Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces Commons^™

The Effects Of Mixed-Initiative Visualization Systems On Exploratory Data Analysis, Adam Kern

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The main purpose of information visualization is to act as a window between a user and data. Historically, this has been accomplished via a single-agent framework: the only decisionmaker in the relationship between visualization system and analyst is the analyst herself. Yet this framework arose not from first principles, but from necessity: prior to this decade, computers were limited in their decision-making capabilities, especially in the face of large, complex datasets and visualization systems. This thesis aims to present the design and evaluation of a mixed-initiative system that aids the user in handling large, complex datasets and dense visualization systems. …

Reinforced Negative Sampling Over Knowledge Graph For Recommendation, Xiang Wang, Yaokun Xu, Xiangnan He, Yixin Cao, Meng Wang, Tat-Seng Chua

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Properly handling missing data is a fundamental challenge in recommendation. Most present works perform negative sampling from unobserved data to supply the training of recommender models with negative signals. Nevertheless, existing negative sampling strategies, either static or adaptive ones, are insufficient to yield high-quality negative samples — both informative to model training and reflective of user real needs. In this work, we hypothesize that item knowledge graph (KG), which provides rich relations among items and KG entities, could be useful to infer informative and factual negative samples. Towards this end, we develop a new negative sampling model, Knowledge Graph Policy …

Techniques To Visualize Occluded Graph Elements For 2.5d Map Editing, Kazuyuki Fujita, Daigo Hayashi, Kotaro Hara, Kazuki Takashima, Yoshifumi Kitamura

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We propose an interface with two novel techniques to visualize occluded graph nodes and edges that help the user edit map data with a 2.5D geographical structure (e.g., multi-floor indoor maps). We first design a visualization technique —Repel Signification— that employs micro-animation to signify the graph elements that are overlapping with each other (and potentially erroneous). We also design a technique that enables the user to edit the occluded components with Expansion Interaction, which simultaneously visualizes both in-floor and across-floor occluded connections between the map elements. The combination of the two methods would enable the map editors (non-experts) to effectively …

Dfseer: A Visual Analytics Approach To Facilitate Model Selection For Demand Forecasting, Dong Sun, Zezheng Feng, Yuanzhe Chen, Yong Wang, Jia Zeng, Mingxuan Yuan, Ting-Chuen Pong, Huamin Qu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Selecting an appropriate model to forecast product demand is critical to the manufacturing industry. However, due to the data complexity, market uncertainty and users’ demanding requirements for the model, it is challenging for demand analysts to select a proper model. Although existing model selection methods can reduce the manual burden to some extent, they often fail to present model performance details on individual products and reveal the potential risk of the selected model. This paper presents DFSeer, an interactive visualization system to conduct reliable model selection for demand forecasting based on the products with similar historical demand. It supports model …

The Impact Of Changing The Size Of Aircraft Radar Displays On Visual Search In The Cockpit, Justin R. Marsh

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in sensor technology have enabled our fighter aircraft to find, fix, track, target, engage (F2T2E) at greater distances, providing the operator with more data within the battlefield. Modern aircraft are designed with larger displays while our legacy aircraft are being retrofitted with larger cockpit displays to enable display of the increased data. While this modification has been shown to enable improvements in human performance of many cockpit tasks, this effect is often not measured nor fully understood at a more generalizable level. This research outlines an approach to comparing human performance across two display sizes in future F-16 cockpits. …

Electronic Image Detectability Under Varying Illumination Conditions, Jeremy J. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Light in the built environment plays an essential role in the vision and the health of humans through non-visual receptors in the eyes. Unfortunately, image analysts and other Air Force personnel who engage in the detection of objects on softcopy displays are often required to work in very dimly-lit or dark environments as higher illumination reduces the contrast of displayed information. Literature has shown that increases in light exposure improves circadian rhythm entrainment and reduces the negative health consequences of insufficient lighting. This research examines the effects of indoor lighting to determine if increases in ambient illumination or changes to …

Example-Based Colourization Via Dense Encoding Pyramids, Chufeng Xiao, Chu Han, Zhuming Zhang, Jing Qin, Tien-Tsin Wong, Guoqiang Han, Shengfeng He

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We propose a novel deep example-based image colourization method called dense encoding pyramid network. In our study, we define the colourization as a multinomial classification problem. Given a greyscale image and a reference image, the proposed network leverages large-scale data and then predicts colours by analysing the colour distribution of the reference image. We design the network as a pyramid structure in order to exploit the inherent multi-scale, pyramidal hierarchy of colour representations. Between two adjacent levels, we propose a hierarchical decoder–encoder filter to pass the colour distributions from the lower level to higher level in order to take both …

Gdface: Gated Deformation For Multi-View Face Image Synthesis, Xuemiao Xu, Keke Li, Cheng Xu, Shengfeng He

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Photorealistic multi-view face synthesis from a single image is an important but challenging problem. Existing methods mainly learn a texture mapping model from the source face to the target face. However, they fail to consider the internal deformation caused by the change of poses, leading to the unsatisfactory synthesized results for large pose variations. In this paper, we propose a Gated Deformable Face Synthesis Network to model the deformation of faces that aids the synthesis of the target face image. Specifically, we propose a dual network that consists of two modules. The first module estimates the deformation of two views …

Zero-Shot Ingredient Recognition By Multi-Relational Graph Convolutional Network, Jingjing Chen, Liangming Pan, Zhipeng Wei, Xiang Wang, Chong-Wah Ngo, Tat-Seng Chua

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recognizing ingredients for a given dish image is at the core of automatic dietary assessment, attracting increasing attention from both industry and academia. Nevertheless, the task is challenging due to the difficulty of collecting and labeling sufficient training data. On one hand, there are hundred thousands of food ingredients in the world, ranging from the common to rare. Collecting training samples for all of the ingredient categories is difficult. On the other hand, as the ingredient appearances exhibit huge visual variance during the food preparation, it requires to collect the training samples under different cooking and cutting methods for robust …

Image Enhanced Event Detection In News Articles, Meihan Tong, Shuai Wang, Yixin Cao, Bin Xu, Juaizi Li, Lei Hou, Tat-Seng Chua

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Event detection is a crucial and challenging sub-task of event extraction, which suffers from a severe ambiguity issue of trigger words. Existing works mainly focus on using textual context information, while there naturally exist many images accompanied by news articles that are yet to be explored. We believe that images not only reflect the core events of the text, but are also helpful for the disambiguation of trigger words. In this paper, we first contribute an image dataset supplement to ED benchmarks (i.e., ACE2005) for training and evaluation. We then propose a novel Dual Recurrent Multimodal Model, DRMM, to conduct …

Building Something With The Raspberry Pi, Richard Kordel

Harrisburg University Presidential Research Grants

In 2017 Ryan Korn and I submitted a grant proposal in the annual Harrisburg University President’s Grant process. Our proposal was to partner with a local high school to install a classroom of 20 Raspberry Pi’s, along with the requisite peripherals. In that classroom students would be challenged to design something that combined programming with physical computing. In our presentation to the school we suggested that this project would give students the opportunity to be “amazing.”

As part of the grant, the top three students would be given scholarships to HU and the top five finalists would all be permitted …

Intelligent Cinematic Camera Control For Real-Time Graphics Applications, Ian Harris Meeder

Master's Theses

E-sports is currently estimated to be a billion dollar industry which is only growing in size from year to year. However the cinematography of spectated games leaves much to be desired. In most cases, the spectator either gets to control their own freely-moving camera or they get to see the view that a specific player sees. This thesis presents a system for the generation of cinematically-pleasing views for spectating real-time graphics applications. A custom real-time engine has been built to demonstrate the effect of this system on several different game modes with varying visual cinematic constraints, such as the rule …

Svat4: A Computer Program For Visualization And Analysis Of Crystal Structures, Xingzhong Li

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

SVAT4 is a computer program for interactive visualization of three-dimensional crystal structures, including chemical bonds and magnetic moments. A wide range of functions, e.g. revealing atomic layers and polyhedral clusters, are available for further structural analysis. Atomic sizes, colors, appearance, view directions and view modes (orthographic or perspective views) are adjustable. Customized work for the visualization and analysis can be saved and then reloaded. SVAT4 provides a template to simplify the process of preparation of a new data file. SVAT4 can generate high-quality images for publication and animations for presentations. The usability of SVAT4 is broadened by a software suite …

Nnv: The Neural Network Verification Tool For Deep Neural Networks And Learning-Enabled Cyber-Physical Systems, Hoang-Dung Tran, Xiaodong Yang, Diego Manzanas Lopez, Patrick Musau, Luan Viet Nguyen, Weiming Xiang, Stanley Bak, Taylor T. Johnson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

This paper presents the Neural Network Verification (NNV) software tool, a set-based verification framework for deep neural networks (DNNs) and learning-enabled cyber-physical systems (CPS). The crux of NNV is a collection of reachability algorithms that make use of a variety of set representations, such as polyhedra, star sets, zonotopes, and abstract-domain representations. NNV supports both exact (sound and complete) and over-approximate (sound) reachability algorithms for verifying safety and robustness properties of feed-forward neural networks (FFNNs) with various activation functions. For learning-enabled CPS, such as closed-loop control systems incorporating neural networks, NNV provides exact and over-approximate reachability analysis schemes for linear …

Towards Automated Infographic Design: Deep Learning-Based Auto-Extraction Of Extensible Timeline, Zhutian Chen, Yun Wang, Qianwen Wang, Yong Wang, Huamin Qu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Designers need to consider not only perceptual effectiveness but also visual styles when creating an infographic. This process can be difficult and time consuming for professional designers, not to mention non-expert users, leading to the demand for automated infographics design. As a first step, we focus on timeline infographics, which have been widely used for centuries. We contribute an end-to-end approach that automatically extracts an extensible timeline template from a bitmap image. Our approach adopts a deconstruction and reconstruction paradigm. At the deconstruction stage, we propose a multi-task deep neural network that simultaneously parses two kinds of information from a …

Security Camera Using Raspberry Pi, Tejendra Khatri

Student Academic Conference

Making a security camera using raspberry pi utilizing OpenCV for facial recognition, upper body recognition or full-body recognition

Remembering The City: An Augmented Reality Reconstruction Of Memory, Power, And Identity In Ho Chi Minh City Through Cartography & Architecture, Thuy Dinh

Senior Independent Study Theses

Cartography and architecture are official channels that facilitate remembrance in Ho Chi Minh City. Maps and buildings serve as sites for actors of memory to manipulate the city's narratives and shape its collective identity. Power enables the production of space and knowledge through sites of memory. The ruling regimes of Ho Chi Minh City have leveraged control over the natural environment and the local population to create new forms of materials that propagate their ideologies and ideals for the city. Alterations to the natural and built environments in the city legitimize the authorities' official narratives for its history and future …

“Distance Learning” In The Ninth Century?: Micro-Cluster Analysis Of The Epistolary Network Of Alcuin After 796, William James Mattingly

Theses and Dissertations--History

Scholars of eighth- and ninth-century education have assumed that intellectuals did not write works of Scriptural interpretation until that intellectual had a firm foundation in the seven liberal arts.This ensured that anyone who embarked on work of Scriptural interpretation would have the required knowledge and methods to read and interpret Scripture correctly. The potential for theological error and the transmission of those errors was too great unless the interpreter had the requisite training. This dissertation employs computistical methods, specifically the techniques of social network mapping and cluster analysis, to study closely the correspondence of Alcuin, a late-eighth- and early-ninth-century scholar …

Where Did The Time Go?, John C. Viaud, Bilal Abdulmajid, Vitali Surmach, Jia Yanxia

Capstone Showcase

Study shows that most people spend a full quarter of their active hours on their mobile device which can take a serious toll on our productivity as well as our mental and physical well-being. We created an Android app that is able to track and visualize phone usage patterns to help user establish awareness of how much and in what ways they use their Android devices. Unlike currently existing phone time management apps, such as Apple’s ScreenTime and Google’s new Digital Wellbeing, our app provides functionalities to encourage off-phone time and personal goal management.

Needfinding, Devorah Kletenik

Open Educational Resources

This activity guides students through the process needfinding to identify areas of need for their creation of a technology for the "public good." Students will conduct contextual inquiry to identify the needs of their target audience.

Personas, Scenarios And Storyboards, Devorah Kletenik

Open Educational Resources

This activity guides students towards the creation of personas, scenarios and storyboards for a product/website that they are creating.

Public Interest Technology: Coding For The Public Good, Devorah Kletenik

Open Educational Resources

These slides are used to guide a discussion with students introducing them to the notion of public interest technology and coding for the public good. The lesson is intended to spark a discussion with students about different sorts of technology and their societal ramifications.

Accessibility: The Whys And The Hows, Devorah Kletenik

Open Educational Resources

This presentation introduces Computer Science students to the notion of accessibility: developing software for people with disabilities. This lesson provides a discussion of why accessibility is important (including the legal, societal and ethical benefits) as well as an overview of different types of impairments (visual, auditory, motor, neurological/cognitive) and how developers can make their software accessible to users with those disabilities. This lesson includes videos and links to readings and tutorials for students.

Coding For The Public Good: Front-End Website Design And Development, Devorah Kletenik

Open Educational Resources

This activity helps student design and develop a front-end of a website, from wireframes through HTML/CSS/Javascript. It includes design questions for students, including the invocation of Ben Schneiderman's eight golden rules for interface design.

Note: this activity assumes prior knowledge of web development. Since this activity is designed for an HCI course, with a focus on interface design, students are not expected to create a back-end for it. This activity can obviously be modified for a full-stack experience.

Accessibility Evaluation, Devorah Kletenik

Open Educational Resources

This activity guides students through the evaluation of a website that they have created to see if it is accessible for users with disabilities. Students will simulate a number of different disabilities (e.g. visual impairments, color blindness, auditory impairments, motor impairments) to see if their website is accessible; they will also use automated W3 and WAVE tools to evaluate their sites. Students will consider the needs of users with disabilities by creating a persona and scenario of a user with disabilities interacting with their site. Finally, students will write up recommendations to change their site and implement the changes.

Toward Efficient Automation Of Interpretable Machine Learning Boosting, Nathan Neuhaus

All Master's Theses

Developing efficient automated methods for Interpretable Machine Learning (IML) is an important and long-term goal in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Currently the Machine Learning landscape is dominated by Neural Networks (NNs) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs), models which are often highly accurate. Despite high accuracy, such models are essentially “black boxes” and therefore are too risky for situations like healthcare where real lives are at stake. In such situations, so called “glass-box” models, such as Decision Trees (DTs), Bayesian Networks (BNs), and Logic Relational (LR) models are often preferred, however can succumb to accuracy limitations. Unfortunately, having to choose …

Android Game, Ryan Weston

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project was to create an endless runner game for Android coded in Java and XML and developed in Android Studio. In the game, the player controls a frog that jumps from lily pad to lily pad to avoid logs moving toward the player. The player must also maneuver the lily pads as they can randomly disappear. There are three difficulties in the game that vary the disappearance rate of lily pads as well as the frequency and acceleration rate of the log obstacles. The game also has a scoring system and saves the high score locally …

Deepdrawing: A Deep Learning Approach To Graph Drawing, Yong Wang, Zhihua Jin, Qianwen Wang, Weiwei Cui, Tengfei Ma, Huamin Qu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Node-link diagrams are widely used to facilitate network explorations. However, when using a graph drawing technique to visualize networks, users often need to tune different algorithm-specific parameters iteratively by comparing the corresponding drawing results in order to achieve a desired visual effect. This trial and error process is often tedious and time-consuming, especially for non-expert users. Inspired by the powerful data modelling and prediction capabilities of deep learning techniques, we explore the possibility of applying deep learning techniques to graph drawing. Specifically, we propose using a graph-LSTM-based approach to directly map network structures to graph drawings. Given a set of …

Planningvis: A Visual Analytics Approach To Production Planning In Smart Factories, Dong Sun, Renfei Huang, Yuanzhe Chen, Yong Wang, Jia Zeng, Mingxuan Yuan, Ting-Chuen Pong, Huamin Qu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Production planning in the manufacturing industry is crucial for fully utilizing factory resources (e.g., machines, raw materials and workers) and reducing costs. With the advent of industry 4.0, plenty of data recording the status of factory resources have been collected and further involved in production planning, which brings an unprecedented opportunity to understand, evaluate and adjust complex production plans through a data-driven approach. However, developing a systematic analytics approach for production planning is challenging due to the large volume of production data, the complex dependency between products, and unexpected changes in the market and the plant. Previous studies only provide …

Interactions Between Humans, Virtual Agent Characters And Virtual Avatars, Tamara Griffith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Simulations allow people to experience events as if they were happening in the real world in a way that is safer and less expensive than live training. Despite improvements in realism in simulated environments, one area that still presents a challenge is interpersonal interactions. The subtleties of what makes an interaction rich are difficult to define. We may never fully understand the complexity of human interchanges, however there is value in building on existing research into how individuals react to virtual characters to inform future investments. Virtual characters can either be automated through computational processes, referred to as agents, or …