Wojciech Wiza

ARCO - an architecture for digitization, management and presentation of virtual exhibitions

A complete tool chain starting with stereo photogrammetry based digitization of artefacts, their refinement, collection and management with other multimedia data, and visualization using virtual and augmented reality is presented. Our system provides a one-stop-solution for museums to create, manage and present both content and context for virtual exhibitions. Interoperability and standards are also key features of our system allowing both small and large museums to build a bespoke system suited to their needs

Periscope: a system for adaptive 3D visualization of search results

A system for efficient 3D visualization of Web search results is presented. The system, called Periscope1, uses a novel approach for adaptive and customizable visualization of complex data. The whole process is divided into a number of interactive steps. At each step, the system can automatically choose the best method of presenting search results. The user can also select a specific presentation method to focus on certain properties of the result obtained. After analyzing the current search result, the user can narrow or broaden the search query and repeat the procedure.

Visualizing Web search results in 3D

The exponential growth in Web sites is making it increasingly difficult to extract useful information on the Internet using existing search engines. Despite a wide range of sophisticated indexing and data retrieval features, search engines often deliver satisfactory results only when users know precisely what they are looking for. Traditional textual interfaces present results as a list of links to Web pages. Because most users are unwilling to explore an extensive list, search engines arbitrarily reduce the number of links returned, aiming also to provide quick response times. Moreover, their proprietary ranking algorithms often do not reflect individual user preferences. Those who need comprehensive general information about a topic or have vague initial requirements instead want a holistic presentation of data related to their queries. To address this need, we have developed Periscope, a 3D search result visualization system that displays all the Web pages found in a synthetic, yet comprehensible format.

Designing behaviour-rich interactive virtual museum exhibitions

In this paper a new method of modelling and dynamic composition of behaviour-rich interactive 3D virtual museum exhibitions is described. The method enables museum experts, without advanced knowledge in computer programming, to create 3D virtual exhibitions accessible both locally inside the museums and remotely over the Internet. The method uses a novel Beh-VR modelling approach, which is compatible with standards such as X3D and VRML. The method has been successfully applied in several museums. Examples of interactive 3D exhibitions are provided.

AVE: method for 3D visualization of search results

A novel approach to three-dimensional visualization of search results is presented. In the proposed method a search result is progressively visualized by a sequence of customizable 3D interfaces. The interface applied at each visualization stage is selected with regards to properties of the search result and user interactions. A user may also change mapping of search result properties to visual attributes of the interfaces.

Mobile Interfaces for Building Control Surveyors

The problem of integrating heterogeneous back-end platforms used in public administration has been widely addressed in a number of research and development projects. In such a complex and heterogeneous environment, application of the SOA paradigm can be particularly beneficial. However, in some application domains – such as the Building Control Administration – there is an additional requirement: integration of heterogeneous front-end platforms – including access through mobile devices. In this paper, a new method of creating adaptable mobile user interfaces for applications based on SOA services is described. In the adaptation process the displayed content is adjusted, the best way of presenting content is selected and interaction methods are adapted to the capabilities of the particular mobile device. Therefore, it is possible to easily make any service accessible on any mobile device – which is of great importance to the Building Control Administration surveyors that operate out of office, directly in the construction field.

A method of holistic 3D visualization of arbitrarily large datasets

In this paper, we describe a method of adaptive holistic 3D visualization of arbitrarily large datasets. The method, called AVE, permits to visualize entire datasets by the use of the most appropriate interface selected automatically from a number of available interfaces. The choice of an interface is based on the dataset properties. Different types of interfaces enable presenting the dataset categorized according to multiple criteria. The method is most suitable for abstract multidimensional datasets. Examples provided in this paper relate to visualization of data generated by indexing search engines.

Building Augmented Reality Presentations with Web 2.0 Tools

Augmented reality enables superimposing various kinds of computer generated content, such as interactive 2D and 3D multimedia objects, in real time, directly on a view of real objects. One of the application domains, which can particularly benefit from the use of AR techniques, is education. However, to enable widespread use of AR in education, simple and intuitive methods of preparation of learning content are required. In this paper, we propose an easy-to-use method of augmenting printed books with arbitrary multimedia content. A popular Moodle-based educational platform has been extended with a plugin enabling creation of AR presentations. In addition, an associated mobile application is provided, which helps teachers assign the presentations to book pages and enables students to access the content.

Building Dynamic User Interfaces of Virtual Reality Applications with X-VRML

A new approach to dynamic creation of user interfaces in virtual reality environments is presented. In the proposed approach, templates based on a new virtual reality language X-VRML are used. An X-VRML template consists of the user interface specification and the 3D environment model. Both parts are specified in X-VRML and interpreted by the X-VRML interpreter. A visualized instance of the user interface is used to supply the 3D environment model with initial parameter values that permits to instantiate a 3D scene. In the proposed approach, the specification of the user interface is abstract and does not rely on any particular implementation of visual elements, allowing creation of different user interface implementations according to an actual system architecture, availability of visual component libraries, as well as user needs and preferences.

Dynamic Web Systems Based on XML and Database Technologies

A system allowing efficient development of dynamic web-based applications is described. It is based on XML, Java, and database technologies and can be effectively used in different environments and application domains, especially in electronic business applications. This paper describes the concept of dynamically generated web pages, discusses the role of database systems in web applications, and presents the system in detail as well as offering an example of its application.