1. 01101010100101010010111101 011010101001010010100100111 011010101001010100101110 0101010010101001011110001 Real Time Collaboration and Sharing 01111100101101010100101010 National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design: IT-Enabled Design and Realization of Engineered Products and Systems Perceptual Integration in Visualization Environments Project Proposal Nicholas F. Polys, Ph.D. Virginia Tech Research Computing

2. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 2 Industry Trends Emerging standards are casting 4D data as a first-class citizen of the information enterprise. – 3D models, simulation results, and virtual environments can be annotated and linked to other information such as cost/tolerance databases and semantic repositories. – For example Web3D Consortium’s active development of the CAD profile including geometry and metadata (www.web3d.org), ISO, W3Cwww.web3d.org

3. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 3 Recent Research – Display Venues VT Computer Science, Center for HCI show high-res and immersive display venues CAN improve task performance: – Analyze 22x more data in only 3x more time while maintaining accuracy – Reduce virtual navigation actions by 75% – Reduce frustration by 50% – Short initial learning time

4. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 4 New Opportunities – Display Techniques Spatial, Abstract, and Temporal data can be combined, delivered and presented in an ‘integrated information space’ Attributes and annotations plus objects and groups can be rendered with a variety of (in)consistent perceptual cues

5. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 5 The Challenge The real digital divide is the last ten feet between the interface and the mind color, shading, lines characters, squares, spatial organization (Working Memory) Excel worksheet, a part is selected, formula is displayed at top Proposed design will cost too much in long term maintenance Making Sense Interpretation Perception

6. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 6 Recent Research “Are this annotation and this referent related?” Information Theoretic approach to information layout shows complex interactions of perceptual cues depending on task, data target, and display context

7. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 7 A Proposal Prior work in Visual Computing has not been applied to engineering design review applications Depth and Gestalt cues interact differently with stereo, surround, or head-tracked displays Two Phase approach: – Apply layout testbed for design-review data across desktop, wall, and CAVE display – Run user studies measuring objective (e.g. accuracy, time) and subjective metrics (e.g. cognitive load, satisfaction) during task performance

8. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 8 Phase 1 of 2 Software testbed Evaluate design review requirements Adapt IRVE tools to design review application – CAD models – Data types & graphs Port and test across display venues

9. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 9 Phase 2 of 2 User Studies What effects do different combinations of perceptual cues have on feature binding in working memory? How can these cue combinations be optimized per task? How can these cue combinations be optimized per display (e.g. size, stereo, head-tracking)?

10. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 10 Direct Impacts From our study data, we will construct a cognitive model of the interaction of perceptual cues across tasks and displays The model may drive the interface to adaptively render heterogeneous information depending on the task and display This will improve the efficiency and accuracy of design review interfaces across: – Desktop displays (mono) – Wall displays (mono, stereo, head tracking) – CAVE (mono, stereo, head tracking)

11. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 11 Broader Impacts Integrated visualization capabilities are necessary for users to gain a full understanding of complex relationships in their heterogeneous data Application designers must take account of how humans build their cognitive models and what perceptual predispositions and biases are in play With such knowledge, designers can take steps to minimize or leverage their effect and create advantageous research, design, and decision-support applications

12. National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for e-Design 12 Thank you! Contact: Nicholas F. Polys Ph.D. VT Research Computing npolys@vt.edu