Yonggao Yang

Rendering avatars in virtual reality: integrating a 3D model with 2D images

Image-based rendering uses images or photographs to replace geometric models. This technique achieves shorter modeling time, faster rendering speed, and more realism. It also addresses different approaches for turning images into models and then into renderings - including panoramas, image warping, and light fields. In this article, we introduce a hybrid approach that integrates a 3D avatar geometric model with 2D images to achieve more realistic avatars as well as speed up avatar rendering in realtime virtual environments.

Real-time simulation: water droplets on glass windows

Real-time simulation of water droplets on glass windows is a challenging computer-graphics task. Most existing work uses ray-tracing algorithms, a time-consuming computation and rendering process. In this installment, we present a new real-time approach.

Nonlinear projection: using deformations in 3D viewing

We present techniques for achieving nonlinear projections and distortions and use these techniques to generate distorted panorama and fish-eye virtual views, environmental texture mapping, and other special visual effects. Past experiments on nonlinear distortions primarily focused on 2D distortion or abstract mathematical camera models for noninteractive ray tracing. We developed and tested an experimental system based on these methods that lets one navigate a 3D virtual world with nonlinear perspective projection in real time. Our methods have many applications in conceptual design, computer games, and scientific visualization.

Physics-based modeling and real-time simulation

There are many simulation tools designed for specific applications. Users need to plug in application-specific parameters or models; the simulation tool will carry out simulation, graphics rendering, and animation. The article provides an extensive list of simulation tools. Simulating physics behaviors in real time presents challenging problems for scientists and graphics researchers. Such behaviors include fluids, large data materials simulations, deformable bodies, and many other complex natural phenomena. Real time simulation systems are unusual, and the best implementations are problem dependent. The article serves as an introduction to alternative modeling and simulation methods and efficiency considerations.

Turn a Nintendo Wiimote into a Handheld Computer Mouse

This article describes how to turn a Wiimote into a wireless mouse to operate a computer. It can be widely used in classrooms and conference rooms for presentation and interactive discussion. Most of all, it allows multiple users to use multiple Wiimotes to operate the same computer. Currently we are exploring the approaches to use Wiimotes to construct a motion tracking system that can be used in a virtual reality environment.

A smart sensor system for air quality monitoring and massive data collection

Air pollution has been a global challenge for environment protection. Effectively collecting and scientifically visualizing the air quality data can better help us monitor the environment and address related issues. This article presents a smart sensor system for air quality monitoring which consists of three units: the smart sensor unit, the smartphone, and a server. The smart sensor unit utilizes sensors to sample air quality data anytime and anywhere, and sends the data to the smartphone through Bluetooth. The smartphone displays the data to user and relays the data to the server for processing, visualization, air quality monitoring, and web publishing. The air quality data the prototype system is capable of measuring PM2.5, CO, CO2, temperature and humidity, and detecting other hazard gases.

Gene expression clustering and 3D visualization

New methods of processing DNA microarray data use the self-organizing map, principal components analysis, and 3D data plotting to discover gene patterns, reduce gene data dimensions, and visualize the final results interactively in 3D space. The system described here integrates these new approaches in gene data processing, allowing further study and gene mystery decoding.

The Design and Implementation of a Smart e-Receptionist

A smart e-Receptionist is a computer application that is capable of sensing approaching visitors, orally greeting them, picking up their voice and understanding their questions, and then talking back to them appropriately. It may also have a limited self-learning capability of accumulating “knowledge” through its interactions with visitors. In this article, we present the recently developed smart e-Receptionist that integrates video-based motion detection (for sensing a nearby visitor), natural speech recognition (for understanding a visitors language), a question-answer (Q-A) knowledge database (for storing and managing information), and text-to-speech (TTS) (for a machine talking back to visitors). This e-Receptionist system can be easily converted into various information kiosks with slight modifications and configurations.

Use Mobile Devices to Wirelessly Operate Computers

Mobile computing devices, such as tablets, smartphones, PDAs, and game remote controllers, become very popular in our daily life. This article discusses how to turn these devices, more specifically smartphones and Nintendo Wii remotes (in short as Wiimote), into computer remote controllers. In the smartphone-based system, a smartphone is extended to be the computer’s wireless keyboard and mouse. The smartphone and the computer talk to each other through either wireless Ad Hoc or Wi-Fi access point network. In the Wiimote-based system, a Wiimote is turned into computer’s mouse, where the user moves the mouse cursor by waving the Wiimote in air, and generates mouse events through Wiimote buttons. The Wiimote communicates with the computer through Bluetooth. These systems can be used in conference rooms, classrooms, project seminar rooms, and even people’s living rooms, where a projector screen or a big-screen TV serves as the computer monitor.

Making 3D Object Surfaces Smoother

Interpolating subdivision schemes let users adjust coordinates of a 3D objects initial vertices, generate new vertices, and replace the original mesh with more and smaller polygons to make the objects surface smoother. Two new schemes for triangular meshes extend and combine existing schemes to improve the process and its results.