IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications

Users play a central role in visualization. The ultimate aim of visualization is to provide insight to users, not just to produce images. Since the late 1980s, our field has spent much effort on developing new methods to help users obtain insight, and we have made a lot of progress. Many researchers nowadays use visualization routinely to understand the results of their measurements and simulation... View full abstract»

The GeoWall lets people visualize the structure and dynamics of the Earth in stereo, aiding their understanding of spatial relationships. Making use of inexpensive, polarized 3D glasses, entire classrooms or conference audiences can share the 3D experience. Since the hardware is portable, it's easy to bring visualizations to the audience. In this article we describe the GeoWall hardware and softwa... View full abstract»

With the movement towards 3D input devices in gaming, we explored the use of 3D user interfaces in the context of Swordplay, an immersive sword-fighting and spell-casting game aimed toward casual gamers. Developed as part of a course on "innovating game development" at Brown University, Swordplay is an attempt to determine what types of interaction techniques could be useful with natural human exp... View full abstract»

Surgical simulation is a graphical application that requires real-time interaction with deformable 3D objects. A surgical training system must allow the trainee to interact with virtual soft tissue. Therefore, the challenging task is to develop efficient models of living tissues so that the realistic simulation of tool-tissue interaction can be performed in real time. To graphically model and anim... View full abstract»

We have developed LiverPlanner, a virtual liver surgery planning system that uses high-level image analysis algorithms and virtual reality technology to help physicians find the best resection plan for each individual patient. Preliminary user studies of LiverPlanner show that the proposed tools are well accepted by doctors and lead to much shorter planning times View full abstract»

Visual and haptic simulation of bone surgery can support and extend current surgical training techniques. The authors present a system for simulating surgeries involving bone manipulation, such as temporal bone surgery and mandibular surgery, and discuss the automatic computation of surgical performance metrics. Experimental results confirm the system's construct validity View full abstract»

We propose an end-to-end solution to real-time and realistic finite-element modeling and simulation of viscoelastic soft tissue behavior. We provide an efficient numerical scheme for solving a linear viscoelastic FEM model derived from the generalized Maxwell solid, and present methods for measuring and integrating experimental data on the viscoelastic material properties of soft tissues into the ... View full abstract»

The availability of VR laparoscopic simulation for surgical training has increased significantly. Nevertheless, few studies have explored such simulators' requirements and the degree of fidelity necessary to provide effective educational tools. The authors aim to identify which didactic resources available in VR simulation technologies are most important for laparoscopic training View full abstract»

This article considers animating evacuation in complex buildings by crowds who might not know the structure's connectivity, or who find routes accidentally blocked. It takes into account simulated crowd behavior under two conditions: where agents communicate building route knowledge, and where agents take different roles such as trained personnel, leaders, and followers View full abstract»

We believe that the visually rich medium of computer graphics is an excellent topic for teaching mathematics and computer science, and it can help to draw in students disaffected by traditional teaching approaches. Our argument is not that our current teaching approaches are invalid and we should abandon abstract thought in mathematics and computer science. Instead that we should broaden the appea... View full abstract»

For pt.2 see ibid., vol. 26, no. 4, p. 90-100 (2006). Our ultimate goal here is twofold. We want to get insight into how cubic polynomials work, what are the invariants/covariants and their geometric interpretations. This article also describes how a transformation in parameter space relates to the transformation in coefficient space View full abstract»