Evaluating space perception in NPR immersive environments

ABSTRACT

Non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) methods allow us to emphasize or omit detail in order to communicate information more effectively. An important issue to consider is how can we evaluate and validate the communication adequacy of these techniques? In this paper we present a methodology for quantitatively evaluating spatial perception in a functional, NPR, stereo, immersive environment. The methods described in this paper borrow from both the art and perceptual psychology communities and will provide NPR researchers with a methodology for conducting user studies to perceptually validate new rendering approaches within immersive environments.

References

1. BILLINGHURST, M., AND WEGHORST, S. 1995. The use of sketch maps to measure cognitive maps of virtual environments. Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium, 40-47.
2. CUTTING, J. E., AND VISHTON, P. M. 1995. Perceiving layout and knowing distance: The integration, relative potency and contextual use of different information about depth. In Perceptual of Space and Motion, W. Epstein and S. Rogers, Eds. Academic Press, New York, 69-117.
3. FERWERDA, J. 2001. Hi-fi rendering. In Perceptually Adaptive Graphic, Preconference Proceedings, A. McNamara and C. O'Sullivan, Eds. ACM Campfire. http://isg.cs.tcd.ie/gap/.
4. GOOCH, B., AND GOOCH, A. 2001. Non-Photorealistic Rendering. AK Peters Ltd, July.
5. HEALEY, C. G., INTERRANTE, V., KREMERS, D., LAIDLAW, D., , AND RHEINGANS, P. 2001. Nonphotorealistic rendering in scientific visualization. In SIGGRAPH 2001 Course Notes Nonphotorealistic Rendering in Scientific Visualization, C. G. Healey, Ed. ACM.
6. INTERRANTE, V. 1996. Illustrating Transparency: communicating the 3D shape of layered transparent surfaces via texture. PhD thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
7. KNAPP, J. M. 1999. The visual perception of egocentric distance in virtual environments. PhD thesis, University of California Santa Barbara.
8. LAMPTON, D. R., MCDONALD, D. P., SINGER, M., AND BLISS, J. P. 1995. Distance estimation in virtual environments. In Human Factor and Ergonomics Society, 1268-1272.
9. LOOMIS, J. M., AND KNAPP, J. M. in press. Visual perception of egocentric distance in real and virtual environments. In Virtual and Adaptive Environments, L. J. Hettinger and M. W. Haas, Eds. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
10. LOOMIS, J. M., DA SILVA, J. A., FUJITA, N., AND FUKUSIMA, S. S. 1992. Visual space perception and visually directed action. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 18, 906-921.
11. M. W. DIXON, M. WRAGA, D. P., AND WILLIAMS, G. 2000. Eye height scaling of absolute size in immersive and nonimmersive displays. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 26, 2, 582-593.
12. PALMER, S. E. 1999. Vision Science: Photons to Phenomenology. The MIT Press.
13. PHILBECK, J. W., AND LOOMIS, J. M. 1997. Comparison of two indicators of perceived egocentric distance under full-cue and reduced-cue conditions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 23, 1, 72-85.
14. PHILBECK, J. W., LOOMIS, J. M., AND BEALL, A. C. 1997. Visually perceived location is an invariant in the control of action. Perception and Psychophysics 59, 4, 601-612.
15. RASKAR, R., AND COHEN, M. 1999. Image Precision Silhouette Edges. In Proc. 1999 ACM Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics.
16. RIESER, J. J., ASHMEAD, D. H., TAYLOR, C. R., AND YOUNGQUIST, G. A. 1990. Visual perception and the guidance of locomotion without vision to previously seen targets. Perception 19, 675-689.
17. ROBINS, N., 1997. Smooth Normal Generation with Preservation of Edges. www.pobox.com/ nate/smooth.html.
18. ROGERS, S. 1995. Perceiving pictorial space. In Perception of Space and Motion. Academic Press, Inc, ch. 4.
19. SPSS, 2002. http://www.spss.com/.
20. WANN, J. P., RUSHTON, S., AND MON-WILLIAMS, M. 1995. Natural problems for stereoscopic depth perception in virtual environments. Vision Research 35, 19, 2731-2736.
21. WILLEMSEN, P., AND GOOCH, A. 2002. Perceived distance in virtual environments: An experimental comparison between real, image-based, and traditional virtual environments. In To appear in Proc. IEEE Virtual Reality.
22. WITMER, B. G., AND KLINE, P. B. 1998. Judging perceived and traversed distance in virtual environments. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 7, 2 (April), 144-167.

Index Terms

• Computing methodologies

  • Artificial intelligence

    • Computer vision

      • Image and video acquisition

        • 3D imaging

  • Computer graphics

    • Animation