Kouichi Utsumiya

An IEC-Based Haptic Rendering Optimizer

A method to easily explore an optimum set of haptic rendering parameters is proposed. The haptic technology allows a user to touch 3D objects in virtual environments and is getting the attention of many researchers. Properly setting the haptic device parameters, however, is a tedious and non-intuitive task for everyone. Additionally, non-programmer cannot easily use the haptic devices because they require some level of programming. Therefore, we applied Interactive Evolutionary Computation (IEC) to ease the haptic parameter setup and optimization without requesting any programming efforts. The proposed method allows the user to easily customize the use of haptics through the IEC operations such as selection and rating.

A synthesized 3DCG contents generator using IEC framework

A synthetic approach to effectively support 3D computer graphics (3DCG) authoring is proposed. Interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) has been applied for the 3D authoring domain and proven to be useful for easily generating aesthetic 3DCG contents even for the novices. The previous systems, however, only focus on a specific subtask out of a whole 3DCG production process. All dominant tasks in the 3DCG production such as geometric modeling, rendering, animation, and 3D data management are covered in our approach. The proposed method reorganizes a monolithic IEC system into a combination of front-end IEC explorer and back-end graphics engines. Because it works on the Internet, some critical applications such as digital prototyping and e-learning come within the range.

A distributed virtual reality framework for Korea-Japan high-speed network testbed

A framework to practically constitute a distributed virtual reality (DVR) system on heterogeneous network environment is shown. The proposed approach essentially integrate haptic channel in addition to the traditional interaction modalities such as vision and acoustic senses. The haptic interface technology adds the sense-of-touch and empowers the reality of DVR system by allowing users to touch the virtual objects. The human touch sensation, however, is very sensitive for delays and jitters in the networked virtual environment. Therefore, we propose a new DVR architecture to realize a practical system on a long-haul international network. We take a hybrid approach to realize both data consistency by the client-server and scalability by the peer-to-peer models. Some preliminary experiments using the Korea-Japan high-speed research networks to validate the proposed method are also mentioned.

An intuitive optimization method of haptic rendering using interactive evolutionary computation

A method to easily explore an optimum set of haptic rendering parameters is proposed. In recent years, haptic technology has been developed. Users can touch 3D objects in virtual environments and is able to experience better communication and object exploration. Properly setting the haptic device parameters, however, is a tedious and non-intuitive task because it requires the users a technical knowledge and programming skills about the haptic device. Therefore, we applied the interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) to ease the haptic parameter optimization task. In this paper, we describe an implemented system and a preliminary experiment to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A remote instruction system empowered by tightly shared haptic sensation

We present a system to realize an on-line instruction environment among physically separated participants based on a multi-modal communication strategy. In addition to visual and acoustic information, commonly used communication modalities in network environments, our system provides a haptic channel to intuitively conveying partners sense of touch. The human touch sensation, however, is very sensitive for delays and jitters in the networked virtual reality (NVR) systems. Therefore, a method to compensate for such negative factors needs to be provided. We show an NVR architecture to implement a basic framework that can be shared by various applications and effectively deals with the problems. We take a hybrid approach to implement both data consistency by client-server and scalability by peer-to-peer models. As an application system built on the proposed architecture, a remote instruction system targeted at teaching handwritten characters and line patterns on a Korea-Japan high-speed research network also is mentioned.

An Interactive Graphics Rendering Optimizer Based on Immune Algorithm

We propose an interactive computer graphics authoring method based on interactive evolutionary computation (IEC). Previous systems mainly employed genetic algorithm (GA) to explore an optimum set of 3D graphics parameters. The proposed method adopts a different computation model called immune algorithm (IA) to ease the creation of varied 3D models even if a user doesnt have any specific idea of final 3D products. Because artistic work like graphics design needs a process to diversify the users imagery, a tool that can show the user a broad range of solutions is particularly important. IA enables to effectively explore a global optimum solution as well as other multiple quasi-optimum solutions in a huge search space by using its essential mechanisms such as antibody formation and self-regulating function.

A method of haptic interaction for photo-retouch tools

Virtual reality technologies become very popular for many users. Advanced force feedback devices can realize tactile sensation in the virtual space. These devices are expected to bring advanced interactions between human and computer. On the other hand, photo retouch or painting softwares are also very popular. However, they can not always use these tools easily because operation are very complicated. In this paper, we discuss about a new advanced retouch tool with haptic (force feedback) interfaces. Users can utilise additional haptic information for image processing. By using a prototype of this tool, we discuss about a method of haptic rendering and display for image features.

Development and evaluation of a hybrid shared tele-haptic system

A constitution method of a distributed virtual environment using haptic devices is shown. In recent years, the force-feedback devices have been developed and they have gotten a lot of attentions to realize a new interaction modality between human begins and computer systems. The haptic channels, however, are more sensitive to the network QoS (quality of service) such as delays and packet losses than the visual and acoustic channels. Therefore, we propose a new constitution method for realizing an effective virtual environment even in the low-quality network. The proposed method adopts a hybrid approach using the client-server and peer-to-peer models. In this paper, we describe our proposed method, an implemented system, and the results of a preliminary experiment to evaluate the scalability of the proposed architecture.

A network sharable graphics education aid based on interactive evolutionary computation

A synthetic approach to effectively support 3D computer graphics (3DCG) education is proposed. Interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) has been applied for 3DCG authoring and education domains and proven to be useful for easily generating aesthetic 3DCG contents especially for novice users. The previous systems, however, only focus on a specific subtask out of a whole 3DCG production process. All dominant tasks in the 3DCG production such as geometric modeling, lighting, texture mapping, and animation are covered in our approach. The proposed method reorganizes a monolithic IEC system into a combination of front-end IEC explorer and back-end graphics engines. Because the system is written in Java and workable on the Internet, it can easily be downloaded and utilized as an aid for learning the whole 3DCG production process with complementing the theoretical aspects with various contents being created.

IEC-Based Image Processing for Texture Mapping

We propose a method to support intuitive coloring and texture mapping for designing of 3D shapes of computer graphics in this paper. This method generates multiple candidate models applying various kinds of texture patterns and allows users to evaluate them sensitively. The technique called interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) helps them to easily find the pleasant color texture pattern for 3D graphic shapes. To respond the users evaluation quickly, texture-mapping procedure should be easy. In this method, 3D shapes are reconstructed to a simple representation and applied for simple image warp functions.