Autodesk Research - Recent Publications Feed

Delta: A Tool for Representing and Comparing Workflows

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:56:45 -0700

Nicholas Kong, Tovi Grossman, Björn Hartmann, George Fitzmaurice & Maneesh Agrawala. (2012 - In Press).
Delta: A Tool for Representing and Comparing Workflows
CHI 2012 Conference Proceedings:
ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
10 pages.

Tutorials and sample workflows for complicated, feature-rich software packages are widely available online. As a result users must differentiate and choose the most suitable workflow for their task. We present Delta, an interactive workflow visualization and comparison tool that helps users identify the tradeoffs between workflows. We conducted an initial study to identify the set of workflow attributes users consider when comparing workflows, finding that users consider result quality, their knowledge of commands, and the efficiency of the workflow. We then designed Delta to surface these attributes at three granularities: a high-level, clustered view; an intermediate-level list view that contains workflow summaries; and a low-level detail view that allows users to compare two individual workflows. Finally, we conducted an evaluation of Delta on a small corpus of 30 workflows and found that the intermediate list view provided the best information density. We conclude with thoughts on how such a workflow comparison system could be scaled up to larger corpora in the future.

Evaluating the Effects of Latency in Online Video Scrubbing

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:01:54 -0700

Justin Matejka, Tovi Grossman & George Fitzmaurice. (2012 - In Press).
Evaluating the Effects of Latency in Online Video Scrubbing
CHI 2012 Conference Proceedings:
ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
10 pages.

We first conduct a study using abstracted video content to measure the effects of latency on video scrubbing performance and find that even very small amounts of latency can significantly degrade navigation performance. Based on these results, we present Swift, a technique that supports real-time scrubbing of online videos by overlaying a small, low resolution copy of the video during video scrubbing, and snapping back to the high resolution video when the scrubbing is completed or paused. A second study compares the Swift technique to traditional online video players on a collection of realistic live motion videos and content-specific search tasks which finds the Swift technique reducing completion times by as much as 72% even with a relatively low latency of 500ms. Lastly, we demonstrate that the Swift technique can be easily implemented using modern HTML5 web standards.

Triggering Triggers and Burying Barriers to Customizing Software

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:17:59 -0700

Nikola Banovic, Fanny Chevalier, Tovi Grossman & George Fitzmaurice. (2012 - In Press).
Triggering Triggers and Burying Barriers to Customizing Software
CHI 2012 Conference Proceedings:
ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
10 pages.

General-purpose software applications are usually not tailored for a specific user with specific tasks, strategies or preferences. In order to achieve optimal performance with such applications, users typically need to transition to an alternative efficient behavior. Often, features of such alternative behaviors are not initially accessible and first need to be customized. However, few research works formally study and empirically measure what drives a user to customize. In this paper, we describe the challenges involved in empirically studying customization behaviors, and propose a methodology for formally measuring the impact of potential customization factors. We then demonstrate this methodology by studying the impact which different customization factors have on customization behaviors. Our results show that increasing exposure and awareness of customization features, and adding social influence, can significantly affect the user’s customization behavior.

Modeling and Simulation of Skeletal Muscle for Computer Graphics: A Survey

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:59:29 -0700

Dongwoon Lee, Michael Glueck, Azam Khan, Eugene Fiume & Ken Jackson. (2012).
Modeling and Simulation of Skeletal Muscle for Computer Graphics: A Survey
Foundations and Trends in Computer Graphics and Vision.
February 2012.
48 pages.

Muscles provide physiological functions to drive body movement and anatomically characterize body shape, making them a crucial component of modeling animated human figures. Substantial efforts have been expended on developing computational models of muscles for the purpose of increasing realism and accuracy in a broad range of applications, including computer graphics and biomechanics. We survey various approaches that have been employed to model and simulate muscles both morphologically and functionally. Modeling the realistic morphology of muscle requires that muscle deformations be accurately depicted. To this end, several methodologies have been presented, including geometrically-based, physically-based, and data-driven approaches. On the other hand, the simulation of physiological muscle functions aims to identify the biomechanical controls responsible for realistic human motion. Estimating these muscle controls has been pursued through static and dynamic simulations. We review and discuss all these approaches, and conclude with suggestions for future research.

Citeology: Visualizing Paper Genealogy

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:14:17 -0700

Justin Matejka, Tovi Grossman & George Fitzmaurice. (2012).
Citeology: Visualizing Paper Genealogy
Submitted to alt.CHI, CHI 2012 Extended Abstracts.
January 2012.
9 pages.

Citeology is an interactive visualization that looks at the relationships between research publications through their use of citations. The sample corpus uses all 3,502 papers published at ACM CHI and UIST between 1982 and 2010, and the 11,699 citations between them. A connection is drawn between each paper and all papers which it referenced from the collection. For an individual paper, the resulting visualization represents a “family tree” of sorts, showing multiple generations of referenced papers which the target paper built upon, and all descendant generations of future papers.

You can try the live version of Citeology on the project page. This paper has been submitted to alt.chi, so if you are interested you can comment on the paper or enter a review at the alt.chi site between January 16th and February 3rd.

Learning Hatching for Pen-and-Ink Illustration of Surfaces

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:11:43 -0700

Evangelos Kalogerakis, Derek Nowrouzezahrai, Simon Breslav & Aaron Hertzmann. (2012).
Learning Hatching for Pen-and-Ink Illustration of Surfaces
ACM Transactions on Graphics, SIGGRAPH Issue.
January 2012, Vol. 31, No. 1.
18 pages.

This paper presents an algorithm for learning hatching styles from line drawings. An artist draws a single hatching illustration of a 3D object. Their strokes are analyzed to extract the following per-pixel properties: hatching level (hatching, cross-hatching, or no strokes), stroke orientation, spacing, intensity, length, and thickness. A mapping is learned from input geometric, contextual and shading features of the 3D object to these hatching properties, using classification, regression, and clustering techniques. Then, a new illustration can be generated in the artist’s style, as follows. First, given a new view of a 3D object, the learned mapping is applied to synthesize target stroke properties for each pixel. A new illustration is then generated by synthesizing hatching strokes according to the target properties.

Space Layout in Occupant Behavior Simulation

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:34:32 -0700

Rhys Goldstein, Alex Tessier & Azam Khan. (2011).
Space Layout in Occupant Behavior Simulation
2011 Conference Proceedings:
IBPSA-AIRAH Building Simulation Conference.
pp. 1073-1080.

Occupant behavior is widely regarded as one of the most significant sources of uncertainty in the prediction of building energy use. Preexisting simulation methods address this issue by automatically reproducing patterns of behavior found in historical occupant schedules. We extend these methods to incorporate spatial information. In our work, space layout influences the selection of individuals who participate in an activity, and the location where the activity occurs. Participants and locations are randomly selected based on probabilities derived from cost functions. One of these cost functions encourages participation between occupants of nearby workstations. Another discourages overcrowding. We apply the method to an existing office building to study how effectively an occupant model can be customized, and how accurately it can predict space utilization.

Real-Time Compression of Time Series Building Performance Data

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:32:44 -0700

Rhys Goldstein, Michael Glueck & Azam Khan. (2011).
Real-Time Compression of Time Series Building Performance Data
2011 Conference Proceedings:
IBPSA-AIRAH Building Simulation Conference.
pp. 1057-1064.

If building performance simulations are to fully benefit from increasing quantities of sensor data, subsets of large datasets must be efficiently extracted at varying levels of detail. A key issue with time series data is that relevant time scales vary by orders of magnitude depending on the desired analysis. To ensure that a subset of a time series is available when needed at an appropriate resolution, lossy compression can be applied in real time as data is acquired. We propose an algorithm that compresses a piecewise constant time series by merging segments within a sliding time window. This procedure tends to preserve prominent edges and spikes. While building control system dashboards and simulation tools often average data over fixed time periods (e.g. hourly averages), the proposed method achieves lower errors for the same compression ratio and provides better support for signal processing, data visualization, and simulation.

Considering Multiscale Scenes to Elucidate Problems Encumbering 3D Intellection and Navigation

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:16:38 -0600

Michael Glueck & Azam Khan. (2011).
Considering Multiscale Scenes to Elucidate Problems Encumbering 3D Intellection and Navigation
Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.
November 2011, 25(4).
19 pages.

Virtual 3D environments have become pervasive tools in a number of professional and recreational tasks. However, interacting with these environments can be challenging for users, especially as these environments increase in complexity and scale. In this paper, we argue that the design of 3D interaction techniques is an ill-defined problem. This claim is elucidated through the context of data-rich and geometrically complex multiscale virtual 3D environments, where unexpected factors can encumber intellection and navigation. We develop an abstract model to guide our discussion, which illustrates the cyclic relationship of understanding and navigating; a relationship that supports the iterative refinement of a consistent mental representation of the virtual environment. Finally, we highlight strategies to support the design of interactions in multiscale virtual environments, and propose general categories of research focus.

Medusa: A Proximity-Aware Multi-touch Tabletop

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:43:53 -0600

Michelle Annett, Tovi Grossman & George Fitzmaurice. (2011).
Medusa: A Proximity-Aware Multi-touch Tabletop
UIST 2011 Conference Proceedings:
ACM Symposium on User Interface Software & Technology.
pp. 337-382.

We present Medusa, a proximity-aware multi-touch tab-letop. Medusa uses 138 inexpensive proximity sensors to: detect a user’s presence and location, determine body and arm locations, distinguish between the right and left arms, and map touch point to specific users and specific hands. Our tracking algorithms and hardware designs are de-scribed. Exploring this unique design, we develop and re-port on a collection of interactions enabled by Medusa in support of multi-user collaborative design, specifically within the context of Proxi-Sketch, a multi-user UI proto-typing tool. We discuss design issues, system implementa-tion, limitations, and generalizable concepts throughout the paper.