Research Projects

In our everyday world we are not limited to our computer desktop. Information in the real world is perceived and processed in three dimensions, continuously and in real time. A human-computer interface that can capture these properties will be able to deliver new computer applications and services anywhere and anytime. Augmented reality (AR), which enhances a user's perception of the real world with computer generated information, can turn the everyday world into a user interface for ubiquitous computing applications. STUDIERSTUBE is a leading framework for the development of mobile, collaborative and ubiquitous AR applications.

The ultimate limit of today‘s user interfaces lies in the used two-dimensional abstractions that are only effective for their original domain of document-centric work. In contrast, in our everyday world we are not limited to our desktop surface. Information in the real world is perceived and processed in three dimensions, continuously and in real time. A human-computer interface that can capture these properties will be able to render a new level of services to the user, enabling the use of computers for new application domains and for new user populations. This „anywhere“ and „anytime“ requirement for pervasive computing cannot be fulfilled with miniature versions of desktop environments. A new style of user interface, a paradigm shift is needed. Therefore, the core of the proposed research is the following thesis: Augmented reality (AR), i. e., enhancing a user‘s perception of the real world with computer generated graphics and annotations, can make working with computers in 3D as productive as the desktop metaphor in 2D. This thesis is motivated by the fact that AR allows to integrate the whole world into the interface – the world essentially becomes the interface. Therefore users are able to leave their physical desktops and computer desktops to interact with their environment and with other users. The AR platform Studierstube lead by the proposer is world-wide unique in its combination of augmented reality, 3D display and groupware elements. Studierstube, the study room where Faust was searching for enlightenment, describes the philosphy of using the place as a mediator to information and insight. We are currently developing a wearable augmented reality system, which allows the user interface to be in any place, with and for anybody. Within the proposed augmented reality/pervasive computing infrastructure, an environment can be turned into a virtual „ether“ encompassing users that are enabled to interact with the computer through realworld objects. The proposed project work will expand the augmented reality platform Studierstube into a pervasive computing environment built on a variety emerging technologies. A number of promising application areas is selected, for which applications will be developed that try out the new style of interfacing with the computer in practice. Influence

ARIS*ER is a Marie Curie Research Training Network addressing a cross-disciplinary area, critically in need of developing researchers with the understanding of the cross-cutting issues involved in developing tools for Minimally Invasive Therapy. The multidisciplinary consortium, aims at providing training for young researchers through a structured training and knowledge transfer program – that will provide Europe with human resources with knowledge that will lead to better healthcare to citizens in Europe. The particular focus of the research training and joint project will be software that is user-friendly, fast and reliable for the practitioners of minimal invasive therapy (MIT). MIT is a compound of minimally invasive surgery, image guided surgery and interventional radiology. MIT makes use of numerous sources of information including multi-modal images and patient information systems. Intelligent processing of this information comprises a vast pool of knowledge that can aid the operator in his decisions. The ultimate goal of the joint project, which will give the recruited researcher training-by-doing, is to create an Augmented Reality system for interactive image guided therapy providing the clinical user with a new generation of decision support tools. This system will integrate intra-operative and pre-operative image-information and enable the user to see beyond the organ surface to inner structures and pathology. An intuitive human computer interface consisting of 3D display systems, haptics and robotics will hide the underpinning complexity of the decision support tools. Demonstrators will be made aiming at providing a seamless workflow for the clinical user conducting image-guided therapy.

This project is concerned with the visualization of Micro Array data using multiple displays and visual data mining techniques. It was the first research activity that led to the project Caleydo.

The research aim of the IPCity project is to investigate analytical and technological approaches to presence in real life settings. Analytically, this includes extending the approaches to presence accounting for the participative and social constitution of presence, the multiplicity and distribution of events in time and space. Technologically, this translates into developing portable environments for on-site configuration, mobile and light-weight mixed reality interfaces with the ambition to weave them into "the fabric of everyday life". Methodologically, this calls for moving "out of the lab" with field trials in real settings, applying a triangulation of disciplines and methods for evaluation. These range from interpretative-ethnographic to quasi-experimental approaches and include cognitive science, social-psychological, and cultural-anthropological disciplines. The vision of the IPCity project is to provide citizens, visitors, as well as professionals involved in city development or the organization of events with a set of technologies that enable them to collaboratively envision, debate emerging developments, experience past and future views or happenings of their local urban environment, discovering new aspects of their city. This includes:

• Extending analytical frameworks for presence, including the participative constitution of presence, the role of (shared) memory and mutual understanding, temporal fluctuations and interruptions (design for non-disruptiveness).
• Developing an environment for MR interaction prototyping and a platform and toolkit for cross reality content authoring.
• A range of building blocks and components ranging from mobile and lightweight mixed reality for situated participation to semi-stationary outdoor mixed reality environments that exploit the features of the surrounding physical environment.

The showcases include urban renewal projects, large scale events, and explorative edutainment and story telling applications.

Office space usually consists of private single-user workstations. Team work takes place on separate locations, usually supported by analogue media like printed paper. Digital data exchanges is accomplished through designated channels like e-mail or instant messengers.

Deskotheque is an ongoing project aiming to extend personal workspaces to enhance team work. It represents a flexible, interactive environment for team work, conference and meeting rooms. Unused surfaces in the room, such as empty wall space and table surfaces, can be turned into interactive, digital displays to be used for multi-user co-located teamwork.

Positionierungs- und Orientierungsmodul für einen Mobilen Augmented Reality- Client zur 3D-Echtzeitvisualisierung unterirdischer Ver- und Entsorgungsinfrastruktur

Computer vision and computer graphics constitute two closely related areas of research: Though both fields rely on the same physical and mathematical principles and on a common set of representations, they mainly differ in how these representations are built. Traditionally these two fields have been treated as separate academic discipline. Exploiting the commonalities between vision and graphics turns out to be a scientifically profitable endeavour. There are many examples of fruitfull combination of graphics and vision, but there is no systematic education of students (especially in Austria). Therefore, the goal of this doctoral program Confluence of Vision and Graphics is to educate highly talented PhD students in this interdisciplinary field and to teach them a common view of this challenging topic from the start. All proposed topics require a significant amount of vision and graphics. The students will be co-supervised jointly by one professor with vision and one professor with graphics expertise. The proposed educational program will ensure that the students will be trained to become future leading scientists, which will face the challenges of research excellence in the interdisciplinary area of graphics and vision, academic leadership, and social competence as a member of a particular research group as well as being a part of the global research network.

Die klinische Rechtsmedizin gewann in den letzten Jahren aufgrund einer Sensibilisierung der Öffentlichkeit gegenüber häuslicher und sexueller Gewalt, Gewalt gegenüber Kindern und Verdachtsfällen von medizinischen Behandlungsfehlern stark an Bedeutung. Die forensische Untersuchung von Lebenden ist bis heute jedoch auf eine äussere Besichtigung des Körpers beschränkt.

Das neue Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institut (LBI) für klinisch-forensische Bildgebung hat zum Ziel, Verfahren zur Erfassung von inneren Verletzungsbefunden als Grundlage für forensische Gutachten zu entwickeln. Mittels Computertomographie (CT) und Magnetresonanztomographie (MRT), welche in der Klinik etabliert sind, können zusätzliche, objektiv nachweisbare innere Verletzungsbefunde erhoben werden, die eine verbesserte Einschätzung der ausgeübten Gewalt gegen die untersuchte Person ermöglichen. Die Methoden sind jedoch auf klinische Diagnostik ausgerichtet, während forensisch wichtige Befunde nicht oder nicht optimal dargestellt werden.

Das Institut fuer Maschinelles Sehen und Darstellen kooperiert mit dem LBI zur Entwicklung neuer Methoden der Bildverarbeitung und Computergrafik zum Zwecke der Bildgebung.

SMART VIDENTE focuses on research on the next-generation field information system for utility companies, providing mobile workforces with capabilities for on-site inspection and planning, data capture and as-built surveying. For achieving this aim, handheld Augmented Reality technology is used for on-site modification and surveying of geometric and semantic attributes of geospatial 3D models on the user’s handheld device. The project aims at providing a fully functional handheld Augmented Reality device for utility field workers. To achieve this goal, we require a software solution that can visualize registered three-dimensional underground models in real time. Registration in 3D requires being able to perform accurate global localization and posing tracking in real time without relying on unrealistic assumptions concerning prior scene knowledge. We will address this issue through fusion of vision, inertial and GPS sensors. Visualization requires the rendering of complex 3D models of underground infrastructure in a way that is easily comprehensible and useful to the mobile worker. This requires visualization techniques for geometric as well as non-geometric information from the geo-database, in particular of hidden objects through so-called “X-ray vision”. These visualization techniques need to be adaptive to scene complexity and environmental conditions. The three-dimensional geometry to be shown is not available per default, but must be extracted from a conventional database system and interpreted on-the-fly as a 3D visualization using procedural modeling techniques. We want to support annotation and even surveying tasks in the field, so the system must also allow to write information back to the geo-database. Finally, we will work with three large Austrian infrastructure companies to assess the usability of our solutions.