We present the results from a qualitative and quantitative user study comparing fishtank virtual-reality (VR) and CAVE displays. The results of the qualitative study show that users preferred the fishtank VR display to the CAVE system for our scientific visualization application because of perceived higher resolution, brightness and crispness of imagery, and comfort of use. The results of the quantitative study show that users performed an abstract visual search task significantly more quickly and more accurately on the fishtank VR display system than in the CAVE. The same study also showed that visual context had no significant effect on task performance for either of the platforms. We suggest that fishtank VR displays are more effective than CAVEs for applications in which the task occurs outside the user's reference frame, the user views and manipulates the virtual world from the outside in, and the size of the virtual object that the user interacts with is smaller than the user's body and fits into the fishtank VR display. The results of both studies support this proposition.
T his article describes some of the lessons we have learned from our collaborations with artists on visualization problems at Brown University's Visualization Research Lab. Over the past several years, we have worked closely with artists to develop, refine, and critique visualizations ranging from archaeological dig data from the Great Temple of Petra site in Jordan to the fluid dynamics and wing bone shape deformations that begin to explain how bats, the only flying mammals, stay aloft.Perhaps, the most important conclusion we have drawn from this experience is that artists can fill an important role in the visualization design pipeline. In our experience, artists routinely provide a unique source of visual insight and creativity for tackling difficult visual problems. They are also expertly trained in critiquing and refining visual works, an essential task in the iterative visualization process.The second major conclusion we have drawn from our collaborations with artists is that we need more appropriate design tools to support them and their role. We discuss here the experiences that led us to this conclusion, along with some of the tools we have developed to facilitate working with artists. The lack of appropriate design tools is particularly evident in VR. It's difficult for artists to get involved in visualization design for VR, since, with rare exceptions, you need to know how to program in order to create within the medium. VR is one of the most promising technologies for visualizing today's complex data sets. 1 However, it's also one of the technologies that can most benefit from artistic insight, since guidelines for good visual depiction are far less developed in the unconventional visual space of VR than in more traditional media.We begin by describing one of our recent major collaborative efforts, a class on designing VR scientific visualizations that was cotaught with professors and students from Brown University's computer science department and the Rhode Island School of Design's (RISD's) illustration department. Many of the experiences and conclusions relayed here are the results of this class. We then discuss three important themes that we derived from our experiences, which are all motivated by a desire to better facilitate artistic collaborations.
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