to the visualization. We describe how designers and researchers can benefit from the potentially positive aspects of visualization rhetoric in designing engaging, layered narrative visualizations and how our framework can shed light on how a visualization design prioritizes specific interpretations. We identify areas where future inquiry into visualization rhetoric can improve understanding of visualization interpretation. © 2011 IEEE

SIMULTANEOUS VISUALIZATION OF DIFFERENT UTILITY NETWORKS FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT

OpenAIRE

S. Semm; T. Becker; T. H. Kolbe

2012-01-01

Cartographic visualizations of crises are used to create a Common Operational Picture (COP) and enforce Situational Awareness by presenting and representing relevant information. As nearly all crises affect geospatial entities, geo-data representations have to support location-specific decision-making throughout the crises. Since, Operator's attention span and their working memory are limiting factors for the process of getting and interpreting information; the cartographic presentation has t...

Simultaneous Visualization of Different Utility Networks for Disaster Management

Science.gov (United States)

Semm, S.; Becker, T.; Kolbe, T. H.

2012-07-01

Cartographic visualizations of crises are used to create a Common Operational Picture (COP) and enforce Situational Awareness by presenting and representing relevant information. As nearly all crises affect geospatial entities, geo-data representations have to support location-specific decision-making throughout the crises. Since, Operator's attention span and their working memory are limiting factors for the process of getting and interpreting information; the cartographic presentation has to support individuals in coordinating their activities and with handling highly dynamic situations. The Situational Awareness of operators in conjunction with a COP are key aspects of the decision making process and essential for coming to appropriate decisions. Utility networks are one of the most complex and most needed systems within a city. The visualization of utility infrastructure in crisis situations is addressed in this paper. The paper will provide a conceptual approach on how to simplify, aggregate, and visualize multiple utility networks and their components to meet the requirements of the decision-making process and to support Situational Awareness.

Visual motion transforms visual space representations similarly throughout the human visual hierarchy.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Ben M; Dumoulin, Serge O

2016-02-15

Several studies demonstrate that visual stimulus motion affects neural receptive fields and fMRI response amplitudes. Here we unite results of these two approaches and extend them by examining the effects of visual motion on neural position preferences throughout the hierarchy of human visual field maps. We measured population receptive field (pRF) properties using high-field fMRI (7T), characterizing position preferences simultaneously over large regions of the visual cortex. We measured pRFs properties using sine wave gratings in stationary apertures, moving at various speeds in either the direction of pRF measurement or the orthogonal direction. We find direction- and speed-dependent changes in pRF preferred position and size in all visual field maps examined, including V1, V3A, and the MT+ map TO1. These effects on pRF properties increase up the hierarchy of visual field maps. However, both within and between visual field maps the extent of pRF changes was approximately proportional to pRF size. This suggests that visual motion transforms the representation of visual space similarly throughout the visual hierarchy. Visual motion can also produce an illusory displacement of perceived stimulus position. We demonstrate perceptual displacements using the same stimulus configuration. In contrast to effects on pRF properties, perceptual displacements show only weak effects of motion speed, with far larger speed-independent effects. We describe a model where low-level mechanisms could underlie the observed effects on neural position preferences. We conclude that visual motion induces similar transformations of visuo-spatial representations throughout the visual hierarchy, which may arise through low-level mechanisms. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Scientific visualization uncertainty, multifield, biomedical, and scalable visualization

CERN Document Server

Chen, Min; Johnson, Christopher; Kaufman, Arie; Hagen, Hans

2014-01-01

Based on the seminar that took place in Dagstuhl, Germany in June 2011, this contributed volume studies the four important topics within the scientific visualization field: uncertainty visualization, multifield visualization, biomedical visualization and scalable visualization. • Uncertainty visualization deals with uncertain data from simulations or sampled data, uncertainty due to the mathematical processes operating on the data, and uncertainty in the visual representation, • Multifield visualization addresses the need to depict multiple data at individual locations and the combination of multiple datasets, • Biomedical is a vast field with select subtopics addressed from scanning methodologies to structural applications to biological applications, • Scalability in scientific visualization is critical as data grows and computational devices range from hand-held mobile devices to exascale computational platforms. Scientific Visualization will be useful to practitioners of scientific visualization, ...

Attention and visual memory in visualization and computer graphics.

Science.gov (United States)

Healey, Christopher G; Enns, James T

2012-07-01

A fundamental goal of visualization is to produce images of data that support visual analysis, exploration, and discovery of novel insights. An important consideration during visualization design is the role of human visual perception. How we "see" details in an image can directly impact a viewer's efficiency and effectiveness. This paper surveys research on attention and visual perception, with a specific focus on results that have direct relevance to visualization and visual analytics. We discuss theories of low-level visual perception, then show how these findings form a foundation for more recent work on visual memory and visual attention. We conclude with a brief overview of how knowledge of visual attention and visual memory is being applied in visualization and graphics. We also discuss how challenges in visualization are motivating research in psychophysics.

Visual Literacy and Visual Thinking.

Science.gov (United States)

Hortin, John A.

It is proposed that visual literacy be defined as the ability to understand (read) and use (write) images and to think and learn in terms of images. This definition includes three basic principles: (1) visuals are a language and thus analogous to verbal language; (2) a visually literate person should be able to understand (read) images and use…

Visual Literacy and Visual Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Messaris, Paul

Familiarity with specific images or sets of images plays a role in a culture's visual heritage. Two questions can be asked about this type of visual literacy: Is this a type of knowledge that is worth building into the formal educational curriculum of our schools? What are the educational implications of visual literacy? There is a three-part…

Understanding Visual Novel As Artwork of Visual Communication Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dendi Pratama

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Visual Novel is a kind of audiovisual game that offers visual strength through the narrative and visual characters. The developer community of Visual Novel (VN Project Indonesia indicated a limited local game developer that produces Visual Novel of Indonesia. In addition, Indonesian Visual Novel production was also more influenced by the style of anime or manga from Japan. Actually, Visual Novel is part of the potential of  creative industries products. The study is to formulate the problem, how to understand Visual Novel as artwork of visual communication design, especially among students? This research is a case study conducted on visual communication design student at the University Indraprasta PGRI Jakarta. The results showed low levels of knowledge, understanding, and experience of  the Visual Novel game, which is below 50%. Qualitative and quantitative methods combined with structural semiotic approach is used to describe the elements of the design and the signs structure at the Visual Novel. This research can be a scientific reference for further introduce and encourage an understanding of Visual Novel as artwork of Visual Communication Design. In addition, the results may add to the knowledge of  society, and encourage the development of Visual Novel artwork that  reflect the culture of Indonesia. Visual Novel adalah sejenis permainan audiovisual yang menawarkan kekuatan visual melalui narasi dan karakter visual. Data dari komunitas pengembang Visual Novel (VN Project Indonesia menunjukkan masih terbatasnya pengembang game lokal yang memproduksi Visual Novel Indonesia. Selain itu, produksi Visual Novel Indonesia juga lebih banyak dipengaruhi oleh gaya anime dan manga dari Jepang. Padahal Visual Novel adalah bagian dari produk industri kreatif yang potensial. Studi ini merumuskan masalah, bagaimana memahami Visual Novel sebagai karya seni desain komunikasi visual, khususnya di kalangan mahasiswa? Penelitian ini merupakan studi kasus

Assessment of visual disability using visual evoked potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Jihoon; Oh, Seiyul; Kyung, Sungeun

2012-08-06

The purpose of this study is to validate the use of visual evoked potential (VEP) to objectively quantify visual acuity in normal and amblyopic patients, and determine if it is possible to predict visual acuity in disability assessment to register visual pathway lesions. A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients diagnosed with normal vision, unilateral amblyopia, optic neuritis, and visual disability who visited the university medical center for registration from March 2007 to October 2009. The study included 20 normal subjects (20 right eyes: 10 females, 10 males, ages 9-42 years), 18 unilateral amblyopic patients (18 amblyopic eyes, ages 19-36 years), 19 optic neuritis patients (19 eyes: ages 9-71 years), and 10 patients with visual disability having visual pathway lesions. Amplitude and latencies were analyzed and correlations with visual acuity (logMAR) were derived from 20 normal and 18 amblyopic subjects. Correlation of VEP amplitude and visual acuity (logMAR) of 19 optic neuritis patients confirmed relationships between visual acuity and amplitude. We calculated the objective visual acuity (logMAR) of 16 eyes from 10 patients to diagnose the presence or absence of visual disability using relations derived from 20 normal and 18 amblyopic eyes. Linear regression analyses between amplitude of pattern visual evoked potentials and visual acuity (logMAR) of 38 eyes from normal (right eyes) and amblyopic (amblyopic eyes) subjects were significant [y = -0.072x + 1.22, x: VEP amplitude, y: visual acuity (logMAR)]. There were no significant differences between visual acuity prediction values, which substituted amplitude values of 19 eyes with optic neuritis into function. We calculated the objective visual acuity of 16 eyes of 10 patients to diagnose the presence or absence of visual disability using relations of y = -0.072x + 1.22 (-0.072). This resulted in a prediction reference of visual acuity associated with malingering vs. real

Interactions between visual working memory and visual attention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olivers, C.N.L.

2008-01-01

Visual attention is the collection of mechanisms by which relevant visual information is selected, and irrelevant visual information is ignored. Visual working memory is the mechanism by which relevant visual information is retained, and irrelevant information is suppressed. In addition to this

Visualizing dynamic geosciences phenomena using an octree-based view-dependent LOD strategy within virtual globes

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jing; Wu, Huayi; Yang, Chaowei; Wong, David W.; Xie, Jibo

2011-09-01

Geoscientists build dynamic models to simulate various natural phenomena for a better understanding of our planet. Interactive visualizations of these geoscience models and their outputs through virtual globes on the Internet can help the public understand the dynamic phenomena related to the Earth more intuitively. However, challenges arise when the volume of four-dimensional data (4D), 3D in space plus time, is huge for rendering. Datasets loaded from geographically distributed data servers require synchronization between ingesting and rendering data. Also the visualization capability of display clients varies significantly in such an online visualization environment; some may not have high-end graphic cards. To enhance the efficiency of visualizing dynamic volumetric data in virtual globes, this paper proposes a systematic framework, in which an octree-based multiresolution data structure is implemented to organize time series 3D geospatial data to be used in virtual globe environments. This framework includes a view-dependent continuous level of detail (LOD) strategy formulated as a synchronized part of the virtual globe rendering process. Through the octree-based data retrieval process, the LOD strategy enables the rendering of the 4D simulation at a consistent and acceptable frame rate. To demonstrate the capabilities of this framework, data of a simulated dust storm event are rendered in World Wind, an open source virtual globe. The rendering performances with and without the octree-based LOD strategy are compared. The experimental results show that using the proposed data structure and processing strategy significantly enhances the visualization performance when rendering dynamic geospatial phenomena in virtual globes.

Visual comparison for information visualization

KAUST Repository

Gleicher, M.; Albers, D.; Walker, R.; Jusufi, I.; Hansen, C. D.; Roberts, J. C.

2011-01-01

Data analysis often involves the comparison of complex objects. With the ever increasing amounts and complexity of data, the demand for systems to help with these comparisons is also growing. Increasingly, information visualization tools support such comparisons explicitly, beyond simply allowing a viewer to examine each object individually. In this paper, we argue that the design of information visualizations of complex objects can, and should, be studied in general, that is independently of what those objects are. As a first step in developing this general understanding of comparison, we propose a general taxonomy of visual designs for comparison that groups designs into three basic categories, which can be combined. To clarify the taxonomy and validate its completeness, we provide a survey of work in information visualization related to comparison. Although we find a great diversity of systems and approaches, we see that all designs are assembled from the building blocks of juxtaposition, superposition and explicit encodings. This initial exploration shows the power of our model, and suggests future challenges in developing a general understanding of comparative visualization and facilitating the development of more comparative visualization tools. © The Author(s) 2011.

Visual comparison for information visualization

KAUST Repository

Gleicher, M.

2011-09-07

Data analysis often involves the comparison of complex objects. With the ever increasing amounts and complexity of data, the demand for systems to help with these comparisons is also growing. Increasingly, information visualization tools support such comparisons explicitly, beyond simply allowing a viewer to examine each object individually. In this paper, we argue that the design of information visualizations of complex objects can, and should, be studied in general, that is independently of what those objects are. As a first step in developing this general understanding of comparison, we propose a general taxonomy of visual designs for comparison that groups designs into three basic categories, which can be combined. To clarify the taxonomy and validate its completeness, we provide a survey of work in information visualization related to comparison. Although we find a great diversity of systems and approaches, we see that all designs are assembled from the building blocks of juxtaposition, superposition and explicit encodings. This initial exploration shows the power of our model, and suggests future challenges in developing a general understanding of comparative visualization and facilitating the development of more comparative visualization tools. © The Author(s) 2011.

SIMULTANEOUS VISUALIZATION OF DIFFERENT UTILITY NETWORKS FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Semm

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Cartographic visualizations of crises are used to create a Common Operational Picture (COP and enforce Situational Awareness by presenting and representing relevant information. As nearly all crises affect geospatial entities, geo-data representations have to support location-specific decision-making throughout the crises. Since, Operator's attention span and their working memory are limiting factors for the process of getting and interpreting information; the cartographic presentation has to support individuals in coordinating their activities and with handling highly dynamic situations. The Situational Awareness of operators in conjunction with a COP are key aspects of the decision making process and essential for coming to appropriate decisions. Utility networks are one of the most complex and most needed systems within a city. The visualization of utility infrastructure in crisis situations is addressed in this paper. The paper will provide a conceptual approach on how to simplify, aggregate, and visualize multiple utility networks and their components to meet the requirements of the decision-making process and to support Situational Awareness.

Which visual functions depend on intermediate visual regions? Insights from a case of developmental visual form agnosia.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilaie-Dotan, Sharon

2016-03-01

A key question in visual neuroscience is the causal link between specific brain areas and perceptual functions; which regions are necessary for which visual functions? While the contribution of primary visual cortex and high-level visual regions to visual perception has been extensively investigated, the contribution of intermediate visual areas (e.g. V2/V3) to visual processes remains unclear. Here I review more than 20 visual functions (early, mid, and high-level) of LG, a developmental visual agnosic and prosopagnosic young adult, whose intermediate visual regions function in a significantly abnormal fashion as revealed through extensive fMRI and ERP investigations. While expectedly, some of LG's visual functions are significantly impaired, some of his visual functions are surprisingly normal (e.g. stereopsis, color, reading, biological motion). During the period of eight-year testing described here, LG trained on a perceptual learning paradigm that was successful in improving some but not all of his visual functions. Following LG's visual performance and taking into account additional findings in the field, I propose a framework for how different visual areas contribute to different visual functions, with an emphasis on intermediate visual regions. Thus, although rewiring and plasticity in the brain can occur during development to overcome and compensate for hindering developmental factors, LG's case seems to indicate that some visual functions are much less dependent on strict hierarchical flow than others, and can develop normally in spite of abnormal mid-level visual areas, thereby probably less dependent on intermediate visual regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding Visual Novel As Artwork of Visual Communication Design

OpenAIRE

Dendi Pratama; Winny Gunarti; Taufiq Akbar

2017-01-01

Visual Novel is a kind of audiovisual game that offers visual strength through the narrative and visual characters. The developer community of Visual Novel (VN) Project Indonesia indicated a limited local game developer that produces Visual Novel of Indonesia. In addition, Indonesian Visual Novel production was also more influenced by the style of anime or manga from Japan. Actually, Visual Novel is part of the potential of  creative industries products. The study is to formulate the problem,...

Understanding Visual Novel as Artwork of Visual Communication Design

OpenAIRE

Pratama, Dendi

2017-01-01

Visual Novel is a kind of audiovisual game that offers visual strength through the narrative and visual characters. The developer community of Visual Novel (VN) Project Indonesia indicated a limited local game developer that produces Visual Novel of Indonesia. In addition, Indonesian Visual Novel production was also more influenced by the style of anime or manga from Japan. Actually, Visual Novel is part of the potential of creative industries products. The study is to formulate the problem,...

MyGeoHub: A Collaborative Geospatial Research and Education Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Kalyanam, R.; Zhao, L.; Biehl, L. L.; Song, C. X.; Merwade, V.; Villoria, N.

2017-12-01

Scientific research is increasingly collaborative and globally distributed; research groups now rely on web-based scientific tools and data management systems to simplify their day-to-day collaborative workflows. However, such tools often lack seamless interfaces, requiring researchers to contend with manual data transfers, annotation and sharing. MyGeoHub is a web platform that supports out-of-the-box, seamless workflows involving data ingestion, metadata extraction, analysis, sharing and publication. MyGeoHub is built on the HUBzero cyberinfrastructure platform and adds general-purpose software building blocks (GABBs), for geospatial data management, visualization and analysis. A data management building block iData, processes geospatial files, extracting metadata for keyword and map-based search while enabling quick previews. iData is pervasive, allowing access through a web interface, scientific tools on MyGeoHub or even mobile field devices via a data service API. GABBs includes a Python map library as well as map widgets that in a few lines of code, generate complete geospatial visualization web interfaces for scientific tools. GABBs also includes powerful tools that can be used with no programming effort. The GeoBuilder tool provides an intuitive wizard for importing multi-variable, geo-located time series data (typical of sensor readings, GPS trackers) to build visualizations supporting data filtering and plotting. MyGeoHub has been used in tutorials at scientific conferences and educational activities for K-12 students. MyGeoHub is also constantly evolving; the recent addition of Jupyter and R Shiny notebook environments enable reproducible, richly interactive geospatial analyses and applications ranging from simple pre-processing to published tools. MyGeoHub is not a monolithic geospatial science gateway, instead it supports diverse needs ranging from just a feature-rich data management system, to complex scientific tools and workflows.

Visual intelligence Microsoft tools and techniques for visualizing data

CERN Document Server

Stacey, Mark; Jorgensen, Adam

2013-01-01

Go beyond design concepts and learn to build state-of-the-art visualizations The visualization experts at Microsoft's Pragmatic Works have created a full-color, step-by-step guide to building specific types of visualizations. The book thoroughly covers the Microsoft toolset for data analysis and visualization, including Excel, and explores best practices for choosing a data visualization design, selecting tools from the Microsoft stack, and building a dynamic data visualization from start to finish. You'll examine different types of visualizations, their strengths and weaknesses, a

TransVisuality : The Cultural Dimension of Visuality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The Transvisuality Project In little more than a decade, visual culture has proven its status and commitment as an independent field of research, drawing on and continuing areas such as art history, cultural studies, semiotics and media research, as well as parts of visual sociology, visual...... for visual culture, transcending a number of disciplinary and geographical borders. The first volume, ‘Boundaries and Creative Openings’, explores the implications of a cultural dimension of ‘visuality’ when seen as a concept reflecting and challenging fundamental aspects of culture, from the arts to social...... anthropology and visual communication. Visual culture is now a well-established academic area of research and teaching, covering subjects in the humanities and social sciences. Readers and introductions have outlined the field, and research is mirrored in networks, journals and conferences on the national...

Data visualization methods, data visualization devices, data visualization apparatuses, and articles of manufacture

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Alan E.; Crow, Vernon L.; Payne, Deborah A.; Hetzler, Elizabeth G.; Cook, Kristin A.; Cowley, Wendy E.

2015-06-30

Data visualization methods, data visualization devices, data visualization apparatuses, and articles of manufacture are described according to some aspects. In one aspect, a data visualization method includes accessing a plurality of initial documents at a first moment in time, first processing the initial documents providing processed initial documents, first identifying a plurality of first associations of the initial documents using the processed initial documents, generating a first visualization depicting the first associations, accessing a plurality of additional documents at a second moment in time after the first moment in time, second processing the additional documents providing processed additional documents, second identifying a plurality of second associations of the additional documents and at least some of the initial documents, wherein the second identifying comprises identifying using the processed initial documents and the processed additional documents, and generating a second visualization depicting the second associations.

Visual memory and visual perception: when memory improves visual search.

Science.gov (United States)

Riou, Benoit; Lesourd, Mathieu; Brunel, Lionel; Versace, Rémy

2011-08-01

This study examined the relationship between memory and perception in order to identify the influence of a memory dimension in perceptual processing. Our aim was to determine whether the variation of typical size between items (i.e., the size in real life) affects visual search. In two experiments, the congruency between typical size difference and perceptual size difference was manipulated in a visual search task. We observed that congruency between the typical and perceptual size differences decreased reaction times in the visual search (Exp. 1), and noncongruency between these two differences increased reaction times in the visual search (Exp. 2). We argue that these results highlight that memory and perception share some resources and reveal the intervention of typical size difference on the computation of the perceptual size difference.

COVE: a visual environment for ocean observatory design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grochow, K; Lazowska, E; Stoermer, M; Kelley, D; Delaney, J

2008-01-01

Physical, chemical, and biological ocean processes play a crucial role in determining Earth's environment. Unfortunately, our knowledge of these processes is limited because oceanography is carried out today largely the way it was a century ago: as expeditionary science, going to sea in ships and measuring a relatively small number of parameters (e.g., temperature, salinity, and pressure) as time and budget allow. The NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative is a US$330 million project that will help transform oceanography from a data-poor to a data-rich science. A cornerstone of this project is the deep water Regional Scale Nodes (RSN) that will be installed off the coasts of Washington and Oregon. The RSN will include 1500 km of fiber optic cable providing power and bandwidth to the seafloor and throughout the water column. Thousands of sensors will be deployed to stream data and imagery to shore, where they will be available in real time for ocean scientists and the public at large. The design of the RSN is a complex undertaking, requiring a combination of many different interactive tools and areas of visualization: geographic visualization to see the available seafloor bathymetry, scientific visualization to examine existing geospatially located datasets, layout tools to place the sensors, and collaborative tools to communicate across the team during the design. COVE, the Common Observatory Visualization Environment, is a visualization environment designed to meet all these needs. COVE has been built by computer scientists working closely with the engineering and scientific teams who will build and use the RSN. This paper discusses the data and activities of cabled observatory design, the design of COVE, and results from its use across the team

An Empirical Study on Using Visual Embellishments in Visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Borgo, R; Abdul-Rahman, A; Mohamed, F; Grant, P W; Reppa, I; Floridi, L; Chen, Min

2012-12-01

In written and spoken communications, figures of speech (e.g., metaphors and synecdoche) are often used as an aid to help convey abstract or less tangible concepts. However, the benefits of using rhetorical illustrations or embellishments in visualization have so far been inconclusive. In this work, we report an empirical study to evaluate hypotheses that visual embellishments may aid memorization, visual search and concept comprehension. One major departure from related experiments in the literature is that we make use of a dual-task methodology in our experiment. This design offers an abstraction of typical situations where viewers do not have their full attention focused on visualization (e.g., in meetings and lectures). The secondary task introduces "divided attention", and makes the effects of visual embellishments more observable. In addition, it also serves as additional masking in memory-based trials. The results of this study show that visual embellishments can help participants better remember the information depicted in visualization. On the other hand, visual embellishments can have a negative impact on the speed of visual search. The results show a complex pattern as to the benefits of visual embellishments in helping participants grasp key concepts from visualization.

VisComposer: A Visual Programmable Composition Environment for Information Visualization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Honghui Mei

2018-03-01

Full Text Available As the amount of data being collected has increased, the need for tools that can enable the visual exploration of data has also grown. This has led to the development of a variety of widely used programming frameworks for information visualization. Unfortunately, such frameworks demand comprehensive visualization and coding skills and require users to develop visualization from scratch. An alternative is to create interactive visualization design environments that require little to no programming. However, these tools only supports a small portion of visual forms.We present a programmable integrated development environment (IDE, VisComposer, that supports the development of expressive visualization using a drag-and-drop visual interface. VisComposer exposes the programmability by customizing desired components within a modularized visualization composition pipeline, effectively balancing the capability gap between expert coders and visualization artists. The implemented system empowers users to compose comprehensive visualizations with real-time preview and optimization features, and supports prototyping, sharing and reuse of the effects by means of an intuitive visual composer. Visual programming and textual programming integrated in our system allow users to compose more complex visual effects while retaining the simplicity of use. We demonstrate the performance of VisComposer with a variety of examples and an informal user evaluation. Keywords: Information Visualization, Visualization authoring, Interactive development environment

Flow visualization

CERN Document Server

Merzkirch, Wolfgang

1974-01-01

Flow Visualization describes the most widely used methods for visualizing flows. Flow visualization evaluates certain properties of a flow field directly accessible to visual perception. Organized into five chapters, this book first presents the methods that create a visible flow pattern that could be investigated by visual inspection, such as simple dye and density-sensitive visualization methods. It then deals with the application of electron beams and streaming birefringence. Optical methods for compressible flows, hydraulic analogy, and high-speed photography are discussed in other cha

Data visualization a guide to visual storytelling for libraries

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

Data Visualization: A Guide to Visual Storytelling for Libraries is a practical guide to the skills and tools needed to create beautiful and meaningful visual stories through data visualization. Learn how to sift through complex datasets to better understand a variety of metrics, such as trends in user behavior and electronic resource usage, return on investment (ROI) and impact metrics, and learning and reference analytics. Sections include: .Identifying and interpreting datasets for visualization .Tools and technologies for creating meaningful visualizations .Case studies in data visualization and dashboards Understanding and communicating trends from your organization s data is essential. Whether you are looking to make more informed decisions by visualizing organizational data, or to tell the story of your library s impact on your community, this book will give you the tools to make it happen."

Visual acuity and visual field impairment in Usher syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, A; Fishman, G A; Anderson, R J; Grover, S; Derlacki, D J

1998-02-01

To determine the extent of visual acuity and visual field impairment in patients with types 1 and 2 Usher syndrome. The records of 53 patients with type 1 and 120 patients with type 2 Usher syndrome were reviewed for visual acuity and visual field area at their most recent visit. Visual field areas were determined by planimetry of the II4e and V4e isopters obtained with a Goldmann perimeter. Both ordinary and logistic regression models were used to evaluate differences in visual acuity and visual field impairment between patients with type 1 and type 2 Usher syndrome. The difference in visual acuity of the better eye between patients with type 1 and type 2 varied by patient age (P=.01, based on a multiple regression model). The maximum difference in visual acuity between the 2 groups occurred during the third and fourth decades of life (with the type 1 patients being more impaired), while more similar acuities were seen in both younger and older patients. Fifty-one percent (n=27) of the type 1 patients had a visual acuity of 20/40 or better in at least 1 eye compared with 72% (n=87) of the type 2 patients (age-adjusted odds ratio, 3.9). Visual field area to both the II4e (P=.001) and V4e (Ptype 1 patients than type 2 patients. A concentric central visual field greater than 20 degrees in at least 1 eye was present in 20 (59%) of the available 34 visual fields of type 1 patients compared with 70 (67%) of the available 104 visual fields of type 2 patients (age-adjusted odds ratio, 2.9) with the V4e target and in 6 (21%) of the available 29 visual fields of type 1 patients compared with 36 (38%) of the available 94 visual fields of type 2 patients (age-adjusted odds ratio, 4.9) with the II4e target. The fraction of patients who had a visual acuity of 20/40 or better and a concentric central visual field greater than 20 degrees to the II4e target in at least 1 eye was 17% (n=5) in the type 1 patients and 35% (n=33) in the type 2 patients (age-adjusted odds ratio, 3

HI-VISUAL: A language supporting visual interaction in programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monden, N.; Yoshino, Y.; Hirakawa, M.; Tanaka, M.; Ichikawa, T.

1984-01-01

This paper presents a language named HI-VISUAL which supports visual interaction in programming. Following a brief description of the language concept, the icon semantics and language primitives characterizing HI-VISUAL are extensively discussed. HI-VISUAL also shows a system extensively discussed. HI-VISUAL also shows a system extendability providing the possibility of organizing a high level application system as an integration of several existing subsystems, and will serve to developing systems in various fields of applications supporting simple and efficient interactions between programmer and computer. In this paper, the authors have presented a language named HI-VISUAL. Following a brief description of the language concept, the icon semantics and language primitives characterizing HI-VISUAL were extensively discussed

Creativity, visualization abilities, and visual cognitive style.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozhevnikov, Maria; Kozhevnikov, Michael; Yu, Chen Jiao; Blazhenkova, Olesya

2013-06-01

Despite the recent evidence for a multi-component nature of both visual imagery and creativity, there have been no systematic studies on how the different dimensions of creativity and imagery might interrelate. The main goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between different dimensions of creativity (artistic and scientific) and dimensions of visualization abilities and styles (object and spatial). In addition, we compared the contributions of object and spatial visualization abilities versus corresponding styles to scientific and artistic dimensions of creativity. Twenty-four undergraduate students (12 females) were recruited for the first study, and 75 additional participants (36 females) were recruited for an additional experiment. Participants were administered a number of object and spatial visualization abilities and style assessments as well as a number of artistic and scientific creativity tests. The results show that object visualization relates to artistic creativity and spatial visualization relates to scientific creativity, while both are distinct from verbal creativity. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that style predicts corresponding dimension of creativity even after removing shared variance between style and visualization ability. The results suggest that styles might be a more ecologically valid construct in predicting real-life creative behaviour, such as performance in different professional domains. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Insensitivity of visual short-term memory to irrelevant visual information.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade, Jackie; Kemps, Eva; Werniers, Yves; May, Jon; Szmalec, Arnaud

2002-07-01

Several authors have hypothesized that visuo-spatial working memory is functionally analogous to verbal working memory. Irrelevant background speech impairs verbal short-term memory. We investigated whether irrelevant visual information has an analogous effect on visual short-term memory, using a dynamic visual noise (DVN) technique known to disrupt visual imagery (Quinn & McConnell, 1996b). Experiment I replicated the effect of DVN on pegword imagery. Experiments 2 and 3 showed no effect of DVN on recall of static matrix patterns, despite a significant effect of a concurrent spatial tapping task. Experiment 4 showed no effect of DVN on encoding or maintenance of arrays of matrix patterns, despite testing memory by a recognition procedure to encourage visual rather than spatial processing. Serial position curves showed a one-item recency effect typical of visual short-term memory. Experiment 5 showed no effect of DVN on short-term recognition of Chinese characters, despite effects of visual similarity and a concurrent colour memory task that confirmed visual processing of the characters. We conclude that irrelevant visual noise does not impair visual short-term memory. Visual working memory may not be functionally analogous to verbal working memory, and different cognitive processes may underlie visual short-term memory and visual imagery.

Regulating outdoor advertisement boards; employing spatial decision support system to control urban visual pollution

Science.gov (United States)

Wakil, K.; Hussnain, MQ; Tahir, A.; Naeem, M. A.

2016-06-01

Unmanaged placement, size, location, structure and contents of outdoor advertisement boards have resulted in severe urban visual pollution and deterioration of the socio-physical living environment in urban centres of Pakistan. As per the regulatory instruments, the approval decision for a new advertisement installation is supposed to be based on the locational density of existing boards and their proximity or remoteness to certain land- uses. In cities, where regulatory tools for the control of advertisement boards exist, responsible authorities are handicapped in effective implementation due to the absence of geospatial analysis capacity. This study presents the development of a spatial decision support system (SDSS) for regularization of advertisement boards in terms of their location and placement. The knowledge module of the proposed SDSS is based on provisions and restrictions prescribed in regulatory documents. While the user interface allows visualization and scenario evaluation to understand if the new board will affect existing linear density on a particular road and if it violates any buffer restrictions around a particular land use. Technically the structure of the proposed SDSS is a web-based solution which includes open geospatial tools such as OpenGeo Suite, GeoExt, PostgreSQL, and PHP. It uses three key data sets including road network, locations of existing billboards and building parcels with land use information to perform the analysis. Locational suitability has been calculated using pairwise comparison through analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and weighted linear combination (WLC). Our results indicate that open geospatial tools can be helpful in developing an SDSS which can assist solving space related iterative decision challenges on outdoor advertisements. Employing such a system will result in effective implementation of regulations resulting in visual harmony and aesthetic improvement in urban communities.

Improving the User Experience of Finding and Visualizing Oceanographic Data

Science.gov (United States)

Rauch, S.; Allison, M. D.; Groman, R. C.; Chandler, C. L.; Galvarino, C.; Gegg, S. R.; Kinkade, D.; Shepherd, A.; Wiebe, P. H.; Glover, D. M.

2013-12-01

Searching for and locating data of interest can be a challenge to researchers as increasing volumes of data are made available online through various data centers, repositories, and archives. The Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) is keenly aware of this challenge and, as a result, has implemented features and technologies aimed at improving data discovery and enhancing the user experience. BCO-DMO was created in 2006 to manage and publish data from research projects funded by the Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE) Biological and Chemical Oceanography Sections and the Division of Polar Programs (PLR) Antarctic Sciences Organisms and Ecosystems Program (ANT) of the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The BCO-DMO text-based and geospatial-based data access systems provide users with tools to search, filter, and visualize data in order to efficiently find data of interest. The geospatial interface, developed using a suite of open-source software (including MapServer [1], OpenLayers [2], ExtJS [3], and MySQL [4]), allows users to search and filter/subset metadata based on program, project, or deployment, or by using a simple word search. The map responds based on user selections, presents options that allow the user to choose specific data parameters (e.g., a species or an individual drifter), and presents further options for visualizing those data on the map or in "quick-view" plots. The data managed and made available by BCO-DMO are very heterogeneous in nature, from in-situ biogeochemical, ecological, and physical data, to controlled laboratory experiments. Due to the heterogeneity of the data types, a 'one size fits all' approach to visualization cannot be applied. Datasets are visualized in a way that will best allow users to assess fitness for purpose. An advanced geospatial interface, which contains a semantically-enabled faceted search [5], is also available. These search facets are highly interactive and responsive, allowing

Visual thinking in action: visualizations as used on whiteboards.

Science.gov (United States)

Walny, Jagoda; Carpendale, Sheelagh; Riche, Nathalie Henry; Venolia, Gina; Fawcett, Philip

2011-12-01

While it is still most common for information visualization researchers to develop new visualizations from a data- or taskdriven perspective, there is growing interest in understanding the types of visualizations people create by themselves for personal use. As part of this recent direction, we have studied a large collection of whiteboards in a research institution, where people make active use of combinations of words, diagrams and various types of visuals to help them further their thought processes. Our goal is to arrive at a better understanding of the nature of visuals that are created spontaneously during brainstorming, thinking, communicating, and general problem solving on whiteboards. We use the qualitative approaches of open coding, interviewing, and affinity diagramming to explore the use of recognizable and novel visuals, and the interplay between visualization and diagrammatic elements with words, numbers and labels. We discuss the potential implications of our findings on information visualization design. © 2011 IEEE

GISpark: A Geospatial Distributed Computing Platform for Spatiotemporal Big Data

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, S.; Zhong, E.; Wang, E.; Zhong, Y.; Cai, W.; Li, S.; Gao, S.

2016-12-01

Geospatial data are growing exponentially because of the proliferation of cost effective and ubiquitous positioning technologies such as global remote-sensing satellites and location-based devices. Analyzing large amounts of geospatial data can provide great value for both industrial and scientific applications. Data- and compute- intensive characteristics inherent in geospatial big data increasingly pose great challenges to technologies of data storing, computing and analyzing. Such challenges require a scalable and efficient architecture that can store, query, analyze, and visualize large-scale spatiotemporal data. Therefore, we developed GISpark - a geospatial distributed computing platform for processing large-scale vector, raster and stream data. GISpark is constructed based on the latest virtualized computing infrastructures and distributed computing architecture. OpenStack and Docker are used to build multi-user hosting cloud computing infrastructure for GISpark. The virtual storage systems such as HDFS, Ceph, MongoDB are combined and adopted for spatiotemporal data storage management. Spark-based algorithm framework is developed for efficient parallel computing. Within this framework, SuperMap GIScript and various open-source GIS libraries can be integrated into GISpark. GISpark can also integrated with scientific computing environment (e.g., Anaconda), interactive computing web applications (e.g., Jupyter notebook), and machine learning tools (e.g., TensorFlow/Orange). The associated geospatial facilities of GISpark in conjunction with the scientific computing environment, exploratory spatial data analysis tools, temporal data management and analysis systems make up a powerful geospatial computing tool. GISpark not only provides spatiotemporal big data processing capacity in the geospatial field, but also provides spatiotemporal computational model and advanced geospatial visualization tools that deals with other domains related with spatial property. We

Visual feature extraction and establishment of visual tags in the intelligent visual internet of things

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yiqun; Wang, Zhihui

2015-12-01

The Internet of things (IOT) is a kind of intelligent networks which can be used to locate, track, identify and supervise people and objects. One of important core technologies of intelligent visual internet of things ( IVIOT) is the intelligent visual tag system. In this paper, a research is done into visual feature extraction and establishment of visual tags of the human face based on ORL face database. Firstly, we use the principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm for face feature extraction, then adopt the support vector machine (SVM) for classifying and face recognition, finally establish a visual tag for face which is already classified. We conducted a experiment focused on a group of people face images, the result show that the proposed algorithm have good performance, and can show the visual tag of objects conveniently.

The contributions of visual and central attention to visual working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Souza, Alessandra S; Oberauer, Klaus

2017-10-01

We investigated the role of two kinds of attention-visual and central attention-for the maintenance of visual representations in working memory (WM). In Experiment 1 we directed attention to individual items in WM by presenting cues during the retention interval of a continuous delayed-estimation task, and instructing participants to think of the cued items. Attending to items improved recall commensurate with the frequency with which items were attended (0, 1, or 2 times). Experiments 1 and 3 further tested which kind of attention-visual or central-was involved in WM maintenance. We assessed the dual-task costs of two types of distractor tasks, one tapping sustained visual attention and one tapping central attention. Only the central attention task yielded substantial dual-task costs, implying that central attention substantially contributes to maintenance of visual information in WM. Experiment 2 confirmed that the visual-attention distractor task was demanding enough to disrupt performance in a task relying on visual attention. We combined the visual-attention and the central-attention distractor tasks with a multiple object tracking (MOT) task. Distracting visual attention, but not central attention, impaired MOT performance. Jointly, the three experiments provide a double dissociation between visual and central attention, and between visual WM and visual object tracking: Whereas tracking multiple targets across the visual filed depends on visual attention, visual WM depends mostly on central attention.

Optimization of Visual Information Presentation for Visual Prosthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Guo

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Visual prosthesis applying electrical stimulation to restore visual function for the blind has promising prospects. However, due to the low resolution, limited visual field, and the low dynamic range of the visual perception, huge loss of information occurred when presenting daily scenes. The ability of object recognition in real-life scenarios is severely restricted for prosthetic users. To overcome the limitations, optimizing the visual information in the simulated prosthetic vision has been the focus of research. This paper proposes two image processing strategies based on a salient object detection technique. The two processing strategies enable the prosthetic implants to focus on the object of interest and suppress the background clutter. Psychophysical experiments show that techniques such as foreground zooming with background clutter removal and foreground edge detection with background reduction have positive impacts on the task of object recognition in simulated prosthetic vision. By using edge detection and zooming technique, the two processing strategies significantly improve the recognition accuracy of objects. We can conclude that the visual prosthesis using our proposed strategy can assist the blind to improve their ability to recognize objects. The results will provide effective solutions for the further development of visual prosthesis.

Optimization of Visual Information Presentation for Visual Prosthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yong

2018-01-01

Visual prosthesis applying electrical stimulation to restore visual function for the blind has promising prospects. However, due to the low resolution, limited visual field, and the low dynamic range of the visual perception, huge loss of information occurred when presenting daily scenes. The ability of object recognition in real-life scenarios is severely restricted for prosthetic users. To overcome the limitations, optimizing the visual information in the simulated prosthetic vision has been the focus of research. This paper proposes two image processing strategies based on a salient object detection technique. The two processing strategies enable the prosthetic implants to focus on the object of interest and suppress the background clutter. Psychophysical experiments show that techniques such as foreground zooming with background clutter removal and foreground edge detection with background reduction have positive impacts on the task of object recognition in simulated prosthetic vision. By using edge detection and zooming technique, the two processing strategies significantly improve the recognition accuracy of objects. We can conclude that the visual prosthesis using our proposed strategy can assist the blind to improve their ability to recognize objects. The results will provide effective solutions for the further development of visual prosthesis. PMID:29731769

Global-local visual biases correspond with visual-spatial orientation.

Science.gov (United States)

Basso, Michael R; Lowery, Natasha

2004-02-01

Within the past decade, numerous investigations have demonstrated reliable associations of global-local visual processing biases with right and left hemisphere function, respectively (cf. Van Kleeck, 1989). Yet the relevance of these biases to other cognitive functions is not well understood. Towards this end, the present research examined the relationship between global-local visual biases and perception of visual-spatial orientation. Twenty-six women and 23 men completed a global-local judgment task (Kimchi and Palmer, 1982) and the Judgment of Line Orientation Test (JLO; Benton, Sivan, Hamsher, Varney, and Spreen, 1994), a measure of visual-spatial orientation. As expected, men had better performance on JLO. Extending previous findings, global biases were related to better visual-spatial acuity on JLO. The findings suggest that global-local biases and visual-spatial orientation may share underlying cerebral mechanisms. Implications of these findings for other visually mediated cognitive outcomes are discussed.

Particle Track Visualization using the MCNP Visual Editor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwarz, Randolph A.; Carter, Lee; Brown, Wendi A.

2001-01-01

The Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) visual editor1,2,3 is used throughout the world for displaying and creating complex MCNP geometries. The visual editor combines the Los Alamos MCNP Fortran code with a C front end to provide a visual interface. A big advantage of this approach is that the particle transport routines for MCNP are available to the visual front end. The latest release of the visual editor by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory enables the user to plot transport data points on top of a two-dimensional geometry plot. The user can plot source points, collisions points, surface crossings, and tally contributions. This capability can be used to show where particle collisions are occurring, verify the effectiveness of the particle biasing, or show which collisions contribute to a tally. For a KCODE (criticality source) calculation, the visual editor can be used to plot the source points for specific cycles

A Comprehensive Optimization Strategy for Real-time Spatial Feature Sharing and Visual Analytics in Cyberinfrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Li, W.; Shao, H.

2017-12-01

For geospatial cyberinfrastructure enabled web services, the ability of rapidly transmitting and sharing spatial data over the Internet plays a critical role to meet the demands of real-time change detection, response and decision-making. Especially for the vector datasets which serve as irreplaceable and concrete material in data-driven geospatial applications, their rich geometry and property information facilitates the development of interactive, efficient and intelligent data analysis and visualization applications. However, the big-data issues of vector datasets have hindered their wide adoption in web services. In this research, we propose a comprehensive optimization strategy to enhance the performance of vector data transmitting and processing. This strategy combines: 1) pre- and on-the-fly generalization, which automatically determines proper simplification level through the introduction of appropriate distance tolerance (ADT) to meet various visualization requirements, and at the same time speed up simplification efficiency; 2) a progressive attribute transmission method to reduce data size and therefore the service response time; 3) compressed data transmission and dynamic adoption of a compression method to maximize the service efficiency under different computing and network environments. A cyberinfrastructure web portal was developed for implementing the proposed technologies. After applying our optimization strategies, substantial performance enhancement is achieved. We expect this work to widen the use of web service providing vector data to support real-time spatial feature sharing, visual analytics and decision-making.

Halftone visual cryptography.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Zhi; Arce, Gonzalo R; Di Crescenzo, Giovanni

2006-08-01

Visual cryptography encodes a secret binary image (SI) into n shares of random binary patterns. If the shares are xeroxed onto transparencies, the secret image can be visually decoded by superimposing a qualified subset of transparencies, but no secret information can be obtained from the superposition of a forbidden subset. The binary patterns of the n shares, however, have no visual meaning and hinder the objectives of visual cryptography. Extended visual cryptography [1] was proposed recently to construct meaningful binary images as shares using hypergraph colourings, but the visual quality is poor. In this paper, a novel technique named halftone visual cryptography is proposed to achieve visual cryptography via halftoning. Based on the blue-noise dithering principles, the proposed method utilizes the void and cluster algorithm [2] to encode a secret binary image into n halftone shares (images) carrying significant visual information. The simulation shows that the visual quality of the obtained halftone shares are observably better than that attained by any available visual cryptography method known to date.

Monocular Visual Deprivation Suppresses Excitability in Adult Human Visual Cortex

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lou, Astrid Rosenstand; Madsen, Kristoffer Hougaard; Paulson, Olaf Bjarne

2011-01-01

The adult visual cortex maintains a substantial potential for plasticity in response to a change in visual input. For instance, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have shown that binocular deprivation (BD) increases the cortical excitability for inducing phosphenes with TMS. Here, we...... of visual deprivation has a substantial impact on experience-dependent plasticity of the human visual cortex.......The adult visual cortex maintains a substantial potential for plasticity in response to a change in visual input. For instance, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have shown that binocular deprivation (BD) increases the cortical excitability for inducing phosphenes with TMS. Here, we...... employed TMS to trace plastic changes in adult visual cortex before, during, and after 48 h of monocular deprivation (MD) of the right dominant eye. In healthy adult volunteers, MD-induced changes in visual cortex excitability were probed with paired-pulse TMS applied to the left and right occipital cortex...

Data visualization

CERN Document Server

Azzam, Tarek

2013-01-01

Do you communicate data and information to stakeholders? In Part 1, we introduce recent developments in the quantitative and qualitative data visualization field and provide a historical perspective on data visualization, its potential role in evaluation practice, and future directions. Part 2 delivers concrete suggestions for optimally using data visualization in evaluation, as well as suggestions for best practices in data visualization design. It focuses on specific quantitative and qualitative data visualization approaches that include data dashboards, graphic recording, and geographic information systems (GIS). Readers will get a step-by-step process for designing an effective data dashboard system for programs and organizations, and various suggestions to improve their utility.

SeeDB: Efficient Data-Driven Visualization Recommendations to Support Visual Analytics.

Science.gov (United States)

Vartak, Manasi; Rahman, Sajjadur; Madden, Samuel; Parameswaran, Aditya; Polyzotis, Neoklis

2015-09-01

Data analysts often build visualizations as the first step in their analytical workflow. However, when working with high-dimensional datasets, identifying visualizations that show relevant or desired trends in data can be laborious. We propose SeeDB, a visualization recommendation engine to facilitate fast visual analysis: given a subset of data to be studied, SeeDB intelligently explores the space of visualizations, evaluates promising visualizations for trends, and recommends those it deems most "useful" or "interesting". The two major obstacles in recommending interesting visualizations are (a) scale : evaluating a large number of candidate visualizations while responding within interactive time scales, and (b) utility : identifying an appropriate metric for assessing interestingness of visualizations. For the former, SeeDB introduces pruning optimizations to quickly identify high-utility visualizations and sharing optimizations to maximize sharing of computation across visualizations. For the latter, as a first step, we adopt a deviation-based metric for visualization utility, while indicating how we may be able to generalize it to other factors influencing utility. We implement SeeDB as a middleware layer that can run on top of any DBMS. Our experiments show that our framework can identify interesting visualizations with high accuracy. Our optimizations lead to multiple orders of magnitude speedup on relational row and column stores and provide recommendations at interactive time scales. Finally, we demonstrate via a user study the effectiveness of our deviation-based utility metric and the value of recommendations in supporting visual analytics.

[Progressive visual agnosia].

Science.gov (United States)

Sugimoto, Azusa; Futamura, Akinori; Kawamura, Mitsuru

2011-10-01

Progressive visual agnosia was discovered in the 20th century following the discovery of classical non-progressive visual agnosia. In contrast to the classical type, which is caused by cerebral vascular disease or traumatic injury, progressive visual agnosia is a symptom of neurological degeneration. The condition of progressive visual loss, including visual agnosia, and posterior cerebral atrophy was named posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) by Benson et al. (1988). Progressive visual agnosia is also observed in semantic dementia (SD) and other degenerative diseases, but there is a difference in the subtype of visual agnosia associated with these diseases. Lissauer (1890) classified visual agnosia into apperceptive and associative types, and it in most cases, PCA is associated with the apperceptive type. However, SD patients exhibit symptoms of associative visual agnosia before changing to those of semantic memory disorder. Insights into progressive visual agnosia have helped us understand the visual system and discover how we "perceive" the outer world neuronally, with regard to consciousness. Although PCA is a type of atypical dementia, its diagnosis is important to enable patients to live better lives with appropriate functional support.

Visual Artist or Visual Designer? Visual Communication Design Education

OpenAIRE

Arsoy, Aysu

2010-01-01

ABSTRACT: Design tools and contents have been digitalized, forming the contemporary fields of the visual arts and design. Corporate culture demands techno-social experts who understand the arts, design, culture and society, while also having a high level of technological proficiency. New departments have opened offering alternatives in art and design education such as Visual Communication Design (VCD) and are dedicated to educating students in the practical aspect of using digital technologi...

Visual Semiotics & Uncertainty Visualization: An Empirical Study.

Science.gov (United States)

MacEachren, A M; Roth, R E; O'Brien, J; Li, B; Swingley, D; Gahegan, M

2012-12-01

This paper presents two linked empirical studies focused on uncertainty visualization. The experiments are framed from two conceptual perspectives. First, a typology of uncertainty is used to delineate kinds of uncertainty matched with space, time, and attribute components of data. Second, concepts from visual semiotics are applied to characterize the kind of visual signification that is appropriate for representing those different categories of uncertainty. This framework guided the two experiments reported here. The first addresses representation intuitiveness, considering both visual variables and iconicity of representation. The second addresses relative performance of the most intuitive abstract and iconic representations of uncertainty on a map reading task. Combined results suggest initial guidelines for representing uncertainty and discussion focuses on practical applicability of results.

Dynamic visual noise interferes with storage in visual working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Dean, Graham M; Dewhurst, Stephen A; Whittaker, Annalise

2008-01-01

Several studies have demonstrated that dynamic visual noise (DVN) does not interfere with memory for random matrices. This has led to suggestions that (a) visual working memory is distinct from imagery, and (b) visual working memory is not a gateway between sensory input and long-term storage. A comparison of the interference effects of DVN with memory for matrices and colored textures shows that DVN can interfere with visual working memory, probably at a level of visual detail not easily supported by long-term memory structures or the recoding of the visual pattern elements. The results support a gateway model of visuospatial working memory and raise questions about the most appropriate ways to measure and model the different levels of representation of information that can be held in visual working memory.

Open cyberGIS software for geospatial research and education in the big data era

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shaowen; Liu, Yan; Padmanabhan, Anand

CyberGIS represents an interdisciplinary field combining advanced cyberinfrastructure, geographic information science and systems (GIS), spatial analysis and modeling, and a number of geospatial domains to improve research productivity and enable scientific breakthroughs. It has emerged as new-generation GIS that enable unprecedented advances in data-driven knowledge discovery, visualization and visual analytics, and collaborative problem solving and decision-making. This paper describes three open software strategies-open access, source, and integration-to serve various research and education purposes of diverse geospatial communities. These strategies have been implemented in a leading-edge cyberGIS software environment through three corresponding software modalities: CyberGIS Gateway, Toolkit, and Middleware, and achieved broad and significant impacts.

Open cyberGIS software for geospatial research and education in the big data era

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaowen Wang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available CyberGIS represents an interdisciplinary field combining advanced cyberinfrastructure, geographic information science and systems (GIS, spatial analysis and modeling, and a number of geospatial domains to improve research productivity and enable scientific breakthroughs. It has emerged as new-generation GIS that enable unprecedented advances in data-driven knowledge discovery, visualization and visual analytics, and collaborative problem solving and decision-making. This paper describes three open software strategies–open access, source, and integration–to serve various research and education purposes of diverse geospatial communities. These strategies have been implemented in a leading-edge cyberGIS software environment through three corresponding software modalities: CyberGIS Gateway, Toolkit, and Middleware, and achieved broad and significant impacts.

Prism therapy and visual rehabilitation in homonymous visual field loss.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

O'Neill, Evelyn C

2011-02-01

Homonymous visual field defects (HVFD) are common and frequently occur after cerebrovascular accidents. They significantly impair visual function and cause disability particularly with regard to visual exploration. The purpose of this study was to assess a novel interventional treatment of monocular prism therapy on visual functioning in patients with HVFD of varied etiology using vision targeted, health-related quality of life (QOL) questionnaires. Our secondary aim was to confirm monocular and binocular visual field expansion pre- and posttreatment.

Using Immersive Visualizations to Improve Decision Making and Enhancing Public Understanding of Earth Resource and Climate Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, K. C.; Raynolds, R. G.; Dechesne, M.

2008-12-01

New visualization technologies, from ArcGIS to Google Earth, have allowed for the integration of complex, disparate data sets to produce visually rich and compelling three-dimensional models of sub-surface and surface resource distribution patterns. The rendering of these models allows the public to quickly understand complicated geospatial relationships that would otherwise take much longer to explain using traditional media. We have impacted the community through topical policy presentations at both state and city levels, adult education classes at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS), and public lectures at DMNS. We have constructed three-dimensional models from well data and surface observations which allow policy makers to better understand the distribution of groundwater in sandstone aquifers of the Denver Basin. Our presentations to local governments in the Denver metro area have allowed resource managers to better project future ground water depletion patterns, and to encourage development of alternative sources. DMNS adult education classes on water resources, geography, and regional geology, as well as public lectures on global issues such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and resource depletion, have utilized the visualizations developed from these research models. In addition to presenting GIS models in traditional lectures, we have also made use of the immersive display capabilities of the digital "fulldome" Gates Planetarium at DMNS. The real-time Uniview visualization application installed at Gates was designed for teaching astronomy, but it can be re-purposed for displaying our model datasets in the context of the Earth's surface. The 17-meter diameter dome of the Gates Planetarium allows an audience to have an immersive experience---similar to virtual reality CAVEs employed by the oil exploration industry---that would otherwise not be available to the general public. Public lectures in the dome allow audiences of over 100 people to comprehend

Visual Constructive and Visual-Motor Skills in Deaf Native Signers

Science.gov (United States)

Hauser, Peter C.; Cohen, Julie; Dye, Matthew W. G.; Bavelier, Daphne

2007-01-01

Visual constructive and visual-motor skills in the deaf population were investigated by comparing performance of deaf native signers (n = 20) to that of hearing nonsigners (n = 20) on the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, Wechsler Memory Scale Visual Reproduction subtest, and…

Interaction for visualization

CERN Document Server

Tominski, Christian

2015-01-01

Visualization has become a valuable means for data exploration and analysis. Interactive visualization combines expressive graphical representations and effective user interaction. Although interaction is an important component of visualization approaches, much of the visualization literature tends to pay more attention to the graphical representation than to interaction.The goal of this work is to strengthen the interaction side of visualization. Based on a brief review of general aspects of interaction, we develop an interaction-oriented view on visualization. This view comprises five key as

[An epidemiological study of visual disability and visual rehabilitation in Beijing].

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Yan-hong; Ding, Ji-yuan; Peng, Hong; Shi, Ji-liang; Qu, Cheng-yi; Liu, Xi-pu

2009-12-01

To investigate the status of visual disability and the demands for visual rehabilitation services in Beijing. Five hundred and fifty-five persons with visual disability in Beijing from the Second National Survey on Disability of China were involved in this study. Their visual disability and demands for rehabilitation were evaluated. About three fourth of the visual disabled persons were over 60 years of age. Cataract, retinal and choroidal diseases, and glaucoma were the three leading causes of the visual impairment. Medical service was the number one (82.0%) demand for the persons with visual disability, although 89.4% of them had previously received some kinds of medial services. People who had received visual aid devices or rehabilitation training were 26.7% and 5.8%, respectively, while more people showed their demand for these service (36.6% and 11.9%, respectively). The demand for visual rehabilitation varied in different groups of age and severity of disability. Accessibility of high quality medical services for preventable blindness diseases should be further promoted. Public health education on visual rehabilitation is also needed.

Visual Working Memory Enhances the Neural Response to Matching Visual Input.

Science.gov (United States)

Gayet, Surya; Guggenmos, Matthias; Christophel, Thomas B; Haynes, John-Dylan; Paffen, Chris L E; Van der Stigchel, Stefan; Sterzer, Philipp

2017-07-12

Visual working memory (VWM) is used to maintain visual information available for subsequent goal-directed behavior. The content of VWM has been shown to affect the behavioral response to concurrent visual input, suggesting that visual representations originating from VWM and from sensory input draw upon a shared neural substrate (i.e., a sensory recruitment stance on VWM storage). Here, we hypothesized that visual information maintained in VWM would enhance the neural response to concurrent visual input that matches the content of VWM. To test this hypothesis, we measured fMRI BOLD responses to task-irrelevant stimuli acquired from 15 human participants (three males) performing a concurrent delayed match-to-sample task. In this task, observers were sequentially presented with two shape stimuli and a retro-cue indicating which of the two shapes should be memorized for subsequent recognition. During the retention interval, a task-irrelevant shape (the probe) was briefly presented in the peripheral visual field, which could either match or mismatch the shape category of the memorized stimulus. We show that this probe stimulus elicited a stronger BOLD response, and allowed for increased shape-classification performance, when it matched rather than mismatched the concurrently memorized content, despite identical visual stimulation. Our results demonstrate that VWM enhances the neural response to concurrent visual input in a content-specific way. This finding is consistent with the view that neural populations involved in sensory processing are recruited for VWM storage, and it provides a common explanation for a plethora of behavioral studies in which VWM-matching visual input elicits a stronger behavioral and perceptual response. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Humans heavily rely on visual information to interact with their environment and frequently must memorize such information for later use. Visual working memory allows for maintaining such visual information in the mind

Constructing visual representations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huron, Samuel; Jansen, Yvonne; Carpendale, Sheelagh

2014-01-01

tangible building blocks. We learned that all participants, most of whom had little experience in visualization authoring, were readily able to create and talk about their own visualizations. Based on our observations, we discuss participants’ actions during the development of their visual representations......The accessibility of infovis authoring tools to a wide audience has been identified as a major research challenge. A key task in the authoring process is the development of visual mappings. While the infovis community has long been deeply interested in finding effective visual mappings......, comparatively little attention has been placed on how people construct visual mappings. In this paper, we present the results of a study designed to shed light on how people transform data into visual representations. We asked people to create, update and explain their own information visualizations using only...

Emergence of auditory-visual relations from a visual-visual baseline with auditory-specific consequences in individuals with autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Varella, André A B; de Souza, Deisy G

2014-07-01

Empirical studies have demonstrated that class-specific contingencies may engender stimulus-reinforcer relations. In these studies, crossmodal relations emerged when crossmodal relations comprised the baseline, and intramodal relations emerged when intramodal relations were taught during baseline. This study investigated whether auditory-visual relations (crossmodal) would emerge after participants learned a visual-visual baseline (intramodal) with auditory stimuli presented as specific consequences. Four individuals with autism learned AB and CD relations with class-specific reinforcers. When A1 and C1 were presented as samples, the selections of B1 and D1, respectively, were followed by an edible (R1) and a sound (S1). Selections of B2 and D2 under the control of A2 and C2, respectively, were followed by R2 and S2. Probe trials tested for visual-visual AC, CA, AD, DA, BC, CB, BD, and DB emergent relations and auditory-visual SA, SB, SC, and SD emergent relations. All of the participants demonstrated the emergence of all auditory-visual relations, and three of four participants showed emergence of all visual-visual relations. Thus, the emergence of auditory-visual relations from specific auditory consequences suggests that these relations do not depend on crossmodal baseline training. The procedure has great potential for applied technology to generate auditory-visual discriminations and stimulus classes in the context of behavior-analytic interventions for autism. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Visual Ecology and the Development of Visually Guided Behavior in the Cuttlefish

OpenAIRE

Darmaillacq, Anne-Sophie; Mezrai, Nawel; O'Brien, Caitlin E.; Dickel, Ludovic

2017-01-01

International audience; Cuttlefish are highly visual animals, a fact reflected in the large size of their eyes and visual-processing centers of their brain. Adults detect their prey visually, navigate using visual cues such as landmarks or the e-vector of polarized light and display intense visual patterns during mating and agonistic encounters. Although much is known about the visual system in adult cuttlefish, few studies have investigated its development and that of visually-guided behavio...

A Visual Test for Visual "Literacy."

Science.gov (United States)

Messaris, Paul

Four different principles of visual manipulation constitute a minimal list of what a visually "literate" viewer should know about, but certain problems exist which are inherent in measuring viewers' awareness of each of them. The four principles are: (1) paraproxemics, or camera work which derives its effectiveness from an analogy to the…

Visual Memories Bypass Normalization.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloem, Ilona M; Watanabe, Yurika L; Kibbe, Melissa M; Ling, Sam

2018-05-01

How distinct are visual memory representations from visual perception? Although evidence suggests that briefly remembered stimuli are represented within early visual cortices, the degree to which these memory traces resemble true visual representations remains something of a mystery. Here, we tested whether both visual memory and perception succumb to a seemingly ubiquitous neural computation: normalization. Observers were asked to remember the contrast of visual stimuli, which were pitted against each other to promote normalization either in perception or in visual memory. Our results revealed robust normalization between visual representations in perception, yet no signature of normalization occurring between working memory stores-neither between representations in memory nor between memory representations and visual inputs. These results provide unique insight into the nature of visual memory representations, illustrating that visual memory representations follow a different set of computational rules, bypassing normalization, a canonical visual computation.

Visual cognition

Science.gov (United States)

Cavanagh, Patrick

2011-01-01

Visual cognition, high-level vision, mid-level vision and top-down processing all refer to decision-based scene analyses that combine prior knowledge with retinal input to generate representations. The label “visual cognition” is little used at present, but research and experiments on mid- and high-level, inference-based vision have flourished, becoming in the 21st century a significant, if often understated part, of current vision research. How does visual cognition work? What are its moving parts? This paper reviews the origins and architecture of visual cognition and briefly describes some work in the areas of routines, attention, surfaces, objects, and events (motion, causality, and agency). Most vision scientists avoid being too explicit when presenting concepts about visual cognition, having learned that explicit models invite easy criticism. What we see in the literature is ample evidence for visual cognition, but few or only cautious attempts to detail how it might work. This is the great unfinished business of vision research: at some point we will be done with characterizing how the visual system measures the world and we will have to return to the question of how vision constructs models of objects, surfaces, scenes, and events. PMID:21329719

Visual cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavanagh, Patrick

2011-07-01

Visual cognition, high-level vision, mid-level vision and top-down processing all refer to decision-based scene analyses that combine prior knowledge with retinal input to generate representations. The label "visual cognition" is little used at present, but research and experiments on mid- and high-level, inference-based vision have flourished, becoming in the 21st century a significant, if often understated part, of current vision research. How does visual cognition work? What are its moving parts? This paper reviews the origins and architecture of visual cognition and briefly describes some work in the areas of routines, attention, surfaces, objects, and events (motion, causality, and agency). Most vision scientists avoid being too explicit when presenting concepts about visual cognition, having learned that explicit models invite easy criticism. What we see in the literature is ample evidence for visual cognition, but few or only cautious attempts to detail how it might work. This is the great unfinished business of vision research: at some point we will be done with characterizing how the visual system measures the world and we will have to return to the question of how vision constructs models of objects, surfaces, scenes, and events. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Visual Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buhl, Mie; Flensborg, Ingelise

2010-01-01

The intrinsic breadth of various types of images creates new possibilities and challenges for visual education. The digital media have moved the boundaries between images and other kinds of modalities (e.g. writing, speech and sound) and have augmented the possibilities for integrating the functi......The intrinsic breadth of various types of images creates new possibilities and challenges for visual education. The digital media have moved the boundaries between images and other kinds of modalities (e.g. writing, speech and sound) and have augmented the possibilities for integrating...... to emerge in the interlocutory space of a global visual repertoire and diverse local interpretations. The two perspectives represent challenges for future visual education which require visual competences, not only within the arts but also within the subjects of natural sciences, social sciences, languages...

Perceptual Learning in Children With Visual Impairment Improves Near Visual Acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, Bianca; Boonstra, F. Nienke; Cox, Ralf F. A.; van Rens, Ger; Cillessen, Antonius H. N.

PURPOSE. This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four-to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. METHODS. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Perceptual Learning in Children With Visual Impairment Improves Near Visual Acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, B.; Boonstra, F.N.; Cox, R.F.A.; van Rens, G.H.M.B.; Cillessen, A.H.N.

2013-01-01

Purpose. This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four- to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. Methods. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Perceptual learning in children with visual impairment improves near visual acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, B.; Boonstra, F.N.; Cox, R.F.; Rens, G. van; Cillessen, A.H.

2013-01-01

PURPOSE: This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four- to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. METHODS: Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Perceptual Learning in Children With Visual Impairment Improves Near Visual Acuity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huurneman, B.; Boonstra, F.N.; Cox, R.F.A.; Rens, G.H.M.B. van; Cillessen, A.H.N.

2013-01-01

PURPOSE. This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four-to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. METHODS. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children

Lateralized visual behavior in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) performing audio-visual tasks: the right visual field advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Delfour, F; Marten, K

2006-01-10

Analyzing cerebral asymmetries in various species helps in understanding brain organization. The left and right sides of the brain (lateralization) are involved in different cognitive and sensory functions. This study focuses on dolphin visual lateralization as expressed by spontaneous eye preference when performing a complex cognitive task; we examine lateralization when processing different visual stimuli displayed on an underwater touch-screen (two-dimensional figures, three-dimensional figures and dolphin/human video sequences). Three female bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were submitted to a 2-, 3- or 4-, choice visual/auditory discrimination problem, without any food reward: the subjects had to correctly match visual and acoustic stimuli together. In order to visualize and to touch the underwater target, the dolphins had to come close to the touch-screen and to position themselves using monocular vision (left or right eye) and/or binocular naso-ventral vision. The results showed an ability to associate simple visual forms and auditory information using an underwater touch-screen. Moreover, the subjects showed a spontaneous tendency to use monocular vision. Contrary to previous findings, our results did not clearly demonstrate right eye preference in spontaneous choice. However, the individuals' scores of correct answers were correlated with right eye vision, demonstrating the advantage of this visual field in visual information processing and suggesting a left hemispheric dominance. We also demonstrated that the nature of the presented visual stimulus does not seem to have any influence on the animals' monocular vision choice.

EDITORIAL: Focus on Visualization in Physics FOCUS ON VISUALIZATION IN PHYSICS

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Barry C.; Senden, Tim; Springel, Volker

2008-12-01

Advances in physics are intimately connected with developments in a new technology, the telescope, precision clocks, even the computer all have heralded a shift in thinking. These landmark developments open new opportunities accelerating research and in turn new scientific directions. These technological drivers often correspond to new instruments, but equally might just as well flag a new mathematical tool, an algorithm or even means to visualize physics in a new way. Early on in this twenty-first century, scientific communities are just starting to explore the potential of digital visualization. Whether visualization is used to represent and communicate complex concepts, or to understand and interpret experimental data, or to visualize solutions to complex dynamical equations, the basic tools of visualization are shared in each of these applications and implementations. High-performance computing exemplifies the integration of visualization with leading research. Visualization is an indispensable tool for analyzing and interpreting complex three-dimensional dynamics as well as to diagnose numerical problems in intricate parallel calculation algorithms. The effectiveness of visualization arises by exploiting the unmatched capability of the human eye and visual cortex to process the large information content of images. In a brief glance, we recognize patterns or identify subtle features even in noisy data, something that is difficult or impossible to achieve with more traditional forms of data analysis. Importantly, visualizations guide the intuition of researchers and help to comprehend physical phenomena that lie far outside of direct experience. In fact, visualizations literally allow us to see what would otherwise remain completely invisible. For example, artificial imagery created to visualize the distribution of dark matter in the Universe has been instrumental to develop the notion of a cosmic web, and for helping to establish the current standard model of

Visual working memory enhances the neural response to matching visual input

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gayet, Surya; Guggenmos, Matthias; Christophel, Thomas B; Haynes, John-Dylan; Paffen, Chris L E; Van der Stigchel, Stefan; Sterzer, Philipp

2017-01-01

Visual working memory (VWM) is used to maintain visual information available for subsequent goal-directed behavior. The content of VWM has been shown to affect the behavioral response to concurrent visual input, suggesting that visual representations originating from VWM and from sensory input draw

Visual coherence for large-scale line-plot visualizations

KAUST Repository

Muigg, Philipp

2011-06-01

Displaying a large number of lines within a limited amount of screen space is a task that is common to many different classes of visualization techniques such as time-series visualizations, parallel coordinates, link-node diagrams, and phase-space diagrams. This paper addresses the challenging problems of cluttering and overdraw inherent to such visualizations. We generate a 2x2 tensor field during line rasterization that encodes the distribution of line orientations through each image pixel. Anisotropic diffusion of a noise texture is then used to generate a dense, coherent visualization of line orientation. In order to represent features of different scales, we employ a multi-resolution representation of the tensor field. The resulting technique can easily be applied to a wide variety of line-based visualizations. We demonstrate this for parallel coordinates, a time-series visualization, and a phase-space diagram. Furthermore, we demonstrate how to integrate a focus+context approach by incorporating a second tensor field. Our approach achieves interactive rendering performance for large data sets containing millions of data items, due to its image-based nature and ease of implementation on GPUs. Simulation results from computational fluid dynamics are used to evaluate the performance and usefulness of the proposed method. © 2011 The Author(s).

Visual coherence for large-scale line-plot visualizations

KAUST Repository

Muigg, Philipp; Hadwiger, Markus; Doleisch, Helmut; Grö ller, Eduard M.

2011-01-01

Displaying a large number of lines within a limited amount of screen space is a task that is common to many different classes of visualization techniques such as time-series visualizations, parallel coordinates, link-node diagrams, and phase-space diagrams. This paper addresses the challenging problems of cluttering and overdraw inherent to such visualizations. We generate a 2x2 tensor field during line rasterization that encodes the distribution of line orientations through each image pixel. Anisotropic diffusion of a noise texture is then used to generate a dense, coherent visualization of line orientation. In order to represent features of different scales, we employ a multi-resolution representation of the tensor field. The resulting technique can easily be applied to a wide variety of line-based visualizations. We demonstrate this for parallel coordinates, a time-series visualization, and a phase-space diagram. Furthermore, we demonstrate how to integrate a focus+context approach by incorporating a second tensor field. Our approach achieves interactive rendering performance for large data sets containing millions of data items, due to its image-based nature and ease of implementation on GPUs. Simulation results from computational fluid dynamics are used to evaluate the performance and usefulness of the proposed method. © 2011 The Author(s).

Generating descriptive visual words and visual phrases for large-scale image applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shiliang; Tian, Qi; Hua, Gang; Huang, Qingming; Gao, Wen

2011-09-01

Bag-of-visual Words (BoWs) representation has been applied for various problems in the fields of multimedia and computer vision. The basic idea is to represent images as visual documents composed of repeatable and distinctive visual elements, which are comparable to the text words. Notwithstanding its great success and wide adoption, visual vocabulary created from single-image local descriptors is often shown to be not as effective as desired. In this paper, descriptive visual words (DVWs) and descriptive visual phrases (DVPs) are proposed as the visual correspondences to text words and phrases, where visual phrases refer to the frequently co-occurring visual word pairs. Since images are the carriers of visual objects and scenes, a descriptive visual element set can be composed by the visual words and their combinations which are effective in representing certain visual objects or scenes. Based on this idea, a general framework is proposed for generating DVWs and DVPs for image applications. In a large-scale image database containing 1506 object and scene categories, the visual words and visual word pairs descriptive to certain objects or scenes are identified and collected as the DVWs and DVPs. Experiments show that the DVWs and DVPs are informative and descriptive and, thus, are more comparable with the text words than the classic visual words. We apply the identified DVWs and DVPs in several applications including large-scale near-duplicated image retrieval, image search re-ranking, and object recognition. The combination of DVW and DVP performs better than the state of the art in large-scale near-duplicated image retrieval in terms of accuracy, efficiency and memory consumption. The proposed image search re-ranking algorithm: DWPRank outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithm by 12.4% in mean average precision and about 11 times faster in efficiency.

Do gender differences in audio-visual benefit and visual influence in audio-visual speech perception emerge with age?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magnus eAlm

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Gender and age have been found to affect adults’ audio-visual (AV speech perception. However, research on adult aging focuses on adults over 60 years, who have an increasing likelihood for cognitive and sensory decline, which may confound positive effects of age-related AV-experience and its interaction with gender. Observed age and gender differences in AV speech perception may also depend on measurement sensitivity and AV task difficulty. Consequently both AV benefit and visual influence were used to measure visual contribution for gender-balanced groups of young (20-30 years and middle-aged adults (50-60 years with task difficulty varied using AV syllables from different talkers in alternative auditory backgrounds. Females had better speech-reading performance than males. Whereas no gender differences in AV benefit or visual influence were observed for young adults, visually influenced responses were significantly greater for middle-aged females than middle-aged males. That speech-reading performance did not influence AV benefit may be explained by visual speech extraction and AV integration constituting independent abilities. Contrastingly, the gender difference in visually influenced responses in middle adulthood may reflect an experience-related shift in females’ general AV perceptual strategy. Although young females’ speech-reading proficiency may not readily contribute to greater visual influence, between young and middle-adulthood recurrent confirmation of the contribution of visual cues induced by speech-reading proficiency may gradually shift females AV perceptual strategy towards more visually dominated responses.

Traffic Visualization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Picozzi, Matteo; Verdezoto, Nervo; Pouke, Matti

2013-01-01

In this paper, we present a space-time visualization to provide city's decision-makers the ability to analyse and uncover important "city events" in an understandable manner for city planning activities. An interactive Web mashup visualization is presented that integrates several visualization...... techniques to give a rapid overview of traffic data. We illustrate our approach as a case study for traffic visualization systems, using datasets from the city of Oulu that can be extended to other city planning activities. We also report the feedback of real users (traffic management employees, traffic police...

Object representations in visual memory: evidence from visual illusions.

Science.gov (United States)

Ben-Shalom, Asaf; Ganel, Tzvi

2012-07-26

Human visual memory is considered to contain different levels of object representations. Representations in visual working memory (VWM) are thought to contain relatively elaborated information about object structure. Conversely, representations in iconic memory are thought to be more perceptual in nature. In four experiments, we tested the effects of two different categories of visual illusions on representations in VWM and in iconic memory. Unlike VWM that was affected by both types of illusions, iconic memory was immune to the effects of within-object contextual illusions and was affected only by illusions driven by between-objects contextual properties. These results show that iconic and visual working memory contain dissociable representations of object shape. These findings suggest that the global properties of the visual scene are processed prior to the processing of specific elements.

Cortical visual impairment

OpenAIRE

Koželj, Urša

2013-01-01

In this thesis we discuss cortical visual impairment, diagnosis that is in the developed world in first place, since 20 percent of children with blindness or low vision are diagnosed with it. The objectives of the thesis are to define cortical visual impairment and the definition of characters suggestive of the cortical visual impairment as well as to search for causes that affect the growing diagnosis of cortical visual impairment. There are a lot of signs of cortical visual impairment. ...

Dynamic visual noise reduces confidence in short-term memory for visual information.

Science.gov (United States)

Kemps, Eva; Andrade, Jackie

2012-05-01

Previous research has shown effects of the visual interference technique, dynamic visual noise (DVN), on visual imagery, but not on visual short-term memory, unless retention of precise visual detail is required. This study tested the prediction that DVN does also affect retention of gross visual information, specifically by reducing confidence. Participants performed a matrix pattern memory task with three retention interval interference conditions (DVN, static visual noise and no interference control) that varied from trial to trial. At recall, participants indicated whether or not they were sure of their responses. As in previous research, DVN did not impair recall accuracy or latency on the task, but it did reduce recall confidence relative to static visual noise and no interference. We conclude that DVN does distort visual representations in short-term memory, but standard coarse-grained recall measures are insensitive to these distortions.

Bridging the Gap between NASA Hydrological Data and the Geospatial Community

Science.gov (United States)

Rui, Hualan; Teng, Bill; Vollmer, Bruce; Mocko, David M.; Beaudoing, Hiroko K.; Nigro, Joseph; Gary, Mark; Maidment, David; Hooper, Richard

2011-01-01

There is a vast and ever increasing amount of data on the Earth interconnected energy and hydrological systems, available from NASA remote sensing and modeling systems, and yet, one challenge persists: increasing the usefulness of these data for, and thus their use by, the geospatial communities. The Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC), part of the Goddard Earth Sciences DISC, has continually worked to better understand the hydrological data needs of the geospatial end users, to thus better able to bridge the gap between NASA data and the geospatial communities. This paper will cover some of the hydrological data sets available from HDISC, and the various tools and services developed for data searching, data subletting ; format conversion. online visualization and analysis; interoperable access; etc.; to facilitate the integration of NASA hydrological data by end users. The NASA Goddard data analysis and visualization system, Giovanni, is described. Two case examples of user-customized data services are given, involving the EPA BASINS (Better Assessment Science Integrating point & Non-point Sources) project and the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System, with the common requirement of on-the-fly retrieval of long duration time series for a geographical point

The Application of Visual Illusion in the Visual Communication Design

Science.gov (United States)

Xin, Tao; You Ye, Han

2018-03-01

With the development of our national reform, opening up and modernization, the science and technology has also been well developed and it has been applied in every wall of life, the development of visual illusion industry is represented in the widespread use of advanced technology in it. Ultimately, the visual illusion is a phenomenon, it should be analyzed from the angles of physics and philosophy. The widespread application of visual illusion not only can improve the picture quality, but also could maximize peoples’ sense degree through the visual communication design works, expand people’s horizons and promote the diversity of visual communication design works.

Insensitivity of visual short-term memory to irrelevant visual information

OpenAIRE

Andrade, Jackie; Kemps, Eva; Werniers, Yves; May, Jon; Szmalec, Arnaud

2002-01-01

Several authors have hypothesised that visuo-spatial working memory is functionally analogous to verbal working memory. Irrelevant background speech impairs verbal short-term memory. We investigated whether irrelevant visual information has an analogous effect on visual short-term memory, using a dynamic visual noise (DVN) technique known to disrupt visual imagery (Quinn & McConnell, 1996a). Experiment 1 replicated the effect of DVN on pegword imagery. Experiments 2 and 3 showed no effect of ...

Designing Visual Character Of Raden Wijaya As Historical Figure In Visual Novel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dendi Pratama

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Visual character in Visual Novel games have the power to carry messages. Creation of visual characters in historical narratives can also bring cultural meaning. This study examines the creation of Raden Wijaya visual character as a case example in Visual Novel Twist Majapahit which is set in Majapahit kingdom but with manga-style visualization. On the contrary the creation of Raden Wijaya visual character in this study is more trying to accentuate the characteristic of Indonesia. The choice of Raden Wijaya character is based on consideration because it has historically included a major influence in expanding the royal power. The study discussions are elaborated qualitatively with the Social Semiotic approach that analyzes informative functions interactive functions and imaginative functions in visual character design elements. The results of this study show that design elements can build a comprehensive association of meanings so that the creation of visual characters tailored to historical figures has the potential to bring cultural messages.

GeoSearch: A lightweight broking middleware for geospatial resources discovery

Science.gov (United States)

Gui, Z.; Yang, C.; Liu, K.; Xia, J.

2012-12-01

With petabytes of geodata, thousands of geospatial web services available over the Internet, it is critical to support geoscience research and applications by finding the best-fit geospatial resources from the massive and heterogeneous resources. Past decades' developments witnessed the operation of many service components to facilitate geospatial resource management and discovery. However, efficient and accurate geospatial resource discovery is still a big challenge due to the following reasons: 1)The entry barriers (also called "learning curves") hinder the usability of discovery services to end users. Different portals and catalogues always adopt various access protocols, metadata formats and GUI styles to organize, present and publish metadata. It is hard for end users to learn all these technical details and differences. 2)The cost for federating heterogeneous services is high. To provide sufficient resources and facilitate data discovery, many registries adopt periodic harvesting mechanism to retrieve metadata from other federated catalogues. These time-consuming processes lead to network and storage burdens, data redundancy, and also the overhead of maintaining data consistency. 3)The heterogeneous semantics issues in data discovery. Since the keyword matching is still the primary search method in many operational discovery services, the search accuracy (precision and recall) is hard to guarantee. Semantic technologies (such as semantic reasoning and similarity evaluation) offer a solution to solve these issues. However, integrating semantic technologies with existing service is challenging due to the expandability limitations on the service frameworks and metadata templates. 4)The capabilities to help users make final selection are inadequate. Most of the existing search portals lack intuitive and diverse information visualization methods and functions (sort, filter) to present, explore and analyze search results. Furthermore, the presentation of the value

Perceptions Concerning Visual Culture Dialogues of Visual Art Pre-Service Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Mamur, Nuray

2012-01-01

The visual art which is commented by the visual art teachers to help processing of the visual culture is important. In this study it is tried to describe the effect of visual culture based on the usual aesthetic experiences to be included in the learning process art education. The action research design, which is a qualitative study, is conducted…

The primary visual cortex in the neural circuit for visual orienting

Science.gov (United States)

Zhaoping, Li

The primary visual cortex (V1) is traditionally viewed as remote from influencing brain's motor outputs. However, V1 provides the most abundant cortical inputs directly to the sensory layers of superior colliculus (SC), a midbrain structure to command visual orienting such as shifting gaze and turning heads. I will show physiological, anatomical, and behavioral data suggesting that V1 transforms visual input into a saliency map to guide a class of visual orienting that is reflexive or involuntary. In particular, V1 receives a retinotopic map of visual features, such as orientation, color, and motion direction of local visual inputs; local interactions between V1 neurons perform a local-to-global computation to arrive at a saliency map that highlights conspicuous visual locations by higher V1 responses. The conspicuous location are usually, but not always, where visual input statistics changes. The population V1 outputs to SC, which is also retinotopic, enables SC to locate, by lateral inhibition between SC neurons, the most salient location as the saccadic target. Experimental tests of this hypothesis will be shown. Variations of the neural circuit for visual orienting across animal species, with more or less V1 involvement, will be discussed. Supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

How visual short-term memory maintenance modulates subsequent visual aftereffects.

Science.gov (United States)

Saad, Elyana; Silvanto, Juha

2013-05-01

Prolonged viewing of a visual stimulus can result in sensory adaptation, giving rise to perceptual phenomena such as the tilt aftereffect (TAE). However, it is not known if short-term memory maintenance induces such effects. We examined how visual short-term memory (VSTM) maintenance modulates the strength of the TAE induced by subsequent visual adaptation. We reasoned that if VSTM maintenance induces aftereffects on subsequent encoding of visual information, then it should either enhance or reduce the TAE induced by a subsequent visual adapter, depending on the congruency of the memory cue and the adapter. Our results were consistent with this hypothesis and thus indicate that the effects of VSTM maintenance can outlast the maintenance period.

Substantial adverse association of visual and vascular comorbidities on visual disability in multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Marrie, Ruth Ann; Cutter, Gary; Tyry, Tuula

2011-12-01

Visual comorbidities are common in multiple sclerosis (MS) but the impact of visual comorbidities on visual disability is unknown. We assessed the impact of visual and vascular comorbidities on severity of visual disability in MS. In 2006, we queried participants of the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) about cataracts, glaucoma, uveitis, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, heart disease, diabetes and peripheral vascular disease. We assessed visual disability using the Vision subscale of Performance Scales. Using Cox regression, we investigated whether visual or vascular comorbidities affected the time between MS symptom onset and the development of mild, moderate and severe visual disability. Of 8983 respondents, 1415 (15.9%) reported a visual comorbidity while 4745 (52.8%) reported a vascular comorbidity. The median (interquartile range) visual score was 1 (0-2). In a multivariable Cox model the risk of mild visual disability was higher among participants with vascular (hazard ratio [HR] 1.45; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.39-1.51) and visual comorbidities (HR 1.47; 95% CI: 1.37-1.59). Vascular and visual comorbidities were similarly associated with increased risks of moderate and severe visual disability. Visual and vascular comorbidities are associated with progression of visual disability in MS. Clinicians hearing reports of worsening visual symptoms in MS patients should consider visual comorbidities as contributing factors. Further study of these issues using objective, systematic neuro-ophthalmologic evaluations is warranted.

Patient DF's visual brain in action: Visual feedforward control in visual form agnosia.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitwell, Robert L; Milner, A David; Cavina-Pratesi, Cristiana; Barat, Masihullah; Goodale, Melvyn A

2015-05-01

Patient DF, who developed visual form agnosia following ventral-stream damage, is unable to discriminate the width of objects, performing at chance, for example, when asked to open her thumb and forefinger a matching amount. Remarkably, however, DF adjusts her hand aperture to accommodate the width of objects when reaching out to pick them up (grip scaling). While this spared ability to grasp objects is presumed to be mediated by visuomotor modules in her relatively intact dorsal stream, it is possible that it may rely abnormally on online visual or haptic feedback. We report here that DF's grip scaling remained intact when her vision was completely suppressed during grasp movements, and it still dissociated sharply from her poor perceptual estimates of target size. We then tested whether providing trial-by-trial haptic feedback after making such perceptual estimates might improve DF's performance, but found that they remained significantly impaired. In a final experiment, we re-examined whether DF's grip scaling depends on receiving veridical haptic feedback during grasping. In one condition, the haptic feedback was identical to the visual targets. In a second condition, the haptic feedback was of a constant intermediate width while the visual target varied trial by trial. Despite this incongruent feedback, DF still scaled her grip aperture to the visual widths of the target blocks, showing only normal adaptation to the false haptically-experienced width. Taken together, these results strengthen the view that DF's spared grasping relies on a normal mode of dorsal-stream functioning, based chiefly on visual feedforward processing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Introduction: Critical Visual Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Ludes

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The studies selected for publication in this special issue on Critical Visual Theory can be divided into three thematic groups: (1 image making as power making, (2 commodification and recanonization, and (3 approaches to critical visual theory. The approaches to critical visual theory adopted by the authors of this issue may be subsumed under the following headings (3.1 critical visual discourse and visual memes in general and Anonymous visual discourse in particular, (3.2 collective memory and gendered gaze, and (3.3 visual capitalism, global north and south.

Secondary visual workload capability with primary visual and kinesthetic-tactual displays

Science.gov (United States)

Gilson, R. D.; Burke, M. W.; Jagacinski, R. J.

1978-01-01

Subjects performed a cross-adaptive tracking task with a visual secondary display and either a visual or a quickened kinesthetic-tactual (K-T) primary display. The quickened K-T display resulted in superior secondary task performance. Comparisons of secondary workload capability with integrated and separated visual displays indicated that the superiority of the quickened K-T display was not simply due to the elimination of visual scanning. When subjects did not have to perform a secondary task, there was no significant difference between visual and quickened K-T displays in performing a critical tracking task.

Visualizing the Verbal and Verbalizing the Visual.

Science.gov (United States)

Braden, Roberts A.

This paper explores relationships of visual images to verbal elements, beginning with a discussion of visible language as represented by words printed on the page. The visual flexibility inherent in typography is discussed in terms of the appearance of the letters and the denotative and connotative meanings represented by type, typographical…

Irrelevant Auditory and Visual Events Induce a Visual Attentional Blink

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van der Burg, Erik; Nieuwenstein, Mark R.; Theeuwes, Jan; Olivers, Christian N. L.

2013-01-01

In the present study we investigated whether a task-irrelevant distractor can induce a visual attentional blink pattern. Participants were asked to detect only a visual target letter (A, B, or C) and to ignore the preceding auditory, visual, or audiovisual distractor. An attentional blink was

Perceptual Dependencies in Information Visualization Assessed by Complex Visual Search

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, Ronald van den; Cornelissen, Frans W.; Roerdink, Jos B.T.M.

A common approach for visualizing data sets is to map them to images in which distinct data dimensions are mapped to distinct visual features, such as color, size and orientation. Here, we consider visualizations in which different data dimensions should receive equal weight and attention. Many of

Visual Ecology and the Development of Visually Guided Behavior in the Cuttlefish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne-Sophie Darmaillacq

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Cuttlefish are highly visual animals, a fact reflected in the large size of their eyes and visual-processing centers of their brain. Adults detect their prey visually, navigate using visual cues such as landmarks or the e-vector of polarized light and display intense visual patterns during mating and agonistic encounters. Although much is known about the visual system in adult cuttlefish, few studies have investigated its development and that of visually-guided behavior in juveniles. This review summarizes the results of studies of visual development in embryos and young juveniles. The visual system is the last to develop, as in vertebrates, and is functional before hatching. Indeed, embryonic exposure to prey, shelters or complex background alters postembryonic behavior. Visual acuity and lateralization, and polarization sensitivity improve throughout the first months after hatching. The production of body patterning in juveniles is not the simple stimulus-response process commonly presented in the literature. Rather, it likely requires the complex integration of visual information, and is subject to inter-individual differences. Though the focus of this review is vision in cuttlefish, it is important to note that other senses, particularly sensitivity to vibration and to waterborne chemical signals, also play a role in behavior. Considering the multimodal sensory dimensions of natural stimuli and their integration and processing by individuals offer new exciting avenues of future inquiry.

Visual Ecology and the Development of Visually Guided Behavior in the Cuttlefish.

Science.gov (United States)

Darmaillacq, Anne-Sophie; Mezrai, Nawel; O'Brien, Caitlin E; Dickel, Ludovic

2017-01-01

Cuttlefish are highly visual animals, a fact reflected in the large size of their eyes and visual-processing centers of their brain. Adults detect their prey visually, navigate using visual cues such as landmarks or the e -vector of polarized light and display intense visual patterns during mating and agonistic encounters. Although much is known about the visual system in adult cuttlefish, few studies have investigated its development and that of visually-guided behavior in juveniles. This review summarizes the results of studies of visual development in embryos and young juveniles. The visual system is the last to develop, as in vertebrates, and is functional before hatching. Indeed, embryonic exposure to prey, shelters or complex background alters postembryonic behavior. Visual acuity and lateralization, and polarization sensitivity improve throughout the first months after hatching. The production of body patterning in juveniles is not the simple stimulus-response process commonly presented in the literature. Rather, it likely requires the complex integration of visual information, and is subject to inter-individual differences. Though the focus of this review is vision in cuttlefish, it is important to note that other senses, particularly sensitivity to vibration and to waterborne chemical signals, also play a role in behavior. Considering the multimodal sensory dimensions of natural stimuli and their integration and processing by individuals offer new exciting avenues of future inquiry.

Contrast and strength of visual memory and imagery differentially affect visual perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Saad, Elyana; Silvanto, Juha

2013-01-01

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) and visual imagery have been shown to modulate visual perception. However, how the subjective experience of VSTM/imagery and its contrast modulate this process has not been investigated. We addressed this issue by asking participants to detect brief masked targets while they were engaged either in VSTM or visual imagery. Subjective experience of memory/imagery (strength scale), and the visual contrast of the memory/mental image (contrast scale) were assessed on a trial-by-trial basis. For both VSTM and imagery, contrast of the memory/mental image was positively associated with reporting target presence. Consequently, at the sensory level, both VSTM and imagery facilitated visual perception. However, subjective strength of VSTM was positively associated with visual detection whereas the opposite pattern was found for imagery. Thus the relationship between subjective strength of memory/imagery and visual detection are qualitatively different for VSTM and visual imagery, although their impact at the sensory level appears similar. Our results furthermore demonstrate that imagery and VSTM are partly dissociable processes.

Contrast and strength of visual memory and imagery differentially affect visual perception.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elyana Saad

Full Text Available Visual short-term memory (VSTM and visual imagery have been shown to modulate visual perception. However, how the subjective experience of VSTM/imagery and its contrast modulate this process has not been investigated. We addressed this issue by asking participants to detect brief masked targets while they were engaged either in VSTM or visual imagery. Subjective experience of memory/imagery (strength scale, and the visual contrast of the memory/mental image (contrast scale were assessed on a trial-by-trial basis. For both VSTM and imagery, contrast of the memory/mental image was positively associated with reporting target presence. Consequently, at the sensory level, both VSTM and imagery facilitated visual perception. However, subjective strength of VSTM was positively associated with visual detection whereas the opposite pattern was found for imagery. Thus the relationship between subjective strength of memory/imagery and visual detection are qualitatively different for VSTM and visual imagery, although their impact at the sensory level appears similar. Our results furthermore demonstrate that imagery and VSTM are partly dissociable processes.

Visual literacy in HCI

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Overton, K.; Sosa-Tzec, O.; Smith, N.; Blevis, E.; Odom, W.; Hauser, S.; Wakkary, R.L.

2016-01-01

The goal of this workshop is to develop ideas about and expand a research agenda for visual literacy in HCI. By visual literacy, we mean the competency (i) to understand visual materials, (ii) to create visuals materials, and (iii) to think visually [2]. There are three primary motivations for this

Priming and the guidance by visual and categorical templates in visual search

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna eWilschut

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Visual search is thought to be guided by top-down templates that are held in visual working memory. Previous studies have shown that a search-guiding template can be rapidly and strongly implemented from a visual cue, whereas templates are less effective when based on categorical cues. Direct visual priming from cue to target may underlie this difference. In two experiments we first asked observers to remember two possible target colors. A postcue then indicated which of the two would be the relevant color. The task was to locate a briefly presented and masked target of the cued color among irrelevant distractor items. Experiment 1 showed that overall search accuracy improved more rapidly on the basis of a direct visual postcue that carried the target color, compared to a neutral postcue that pointed to the memorized color. However, selectivity towards the target feature, i.e. the extent to which observers searched selectively among items of the cued versus uncued color, was found to be relatively unaffected by the presence of the visual signal. In Experiment 2 we compared search that was based on either visual or categorical information, but now controlled for direct visual priming. This resulted in no differences in overall performance nor selectivity. Altogether the results suggest that perceptual processing of visual search targets is facilitated by priming from visual cues, whereas attentional selectivity is enhanced by a working memory template that can formed from both visual and categorical input. Furthermore, if the priming is controlled for, categorical- and visual-based templates similarly enhance search guidance.

Priming and the guidance by visual and categorical templates in visual search.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilschut, Anna; Theeuwes, Jan; Olivers, Christian N L

2014-01-01

Visual search is thought to be guided by top-down templates that are held in visual working memory. Previous studies have shown that a search-guiding template can be rapidly and strongly implemented from a visual cue, whereas templates are less effective when based on categorical cues. Direct visual priming from cue to target may underlie this difference. In two experiments we first asked observers to remember two possible target colors. A postcue then indicated which of the two would be the relevant color. The task was to locate a briefly presented and masked target of the cued color among irrelevant distractor items. Experiment 1 showed that overall search accuracy improved more rapidly on the basis of a direct visual postcue that carried the target color, compared to a neutral postcue that pointed to the memorized color. However, selectivity toward the target feature, i.e., the extent to which observers searched selectively among items of the cued vs. uncued color, was found to be relatively unaffected by the presence of the visual signal. In Experiment 2 we compared search that was based on either visual or categorical information, but now controlled for direct visual priming. This resulted in no differences in overall performance nor selectivity. Altogether the results suggest that perceptual processing of visual search targets is facilitated by priming from visual cues, whereas attentional selectivity is enhanced by a working memory template that can formed from both visual and categorical input. Furthermore, if the priming is controlled for, categorical- and visual-based templates similarly enhance search guidance.

Imprinting modulates processing of visual information in the visual wulst of chicks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uchimura Motoaki

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Imprinting behavior is one form of learning and memory in precocial birds. With the aim of elucidating of the neural basis for visual imprinting, we focused on visual information processing. Results A lesion in the visual wulst, which is similar functionally to the mammalian visual cortex, caused anterograde amnesia in visual imprinting behavior. Since the color of an object was one of the important cues for imprinting, we investigated color information processing in the visual wulst. Intrinsic optical signals from the visual wulst were detected in the early posthatch period and the peak regions of responses to red, green, and blue were spatially organized from the caudal to the nasal regions in dark-reared chicks. This spatial representation of color recognition showed plastic changes, and the response pattern along the antero-posterior axis of the visual wulst altered according to the color the chick was imprinted to. Conclusion These results indicate that the thalamofugal pathway is critical for learning the imprinting stimulus and that the visual wulst shows learning-related plasticity and may relay processed visual information to indicate the color of the imprint stimulus to the memory storage region, e.g., the intermediate medial mesopallium.

Making Memories: The Development of Long-Term Visual Knowledge in Children with Visual Agnosia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiziana Metitieri

2013-01-01

Full Text Available There are few reports about the effects of perinatal acquired brain lesions on the development of visual perception. These studies demonstrate nonseverely impaired visual-spatial abilities and preserved visual memory. Longitudinal data analyzing the effects of compromised perceptions on long-term visual knowledge in agnosics are limited to lesions having occurred in adulthood. The study of children with focal lesions of the visual pathways provides a unique opportunity to assess the development of visual memory when perceptual input is degraded. We assessed visual recognition and visual memory in three children with lesions to the visual cortex having occurred in early infancy. We then explored the time course of visual memory impairment in two of them at 2 years and 3.7 years from the initial assessment. All children exhibited apperceptive visual agnosia and visual memory impairment. We observed a longitudinal improvement of visual memory modulated by the structural properties of objects. Our findings indicate that processing of degraded perceptions from birth results in impoverished memories. The dynamic interaction between perception and memory during development might modulate the long-term construction of visual representations, resulting in less severe impairment.

Making memories: the development of long-term visual knowledge in children with visual agnosia.

Science.gov (United States)

Metitieri, Tiziana; Barba, Carmen; Pellacani, Simona; Viggiano, Maria Pia; Guerrini, Renzo

2013-01-01

There are few reports about the effects of perinatal acquired brain lesions on the development of visual perception. These studies demonstrate nonseverely impaired visual-spatial abilities and preserved visual memory. Longitudinal data analyzing the effects of compromised perceptions on long-term visual knowledge in agnosics are limited to lesions having occurred in adulthood. The study of children with focal lesions of the visual pathways provides a unique opportunity to assess the development of visual memory when perceptual input is degraded. We assessed visual recognition and visual memory in three children with lesions to the visual cortex having occurred in early infancy. We then explored the time course of visual memory impairment in two of them at 2  years and 3.7  years from the initial assessment. All children exhibited apperceptive visual agnosia and visual memory impairment. We observed a longitudinal improvement of visual memory modulated by the structural properties of objects. Our findings indicate that processing of degraded perceptions from birth results in impoverished memories. The dynamic interaction between perception and memory during development might modulate the long-term construction of visual representations, resulting in less severe impairment.

Feature-Based Memory-Driven Attentional Capture: Visual Working Memory Content Affects Visual Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Olivers, Christian N. L.; Meijer, Frank; Theeuwes, Jan

2006-01-01

In 7 experiments, the authors explored whether visual attention (the ability to select relevant visual information) and visual working memory (the ability to retain relevant visual information) share the same content representations. The presence of singleton distractors interfered more strongly with a visual search task when it was accompanied by…

Auditory, visual and auditory-visual memory and sequencing performance in typically developing children.

Science.gov (United States)

Pillai, Roshni; Yathiraj, Asha

2017-09-01

The study evaluated whether there exists a difference/relation in the way four different memory skills (memory score, sequencing score, memory span, & sequencing span) are processed through the auditory modality, visual modality and combined modalities. Four memory skills were evaluated on 30 typically developing children aged 7 years and 8 years across three modality conditions (auditory, visual, & auditory-visual). Analogous auditory and visual stimuli were presented to evaluate the three modality conditions across the two age groups. The children obtained significantly higher memory scores through the auditory modality compared to the visual modality. Likewise, their memory scores were significantly higher through the auditory-visual modality condition than through the visual modality. However, no effect of modality was observed on the sequencing scores as well as for the memory and the sequencing span. A good agreement was seen between the different modality conditions that were studied (auditory, visual, & auditory-visual) for the different memory skills measures (memory scores, sequencing scores, memory span, & sequencing span). A relatively lower agreement was noted only between the auditory and visual modalities as well as between the visual and auditory-visual modality conditions for the memory scores, measured using Bland-Altman plots. The study highlights the efficacy of using analogous stimuli to assess the auditory, visual as well as combined modalities. The study supports the view that the performance of children on different memory skills was better through the auditory modality compared to the visual modality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Priming and the guidance by visual and categorical templates in visual search

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilschut, A.M.; Theeuwes, J.; Olivers, C.N.L.

2014-01-01

Visual search is thought to be guided by top-down templates that are held in visual working memory. Previous studies have shown that a search-guiding template can be rapidly and strongly implemented from a visual cue, whereas templates are less effective when based on categorical cues. Direct visual

Visualization analysis and design

CERN Document Server

Munzner, Tamara

2015-01-01

Visualization Analysis and Design provides a systematic, comprehensive framework for thinking about visualization in terms of principles and design choices. The book features a unified approach encompassing information visualization techniques for abstract data, scientific visualization techniques for spatial data, and visual analytics techniques for interweaving data transformation and analysis with interactive visual exploration. It emphasizes the careful validation of effectiveness and the consideration of function before form. The book breaks down visualization design according to three questions: what data users need to see, why users need to carry out their tasks, and how the visual representations proposed can be constructed and manipulated. It walks readers through the use of space and color to visually encode data in a view, the trade-offs between changing a single view and using multiple linked views, and the ways to reduce the amount of data shown in each view. The book concludes with six case stu...

Relativity of Visual Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arto Mutanen

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Communication is sharing and conveying information. In visual communication especially visual messages have to be formulated and interpreted. The interpretation is relative to a method of information presentation method which is human construction. This holds also in the case of visual languages. The notions of syntax and semantics for visual languages are not so well founded as they are for natural languages. Visual languages are both syntactically and semantically dense. The density is connected to the compositionality of the (pictorial languages. In the paper Charles Sanders Peirce’s theory of signs will be used in characterizing visual languages. This allows us to relate visual languages to natural languages. The foundation of information presentation methods for visual languages is the logic of perception, but only if perception is understood as propositional perception. This allows us to understand better the relativity of information presentation methods, and hence to evaluate the cultural relativity of visual communication.

Contrast and Strength of Visual Memory and Imagery Differentially Affect Visual Perception

OpenAIRE

Saad, Elyana; Silvanto, Juha

2013-01-01

Visual short-term memory (VSTM) and visual imagery have been shown to modulate visual perception. However, how the subjective experience of VSTM/imagery and its contrast modulate this process has not been investigated. We addressed this issue by asking participants to detect brief masked targets while they were engaged either in VSTM or visual imagery. Subjective experience of memory/imagery (strength scale), and the visual contrast of the memory/mental image (contrast scale) were assessed on...

Auditory and visual capture during focused visual attention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koelewijn, T.; Bronkhorst, A.W.; Theeuwes, J.

2009-01-01

It is well known that auditory and visual onsets presented at a particular location can capture a person's visual attention. However, the question of whether such attentional capture disappears when attention is focused endogenously beforehand has not yet been answered. Moreover, previous studies

Visual rehabilitation: visual scanning, multisensory stimulation and vision restoration trainings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neil M. Dundon

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Neuropsychological training methods of visual rehabilitation for homonymous vision loss caused by postchiasmatic damage fall into two fundamental paradigms: compensation and restoration. Existing methods can be classified into three groups: Visual Scanning Training (VST, Audio-Visual Scanning Training (AViST and Vision Restoration Training (VRT. VST and AViST aim at compensating vision loss by training eye scanning movements, whereas VRT aims at improving lost vision by activating residual visual functions by training light detection and discrimination of visual stimuli. This review discusses the rationale underlying these paradigms and summarizes the available evidence with respect to treatment efficacy. The issues raised in our review should help guide clinical care and stimulate new ideas for future research uncovering the underlying neural correlates of the different treatment paradigms. We propose that both local within-system interactions (i.e., relying on plasticity within peri-lesional spared tissue and changes in more global between-system networks (i.e., recruiting alternative visual pathways contribute to both vision restoration and compensatory rehabilitation that ultimately have implications for the rehabilitation of cognitive functions.

Perceptual learning in children with visual impairment improves near visual acuity.

Science.gov (United States)

Huurneman, Bianca; Boonstra, F Nienke; Cox, Ralf F A; van Rens, Ger; Cillessen, Antonius H N

2013-09-17

This study investigated whether visual perceptual learning can improve near visual acuity and reduce foveal crowding effects in four- to nine-year-old children with visual impairment. Participants were 45 children with visual impairment and 29 children with normal vision. Children with visual impairment were divided into three groups: a magnifier group (n = 12), a crowded perceptual learning group (n = 18), and an uncrowded perceptual learning group (n = 15). Children with normal vision also were divided in three groups, but were measured only at baseline. Dependent variables were single near visual acuity (NVA), crowded NVA, LH line 50% crowding NVA, number of trials, accuracy, performance time, amount of small errors, and amount of large errors. Children with visual impairment trained during six weeks, two times per week, for 30 minutes (12 training sessions). After training, children showed significant improvement of NVA in addition to specific improvements on the training task. The crowded perceptual learning group showed the largest acuity improvements (1.7 logMAR lines on the crowded chart, P children in the crowded perceptual learning group showed improvements on all NVA charts. Children with visual impairment benefit from perceptual training. While task-specific improvements were observed in all training groups, transfer to crowded NVA was largest in the crowded perceptual learning group. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide evidence for the improvement of NVA by perceptual learning in children with visual impairment. (http://www.trialregister.nl number, NTR2537.).

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of the human primary visual cortex during visual stimulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miki, Atsushi; Abe, Haruki; Nakajima, Takashi; Fujita, Motoi; Watanabe, Hiroyuki; Kuwabara, Takeo; Naruse, Shoji; Takagi, Mineo.

1995-01-01

Signal changes in the human primary visual cortex during visual stimulation were evaluated using non-invasive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The experiments were performed on 10 normal human volunteers and 2 patients with homonymous hemianopsia, including one who was recovering from the exacerbation of multiple sclerosis. The visual stimuli were provided by a pattern generator using the checkerboard pattern for determining the visual evoked potential of full-field and hemifield stimulation. In normal volunteers, a signal increase was observed on the bilateral primary visual cortex during the full-field stimulation and on the contra-lateral cortex during hemifield stimulation. In the patient with homonymous hemianopsia after cerebral infarction, the signal change was clearly decreased on the affected side. In the other patient, the one recovering from multiple sclerosis with an almost normal visual field, the fMRI was within normal limits. These results suggest that it is possible to visualize the activation of the visual cortex during visual stimulation, and that there is a possibility of using this test as an objective method of visual field examination. (author)

A Web-based Visualization System for Three Dimensional Geological Model using Open GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Nemoto, T.; Masumoto, S.; Nonogaki, S.

2017-12-01

A three dimensional geological model is an important information in various fields such as environmental assessment, urban planning, resource development, waste management and disaster mitigation. In this study, we have developed a web-based visualization system for 3D geological model using free and open source software. The system has been successfully implemented by integrating web mapping engine MapServer and geographic information system GRASS. MapServer plays a role of mapping horizontal cross sections of 3D geological model and a topographic map. GRASS provides the core components for management, analysis and image processing of the geological model. Online access to GRASS functions has been enabled using PyWPS that is an implementation of WPS (Web Processing Service) Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard. The system has two main functions. Two dimensional visualization function allows users to generate horizontal and vertical cross sections of 3D geological model. These images are delivered via WMS (Web Map Service) and WPS OGC standards. Horizontal cross sections are overlaid on the topographic map. A vertical cross section is generated by clicking a start point and an end point on the map. Three dimensional visualization function allows users to visualize geological boundary surfaces and a panel diagram. The user can visualize them from various angles by mouse operation. WebGL is utilized for 3D visualization. WebGL is a web technology that brings hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the browser without installing additional software. The geological boundary surfaces can be downloaded to incorporate the geologic structure in a design on CAD and model for various simulations. This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP16K00158.

Custom Visualization without Real Programming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pantazos, Kostas

Information Visualization tools have simplified visualization development. Some tools help simple users construct standard visualizations; others help programmers develop custom visualizations. This thesis contributes to the field of Information Visualization and End-User Development. The first...... contribution of the thesis is a taxonomy for Information Visualization development tools. Existing taxonomies from the Information Visualization field are helpful, but none of them can properly categorize visualization tools from a user development perspective. The categorization of 20 Information...... Visualization tools proves the applicability of this taxonomy, and the result showed that there are no Dragand- Drop tools that allow end-user developers as well as programmers to create custom visualizations. The second contribution is a new visualization development approach, the Drag...

Visualizing water

Science.gov (United States)

Baart, F.; van Gils, A.; Hagenaars, G.; Donchyts, G.; Eisemann, E.; van Velzen, J. W.

2016-12-01

A compelling visualization is captivating, beautiful and narrative. Here we show how melding the skills of computer graphics, art, statistics, and environmental modeling can be used to generate innovative, attractive and very informative visualizations. We focus on the topic of visualizing forecasts and measurements of water (water level, waves, currents, density, and salinity). For the field of computer graphics and arts, water is an important topic because it occurs in many natural scenes. For environmental modeling and statistics, water is an important topic because the water is essential for transport, a healthy environment, fruitful agriculture, and a safe environment.The different disciplines take different approaches to visualizing water. In computer graphics, one focusses on creating water as realistic looking as possible. The focus on realistic perception (versus the focus on the physical balance pursued by environmental scientists) resulted in fascinating renderings, as seen in recent games and movies. Visualization techniques for statistical results have benefited from the advancement in design and journalism, resulting in enthralling infographics. The field of environmental modeling has absorbed advances in contemporary cartography as seen in the latest interactive data-driven maps. We systematically review the design emerging types of water visualizations. The examples that we analyze range from dynamically animated forecasts, interactive paintings, infographics, modern cartography to web-based photorealistic rendering. By characterizing the intended audience, the design choices, the scales (e.g. time, space), and the explorability we provide a set of guidelines and genres. The unique contributions of the different fields show how the innovations in the current state of the art of water visualization have benefited from inter-disciplinary collaborations.

[Are Visual Field Defects Reversible? - Visual Rehabilitation with Brains].

Science.gov (United States)

Sabel, B A

2017-02-01

Visual field defects are considered irreversible because the retina and optic nerve do not regenerate. Nevertheless, there is some potential for recovery of the visual fields. This can be accomplished by the brain, which analyses and interprets visual information and is able to amplify residual signals through neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of the brain to change its own functional architecture by modulating synaptic efficacy. This is actually the neurobiological basis of normal learning. Plasticity is maintained throughout life and can be induced by repetitively stimulating (training) brain circuits. The question now arises as to how plasticity can be utilised to activate residual vision for the treatment of visual field loss. Just as in neurorehabilitation, visual field defects can be modulated by post-lesion plasticity to improve vision in glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy or optic neuropathy. Because almost all patients have some residual vision, the goal is to strengthen residual capacities by enhancing synaptic efficacy. New treatment paradigms have been tested in clinical studies, including vision restoration training and non-invasive alternating current stimulation. While vision training is a behavioural task to selectively stimulate "relative defects" with daily vision exercises for the duration of 6 months, treatment with alternating current stimulation (30 min. daily for 10 days) activates and synchronises the entire retina and brain. Though full restoration of vision is not possible, such treatments improve vision, both subjectively and objectively. This includes visual field enlargements, improved acuity and reaction time, improved orientation and vision related quality of life. About 70 % of the patients respond to the therapies and there are no serious adverse events. Physiological studies of the effect of alternating current stimulation using EEG and fMRI reveal massive local and global changes in the brain. These include

Visual field

Science.gov (United States)

... your visual field. How the Test is Performed Confrontation visual field exam. This is a quick and ... to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A. ...

Open-source web-enabled data management, analyses, and visualization of very large data in geosciences using Jupyter, Apache Spark, and community tools

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhary, A.

2017-12-01

Current simulation models and sensors are producing high-resolution, high-velocity data in geosciences domain. Knowledge discovery from these complex and large size datasets require tools that are capable of handling very large data and providing interactive data analytics features to researchers. To this end, Kitware and its collaborators are producing open-source tools GeoNotebook, GeoJS, Gaia, and Minerva for geosciences that are using hardware accelerated graphics and advancements in parallel and distributed processing (Celery and Apache Spark) and can be loosely coupled to solve real-world use-cases. GeoNotebook (https://github.com/OpenGeoscience/geonotebook) is co-developed by Kitware and NASA-Ames and is an extension to the Jupyter Notebook. It provides interactive visualization and python-based analysis of geospatial data and depending the backend (KTile or GeoPySpark) can handle data sizes of Hundreds of Gigabytes to Terabytes. GeoNotebook uses GeoJS (https://github.com/OpenGeoscience/geojs) to render very large geospatial data on the map using WebGL and Canvas2D API. GeoJS is more than just a GIS library as users can create scientific plots such as vector and contour and can embed InfoVis plots using D3.js. GeoJS aims for high-performance visualization and interactive data exploration of scientific and geospatial location aware datasets and supports features such as Point, Line, Polygon, and advanced features such as Pixelmap, Contour, Heatmap, and Choropleth. Our another open-source tool Minerva ((https://github.com/kitware/minerva) is a geospatial application that is built on top of open-source web-based data management system Girder (https://github.com/girder/girder) which provides an ability to access data from HDFS or Amazon S3 buckets and provides capabilities to perform visualization and analyses on geosciences data in a web environment using GDAL and GeoPandas wrapped in a unified API provided by Gaia (https

Audio-Visual Speech Recognition Using MPEG-4 Compliant Visual Features

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petar S. Aleksic

2002-11-01

Full Text Available We describe an audio-visual automatic continuous speech recognition system, which significantly improves speech recognition performance over a wide range of acoustic noise levels, as well as under clean audio conditions. The system utilizes facial animation parameters (FAPs supported by the MPEG-4 standard for the visual representation of speech. We also describe a robust and automatic algorithm we have developed to extract FAPs from visual data, which does not require hand labeling or extensive training procedures. The principal component analysis (PCA was performed on the FAPs in order to decrease the dimensionality of the visual feature vectors, and the derived projection weights were used as visual features in the audio-visual automatic speech recognition (ASR experiments. Both single-stream and multistream hidden Markov models (HMMs were used to model the ASR system, integrate audio and visual information, and perform a relatively large vocabulary (approximately 1000 words speech recognition experiments. The experiments performed use clean audio data and audio data corrupted by stationary white Gaussian noise at various SNRs. The proposed system reduces the word error rate (WER by 20% to 23% relatively to audio-only speech recognition WERs, at various SNRs (0–30 dB with additive white Gaussian noise, and by 19% relatively to audio-only speech recognition WER under clean audio conditions.

Visual short-term memory guides infants' visual attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitsven, Samantha G; Cantrell, Lisa M; Luck, Steven J; Oakes, Lisa M

2018-08-01

Adults' visual attention is guided by the contents of visual short-term memory (VSTM). Here we asked whether 10-month-old infants' (N = 41) visual attention is also guided by the information stored in VSTM. In two experiments, we modified the one-shot change detection task (Oakes, Baumgartner, Barrett, Messenger, & Luck, 2013) to create a simplified cued visual search task to ask how information stored in VSTM influences where infants look. A single sample item (e.g., a colored circle) was presented at fixation for 500 ms, followed by a brief (300 ms) retention interval and then a test array consisting of two items, one on each side of fixation. One item in the test array matched the sample stimulus and the other did not. Infants were more likely to look at the non-matching item than at the matching item, demonstrating that the information stored rapidly in VSTM guided subsequent looking behavior. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Visualization-by-Sketching: An Artist's Interface for Creating Multivariate Time-Varying Data Visualizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, David; Keefe, Daniel F

2016-01-01

We present Visualization-by-Sketching, a direct-manipulation user interface for designing new data visualizations. The goals are twofold: First, make the process of creating real, animated, data-driven visualizations of complex information more accessible to artists, graphic designers, and other visual experts with traditional, non-technical training. Second, support and enhance the role of human creativity in visualization design, enabling visual experimentation and workflows similar to what is possible with traditional artistic media. The approach is to conceive of visualization design as a combination of processes that are already closely linked with visual creativity: sketching, digital painting, image editing, and reacting to exemplars. Rather than studying and tweaking low-level algorithms and their parameters, designers create new visualizations by painting directly on top of a digital data canvas, sketching data glyphs, and arranging and blending together multiple layers of animated 2D graphics. This requires new algorithms and techniques to interpret painterly user input relative to data "under" the canvas, balance artistic freedom with the need to produce accurate data visualizations, and interactively explore large (e.g., terabyte-sized) multivariate datasets. Results demonstrate a variety of multivariate data visualization techniques can be rapidly recreated using the interface. More importantly, results and feedback from artists support the potential for interfaces in this style to attract new, creative users to the challenging task of designing more effective data visualizations and to help these users stay "in the creative zone" as they work.

Visualizing Matrix Multiplication

Science.gov (United States)

Daugulis, Peteris; Sondore, Anita

2018-01-01

Efficient visualizations of computational algorithms are important tools for students, educators, and researchers. In this article, we point out an innovative visualization technique for matrix multiplication. This method differs from the standard, formal approach by using block matrices to make computations more visual. We find this method a…

Conceptual and visual features contribute to visual memory for natural images.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gesche M Huebner

Full Text Available We examined the role of conceptual and visual similarity in a memory task for natural images. The important novelty of our approach was that visual similarity was determined using an algorithm [1] instead of being judged subjectively. This similarity index takes colours and spatial frequencies into account. For each target, four distractors were selected that were (1 conceptually and visually similar, (2 only conceptually similar, (3 only visually similar, or (4 neither conceptually nor visually similar to the target image. Participants viewed 219 images with the instruction to memorize them. Memory for a subset of these images was tested subsequently. In Experiment 1, participants performed a two-alternative forced choice recognition task and in Experiment 2, a yes/no-recognition task. In Experiment 3, testing occurred after a delay of one week. We analyzed the distribution of errors depending on distractor type. Performance was lowest when the distractor image was conceptually and visually similar to the target image, indicating that both factors matter in such a memory task. After delayed testing, these differences disappeared. Overall performance was high, indicating a large-capacity, detailed visual long-term memory.

Feature-based memory-driven attentional capture: Visual working memory content affects visual attention.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olivers, C.N.L.; Meijer, F.; Theeuwes, J.

2006-01-01

In 7 experiments, the authors explored whether visual attention (the ability to select relevant visual information) and visual working memory (the ability to retain relevant visual information) share the same content representations. The presence of singleton distractors interfered more strongly

How visual working memory contents influence priming of visual attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlisle, Nancy B; Kristjánsson, Árni

2017-04-12

Recent evidence shows that when the contents of visual working memory overlap with targets and distractors in a pop-out search task, intertrial priming is inhibited (Kristjánsson, Sævarsson & Driver, Psychon Bull Rev 20(3):514-521, 2013, Experiment 2, Psychonomic Bulletin and Review). This may reflect an interesting interaction between implicit short-term memory-thought to underlie intertrial priming-and explicit visual working memory. Evidence from a non-pop-out search task suggests that it may specifically be holding distractors in visual working memory that disrupts intertrial priming (Cunningham & Egeth, Psychol Sci 27(4):476-485, 2016, Experiment 2, Psychological Science). We examined whether the inhibition of priming depends on whether feature values in visual working memory overlap with targets or distractors in the pop-out search, and we found that the inhibition of priming resulted from holding distractors in visual working memory. These results are consistent with separate mechanisms of target and distractor effects in intertrial priming, and support the notion that the impact of implicit short-term memory and explicit visual working memory can interact when each provides conflicting attentional signals.

Relating Standardized Visual Perception Measures to Simulator Visual System Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Kaiser, Mary K.; Sweet, Barbara T.

2013-01-01

Human vision is quantified through the use of standardized clinical vision measurements. These measurements typically include visual acuity (near and far), contrast sensitivity, color vision, stereopsis (a.k.a. stereo acuity), and visual field periphery. Simulator visual system performance is specified in terms such as brightness, contrast, color depth, color gamut, gamma, resolution, and field-of-view. How do these simulator performance characteristics relate to the perceptual experience of the pilot in the simulator? In this paper, visual acuity and contrast sensitivity will be related to simulator visual system resolution, contrast, and dynamic range; similarly, color vision will be related to color depth/color gamut. Finally, we will consider how some characteristics of human vision not typically included in current clinical assessments could be used to better inform simulator requirements (e.g., relating dynamic characteristics of human vision to update rate and other temporal display characteristics).

Relativity of Visual Communication

OpenAIRE

Arto Mutanen

2016-01-01

Communication is sharing and conveying information. In visual communication especially visual messages have to be formulated and interpreted. The interpretation is relative to a method of information presentation method which is human construction. This holds also in the case of visual languages. The notions of syntax and semantics for visual languages are not so well founded as they are for natural languages. Visual languages are both syntactically and semantically dense. The density is conn...

The visual attention span deficit in dyslexia is visual and not verbal.

Science.gov (United States)

Lobier, Muriel; Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Valdois, Sylviane

2012-06-01

The visual attention (VA) span deficit hypothesis of dyslexia posits that letter string deficits are a consequence of impaired visual processing. Alternatively, some have interpreted this deficit as resulting from a visual-to-phonology code mapping impairment. This study aims to disambiguate between the two interpretations by investigating performance in a non-verbal character string visual categorization task with verbal and non-verbal stimuli. Results show that VA span ability predicts performance for the non-verbal visual processing task in normal reading children. Furthermore, VA span impaired dyslexic children are also impaired for the categorization task independently of stimuli type. This supports the hypothesis that the underlying impairment responsible for the VA span deficit is visual, not verbal. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

Visual search, visual streams, and visual architectures.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, M

1991-10-01

Most psychological, physiological, and computational models of early vision suggest that retinal information is divided into a parallel set of feature modules. The dominant theories of visual search assume that these modules form a "blackboard" architecture: a set of independent representations that communicate only through a central processor. A review of research shows that blackboard-based theories, such as feature-integration theory, cannot easily explain the existing data. The experimental evidence is more consistent with a "network" architecture, which stresses that: (1) feature modules are directly connected to one another, (2) features and their locations are represented together, (3) feature detection and integration are not distinct processing stages, and (4) no executive control process, such as focal attention, is needed to integrate features. Attention is not a spotlight that synthesizes objects from raw features. Instead, it is better to conceptualize attention as an aperture which masks irrelevant visual information.

Advances in visual correction and postoperative visual treatment of congenital cataract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Mei

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Congenital cataract is one of the important diseases that cause irreversible visual impairment on children. Compared with adult cataract, the surgery of congenital cataract is more complicated and the complications are more severer, especially the postoperative amblyopia often leads to bad prognosis. Therefore, the postoperative treatment is necessary to obtain the better visual outcome. The traditional visual correction methods after surgery include the combined use of spectacles, contact lens, and intraocular lens(IOL, but some problems such as IOL power calculation and IOL implantation time are still controversial. Besides, occlusion therapy and visual training are also essential for preventing amblyopia after cataract surgery. Occlusion in an appropriate dose and course must be mastered, accompanied by visual training. Both of the operative eyes and normal eyes will be able to achieve much better visual acuity and color sensitivity, so that the binocular vision can recover and develop as normal function.

Connecting Music and Place: Exploring Library Collection Data Using Geo-visualizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolyn Doi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objectives – This project had two stated objectives: 1 to compare the location and concentration of Saskatchewan-based large ensembles (bands, orchestras, choirs within the province, with the intention to draw conclusions about the history of community-based musical activity within the province; and 2 to enable location-based browsing of Saskatchewan music materials through an interactive search interface. Methods – Data was harvested from MARC metadata found in the library catalogue for a special collection of Saskatchewan music at the University of Saskatchewan. Microsoft Excel and OpenRefine were used to screen, clean, and enhance the dataset. Data was imported into ArcGIS software, where it was plotted using a geo-visualization showing location and concentrations of musical activity by large ensembles within the province. The geo-visualization also allows users to filter results based on the ensemble type (band, orchestra, or choir. Results – The geo-visualization shows that albums from large community ensembles appear across the province, in cities and towns of all sizes. The ensembles are concentrated in the southern portion of the province and there is a correlation between population density and ensemble location. Choral ensembles are more prevalent than bands and orchestras, and appear more widely across the province, whereas bands and orchestras are concentrated around larger centres. Conclusions – Library catalogue data contains unique information for research based on special collections, though additional cleaning is needed. Using geospatial visualizations to navigate collections allows for more intuitive searching by location, and allow users to compare facets. While not appropriate for all kinds of searching, maps are useful for browsing and for location-based searches. Information is displayed in a visual way that allows users to explore and connect with other platforms for more information.

Social Set Visualizer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flesch, Benjamin; Hussain, Abid; Vatrapu, Ravi

2015-01-01

-edge open source visual analytics libraries from D3.js and creation of new visualizations (ac-tor mobility across time, conversational comets etc). Evaluation of the dashboard consisting of technical testing, usability testing, and domain-specific testing with CSR students and yielded positive results.......This paper presents a state-of-the art visual analytics dash-board, Social Set Visualizer (SoSeVi), of approximately 90 million Facebook actions from 11 different companies that have been mentioned in the traditional media in relation to garment factory accidents in Bangladesh. The enterprise...

Customizable Time-Oriented Visualizations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuhail, Mohammad Amin; Pantazos, Kostas; Lauesen, Søren

2012-01-01

Most commercial visualization tools support an easy and quick creation of conventional time-oriented visualizations such as line charts, but customization is limited. In contrast, some academic visualization tools and programming languages support the creation of some customizable time......-oriented visualizations but it is time consuming and hard. To combine efficiency, the effort required to develop a visualization, and customizability, the ability to tailor a visualization, we developed time-oriented building blocks that address the specifics of time (e.g. linear vs. cyclic or point-based vs. interval......-based) and consist of inner customizable parts (e.g. ticks). A combination of the time-oriented and other primitive graphical building blocks allowed the creation of several customizable advanced time-oriented visualizations. The appearance and behavior of the blocks are specified using spreadsheet-like formulas. We...

Auditory and Visual Capture during Focused Visual Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Koelewijn, Thomas; Bronkhorst, Adelbert; Theeuwes, Jan

2009-01-01

It is well known that auditory and visual onsets presented at a particular location can capture a person's visual attention. However, the question of whether such attentional capture disappears when attention is focused endogenously beforehand has not yet been answered. Moreover, previous studies have not differentiated between capture by onsets…

Promoting Visualization Skills through Deconstruction Using Physical Models and a Visualization Activity Intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Schiltz, Holly Kristine

Visualization skills are important in learning chemistry, as these skills have been shown to correlate to high ability in problem solving. Students' understanding of visual information and their problem-solving processes may only ever be accessed indirectly: verbalization, gestures, drawings, etc. In this research, deconstruction of complex visual concepts was aligned with the promotion of students' verbalization of visualized ideas to teach students to solve complex visual tasks independently. All instructional tools and teaching methods were developed in accordance with the principles of the theoretical framework, the Modeling Theory of Learning: deconstruction of visual representations into model components, comparisons to reality, and recognition of students' their problemsolving strategies. Three physical model systems were designed to provide students with visual and tangible representations of chemical concepts. The Permanent Reflection Plane Demonstration provided visual indicators that students used to support or invalidate the presence of a reflection plane. The 3-D Coordinate Axis system provided an environment that allowed students to visualize and physically enact symmetry operations in a relevant molecular context. The Proper Rotation Axis system was designed to provide a physical and visual frame of reference to showcase multiple symmetry elements that students must identify in a molecular model. Focus groups of students taking Inorganic chemistry working with the physical model systems demonstrated difficulty documenting and verbalizing processes and descriptions of visual concepts. Frequently asked student questions were classified, but students also interacted with visual information through gestures and model manipulations. In an effort to characterize how much students used visualization during lecture or recitation, we developed observation rubrics to gather information about students' visualization artifacts and examined the effect instructors

Functional visual fields: relationship of visual field areas to self-reported function.

Science.gov (United States)

Subhi, Hikmat; Latham, Keziah; Myint, Joy; Crossland, Michael D

2017-07-01

The aim of this study is to relate areas of the visual field to functional difficulties to inform the development of a binocular visual field assessment that can reflect the functional consequences of visual field loss. Fifty-two participants with peripheral visual field loss undertook binocular assessment of visual fields using the 30-2 and 60-4 SITA Fast programs on the Humphrey Field Analyser, and mean thresholds were derived. Binocular visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and near reading performance were also determined. Self-reported overall and mobility function were assessed using the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory. Greater visual field loss (0-60°) was associated with worse self-reported function both overall (R 2 = 0.50; p function (R 2 = 0.61, p function in multiple regression analyses. Superior and inferior visual field areas related similarly to mobility function (R 2 = 0.56, p function in multiple regression analysis. Mean threshold of the binocular visual field to 60° eccentricity is a good predictor of self-reported function overall, and particularly of mobility function. Both the central (0-30°) and peripheral (30-60°) mean threshold are good predictors of self-reported function, but the peripheral (30-0°) field is a slightly better predictor of mobility function, and should not be ignored when considering functional consequences of field loss. The inferior visual field is a slightly stronger predictor of perceived overall and mobility function than the superior field. © 2017 The Authors Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics © 2017 The College of Optometrists.

Words, shape, visual search and visual working memory in 3-year-old children.

Science.gov (United States)

Vales, Catarina; Smith, Linda B

2015-01-01

Do words cue children's visual attention, and if so, what are the relevant mechanisms? Across four experiments, 3-year-old children (N = 163) were tested in visual search tasks in which targets were cued with only a visual preview versus a visual preview and a spoken name. The experiments were designed to determine whether labels facilitated search times and to examine one route through which labels could have their effect: By influencing the visual working memory representation of the target. The targets and distractors were pictures of instances of basic-level known categories and the labels were the common name for the target category. We predicted that the label would enhance the visual working memory representation of the target object, guiding attention to objects that better matched the target representation. Experiments 1 and 2 used conjunctive search tasks, and Experiment 3 varied shape discriminability between targets and distractors. Experiment 4 compared the effects of labels to repeated presentations of the visual target, which should also influence the working memory representation of the target. The overall pattern fits contemporary theories of how the contents of visual working memory interact with visual search and attention, and shows that even in very young children heard words affect the processing of visual information. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Using a Web GIS Plate Tectonics Simulation to Promote Geospatial Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Bodzin, Alec M.; Anastasio, David; Sharif, Rajhida; Rutzmoser, Scott

2016-01-01

Learning with Web-based geographic information system (Web GIS) can promote geospatial thinking and analysis of georeferenced data. Web GIS can enable learners to analyze rich data sets to understand spatial relationships that are managed in georeferenced data visualizations. We developed a Web GIS plate tectonics simulation as a capstone learning…

The Visual Geophysical Exploration Environment: A Multi-dimensional Scientific Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Pandya, R. E.; Domenico, B.; Murray, D.; Marlino, M. R.

2003-12-01

The Visual Geophysical Exploration Environment (VGEE) is an online learning environment designed to help undergraduate students understand fundamental Earth system science concepts. The guiding principle of the VGEE is the importance of hands-on interaction with scientific visualization and data. The VGEE consists of four elements: 1) an online, inquiry-based curriculum for guiding student exploration; 2) a suite of El Nino-related data sets adapted for student use; 3) a learner-centered interface to a scientific visualization tool; and 4) a set of concept models (interactive tools that help students understand fundamental scientific concepts). There are two key innovations featured in this interactive poster session. One is the integration of concept models and the visualization tool. Concept models are simple, interactive, Java-based illustrations of fundamental physical principles. We developed eight concept models and integrated them into the visualization tool to enable students to probe data. The ability to probe data using a concept model addresses the common problem of transfer: the difficulty students have in applying theoretical knowledge to everyday phenomenon. The other innovation is a visualization environment and data that are discoverable in digital libraries, and installed, configured, and used for investigations over the web. By collaborating with the Integrated Data Viewer developers, we were able to embed a web-launchable visualization tool and access to distributed data sets into the online curricula. The Thematic Real-time Environmental Data Distributed Services (THREDDS) project is working to provide catalogs of datasets that can be used in new VGEE curricula under development. By cataloging this curricula in the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE), learners and educators can discover the data and visualization tool within a framework that guides their use.

Visual Motion Perception and Visual Attentive Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

1988-04-01

88-0551 Visual Motion Perception and Visual Attentive Processes George Spering , New YorkUnivesity A -cesson For DTIC TAB rant AFOSR 85-0364... Spering . HIPSt: A Unix-based image processing syslem. Computer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing, 1984,25. 331-347. ’HIPS is the Human Information...Processing Laboratory’s Image Processing System. 1985 van Santen, Jan P. It, and George Spering . Elaborated Reichardt detectors. Journal of the Optical

Visual Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

... site Sitio para adolescentes Body Mind Sexual Health Food & Fitness Diseases & Conditions Infections Drugs & Alcohol School & Jobs Sports Expert Answers (Q&A) Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Visual Impairment KidsHealth / For Teens / Visual Impairment What's in ...

Associative visual learning by tethered bees in a controlled visual environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Buatois, Alexis; Pichot, Cécile; Schultheiss, Patrick; Sandoz, Jean-Christophe; Lazzari, Claudio R; Chittka, Lars; Avarguès-Weber, Aurore; Giurfa, Martin

2017-10-10

Free-flying honeybees exhibit remarkable cognitive capacities but the neural underpinnings of these capacities cannot be studied in flying insects. Conversely, immobilized bees are accessible to neurobiological investigation but display poor visual learning. To overcome this limitation, we aimed at establishing a controlled visual environment in which tethered bees walking on a spherical treadmill learn to discriminate visual stimuli video projected in front of them. Freely flying bees trained to walk into a miniature Y-maze displaying these stimuli in a dark environment learned the visual discrimination efficiently when one of them (CS+) was paired with sucrose and the other with quinine solution (CS-). Adapting this discrimination to the treadmill paradigm with a tethered, walking bee was successful as bees exhibited robust discrimination and preferred the CS+ to the CS- after training. As learning was better in the maze, movement freedom, active vision and behavioral context might be important for visual learning. The nature of the punishment associated with the CS- also affects learning as quinine and distilled water enhanced the proportion of learners. Thus, visual learning is amenable to a controlled environment in which tethered bees learn visual stimuli, a result that is important for future neurobiological studies in virtual reality.

Association between visual impairment and patient-reported visual disability at different stages of cataract surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Acosta-Rojas, E Ruthy; Comas, Mercè; Sala, Maria; Castells, Xavier

2006-10-01

To evaluate the association between visual impairment (visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, stereopsis) and patient-reported visual disability at different stages of cataract surgery. A cohort of 104 patients aged 60 years and over with bilateral cataract was assessed preoperatively, after first-eye surgery (monocular pseudophakia) and after second-eye surgery (binocular pseudophakia). Partial correlation coefficients (PCC) and linear regression models were calculated. In patients with bilateral cataracts, visual disability was associated with visual acuity (PCC = -0.30) and, to a lesser extent, with contrast sensitivity (PCC = 0.16) and stereopsis (PCC = -0.09). In monocular and binocular pseudophakia, visual disability was more strongly associated with stereopsis (PCC = -0.26 monocular and -0.51 binocular) and contrast sensitivity (PCC = 0.18 monocular and 0.34 binocular) than with visual acuity (PCC = -0.18 monocular and -0.18 binocular). Visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and stereopsis accounted for between 17% and 42% of variance in visual disability. The association of visual impairment with patient-reported visual disability differed at each stage of cataract surgery. Measuring other forms of visual impairment independently from visual acuity, such as contrast sensitivity or stereopsis, could be important in evaluating both needs and outcomes in cataract surgery. More comprehensive assessment of the impact of cataract on patients should include measurement of both visual impairment and visual disability.

Visual Information Communications International Conference

CERN Document Server

Nguyen, Quang Vinh; Zhang, Kang; VINCI'09

2010-01-01

Visual Information Communication is based on VINCI'09, The Visual Information Communications International Conference, September 2009 in Sydney, Australia. Topics covered include The Arts of Visual Layout, Presentation & Exploration, The Design of Visual Attributes, Symbols & Languages, Methods for Visual Analytics and Knowledge Discovery, Systems, Interfaces and Applications of Visualization, Methods for Multimedia Data Recognition & Processing. This cutting-edge book addresses the issues of knowledge discovery, end-user programming, modeling, rapid systems prototyping, education, and design activities. Visual Information Communications is an edited volume whose contributors include well-established researchers worldwide, from diverse disciplines including architects, artists, engineers, and scientists. Visual Information Communication is designed for a professional audience composed of practitioners and researchers working in the field of digital design and visual communications. This volume i...

Visual computing scientific visualization and imaging systems

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

This volume aims to stimulate discussions on research involving the use of data and digital images as an understanding approach for analysis and visualization of phenomena and experiments. The emphasis is put not only on graphically representing data as a way of increasing its visual analysis, but also on the imaging systems which contribute greatly to the comprehension of real cases. Scientific Visualization and Imaging Systems encompass multidisciplinary areas, with applications in many knowledge fields such as Engineering, Medicine, Material Science, Physics, Geology, Geographic Information Systems, among others. This book is a selection of 13 revised and extended research papers presented in the International Conference on Advanced Computational Engineering and Experimenting -ACE-X conferences 2010 (Paris), 2011 (Algarve), 2012 (Istanbul) and 2013 (Madrid). The examples were particularly chosen from materials research, medical applications, general concepts applied in simulations and image analysis and ot...

Prism therapy and visual rehabilitation in homonymous visual field loss.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

O'Neill, Evelyn C

2012-02-01

PURPOSE: Homonymous visual field defects (HVFD) are common and frequently occur after cerebrovascular accidents. They significantly impair visual function and cause disability particularly with regard to visual exploration. The purpose of this study was to assess a novel interventional treatment of monocular prism therapy on visual functioning in patients with HVFD of varied etiology using vision targeted, health-related quality of life (QOL) questionnaires. Our secondary aim was to confirm monocular and binocular visual field expansion pre- and posttreatment. METHODS: Twelve patients with acquired, documented HVFD were eligible to be included. All patients underwent specific vision-targeted, health-related QOL questionnaire and monocular and binocular Goldmann perimetry before commencing prism therapy. Patients were fitted with monocular prisms on the side of the HVFD with the base-in the direction of the field defect creating a peripheral optical exotropia and field expansion. After the treatment period, QOL questionnaires and perimetry were repeated. RESULTS: Twelve patients were included in the treatment group, 10 of whom were included in data analysis. Overall, there was significant improvement within multiple vision-related, QOL functioning parameters, specifically within the domains of general health (p < 0.01), general vision (p < 0.05), distance vision (p < 0.01), peripheral vision (p < 0.05), role difficulties (p < 0.05), dependency (p < 0.05), and social functioning (p < 0.05). Visual field expansion was shown when measured monocularly and binocularly during the study period in comparison with pretreatment baselines. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with HVFD demonstrate decreased QOL. Monocular sector prisms can improve the QOL and expand the visual field in these patients.

Diagnosing cerebral visual impairment in children with good visual acuity.

Science.gov (United States)

van Genderen, Maria; Dekker, Marjoke; Pilon, Florine; Bals, Irmgard

2012-06-01

To identify elements that could facilitate the diagnosis of cerebral visual impairment (CVI) in children with good visual acuity in the general ophthalmic clinic. We retrospectively investigated the clinical characteristics of 30 children with good visual acuity and CVI and compared them with those of 23 children who were referred with a suspicion of CVI, but proved to have a different diagnosis. Clinical characteristics included medical history, MRI findings, visual acuity, crowding ratio (CR), visual field assessment, and the results of ophthalmologic and orthoptic examination. We also evaluated the additional value of a short CVI questionnaire. Eighty-three percent of the children with an abnormal medical history (mainly prematurity and perinatal hypoxia) had CVI, in contrast with none of the children with a normal medical history. Cerebral palsy, visual field defects, and partial optic atrophy only occurred in the CVI group. 41% of the children with CVI had a CR ≥2.0, which may be related to dorsal stream dysfunction. All children with CVI, but also 91% of the children without CVI gave ≥3 affirmative answers on the CVI questionnaire. An abnormal pre- or perinatal medical history is the most important risk factor for CVI in children, and therefore in deciding which children should be referred for further multidisciplinary assessment. Additional symptoms of cerebral damage, i.e., cerebral palsy, visual field defects, partial optic atrophy, and a CR ≥2 may support the diagnosis. CVI questionnaires should not be used for screening purposes as they yield too many false positives.

Development of Web GIS for complex processing and visualization of climate geospatial datasets as an integral part of dedicated Virtual Research Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Gordov, Evgeny; Okladnikov, Igor; Titov, Alexander

2017-04-01

For comprehensive usage of large geospatial meteorological and climate datasets it is necessary to create a distributed software infrastructure based on the spatial data infrastructure (SDI) approach. Currently, it is generally accepted that the development of client applications as integrated elements of such infrastructure should be based on the usage of modern web and GIS technologies. The paper describes the Web GIS for complex processing and visualization of geospatial (mainly in NetCDF and PostGIS formats) datasets as an integral part of the dedicated Virtual Research Environment for comprehensive study of ongoing and possible future climate change, and analysis of their implications, providing full information and computing support for the study of economic, political and social consequences of global climate change at the global and regional levels. The Web GIS consists of two basic software parts: 1. Server-side part representing PHP applications of the SDI geoportal and realizing the functionality of interaction with computational core backend, WMS/WFS/WPS cartographical services, as well as implementing an open API for browser-based client software. Being the secondary one, this part provides a limited set of procedures accessible via standard HTTP interface. 2. Front-end part representing Web GIS client developed according to a "single page application" technology based on JavaScript libraries OpenLayers (http://openlayers.org/), ExtJS (https://www.sencha.com/products/extjs), GeoExt (http://geoext.org/). It implements application business logic and provides intuitive user interface similar to the interface of such popular desktop GIS applications, as uDIG, QuantumGIS etc. Boundless/OpenGeo architecture was used as a basis for Web-GIS client development. According to general INSPIRE requirements to data visualization Web GIS provides such standard functionality as data overview, image navigation, scrolling, scaling and graphical overlay, displaying map

Visual narratives : free-hand sketch for visual search and navigation of video.

OpenAIRE

James, Stuart

2016-01-01

Humans have an innate ability to communicate visually; the earliest forms of communication were cave drawings, and children can communicate visual descriptions of scenes through drawings well before they can write. Drawings and sketches offer an intuitive and efficient means for communicating visual concepts. Today, society faces a deluge of digital visual content driven by a surge in the generation of video on social media and the online availability of video archives. Mobile devices are...

Visual Representation Determines Search Difficulty: Explaining Visual Search Asymmetries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neil eBruce

2011-07-01

Full Text Available In visual search experiments there exist a variety of experimental paradigms in which a symmetric set of experimental conditions yields asymmetric corresponding task performance. There are a variety of examples of this that currently lack a satisfactory explanation. In this paper, we demonstrate that distinct classes of asymmetries may be explained by virtue of a few simple conditions that are consistent with current thinking surrounding computational modeling of visual search and coding in the primate brain. This includes a detailed look at the role that stimulus familiarity plays in the determination of search performance. Overall, we demonstrate that all of these asymmetries have a common origin, namely, they are a consequence of the encoding that appears in the visual cortex. The analysis associated with these cases yields insight into the problem of visual search in general and predictions of novel search asymmetries.

Text Stream Trend Analysis using Multiscale Visual Analytics with Applications to Social Media Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steed, Chad A [ORNL; Beaver, Justin M [ORNL; BogenII, Paul L. [Google Inc.; Drouhard, Margaret MEG G [ORNL; Pyle, Joshua M [ORNL

2015-01-01

In this paper, we introduce a new visual analytics system, called Matisse, that allows exploration of global trends in textual information streams with specific application to social media platforms. Despite the potential for real-time situational awareness using these services, interactive analysis of such semi-structured textual information is a challenge due to the high-throughput and high-velocity properties. Matisse addresses these challenges through the following contributions: (1) robust stream data management, (2) automated sen- timent/emotion analytics, (3) inferential temporal, geospatial, and term-frequency visualizations, and (4) a flexible drill-down interaction scheme that progresses from macroscale to microscale views. In addition to describing these contributions, our work-in-progress paper concludes with a practical case study focused on the analysis of Twitter 1% sample stream information captured during the week of the Boston Marathon bombings.

A link between visual disambiguation and visual memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Hegdé, Jay; Kersten, Daniel

2010-11-10

Sensory information in the retinal image is typically too ambiguous to support visual object recognition by itself. Theories of visual disambiguation posit that to disambiguate, and thus interpret, the incoming images, the visual system must integrate the sensory information with previous knowledge of the visual world. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of human subjects, we have found evidence for functional specialization for storing disambiguating information in memory versus interpreting incoming ambiguous images. Subjects viewed two-tone, "Mooney" images, which are typically ambiguous when seen for the first time but are quickly disambiguated after viewing the corresponding unambiguous color images. Activity in one set of regions, including a region in the medial parietal cortex previously reported to play a key role in Mooney image disambiguation, closely reflected memory for previously seen color images but not the subsequent disambiguation of Mooney images. A second set of regions, including the superior temporal sulcus, showed the opposite pattern, in that their responses closely reflected the subjects' percepts of the disambiguated Mooney images on a stimulus-to-stimulus basis but not the memory of the corresponding color images. Functional connectivity between the two sets of regions was stronger during those trials in which the disambiguated percept was stronger. This functional interaction between brain regions that specialize in storing disambiguating information in memory versus interpreting incoming ambiguous images may represent a general mechanism by which previous knowledge disambiguates visual sensory information.

Modification of visual function by early visual experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Blakemore, C

1976-07-01

Physiological experiments, involving recording from the visual cortex in young kittens and monkeys, have given new insight into human developmental disorders. In the visual cortex of normal cats and monkeys most neurones are selectively sensitive to the orientation of moving edges and they receive very similar signals from both eyes. Even in very young kittens without visual experience, most neurones are binocularly driven and a small proportion of them are genuinely orientation selective. There is no passive maturation of the system in the absence of visual experience, but even very brief exposure to patterned images produces rapid emergence of the adult organization. These results are compared to observations on humans who have "recovered" from early blindness. Covering one eye in a kitten or a monkey, during a sensitive period early in life, produces a virtually complete loss of input from that eye in the cortex. These results can be correlated with the production of "stimulus deprivation amblyopia" in infants who have had one eye patched. Induction of a strabismus causes a loss of binocularity in the visual cortex, and in humans it leads to a loss of stereoscopic vision and binocular fusion. Exposing kittens to lines of one orientation modifies the preferred orientations of cortical cells and there is an analogous "meridional amblyopia" in astigmatic humans. The existence of a sensitive period in human vision is discussed, as well as the possibility of designing remedial and preventive treatments for human developmental disorders.

Quantized Visual Awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W Alexander Escobar

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The proposed model holds that, at its most fundamental level, visual awareness is quantized. That is to say that visual awareness arises as individual bits of awareness through the action of neural circuits with hundreds to thousands of neurons in at least the human striate cortex. Circuits with specific topologies will reproducibly result in visual awareness that correspond to basic aspects of vision like color, motion and depth. These quanta of awareness (qualia are produced by the feedforward sweep that occurs through the geniculocortical pathway but are not integrated into a conscious experience until recurrent processing from centers like V4 or V5 select the appropriate qualia being produced in V1 to create a percept. The model proposed here has the potential to shift the focus of the search for visual awareness to the level of microcircuits and these likely exist across the kingdom Animalia. Thus establishing qualia as the fundamental nature of visual awareness will not only provide a deeper understanding of awareness, but also allow for a more quantitative understanding of the evolution of visual awareness throughout the animal kingdom.

Words, Shape, Visual Search and Visual Working Memory in 3-Year-Old Children

Science.gov (United States)

Vales, Catarina; Smith, Linda B.

2015-01-01

Do words cue children's visual attention, and if so, what are the relevant mechanisms? Across four experiments, 3-year-old children (N = 163) were tested in visual search tasks in which targets were cued with only a visual preview versus a visual preview and a spoken name. The experiments were designed to determine whether labels facilitated…

Cortical networks involved in visual awareness independent of visual attention

OpenAIRE

Webb, Taylor W.; Igelström, Kajsa M.; Schurger, Aaron; Graziano, Michael S. A.

2016-01-01

Do specific areas of the brain participate in subjective visual experience? We measured brain activity in humans using fMRI. Participants were aware of a visual stimulus in one condition and unaware of it in another condition. The two conditions were balanced for their effect on visual attention. Specific brain areas were more active in the aware than in the unaware condition, suggesting they were involved in subjective awareness independent of attention. The largest cluster of activity was f...

Neural Anatomy of Primary Visual Cortex Limits Visual Working Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergmann, Johanna; Genç, Erhan; Kohler, Axel; Singer, Wolf; Pearson, Joel

2016-01-01

Despite the immense processing power of the human brain, working memory storage is severely limited, and the neuroanatomical basis of these limitations has remained elusive. Here, we show that the stable storage limits of visual working memory for over 9 s are bound by the precise gray matter volume of primary visual cortex (V1), defined by fMRI retinotopic mapping. Individuals with a bigger V1 tended to have greater visual working memory storage. This relationship was present independently for both surface size and thickness of V1 but absent in V2, V3 and for non-visual working memory measures. Additional whole-brain analyses confirmed the specificity of the relationship to V1. Our findings indicate that the size of primary visual cortex plays a critical role in limiting what we can hold in mind, acting like a gatekeeper in constraining the richness of working mental function. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Coherent visualization of spatial data adapted to roles, tasks, and hardware

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Boris; Peinsipp-Byma, Elisabeth

2012-06-01

Modern crisis management requires that users with different roles and computer environments have to deal with a high volume of various data from different sources. For this purpose, Fraunhofer IOSB has developed a geographic information system (GIS) which supports the user depending on available data and the task he has to solve. The system provides merging and visualization of spatial data from various civilian and military sources. It supports the most common spatial data standards (OGC, STANAG) as well as some proprietary interfaces, regardless if these are filebased or database-based. To set the visualization rules generic Styled Layer Descriptors (SLDs) are used, which are an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard. SLDs allow specifying which data are shown, when and how. The defined SLDs consider the users' roles and task requirements. In addition it is possible to use different displays and the visualization also adapts to the individual resolution of the display. Too high or low information density is avoided. Also, our system enables users with different roles to work together simultaneously using the same data base. Every user is provided with the appropriate and coherent spatial data depending on his current task. These so refined spatial data are served via the OGC services Web Map Service (WMS: server-side rendered raster maps), or the Web Map Tile Service - (WMTS: pre-rendered and cached raster maps).

FluxVisualizer, a Software to Visualize Fluxes through Metabolic Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim Daniel Rose

2018-04-01

Full Text Available FluxVisualizer (Version 1.0, 2017, freely available at https://fluxvisualizer.ibgc.cnrs.fr is a software to visualize fluxes values on a scalable vector graphic (SVG representation of a metabolic network by colouring or increasing the width of reaction arrows of the SVG file. FluxVisualizer does not aim to draw metabolic networks but to use a customer’s SVG file allowing him to exploit his representation standards with a minimum of constraints. FluxVisualizer is especially suitable for small to medium size metabolic networks, where a visual representation of the fluxes makes sense. The flux distribution can either be an elementary flux mode (EFM, a flux balance analysis (FBA result or any other flux distribution. It allows the automatic visualization of a series of pathways of the same network as is needed for a set of EFMs. The software is coded in python3 and provides a graphical user interface (GUI and an application programming interface (API. All functionalities of the program can be used from the API and the GUI and allows advanced users to add their own functionalities. The software is able to work with various formats of flux distributions (Metatool, CellNetAnalyzer, COPASI and FAME export files as well as with Excel files. This simple software can save a lot of time when evaluating fluxes simulations on a metabolic network.

Python data visualization cookbook

CERN Document Server

Milovanovic, Igor

2013-01-01

This book is written in a Cookbook style targeted towards an advanced audience. It covers the advanced topics of data visualization in Python.Python Data Visualization Cookbook is for developers that already know about Python programming in general. If you have heard about data visualization but you don't know where to start, then this book will guide you from the start and help you understand data, data formats, data visualization, and how to use Python to visualize data.You will need to know some general programming concepts, and any kind of programming experience will be helpful, but the co

Visualization system on ITBL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Yoshio

2004-01-01

Visualization systems PATRAS/ITBL and AVS/ITBL, which are based on visualization software PATRAS and AVS/Express respectively, have been developed on a global, heterogeneous computing environment, Information Technology Based Laboratory (ITBL). PATRAS/ITBL allows for real-time visualization of the numerical results acquired from coupled multi-physics numerical simulations, executed on different hosts situated in remote locations. AVS/ITBL allow for post processing visualization. The scientific data located in remote sites may be selected and visualized on a web browser installed in a user terminal. The global structure and main functions of these systems are presented. (author)

Visual attention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evans, K.K.; Horowitz, T.S.; Howe, P.; Pedersini, R.; Reijnen, E.; Pinto, Y.; Wolfe, J.M.

2011-01-01

A typical visual scene we encounter in everyday life is complex and filled with a huge amount of perceptual information. The term, ‘visual attention’ describes a set of mechanisms that limit some processing to a subset of incoming stimuli. Attentional mechanisms shape what we see and what we can act

Visual memory and visual mental imagery recruit common control and sensory regions of the brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Slotnick, Scott D; Thompson, William L; Kosslyn, Stephen M

2012-01-01

Separate lines of research have shown that visual memory and visual mental imagery are mediated by frontal-parietal control regions and can rely on occipital-temporal sensory regions of the brain. We used fMRI to assess the degree to which visual memory and visual mental imagery rely on the same neural substrates. During the familiarization/study phase, participants studied drawings of objects. During the test phase, words corresponding to old and new objects were presented. In the memory test, participants responded "remember," "know," or "new." In the imagery test, participants responded "high vividness," "moderate vividness," or "low vividness." Visual memory (old-remember) and visual imagery (old-high vividness) were commonly associated with activity in frontal-parietal control regions and occipital-temporal sensory regions. In addition, visual memory produced greater activity than visual imagery in parietal and occipital-temporal regions. The present results suggest that visual memory and visual imagery rely on highly similar--but not identical--cognitive processes.

VISUAL3D - An EIT network on visualization of geomodels

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Tobias

2017-04-01

When it comes to interpretation of data and understanding of deep geological structures and bodies at different scales then modelling tools and modelling experience is vital for deep exploration. Geomodelling provides a platform for integration of different types of data, including new kinds of information (e.g., new improved measuring methods). EIT Raw Materials, initiated by the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology) and funded by the European Commission, is the largest and strongest consortium in the raw materials sector worldwide. The VISUAL3D network of infrastructure is an initiative by EIT Raw Materials and aims at bringing together partners with 3D-4D-visualisation infrastructure and 3D-4D-modelling experience. The recently formed network collaboration interlinks hardware, software and expert knowledge in modelling visualization and output. A special focus will be the linking of research, education and industry and integrating multi-disciplinary data and to visualize the data in three and four dimensions. By aiding network collaborations we aim at improving the combination of geomodels with differing file formats and data characteristics. This will create an increased competency in modelling visualization and the ability to interchange and communicate models more easily. By combining knowledge and experience in geomodelling with expertise in Virtual Reality visualization partners of EIT Raw Materials but also external parties will have the possibility to visualize, analyze and validate their geomodels in immersive VR-environments. The current network combines partners from universities, research institutes, geological surveys and industry with a strong background in geological 3D-modelling and 3D visualization and comprises: Luleå University of Technology, Geological Survey of Finland, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, TUBA Freiberg, Uppsala University, Geological Survey of France, RWTH Aachen, DMT, KGHM Cuprum, Boliden, Montan

Reflexive Learning through Visual Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frølunde, Lisbeth

2014-01-01

What. This chapter concerns how visual methods and visual materials can support visually oriented, collaborative, and creative learning processes in education. The focus is on facilitation (guiding, teaching) with visual methods in learning processes that are designerly or involve design. Visual...... methods are exemplified through two university classroom cases about collaborative idea generation processes. The visual methods and materials in the cases are photo elicitation using photo cards, and modeling with LEGO Serious Play sets. Why. The goal is to encourage the reader, whether student...... or professional, to facilitate with visual methods in a critical, reflective, and experimental way. The chapter offers recommendations for facilitating with visual methods to support playful, emergent designerly processes. The chapter also has a critical, situated perspective. Where. This chapter offers case...

Visualize This The FlowingData Guide to Design, Visualization, and Statistics

CERN Document Server

Yau, Nathan

2011-01-01

Practical data design tips from a data visualization expert of the modern age Data doesn?t decrease; it is ever-increasing and can be overwhelming to organize in a way that makes sense to its intended audience. Wouldn?t it be wonderful if we could actually visualize data in such a way that we could maximize its potential and tell a story in a clear, concise manner? Thanks to the creative genius of Nathan Yau, we can. With this full-color book, data visualization guru and author Nathan Yau uses step-by-step tutorials to show you how to visualize and tell stories with data. He explains how to ga

Visual acuity and visual skills in Malaysian children with learning disabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muzaliha MN

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Mohd-Nor Muzaliha,1 Buang Nurhamiza,1 Adil Hussein,1 Abdul-Rani Norabibas,1 Jaafar Mohd-Hisham-Basrun,1 Abdullah Sarimah,2 Seo-Wei Leo,3 Ismail Shatriah11Department of Ophthalmology, 2Biostatistics and Research Methodology Unit, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia; 3Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, SingaporeBackground: There is limited data in the literature concerning the visual status and skills in children with learning disabilities, particularly within the Asian population. This study is aimed to determine visual acuity and visual skills in children with learning disabilities in primary schools within the suburban Kota Bharu district in Malaysia.Methods: We examined 1010 children with learning disabilities aged between 8–12 years from 40 primary schools in the Kota Bharu district, Malaysia from January 2009 to March 2010. These children were identified based on their performance in a screening test known as the Early Intervention Class for Reading and Writing Screening Test conducted by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. Complete ocular examinations and visual skills assessment included near point of convergence, amplitude of accommodation, accommodative facility, convergence break and recovery, divergence break and recovery, and developmental eye movement tests for all subjects.Results: A total of 4.8% of students had visual acuity worse than 6/12 (20/40, 14.0% had convergence insufficiency, 28.3% displayed poor accommodative amplitude, and 26.0% showed signs of accommodative infacility. A total of 12.1% of the students had poor convergence break, 45.7% displayed poor convergence recovery, 37.4% showed poor divergence break, and 66.3% were noted to have poor divergence recovery. The mean horizontal developmental eye movement was significantly prolonged.Conclusion: Although their visual acuity was satisfactory, nearly 30% of the

VISUAL ABILITY IN AMBLYOPIC CHILDREN COMPARED TO CHILDREN WITH NORMAL VISUAL ACUITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zorica Tončić

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Vision rehabilitation in adults with low vision, even in children, is achieved with special devices, called low vision aids, LVA. The aim of the study is to determine the degree of visual function in amblyopic children and daily activities that are best related to those of normally sighted peers with normal visual acuity. The subjects were divided into two groups, matched 1:1 by age and gender: the first group consisted of 19 amblyopic children, and the second one consisted of 19 children with normal visual acuity. The questionnaire used to assess visual ability was Cardiff Visual Ability Questionnaire for Children (CVAQC, a reliable instrument for measuring visual ability in children with low vision. The study was conducted in the only rehabilitation center for amblyopic children in this region, so this is also a pioneer study. The overall result of CVAQC in amblyopic children was 1.287 log vs.-2.956, representing statistically significantly poorer visual ability in comparison to peers without vision deficit (p˂0.005. Amblyopic children function best in entertainment activities, especially in listening music (-2.31 log; as for sport, these children report swimming to be their favourite activity (-0.99 log. In the field of education they show best results in language acquisition (-0.79 log and the worst in mathematics (3.13 log. The greatest problem is reading small print texts books (2.61 log. Low vision children have poorer result of visual function in comparison to their peers with normal visual acuity. A precise deficit assessment in the most important spheres of life can be determined by using the questionnaires, so the rehabilitation can be rightly chosen.

Visualization and interaction tools for aerial photograph mosaics

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, João Pedro; Fonseca, Alexandra; Pereira, Luís; Faria, Adriano; Figueira, Helder; Henriques, Inês; Garção, Rita; Câmara, António

1997-05-01

This paper describes the development of a digital spatial library based on mosaics of digital orthophotos, called Interactive Portugal, that will enable users both to retrieve geospatial information existing in the Portuguese National System for Geographic Information World Wide Web server, and to develop local databases connected to the main system. A set of navigation, interaction, and visualization tools are proposed and discussed. They include sketching, dynamic sketching, and navigation capabilities over the digital orthophotos mosaics. Main applications of this digital spatial library are pointed out and discussed, namely for education, professional, and tourism markets. Future developments are considered. These developments are related to user reactions, technological advancements, and projects that also aim at delivering and exploring digital imagery on the World Wide Web. Future capabilities for site selection and change detection are also considered.

The sensory strength of voluntary visual imagery predicts visual working memory capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Keogh, Rebecca; Pearson, Joel

2014-10-09

How much we can actively hold in mind is severely limited and differs greatly from one person to the next. Why some individuals have greater capacities than others is largely unknown. Here, we investigated why such large variations in visual working memory (VWM) capacity might occur, by examining the relationship between visual working memory and visual mental imagery. To assess visual working memory capacity participants were required to remember the orientation of a number of Gabor patches and make subsequent judgments about relative changes in orientation. The sensory strength of voluntary imagery was measured using a previously documented binocular rivalry paradigm. Participants with greater imagery strength also had greater visual working memory capacity. However, they were no better on a verbal number working memory task. Introducing a uniform luminous background during the retention interval of the visual working memory task reduced memory capacity, but only for those with strong imagery. Likewise, for the good imagers increasing background luminance during imagery generation reduced its effect on subsequent binocular rivalry. Luminance increases did not affect any of the subgroups on the verbal number working memory task. Together, these results suggest that luminance was disrupting sensory mechanisms common to both visual working memory and imagery, and not a general working memory system. The disruptive selectivity of background luminance suggests that good imagers, unlike moderate or poor imagers, may use imagery as a mnemonic strategy to perform the visual working memory task. © 2014 ARVO.

Visual explorer facilitator's guide

CERN Document Server

Palus, Charles J

2010-01-01

Grounded in research and practice, the Visual Explorer™ Facilitator's Guide provides a method for supporting collaborative, creative conversations about complex issues through the power of images. The guide is available as a component in the Visual Explorer Facilitator's Letter-sized Set, Visual Explorer Facilitator's Post card-sized Set, Visual Explorer Playing Card-sized Set, and is also available as a stand-alone title for purchase to assist multiple tool users in an organization.

Business Model Visualization

OpenAIRE

Zagorsek, Branislav

2013-01-01

Business model describes the company’s most important activities, proposed value, and the compensation for the value. Business model visualization enables to simply and systematically capture and describe the most important components of the business model while the standardization of the concept allows the comparison between companies. There are several possibilities how to visualize the model. The aim of this paper is to describe the options for business model visualization and business mod...

Filling the Astronomical Void - A Visual Medium for a Visual Subject

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, J.

1996-12-01

Astronomy is fundamentally a visual subject. The modern science of astronomy has at its foundation the ancient art of observing the sky visually. The visual elements of astronomy are arguably the most important. Every person in the entire world is affected by visually-observed astronomical phenomena such as the seasonal variations in daylight. However, misconceptions abound and the average person cannot recognize the simple signs in the sky that point to the direction, the hour and the season. Educators and astronomy popularizers widely lament that astronomy is not appreciated in our society. Yet, there is a remarkable dearth of popular literature for teaching the visual elements of astronomy. This is what I refer to as *the astronomical void.* Typical works use illustrations sparsely, relying most heavily on text-based descriptions of the visual astronomical phenomena. Such works leave significant inferential gaps to the inexperienced reader, who is unequipped for making astronomical observations. Thus, the astronomical void remains unfilled by much of the currently available literature. I therefore propose the introduction of a visually-oriented medium for teaching the visual elements of Astronomy. To this end, I have prepared a series of astronomy "comic strips" that are intended to fill the astronomical void. By giving the illustrations the central place, the comic strip medium permits the depiction of motion and other sequential activity, thus effectively representing astronomical phenomena. In addition to the practical advantages, the comic strip is a "user friendly" medium that is inviting and entertaining to a reader. At the present time, I am distributing a monthly comic strip entitled *Starman*, which appears in the newsletters of over 120 local astronomy organizations and on the web at http://www.cyberdrive.net/ starman. I hope to eventually publish a series of full-length books and believe that astronomical comic strips will help expand the perimeter of

LOD map--A visual interface for navigating multiresolution volume visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chaoli; Shen, Han-Wei

2006-01-01

In multiresolution volume visualization, a visual representation of level-of-detail (LOD) quality is important for us to examine, compare, and validate different LOD selection algorithms. While traditional methods rely on ultimate images for quality measurement, we introduce the LOD map--an alternative representation of LOD quality and a visual interface for navigating multiresolution data exploration. Our measure for LOD quality is based on the formulation of entropy from information theory. The measure takes into account the distortion and contribution of multiresolution data blocks. A LOD map is generated through the mapping of key LOD ingredients to a treemap representation. The ordered treemap layout is used for relative stable update of the LOD map when the view or LOD changes. This visual interface not only indicates the quality of LODs in an intuitive way, but also provides immediate suggestions for possible LOD improvement through visually-striking features. It also allows us to compare different views and perform rendering budget control. A set of interactive techniques is proposed to make the LOD adjustment a simple and easy task. We demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach on large scientific and medical data sets.

Visual search elicits the electrophysiological marker of visual working memory.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen M Emrich

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Although limited in capacity, visual working memory (VWM plays an important role in many aspects of visually-guided behavior. Recent experiments have demonstrated an electrophysiological marker of VWM encoding and maintenance, the contralateral delay activity (CDA, which has been shown in multiple tasks that have both explicit and implicit memory demands. Here, we investigate whether the CDA is evident during visual search, a thoroughly-researched task that is a hallmark of visual attention but has no explicit memory requirements. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The results demonstrate that the CDA is present during a lateralized search task, and that it is similar in amplitude to the CDA observed in a change-detection task, but peaks slightly later. The changes in CDA amplitude during search were strongly correlated with VWM capacity, as well as with search efficiency. These results were paralleled by behavioral findings showing a strong correlation between VWM capacity and search efficiency. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We conclude that the activity observed during visual search was generated by the same neural resources that subserve VWM, and that this activity reflects the maintenance of previously searched distractors.

Visual Attention to Movement and Color in Children with Cortical Visual Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen-Maitre, Stacey Ann; Haerich, Paul

2005-01-01

This study investigated the ability of color and motion to elicit and maintain visual attention in a sample of children with cortical visual impairment (CVI). It found that colorful and moving objects may be used to engage children with CVI, increase their motivation to use their residual vision, and promote visual learning.

Visual hallucinatory syndromes and the anatomy of the visual brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Santhouse, A M; Howard, R J; ffytche, D H

2000-10-01

We have set out to identify phenomenological correlates of cerebral functional architecture within Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) hallucinations by looking for associations between specific hallucination categories. Thirty-four CBS patients were examined with a structured interview/questionnaire to establish the presence of 28 different pathological visual experiences. Associations between categories of pathological experience were investigated by an exploratory factor analysis. Twelve of the pathological experiences partitioned into three segregated syndromic clusters. The first cluster consisted of hallucinations of extended landscape scenes and small figures in costumes with hats; the second, hallucinations of grotesque, disembodied and distorted faces with prominent eyes and teeth; and the third, visual perseveration and delayed palinopsia. The three visual psycho-syndromes mirror the segregation of hierarchical visual pathways into streams and suggest a novel theoretical framework for future research into the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric syndromes.

Do Visual Aids Really Matter?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristine Fish

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Educational webcasts or video lectures as a teaching tool and a form of visual aid have become widely used with the rising prevalence of online and blended courses and with the increase of web-based video materials. Thus, research pertaining to factors enhancing the effectiveness of video lectures, such as number of visual aids, is critical. This study compared student evaluations before and after embedding additional visual aids throughout video lectures in an online course. Slide transitions occurred on average every 40 seconds for the pre-treatment group with approximately 600 visuals total, compared to slide transitions every 10 seconds for the post-treatment group with approximately 2,000 visuals total. All students received the same audio recordings. Research questions addressed are: (1 Are student perceptions of the effectiveness of examples used to illustrate concepts affected by number of visual aids? (2 Is the extent to which students feel engaged during the lectures affected by number of visual aids? (3 Are students’ perceived overall learning experiences affected by number of visual aids? Surprisingly, results indicate that for questions #1 and #3, student ratings of those who viewed videos with fewer visuals rated their experiences higher than students who viewed more visuals. There was no significant difference found for question #2. Conclusion: Although some visuals have been shown to enhance learning, too many visuals may be a deterrent to learning.

Authoring Tours of Geospatial Data With KML and Google Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Barcay, D. P.; Weiss-Malik, M.

2008-12-01

As virtual globes become widely adopted by the general public, the use of geospatial data has expanded greatly. With the popularization of Google Earth and other platforms, GIS systems have become virtual reality platforms. Using these platforms, a casual user can easily explore the world, browse massive data-sets, create powerful 3D visualizations, and share those visualizations with millions of people using the KML language. This technology has raised the bar for professionals and academics alike. It is now expected that studies and projects will be accompanied by compelling, high-quality visualizations. In this new landscape, a presentation of geospatial data can be the most effective form of advertisement for a project: engaging both the general public and the scientific community in a unified interactive experience. On the other hand, merely dumping a dataset into a virtual globe can be a disorienting, alienating experience for many users. To create an effective, far-reaching presentation, an author must take care to make their data approachable to a wide variety of users with varying knowledge of the subject matter, expertise in virtual globes, and attention spans. To that end, we present techniques for creating self-guided interactive tours of data represented in KML and visualized in Google Earth. Using these methods, we provide the ability to move the camera through the world while dynamically varying the content, style, and visibility of the displayed data. Such tours can automatically guide users through massive, complex datasets: engaging a broad user-base, and conveying subtle concepts that aren't immediately apparent when viewing the raw data. To the casual user these techniques result in an extremely compelling experience similar to watching video. Unlike video though, these techniques maintain the rich interactive environment provided by the virtual globe, allowing users to explore the data in detail and to add other data sources to the presentation.

Two Types of Visual Objects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skrzypulec Błażej

2015-06-01

Full Text Available While it is widely accepted that human vision represents objects, it is less clear which of the various philosophical notions of ‘object’ adequately characterizes visual objects. In this paper, I show that within contemporary cognitive psychology visual objects are characterized in two distinct, incompatible ways. On the one hand, models of visual organization describe visual objects in terms of combinations of features, in accordance with the philosophical bundle theories of objects. However, models of visual persistence apply a notion of visual objects that is more similar to that endorsed in philosophical substratum theories. Here I discuss arguments that might show either that only one of the above notions of visual objects is adequate in the context of human vision, or that the category of visual objects is not uniform and contains entities properly characterized by different philosophical conceptions.

High-intensity erotic visual stimuli de-activate the primary visual cortex in women.

Science.gov (United States)

Huynh, Hieu K; Beers, Caroline; Willemsen, Antoon; Lont, Erna; Laan, Ellen; Dierckx, Rudi; Jansen, Monique; Sand, Michael; Weijmar Schultz, Willibrord; Holstege, Gert

2012-06-01

The primary visual cortex, Brodmann's area (BA 17), plays a vital role in basic survival mechanisms in humans. In most neuro-imaging studies in which the volunteers have to watch pictures or movies, the primary visual cortex is similarly activated independent of the content of the pictures or movies. However, in case the volunteers perform demanding non-visual tasks, the primary visual cortex becomes de-activated, although the amount of incoming visual sensory information is the same. Do low- and high-intensity erotic movies, compared to neutral movies, produce similar de-activation of the primary visual cortex? Brain activation/de-activation was studied by Positron Emission Tomography scanning of the brains of 12 healthy heterosexual premenopausal women, aged 18-47, who watched neutral, low- and high-intensity erotic film segments. We measured differences in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the primary visual cortex during watching neutral, low-intensity erotic, and high-intensity erotic film segments. Watching high-intensity erotic, but not low-intensity erotic movies, compared to neutral movies resulted in strong de-activation of the primary (BA 17) and adjoining parts of the secondary visual cortex. The strong de-activation during watching high-intensity erotic film might represent compensation for the increased blood supply in the brain regions involved in sexual arousal, also because high-intensity erotic movies do not require precise scanning of the visual field, because the impact is clear to the observer. © 2012 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Using Geospatial Analysis to Align Little Free Library Locations with Community Literacy Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Rebori, Marlene K.; Burge, Peter

2017-01-01

We used geospatial analysis tools to develop community maps depicting fourth-grade reading proficiency test scores and locations of facilities offering public access to reading materials (i.e., public libraries, elementary schools, and Little Free Libraries). The maps visually highlighted areas with struggling readers and areas without adequate…

Sensitivity to the visual field origin of natural image patches in human low-level visual cortex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damien J. Mannion

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Asymmetries in the response to visual patterns in the upper and lower visual fields (above and below the centre of gaze have been associated with ecological factors relating to the structure of typical visual environments. Here, we investigated whether the content of the upper and lower visual field representations in low-level regions of human visual cortex are specialised for visual patterns that arise from the upper and lower visual fields in natural images. We presented image patches, drawn from above or below the centre of gaze of an observer navigating a natural environment, to either the upper or lower visual fields of human participants (n = 7 while we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI to measure the magnitude of evoked activity in the visual areas V1, V2, and V3. We found a significant interaction between the presentation location (upper or lower visual field and the image patch source location (above or below fixation; the responses to lower visual field presentation were significantly greater for image patches sourced from below than above fixation, while the responses in the upper visual field were not significantly different for image patches sourced from above and below fixation. This finding demonstrates an association between the representation of the lower visual field in human visual cortex and the structure of the visual input that is likely to be encountered below the centre of gaze.

Visual attention capacity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Habekost, Thomas; Starrfelt, Randi

2009-01-01

Psychophysical studies have identified two distinct limitations of visual attention capacity: processing speed and apprehension span. Using a simple test, these cognitive factors can be analyzed by Bundesen's Theory of Visual Attention (TVA). The method has strong specificity and sensitivity......, and measurements are highly reliable. As the method is theoretically founded, it also has high validity. TVA-based assessment has recently been used to investigate a broad range of neuropsychological and neurological conditions. We present the method, including the experimental paradigm and practical guidelines...... to patient testing, and review existing TVA-based patient studies organized by lesion anatomy. Lesions in three anatomical regions affect visual capacity: The parietal lobes, frontal cortex and basal ganglia, and extrastriate cortex. Visual capacity thus depends on large, bilaterally distributed anatomical...

Effects of Temporal Congruity Between Auditory and Visual Stimuli Using Rapid Audio-Visual Serial Presentation.

Science.gov (United States)

An, Xingwei; Tang, Jiabei; Liu, Shuang; He, Feng; Qi, Hongzhi; Wan, Baikun; Ming, Dong

2016-10-01

Combining visual and auditory stimuli in event-related potential (ERP)-based spellers gained more attention in recent years. Few of these studies notice the difference of ERP components and system efficiency caused by the shifting of visual and auditory onset. Here, we aim to study the effect of temporal congruity of auditory and visual stimuli onset on bimodal brain-computer interface (BCI) speller. We designed five visual and auditory combined paradigms with different visual-to-auditory delays (-33 to +100 ms). Eleven participants attended in this study. ERPs were acquired and aligned according to visual and auditory stimuli onset, respectively. ERPs of Fz, Cz, and PO7 channels were studied through the statistical analysis of different conditions both from visual-aligned ERPs and audio-aligned ERPs. Based on the visual-aligned ERPs, classification accuracy was also analyzed to seek the effects of visual-to-auditory delays. The latencies of ERP components depended mainly on the visual stimuli onset. Auditory stimuli onsets influenced mainly on early component accuracies, whereas visual stimuli onset determined later component accuracies. The latter, however, played a dominate role in overall classification. This study is important for further studies to achieve better explanations and ultimately determine the way to optimize the bimodal BCI application.

Right hemispheric dominance of visual phenomena evoked by intracerebral stimulation of the human visual cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Jonas, Jacques; Frismand, Solène; Vignal, Jean-Pierre; Colnat-Coulbois, Sophie; Koessler, Laurent; Vespignani, Hervé; Rossion, Bruno; Maillard, Louis

2014-07-01

Electrical brain stimulation can provide important information about the functional organization of the human visual cortex. Here, we report the visual phenomena evoked by a large number (562) of intracerebral electrical stimulations performed at low-intensity with depth electrodes implanted in the occipito-parieto-temporal cortex of 22 epileptic patients. Focal electrical stimulation evoked primarily visual hallucinations with various complexities: simple (spot or blob), intermediary (geometric forms), or complex meaningful shapes (faces); visual illusions and impairments of visual recognition were more rarely observed. With the exception of the most posterior cortical sites, the probability of evoking a visual phenomenon was significantly higher in the right than the left hemisphere. Intermediary and complex hallucinations, illusions, and visual recognition impairments were almost exclusively evoked by stimulation in the right hemisphere. The probability of evoking a visual phenomenon decreased substantially from the occipital pole to the most anterior sites of the temporal lobe, and this decrease was more pronounced in the left hemisphere. The greater sensitivity of the right occipito-parieto-temporal regions to intracerebral electrical stimulation to evoke visual phenomena supports a predominant role of right hemispheric visual areas from perception to recognition of visual forms, regardless of visuospatial and attentional factors. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Splitting Attention across the Two Visual Fields in Visual Short-Term Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Delvenne, Jean-Francois; Holt, Jessica L.

2012-01-01

Humans have the ability to attentionally select the most relevant visual information from their extrapersonal world and to retain it in a temporary buffer, known as visual short-term memory (VSTM). Research suggests that at least two non-contiguous items can be selected simultaneously when they are distributed across the two visual hemifields. In…

Peripheral visual response time and visual display layout

Science.gov (United States)

Haines, R. F.

1974-01-01

Experiments were performed on a group of 42 subjects in a study of their peripheral visual response time to visual signals under positive acceleration, during prolonged bedrest, at passive 70 deg headup body lift, under exposures to high air temperatures and high luminance levels, and under normal stress-free laboratory conditions. Diagrams are plotted for mean response times to white, red, yellow, green, and blue stimuli under different conditions.

Synthetic Biology Open Language Visual (SBOL Visual) Version 2.0

KAUST Repository

Cox, Robert Sidney; Madsen, Curtis; McLaughlin, James; Nguyen, Tramy; Roehner, Nicholas; Bartley, Bryan; Bhatia, Swapnil; Bissell, Mike; Clancy, Kevin; Gorochowski, Thomas; Grunberg, Raik; Luna, Augustin; Le Novè re, Nicolas; Pocock, Matthew; Sauro, Herbert; Sexton, John T.; Stan, Guy-Bart; Tabor, Jeffrey J.; Voigt, Christopher A.; Zundel, Zach; Myers, Chris; Beal, Jacob; Wipat, Anil

2018-01-01

to produce a coherent language for expressing the structure and function of genetic designs. This document details version 2.0 of SBOL Visual, which builds on the prior SBOL Visual 1.0 standard by expanding diagram syntax to include functional interactions

The Visual System

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Full Text Available ... to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health problems and requirements of the blind.” ... Clinical Studies Publications Catalog Photos ...

Attention biases visual activity in visual short-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Bo-Cheng; Stokes, Mark G; Murray, Alexandra M; Nobre, Anna Christina

2014-07-01

In the current study, we tested whether representations in visual STM (VSTM) can be biased via top-down attentional modulation of visual activity in retinotopically specific locations. We manipulated attention using retrospective cues presented during the retention interval of a VSTM task. Retrospective cues triggered activity in a large-scale network implicated in attentional control and led to retinotopically specific modulation of activity in early visual areas V1-V4. Importantly, shifts of attention during VSTM maintenance were associated with changes in functional connectivity between pFC and retinotopic regions within V4. Our findings provide new insights into top-down control mechanisms that modulate VSTM representations for flexible and goal-directed maintenance of the most relevant memoranda.

Visualization in modern cartography

CERN Document Server

MacEachren, AM

1994-01-01

Visualization in Modern Cartography explores links between the centuries-old discipline of cartography and today's revolutionary developments in scientific visualization. The book has three main goals: (1) to pass on design and symbolization expertise to the scientific visualization community - information that comes from centuries of pre-computer visualization by cartographers, and their more recent experiences with computerizing the discipline; (2) to help cartographers cope with the dramatic shift from print cartography to a dynamic virtual cartography for which their role is changing from

Is theta burst stimulation applied to visual cortex able to modulate peripheral visual acuity?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabrina Brückner

Full Text Available Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is usually applied to visual cortex to explore the effects on cortical excitability. Most researchers therefore concentrate on changes of phosphene threshold, rarely on consequences for visual performance. Thus, we investigated peripheral visual acuity in the four quadrants of the visual field using Landolt C optotypes before and after repetitive stimulation of the visual cortex. We applied continuous and intermittend theta burst stimulation with various stimulation intensities (60%, 80%, 100%, 120% of individual phosphene threshold as well as monophasic and biphasic 1 Hz stimulation, respectively. As an important result, no serious adverse effects were observed. In particular, no seizure was induced, even with theta burst stimulation applied with 120% of individual phosphene threshold. In only one case stimulation was ceased because the subject reported intolerable pain. Baseline visual acuity decreased over sessions, indicating a continuous training effect. Unexpectedly, none of the applied transcranial magnetic stimulation protocols had an effect on performance: no change in visual acuity was found in any of the four quadrants of the visual field. Binocular viewing as well as the use of peripheral instead of foveal presentation of the stimuli might have contributed to this result. Furthermore, intraindividual variability could have masked the TMS- induced effects on visual acuity.

Visual acuity test

Science.gov (United States)

... this page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003396.htm Visual acuity test To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. The visual acuity test is used to determine the smallest ...

Visual attention and stability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mathot, Sebastiaan; Theeuwes, Jan

2011-01-01

In the present review, we address the relationship between attention and visual stability. Even though with each eye, head and body movement the retinal image changes dramatically, we perceive the world as stable and are able to perform visually guided actions. However, visual stability is not as

Synthetic Biology Open Language Visual (SBOL Visual) Version 2.0

KAUST Repository

Cox, Robert Sidney

2018-03-24

People who are engineering biological organisms often find it useful to communicate in diagrams, both about the structure of the nucleic acid sequences that they are engineering and about the functional relationships between sequence features and other molecular species. Some typical practices and conventions have begun to emerge for such diagrams. The Synthetic Biology Open Language Visual (SBOL Visual) has been developed as a standard for organizing and systematizing such conventions in order to produce a coherent language for expressing the structure and function of genetic designs. This document details version 2.0 of SBOL Visual, which builds on the prior SBOL Visual 1.0 standard by expanding diagram syntax to include functional interactions and molecular species, making the relationship between diagrams and the SBOL data model explicit, supporting families of symbol variants, clarifying a number of requirements and best practices, and significantly expanding the collection of diagram glyphs.

Supporting interactive visual analytics of energy behavior in buildings through affine visualizations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Matthias; Brewer, Robert S.; Grønbæk, Kaj

2016-01-01

Domain experts dealing with big data are typically not familiar with advanced data mining tools. This especially holds true for domain experts within energy management. In this paper, we introduce a visual analytics approach that empowers such users to visually analyze energy behavior based......Viz, that interactively maps data from real world buildings. It is an overview +detail inter-active visual analytics tool supporting both rapid ad hoc explorations and structured evaluation of hypotheses about patterns and anomalies in resource consumption data mixed with occupant survey data. We have evaluated...... the approach with five domain experts within energy management, and further with 10 data analytics experts and found that it was easily attainable and that it supported visual analysis of mixed consumption and survey data. Finally, we discuss future perspectives of affine visual analytics for mixed...

Visual electrophysiology in children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jelka Brecelj

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Electrophysiological assessment of vision in children helps to recognise abnormal development of the visual system when it is still susceptible to medication and eventual correction. Visual electrophysiology provides information about the function of the retina (retinal pigment epithelium, cone and rod receptors, bipolar, amacrine, and ganglion cells, optic nerve, chiasmal and postchiasmal visual pathway, and visual cortex.Methods: Electroretinograms (ERG and visual evoked potentials (VEP are recorded non-invasively; in infants are recorded simultaneously ERG with skin electrodes, while in older children separately ERG with HK loop electrode in accordance with ISCEV (International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision recommendations.Results: Clinical and electrophysiological changes in children with nystagmus, Leber’s congenital amaurosis, achromatopsia, congenital stationary night blindness, progressive retinal dystrophies, optic nerve hypoplasia, albinism, achiasmia, optic neuritis and visual pathway tumours are presented.Conclusions: Electrophysiological tests can help to indicate the nature and the location of dysfunction in unclear ophthalmological and/or neurological cases.

Creating visual explanations improves learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Bobek, Eliza; Tversky, Barbara

2016-01-01

Many topics in science are notoriously difficult for students to learn. Mechanisms and processes outside student experience present particular challenges. While instruction typically involves visualizations, students usually explain in words. Because visual explanations can show parts and processes of complex systems directly, creating them should have benefits beyond creating verbal explanations. We compared learning from creating visual or verbal explanations for two STEM domains, a mechanical system (bicycle pump) and a chemical system (bonding). Both kinds of explanations were analyzed for content and learning assess by a post-test. For the mechanical system, creating a visual explanation increased understanding particularly for participants of low spatial ability. For the chemical system, creating both visual and verbal explanations improved learning without new teaching. Creating a visual explanation was superior and benefitted participants of both high and low spatial ability. Visual explanations often included crucial yet invisible features. The greater effectiveness of visual explanations appears attributable to the checks they provide for completeness and coherence as well as to their roles as platforms for inference. The benefits should generalize to other domains like the social sciences, history, and archeology where important information can be visualized. Together, the findings provide support for the use of learner-generated visual explanations as a powerful learning tool.

Auditory and visual capture during focused visual attention

OpenAIRE

Koelewijn, T.; Bronkhorst, A.W.; Theeuwes, J.

2009-01-01

It is well known that auditory and visual onsets presented at a particular location can capture a person's visual attention. However, the question of whether such attentional capture disappears when attention is focused endogenously beforehand has not yet been answered. Moreover, previous studies have not differentiated between capture by onsets presented at a nontarget (invalid) location and possible performance benefits occurring when the target location is (validly) cued. In this study, th...

Visualization Design Environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pomplun, A.R.; Templet, G.J.; Jortner, J.N.; Friesen, J.A.; Schwegel, J.; Hughes, K.R.

1999-02-01

Improvements in the performance and capabilities of computer software and hardware system, combined with advances in Internet technologies, have spurred innovative developments in the area of modeling, simulation and visualization. These developments combine to make it possible to create an environment where engineers can design, prototype, analyze, and visualize components in virtual space, saving the time and expenses incurred during numerous design and prototyping iterations. The Visualization Design Centers located at Sandia National Laboratories are facilities built specifically to promote the ''design by team'' concept. This report focuses on designing, developing and deploying this environment by detailing the design of the facility, software infrastructure and hardware systems that comprise this new visualization design environment and describes case studies that document successful application of this environment.

Query-Driven Visualization and Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruebel, Oliver; Bethel, E. Wes; Prabhat, Mr.; Wu, Kesheng

2012-11-01

This report focuses on an approach to high performance visualization and analysis, termed query-driven visualization and analysis (QDV). QDV aims to reduce the amount of data that needs to be processed by the visualization, analysis, and rendering pipelines. The goal of the data reduction process is to separate out data that is "scientifically interesting'' and to focus visualization, analysis, and rendering on that interesting subset. The premise is that for any given visualization or analysis task, the data subset of interest is much smaller than the larger, complete data set. This strategy---extracting smaller data subsets of interest and focusing of the visualization processing on these subsets---is complementary to the approach of increasing the capacity of the visualization, analysis, and rendering pipelines through parallelism. This report discusses the fundamental concepts in QDV, their relationship to different stages in the visualization and analysis pipelines, and presents QDV's application to problems in diverse areas, ranging from forensic cybersecurity to high energy physics.

Visual and Haptic Mental Rotation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satoshi Shioiri

2011-10-01

Full Text Available It is well known that visual information can be retained in several types of memory systems. Haptic information can also be retained in a memory because we can repeat a hand movement. There may be a common memory system for vision and action. On the one hand, it may be convenient to have a common system for acting with visual information. On the other hand, different modalities may have their own memory and use retained information without transforming specific to the modality. We compared memory properties of visual and haptic information. There is a phenomenon known as mental rotation, which is possibly unique to visual representation. The mental rotation is a phenomenon where reaction time increases with the angle of visual target (eg,, a letter to identify. The phenomenon is explained by the difference in time to rotate the representation of the target in the visual sytem. In this study, we compared the effect of stimulus angle on visual and haptic shape identification (two-line shapes were used. We found that a typical effect of mental rotation for the visual stimulus. However, no such effect was found for the haptic stimulus. This difference cannot be explained by the modality differences in response because similar difference was found even when haptical response was used for visual representation and visual response was used for haptic representation. These results indicate that there are independent systems for visual and haptic representations.

Using the Visualization Software Evaluation Rubric to explore six freely available visualization applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thea P. Atwood

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: As a variety of visualization tools become available to librarians and researchers, it can be challenging to select a tool that is robust and flexible enough to provide the desired visualization outcomes for work or personal use. In this article, the authors provide guidance on several freely available tools, and offer a rubric for use in evaluating visualization tools. Methods: A rubric was generated to assist the authors in assessing the selected six freely available visualization tools. Each author analyzed three tools, and discussed the differences, similarities, challenges, and successes of each. Results: Of the six visualization tools, two tools emerged with high marks. The authors found that the rubric was a successful evaluation tool, and facilitated discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of the six selected visualization pieces of software. Conclusions: Of the six different visualization tools analyzed, all had different functions and features available to best meet the needs of users. In a situation where there are many options available, and it is difficult at first glance to determine a clear winner, a rubric can be useful in providing a method to quickly assess and communicate the effectiveness of a tool.

Novel Scientific Visualization Interfaces for Interactive Information Visualization and Sharing

Science.gov (United States)

Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.

2012-12-01

As geoscientists are confronted with increasingly massive datasets from environmental observations to simulations, one of the biggest challenges is having the right tools to gain scientific insight from the data and communicate the understanding to stakeholders. Recent developments in web technologies make it easy to manage, visualize and share large data sets with general public. Novel visualization techniques and dynamic user interfaces allow users to interact with data, and modify the parameters to create custom views of the data to gain insight from simulations and environmental observations. This requires developing new data models and intelligent knowledge discovery techniques to explore and extract information from complex computational simulations or large data repositories. Scientific visualization will be an increasingly important component to build comprehensive environmental information platforms. This presentation provides an overview of the trends and challenges in the field of scientific visualization, and demonstrates information visualization and communication tools in the Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS), developed within the light of these challenges. The IFIS is a web-based platform developed by the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) to provide access to and visualization of flood inundation maps, real-time flood conditions, flood forecasts both short-term and seasonal, and other flood-related data for communities in Iowa. The key element of the system's architecture is the notion of community. Locations of the communities, those near streams and rivers, define basin boundaries. The IFIS provides community-centric watershed and river characteristics, weather (rainfall) conditions, and streamflow data and visualization tools. Interactive interfaces allow access to inundation maps for different stage and return period values, and flooding scenarios with contributions from multiple rivers. Real-time and historical data of water levels, gauge heights, and

Visual communication and terminal equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Cheol Hui

1988-06-01

This book is divided two parts about visual communication and terminal equipment. The first part introduces visual communication, which deals with foundation of visual communication, technique of visual communication, equipment of visual communication, a facsimile and pictorial image system. The second part contains terminal equipment such as telephone, terminal equipment for data transmission on constitution and constituent of terminal equipment for data transmission, input device and output device, terminal device and up-to-date terminal device.

Visual communication and terminal equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Cheol Hui

1988-06-15

This book is divided two parts about visual communication and terminal equipment. The first part introduces visual communication, which deals with foundation of visual communication, technique of visual communication, equipment of visual communication, a facsimile and pictorial image system. The second part contains terminal equipment such as telephone, terminal equipment for data transmission on constitution and constituent of terminal equipment for data transmission, input device and output device, terminal device and up-to-date terminal device.

Seeing the sound after visual loss: functional MRI in acquired auditory-visual synesthesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Yong, Zixin; Hsieh, Po-Jang; Milea, Dan

2017-02-01

Acquired auditory-visual synesthesia (AVS) is a rare neurological sign, in which specific auditory stimulation triggers visual experience. In this study, we used event-related fMRI to explore the brain regions correlated with acquired monocular sound-induced phosphenes, which occurred 2 months after unilateral visual loss due to an ischemic optic neuropathy. During the fMRI session, 1-s pure tones at various pitches were presented to the patient, who was asked to report occurrence of sound-induced phosphenes by pressing one of the two buttons (yes/no). The brain activation during phosphene-experienced trials was contrasted with non-phosphene trials and compared to results obtained in one healthy control subject who underwent the same fMRI protocol. Our results suggest, for the first time, that acquired AVS occurring after visual impairment is associated with bilateral activation of primary and secondary visual cortex, possibly due to cross-wiring between auditory and visual sensory modalities.

Neural pathways for visual speech perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lynne E Bernstein

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the questions, what levels of speech can be perceived visually, and how is visual speech represented by the brain? Review of the literature leads to the conclusions that every level of psycholinguistic speech structure (i.e., phonetic features, phonemes, syllables, words, and prosody can be perceived visually, although individuals differ in their abilities to do so; and that there are visual modality-specific representations of speech qua speech in higher-level vision brain areas. That is, the visual system represents the modal patterns of visual speech. The suggestion that the auditory speech pathway receives and represents visual speech is examined in light of neuroimaging evidence on the auditory speech pathways. We outline the generally agreed-upon organization of the visual ventral and dorsal pathways and examine several types of visual processing that might be related to speech through those pathways, specifically, face and body, orthography, and sign language processing. In this context, we examine the visual speech processing literature, which reveals widespread diverse patterns activity in posterior temporal cortices in response to visual speech stimuli. We outline a model of the visual and auditory speech pathways and make several suggestions: (1 The visual perception of speech relies on visual pathway representations of speech qua speech. (2 A proposed site of these representations, the temporal visual speech area (TVSA has been demonstrated in posterior temporal cortex, ventral and posterior to multisensory posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS. (3 Given that visual speech has dynamic and configural features, its representations in feedforward visual pathways are expected to integrate these features, possibly in TVSA.

Visual languages and applications

CERN Document Server

Zhang, Kang

2010-01-01

Visual languages have long been a pursuit of effective communication between human and machine. With rapid advances of the Internet and Web technology, human-human communication through the Web or electronic mobile devices is becoming more and more prevalent. Visual Languages and Applications is a comprehensive introduction to diagrammatical visual languages. This book discusses what visual programming languages are, and how such languages and their underlying foundations can be usefully applied to other fields in computer science. It also covers a broad range of contents from the underlying t

The Visual System

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... National Eye Institute’s mission is to “conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, ...

The Visual System

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... NIH), the National Eye Institute’s mission is to “conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of ...

Neuron analysis of visual perception

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, K. L.

1980-01-01

The receptive fields of single cells in the visual system of cat and squirrel monkey were studied investigating the vestibular input affecting the cells, and the cell's responses during visual discrimination learning process. The receptive field characteristics of the rabbit visual system, its normal development, its abnormal development following visual deprivation, and on the structural and functional re-organization of the visual system following neo-natal and prenatal surgery were also studied. The results of each individual part of each investigation are detailed.

The Creative Dimension of Visuality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michelsen, Anders Ib

2013-01-01

This essay reflects critically on the notion of visuality, a centrepiece of current theory on visual culture and its underlying idea of a structural ‘discursive determination’ of visual phenomena. Is the visual really to be addressed through the post-war heritage of discourse and representation...... analysis relying on language/linguistics as a model for explaining culture? More specifically, how can the – creative – novelty of visual culture be addressed by a notion of discourse? This essay will argue that the debate on visual culture is lacking with regard to discerning the creative dimension of its...... and the invisible’ to the notion of collective creativity and ‘the imaginary institution of society’ of Cornelius Castoriadis. In the theoretical relationship between Merleau-Ponty and Castoriadis it is possible to indicate a notion of visuality as a creative dimension....

Visualization and mathematics III

CERN Document Server

Polthier, Konrad

2003-01-01

This research book on Mathematical Visualization contains state of the art presentations on visualization problems in mathematics, on fundamental mathematical research in computer graphics, and on software frameworks for the application of visualization to real-world problems. All contributions were written by leading experts in the field and peer-refereed by an international editorial team. The book grew out of the third international workshop "Visualization and Mathematics", which was held from May 22-25, 2002 in Berlin. The themes of the book cover important recent developments on - Geometry and Combinatorics of Meshes - Discrete Vector Fields and Topology - Geometric Modelling - Image Based Visualization - Software Environments and Applications - Education and Communication The variety of topics makes the book a suitable resource for researchers, lecturers, and practitioners; http://www-sfb288.math.tu-berlin.de/vismath/

Adaptive semantics visualization

CERN Document Server

Nazemi, Kawa

2016-01-01

This book introduces a novel approach for intelligent visualizations that adapts the different visual variables and data processing to human’s behavior and given tasks. Thereby a number of new algorithms and methods are introduced to satisfy the human need of information and knowledge and enable a usable and attractive way of information acquisition. Each method and algorithm is illustrated in a replicable way to enable the reproduction of the entire “SemaVis” system or parts of it. The introduced evaluation is scientifically well-designed and performed with more than enough participants to validate the benefits of the methods. Beside the introduced new approaches and algorithms, readers may find a sophisticated literature review in Information Visualization and Visual Analytics, Semantics and information extraction, and intelligent and adaptive systems. This book is based on an awarded and distinguished doctoral thesis in computer science.

Visual cognition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pinker, S.

1985-01-01

This collection of research papers on visual cognition first appeared as a special issue of Cognition: International Journal of Cognitive Science. The study of visual cognition has seen enormous progress in the past decade, bringing important advances in our understanding of shape perception, visual imagery, and mental maps. Many of these discoveries are the result of converging investigations in different areas, such as cognitive and perceptual psychology, artificial intelligence, and neuropsychology. This volume is intended to highlight a sample of work at the cutting edge of this research area for the benefit of students and researchers in a variety of disciplines. The tutorial introduction that begins the volume is designed to help the nonspecialist reader bridge the gap between the contemporary research reported here and earlier textbook introductions or literature reviews.

Visualizing Transformation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Pia

2012-01-01

Transformation, defined as the step of extracting, arranging and simplifying data into visual form (M. Neurath, 1974), was developed in connection with ISOTYPE (International System Of TYpographic Picture Education) and might well be the most important legacy of Isotype to the field of graphic...... design. Recently transformation has attracted renewed interest because of the book The Transformer written by Robin Kinross and Marie Neurath. My on-going research project, summarized in this paper, identifies and depicts the essential principles of data visualization underlying the process...... of transformation with reference to Marie Neurath’s sketches on the Bilston Project. The material has been collected at the Otto and Marie Neurath Collection housed at the University of Reading, UK. By using data visualization as a research method to look directly into the process of transformation, the project...

Big Data Visualization Tools

OpenAIRE

Bikakis, Nikos

2018-01-01

Data visualization is the presentation of data in a pictorial or graphical format, and a data visualization tool is the software that generates this presentation. Data visualization provides users with intuitive means to interactively explore and analyze data, enabling them to effectively identify interesting patterns, infer correlations and causalities, and supports sense-making activities.

Fontes visuais, cultura visual, história visual: balanço provisório, propostas cautelares

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulpiano T. Bezerra de Meneses

2003-07-01

Full Text Available O objetivo do artigo é deslocar o interesse dos historiadores, das fontes visuais (iconografia, iconologia para um tratamento mais abrangente da visualidade como uma dimensão importante da vida social e dos processos sociais. Após um rápido exame das contribuições trazidas para o estudo dos registros visuais e dos regimes visuais pela História da Arte, Antropologia Visual, Sociologia Visual e Estudos de Cultura Visual, o autor propõe algumas premissas para a consolidação de uma História Visual, concebida não como mais um feudo acadêmico, mas como uma conjunto de recursos operacionais para ampliar a consistência da pesquisa histórica em todos os seus domínios.The aim of this article is to displace the historian's focus on visual sources (iconography, iconology into a more rewarding treatment of visuality as an important dimension of social life and historical processes. After a survey of contributions brought in by Art History, Visual Anthropology, Visual Sociology and Visual Culture Studies, concerning visual records and visual regimes, the author introduces a few prerequisites for a Visual History - intended not as a new academic feud, but as a set of strategic operational means of enhancing historical research in all its domains.

The Visual System

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... programs with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health ... Pressroom Contacts Dustin Hays - Chief, Science Communication dustin.hays@nih.gov Kathryn DeMott, Media Relations ...

The Visual System

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health problems and requirements of the blind.” ... DeMott, Media Relations Kathryn.DeMott@nih.gov NEI Office of Communications ( ...

Crossmodal influences on visual perception

Science.gov (United States)

Shams, Ladan; Kim, Robyn

2010-09-01

Vision is generally considered the dominant sensory modality; self-contained and independent of other senses. In this article, we will present recent results that contradict this view, and show that visual perception can be strongly altered by sound and touch, and such alterations can occur even at early stages of processing, as early as primary visual cortex. We will first review the behavioral evidence demonstrating modulation of visual perception by other modalities. As extreme examples of such modulations, we will describe two visual illusions induced by sound, and a visual illusion induced by touch. Next, we will discuss studies demonstrating modulation of activity in visual areas by stimulation of other modalities, and discuss possible pathways that could underpin such interactions. This will be followed by a discussion of how crossmodal interactions can affect visual learning and adaptation. We will review several studies showing crossmodal effects on visual learning. We will conclude with a discussion of computational principles governing these crossmodal interactions, and review several recent studies that demonstrate that these interactions are statistically optimal.

Developing Verbal and Visual Literacy through Experiences in the Visual Arts: 25 Tips for Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Margaret H.

2008-01-01

Including talk about art--conversing with children about artwork, their own and others'--as a component of visual art activities extends children's experiences in and understanding of visual messages. Johnson discusses practices that help children develop visual and verbal expression through active experiences with the visual arts. She offers 25…

The Visual System

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health problems and requirements of ... Pressroom Contacts Dustin Hays - Chief, Science Communication dustin.hays@nih.gov Kathryn DeMott, Media Relations ...

The Visual System

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the ... Contact Us A-Z Site Map NEI on Social Media Information in Spanish (Información en español) Website, ...

Manipulations of attention dissociate fragile visual short-term memory from visual working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandenbroucke, Annelinde R E; Sligte, Ilja G; Lamme, Victor A F

2011-05-01

People often rely on information that is no longer in view, but maintained in visual short-term memory (VSTM). Traditionally, VSTM is thought to operate on either a short time-scale with high capacity - iconic memory - or a long time scale with small capacity - visual working memory. Recent research suggests that in addition, an intermediate stage of memory in between iconic memory and visual working memory exists. This intermediate stage has a large capacity and a lifetime of several seconds, but is easily overwritten by new stimulation. We therefore termed it fragile VSTM. In previous studies, fragile VSTM has been dissociated from iconic memory by the characteristics of the memory trace. In the present study, we dissociated fragile VSTM from visual working memory by showing a differentiation in their dependency on attention. A decrease in attention during presentation of the stimulus array greatly reduced the capacity of visual working memory, while this had only a small effect on the capacity of fragile VSTM. We conclude that fragile VSTM is a separate memory store from visual working memory. Thus, a tripartite division of VSTM appears to be in place, comprising iconic memory, fragile VSTM and visual working memory. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

4-D Visualization of Seismic and Geodetic Data of the Big Island of Hawai'i

Science.gov (United States)

Burstein, J. A.; Smith-Konter, B. R.; Aryal, A.

2017-12-01

For decades Hawai'i has served as a natural laboratory for studying complex interactions between magmatic and seismic processes. Investigating characteristics of these processes, as well as the crustal response to major Hawaiian earthquakes, requires a synthesis of seismic and geodetic data and models. Here, we present a 4-D visualization of the Big Island of Hawai'i that investigates geospatial and temporal relationships of seismicity, seismic velocity structure, and GPS crustal motions to known volcanic and seismically active features. Using the QPS Fledermaus visualization package, we compile 90 m resolution topographic data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and 50 m resolution bathymetric data from the Hawaiian Mapping Research Group (HMRG) with a high-precision earthquake catalog of more than 130,000 events from 1992-2009 [Matoza et al., 2013] and a 3-D seismic velocity model of Hawai'i [Lin et al., 2014] based on seismic data from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). Long-term crustal motion vectors are integrated into the visualization from HVO GPS time-series data. These interactive data sets reveal well-defined seismic structure near the summit areas of Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes, where high Vp and high Vp/Vs anomalies at 5-12 km depth, as well as clusters of low magnitude (M data are also used to help identify seismic clusters associated with the steady crustal detachment of the south flank of Kilauea's East Rift Zone. We also investigate the fault geometry of the 2006 M6.7 Kiholo Bay earthquake event by analyzing elastic dislocation deformation modeling results [Okada, 1985] and HVO GPS and seismic data of this event. We demonstrate the 3-D fault mechanisms of the Kiholo Bay main shock as a combination of strike-slip and dip-slip components (net slip 0.55 m) delineating a 30 km east-west striking, southward-dipping fault plane, occurring at 39 km depth. This visualization serves as a resource for advancing scientific analyses of

Differential effects of visual feedback on subjective visual vertical accuracy and precision.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Bjasch

Full Text Available The brain constructs an internal estimate of the gravitational vertical by integrating multiple sensory signals. In darkness, systematic head-roll dependent errors in verticality estimates, as measured by the subjective visual vertical (SVV, occur. We hypothesized that visual feedback after each trial results in increased accuracy, as physiological adjustment errors (A-/E-effect are likely based on central computational mechanisms and investigated whether such improvements were related to adaptational shifts of perceived vertical or to a higher cognitive strategy. We asked 12 healthy human subjects to adjust a luminous arrow to vertical in various head-roll positions (0 to 120deg right-ear down, 15deg steps. After each adjustment visual feedback was provided (lights on, display of previous adjustment and of an earth-vertical cross. Control trials consisted of SVV adjustments without feedback. At head-roll angles with the largest A-effect (90, 105, and 120deg, errors were reduced significantly (p0.05 influenced. In seven subjects an additional session with two consecutive blocks (first with, then without visual feedback was completed at 90, 105 and 120deg head-roll. In these positions the error-reduction by the previous visual feedback block remained significant over the consecutive 18-24 min (post-feedback block, i.e., was still significantly (p<0.002 different from the control trials. Eleven out of 12 subjects reported having consciously added a bias to their perceived vertical based on visual feedback in order to minimize errors. We conclude that improvements of SVV accuracy by visual feedback, which remained effective after removal of feedback for ≥18 min, rather resulted from a cognitive strategy than by adapting the internal estimate of the gravitational vertical. The mechanisms behind the SVV therefore, remained stable, which is also supported by the fact that SVV precision - depending mostly on otolith input - was not affected by visual

Sweep visually evoked potentials and visual findings in children with West syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

de Freitas Dotto, Patrícia; Cavascan, Nívea Nunes; Berezovsky, Adriana; Sacai, Paula Yuri; Rocha, Daniel Martins; Pereira, Josenilson Martins; Salomão, Solange Rios

2014-03-01

West syndrome (WS) is a type of early childhood epilepsy characterized by progressive neurological development deterioration that includes vision. To demonstrate the clinical importance of grating visual acuity thresholds (GVA) measurement by sweep visually evoked potentials technique (sweep-VEP) as a reliable tool for evaluation of the visual cortex status in WS children. This is a retrospective study of the best-corrected binocular GVA and ophthalmological features of WS children referred for the Laboratory of Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision of UNIFESP from 1998 to 2012 (Committee on Ethics in Research of UNIFESP n° 0349/08). The GVA deficit was calculated by subtracting binocular GVA score (logMAR units) of each patient from the median values of age norms from our own lab and classified as mild (0.1-0.39 logMAR), moderate (0.40-0.80 logMAR) or severe (>0.81 logMAR). Associated ophthalmological features were also described. Data from 30 WS children (age from 6 to 108 months, median = 14.5 months, mean ± SD = 22.0 ± 22.1 months; 19 male) were analyzed. The majority presented severe GVA deficit (0.15-1.44 logMAR; mean ± SD = 0.82 ± 0.32 logMAR; median = 0.82 logMAR), poor visual behavior, high prevalence of strabismus and great variability in ocular positioning. The GVA deficit did not vary according to gender (P = .8022), WS type (P = .908), birth age (P = .2881), perinatal oxygenation (P = .7692), visual behavior (P = .8789), ocular motility (P = .1821), nystagmus (P = .2868), risk of drug-induced retinopathy (P = .4632) and participation in early visual stimulation therapy (P = .9010). The sweep-VEP technique is a reliable tool to classify visual system impairment in WS children, in agreement with the poor visual behavior exhibited by them. Copyright © 2013 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pelagic habitat visualization: the need for a third (and fourth) dimension: HabitatSpace

Science.gov (United States)

Beegle-Krause, C; Vance, Tiffany; Reusser, Debbie; Stuebe, David; Howlett, Eoin

2009-01-01

Habitat in open water is not simply a 2-D to 2.5-D surface such as the ocean bottom or the air-water interface. Rather, pelagic habitat is a 3-D volume of water that can change over time, leading us to the term habitat space. Visualization and analysis in 2-D is well supported with GIS tools, but a new tool was needed for visualization and analysis in four dimensions. Observational data (cruise profiles (xo, yo, z, to)), numerical circulation model fields (x,y,z,t), and trajectories (larval fish, 4-D line) need to be merged together in a meaningful way for visualization and analysis. As a first step toward this new framework, UNIDATA’s Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) has been used to create a set of tools for habitat analysis in 4-D. IDV was designed for 3-D+time geospatial data in the meteorological community. NetCDF JavaTM libraries allow the tool to read many file formats including remotely located data (e.g. data available via OPeNDAP ). With this project, IDV has been adapted for use in delineating habitat space for multiple fish species in the ocean. The ability to define and visualize boundaries of a water mass, which meets specific biologically relevant criteria (e.g., volume, connectedness, and inter-annual variability) based on model results and observational data, will allow managers to investigate the survival of individual year classes of commercially important fisheries. Better understanding of the survival of these year classes will lead to improved forecasting of fisheries recruitment.

Visual cognition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pinker, S.

1985-01-01

This book consists of essays covering issues in visual cognition presenting experimental techniques from cognitive psychology, methods of modeling cognitive processes on computers from artificial intelligence, and methods of studying brain organization from neuropsychology. Topics considered include: parts of recognition; visual routines; upward direction; mental rotation, and discrimination of left and right turns in maps; individual differences in mental imagery, computational analysis and the neurological basis of mental imagery: componental analysis.

Should we add visual acuity ratios to referral criteria for potential cerebral visual impairment?

Science.gov (United States)

van der Zee, Ymie J; Stiers, Peter; Evenhuis, Heleen M

To determine whether the assessment of visual acuity ratios might improve the referral of children with (sub)normal visual acuity but at risk of cerebral visual impairment. In an exploratory study, we assessed visual acuity, crowding ratio and the ratios between grating acuity (Teller Acuity Cards-II) and optotype acuity (Cambridge Crowding Cards) in 60 typically developing school children (mean age 5y8m±1y1m), 21 children with ocular abnormalities only (5y7m±1y9m) and 26 children with (suspected) brain damage (5y7m±1y11m). Sensitivities and specificities were calculated for targets and controls from the perspective of different groups of diagnosticians: youth health care professionals (target: children with any visual abnormalities), ophthalmologists and low vision experts (target: children at risk of cerebral visual impairment). For youth health care professionals subnormal visual acuity had the best sensitivity (76%) and specificity (70%). For ophthalmologists and low vision experts the crowding ratio had the best sensitivity (67%) and specificity (79 and 86%). Youth health care professionals best continue applying subnormal visual acuity for screening, whereas ophthalmologists and low vision experts best add the crowding ratio to their routine diagnostics, to distinguish children at risk of visual impairment in the context of brain damage from children with ocular pathology only. Copyright © 2016 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Visual training paired with electrical stimulation of the basal forebrain improves orientation-selective visual acuity in the rat.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Jun Il; Groleau, Marianne; Dotigny, Florence; Giguère, Hugo; Vaucher, Elvire

2014-07-01

The cholinergic afferents from the basal forebrain to the primary visual cortex play a key role in visual attention and cortical plasticity. These afferent fibers modulate acute and long-term responses of visual neurons to specific stimuli. The present study evaluates whether this cholinergic modulation of visual neurons results in cortical activity and visual perception changes. Awake adult rats were exposed repeatedly for 2 weeks to an orientation-specific grating with or without coupling this visual stimulation to an electrical stimulation of the basal forebrain. The visual acuity, as measured using a visual water maze before and after the exposure to the orientation-specific grating, was increased in the group of trained rats with simultaneous basal forebrain/visual stimulation. The increase in visual acuity was not observed when visual training or basal forebrain stimulation was performed separately or when cholinergic fibers were selectively lesioned prior to the visual stimulation. The visual evoked potentials show a long-lasting increase in cortical reactivity of the primary visual cortex after coupled visual/cholinergic stimulation, as well as c-Fos immunoreactivity of both pyramidal and GABAergic interneuron. These findings demonstrate that when coupled with visual training, the cholinergic system improves visual performance for the trained orientation probably through enhancement of attentional processes and cortical plasticity in V1 related to the ratio of excitatory/inhibitory inputs. This study opens the possibility of establishing efficient rehabilitation strategies for facilitating visual capacity.

Analysis of relationship among visual evoked potential, oscillatory potential and visual acuity under stimulated weightlessness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Zhao

2013-05-01

Full Text Available AIM: To observe the influence of head-down tilt simulated weightlessness on visual evoked potential(VEP, oscillatory potentials(OPsand visual acuity, and analyse the relationship among them. METHODS: Head-down tilt for -6° was adopted in 14 healthy volunteers. Distant visual acuity, near visual acuity, VEP and OPs were recorded before, two days and five days after trial. The record procedure of OPs followed the ISCEV standard for full-field clinical electroretinography(2008 update. RESULTS: Significant differences were detected in the amplitude of P100 waves and ∑OPs among various time points(P<0.05. But no relationship was observed among VEP, OPs and visual acuity. CONCLUSION: Head-down tilt simulated weightlessness induce the rearrange of blood of the whole body including eyes, which can make the change of visual electrophysiology but not visual acuity.

A New Visual Stimulation Program for Improving Visual Acuity in Children with Visual Impairment: A Pilot Study

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Li-Ting; Hsu, Jung-Lung; Wu, Chien-Te; Chen, Chia-Ching; Su, Yu-Chin

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of visual rehabilitation of a computer-based visual stimulation (VS) program combining checkerboard pattern reversal (passive stimulation) with oddball stimuli (attentional modulation) for improving the visual acuity (VA) of visually impaired (VI) children and children with amblyopia and additional developmental problems. Six children (three females, three males; mean age = 3.9 ± 2.3 years) with impaired VA caused by deficits along the anterior and/or posterior visual pathways were recruited. Participants received eight rounds of VS training (two rounds per week) of at least eight sessions per round. Each session consisted of stimulation with 200 or 300 pattern reversals. Assessments of VA (assessed with the Lea symbol VA test or Teller VA cards), visual evoked potential (VEP), and functional vision (assessed with the Chinese-version Functional Vision Questionnaire, FVQ) were carried out before and after the VS program. Significant gains in VA were found after the VS training [VA = 1.05 logMAR ± 0.80 to 0.61 logMAR ± 0.53, Z = –2.20, asymptotic significance (2-tailed) = 0.028]. No significant changes were observed in the FVQ assessment [92.8 ± 12.6 to 100.8 ±SD = 15.4, Z = –1.46, asymptotic significance (2-tailed) = 0.144]. VEP measurement showed improvement in P100 latency and amplitude or integration of the waveform in two participants. Our results indicate that a computer-based VS program with passive checkerboard stimulation, oddball stimulus design, and interesting auditory feedback could be considered as a potential intervention option to improve the VA of a wide age range of VI children and children with impaired VA combined with other neurological disorders. PMID:27148014

A New Visual Stimulation Program for Improving Visual Acuity in Children with Visual Impairment: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Li-Ting; Hsu, Jung-Lung; Wu, Chien-Te; Chen, Chia-Ching; Su, Yu-Chin

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of visual rehabilitation of a computer-based visual stimulation (VS) program combining checkerboard pattern reversal (passive stimulation) with oddball stimuli (attentional modulation) for improving the visual acuity (VA) of visually impaired (VI) children and children with amblyopia and additional developmental problems. Six children (three females, three males; mean age = 3.9 ± 2.3 years) with impaired VA caused by deficits along the anterior and/or posterior visual pathways were recruited. Participants received eight rounds of VS training (two rounds per week) of at least eight sessions per round. Each session consisted of stimulation with 200 or 300 pattern reversals. Assessments of VA (assessed with the Lea symbol VA test or Teller VA cards), visual evoked potential (VEP), and functional vision (assessed with the Chinese-version Functional Vision Questionnaire, FVQ) were carried out before and after the VS program. Significant gains in VA were found after the VS training [VA = 1.05 logMAR ± 0.80 to 0.61 logMAR ± 0.53, Z = -2.20, asymptotic significance (2-tailed) = 0.028]. No significant changes were observed in the FVQ assessment [92.8 ± 12.6 to 100.8 ±SD = 15.4, Z = -1.46, asymptotic significance (2-tailed) = 0.144]. VEP measurement showed improvement in P100 latency and amplitude or integration of the waveform in two participants. Our results indicate that a computer-based VS program with passive checkerboard stimulation, oddball stimulus design, and interesting auditory feedback could be considered as a potential intervention option to improve the VA of a wide age range of VI children and children with impaired VA combined with other neurological disorders.

A new visual stimulation program for improving visual acuity in children with visual impairment: a pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li-Ting eTsai

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of visual rehabilitation of a computer-based visual stimulation (VS program combining checkerboard pattern reversal (passive stimulation with oddball stimuli (attentional modulation for improving the visual acuity (VA of visually impaired (VI children and children with amblyopia and additional developmental problems. Six children (3 females, 3 males; mean age = 3.9 ± 2.3 years with impaired VA caused by deficits along the anterior and/or posterior visual pathways were recruited. Participants received eight rounds of VS training (two rounds per week of at least 8 sessions per round. Each session consisted of stimulation with 200 or 300 pattern reversals. Assessments of VA (assessed with the Lea symbol VA test or Teller VA cards, visual evoked potential (VEP, and functional vision (assessed with the Chinese-version Functional Vision Questionnaire, FVQ were carried out before and after the VS program. Significant gains in VA were found after the VS training (VA=1.05 logMAR ± 0.80 to 0.61 logMAR ± 0.53, Z=-2.20, asymptotic significance (2-tailed =0.028. No significant changes were observed in the FVQ assessment (92.8 ± 12.6 to 100.8 ± SD=15.4, Z=-1.46, asymptotic significance (2-tailed = 0.144. VEP measurement showed improvement in P100 latency and amplitude or integration of the waveform in two participants. Our results indicate that a computer-based VS program with passive checkerboard stimulation, oddball stimulus design, and interesting auditory feedback could be considered as a potential intervention option to improve the VA of a wide age range of VI children and children with impaired VA combined with other neurological disorders.

Visual Basic 2012 programmer's reference

CERN Document Server

Stephens, Rod

2012-01-01

The comprehensive guide to Visual Basic 2012 Microsoft Visual Basic (VB) is the most popular programming language in the world, with millions of lines of code used in businesses and applications of all types and sizes. In this edition of the bestselling Wrox guide, Visual Basic expert Rod Stephens offers novice and experienced developers a comprehensive tutorial and reference to Visual Basic 2012. This latest edition introduces major changes to the Visual Studio development platform, including support for developing mobile applications that can take advantage of the Windows 8 operating system

Visual dysfunction, neurodegenerative diseases, and aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Gregory R; Owsley, Cynthia

2003-08-01

The four most common sight-threatening conditions in older adults in North America are cataract, ARM, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. Even in their moderate stages, these conditions cause visual sensory impairments and reductions in health-related quality of life, including difficulties in daily tasks and psychosocial problems. Many older adults are free from these conditions, yet still experience a variety of visual perceptual problems resulting from aging-related changes in the optics of the eye and degeneration of the visual neural pathways. These problems consist of impairments in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, color discrimination, temporal sensitivity, motion perception, peripheral visual field sensitivity, and visual processing speed. PD causes a progressive loss of dopaminergic cells predominantly in the retina and possibly in other areas of the visual system. This retinal dopamine deficiency produces selective spatial-temporal abnormalities in retinal ganglion cell function, probably arising from altered receptive field organization in the PD retina. The cortical degeneration characteristics of AD, including neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques, also are present in the visual cortical areas, especially in the visual association areas. The most prominent electrophysiologic change in AD is a delay in the P2 component of the flash VEP. Deficits in higher-order visual abilities typically are compromised in AD, including problems with visual attention, perceiving structure from motion, visual memory, visual learning, reading, and object and face perception. There have been reports of a visual variant of AD in which these types of visual problems are the initial and most prominent signs of the disease. Visual sensory impairments (e.g., contrast sensitivity or achromatopsia) also have been reported but are believed more reflective of cortical disturbances than of AD-associated optic neuropathy.

Mathematica data visualization

CERN Document Server

Saquib, Nazmus

2014-01-01

If you are planning to create data analysis and visualization tools in the context of science, engineering, economics, or social science, then this book is for you. With this book, you will become a visualization expert, in a short time, using Mathematica.

Impact of visual repetition rate on intrinsic properties of low frequency fluctuations in the visual network.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Chia Li

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Visual processing network is one of the functional networks which have been reliably identified to consistently exist in human resting brains. In our work, we focused on this network and investigated the intrinsic properties of low frequency (0.01-0.08 Hz fluctuations (LFFs during changes of visual stimuli. There were two main questions to be discussed in this study: intrinsic properties of LFFs regarding (1 interactions between visual stimuli and resting-state; (2 impact of repetition rate of visual stimuli. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We analyzed scanning sessions that contained rest and visual stimuli in various repetition rates with a novel method. The method included three numerical approaches involving ICA (Independent Component Analyses, fALFF (fractional Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation, and Coherence, to respectively investigate the modulations of visual network pattern, low frequency fluctuation power, and interregional functional connectivity during changes of visual stimuli. We discovered when resting-state was replaced by visual stimuli, more areas were involved in visual processing, and both stronger low frequency fluctuations and higher interregional functional connectivity occurred in visual network. With changes of visual repetition rate, the number of areas which were involved in visual processing, low frequency fluctuation power, and interregional functional connectivity in this network were also modulated. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: To combine the results of prior literatures and our discoveries, intrinsic properties of LFFs in visual network are altered not only by modulations of endogenous factors (eye-open or eye-closed condition; alcohol administration and disordered behaviors (early blind, but also exogenous sensory stimuli (visual stimuli with various repetition rates. It demonstrates that the intrinsic properties of LFFs are valuable to represent physiological states of human brains.

[Intraoperative multidimensional visualization].

Science.gov (United States)

Sperling, J; Kauffels, A; Grade, M; Alves, F; Kühn, P; Ghadimi, B M

2016-12-01

Modern intraoperative techniques of visualization are increasingly being applied in general and visceral surgery. The combination of diverse techniques provides the possibility of multidimensional intraoperative visualization of specific anatomical structures. Thus, it is possible to differentiate between normal tissue and tumor tissue and therefore exactly define tumor margins. The aim of intraoperative visualization of tissue that is to be resected and tissue that should be spared is to lead to a rational balance between oncological and functional results. Moreover, these techniques help to analyze the physiology and integrity of tissues. Using these methods surgeons are able to analyze tissue perfusion and oxygenation. However, to date it is not clear to what extent these imaging techniques are relevant in the clinical routine. The present manuscript reviews the relevant modern visualization techniques focusing on intraoperative computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging as well as augmented reality, fluorescence imaging and optoacoustic imaging.

A Survey on Sensor Coverage and Visual Data Capturing/Processing/Transmission in Wireless Visual Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florence G. H. Yap

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Wireless Visual Sensor Networks (WVSNs where camera-equipped sensor nodes can capture, process and transmit image/video information have become an important new research area. As compared to the traditional wireless sensor networks (WSNs that can only transmit scalar information (e.g., temperature, the visual data in WVSNs enable much wider applications, such as visual security surveillance and visual wildlife monitoring. However, as compared to the scalar data in WSNs, visual data is much bigger and more complicated so intelligent schemes are required to capture/process/ transmit visual data in limited resources (hardware capability and bandwidth WVSNs. WVSNs introduce new multi-disciplinary research opportunities of topics that include visual sensor hardware, image and multimedia capture and processing, wireless communication and networking. In this paper, we survey existing research efforts on the visual sensor hardware, visual sensor coverage/deployment, and visual data capture/ processing/transmission issues in WVSNs. We conclude that WVSN research is still in an early age and there are still many open issues that have not been fully addressed. More new novel multi-disciplinary, cross-layered, distributed and collaborative solutions should be devised to tackle these challenging issues in WVSNs.

Institutionalizing New Ideas Through Visualization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meyer, Renate; Jancsary, Dennis; Höllerer, Markus A.

How do visualization and visual forms of communication influence the process of transforming a novel idea into established organizational practice? In this paper, we build theory with regard to the role of visuals in manifesting and giving form to an innovative idea as it proceeds through various...... stages of institutionalization. Ideas become institutionalized not merely through widespread diffusion in a cognitive-discursive form but eventually through their translation into concrete activities and transformation into specific patterns of organizational practice. We argue that visualization plays...... a pivotal and unique role in this process. Visualization bridges the ideational with the practical realm by providing representations of ideas, connecting them to existing knowledge, and illustrating the specific actions that instantiate them. Similar to verbal discourse, and often in tandem, visual...

Evaluation of Data Management Systems for Geospatial Big Data

OpenAIRE

Amirian, Pouria; Basiri, Anahid; Winstanley, Adam C.

2014-01-01

Big Data encompasses collection, management, processing and analysis of the huge amount of data that varies in types and changes with high frequency. Often data component of Big Data has a positional component as an important part of it in various forms, such as postal address, Internet Protocol (IP) address and geographical location. If the positional components in Big Data extensively used in storage, retrieval, analysis, processing, visualization and knowledge discovery (geospatial Big Dat...

38 CFR 4.76 - Visual acuity.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... DISABILITIES Disability Ratings The Organs of Special Sense § 4.76 Visual acuity. (a) Examination of visual acuity. Examination of visual acuity must include the central uncorrected and corrected visual acuity for... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Visual acuity. 4.76...

Optical radiation and visual health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waxler, M.; Hitchins, V.M.

1986-01-01

This book provides a focus on the parameters of ultraviolet light, visible, and infrared radiation s which could cause long-term visual health problems in humans. It reviews early research on radiation effects on the eye, and gives detailed attention to the hazardous effects of optical radiation on the retinal pigment epithelium and the photoreceptors. These data are further analyzed with regard to five potential long-term visual health problems; retinal degeneration, visual aging, disorder of visual development, ocular drug phototoxicity, and cataracts. Finally, epidemiologic principles for studying the relationships between optical radiation and long-term visual health problems are reviewed, concluding with the implications for future research and radiation protection. The contents include: historical perspectives; optical radiation and cataracts; the involvement of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE); optical radiation damage to the ocular photoreceptors; possible role of optical radiation in retinal degenerations; optical radiation and the aged eye; optical radiation effects on aging and visual perception; optical radiation effects on visual development; and index

Modeling human comprehension of data visualizations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matzen, Laura E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Haass, Michael Joseph [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Divis, Kristin Marie [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Wilson, Andrew T. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-09-01

This project was inspired by two needs. The first is a need for tools to help scientists and engineers to design effective data visualizations for communicating information, whether to the user of a system, an analyst who must make decisions based on complex data, or in the context of a technical report or publication. Most scientists and engineers are not trained in visualization design, and they could benefit from simple metrics to assess how well their visualization's design conveys the intended message. In other words, will the most important information draw the viewer's attention? The second is the need for cognition-based metrics for evaluating new types of visualizations created by researchers in the information visualization and visual analytics communities. Evaluating visualizations is difficult even for experts. However, all visualization methods and techniques are intended to exploit the properties of the human visual system to convey information efficiently to a viewer. Thus, developing evaluation methods that are rooted in the scientific knowledge of the human visual system could be a useful approach. In this project, we conducted fundamental research on how humans make sense of abstract data visualizations, and how this process is influenced by their goals and prior experience. We then used that research to develop a new model, the Data Visualization Saliency Model, that can make accurate predictions about which features in an abstract visualization will draw a viewer's attention. The model is an evaluation tool that can address both of the needs described above, supporting both visualization research and Sandia mission needs.

Matisse: A Visual Analytics System for Exploring Emotion Trends in Social Media Text Streams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steed, Chad A [ORNL; Drouhard, Margaret MEG G [ORNL; Beaver, Justin M [ORNL; Pyle, Joshua M [ORNL; BogenII, Paul L. [Google Inc.

2015-01-01

Dynamically mining textual information streams to gain real-time situational awareness is especially challenging with social media systems where throughput and velocity properties push the limits of a static analytical approach. In this paper, we describe an interactive visual analytics system, called Matisse, that aids with the discovery and investigation of trends in streaming text. Matisse addresses the challenges inherent to text stream mining through the following technical contributions: (1) robust stream data management, (2) automated sentiment/emotion analytics, (3) interactive coordinated visualizations, and (4) a flexible drill-down interaction scheme that accesses multiple levels of detail. In addition to positive/negative sentiment prediction, Matisse provides fine-grained emotion classification based on Valence, Arousal, and Dominance dimensions and a novel machine learning process. Information from the sentiment/emotion analytics are fused with raw data and summary information to feed temporal, geospatial, term frequency, and scatterplot visualizations using a multi-scale, coordinated interaction model. After describing these techniques, we conclude with a practical case study focused on analyzing the Twitter sample stream during the week of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. The case study demonstrates the effectiveness of Matisse at providing guided situational awareness of significant trends in social media streams by orchestrating computational power and human cognition.

Visual patient records

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luu, M.D.

2015-01-01

Patient information is often complex and fragmented; visualization can help to obtain and communicate insights. To move from paper medical records to interactive and visual patient records is a big challenge. This project aims to move towards this ultimate goal by providing an interactive prototype

Perception Enhancement using Visual Attributes in Sequence Motif Visualization

OpenAIRE

Oon, Yin; Lee, Nung; Kok, Wei

2016-01-01

Sequence logo is a well-accepted scientific method to visualize the conservation characteristics of biological sequence motifs. Previous studies found that using sequence logo graphical representation for scientific evidence reports or arguments could seriously cause biases and misinterpretation by users. This study investigates on the visual attributes performance of a sequence logo in helping users to perceive and interpret the information based on preattentive theories and Gestalt principl...

Multidimensional structured data visualization method and apparatus, text visualization method and apparatus, method and apparatus for visualizing and graphically navigating the world wide web, method and apparatus for visualizing hierarchies

Science.gov (United States)

Risch, John S [Kennewick, WA; Dowson, Scott T [West Richland, WA; Hart, Michelle L [Richland, WA; Hatley, Wes L [Kennewick, WA

2008-05-13

A method of displaying correlations among information objects comprises receiving a query against a database; obtaining a query result set; and generating a visualization representing the components of the result set, the visualization including one of a plane and line to represent a data field, nodes representing data values, and links showing correlations among fields and values. Other visualization methods and apparatus are disclosed.

Garis dan Titik Berdasarkan Riset Visual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Devi Kurniawati Homan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A design may not be created instantly, without going through a process of creation. At the beginning it all starts from nothing, blank. It requires a visual research to make a visual communication. Without a visual research, the design will not have a strong meaning to be communicated. When an idea is created, the next step is to generate the idea to become a design. The first thing a designer to do is drawing a line. Line is one of the design basic elements. In the journey to make a good design, a designer requires a visual record to assist her/him in remembering what is important. A visual record contains not only visual things seen by eyes, but also the perceived things. What is felt at the moment is important because it is easier to forget than visual memory. Sense is an important element in design. A good work will easily be communicated not only by visuals but also from senses. The study was conducted as an insight into the process of making a visual record of nirmana using visual recording method in the exploration of dots and dashes. This method was used to sharpen the sensitivity of students to dots and lines. Initially, the students visited a traditional market to do the visual research. After that, they created a visual record in the form of the composition of dots and lines in nirmana to remember the taste, smell, and visual experiences. 

Visual short-term memory: activity supporting encoding and maintenance in retinotopic visual cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Sneve, Markus H; Alnæs, Dag; Endestad, Tor; Greenlee, Mark W; Magnussen, Svein

2012-10-15

Recent studies have demonstrated that retinotopic cortex maintains information about visual stimuli during retention intervals. However, the process by which transient stimulus-evoked sensory responses are transformed into enduring memory representations is unknown. Here, using fMRI and short-term visual memory tasks optimized for univariate and multivariate analysis approaches, we report differential involvement of human retinotopic areas during memory encoding of the low-level visual feature orientation. All visual areas show weaker responses when memory encoding processes are interrupted, possibly due to effects in orientation-sensitive primary visual cortex (V1) propagating across extrastriate areas. Furthermore, intermediate areas in both dorsal (V3a/b) and ventral (LO1/2) streams are significantly more active during memory encoding compared with non-memory (active and passive) processing of the same stimulus material. These effects in intermediate visual cortex are also observed during memory encoding of a different stimulus feature (spatial frequency), suggesting that these areas are involved in encoding processes on a higher level of representation. Using pattern-classification techniques to probe the representational content in visual cortex during delay periods, we further demonstrate that simply initiating memory encoding is not sufficient to produce long-lasting memory traces. Rather, active maintenance appears to underlie the observed memory-specific patterns of information in retinotopic cortex. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of visual representation in physics learning: dynamic versus static visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Suyatna, Agus; Anggraini, Dian; Agustina, Dina; Widyastuti, Dini

2017-11-01

This study aims to examine the role of visual representation in physics learning and to compare the learning outcomes of using dynamic and static visualization media. The study was conducted using quasi-experiment with Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. The samples of this research are students of six classes at State Senior High School in Lampung Province. The experimental class received a learning using dynamic visualization and control class using static visualization media. Both classes are given pre-test and post-test with the same instruments. Data were tested with N-gain analysis, normality test, homogeneity test and mean difference test. The results showed that there was a significant increase of mean (N-Gain) learning outcomes (p physical phenomena and requires long-term observation.

Visual Multipoles And The Assessment Of Visual Sensitivity To Displayed Images

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Stanley A.

1989-08-01

The contrast sensitivity function (CSF) is widely used to specify the sensitivity of the visual system. Each point of the CSF specifies the amount of contrast needed to detect a sinusoidal grating of a given spatial frequency. This paper describes a set of five mathematically related visual patterns, called "multipoles," that should replace the CSF for measuring visual performance. The five patterns (ramp, edge, line, dipole and quadrupole) are localized in space rather than being spread out as sinusoidal gratings. The multipole sensitivity of the visual system provides an alternative characterization that complements the CSF in addition to offering several advantages. This paper provides an overview of the properties and uses of the multipole stimuli. This paper is largely a summary of several unpublished manuscripts with excerpts from them. Derivations and full references are omitted here. Please write me if you would like the full manuscripts.

Visual attention in posterior stroke

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fabricius, Charlotte; Petersen, Anders; Iversen, Helle K

Objective: Impaired visual attention is common following strokes in the territory of the middle cerebral artery, particularly in the right hemisphere. However, attentional effects of more posterior lesions are less clear. The aim of this study was to characterize visual processing speed...... and apprehension span following posterior cerebral artery (PCA) stroke. We also relate these attentional parameters to visual word recognition, as previous studies have suggested that reduced visual speed and span may explain pure alexia. Methods: Nine patients with MR-verified focal lesions in the PCA......-territory (four left PCA; four right PCA; one bilateral, all >1 year post stroke) were compared to 25 controls using single case statistics. Visual attention was characterized by a whole report paradigm allowing for hemifield-specific speed and span measurements. We also characterized visual field defects...

Similarity relations in visual search predict rapid visual categorization

Science.gov (United States)

Mohan, Krithika; Arun, S. P.

2012-01-01

How do we perform rapid visual categorization?It is widely thought that categorization involves evaluating the similarity of an object to other category items, but the underlying features and similarity relations remain unknown. Here, we hypothesized that categorization performance is based on perceived similarity relations between items within and outside the category. To this end, we measured the categorization performance of human subjects on three diverse visual categories (animals, vehicles, and tools) and across three hierarchical levels (superordinate, basic, and subordinate levels among animals). For the same subjects, we measured their perceived pair-wise similarities between objects using a visual search task. Regardless of category and hierarchical level, we found that the time taken to categorize an object could be predicted using its similarity to members within and outside its category. We were able to account for several classic categorization phenomena, such as (a) the longer times required to reject category membership; (b) the longer times to categorize atypical objects; and (c) differences in performance across tasks and across hierarchical levels. These categorization times were also accounted for by a model that extracts coarse structure from an image. The striking agreement observed between categorization and visual search suggests that these two disparate tasks depend on a shared coarse object representation. PMID:23092947

Cholinergic pairing with visual activation results in long-term enhancement of visual evoked potentials.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Il Kang

Full Text Available Acetylcholine (ACh contributes to learning processes by modulating cortical plasticity in terms of intensity of neuronal activity and selectivity properties of cortical neurons. However, it is not known if ACh induces long term effects within the primary visual cortex (V1 that could sustain visual learning mechanisms. In the present study we analyzed visual evoked potentials (VEPs in V1 of rats during a 4-8 h period after coupling visual stimulation to an intracortical injection of ACh analog carbachol or stimulation of basal forebrain. To clarify the action of ACh on VEP activity in V1, we individually pre-injected muscarinic (scopolamine, nicotinic (mecamylamine, alpha7 (methyllycaconitine, and NMDA (CPP receptor antagonists before carbachol infusion. Stimulation of the cholinergic system paired with visual stimulation significantly increased VEP amplitude (56% during a 6 h period. Pre-treatment with scopolamine, mecamylamine and CPP completely abolished this long-term enhancement, while alpha7 inhibition induced an instant increase of VEP amplitude. This suggests a role of ACh in facilitating visual stimuli responsiveness through mechanisms comparable to LTP which involve nicotinic and muscarinic receptors with an interaction of NMDA transmission in the visual cortex.

Visual Information and Support Surface for Postural Control in Visual Search Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chia-Chun; Yang, Chih-Mei

2016-10-01

When standing on a reduced support surface, people increase their reliance on visual information to control posture. This assertion was tested in the current study. The effects of imposed motion and support surface on postural control during visual search were investigated. Twelve participants (aged 21 ± 1.8 years; six men and six women) stood on a reduced support surface (45% base of support). In a room that moved back and forth along the anteroposterior axis, participants performed visual search for a given letter in an article. Postural sway variability and head-room coupling were measured. The results of head-room coupling, but not postural sway, supported the assertion that people increase reliance on visual information when standing on a reduced support surface. Whether standing on a whole or reduced surface, people stabilized their posture to perform the visual search tasks. Compared to a fixed target, searching on a hand-held target showed greater head-room coupling when standing on a reduced surface. © The Author(s) 2016.

Separate neural definitions of visual consciousness and visual attention; A case for phenomenal awareness.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lamme, V.A.F.

2004-01-01

What is the relation between visual attention and visual awareness? It is difficult to imagine being aware of something without attending to it, and by some, visual consciousness is simply equated to what is in the focus of attention. However, findings from psychological as well as from

Competition between auditory and visual spatial cues during visual task performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koelewijn, T.; Bronkhorst, A.; Theeuwes, J.

2009-01-01

There is debate in the crossmodal cueing literature as to whether capture of visual attention by means of sound is a fully automatic process. Recent studies show that when visual attention is endogenously focused sound still captures attention. The current study investigated whether there is

Language as the visual: Exploring the intersection of linguistic and visual language in manga

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giancarla Unser-Schutz

2011-03-01

Full Text Available In manga studies, a distinction is made between linguistic text (language and visual language. However, because linguistic text is mediated by visual structures, there is a a tendency to assume that it is a secondary element. I would argue, however, that examination of both languages might give a better idea of how manga functions, and start that process here by looking at two manga text types: handwritten lines, thoughts and authorial comments. Visually differentiated from other texts, and more common in series for girls (shōjo-manga, I compare them with Ōtsuka's (1994 highly-visual monologues from 1970s/1980s shōjo-manga, and demonstrate similarities to Takeuchi's (2005 mediator and spectator characters, and argue that these texts offer a sense of closeness to authors while also visually-coding data in terms of relevance. While non-essential secondary text, their visual-encoding offers a space of dynamic interpretation, with readerships able to ignore or read them as per their needs.

Comparison of Auditory/Visual and Visual/Motor Practice on the Spelling Accuracy of Learning Disabled Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Aleman, Cheryl; And Others

1990-01-01

Compares auditory/visual practice to visual/motor practice in spelling with seven elementary school learning-disabled students enrolled in a resource room setting. Finds that the auditory/visual practice was superior to the visual/motor practice on the weekly spelling performance for all seven students. (MG)

Visual dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease

Science.gov (United States)

Weil, Rimona S.; Schrag, Anette E.; Warren, Jason D.; Crutch, Sebastian J.; Lees, Andrew J.; Morris, Huw R.

2016-01-01

Patients with Parkinson’s disease have a number of specific visual disturbances. These include changes in colour vision and contrast sensitivity and difficulties with complex visual tasks such as mental rotation and emotion recognition. We review changes in visual function at each stage of visual processing from retinal deficits, including contrast sensitivity and colour vision deficits to higher cortical processing impairments such as object and motion processing and neglect. We consider changes in visual function in patients with common Parkinson’s disease-associated genetic mutations including GBA and LRRK2. We discuss the association between visual deficits and clinical features of Parkinson’s disease such as rapid eye movement sleep behavioural disorder and the postural instability and gait disorder phenotype. We review the link between abnormal visual function and visual hallucinations, considering current models for mechanisms of visual hallucinations. Finally, we discuss the role of visuo-perceptual testing as a biomarker of disease and predictor of dementia in Parkinson’s disease. PMID:27412389

Macular pigment and visual performance in glare: benefits for photostress recovery, disability glare, and visual discomfort.

Science.gov (United States)

Stringham, James M; Garcia, Paul V; Smith, Peter A; McLin, Leon N; Foutch, Brian K

2011-09-22

One theory of macular pigment's (MP) presence in the fovea is to improve visual performance in glare. This study sought to determine the effect of MP level on three aspects of visual performance in glare: photostress recovery, disability glare, and visual discomfort. Twenty-six subjects participated in the study. Spatial profiles of MP optical density were assessed with heterochromatic flicker photometry. Glare was delivered via high-bright-white LEDs. For the disability glare and photostress recovery portions of the experiment, the visual task consisted of correct identification of a 1° Gabor patch's orientation. Visual discomfort during the glare presentation was assessed with a visual discomfort rating scale. Pupil diameter was monitored with an infrared (IR) camera. MP level correlated significantly with all the outcome measures. Higher MP optical densities (MPODs) resulted in faster photostress recovery times (average P disability glare contrast thresholds (average P visual discomfort (P = 0.002). Smaller pupil diameter during glare presentation significantly correlated with higher visual discomfort ratings (P = 0.037). MP correlates with three aspects of visual performance in glare. Unlike previous studies of MP and glare, the present study used free-viewing conditions, in which effects of iris pigmentation and pupil size could be accounted for. The effects described, therefore, can be extended more confidently to real-world, practical visual performance benefits. Greater iris constriction resulted (paradoxically) in greater visual discomfort. This finding may be attributable to the neurobiologic mechanism that mediates the pain elicited by light.

Visual disability rates in a ten-year cohort of patients with anterior visual pathway meningiomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Bor-Shavit, Elite; Hammel, Naama; Nahum, Yoav; Rappaport, Zvi Harry; Stiebel-Kalish, Hadas

2015-01-01

To examine the visual outcome of anterior visual pathway meningioma (AVPM) patients followed for at least one year. Data were collected on demographics, clinical course and management. Visual disability was classified at the first and last examination as follows: I--no visual disability; II--mild visual defect in one eye; III--mild visual defect in both eyes; IV--loss of driver's license; V--legally blind. Eight-one AVPM patients had their tumor originate in the clinoid process in 23 (28%), sphenoid-wing area in 18 (22%), cavernous sinus in 15 (19%), tuberculum sellae in 8 (10%), and mixed in 17 (21%). On last examination, 46 patients (57%) had good visual acuity in one or both eyes (Class I or II) and 17 (21%) were mildly affected in both eyes. The rate of Class IV disability was 16%, and Class V disability was 6%. Attention needs to be addressed to the considerable proportion of patients with AVPM (22% in this study) who may lose their driver's license or become legally blind. Occupational therapists should play an important role in the multidisciplinary management of those patients to help them adapt to their new physical and social situation. Anterior visual pathway meningiomas (AVPMs) are commonly not life-threatening but they can lead to profound visual disability, especially when the tumor originates in the tuberculum sellae and cavernous sinus. Particular attention should be paid to visual acuity and visual field deficits, as these can profoundly affect the patient's quality of life including ability to drive and activities of daily living. The interdisciplinary management of patients with AVPM should include the neurosurgeon, neuro-ophthalmologist and occupational therapist. Also, early intervention by the occupational therapist can help patients adapt to their current physical and social situation and return to everyday tasks more rapidly.

[Dice test--a simple method for assessment of visual acuity in infants with visual deficits].

Science.gov (United States)

Rohrschneider, K; Brill, B; Bayer, Y; Ahrens, P

2010-07-01

Determination of visual acuity in low vision infants or patients with additional cerebral retardation is difficult. In our low vision department we used dice of different sizes and colors as well as other defined objects to determine visual acuity (VA). In this study we compared the results of the dice test with conventional tests for measurement of visual acuity. A total of 88 children with different causes of visual impairment e.g. albinism, retinal scars, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), achromatopsia and optic atrophy etc., were included in this longitudinal study. Median follow-up time was 8.7 years (range 2.9-18.9 years). The first reliable examination was performed between the ages of 4 and 24 months (median 11 months). We estimated VA depending on the edge length of the dice, which were recognized at a distance of 30 cm, while 4 mm complied with VA 20/200. Best corrected binocular visual acuity was compared between the dice test, measurement with the Lea symbols and with numbers or Landolt rings. Estimation of visual acuity using the dice test was possible at the end of the first year of life (median 11 months, range 4-27 months). Although observation is limited to visual acuity results in the low vision range between light reaction and 20/120 there was nearly complete agreement between all three VA measurements. Visual acuity ranged from light perception to 20/20 with a median of 20/100. In 39 patients visual acuity was 20/200 or less at the end of the observation period. Visual acuity estimation overestimated visual acuity only in 5 out of the 88 patients, while in all of the patients with later acuity measurements better than 20/200, our best value of 20/200 was achieved. Using simple visual objects, such as dice with different colors and size down to an edge length of 4 mm, it is possible to estimate visual acuity in low vision infants within the first year of life. This option is also very helpful in patients who are not able to perform other visual

NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Horace G.

2003-01-01

Since 1988, the Scientific Visualization Studio(SVS) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has produced scientific visualizations of NASA s scientific research and remote sensing data for public outreach. These visualizations take the form of images, animations, and end-to-end systems and have been used in many venues: from the network news to science programs such as NOVA, from museum exhibits at the Smithsonian to White House briefings. This presentation will give an overview of the major activities and accomplishments of the SVS, and some of the most interesting projects and systems developed at the SVS will be described. Particular emphasis will be given to the practices and procedures by which the SVS creates visualizations, from the hardware and software used to the structures and collaborations by which products are designed, developed, and delivered to customers. The web-based archival and delivery system for SVS visualizations at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov will also be described.

Critical visualization: a case for rethinking how we visualize risk and security

OpenAIRE

Hall, Peter; Heath, Claude; Coles-Kemp, Lizzie

2015-01-01

In an era of high-profile hacks, information leaks and cybercrime, cybersecurity is the focus of much corporate and state-funded research. Data visualization is regarded as an important tool in the detection and prediction of risk and vulnerability in cybersecurity, but discussion tends to remain at the level of the usability of visualization tools and how to reduce the cognitive load on the consumers of the visualizations. This focus is rooted in a desire to simplify the complexity of cybers...

Are Visual Peripheries Forever Young?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalina Burnat

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a concept of lifelong plasticity of peripheral vision. Central vision processing is accepted as critical and irreplaceable for normal perception in humans. While peripheral processing chiefly carries information about motion stimuli features and redirects foveal attention to new objects, it can also take over functions typical for central vision. Here I review the data showing the plasticity of peripheral vision found in functional, developmental, and comparative studies. Even though it is well established that afferent projections from central and peripheral retinal regions are not established simultaneously during early postnatal life, central vision is commonly used as a general model of development of the visual system. Based on clinical studies and visually deprived animal models, I describe how central and peripheral visual field representations separately rely on early visual experience. Peripheral visual processing (motion is more affected by binocular visual deprivation than central visual processing (spatial resolution. In addition, our own experimental findings show the possible recruitment of coarse peripheral vision for fine spatial analysis. Accordingly, I hypothesize that the balance between central and peripheral visual processing, established in the course of development, is susceptible to plastic adaptations during the entire life span, with peripheral vision capable of taking over central processing.

Are visual peripheries forever young?

Science.gov (United States)

Burnat, Kalina

2015-01-01

The paper presents a concept of lifelong plasticity of peripheral vision. Central vision processing is accepted as critical and irreplaceable for normal perception in humans. While peripheral processing chiefly carries information about motion stimuli features and redirects foveal attention to new objects, it can also take over functions typical for central vision. Here I review the data showing the plasticity of peripheral vision found in functional, developmental, and comparative studies. Even though it is well established that afferent projections from central and peripheral retinal regions are not established simultaneously during early postnatal life, central vision is commonly used as a general model of development of the visual system. Based on clinical studies and visually deprived animal models, I describe how central and peripheral visual field representations separately rely on early visual experience. Peripheral visual processing (motion) is more affected by binocular visual deprivation than central visual processing (spatial resolution). In addition, our own experimental findings show the possible recruitment of coarse peripheral vision for fine spatial analysis. Accordingly, I hypothesize that the balance between central and peripheral visual processing, established in the course of development, is susceptible to plastic adaptations during the entire life span, with peripheral vision capable of taking over central processing.

TIPOGRAFI DALAM DESAIN KOMUNIKASI VISUAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Priscilia Yunita Wijaya

1999-01-01

Full Text Available The presence of Visual Communication Design is needed especially in today s information era. Just as its sound%2C the function and goal of visual communication design is to communicate to its mass audience with the right perception. One of its elements that determine the effectiveness of a design is typography. This paper is going to talk about the role of typography and how it effects a design in visual communication design. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia : Di dalam era informasi saat ini kehadiran desain komunikasi visual sangatlah dibutuhkan. Sesuai dengan namanya%2C desain komunikasi visual mempunyai tujuan untuk mengkomunikasikan pesan yang dapat ditangkap oleh massa dengan benar. Salah satu elemen desain yang sangat penting dalam menunjang keberhasilan suatu desain dalam berkomunikasi dengan masyarakatnya adalah tipografi. Tulisan ini membahas bagaimana dan apa peran tipografi tersebut dalam desain komunikasi visual.

Electrophysiology in visually impaired children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Genderen, Maria Michielde van

2006-01-01

Inherited retinal disorders and posterior visual pathway abnormalities are important causes of visual impairment in children. Visual electrophysiology often is indispensable in diagnosing these conditions. This thesis shows the wide range of use of pediatric electro-ophthalmology, and demonstrates

Visual attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Karla K; Horowitz, Todd S; Howe, Piers; Pedersini, Roccardo; Reijnen, Ester; Pinto, Yair; Kuzmova, Yoana; Wolfe, Jeremy M

2011-09-01

A typical visual scene we encounter in everyday life is complex and filled with a huge amount of perceptual information. The term, 'visual attention' describes a set of mechanisms that limit some processing to a subset of incoming stimuli. Attentional mechanisms shape what we see and what we can act upon. They allow for concurrent selection of some (preferably, relevant) information and inhibition of other information. This selection permits the reduction of complexity and informational overload. Selection can be determined both by the 'bottom-up' saliency of information from the environment and by the 'top-down' state and goals of the perceiver. Attentional effects can take the form of modulating or enhancing the selected information. A central role for selective attention is to enable the 'binding' of selected information into unified and coherent representations of objects in the outside world. In the overview on visual attention presented here we review the mechanisms and consequences of selection and inhibition over space and time. We examine theoretical, behavioral and neurophysiologic work done on visual attention. We also discuss the relations between attention and other cognitive processes such as automaticity and awareness. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 503-514 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.127 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Intrathalamic mechanisms of visual attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayo, J Patrick

2009-03-01

The classical model of visual processing emphasizes the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) as the major intermediary between the retina and visual cortex. Yet, anatomical findings inspired Francis Crick to suggest an alternative model in which the thalamic reticular nucleus, which envelops the LGN, acts as the "guardian" of visual cortex by modulating LGN activity. Recent work by McAlonan and colleagues supports Crick's hypothesis, thereby enhancing our understanding of the early stages of visual processing.

Visual agnosia and focal brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinaud, O

Visual agnosia encompasses all disorders of visual recognition within a selective visual modality not due to an impairment of elementary visual processing or other cognitive deficit. Based on a sequential dichotomy between the perceptual and memory systems, two different categories of visual object agnosia are usually considered: 'apperceptive agnosia' and 'associative agnosia'. Impaired visual recognition within a single category of stimuli is also reported in: (i) visual object agnosia of the ventral pathway, such as prosopagnosia (for faces), pure alexia (for words), or topographagnosia (for landmarks); (ii) visual spatial agnosia of the dorsal pathway, such as cerebral akinetopsia (for movement), or orientation agnosia (for the placement of objects in space). Focal brain injuries provide a unique opportunity to better understand regional brain function, particularly with the use of effective statistical approaches such as voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM). The aim of the present work was twofold: (i) to review the various agnosia categories according to the traditional visual dual-pathway model; and (ii) to better assess the anatomical network underlying visual recognition through lesion-mapping studies correlating neuroanatomical and clinical outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Pattern visual evoked potentials in malingering.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, A; Akio, T; Matsuda, E; Wakami, Y

2001-03-01

We previously developed a new method for estimating objective visual acuity by means of pattern visual evoked potentials (PVEP). In this study, this method was applied to the diagnosis of malingering. Six patients ranging in age from 40 to 54 years (mean 47 years) with suspected malingering were evaluated by means of the visual evoked potential test, optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) inhibition test, and the visual field test. In the PVEP study, the stimulus consisted of black and white checkerboards (39', 26', 15', and 9') with a visual angle of 8 degrees, contrast level of 15%, and a frequency of 0.7 Hz. One hundred PVEP responses were averaged per session. Routine ophthalmic examinations were normal in all patients. Five patients had a tubularly constricted visual field, and the remaining patient had a normal visual field. The objective visual acuities of the six patients estimated from PVEP were better than their subjective visual acuities estimated with Landolt rings. Among a variety of psychophysical and electrophysiologic ancillary tests, we consider our PVEP method a useful method for objectively determining visual acuity in a patient with signs of ocular malingering.

Nansat: a Scientist-Orientated Python Package for Geospatial Data Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton A. Korosov

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Nansat is a Python toolbox for analysing and processing 2-dimensional geospatial data, such as satellite imagery, output from numerical models, and gridded in-situ data. It is created with strong focus on facilitating research, and development of algorithms and autonomous processing systems. Nansat extends the widely used Geospatial Abstraction Data Library (GDAL by adding scientific meaning to the datasets through metadata, and by adding common functionality for data analysis and handling (e.g., exporting to various data formats. Nansat uses metadata vocabularies that follow international metadata standards, in particular the Climate and Forecast (CF conventions, and the NASA Directory Interchange Format (DIF and Global Change Master Directory (GCMD keywords. Functionality that is commonly needed in scientific work, such as seamless access to local or remote geospatial data in various file formats, collocation of datasets from different sources and geometries, and visualization, is also built into Nansat. The paper presents Nansat workflows, its functional structure, and examples of typical applications.

Vividness of Visual Imagery Depends on the Neural Overlap with Perception in Visual Areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Dijkstra, Nadine; Bosch, Sander E; van Gerven, Marcel A J

2017-02-01

Research into the neural correlates of individual differences in imagery vividness point to an important role of the early visual cortex. However, there is also great fluctuation of vividness within individuals, such that only looking at differences between people necessarily obscures the picture. In this study, we show that variation in moment-to-moment experienced vividness of visual imagery, within human subjects, depends on the activity of a large network of brain areas, including frontal, parietal, and visual areas. Furthermore, using a novel multivariate analysis technique, we show that the neural overlap between imagery and perception in the entire visual system correlates with experienced imagery vividness. This shows that the neural basis of imagery vividness is much more complicated than studies of individual differences seemed to suggest. Visual imagery is the ability to visualize objects that are not in our direct line of sight: something that is important for memory, spatial reasoning, and many other tasks. It is known that the better people are at visual imagery, the better they can perform these tasks. However, the neural correlates of moment-to-moment variation in visual imagery remain unclear. In this study, we show that the more the neural response during imagery is similar to the neural response during perception, the more vivid or perception-like the imagery experience is. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/371367-07$15.00/0.

Wacana Visual Talk Show ‘Mata Najwa’: Melihat Bahasa Tubuh Partisipan sebagai Kekuatan Visual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Winny Gunarti W.W.,

2013-12-01

ABSTRAK   Menjelang Pemilu 2014, isu sosial politik menjadi topik yang sering diangkat dalam pro- gram bincang-bincang  (talk show di televisi. Keberadaan talk show sebagai sebuah wacana visual menarik untuk dikaji karena mampu mempengaruhi opini publik tentang suatu isu yang melibatkan tokoh publik. Selain mengangkat isu populer, tontonan bincang-bincang juga didesain menampilkan pembawa acara profesional serta narasumber yang tengah menjadi isu. Talk show Mata Najwa di Metro TV adalah salah satu tontonan bincang-bincang yang menampilkan kekuatan visual tersebut. Dengan menggunakan latar desain studio se- bagai ruang bincang-bincang, kekuatan visual dipusatkan pada penampilan Najwa Shihab selaku pembawa acara dan narasumber di mana tubuh partisipan menjadi bagian dari kon- struksi media untuk menarik perhatian penonton. Studi ini membahas salah satu episode ‘Mendadak Capres’ yang menghadirkan figur publik Rhoma Irama sebagai narasumber. Analisis kualitatif dengan pendekatan Semiotika Sosial menempatkan  paritisipan sebagai bagian dari  elemen wacana di dalam produksi. Fokus pembahasan meliputi tanda-tanda visual yang terdiri dari ekspresi wajah, gerakan tangan serta posisi tubuh pembawa aca- ra dan narasumber untuk membangun identitas dan kekuasaan di dalam wacana visual perbincangan. Bahasa tubuh partisipan menjadi penting karena dapat membangun per- sepsi penonton dan mendukung suasana perbincangan. Studi ini sekaligus dapat menjadi sebuah model bahwa kekuatan tontonan bincang-bincang tidak hanya terletak pada topik, tetapi juga pada kekuatan visual partisipan melalui bahasa tubuh.   Kata kunci: wacana visual, bahasa tubuh, dan kekuatan visual

Globe Browsing: Contextualized Spatio-Temporal Planetary Surface Visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Bladin, Karl; Axelsson, Emil; Broberg, Erik; Emmart, Carter; Ljung, Patric; Bock, Alexander; Ynnerman, Anders

2017-08-29

Results of planetary mapping are often shared openly for use in scientific research and mission planning. In its raw format, however, the data is not accessible to non-experts due to the difficulty in grasping the context and the intricate acquisition process. We present work on tailoring and integration of multiple data processing and visualization methods to interactively contextualize geospatial surface data of celestial bodies for use in science communication. As our approach handles dynamic data sources, streamed from online repositories, we are significantly shortening the time between discovery and dissemination of data and results. We describe the image acquisition pipeline, the pre-processing steps to derive a 2.5D terrain, and a chunked level-of-detail, out-of-core rendering approach to enable interactive exploration of global maps and high-resolution digital terrain models. The results are demonstrated for three different celestial bodies. The first case addresses high-resolution map data on the surface of Mars. A second case is showing dynamic processes, such as concurrent weather conditions on Earth that require temporal datasets. As a final example we use data from the New Horizons spacecraft which acquired images during a single flyby of Pluto. We visualize the acquisition process as well as the resulting surface data. Our work has been implemented in the OpenSpace software [8], which enables interactive presentations in a range of environments such as immersive dome theaters, interactive touch tables, and virtual reality headsets.

La Memoria Visual Como Predictor del Aprendizaje de la Lectura Visual Memory as Predictor of Reading Acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mónica Pino

2005-05-01

Full Text Available Se presentan los resultados de un estudio longitudinal realizado en alumnos de escuelas municipales de Santiago de Chile, cuyo objetivo fue investigar la relación entre el reconocimiento visual-ortográfico, la percepción y la memoria visual con la lectura inicial. Especialmente se analizó la relación predictiva entre el reconocimiento perceptivo visual de la Figura Compleja de Rey, la memoria visual y el reconocimiento visual-ortográfico con el aprendizaje inicial de la lectura. La muestra estuvo conformada por 105 alumnos de primero básico. Los niños se evaluaron mediante nueve pruebas destinadas al reconocimiento perceptivo visual y visual-ortográfico y una prueba utilizada para evaluar el aprendizaje de la lectura. Los resultados mostraron que la prueba de la Figura Compleja de Rey, que evalúa capacidad de percepción visual, predice significativamente el aprendizaje lector en el nivel inicial.The aim of this article is to present the results of a longitudinal study of a group of public school pupils on their visualperception, visual memory and visual-orthographic recognizing of words and their predictivity on early reading. The sample was comprised of 105 first grade students. The children were assessed using nine tests to measure visual and visual-ortographic perceptual recognition, and a test to measure their reading ability. Results show that Rey's test, which assesses visual perception ability, has a predictive value on initial reading in Spanish speaking Chilean children.

Visual plasticity : Blindsight bridges anatomy and function in the visual system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tamietto, M.; Morrone, M.C.

2016-01-01

Some people who are blind due to damage to their primary visual cortex, V1, can discriminate stimuli presented within their blind visual field. This residual function has been recently linked to a pathway that bypasses V1, and connects the thalamic lateral geniculate nucleus directly with the

A human centered GeoVisualization framework to facilitate visual exploration of telehealth data: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Ashish; de Araujo Novaes, Magdala; Machiavelli, Josiane; Iyengar, Sriram; Vogler, Robert; Johnson, Craig; Zhang, Jiajie; Hsu, Chiehwen E

2012-01-01

Public health data is typically organized by geospatial units. Routine geographic monitoring of health data enables an understanding of the spatial patterns of events in terms of causes and controls. GeoVisualization (GeoVis) allows users to see information hidden both visually and explicitly on a map. Despite the applicability of GeoVis in public health, it is still underused for visualizing public health data. The objective of this study is to examine the perception of telehealth users' to utilize GeoVis as a proof of concept to facilitate visual exploration of telehealth data in Brazil using principles of human centered approach and cognitive fit theory. A mixed methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative assessments was utilized in this cross sectional study conducted at the Telehealth Center of the Federal University of Pernambuco (NUTE-UFPE), Recife, Brazil. A convenient sample of 20 participants currently involved in NUTES was drawn during a period of Sep-Oct 2011. Data was gathered using previously tested questionnaire surveys and in-person interviews. Socio-demographic Information such as age, gender, prior education, familiarity with the use of computer and GeoVis was gathered. Other information gathered included participants' prior spatial analysis skills, level of motivation and use of GeoVis in telehealth. Audio recording was done for all interviews conducted in both English and Portuguese, and transcription of the audio content to English was done by a certified translator. Univariate analysis was performed and means and standard deviations were reported for the continuous variables and frequency distributions for the categorical variables. For the open-ended questions, we utilized a grounded theory to identify themes and their relationship as they emerge from the data. Analysis of the quantitative data was performed using SAS V9.1 and qualitative data was performed using NVivo9. The average age of participants was 28 years (SD=7), a

Body image, visual working memory and visual mental imagery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Darling

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Body dissatisfaction (BD is a highly prevalent feature amongst females in society, with the majority of individuals regarding themselves to be overweight compared to their personal ideal, and very few self-describing as underweight. To date, explanations of this dramatic pattern have centred on extrinsic social and media factors, or intrinsic factors connected to individuals’ knowledge and belief structures regarding eating and body shape, with little research examining links between BD and basic cognitive mechanisms. This paper reports a correlational study in which visual and executive cognitive processes that could potentially impact on BD were assessed. Visual memory span and self-rated visual imagery were found to be predictive of BD, alongside a measure of inhibition derived from the Stroop task. In contrast, spatial memory and global precedence were not related to BD. Results are interpreted with reference to the influential multi-component model of working memory.

Eye structure, activity rhythms and visually-driven behavior are tuned to visual niche in ants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayse eYilmaz

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Insects have evolved physiological adaptations and behavioural strategies that allow them to cope with a broad spectrum of environmental challenges and contribute to their evolutionary success. Visual performance plays a key role in this success. Correlates between life style and eye organization have been reported in various insect species. Yet, if and how visual ecology translates effectively into different visual discrimination and learning capabilities has been less explored. Here we report results from optical and behavioural analyses performed in two sympatric ant species, Formica cunicularia and Camponotus aethiops. We show that the former are diurnal while the latter are cathemeral. Accordingly, F. cunicularia workers present compound eyes with higher resolution, while C. aethiops workers exhibit eyes with lower resolution but higher sensitivity. The discrimination and learning of visual stimuli differs significantly between these species in controlled dual-choice experiments: discrimination learning of small-field visual stimuli is achieved by F. cunicularia but not by C. aethiops, while both species master the discrimination of large-field visual stimuli. Our work thus provides a paradigmatic example about how timing of foraging activities and visual environment match the organization of compound eyes and visually-driven behaviour. This correspondence underlines the relevance of an ecological/evolutionary framework for analyses in behavioural neuroscience.

Graphics and visualization principles & algorithms

CERN Document Server

Theoharis, T; Platis, Nikolaos; Patrikalakis, Nicholas M

2008-01-01

Computer and engineering collections strong in applied graphics and analysis of visual data via computer will find Graphics & Visualization: Principles and Algorithms makes an excellent classroom text as well as supplemental reading. It integrates coverage of computer graphics and other visualization topics, from shadow geneeration and particle tracing to spatial subdivision and vector data visualization, and it provides a thorough review of literature from multiple experts, making for a comprehensive review essential to any advanced computer study.-California Bookw

Modulation of visually evoked postural responses by contextual visual, haptic and auditory information: a 'virtual reality check'.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Georg F; Shao, Fei; White, Mark D; Hopkins, Carl; Robotham, Antony J

2013-01-01

Externally generated visual motion signals can cause the illusion of self-motion in space (vection) and corresponding visually evoked postural responses (VEPR). These VEPRs are not simple responses to optokinetic stimulation, but are modulated by the configuration of the environment. The aim of this paper is to explore what factors modulate VEPRs in a high quality virtual reality (VR) environment where real and virtual foreground objects served as static visual, auditory and haptic reference points. Data from four experiments on visually evoked postural responses show that: 1) visually evoked postural sway in the lateral direction is modulated by the presence of static anchor points that can be haptic, visual and auditory reference signals; 2) real objects and their matching virtual reality representations as visual anchors have different effects on postural sway; 3) visual motion in the anterior-posterior plane induces robust postural responses that are not modulated by the presence of reference signals or the reality of objects that can serve as visual anchors in the scene. We conclude that automatic postural responses for laterally moving visual stimuli are strongly influenced by the configuration and interpretation of the environment and draw on multisensory representations. Different postural responses were observed for real and virtual visual reference objects. On the basis that automatic visually evoked postural responses in high fidelity virtual environments should mimic those seen in real situations we propose to use the observed effect as a robust objective test for presence and fidelity in VR.

Incremental Visualizer for Visible Objects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bukauskas, Linas; Bøhlen, Michael Hanspeter

This paper discusses the integration of database back-end and visualizer front-end into a one tightly coupled system. The main aim which we achieve is to reduce the data pipeline from database to visualization by using incremental data extraction of visible objects in a fly-through scenarios. We...... also argue that passing only relevant data from the database will substantially reduce the overall load of the visualization system. We propose the system Incremental Visualizer for Visible Objects (IVVO) which considers visible objects and enables incremental visualization along the observer movement...... path. IVVO is the novel solution which allows data to be visualized and loaded on the fly from the database and which regards visibilities of objects. We run a set of experiments to convince that IVVO is feasible in terms of I/O operations and CPU load. We consider the example of data which uses...

Visual Control of Locomotion

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Loomis, Jack M; Beall, Andrew C

2005-01-01

The accomplishments were threefold. First, a software tool for rendering virtual environments was developed, a tool useful for other researchers interested in visual perception and visual control of action...

End-User Development of Information Visualization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pantazos, Kostas; Lauesen, Søren; Vatrapu, Ravi

2013-01-01

such as data manipulation, but no formal training in programming. 18 visualization tools were surveyed from an enduser developer perspective. The results of this survey study show that end-user developers need better tools to create and modify custom visualizations. A closer collaboration between End......This paper investigates End-User Development of Information Visualization. More specifically, we investigated how existing visualization tools allow end-user developers to construct visualizations. End-user developers have some developing or scripting skills to perform relatively advanced tasks......-User Development and Information Visualization researchers could contribute towards the development of better tools to support custom visualizations. In addition, as empirical evaluations of these tools are lacking both research communities should focus more on this aspect. The study serves as a starting point...

MELAHIRKAN IMPERATIF MORALITAS DALAM KARYA VISUAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Obed Bima Wicandra

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Visual aesthetics in visual arts are more and more questioned in the context of open global culture. Works that lead to violence%2C pornography%2C lies%2C and other things far from morality and ethics%2C are faced with public s identity to follow their desire to fulfill their consumtive needs. The blossoming of visual works and their media stimulates the visual creators in expressing ideas and imagination. Created visual works must support a better cultural direction for human life. Faith in its relation to God plays a role in achieveing space for interaction%2C so that visual works can reflect codes or symbols in the cycle of ideology or cultural values that respect the essence of faith. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia : Estetika visual dalam seni rupa semakin dipertanyakan dalam konteks budaya global yang terbuka. Karya yang menjurus kekerasan%2C pornografi%2C kebohongan dan hal lain yang jauh dari moral dan etika diperhadapkan dengan identitas masyarakat yang mengikuti hasrat dalam memenuhi kebutuhan konsumtifnya. Karya-karya visual yang semakin berkembang beserta dengan medianya merangsang kreator visual dalam menuangkan gagasan dan imajinasi. Bagi peradaban kehidupan manusia%2C karya-karya visual yang dibuat harus mendukung arah peradaban yang lebih baik. Di sini peran iman dalam hubungannya dengan Tuhan mendapat ruang berinteraksi%2C sehingga karya visual yang dihasilkan mencerminkan kode-kode maupun simbol dalam perputaran ideologi atau nilai-nilai budaya yang menjunjung tinggi hakikat keimanan. visual aesthetics%2C moral imperative%2C faith.

Visual, Algebraic and Mixed Strategies in Visually Presented Linear Programming Problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Shama, Gilli; Dreyfus, Tommy

1994-01-01

Identified and classified solution strategies of (n=49) 10th-grade students who were presented with linear programming problems in a predominantly visual setting in the form of a computerized game. Visual strategies were developed more frequently than either algebraic or mixed strategies. Appendix includes questionnaires. (Contains 11 references.)…

Task-dependent engagements of the primary visual cortex during kinesthetic and visual motor imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Mizuguchi, Nobuaki; Nakamura, Maiko; Kanosue, Kazuyuki

2017-01-01

Motor imagery can be divided into kinesthetic and visual aspects. In the present study, we investigated excitability in the corticospinal tract and primary visual cortex (V1) during kinesthetic and visual motor imagery. To accomplish this, we measured motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and probability of phosphene occurrence during the two types of motor imageries of finger tapping. The MEPs and phosphenes were induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation to the primary motor cortex and V1, respectively. The amplitudes of MEPs and probability of phosphene occurrence during motor imagery were normalized based on the values obtained at rest. Corticospinal excitability increased during both kinesthetic and visual motor imagery, while excitability in V1 was increased only during visual motor imagery. These results imply that modulation of cortical excitability during kinesthetic and visual motor imagery is task dependent. The present finding aids in the understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying motor imagery and provides useful information for the use of motor imagery in rehabilitation or motor imagery training. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Visualizing the Computational Intelligence Field

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L. Waltman (Ludo); J.H. van den Berg (Jan); U. Kaymak (Uzay); N.J.P. van Eck (Nees Jan)

2006-01-01

textabstractIn this paper, we visualize the structure and the evolution of the computational intelligence (CI) field. Based on our visualizations, we analyze the way in which the CI field is divided into several subfields. The visualizations provide insight into the characteristics of each subfield

Aspects of ontology visualization and integration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dmitrieva, Joelia Borisovna

2011-01-01

In this thesis we will describe and discuss methodologies for ontology visualization and integration. Two visualization methods will be elaborated. In one method the ontology is visualized with the node-link technique, and with the other method the ontology is visualized with the containment

Visualizing the Heliosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Bridgman, William T.; Shirah, Greg W.; Mitchell, Horace G.

2008-01-01

Today, scientific data and models can combine with modern animation tools to produce compelling visualizations to inform and educate. The Scientific Visualization Studio at Goddard Space Flight Center merges these techniques from the very different worlds of entertainment and science to enable scientists and the general public to 'see the unseeable' in new ways.

A Ventral Visual Stream Reading Center Independent of Sensory Modality and Visual Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lior Reich

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The Visual Word Form Area (VWFA is a ventral-temporal-visual area that develops expertise for visual reading. It encodes letter-strings irrespective of case, font, or location in the visual-field, with striking anatomical reproducibility across individuals. In the blind, reading can be achieved using Braille, with a comparable level-of-expertise to that of sighted readers. We investigated which area plays the role of the VWFA in the blind. One would expect it to be at either parietal or bilateral occipital cortex, reflecting the tactile nature of the task and crossmodal plasticity, respectively. However, according to the notion that brain areas are task specific rather than sensory-modality specific, we predicted recruitment of the left-hemispheric VWFA, identically to the sighted and independent of visual experience. Using fMRI we showed that activation during Braille reading in congenitally blind individuals peaked in the VWFA, with striking anatomical consistency within and between blind and sighted. The VWFA was reading-selective when contrasted to high-level language and low-level sensory controls. Further preliminary results show that the VWFA is selectively activated also when people learn to read in a new language or using a different modality. Thus, the VWFA is a mutlisensory area specialized for reading regardless of visual experience.

Modelling individual difference in visual categorization.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Jianhong; Palmeri, Thomas J

Recent years has seen growing interest in understanding, characterizing, and explaining individual differences in visual cognition. We focus here on individual differences in visual categorization. Categorization is the fundamental visual ability to group different objects together as the same kind of thing. Research on visual categorization and category learning has been significantly informed by computational modeling, so our review will focus both on how formal models of visual categorization have captured individual differences and how individual difference have informed the development of formal models. We first examine the potential sources of individual differences in leading models of visual categorization, providing a brief review of a range of different models. We then describe several examples of how computational models have captured individual differences in visual categorization. This review also provides a bit of an historical perspective, starting with models that predicted no individual differences, to those that captured group differences, to those that predict true individual differences, and to more recent hierarchical approaches that can simultaneously capture both group and individual differences in visual categorization. Via this selective review, we see how considerations of individual differences can lead to important theoretical insights into how people visually categorize objects in the world around them. We also consider new directions for work examining individual differences in visual categorization.

Visually observing comets

CERN Document Server

Seargent, David A J

2017-01-01

In these days of computers and CCD cameras, visual comet observers can still contribute scientifically useful data with the help of this handy reference for use in the field. Comets are one of the principal areas for productive pro-amateur collaboration in astronomy, but finding comets requires a different approach than the observing of more predictable targets. Principally directed toward amateur astronomers who prefer visual observing or who are interested in discovering a new comet or visually monitoring the behavior of known comets, it includes all the advice needed to thrive as a comet observer. After presenting a brief overview of the nature of comets and how we came to the modern understanding of comets, this book details the various types of observations that can usefully be carried out at the eyepiece of a telescope. Subjects range from how to search for new comets to visually estimating the brightness of comets and the length and orientation of tails, in addition to what to look for in comet heads a...

Neurophysiology of visual aura in migraine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibata, Koichi

2007-01-01

Visual processing in migraine has been targeted because the visual symptoms that are commonly associated with attack, either in the form of aura or other more subtle symptoms, indicate that the visual pathways are involved in migrainous pathophysiology. The visual aura of the migraine attack has been explained by the cortical spreading depression (CSD) of Leao, neuroelectric event beginning in the occipital cortex and propagating into contiguous brain region. Clinical observations suggest that hyperexcitability occurs not only during the attack, typically in the form of photophobia, but also between attacks. Numerous human neuroimaging, neurophysiological and psychophysical studies have identified differences in cortical visual processing in migraine. The possibility of imaging the typical visual aura with BOLD functional MRI has revealed multiple neurovascular events in the occipital cortex within a single attack that closely resemble CSD. As transient synchronized neuronal excitation precedes CSD, changes in cortical excitability underlie the migraine attack. Independent evidence for altered neuronal excitability in migraineurs between attacks emerges from visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), recordings of cortical potentials and psychophysics. Recently, both TMS and psychophysical studies measuring visual performance in migraineurs have used measures which presumably measure primary visual (V1) and visual association cortex. Our VEP and blink reflex study showed that migraine patients exhibiting allodynia might show central sensitization of braistem trigeminal neuron and had contrast modulation dysfunction during the cortical visual processing of V1 and visual association cortex in-between attacks. In pathophysiology of migraine, these neurophysiological and psychophysical studies indicate that abnormal visual and trigeminal hyperexcitability might persist between migraine attacks. The influence of migraine on cortical

Marketing engagement through visual content

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius MANIC

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Engaging visual is a must in the modern marketing world. Wide access to mass communication devices, with extended visuals enhancements, made visual content an important point of interest for any publisher, on all media channels. The decreasing costs and huge variety of types are premises for an easy and effective marketing investment, with strong benefits for any company and its brands. Loyal customers are achieved and kept through visual content; the lack of it in the general marketing

Visual target distance, but not visual cursor path length produces shifts in motor behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nike eWendker

2014-03-01

Full Text Available When using tools effects in body space and distant space often do not correspond. Findings so far demonstrated that in this case visual feedback has more impact on action control than proprioceptive feedback. The present study varies the dimensional overlap between visual and proprioceptive action effects and investigates its impact on aftereffects in motor responses. In two experiments participants perform linear hand movements on a covered digitizer tablet to produce ∩-shaped cursor trajectories on the display. The shape of hand motion and cursor motion (linear vs. curved is dissimilar and therefore does not overlap. In one condition the length of hand amplitude and visual target distance is similar and constant while the length of the cursor path is dissimilar and varies. In another condition the length of the hand amplitude varies while the lengths of visual target distance (similar or dissimilar and cursor path (dissimilar are constant. First, we found that aftereffects depended on the relation between hand path length and visual target distance, and not on the relation between hand and cursor path length. Second, increasing contextual interference did not reveal larger aftereffects. Finally, data exploration demonstrated a considerable benefit from gain repetitions across trials when compared to gain switches. In conclusion, dimensional overlap between visual and proprioceptive action effects modulates human information processing in visually controlled actions. However, adjustment of the internal model seems to occur very fast for this kind of simple linear transformation, so that the impact of prior visual feedback is fleeting.

[Nursing Experience of Using Mirror Visual Feedback for a Schizophrenia Patient With Visual Hallucinations].

Science.gov (United States)

Lan, Shu-Ling; Chen, Yu-Chi; Chang, Hsiu-Ju

2018-06-01

The aim of this paper was to describe the nursing application of mirror visual feedback in a patient suffering from long-term visual hallucinations. The intervention period was from May 15th to October 19th, 2015. Using the five facets of psychiatric nursing assessment, several health problems were observed, including disturbed sensory perceptions (prominent visual hallucinations) and poor self-care (e.g. limited abilities to self-bathe and put on clothing). Furthermore, "caregiver role strain" due to the related intense care burden was noted. After building up a therapeutic interpersonal relationship, the technique of brain plasticity and mirror visual feedback were performed using multiple nursing care methods in order to help the patient suppress her visual hallucinations by enhancing a different visual stimulus. We also taught her how to cope with visual hallucinations in a proper manner. The frequency and content of visual hallucinations were recorded to evaluate the effects of management. The therapeutic plan was formulated together with the patient in order to boost her self-confidence, and a behavior contract was implemented in order to improve her personal hygiene. In addition, psychoeducation on disease-related topics was provided to the patient's family, and they were encouraged to attend relevant therapeutic activities. As a result, her family became less passive and negative and more engaged in and positive about her future. The crisis of "caregiver role strain" was successfully resolved. The current experience is hoped to serve as a model for enhancing communication and cooperation between family and staff in similar medical settings.

Influence of visual angle on pattern reversal visual evoked potentials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruchi Kothari

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The aim of this study was to find whether the visual evoked potential (VEP latencies and amplitude are altered with different visual angles in healthy adult volunteers or not and to determine the visual angle which is the optimum and most appropriate among a wide range of check sizes for the reliable interpretation of pattern reversal VEPs (PRVEPs. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted on 40 healthy volunteers. The subjects were divided into two groups. One group consisted of 20 individuals (nine males and 11 females in the age range of 25-57 years and they were exposed to checks subtending a visual angle of 90, 120, and 180 minutes of arc. Another group comprised of 20 individuals (10 males and 10 females in the age range of 36-60 years and they were subjected to checks subtending a visual angle of 15, 30, and 120 minutes of arc. The stimulus configuration comprised of the transient pattern reversal method in which a black and white checker board is generated (full field on a VEP Monitor by an Evoked Potential Recorder (RMS EMG. EPMARK II. The statistical analysis was done by One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA using EPI INFO 6. Results: In Group I, the maximum (max. P100 latency of 98.8 ± 4.7 and the max. P100 amplitude of 10.05 ± 3.1 μV was obtained with checks of 90 minutes. In Group II, the max. P100 latency of 105.19 ± 4.75 msec as well as the max. P100 amplitude of 8.23 ± 3.30 μV was obtained with 15 minutes. The min. P100 latency in both the groups was obtained with checks of 120 minutes while the min. P100 amplitude was obtained with 180 minutes. A statistically significant difference was derived between means of P100 latency for 15 and 30 minutes with reference to its value for 120 minutes and between the mean value of P100 amplitude for 120 minutes and that of 90 and 180 minutes. Conclusion: Altering the size of stimulus (visual angle has an effect on the PRVEP parameters. Our study found that the 120

Visualization in medicine and life sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linsen, L.; Hamann, B.

2008-01-01

Visualization technology is becoming increasingly important for medical and biomedical data processing and analysis. This technology complements traditional image processing methods as it allows scientists to visually interact with large, high-resolution three-dimensional image data, for example. Furthermore, an ever increasing number of new data acquisition methods are being used in medicine and the life sciences, in particular in genomics and proteomics. This book discusses some of the latest visualization techniques and systems for effective analysis of such diverse, large, complex, and multi-source data. Experts from all over the world were invited to participate in a workshop held in July 2006 on the island Ruegen in Germany. About 40 participants presented state-of-the-art research on the topic. Research and survey papers have been solicited and carefully refereed, resulting in this collection. The topics covered include Segmentation and Feature Detection, Surface Extraction, Volume Visualization, Graph and Network Visualization, Visual Data Exploration, Multivariate and Multidimensional Data Visualization, Large Data Visualization. (orig.)

Students with Low Vision Describe Their Visual Impairments and Visual Functioning

Science.gov (United States)

Guerette, Amy R.; Lewis, Sandra; Mattingly, Cameron

2011-01-01

In the study reported here, the responses to a survey that was designed to determine the knowledge of their visual impairment of 51 students with low vision were analyzed. Although the students described their visual weaknesses and strengths, they had limited knowledge of, and difficulty communicating about, the medical aspects of their…

People-oriented Information Visualization Design

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhiyong; Zhang, Bolun

2018-04-01

In the 21st century with rapid development, in the wake of the continuous progress of science and technology, human society enters the information era and the era of big data, and the lifestyle and aesthetic system also change accordingly, so the emerging field of information visualization is increasingly popular. Information visualization design is the process of visualizing all kinds of tedious information data, so as to quickly accept information and save time-cost. Along with the development of the process of information visualization, information design, also becomes hotter and hotter, and emotional design, people-oriented design is an indispensable part of in the design of information. This paper probes information visualization design through emotional analysis of information design based on the social context of people-oriented experience from the perspective of art design. Based on the three levels of emotional information design: instinct level, behavior level and reflective level research, to explore and discuss information visualization design.

Learning Science Through Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhury, S. Raj

2005-01-01

In the context of an introductory physical science course for non-science majors, I have been trying to understand how scientific visualizations of natural phenomena can constructively impact student learning. I have also necessarily been concerned with the instructional and assessment approaches that need to be considered when focusing on learning science through visually rich information sources. The overall project can be broken down into three distinct segments : (i) comparing students' abilities to demonstrate proportional reasoning competency on visual and verbal tasks (ii) decoding and deconstructing visualizations of an object falling under gravity (iii) the role of directed instruction to elicit alternate, valid scientific visualizations of the structure of the solar system. Evidence of student learning was collected in multiple forms for this project - quantitative analysis of student performance on written, graded assessments (tests and quizzes); qualitative analysis of videos of student 'think aloud' sessions. The results indicate that there are significant barriers for non-science majors to succeed in mastering the content of science courses, but with informed approaches to instruction and assessment, these barriers can be overcome.

Modulation of visually evoked postural responses by contextual visual, haptic and auditory information: a 'virtual reality check'.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georg F Meyer

Full Text Available Externally generated visual motion signals can cause the illusion of self-motion in space (vection and corresponding visually evoked postural responses (VEPR. These VEPRs are not simple responses to optokinetic stimulation, but are modulated by the configuration of the environment. The aim of this paper is to explore what factors modulate VEPRs in a high quality virtual reality (VR environment where real and virtual foreground objects served as static visual, auditory and haptic reference points. Data from four experiments on visually evoked postural responses show that: 1 visually evoked postural sway in the lateral direction is modulated by the presence of static anchor points that can be haptic, visual and auditory reference signals; 2 real objects and their matching virtual reality representations as visual anchors have different effects on postural sway; 3 visual motion in the anterior-posterior plane induces robust postural responses that are not modulated by the presence of reference signals or the reality of objects that can serve as visual anchors in the scene. We conclude that automatic postural responses for laterally moving visual stimuli are strongly influenced by the configuration and interpretation of the environment and draw on multisensory representations. Different postural responses were observed for real and virtual visual reference objects. On the basis that automatic visually evoked postural responses in high fidelity virtual environments should mimic those seen in real situations we propose to use the observed effect as a robust objective test for presence and fidelity in VR.

Neural computation of visual imaging based on Kronecker product in the primary visual cortex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guozheng Yao

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background What kind of neural computation is actually performed by the primary visual cortex and how is this represented mathematically at the system level? It is an important problem in the visual information processing, but has not been well answered. In this paper, according to our understanding of retinal organization and parallel multi-channel topographical mapping between retina and primary visual cortex V1, we divide an image into orthogonal and orderly array of image primitives (or patches, in which each patch will evoke activities of simple cells in V1. From viewpoint of information processing, this activated process, essentially, involves optimal detection and optimal matching of receptive fields of simple cells with features contained in image patches. For the reconstruction of the visual image in the visual cortex V1 based on the principle of minimum mean squares error, it is natural to use the inner product expression in neural computation, which then is transformed into matrix form. Results The inner product is carried out by using Kronecker product between patches and function architecture (or functional column in localized and oriented neural computing. Compared with Fourier Transform, the mathematical description of Kronecker product is simple and intuitive, so is the algorithm more suitable for neural computation of visual cortex V1. Results of computer simulation based on two-dimensional Gabor pyramid wavelets show that the theoretical analysis and the proposed model are reasonable. Conclusions Our results are: 1. The neural computation of the retinal image in cortex V1 can be expressed to Kronecker product operation and its matrix form, this algorithm is implemented by the inner operation between retinal image primitives and primary visual cortex's column. It has simple, efficient and robust features, which is, therefore, such a neural algorithm, which can be completed by biological vision. 2. It is more suitable

Visuals Matter! Designing and using effective visual representations to support project and portfolio decisions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geraldi, Joana; Arlt, Mario

. They can help managers to be sharper and quicker, especially if visuals are used in a mindful manner. The intent of this book is to increase the awareness of project, program and portfolio practitioners and scholars about the importance of visuals and to provide practical recommendations on how they can......This book is the result of a two-year research project, funded by Project Management Institute and University College London on data visualization in the project and portfolio management contexts. Visuals are powerful and constitute an integral part of analyzing problems and making decisions...... be used and designed mindfully. The research, which underpins this book, focuses on the impact of visuals on cognition of data in project portfolio decisions. The complexity of portfolio problems often exceed human cognitive limitations as a result of a number of factors, such as the large number...

Visual stimulation, {sup 1}H MR spectroscopy and fMRI of the human visual pathways

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boucard, Christine C.; Cornelissen, Frans W. [University of Groningen, Laboratory for Experimental Ophthalmology, Postbus 30001, Groningen (Netherlands); University of Groningen, BCN Neuro-imaging Center, Postbus 196, Groningen (Netherlands); Mostert, Jop P.; Keyser, Jacques De [University Hospital Groningen, Department of Neurology, Groningen (Netherlands); Oudkerk, Matthijs; Sijens, Paul E. [University Hospital Groningen, Department of Radiology, Groningen (Netherlands)

2005-01-01

The purpose was to assess changes in lactate content and other brain metabolites under visual stimulation in optical chiasm, optic radiations and occipital cortex using multiple voxel MR spectroscopy (MRS). {sup 1}H chemical shift imaging (CSI) examinations of transverse planes centered to include the above structures were performed in four subjects at an echo time of 135 ms. Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to confirm the presence of activity in the visual cortex during the visual stimulation. Spectral maps of optical chiasm were of poor quality due to field disturbances caused by nearby large blood vessels and/or eye movements. The optic radiations and the occipital lobe did not show any significant MR spectral change upon visual stimulation, i.e., the peak areas of inositol, choline, creatine, glutamate and N-acetylaspartate were not affected. Reproducible lactate signals were not observed. fMRI confirmed the presence of strong activations in stimulated visual cortex. Prolonged visual stimulation did not cause significant changes in MR spectra. Any signal observed near the 1.33 ppm resonance frequency of the lactate methyl-group was artifactual, originating from lipid signals from outside the volume of interest (VOI). Previous claims about changes in lactate levels in the visual cortex upon visual stimulation may have been based on such erroneous observations. (orig.)

[Effect of acupuncture on pattern-visual evoked potential in rats with monocular visual deprivation].

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Xing-Ke; Dong, Li-Li; Liu, An-Guo; Wang, Jun-Yan; Ma, Chong-Bing; Zhu, Tian-Tian

2013-08-01

To explore electrophysiology mechanism of acupuncture for treatment and prevention of visual deprivation effect. Eighteen healthy 15-day Evans rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group and an acupuncture group, 6 rats in each one. Deprivation amblyopia model was established by monocular eyelid suture in the model group and acupuncture group. Acupuncture was applied at "Jingming" (BL 1), "Chengqi" (ST 1), "Qiuhou" (EX-HN 7) and "Cuanzhu" (BL 2) in the acupuncture group. The bilateral acupoints were selected alternately, one side for a day, and totally 14 days were required. The effect of acupuncture on visual evoked potential in different spatial frequencies was observed. Under three different kinds of spatial frequencies of 2 X 2, 4 X 4 and 8 X 8, compared with normal group, there was obvious visual deprivation effect in the model group where P1 peak latency was delayed (P0.05). Under spatial frequency of 4 X 4, N1-P1 amplitude value was maximum in the normal group and acupuncture group. With this spatial frequency the rat's eye had best resolving ability, indicating it could be the best spatial frequency for rat visual system. The visual system has obvious electrophysiology plasticity in sensitive period. Acupuncture treatment could adjust visual deprivation-induced suppression and slow of visual response in order to antagonism deprivation effect.

Testing of Visual Field with Virtual Reality Goggles in Manual and Visual Grasp Modes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dariusz Wroblewski

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Automated perimetry is used for the assessment of visual function in a variety of ophthalmic and neurologic diseases. We report development and clinical testing of a compact, head-mounted, and eye-tracking perimeter (VirtualEye that provides a more comfortable test environment than the standard instrumentation. VirtualEye performs the equivalent of a full threshold 24-2 visual field in two modes: (1 manual, with patient response registered with a mouse click, and (2 visual grasp, where the eye tracker senses change in gaze direction as evidence of target acquisition. 59 patients successfully completed the test in manual mode and 40 in visual grasp mode, with 59 undergoing the standard Humphrey field analyzer (HFA testing. Large visual field defects were reliably detected by VirtualEye. Point-by-point comparison between the results obtained with the different modalities indicates: (1 minimal systematic differences between measurements taken in visual grasp and manual modes, (2 the average standard deviation of the difference distributions of about 5 dB, and (3 a systematic shift (of 4–6 dB to lower sensitivities for VirtualEye device, observed mostly in high dB range. The usability survey suggested patients’ acceptance of the head-mounted device. The study appears to validate the concepts of a head-mounted perimeter and the visual grasp mode.

Testing of visual field with virtual reality goggles in manual and visual grasp modes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wroblewski, Dariusz; Francis, Brian A; Sadun, Alfredo; Vakili, Ghazal; Chopra, Vikas

2014-01-01

Automated perimetry is used for the assessment of visual function in a variety of ophthalmic and neurologic diseases. We report development and clinical testing of a compact, head-mounted, and eye-tracking perimeter (VirtualEye) that provides a more comfortable test environment than the standard instrumentation. VirtualEye performs the equivalent of a full threshold 24-2 visual field in two modes: (1) manual, with patient response registered with a mouse click, and (2) visual grasp, where the eye tracker senses change in gaze direction as evidence of target acquisition. 59 patients successfully completed the test in manual mode and 40 in visual grasp mode, with 59 undergoing the standard Humphrey field analyzer (HFA) testing. Large visual field defects were reliably detected by VirtualEye. Point-by-point comparison between the results obtained with the different modalities indicates: (1) minimal systematic differences between measurements taken in visual grasp and manual modes, (2) the average standard deviation of the difference distributions of about 5 dB, and (3) a systematic shift (of 4-6 dB) to lower sensitivities for VirtualEye device, observed mostly in high dB range. The usability survey suggested patients' acceptance of the head-mounted device. The study appears to validate the concepts of a head-mounted perimeter and the visual grasp mode.

Chess Evolution Visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Wei-Li; Wang, Yu-Shuen; Lin, Wen-Chieh

2014-05-01

We present a chess visualization to convey the changes in a game over successive generations. It contains a score chart, an evolution graph and a chess board, such that users can understand a game from global to local viewpoints. Unlike current graphical chess tools, which focus only on highlighting pieces that are under attack and require sequential investigation, our visualization shows potential outcomes after a piece is moved and indicates how much tactical advantage the player can have over the opponent. Users can first glance at the score chart to roughly obtain the growth and decline of advantages from both sides, and then examine the position relations and the piece placements, to know how the pieces are controlled and how the strategy works. To achieve this visualization, we compute the decision tree using artificial intelligence to analyze a game, in which each node represents a chess position and each edge connects two positions that are one-move different. We then merge nodes representing the same chess position, and shorten branches where nodes on them contain only two neighbors, in order to achieve readability. During the graph rendering, the nodes containing events such as draws, effective checks and checkmates, are highlighted because they show how a game is ended. As a result, our visualization helps players understand a chess game so that they can efficiently learn strategies and tactics. The presented results, evaluations, and the conducted user studies demonstrate the feasibility of our visualization design.

Visualization of volumetric seismic data

Science.gov (United States)

Spickermann, Dela; Böttinger, Michael; Ashfaq Ahmed, Khawar; Gajewski, Dirk

2015-04-01

Mostly driven by demands of high quality subsurface imaging, highly specialized tools and methods have been developed to support the processing, visualization and interpretation of seismic data. 3D seismic data acquisition and 4D time-lapse seismic monitoring are well-established techniques in academia and industry, producing large amounts of data to be processed, visualized and interpreted. In this context, interactive 3D visualization methods proved to be valuable for the analysis of 3D seismic data cubes - especially for sedimentary environments with continuous horizons. In crystalline and hard rock environments, where hydraulic stimulation techniques may be applied to produce geothermal energy, interpretation of the seismic data is a more challenging problem. Instead of continuous reflection horizons, the imaging targets are often steep dipping faults, causing a lot of diffractions. Without further preprocessing these geological structures are often hidden behind the noise in the data. In this PICO presentation we will present a workflow consisting of data processing steps, which enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, followed by a visualization step based on the use the commercially available general purpose 3D visualization system Avizo. Specifically, we have used Avizo Earth, an extension to Avizo, which supports the import of seismic data in SEG-Y format and offers easy access to state-of-the-art 3D visualization methods at interactive frame rates, even for large seismic data cubes. In seismic interpretation using visualization, interactivity is a key requirement for understanding complex 3D structures. In order to enable an easy communication of the insights gained during the interactive visualization process, animations of the visualized data were created which support the spatial understanding of the data.

Phonological Skills, Visual Attention Span, and Visual Stress in Developmental Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Saksida, Amanda; Iannuzzi, Stéphanie; Bogliotti, Caroline; Chaix, Yves; Démonet, Jean-François; Bricout, Laure; Billard, Catherine; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Le Heuzey, Marie-France; Soares-Boucaud, Isabelle; George, Florence; Ziegler, Johannes C.; Ramus, Franck

2016-01-01

In this study, we concurrently investigated 3 possible causes of dyslexia--a phonological deficit, visual stress, and a reduced visual attention span--in a large population of 164 dyslexic and 118 control French children, aged between 8 and 13 years old. We found that most dyslexic children showed a phonological deficit, either in terms of…

Learning Building Layouts with Non-geometric Visual Information: The Effects of Visual Impairment and Age

Science.gov (United States)

Kalia, Amy A.; Legge, Gordon E.; Giudice, Nicholas A.

2009-01-01

Previous studies suggest that humans rely on geometric visual information (hallway structure) rather than non-geometric visual information (e.g., doors, signs and lighting) for acquiring cognitive maps of novel indoor layouts. This study asked whether visual impairment and age affect reliance on non-geometric visual information for layout learning. We tested three groups of participants—younger (sighted, older (50–70 years) normally sighted, and low vision (people with heterogeneous forms of visual impairment ranging in age from 18–67). Participants learned target locations in building layouts using four presentation modes: a desktop virtual environment (VE) displaying only geometric cues (Sparse VE), a VE displaying both geometric and non-geometric cues (Photorealistic VE), a Map, and a Real building. Layout knowledge was assessed by map drawing and by asking participants to walk to specified targets in the real space. Results indicate that low-vision and older normally-sighted participants relied on additional non-geometric information to accurately learn layouts. In conclusion, visual impairment and age may result in reduced perceptual and/or memory processing that makes it difficult to learn layouts without non-geometric visual information. PMID:19189732

38 CFR 4.77 - Visual fields.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... DISABILITIES Disability Ratings The Organs of Special Sense § 4.77 Visual fields. (a) Examination of visual... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Visual fields. 4.77... who are well adapted to intraocular lens implant or contact lens correction, visual field examinations...

Customizable Visualizations with Formula-Linked Building Blocks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuhail, Mohammad Amin; Lauesen, Søren

different appearance or behavior than what the widgets support. Another approach is to combine primitive graphical elements using traditional programming or visualization toolkits. Traditional programming allows high customizability, but it is time consuming and hard to develop advanced visualizations......One approach to visualization construction is to use complex blocks (widgets) that are tailored for specific visualizations, and customize the visualizations by setting the properties of the widgets. This approach allows fast and easy visualization construction but falls short if the user wants....... Visualization toolkits allow easier visualization creation in some cases, but customization and interaction are tedious. As an alternative, we developed uVis visualization tool that uses spreadsheet-like formulas to connect building blocks. uVis formulas can refer to building blocks and database tables. We...

Change blindness and visual memory: visual representations get rich and act poor.

Science.gov (United States)

Varakin, D Alexander; Levin, Daniel T

2006-02-01

Change blindness is often taken as evidence that visual representations are impoverished, while successful recognition of specific objects is taken as evidence that they are richly detailed. In the current experiments, participants performed cover tasks that required each object in a display to be attended. Change detection trials were unexpectedly introduced and surprise recognition tests were given for nonchanging displays. For both change detection and recognition, participants had to distinguish objects from the same basic-level category, making it likely that specific visual information had to be used for successful performance. Although recognition was above chance, incidental change detection usually remained at floor. These results help reconcile demonstrations of poor change detection with demonstrations of good memory because they suggest that the capability to store visual information in memory is not reflected by the visual system's tendency to utilize these representations for purposes of detecting unexpected changes.

Causes of visual loss in uveitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanković Zora

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Background/Aim. Epidemiological studies of blindness in a working age population require a precise definition of the true connection of uveitis and visual damage. Since most patients with more severe types of uveitis are hospitalized in tertiary referral uveitis service, our aim was to determine whether age, sex and age of onset of uveitis, as well as duration of visual loss and its causes influence the degree of visual damage in patients with different types of uveitis. Methods. The data were collected from medical records of 237 patients at the Department for Uveitis of the Institute for Eye Diseases in Belgrade over a three-year period (March 2005 to March 2008. Results. Visual acuity reduction (≤ 0.3 was found in 161/237 (67.9% patients, 85 of whom had visual acuity of ≤ 0.1 later. Working age patients (up to 60 years of age most often suffered from uveitis (173/237; 73%. The highest number of patients with visual loss was in the group suffering from panuveitis (77/94; 81.91%. The age of onset of uveitis and sex have no statistically significant influence on visual loss. The most common causes of visual loss (34/161; 21.1% were cystoid macular oedema (CMO (43/161; 26.7%, cataract (28/161; 17.39% and combination of CMO and cataract. Conclusion. The risk factors for severe visual loss (≤ 0.1 are panuveitis, bilateral inflammation, prolonged visual reduction and a significant number of relapses. The main causes of visual loss in 65.2% of our patients were CMO and cataract.

Relationships between Fine-Motor, Visual-Motor, and Visual Perception Scores and Handwriting Legibility and Speed

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Sheryl; Guiltner, Val; Sollereder, Patti; Cui, Ying

2011-01-01

Occupational therapists assess fine motor, visual motor, visual perception, and visual skill development, but knowledge of the relationships between scores on sensorimotor performance measures and handwriting legibility and speed is limited. Ninety-nine students in grades three to six with learning and/or behavior problems completed the Upper-Limb…

Identification of effective visual problem solving strategies in a complex visual domain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Meeuwen, Ludo; Jarodzka, Halszka; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Kirschner, Paul A.; De Bock, Jeano; Van Merriënboer, Jeroen

2018-01-01

Students in complex visual domains must acquire visual problem solving strategies that allow them to make fast decisions and come up with good solutions to real-time problems. In this study, 31 air traffic controllers at different levels of expertise (novice, intermediate, expert) were confronted

Visual memory errors in Parkinson's disease patient with visual hallucinations.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, J; Boubert, L

2011-03-01

The occurrences of visual hallucinations seem to be more prevalent in low light and hallucinators tend to be more prone to false positive type errors in memory tasks. Here we investigated whether the richness of stimuli does indeed affect recognition differently in hallucinating and nonhallucinating participants, and if so whether this difference extends to identifying spatial context. We compared 36 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with visual hallucinations, 32 Parkinson's patients without hallucinations, and 36 age-matched controls, on a visual memory task where color and black and white pictures were presented at different locations. Participants had to recognize the pictures among distracters along with the location of the stimulus. Findings revealed clear differences in performance between the groups. Both PD groups had impaired recognition compared to the controls, but those with hallucinations were significantly more impaired on black and white than on color stimuli. In addition, the group with hallucinations was significantly impaired compared to the other two groups on spatial memory. We suggest that not only do PD patients have poorer recognition of pictorial stimuli than controls, those who present with visual hallucinations appear to be more heavily reliant on bottom up sensory input and impaired on spatial ability.

Optimizing Visually-Assisted Listening Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Kashani, Ahmad Sabouri; Sajjadi, Samad; Sohrabi, Mohammad Reza; Younespour, Shima

2011-01-01

The fact that visual aids such as pictures or graphs can lead to greater comprehension by language learners has been well established. Nonetheless, the order of presenting visuals to listeners is left unattended. This study examined listening comprehension from a strategy of introducing visual information, either prior to or during an audio…

User's manual about visualizing debugger, vdebug

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, Katsuyuki; Takemiya, Hiroshi; Kawasaki, Takuji

1998-12-01

We developed a visualizing debugger, vdebug, which works in cooperation with the visualization system AVS and source level debuggers (gdb, dbx, and ladebug), whereby we can visualize any array data without recompiling, and find errors in programs efficiently. This report is user's manual about a visualizing debugger, vdebug, and describes its usage and examples. (author)

Cortical visual impairment: Characteristics and treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vučinić Vesna

2014-01-01

Full Text Available According to the latest studies, Cortical visual impairment – CVI is one of the most common causes of problems and difficulties in visual functioning. It results from the impairment of the central part of visual system, i.e. visual cortex, posterior visual pathway, or both. The diagnosis is usually made in the first three years of life. The aim of this paper is to present the characteristics of children with CVI, and the strategies used for treatment. CVI has a negative impact on almost all developmental domains, visual-perceptive skills, motor skills, cognitive skills, and social skills. In children with CVI, vision ranges from the total inability to see to minimal visual perceptive difficulties, while more than 50% have multiple disabilities. Due to the progress in understanding the patterns of neuron activity and neuroplasticity, as well as the intensive studies of strengths and weaknesses of children with CVI, special treatment has been designed and performed in the last few decades, which provides optimal visual functioning in everyday life for these children.

History and future of visual anthropology.

Science.gov (United States)

Svilicić, Niksa

2011-03-01

Visual recording of communication processes between communities or individuals by means of filming of photographing is of significant importance in anthropology, as it documents on site the specific features of various social communities in their encounter with the researcher. In terms of film industry, it is a sort of ethno-documentary pursuing originality and objectivity in recording the given subject, thus fulfilling the research mission. However, the potential of visual anthropology significantly exceeds the mere audiovisual recording of ethnologic realities. Modern methods of analysing and evaluating the role of visual anthropology suggest that it is a technical research service aimed at documenting the status quo. If the direction of proactive approach were taken, then the term ,visual anthropology' could be changed to ,anthropology of the visual,. This apparently cosmetic change of name is actually significantly more accurate, suggesting the denoted proactive swift in perceiving visual anthropology, where visual methods are employed to ,provoke< the reaction of an individual or of the community. In this way the "anthropology of the visual, is promoted to a new scientific sub-anthropological discipline.

Mental Imagery and Visual Working Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Keogh, Rebecca; Pearson, Joel

2011-01-01

Visual working memory provides an essential link between past and future events. Despite recent efforts, capacity limits, their genesis and the underlying neural structures of visual working memory remain unclear. Here we show that performance in visual working memory - but not iconic visual memory - can be predicted by the strength of mental imagery as assessed with binocular rivalry in a given individual. In addition, for individuals with strong imagery, modulating the background luminance diminished performance on visual working memory and imagery tasks, but not working memory for number strings. This suggests that luminance signals were disrupting sensory-based imagery mechanisms and not a general working memory system. Individuals with poor imagery still performed above chance in the visual working memory task, but their performance was not affected by the background luminance, suggesting a dichotomy in strategies for visual working memory: individuals with strong mental imagery rely on sensory-based imagery to support mnemonic performance, while those with poor imagery rely on different strategies. These findings could help reconcile current controversy regarding the mechanism and location of visual mnemonic storage. PMID:22195024

Mental imagery and visual working memory.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Keogh

Full Text Available Visual working memory provides an essential link between past and future events. Despite recent efforts, capacity limits, their genesis and the underlying neural structures of visual working memory remain unclear. Here we show that performance in visual working memory--but not iconic visual memory--can be predicted by the strength of mental imagery as assessed with binocular rivalry in a given individual. In addition, for individuals with strong imagery, modulating the background luminance diminished performance on visual working memory and imagery tasks, but not working memory for number strings. This suggests that luminance signals were disrupting sensory-based imagery mechanisms and not a general working memory system. Individuals with poor imagery still performed above chance in the visual working memory task, but their performance was not affected by the background luminance, suggesting a dichotomy in strategies for visual working memory: individuals with strong mental imagery rely on sensory-based imagery to support mnemonic performance, while those with poor imagery rely on different strategies. These findings could help reconcile current controversy regarding the mechanism and location of visual mnemonic storage.

Mental imagery and visual working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Keogh, Rebecca; Pearson, Joel

2011-01-01

Visual working memory provides an essential link between past and future events. Despite recent efforts, capacity limits, their genesis and the underlying neural structures of visual working memory remain unclear. Here we show that performance in visual working memory--but not iconic visual memory--can be predicted by the strength of mental imagery as assessed with binocular rivalry in a given individual. In addition, for individuals with strong imagery, modulating the background luminance diminished performance on visual working memory and imagery tasks, but not working memory for number strings. This suggests that luminance signals were disrupting sensory-based imagery mechanisms and not a general working memory system. Individuals with poor imagery still performed above chance in the visual working memory task, but their performance was not affected by the background luminance, suggesting a dichotomy in strategies for visual working memory: individuals with strong mental imagery rely on sensory-based imagery to support mnemonic performance, while those with poor imagery rely on different strategies. These findings could help reconcile current controversy regarding the mechanism and location of visual mnemonic storage.

Visualization of Social Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boertjes, E.M.; Kotterink, B.; Jager, E.J.

2011-01-01

Current visualizations of social networks are mostly some form of node-link diagram. Depending on the type of social network, this can be some treevisualization with a strict hierarchical structure or a more generic network visualization.

Visualizing big energy data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hyndman, Rob J.; Liu, Xueqin Amy; Pinson, Pierre

2018-01-01

Visualization is a crucial component of data analysis. It is always a good idea to plot the data before fitting models, making predictions, or drawing conclusions. As sensors of the electric grid are collecting large volumes of data from various sources, power industry professionals are facing th...... the challenge of visualizing such data in a timely fashion. In this article, we demonstrate several data-visualization solutions for big energy data through three case studies involving smart-meter data, phasor measurement unit (PMU) data, and probabilistic forecasts, respectively....

Visualization of Uncertain Contour Trees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kraus, Martin

2010-01-01

Contour trees can represent the topology of large volume data sets in a relatively compact, discrete data structure. However, the resulting trees often contain many thousands of nodes; thus, many graph drawing techniques fail to produce satisfactory results. Therefore, several visualization methods...... were proposed recently for the visualization of contour trees. Unfortunately, none of these techniques is able to handle uncertain contour trees although any uncertainty of the volume data inevitably results in partially uncertain contour trees. In this work, we visualize uncertain contour trees...... by combining the contour trees of two morphologically filtered versions of a volume data set, which represent the range of uncertainty. These two contour trees are combined and visualized within a single image such that a range of potential contour trees is represented by the resulting visualization. Thus...

Data points visualization that means something

CERN Document Server

Yau, Nathan

2013-01-01

A fresh look at visualization from the author of Visualize This Whether it's statistical charts, geographic maps, or the snappy graphical statistics you see on your favorite news sites, the art of data graphics or visualization is fast becoming a movement of its own. In Data Points: Visualization That Means Something, author Nathan Yau presents an intriguing complement to his bestseller Visualize This, this time focusing on the graphics side of data analysis. Using examples from art, design, business, statistics, cartography, and online media, he explores both

Visual research in clinical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Bezemer, Jeff

2017-01-01

The aim of this paper is to explore what might be gained from collecting and analysing visual data, such as photographs, scans, drawings, video and screen recordings, in clinical educational research. Its focus is on visual research that looks at teaching and learning 'as it naturally occurs' in the work place, in simulation centres and other sites, and also involves the collection and analysis of visual learning materials circulating in these sites. With the ubiquity of digital recording devices, video data and visual learning materials are now relatively cheap to collect. Compared to other domains of education research visual materials are not widely used in clinical education research. The paper sets out to identify and reflect on the possibilities for visual research using examples from an ethnographic study on surgical and inter-professional learning in the operating theatres of a London hospital. The paper shows how visual research enables recognition, analysis and critical evaluation of (1) the hidden curriculum, such as the meanings implied by embodied, visible actions of clinicians; (2) the ways in which clinical teachers design multimodal learning environments using a range of modes of communication available to them, combining, for instance, gesture and speech; (3) the informal assessment of clinical skills, and the intricate relation between trainee performance and supervisor feedback; (4) the potentialities and limitations of different visual learning materials, such as textbooks and videos, for representing medical knowledge. The paper concludes with theoretical and methodological reflections on what can be made visible, and therefore available for analysis, explanation and evaluation if visual materials are used for clinical education research, and what remains unaccounted for if written language remains the dominant mode in the research cycle. Opportunities for quantitative analysis and ethical implications are also discussed. © 2016 John Wiley

GPU-based large-scale visualization

KAUST Repository

Hadwiger, Markus

2013-11-19

Recent advances in image and volume acquisition as well as computational advances in simulation have led to an explosion of the amount of data that must be visualized and analyzed. Modern techniques combine the parallel processing power of GPUs with out-of-core methods and data streaming to enable the interactive visualization of giga- and terabytes of image and volume data. A major enabler for interactivity is making both the computational and the visualization effort proportional to the amount of data that is actually visible on screen, decoupling it from the full data size. This leads to powerful display-aware multi-resolution techniques that enable the visualization of data of almost arbitrary size. The course consists of two major parts: An introductory part that progresses from fundamentals to modern techniques, and a more advanced part that discusses details of ray-guided volume rendering, novel data structures for display-aware visualization and processing, and the remote visualization of large online data collections. You will learn how to develop efficient GPU data structures and large-scale visualizations, implement out-of-core strategies and concepts such as virtual texturing that have only been employed recently, as well as how to use modern multi-resolution representations. These approaches reduce the GPU memory requirements of extremely large data to a working set size that fits into current GPUs. You will learn how to perform ray-casting of volume data of almost arbitrary size and how to render and process gigapixel images using scalable, display-aware techniques. We will describe custom virtual texturing architectures as well as recent hardware developments in this area. We will also describe client/server systems for distributed visualization, on-demand data processing and streaming, and remote visualization. We will describe implementations using OpenGL as well as CUDA, exploiting parallelism on GPUs combined with additional asynchronous

Visual Thinking in Teaching History: Reading the Visual Thinking Skills of 12 Year-Old Pupils in Istanbul

Science.gov (United States)

Dilek, Gulcin

2010-01-01

This study aims to explore the visual thinking skills of some sixth grade (12-13 year-old) primary pupils who created visual interpretations during history courses. Pupils drew pictures describing historical scenes or events based on visual sources. They constructed these illustrations by using visual and written primary and secondary sources in…

Topological Methods for Visualization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berres, Anne Sabine [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United Stat

2016-04-07

This slide presentation describes basic topological concepts, including topological spaces, homeomorphisms, homotopy, betti numbers. Scalar field topology explores finding topological features and scalar field visualization, and vector field topology explores finding topological features and vector field visualization.

The Computational Anatomy of Visual Neglect.

Science.gov (United States)

Parr, Thomas; Friston, Karl J

2018-02-01

Visual neglect is a debilitating neuropsychological phenomenon that has many clinical implications and-in cognitive neuroscience-offers an important lesion deficit model. In this article, we describe a computational model of visual neglect based upon active inference. Our objective is to establish a computational and neurophysiological process theory that can be used to disambiguate among the various causes of this important syndrome; namely, a computational neuropsychology of visual neglect. We introduce a Bayes optimal model based upon Markov decision processes that reproduces the visual searches induced by the line cancellation task (used to characterize visual neglect at the bedside). We then consider 3 distinct ways in which the model could be lesioned to reproduce neuropsychological (visual search) deficits. Crucially, these 3 levels of pathology map nicely onto the neuroanatomy of saccadic eye movements and the systems implicated in visual neglect. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

The Persuasive Power of Data Visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Pandey, Anshul Vikram; Manivannan, Anjali; Nov, Oded; Satterthwaite, Margaret; Bertini, Enrico

2014-12-01

Data visualization has been used extensively to inform users. However, little research has been done to examine the effects of data visualization in influencing users or in making a message more persuasive. In this study, we present experimental research to fill this gap and present an evidence-based analysis of persuasive visualization. We built on persuasion research from psychology and user interfaces literature in order to explore the persuasive effects of visualization. In this experimental study we define the circumstances under which data visualization can make a message more persuasive, propose hypotheses, and perform quantitative and qualitative analyses on studies conducted to test these hypotheses. We compare visual treatments with data presented through barcharts and linecharts on the one hand, treatments with data presented through tables on the other, and then evaluate their persuasiveness. The findings represent a first step in exploring the effectiveness of persuasive visualization.

Modulation of Visually Evoked Postural Responses by Contextual Visual, Haptic and Auditory Information: A ‘Virtual Reality Check’

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Georg F.; Shao, Fei; White, Mark D.; Hopkins, Carl; Robotham, Antony J.

2013-01-01

Externally generated visual motion signals can cause the illusion of self-motion in space (vection) and corresponding visually evoked postural responses (VEPR). These VEPRs are not simple responses to optokinetic stimulation, but are modulated by the configuration of the environment. The aim of this paper is to explore what factors modulate VEPRs in a high quality virtual reality (VR) environment where real and virtual foreground objects served as static visual, auditory and haptic reference points. Data from four experiments on visually evoked postural responses show that: 1) visually evoked postural sway in the lateral direction is modulated by the presence of static anchor points that can be haptic, visual and auditory reference signals; 2) real objects and their matching virtual reality representations as visual anchors have different effects on postural sway; 3) visual motion in the anterior-posterior plane induces robust postural responses that are not modulated by the presence of reference signals or the reality of objects that can serve as visual anchors in the scene. We conclude that automatic postural responses for laterally moving visual stimuli are strongly influenced by the configuration and interpretation of the environment and draw on multisensory representations. Different postural responses were observed for real and virtual visual reference objects. On the basis that automatic visually evoked postural responses in high fidelity virtual environments should mimic those seen in real situations we propose to use the observed effect as a robust objective test for presence and fidelity in VR. PMID:23840760

2011 IEEE Visualization Contest Winner: Visualizing Unsteady Vortical Behavior of a Centrifugal Pump

KAUST Repository

Otto, Mathias; Kuhn, Alexander; Engelke, Wito; Theisel, Holger

2012-01-01

In the 2011 IEEE Visualization Contest, the dataset represented a high-resolution simulation of a centrifugal pump operating below optimal speed. The goal was to find suitable visualization techniques to identify regions of rotating stall

Consistent phosphenes generated by electrical microstimulation of the visual thalamus. An experimental approach for thalamic visual neuroprostheses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fivos ePanetsos

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Most work on visual prostheses has centred on developing retinal or cortical devices. However, when retinal implants are not feasible, neuroprostheses could be implanted in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (LGN, the intermediate relay station of visual information from the retina to the visual cortex (V1. The objective of the present study was to determine the types of artificial stimuli that when delivered to the visual thalamus can generate reliable responses of the cortical neurons similar to those obtained when the eye perceives a visual image. Visual stimuli {Si} were presented to one eye of an experimental animal and both, the thalamic {RThi} and cortical responses {RV1i} to such stimuli were recorded. Electrical patterns {RThi*} resembling {RThi} were then injected into the visual thalamus to obtain cortical responses {RV1i*} similar to {RV1i}. Visually- and electrically-generated V1 responses were compared.Results: During the course of this work we: (i characterised the response of V1 neurons to visual stimuli according to response magnitude, duration, spiking rate and the distribution of interspike intervals; (ii experimentally tested the dependence of V1 responses on stimulation parameters such as intensity, frequency, duration, etc. and determined the ranges of these parameters generating the desired cortical activity; (iii identified similarities between responses of V1 useful to compare the naturally and artificially generated neuronal activity of V1; and (iv by modifying the stimulation parameters, we generated artificial V1 responses similar to those elicited by visual stimuli.Generation of predictable and consistent phosphenes by means of artificial stimulation of the LGN is important for the feasibility of visual prostheses. Here we proved that electrical stimuli to the LGN can generate V1 neural responses that resemble those elicited by natural visual stimuli.

Designing Data Visualizations Representing Informational Relationships

CERN Document Server

Steele, Julie

2011-01-01

Data visualization is an efficient and effective medium for communicating large amounts of information, but the design process can often seem like an unexplainable creative endeavor. This concise book aims to demystify the design process by showing you how to use a linear decision-making process to encode your information visually. Delve into different kinds of visualization, including infographics and visual art, and explore the influences at work in each one. Then learn how to apply these concepts to your design process. Learn data visualization classifications, including explanatory, expl

Scientific visualization - past, present and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brodlie, K.

1995-01-01

This paper presents a general overview of scientific visualization from a historical orientation. It looks first at visualization before the advent of computers, and then goes on to describe the development of early visualization tools in the 'computer age'. There was a surge of interest in visualization in the latter part of the 1980s, following the publication of an NSF report. This sparked the development of a number of major visualization software systems such as AVS and IRIS Explorer. These are described, and the paper concludes with a look at future developments. ((orig.))

Principles of visual attention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bundesen, Claus; Habekost, Thomas

research as a field that is fundamentally fragmented. This book takes a different perspective and presents a unified theory of visual attention: the TVA model. The TVA model explains the many aspects of visual attention by just two mechanisms for selection of information: filtering and pigeonholing......The nature of attention is one of the oldest and most central problems in psychology. A huge amount of research has been produced on this subject in the last half century, especially on attention in the visual modality, but a general explanation has remained elusive. Many still view attention....... These mechanisms are described in a set of simple equations, which allow TVA to mathematically model a large number of classical results in the attention literature. The theory explains psychological and neuroscientific findings by the same equations; TVA is a complete theory of visual attention, linking mind...

Building visual identity of scientific and research units and the role of visualization in cooperation with business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfreda Kamińska

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The need for commercialization of scientific research leads to the necessity of changing the orientation of scientific-research units to marketing orientation, which is characterized by, among others, conducting research aimed at learning the clients’ needs and building better communication with the recipients. What is an important element of a unit’s marketing communication is its visual identity system, which the recipients use to build their opinion and their picture of the unit. The goal of this article is an attempt to define the key rules of designing visual identity of scientific and research institutions, as well as presenting the role of visualization in their cooperation with business. In the article the notions of image, identity, corporate identity and visual identity are subject to analysis. The article also presents the significance of visualization in the functioning of research and scientific units, elements of visual identity system and the rules of designing visual identity of scientific and research institutions. An analysis of chosen research-scientific units was carried out with regard to visualization.

Developing Tests of Visual Dependency

Science.gov (United States)

Kindrat, Alexandra N.

2011-01-01

Astronauts develop neural adaptive responses to microgravity during space flight. Consequently these adaptive responses cause maladaptive disturbances in balance and gait function when astronauts return to Earth and are re-exposed to gravity. Current research in the Neuroscience Laboratories at NASA-JSC is focused on understanding how exposure to space flight produces post-flight disturbances in balance and gait control and developing training programs designed to facilitate the rapid recovery of functional mobility after space flight. In concert with these disturbances, astronauts also often report an increase in their visual dependency during space flight. To better understand this phenomenon, studies were conducted with specially designed training programs focusing on visual dependency with the aim to understand and enhance subjects ability to rapidly adapt to novel sensory situations. The Rod and Frame test (RFT) was used first to assess an individual s visual dependency, using a variety of testing techniques. Once assessed, subjects were asked to perform two novel tasks under transformation (both the Pegboard and Cube Construction tasks). Results indicate that head position cues and initial visual test conditions had no effect on an individual s visual dependency scores. Subjects were also able to adapt to the manual tasks after several trials. Individual visual dependency correlated with ability to adapt manual to a novel visual distortion only for the cube task. Subjects with higher visual dependency showed decreased ability to adapt to this task. Ultimately, it was revealed that the RFT may serve as an effective prediction tool to produce individualized adaptability training prescriptions that target the specific sensory profile of each crewmember.

The content of visual working memory alters processing of visual input prior to conscious access: Evidence from pupillometry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gayet, S.; Paffen, C.L.E.; Guggenmos, M.; Sterzer, P.; Stigchel, S. van der

2017-01-01

Visual working memory (VWM) allows for keeping relevant visual information available after termination of its sensory input. Storing information in VWM, however, affects concurrent conscious perception of visual input: initially suppressed visual input gains prioritized access to consciousness when

Exploring Visual Bookmarks and Layered Visualizations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.T. Teuben (Jan)

2010-01-01

textabstractCultural heritage experts are confronted with a difficult information gathering task while conducting comparison searches. Saving searches and re-examining previous work could help them to do their work. In this paper we propose a solution in which we combine visual bookmarks for saving

Electrophysiological evidence of altered visual processing in adults who experienced visual deprivation during infancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Segalowitz, Sidney J; Sternin, Avital; Lewis, Terri L; Dywan, Jane; Maurer, Daphne

2017-04-01

We examined the role of early visual input in visual system development by testing adults who had been born with dense bilateral cataracts that blocked all patterned visual input during infancy until the cataractous lenses were removed surgically and the eyes fitted with compensatory contact lenses. Patients viewed checkerboards and textures to explore early processing regions (V1, V2), Glass patterns to examine global form processing (V4), and moving stimuli to explore global motion processing (V5). Patients' ERPs differed from those of controls in that (1) the V1 component was much smaller for all but the simplest stimuli and (2) extrastriate components did not differentiate amongst texture stimuli, Glass patterns, or motion stimuli. The results indicate that early visual deprivation contributes to permanent abnormalities at early and mid levels of visual processing, consistent with enduring behavioral deficits in the ability to process complex textures, global form, and global motion. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Infants' visual and auditory communication when a partner is or is not visually attending.

Science.gov (United States)

Liszkowski, Ulf; Albrecht, Konstanze; Carpenter, Malinda; Tomasello, Michael

2008-04-01

In the current study we investigated infants' communication in the visual and auditory modalities as a function of the recipient's visual attention. We elicited pointing at interesting events from thirty-two 12-month olds and thirty-two 18-month olds in two conditions: when the recipient either was or was not visually attending to them before and during the point. The main result was that infants initiated more pointing when the recipient's visual attention was on them than when it was not. In addition, when the recipient did not respond by sharing interest in the designated event, infants initiated more repairs (repeated pointing) than when she did, again, especially when the recipient was visually attending to them. Interestingly, accompanying vocalizations were used intentionally and increased in both experimental conditions when the recipient did not share attention and interest. However, there was little evidence that infants used their vocalizations to direct attention to their gestures when the recipient was not attending to them.

Acquisition, processing, and visualization of big data as applied to robust multivariate impact models

Science.gov (United States)

Romeo, L.; Rose, K.; Bauer, J. R.; Dick, D.; Nelson, J.; Bunn, A.; Buenau, K. E.; Coleman, A. M.

2016-02-01

Increased offshore oil exploration and production emphasizes the need for environmental, social, and economic impact models that require big data from disparate sources to conduct thorough multi-scale analyses. The National Energy Technology Laboratory's Cumulative Spatial Impact Layers (CSILs) and Spatially Weighted Impact Model (SWIM) are user-driven flexible suites of GIS-based tools that can efficiently process, integrate, visualize, and analyze a wide variety of big datasets that are acquired to better to understand potential impacts for oil spill prevention and response readiness needs. These tools provide solutions to address a range of stakeholder questions and aid in prioritization decisions needed when responding to oil spills. This is particularly true when highlighting ecologically sensitive areas and spatially analyzing which species may be at risk. Model outputs provide unique geospatial visualizations of potential impacts and informational reports based on user preferences. The spatio-temporal capabilities of these tools can be leveraged to a number of anthropogenic and natural disasters enabling decision-makers to be better informed to potential impacts and response needs.

Proactive Spatiotemporal Resource Allocation and Predictive Visual Analytics for Community Policing and Law Enforcement.

Science.gov (United States)

Malik, Abish; Maciejewski, Ross; Towers, Sherry; McCullough, Sean; Ebert, David S

2014-12-01

In this paper, we present a visual analytics approach that provides decision makers with a proactive and predictive environment in order to assist them in making effective resource allocation and deployment decisions. The challenges involved with such predictive analytics processes include end-users' understanding, and the application of the underlying statistical algorithms at the right spatiotemporal granularity levels so that good prediction estimates can be established. In our approach, we provide analysts with a suite of natural scale templates and methods that enable them to focus and drill down to appropriate geospatial and temporal resolution levels. Our forecasting technique is based on the Seasonal Trend decomposition based on Loess (STL) method, which we apply in a spatiotemporal visual analytics context to provide analysts with predicted levels of future activity. We also present a novel kernel density estimation technique we have developed, in which the prediction process is influenced by the spatial correlation of recent incidents at nearby locations. We demonstrate our techniques by applying our methodology to Criminal, Traffic and Civil (CTC) incident datasets.

Early vision and visual attention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gvozdenović Vasilije P.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The question whether visual perception is spontaneous, sudden or is running through several phases, mediated by higher cognitive processes, was raised ever since the early work of Gestalt psychologists. In the early 1980s, Treisman proposed the feature integration theory of attention (FIT, based on the findings of neuroscience. Soon after publishing her theory a new scientific approach appeared investigating several visual perception phenomena. The most widely researched were the key constructs of FIT, like types of visual search and the role of the attention. The following review describes the main studies of early vision and visual attention.

Social Set Visualizer (SoSeVi) II

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flesch, Benjamin; Vatrapu, Ravi

2016-01-01

This paper reports the second iteration of the Social Set Visualizer (SoSeVi), a set theoretical visual analytics dashboard of big social data. In order to further demonstrate its usefulness in large-scale visual analytics tasks of individual and collective behavior of actors in social networks......, the current iteration of the Social Set Visualizer (SoSeVi) in version II builds on recent advancements in visualizing set intersections. The development of the SoSeVi dashboard involved cutting-edge open source visual analytics libraries (D3.js) and creation of new visualizations such as of actor mobility...

Abnormal late visual responses and alpha oscillations in neurofibromatosis type 1: a link to visual and attention deficits

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) affects several areas of cognitive function including visual processing and attention. We investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the visual deficits of children and adolescents with NF1 by studying visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and brain oscillations during visual stimulation and rest periods. Methods Electroencephalogram/event-related potential (EEG/ERP) responses were measured during visual processing (NF1 n = 17; controls n = 19) and idle periods with eyes closed and eyes open (NF1 n = 12; controls n = 14). Visual stimulation was chosen to bias activation of the three detection mechanisms: achromatic, red-green and blue-yellow. Results We found significant differences between the groups for late chromatic VEPs and a specific enhancement in the amplitude of the parieto-occipital alpha amplitude both during visual stimulation and idle periods. Alpha modulation and the negative influence of alpha oscillations in visual performance were found in both groups. Conclusions Our findings suggest abnormal later stages of visual processing and enhanced amplitude of alpha oscillations supporting the existence of deficits in basic sensory processing in NF1. Given the link between alpha oscillations, visual perception and attention, these results indicate a neural mechanism that might underlie the visual sensitivity deficits and increased lapses of attention observed in individuals with NF1. PMID:24559228

The Effects of Visual Beats on Prosodic Prominence: Acoustic Analyses, Auditory Perception and Visual Perception

Science.gov (United States)

Krahmer, Emiel; Swerts, Marc

2007-01-01

Speakers employ acoustic cues (pitch accents) to indicate that a word is important, but may also use visual cues (beat gestures, head nods, eyebrow movements) for this purpose. Even though these acoustic and visual cues are related, the exact nature of this relationship is far from well understood. We investigate whether producing a visual beat…

Disorders of visual perception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ffytche, Dominic H.; Blom, J. D.; Catani, M.

Visual perceptual disorders are often presented as a disparate group of neurological deficits with little consideration given to the wide range of visual symptoms found in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disease. Here, the authors attempt a functional anatomical classification of all disorders

Disorders of visual perception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ffytche, Dominic H.; Blom, J. D.; Catani, M.

2010-01-01

Visual perceptual disorders are often presented as a disparate group of neurological deficits with little consideration given to the wide range of visual symptoms found in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disease. Here, the authors attempt a functional anatomical classification of all disorders

Visual cognition influences early vision: the role of visual short-term memory in amodal completion.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyunkyu; Vecera, Shaun P

2005-10-01

A partly occluded visual object is perceptually filled in behind the occluding surface, a process known as amodal completion or visual interpolation. Previous research focused on the image-based properties that lead to amodal completion. In the present experiments, we examined the role of a higher-level visual process-visual short-term memory (VSTM)-in amodal completion. We measured the degree of amodal completion by asking participants to perform an object-based attention task on occluded objects while maintaining either zero or four items in visual working memory. When no items were stored in VSTM, participants completed the occluded objects; when four items were stored in VSTM, amodal completion was halted (Experiment 1). These results were not caused by the influence of VSTM on object-based attention per se (Experiment 2) or by the specific location of to-be-remembered items (Experiment 3). Items held in VSTM interfere with amodal completion, which suggests that amodal completion may not be an informationally encapsulated process, but rather can be affected by high-level visual processes.

Auditory Motion Elicits a Visual Motion Aftereffect.

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Christopher C; Ehrsson, H Henrik

2016-01-01

The visual motion aftereffect is a visual illusion in which exposure to continuous motion in one direction leads to a subsequent illusion of visual motion in the opposite direction. Previous findings have been mixed with regard to whether this visual illusion can be induced cross-modally by auditory stimuli. Based on research on multisensory perception demonstrating the profound influence auditory perception can have on the interpretation and perceived motion of visual stimuli, we hypothesized that exposure to auditory stimuli with strong directional motion cues should induce a visual motion aftereffect. Here, we demonstrate that horizontally moving auditory stimuli induced a significant visual motion aftereffect-an effect that was driven primarily by a change in visual motion perception following exposure to leftward moving auditory stimuli. This finding is consistent with the notion that visual and auditory motion perception rely on at least partially overlapping neural substrates.

Auditory Motion Elicits a Visual Motion Aftereffect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher C. Berger

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The visual motion aftereffect is a visual illusion in which exposure to continuous motion in one direction leads to a subsequent illusion of visual motion in the opposite direction. Previous findings have been mixed with regard to whether this visual illusion can be induced cross-modally by auditory stimuli. Based on research on multisensory perception demonstrating the profound influence auditory perception can have on the interpretation and perceived motion of visual stimuli, we hypothesized that exposure to auditory stimuli with strong directional motion cues should induce a visual motion aftereffect. Here, we demonstrate that horizontally moving auditory stimuli induced a significant visual motion aftereffect—an effect that was driven primarily by a change in visual motion perception following exposure to leftward moving auditory stimuli. This finding is consistent with the notion that visual and auditory motion perception rely on at least partially overlapping neural substrates.

Could visual neglect induce amblyopia?

Science.gov (United States)

Bier, J C; Vokaer, M; Fery, P; Garbusinski, J; Van Campenhoudt, G; Blecic, S A; Bartholomé, E J

2004-12-01

Oculomotor nerve disease is a common cause of diplopia. When strabismus is present, absence of diplopia has to induce the research of either uncovering of visual fields or monocular suppression, amblyopia or blindness. We describe the case of a 41-year-old woman presenting with right oculomotor paresis and left object-centred visual neglect due to a right fronto-parietal haemorrhage expanding to the right peri-mesencephalic cisterna caused by the rupture of a right middle cerebral artery aneurysm. She never complained of diplopia despite binocular vision and progressive recovery of strabismus, excluding uncovering of visual fields. Since all other causes were excluded in this case, we hypothesise that the absence of diplopia was due to the object-centred visual neglect. Partial internal right oculomotor paresis causes an ocular deviation in abduction; the image being perceived deviated contralaterally to the left. Thus, in our case, the neglect of the left image is equivalent to a right monocular functional blindness. However, bell cancellation test clearly worsened when assessed in left monocular vision confirming that eye patching can worsen attentional visual neglect. In conclusion, our case argues for the possibility of a functional monocular blindness induced by visual neglect. We think that in presence of strabismus, absence of diplopia should induce the search for hemispatial visual neglect when supratentorial lesions are suspected.

Auditory attention activates peripheral visual cortex.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony D Cate

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Recent neuroimaging studies have revealed that putatively unimodal regions of visual cortex can be activated during auditory tasks in sighted as well as in blind subjects. However, the task determinants and functional significance of auditory occipital activations (AOAs remains unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined AOAs in an intermodal selective attention task to distinguish whether they were stimulus-bound or recruited by higher-level cognitive operations associated with auditory attention. Cortical surface mapping showed that auditory occipital activations were localized to retinotopic visual cortex subserving the far peripheral visual field. AOAs depended strictly on the sustained engagement of auditory attention and were enhanced in more difficult listening conditions. In contrast, unattended sounds produced no AOAs regardless of their intensity, spatial location, or frequency. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Auditory attention, but not passive exposure to sounds, routinely activated peripheral regions of visual cortex when subjects attended to sound sources outside the visual field. Functional connections between auditory cortex and visual cortex subserving the peripheral visual field appear to underlie the generation of AOAs, which may reflect the priming of visual regions to process soon-to-appear objects associated with unseen sound sources.