Papers by Burkhard Wuensche
33rd Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Nov 30, 2021
2023 Australasian Computer Science Week
28th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology
Figure 1: In the PlayMeBack game tiles light up in a random sequence of length 3-6 (left). The us... more Figure 1: In the PlayMeBack game tiles light up in a random sequence of length 3-6 (left). The user has to replay the tiles by pressing them in the same sequence (middle). Right: a user wearing VR equipment while playing the game.
2009 24th International Conference Image and Vision Computing New Zealand, 2009
Texture synthesis and morphing are important techniques for efficiently creating realistic and vi... more Texture synthesis and morphing are important techniques for efficiently creating realistic and visually attractive textures. A popular class of synthesis algorithm are pixel-based techniques, which search in a given 2D exemplar for a pixel with a similar neighbourhood to the pixel currently being generated. The methods have the advantage that they are fast, they can be easily generalised to higher dimensions, and synthesised textures can be represented as references to the exemplar which allows definition of additional channels, such as displacement maps, at no additional cost. The quality of pixel-based techniques depends on the metric used to compare pixel neighbourhoods. Lefebvre and Hoppe introduced the term appearance space for measures describing pixel neighbourhood similarity. In this paper we introduce new appearance space attributes and evaluate them and existing attributes for texture synthesis and morphing. Our results show that our proposed gradient estimate significantly improves synthesis and morphing quality with little additional cost.
Proceedings of the 28th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction - OzCHI '16, 2016
The application of virtual reality (VR) to education has been documented for over half a century.... more The application of virtual reality (VR) to education has been documented for over half a century. During this time studies investigating its use have demonstrated positive findings ranging from increased time on task, to enjoyment, motivation and retention. Despite this, VR systems have never achieved widespread adoption in education. This is arguably due to both limitations of the VR technologies themselves, and the overhead incurred by both content developers and users. In this paper we describe a case study of an alternative approach to creating educational VR content. Instead of using computer graphics, we used a spherical camera in conjunction with a VR head-mounted display to provide 360° educational lectures. The content creation process, as well as issues we encountered during this study are explained, before we conclude by discussing the viability of this approach.
Proceedings of the Australasian Computer Science Week Multiconference, 2016
Exergames are becoming increasingly popular as a way of motivating people to exercise. However, m... more Exergames are becoming increasingly popular as a way of motivating people to exercise. However, merely adding exercise elements to a game may not achieve the desired level of motivation and long term adherence. By designing an exergame which takes into account the user's personality profile, the user's level of motivation to play the game and thus exercise may be increased. In this paper, we present an exergame using a virtual trainer system which can be customized for the personality of the user. The trainer system supports two modes: a competitive mode for players who are motivated by pushing themselves to beat an opponent, and a cooperative mode for players who enjoy working with another player to perform well. We conduct a brief pilot study to evaluate our virtual trainers in which participants' personalities are evaluated using the Sport Orientation Questionnaire. They then play three short sessions of the exergame: a control condition without a trainer system, and one for each of the two trainer system. Our initial results indicate that the training systems are highly motivating when matching the personality of the user, particularly for competitive individuals.
2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2009
Mobile robots are increasingly entering the real and complex world of humans in ways that necessi... more Mobile robots are increasingly entering the real and complex world of humans in ways that necessitate a high degree of interaction and cooperation between human and robot. Complex simulation models, expensive hardware setup, and a highly controlled environment are often required during various stages of robot development. There is a need for robot developers to have a more flexible approach for conducting experiments and to obtain a better understanding of how robots perceive the world. Mixed Reality (MR) presents a world where real and virtual elements co-exist. By merging the real and the virtual in the creation of an MR simulation environment, more insight into the robot behaviour can be gained, e.g. internal robot information can be visualised, and cheaper and safer testing scenarios can be created by making interactions between physical and virtual objects possible. Robot developers are free to introduce virtual objects in an MR simulation environment for evaluating their systems and obtain a coherent display of visual feedback and realistic simulation results. We illustrate our ideas using an MR simulation tool constructed based on the 3D robot simulator Gazebo.
3rd IET International Conference on Intelligent Environments (IE 07), 2007
The overall aim of this project was to investigate the use of existing computer game technology f... more The overall aim of this project was to investigate the use of existing computer game technology for collaborative biomedical purposes. This involved implementing a simple visualization tool into a 3D game engine. Various game engines were researched, and reviewed based on their features and flaws. Three critical factors were taken into consideration when reviewing the engines-rendering ability, network capability, and ease of use. Commercial engines were preferred over open-source engines, as they are widely obtainable, and often have superior compatibility and stability than the opensource alternatives. The tool development involved three main steps-loading the dataset into the game engine, visualizing the dataset, and extending the multiplayer features to utilize them for collaborative visualization. The engine chosen was Quake 3, as this satisfied the criteria as best possible, and there was a huge amount of resources existing for Quake 3 modifications, making the task more achievable in the given time-frame. The resultant tool, while slightly lacking in functionality, demonstrates the ability to use the Quake 3 engine for visualizing a dataset. Additionally, it allows several users to connect to a server, and visualize the same information, provided they have the dataset on their computer.
Direct Volume Rendering of Finite Element models is challenging since the visualisation process i... more Direct Volume Rendering of Finite Element models is challenging since the visualisation process is performed in world coordinates, whereas data fields are usually defined over the elements' material coordinate system. In this paper we present a framework for Direct Volume Rendering of Finite Element models. We present several novel implementations visualising Finite Element data directly without requiring resampling into world coordinates. We evaluate the methods using several biomedical Finite Element models. Our GPU implementation of ray-casting in material coordinates using depth peeling is several orders of magnitude faster than the corresponding CPU approach, and our new ray interpolation approach achieves near interactive frame rates for high-order finite element models at high resolutions.
Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2022
Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2020
2018 International Conference on Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering (LaTICE), 2018
Gamification is fast growing in popularity and is being employed to improve user experience in ma... more Gamification is fast growing in popularity and is being employed to improve user experience in many different contexts. There are limited studies investigating the effects of individual game mechanics on learning. The experiment conducted during this research project involved the implementation and evaluation of a countdown timer within the Code Avengers web application. The countdown element resulted in some change to the average time required to complete tasks. The first 50 tasks in the Code Avengers website (www.codeavengers.com) were completed an average of 6.6 seconds faster. The results show that the addition of a countdown element can affect the time users spend on tasks and raises questions related to the relationship between time on tasks, engagement, focus and motivation. This study represents a case study of the complexities involved in implementing and quantitatively evaluating game mechanics in learning tools.
Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2020
Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2020
Regular screening is important for early detection of cognitive impairment. Standard cognitive sc... more Regular screening is important for early detection of cognitive impairment. Standard cognitive screening tests can be time consuming and tedious. Individuals at risk of cognitive decline should be doing regular exercise, and Virtual Reality (VR) exergames are one way to motivate them to do so. If these exergames can include non-obtrusive cognitive tests, then users can be regularly screened without it being such a tedious process. However, exergaming and VR might threaten the validity of these tests. This paper investigates whether this is likely to be the case and discusses some practical concerns around this approach of screening for cognitive decline. The results of this study suggest that standard cognitive tests are not rendered invalid in VR exergaming. However, more work is needed to investigate the effects of integrating tests into gameplay elements.
Virtual reality has existed in the realm of education for over half a century. However, its wides... more Virtual reality has existed in the realm of education for over half a century. However, its widespread adoption is still yet to occur. This is a result of a myriad of limitations to both the technologies themselves, and the costs and logistics required to deploy them. In order to gain a better understanding of what these issues are, and what it is that educators hope to gain by using these technologies in the first place, we have performed both a systematic review of the use of virtual reality in education, as well as two distinct thematic analyses. The first analysis investigated the applications and reported motivations provided by educators in academic literature for developing virtual reality educational systems, while the second investigated the reported problems associated with doing so. These analyses indicate that the majority of researchers use virtual reality to increase the intrinsic motivation of students, and refer to a narrow range of factors such as constructivist ped...
Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) is a popular map building approach in autonomous mob... more Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) is a popular map building approach in autonomous mobile robotics. Because users demand faster and more effective algorithms, SLAM remains an active area of research. However, the increasing complexity of applications, such as the environments the algorithm is applied to, makes it difficult to debug, evaluate and optimise such algorithms. Our preliminary research indicates that the algorithm development can be improved by using Augmented Reality (AR) systems, which visualise the robot’s internal program state and related information specifically in the context of testing and debugging SLAM algorithms. Using inherent SLAM uncertainties and error-sources identified in literature, we developed requirements which an AR system must fulfil in order to optimise the testing, debugging and design of SLAM algorithms.
2018 International Conference on Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering (LaTICE), 2018
In recent years there has been a move towards teaching programming outside of tertiary. Many comp... more In recent years there has been a move towards teaching programming outside of tertiary. Many comprehensive, interactive tools for introductory programming have been created to scaffold tasks and learning for a wide variety of learners. These online tools contain sequences of tasks that have been designed to scaffold the introductory steps of programming. Knowledge about how tasks are being sequenced within the domain of introductory programming for non-tertiary learners is proposed to be generated by systematically extracting and presenting information about tasks across a sample of these courses. There is wide variety in the amount of repetition and how tasks are sequenced in courses and it is believed that a systematic analysis of such courses will contribute to the wider field of introductory programming education. The outline for a methodology for sampling these courses and justification for doing so is detailed below. The poster will also present preliminary results from a sample of courses and tasks
Proceedings of the 20th Australasian Computing Education Conference on - ACE '18, 2018
A variety of intelligent tutoring systems have been created for the purpose of teaching computer ... more A variety of intelligent tutoring systems have been created for the purpose of teaching computer programming. Most published literature focuses on systems that have been developed to teach programming within tertiary courses. A majority of systems have been developed to teach introductory programming concepts; other systems tutor more specific aspects of programming like scope or recursion. Literature reports that these systems address many of the difficulties associated with teaching programming to novices; however, individual systems vary greatly, and there is a large range of supplementary features developed in these systems. Most intelligent programming tutors involve some form of interactive programming exercises, but the use of supplementary features like plans, quizzes and worked solutions vary greatly between different systems. This systematic review reports key information about existing systems and the prevalence of different features within them. An overview of how supplementary features are integrated into these systems is given, along with implications for how intelligent programming tutors could be improved by supporting a wider range of supplementary features.
Uploads
Papers by Burkhard Wuensche
support and psychological factors influencing usage and compliance. In this paper, we describe telehealth usability requirements and analysis of existing consumer health informatics applications which leads to the design of a novel ubiquitous telehealth system.