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Contour trees describe the topology of level sets in scalar fields and are widely used in topological data analysis and visualization. A main challenge of utilizing contour trees for large-scale scientific data is their computation at scale using highperformance computing. To address this challenge, recent work has introduced distributed hierarchical contour trees for distributed computation and storage of contour trees. However, effective use of these distributed structures in analysis and visualization requires subsequent computation of geometric properties and branch decomposition to support contour extraction and exploration. In this work, we introduce distributed algorithms for augmentation, hypersweeps, and branch decomposition that enable parallel computation of geometric properties, and support the use of distributed contour trees as query structures for scientific exploration. We evaluate the parallel performance of these algorithms and apply them to identify and extract important contours for scientific visualization.

Abstract: Time series similarity matrices (informally, recurrence plots or dot-plots), are useful tools for time series data mining. They can be used to guide data exploration, and various useful features can be derived from them and then fed into downstream analytics. However, time series similarity matrices suffer from very poor scalability, taxing both time and memory requirements. In this work, we introduce novel ideas that allow us to scale the largest time series similarity matrices that can be examined by several orders of magnitude. The first idea is a novel algorithm to compute the matrices in a way that removes dependency on the subsequence length. This algorithm is so fast that it allows us to now address datasets where the memory limitations begin to dominate. Our second novel contribution is a multiscale algorithm that computes an approximation of the matrix appropriate for the limitations of the user’s memory/screen-resolution, then performs a local, just-in-time recomputation of any region that the user wishes to zoom-in on. Given that this largely removes time and space barriers, human visual attention then becomes the bottleneck. We further introduce algorithms that search massive matrices with quadrillions of cells and then prioritize regions for later examination by either humans or algorithms. We will demonstrate the utility of our ideas for data exploration, segmentation, and classification in domains as diverse as astronomy, bioinformatics, entomology, and wildlife monitoring.

Over the last decade merge trees have been proven to support a plethora of visualization and analysis tasks since they effectively abstract complex datasets. This paper describes the ExTreeM-Algorithm: A scalable algorithm for the computation of merge trees via extremum graphs. The core idea of ExTreeM is to first derive the extremum graph G of an input scalar field f defined on a cell complex K, and subsequently compute the unaugmented merge tree of f on G instead of K; which are equivalent. Any merge tree algorithm can be carried out significantly faster on G, since K in general contains substantially more cells than G. To further speed up computation, ExTreeM includes a tailored procedure to derive merge trees of extremum graphs. The computation of the fully augmented merge tree, i.e., a merge tree domain segmentation of K, can then be performed in an optional post-processing step. All steps of ExTreeM consist of procedures with high parallel efficiency, and we provide a formal proof of its correctness. Our experiments, performed on publicly available datasets, report a speedup of up to one order of magnitude over the state-of-the-art algorithms included in the TTK and VTK-m software libraries, while also requiring significantly less memory and exhibiting excellent scaling behavior.

Two-dimensional (2D) embedding methods are crucial for single-cell data visualization. Popular methods such as t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) and uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) are commonly used for visualizing cell clusters; however, it is well known that t-SNE and UMAP's 2D embeddings might not reliably inform the similarities among cell clusters. Motivated by this challenge, we present a statistical method, scDEED, for detecting dubious cell embeddings output by a 2D-embedding method. By calculating a reliability score for every cell embedding based on the similarity between the cell's 2D-embedding neighbors and pre-embedding neighbors, scDEED identifies the cell embeddings with low reliability scores as dubious and those with high reliability scores as trustworthy. Moreover, by minimizing the number of dubious cell embeddings, scDEED provides intuitive guidance for optimizing the hyperparameters of an embedding method. We show the effectiveness of scDEED on multiple datasets for detecting dubious cell embeddings and optimizing the hyperparameters of t-SNE and UMAP.

Objectives We sought to analyze interactive visualizations and animations of health probability data (such as chances of disease or side effects) that have been studied in head-to-head comparisons with either static graphics or numerical communications. Materials and Methods Secondary analysis of a large systematic review on ways to communicate numbers in health. Results We group the research to show that 4 types of animated or interactive visualizations have been studied by multiple researchers: those that simulate experience of probabilistic events; those that demonstrate the randomness of those events; those that reduce information overload by directing attention sequentially to different items of information; and those that promote elaborative thinking. Overall, these 4 types of visualizations do not show strong evidence of improving comprehension, risk perception, or health behaviors over static graphics. Discussion Evidence is not yet strong that interactivity or animation is more effective than static graphics for communicating probabilities in health. We discuss 2 possibilities: that the most effective visualizations haven't been studied, and that the visualizations aren't effective. Conclusion Future studies should rigorously compare participant performance with novel interactive or animated visualizations against their performance with static visualizations. Such evidence would help determine whether health communicators should emphasize novel interactive visualizations or rely on older forms of visual communication, which may be accessible to broader audiences, including those with limited digital access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EELS-DARTS is a simulator designed for autonomy development and analysis of large degree of freedom snake-like robots for space exploration. A detailed description of the EELS-DARTS simulator design is presented. This includes the versatile underlying multibody dynamics representation used to model a variety of distinct snake robot configurations as well as an anisotropic friction model for describing screw–ice interaction. Additional simulation components such as graphics, importable terrain, joint controllers, and perception are discussed. Methods for setting up and running simulations are discussed, including how a snake robot's autonomy stack closes the commands and information loop with the simulation via ROS. Multiple use cases are described to illustrate how the simulation is used to aid and inform robot design, autonomy development, and field test use throughout the project's life cycle. A validation analysis of the screw–ice contact model is performed for the surface mobility case. Lastly, an overview of simulation use for planning operations during a recent field test to the Athabasca Glacier in Canada is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Chest X-rays (CXR) are widely used to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of critically ill and emergency patients in clinical practice. Accurate hemi-diaphragm detection based on postero-anterior (P-A) CXR images is crucial for the diaphragm function assessment of critically ill and emergency patients to provide precision healthcare for these vulnerable populations. OBJECTIVE: Therefore, an effective and accurate hemi-diaphragm detection method for P-A CXR images is urgently developed to assess these vulnerable populations' diaphragm function. METHODS: Based on the above, this paper proposes an effective hemi-diaphragm detection method for P-A CXR images based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) and graphics. First, we develop a robust and standard CNN model of pathological lungs trained by human P-A CXR images of normal and abnormal cases with multiple lung diseases to extract lung fields from P-A CXR images. Second, we propose a novel localization method of the cardiophrenic angle based on the two-dimensional projection morphology of the left and right lungs by graphics for detecting the hemi-diaphragm. RESULTS: The mean errors of the four key hemi-diaphragm points in the lung field mask images abstracted from static P-A CXR images based on five different segmentation models are 9.05, 7.19, 7.92, 7.27, and 6.73 pixels, respectively. Besides, the results also show that the mean errors of these four key hemi-diaphragm points in the lung field mask images abstracted from dynamic P-A CXR images based on these segmentation models are 5.50, 7.07, 4.43, 4.74, and 6.24 pixels,respectively. CONCLUSION: Our proposed hemi-diaphragm detection method can effectively perform hemi-diaphragm detection and may become an effective tool to assess these vulnerable populations' diaphragm function for precision healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantile-quantile plots in the precise sense of scatterplots showing corresponding quantiles of two variables have long been supported by official command qqplot. That command is generalized here in several ways in a new command, qqplotg. In this article, I explain the major features of qqplotg and give several examples of its use. Themes include the use of quantile-quantile plots to explore the possibilities for working on a transformed scale and the value of plotting difference between quantiles versus mean quantile or plotting position. Various historical and methodological remarks are sprinkled throughout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mstislav Dobuzhinsky’s illustrations to the tale by Yury Olesha The Three Fat Men have not received a convincing interpretation. It is suggested to read these illustrations as a special work with the social imaginary that expands the participation of the fairy tale’s characters in revolutionary events through a special gaze technique. Two types of imagination are distinguished: the narrative imagination, implying the acceptance of the structure of an event, and the eccentric imagination, in which the event requires immediate action. This distinction is rooted in the practices of political rhetoric and was internalized by Olesha himself from his experience with European prints and decals. The magic of decals is essential to the plot of his fairy tale, but even more so to Dobuzhinsky’s pictorial program. Dobuzhinsky uses unusual avantgarde angles, framing, the view from the protagonist’s perspective and the meeting of views, drawing, among other things, on images of knowledge in European utopias. Referring to the philosophical concepts of the gaze, it is possible to reconstruct the system of empathy, sympathy for the characters and their eccentric actions, which Dobuzhinsky’s illustrations are meant to evoke. When reading Olesha’s tale, we follow the twists and turns of the narrative; when looking at the illustrations, we realize how each character contributes to the unusual development of events and how the meeting of gazes can establish a new social order. Dobuzhinsky does not simply interpret Olesha’s tale, but plays it out, engaging readers in an interactive game.

Статья посвящена тематическому обзору произведений изобразительного искусства Литературно-художественного музея книги А.П. Чехова «Остров Сахалин». Музейное собрание, которое формируется с 1980-х годов, включает в себя коллекции «Живопись», «Графика», «Письменные источники», «Фотоматериалы», «Нумизматика/фалеристика», «Предметы быта и декоративно-прикладное искусство», «Скульптура» и состоит из основного и научно-вспомогательного фондов. Более восьмисот произведений живописи и графики в фонде музея — это преимущественно работы сахалинских художников, а также потомков А.П. Чехова — его племянников, Сергея Михайловича и Сергея Сергеевича Чеховых. Идейная сторона в подборе экспонатов определяется спецификой музея, которая предполагает не только наличие в фондах частных коллекций с чеховскими архивами, предметами, принадлежавшими самому писателю и его семье, но и направляет внимание на всесторонний показ книги «Остров Сахалин». Однако произведения изобразительного искусства из этого собрания имеют художественную значимость и должны быть осмыслены в рамках искусствоведения. В данной статье с помощью иконографического метода выделены и описаны основные темы, сюжеты и мотивы произведений, которые дают представление о идейно-тематической направленности коллекции дальневосточного искусства в этом музее.

В статье систематизированы сведения о деятельности жившего на Сахалине художника Гиви Манткавы (1930–2003) как иллюстратора книг художественных произведений и как героя стихотворений, написанных во второй половине XX – начале XXIвека. Цитируемые поэтические тексты Л. Гладкой, Т. Кузнецова, Н. Тарасова и других авторов — малоизвестные и связанные прежде всего с художественным образом Г.М. Манткавы — вводятся в научный оборот и могут использоваться искусствоведами для анализа творчества живописца и графика, биографами для восстановления лакун и сотрудниками музеев для написания текстов экскурсий, научных и публицистических работ. Также в статье предпринята попытка систематизировать перечень тех книг, которые художник иллюстрировал, будучи сотрудником Сахалинского отделения Дальневосточного книжного издательства. Приведены сведения о поэтах, писателях и журналистах — героях портретов «Саша Алшутов (Бейлин)» (1958), «Писатель Вильям Озолин» (1962) и др. Выдвинута гипотеза, что одна из ранее не установленных героинь картины Гиви Манткавы «Друзья-товарищи» (1963) — это ленинградская поэтесса Лидия Гладкая. Именно она посвятила первое стихотворение художнику на рубеже 1959 – начала 1960-х годов, в тот период, когда на Сахалине проживало много выходцев из разных регионов СССР. В исследовании установлена последовательность создания стихотворений, в которых упоминается сам Гиви Манткава, а также средствами поэзии обобщается то, что было плодом его творческих раздумий и реализованных планов. Тема образа островного художника в пространстве литературы и публицистики заявлена впервые, поэтому основные аспекты этой темы только очерчены для последующего рассмотрения.

Статья посвящена образно-стилистическому анализу картины Гиви Михайловича Манткавы «Нивхские лучники» (1973) из фондов Сахалинского областного художественного музея в контексте развития советского изобразительного искусства 1960–1980-х годов. Автор рассматривает творчество Г.М. Манткавы на фоне тенденций сурового стиля, одного из ключевых направлений советской живописи того времени. В статье освещаются основные черты сурового стиля, его эволюция и взаимосвязь с культурными и этническими аспектами, как в случае с «нивхской темой» в работе Манткавы. Особое внимание уделено анализу средств выразительности и композиционных решений в произведении, а также его историко-культурному контексту. Сохранившиеся в музейном собрании этюды 1970-х годов к этой картине свидетельствуют о тщательной проработке как композиции в целом, так и персонажей будущего произведения, что создало глубину его содержания и художественную выразительность.

В статье представлен аналитический обзор международного пленэра «Солнечная палитра Востока» в 2024 году в Нарынской области Кыргызстана. Этот крупный культурный проект организуется ежегодно с 2011 года общественным фондом «Арт-Араба» и его руководителем Д.Ж. Алышбаевой при поддержке Международного фонда гуманитарного сотрудничества государств-участников Содружества Независимых Государств. В этом году в нем приняли участие около пятидесяти человек из разных стран. Результатом пленэра стала выставка в зале Союза художников Бишкека, на которой было показано несколько десятков работ, выполненных в разных жанрах живописи и графики. Авторы статьи, используя методы включенного наблюдения и искусствоведческого анализа, ставят перед собой задачу зафиксировать это значимое для международной художественной жизни событие, дать ему оценку и проанализировать наиболее важные творческие достижения участников пленэра.

The purpose of this study is to explore content creator preferences in broadcast media, with a specific focus on the impact of integrating 3D graphics to enhance viewer engagement. In this study, we investigated the integration of 3D technology in broadcasting. We examined the preferences of content creators and assessed the impact of 3D photo-real human representations on perceived production quality and viewer engagement. Data was collected through surveys, interviews, and real-time broadcast analysis to gain insights into this technology's potential benefits and challenges in broadcasting. Our findings indicate that incorporating 3D photo-real human representations into broadcasting significantly improves production quality and viewer engagement, especially in real-time broadcasts. We also observed that 3D humans offer greater depth and presence, although challenges in fidelity and orientation highlight areas for technological advancement. Additionally, our study revealed the complementary nature of 2D and 3D visuals in broadcasting, with each modality serving distinct purposes-2D for clarity and information conveyance and 3D for immersive experiences. This research suggests a paradigm shift in broadcast content creation, where integrating 3D technologies, such as 3D photo-real human representations, can lead to more dynamic, engaging, and visually appealing content across various platforms. The study's findings provide explicit guidelines for content creation, catering to diverse viewer preferences and evolving consumption patterns. This research contributes to the broader understanding of how technological advancements in extended reality can effectively enhance the media landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) based on postero-anterior chest X-rays (P-A CXR) images is one of the most commonly used cardiac measurement methods and an indicator for initially evaluating cardiac diseases. However, the hearts are not readily observable on P-A CXR images compared to the lung fields. Therefore, radiologists often manually determine the CTR's right and left heart border points of the adjacent left and right lung fields to the heart based on P-A CXR images. Meanwhile, manual CTR measurement based on the P-A CXR image requires experienced radiologists and is timeconsuming and laborious. Methods: Based on the above, this article proposes a novel, fully automatic CTR calculation method based on lung fields abstracted from the P-A CXR images using convolutional neural networks (CNNs), overcoming the limitations to heart segmentation and avoiding errors in heart segmentation. First, the lung field mask images are abstracted from the P-A CXR images based on the pre-trained CNNs. Second, a novel localization method of the heart's right and left border points is proposed based on the two-dimensional projection morphology of the lung field mask images using graphics. Results: The results show that the mean distance errors at the x-axis direction of the CTR's four key points in the test sets T1 (21 × 512 × 512 static P-A CXR images) and T2 (13 × 512 × 512 dynamic P-A CXR images) based on various pre-trained CNNs are 4.1161 and 3.2116 pixels, respectively. In addition, the mean CTR errors on the test sets T1 and T2 based on four proposed models are 0.0208 and 0.0180, respectively. Discussion: Our proposed model achieves the equivalent performance of CTR calculation as the previous CardioNet model, overcomes heart segmentation, and takes less time. Therefore, our proposed method is practical and feasible and may become an effective tool for initially evaluating cardiac diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes new results related to geometric function theory by presenting a new subclass of harmonic functions with complex values within the open unit disk, characterized by a second-order differential inequality. The investigation explores the bounds on the coefficients and estimates of the function growth. This paper also demonstrates that this subclass remains stable under the convolution operation applied to its members. In addition, in the last section, images of the unit disk under some functions of this class are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates virtual reality (VR) technology which can increase the quality of experience (QoE) on the graphics quality within the gaming environment. The graphics quality affects the VR environment and user experience. To gather relevant data, we conduct a live user experience and compare games with high- and low-quality graphics. The qualitative feedback obtained through questionnaires prove the importance ofcontextualizing users' experiences playing both games. Furthermore, our findings prove the crucial role of graphics quality in adopting user engagement and enjoyment during gaming sessions. Users consistently reported their feeling more connected when interacting with games and receiving high-quality graphics. If the graphics quality received is low, the user rating for a particular game is low. Further examination of VR technology reveals its potential to revolutionize graphics quality within game play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Students' choice and their placement into various areas of specialization in their third year (300-level) of study in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Benin, Nigeria and what informs such choice and placement. Oftentimes, most students, before this level may not have any area of specialization in mind but the course advisers are to counsel them regarding their areas of strength and interest. Sometimes, the Department uses its discretion to place some student. The objective of this paper is to carve out certain criteria to be taken into consideration in placing students into their various areas of specialization. Pedagogic and survey research designs were used in which case questions were served to respondents in order to elicit responses and at the end, it was found out that majority of the students preferred study areas that attracts immediate and attractive monetary rewards like Graphics and Painting. This research examines students' attitudinal disposition towards areas of specialization from 2016/2017 to 2020/2021 academic sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membership of overlapping or intersecting sets may be recorded in a bundle of (0, 1) indicator variables. Annotated Euler or Venn diagrams may be used to show graphically the frequencies of subsets so defined, but beyond just a few sets such diagrams can be hard to draw and use effectively. This column presents two new commands for graphical alternatives: upsetplot and vennbar. Each command produces a bar chart by default, but there is scope to recast to different graphical forms. The differences between the new commands reflect the divide in Stata between twoway commands and other graph commands. They also provide some flexibility in graph design to match tastes and circumstances. The discussion includes many historical details and references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores how modern graphics technology and computer-generated imagery (CGI) are revolutionizing the field of civil engineering. With an emphasis on 3D modelling, the study investigates how virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 3D modelling may transform project design and communication. The research explores how these graphic tools improve planning, analysis, and presentation in civil engineering projects through case studies and software innovations. The construction of safer, more creative, and visually striking infrastructure projects is aided by the integration of CGI, which also enhances visualization and makes decision-making more effective. The important developments at the junction of civil engineering and graphics are highlighted in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the problem of synthesizing physical animations that can loop seamlessly. We formulate a variational approach by deriving a physical law in a periodic time domain. The trajectory of the animation is represented as a parametric closed curve, and the physical law corresponds to minimizing the bending energy of the curve. Compared to traditional keyframe animation approaches, our formulation is constraint-free, which allows us to apply a standard Gauss--Newton solver. We further propose a fast projection method to efficiently generate an initial guess close to the desired animation. Our method can handle a variety of physical cyclic animations, including clothes, soft bodies with collisions, and N-body systems.

Abstract: Precomputed Radiance Transfer (PRT) remains an attractive solution for real‐time rendering of complex light transport effects such as glossy global illumination. After precomputation, we can relight the scene with new environment maps while changing viewpoint in real‐time. However, practical PRT methods are usually limited to low‐frequency spherical harmonic lighting. All‐frequency techniques using wavelets are promising but have so far had little practical impact. The curse of dimensionality and much higher data requirements have typically limited them to relighting with fixed view or only direct lighting with triple product integrals. In this paper, we demonstrate a hybrid neural‐wavelet PRT solution to high‐frequency indirect illumination, including glossy reflection, for relighting with changing view. Specifically, we seek to represent the light transport function in the Haar wavelet basis. For global illumination, we learn the wavelet transport using a small multi‐layer perceptron (MLP) applied to a feature field as a function of spatial location and wavelet index, with reflected direction and material parameters being other MLP inputs. We optimize/learn the feature field (compactly represented by a tensor decomposition) and MLP parameters from multiple images of the scene under different lighting and viewing conditions. We demonstrate real‐time (512 x 512 at 24 FPS, 800 x 600 at 13 FPS) precomputed rendering of challenging scenes involving view‐dependent reflections and even caustics.

Статья посвящена изучению творческого наследия сибирского художника Григория Густавовича Ликмана (1904–1991). Мастер создавал произведения в жанре политической карикатуры, писал пейзажи, портреты, сюжетно-тематические полотна, занимался книжной иллюстрацией и иллюстрациями для сибирской периодической печати, резьбой по дереву, работал над декорациями к спектаклям. Основным объектом исследования стали графические портреты Г.Г. Ликмана 1920-х годов из частного собрания Андрея Владимировича Ковалёва. В статье кратко рассмотрены этапы жизни и творческого пути художника, дана общая характеристика его творческой личности, проанализированы графические портреты, созданные в 1920-х годах, когда Г.Г. Ликман трудился в газете «Степная правда» в Славгороде. Для решения поставленных задач автором применены историко-биографический и формально-стилистический методы, элементы иконологического анализа. Помимо высочайшего художественного уровня работ, творчество Григория Ликмана интересно тем, что целиком охватывает советский период, поэтапно затрагивая множество характерных для эпохи стилей. Исследование дополняет представления о творчестве художника и вводит в научный оборот ранее нигде не представленные его графические произведения указанного периода.

Статья посвящена графическому наследию художницы-иконописца Ю.Н. Рейтлингер (1898–1988), которое хранится в фондах Музея древнерусской культуры и искусства имени Андрея Рублёва и Дома русского зарубежья имени Александра Солженицына. В исследовании ставится цель обобщить и систематизировать сведения о графических работах художницы периода эмиграции с 1921 по 1946 год, а также ввести в научный оборот практически неизвестные графические произведения, созданные после возвращения на родину, в период с 1959 до начала 1980-х годов. Исследование строится на обширном фонде архивных материалов Ю.Н. Рейтлингер — ее записных книжках, духовном дневнике, письмах, комментированной автобиографии, воспоминаниях художницы и ее друзей. Эти источники служат серьезным дополнением к уже опубликованным документам и сведениям о творчестве Ю.Н. Рейтлингер, которое с 2000 года изучалось известными исследователями (Г.В. Поповым, Б.Б. Поповой, Н.П. Белевцевой, Л.А. Мнухиным, Э.Л. Лаевской, Л. Лернером и др.). Систематизация графического наследия художницы позволила существенно дополнить имеющийся корпус научных трудов, которые в своей значительной части посвящены творчеству Ю.Н. Рейтлингер как художника-иконописца. Не фокусируя внимание на иконных работах сестры Иоанны, автор тем не менее обращает внимание на изменение ракурса исследования ее иконописного наследия, что связано с возрождением традиции церковного искусства в России за последние 30 лет. Выдвигавшийся художницей тезис о «творческой иконе» в 1920-х годах нашел свое продолжение почти сто лет спустя в современной отечественной «авторской иконе».

The human visual system evolved in environments with statistical regularities. Binocular vision is adapted to these such that depth perception and eye movements are more precise, faster, and performed comfortably in environments consistent with the regularities. We measured the statistics of eye movements and binocular disparities in virtual-reality (VR) - gaming environments and found that they are quite different from those in the natural environment. Fixation distance and direction are more restricted in VR, and fixation distance is farther. The pattern of disparity across the visual field is less regular in VR and does not conform to a prominent property of naturally occurring disparities. From this we predict that double vision is more likely in VR than in the natural environment. We also determined the optimal screen distance to minimize discomfort due to the vergence-accommodation conflict, and the optimal nasal-temporal positioning of head-mounted display (HMD) screens to maximize binocular field of view. Finally, in a user study we investigated how VR content affects comfort and performance. Content that is more consistent with the statistics of the natural world yields less discomfort than content that is not. Furthermore, consistent content yields slightly better performance than inconsistent content.

Volume data is found in many important scientific and engineering applications. Rendering this data for visualization at high quality and interactive rates for demanding applications such as virtual reality is still not easily achievable even using professional-grade hardware. We introduce FoVolNet-a method to significantly increase the performance of volume data visualization. We develop a cost-effective foveated rendering pipeline that sparsely samples a volume around a focal point and reconstructs the full-frame using a deep neural network. Foveated rendering is a technique that prioritizes rendering computations around the user's focal point. This approach leverages properties of the human visual system, thereby saving computational resources when rendering data in the periphery of the user's field of vision. Our reconstruction network combines direct and kernel prediction methods to produce fast, stable, and perceptually convincing output. With a slim design and the use of quantization, our method outperforms state-of-the-art neural reconstruction techniques in both end-to-end frame times and visual quality. We conduct extensive evaluations of the system's rendering performance, inference speed, and perceptual properties, and we provide comparisons to competing neural image reconstruction techniques. Our test results show that FoVolNet consistently achieves significant time saving over conventional rendering while preserving perceptual quality.

The focus of this Visualization Viewpoints article is to provide some background on quantum computing (QC), to explore ideas related to how visualization helps in understanding QC, and examine how QC might be useful for visualization with the growth and maturation of both technologies in the future. In a quickly evolving technology landscape, QC is emerging as a promising pathway to overcome the growth limits in classical computing. In some cases, QC platforms offer the potential to vastly outperform the familiar classical computer by solving problems more quickly or that may be intractable on any known classical platform. As further performance gains for classical computing platforms are limited by diminishing Moore's Law scaling, QC platforms might be viewed as a potential successor to the current field of exascale-class platforms. While present-day QC hardware platforms are still limited in scale, the field of quantum computing is robust and rapidly advancing in terms of hardware capabilities, software environments for developing quantum algorithms, and educational programs for training the next generation of scientists and engineers. After a brief introduction to QC concepts, the focus of this article is to explore the interplay between the fields of visualization and QC. First, visualization has played a role in QC by providing the means to show representations of the quantum state of single-qubits in superposition states and multiple-qubits in entangled states. Second, there are a number of ways in which the field of visual data exploration and analysis may potentially benefit from this disruptive new technology though there are challenges going forward.

The ability to automatically estimate the pose of non-human primates as they move through the world is important for several subfields in biology and biomedicine. Inspired by the recent success of computer vision models enabled by benchmark challenges (e.g., object detection), we propose a new benchmark challenge called OpenMonkeyChallenge that facilitates collective community efforts through an annual competition to build generalizable non-human primate pose estimation models. To host the benchmark challenge, we provide a new public dataset consisting of 111,529 annotated (17 body landmarks) photographs of non-human primates in naturalistic contexts obtained from various sources including the Internet, three National Primate Research Centers, and the Minnesota Zoo. Such annotated datasets will be used for the training and testing datasets to develop generalizable models with standardized evaluation metrics. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our dataset quantitatively by comparing it with existing datasets based on seven state-of-the-art pose estimation models.

Extended reality (XR) refers to an umbrella of methods that allows users to be immersed in a three-dimensional (3D) or a 4D (spatial + temporal) virtual environment to different extents, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). While VR allows a user to be fully immersed in a virtual environment, AR and MR overlay virtual objects over the real physical world. The immersion and interaction of XR provide unparalleled opportunities to extend our world beyond conventional lifestyles. While XR has extensive applications in fields such as entertainment and education, its numerous applications in biomedicine create transformative opportunities in both fundamental research and healthcare. This Primer outlines XR technology from instrumentation to software computation methods, delineating the biomedical applications that have been advanced by state-of-the-art techniques. We further describe the technical advances overcoming current limitations in XR and its applications, providing an entry point for professionals and trainees to thrive in this emerging field.

Graphical design principles typically recommend minimizing the dimensionality of a visualization - for instance, using only 2 dimensions for bar charts rather than providing a 3D rendering, because this extra complexity may result in a decrease in accuracy. This advice has been oft repeated, but the underlying experimental evidence is focused on fixed 2D projections of 3D charts. In this paper, we describe an experiment which attempts to establish whether the decrease in accuracy extends to 3D virtual renderings and 3D printed charts. We replicate the grouped bar chart comparisons in the 1984 Cleveland & McGill study, assessing the accuracy of numerical estimates using different types of 3D and 2D renderings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In children's literature, the title functions beyond mere labeling for identification purposes. Rather, the titling itself serves a linguocognitive role. Titles are viewed before the book is opened, thereby able to convey aesthetic significance by employing strategic typographic techniques that visually preview a book's tonal direction. The intentional typographic design choice in formatting the title graphically depicts the relative conceptual space the book will inhabit. Additionally, the interaction between the formatted typographic title presentation on the front cover and the illustrative cover imagery contributes an essential role in coalescing the intended holistic cover design impression. This research aims to closely investigate the three-way interaction occurring between "title" (defined here as the linguistic facet encompassing the verbal meaning of the printed title text), "typography" (defined here as the aesthetic facet encompassing the graphical formatting and styling of the printed title text) and "cover image" (defined as the illustrative artwork encompassing the pictorial depiction on the front book cover) within the conceptual structure underlying the unified cover design presentation. The research methodology enacted is applied in nature, based fundamentally in library data collection, and analytical-descriptive in its systematic approach. The target domain under examination focuses exclusively on children's picture storybooks classified for age groups "A" and "B," while concentrating deliberate analysis specifically on three recently published titles selected expressly for their diversity exhibited in typographic title formatting and styling choices implemented: The Big Question (Erlbruch, 2009), Wise Honey (Piumini, 2015), and Sun Detective (Bahari, 2017). Unlike former studies pursuing a one-dimensional correlation between title and cover image, this research proposes a two-dimensional identity operating within the functional book title itself. It explores the complex three-way interac-tion by closely examining how the linguistic reading aspect, aesthetic/graphical typographic aspect, and illustrative cover image aspect relationally interconnect across all three domains through a conceptual triangular dialogue. The book title, like any other written sign, has both a visual and a reader-oriented aspect. This research demonstrates that these two aspects not only individually interact with the cover image but also have internal interactions with each other. Factors such as font size, color, thickness, and font type (visual aspect) can internally interact with the linguistic meaning of the title (reader-oriented aspect). Thus, the cover design results from the triangular relationship of the "reader-oriented aspect of the title," the "visual or typographic aspect of the title," and the "cover image." This triangular relationship initiates with a dual interaction, such as decoding based on the internal interaction of the title (reader-oriented and visual interactions) and subsequently using the decoded information as an introduction for deciphering the codes of the cover image. The diversity in visual structures and themes of each artistic work continues to revolve around a central theme. In each interaction, the main visual structures engage in semantic and interpretative interaction, followed by the sequential interaction of other visual elements in the triad of "title," "typography," and "cover image." The increasing prevalence and diversification of daily Persian typographic interfaces make the necessity of research in this regard undeniable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-Time rendering is the technique which allows us to have graphical applications in our everyday life, whether it is a 3D game or a tool with graphical user interface. Nowadays graphics rendering is handled by the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) in our device. There are many layers of abstraction above the programming of GPUs through libraries and graphics engines, though the most low-level way of accessing a GPU in user-mode applications is using a Graphics API. Due to the need of high performance and low-level capabilities usually these APIs are used from C or C++, but we realized the need to utilize these APIs in higher level languages as well. In our approach we're using the.NET C# language for developing multi-platform real-time graphical applications instead of the C or C++ languages. Using the modern.NET environment, we're able to use Graphics APIs for rendering onto common.NET UI Frameworks while consuming all our previously implemented C# libraries and.NET technologies in the same application. To maintain compatibility with multiple platforms we're developing a library system allowing the use different Graphics APIs from the same C# source-code. The library system contains a Graphics API abstraction layer with multiple Graphics API implementations of this layer in C# and a C# to shader language compiler for cross-API shader development in C#. In this paper, we're proposing our considerations for implementing a library to be able to use the Vulkan and OpenGL APIs through a single C# codebase. We provide solutions for multi-platform rendering and dealing with the low-level challenges of using the two deeply different APIs, while maintaining performance capable to do real-time rendering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The present study explores how modern graphics technology and computer-generated imagery (CGI) are revolutionizing the field of civil engineering. With an emphasis on 3D modelling, the study investigates how virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 3D modelling may transform project design and communication. The research explores how these graphic tools improve planning, analysis, and presentation in civil engineering projects through case studies and software innovations. The construction of safer, more creative, and visually striking infrastructure projects is aided by the integration of CGI, which also enhances visualization and makes decision-making more effective. The important developments at the junction of civil engineering and graphics are highlighted in this study.