scholarly journals Beyond the print—virtual paleontology in science publishing, outreach, and education

2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 727-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Lautenschlager ◽  
Martin Rücklin

Virtual paleontology unites a variety of computational techniques and methods for the visualization and analysis of fossils. Due to their great potential and increasing availability, these methods have become immensely popular in the last decade. However, communicating the wealth of digital information and results produced by the various techniques is still exacerbated by traditional methods of publication. Transferring and processing three-dimensional information, such as interactive models or animations, into scientific publications still poses a challenge. Here, we present different methods and applications to communicate digital data in academia, outreach and education. Three-dimensional PDFs, QR codes, anaglyph stereo imaging, and rapid prototyping—methods routinely used in the engineering, entertainment, or medical industries—are outlined and evaluated for their potential in science publishing and public engagement. Although limitations remain, these are simple, mostly cost-effective, and powerful tools to create novel and innovative resources for education, public engagement, or outreach.

Author(s):  
Ian Gwilt

This chapter discusses a current shift away from thinking about ideas of virtual reality, towards a conversation around hybrid digital/physical constructs and the notions of mixed or augmented reality. In particular the chapter explores how physical artifacts that are based on data extracted from computer generated virtual spaces are being created as a way of challenging how we read, interpret, and respond to digital information. This emerging trend for the realization of data sets into three-dimensional (3D) physical objects is discussed from the perspective of creative practice and digital information visualization. In these new constructs, digital data sets are concretized into a physical form, remediated from information sources, such as mobile phone coverage records, crime statistics, and temperature patterns. Through a series of examples, the chapter will investigate how these tangible translations can change our relationship to screen-based digital content, in particular statistical data, and seeks to reveal how by encoding digital information into a physical object we can establish a way of reading this data through spatial, temporal, and material variations that sit outside of the computer-monitor and the digital environment. Rapid prototyping making techniques are discussed as a trigger for a conversation around the ontological and epistemological readings of these liminal physical/data objects.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 183-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renaud Lebrun ◽  
Maëva J. Orliac

AbstractSince the early 1990s, methods for the acquisition of three-dimensional (3-D) data and computer-assisted techniques for the visualization of such data have grown increasingly popular among biologists, paleontologists, and paleoanthropologists. However, thus far no standardized repository for complex virtual models based on 3-D digital data of specimens has emerged, whereas the need for researchers to provide access to 3-D models of specimens as well as the pressure imposed on authors by scientific journals to make original 3-D morphological data publicly available have increased. MorphoMuseuM (M3) aims to fill this gap. M3 is both a peer-reviewed scientific journal (M3 Journal) and a virtual specimen repository (M3 Repository). All scientific articles and their associated 3-D models deposited in M3 go through a formal review process. Each published model is given a DOI and a unique identifier code, which should be cited by researchers using this model in their scientific publications. In this paper, we describe the place of M3 among other online repositories for 3-D data, and explain how the growing community of biologists working with 3-D data can benefit from using M3.


Author(s):  
William Bricken ◽  
Geoffrey Coco

Computer technology has only recently become advanced enough to solve the problems it creates with its own interface. One solution, virtual reality (VR), immediately raises fundamental issues in both semantics and epistcmology. Broadly, virtual reality is that aspect of reality which people construct from information, a reality which is potentially orthogonal to the reality of mass. Within computer science, VR refers to interaction with computer-generated spatial environments, environments constructed to include and immerse those who enter them. VR affords non-symbolic experience within a symbolic environment Since people evolve in a spatial environment, our knowledge skills are anchored to interactions within spatial environments. VR design techniques, such as scientific visualization, map digital information onto spatial concepts. When our senses are immersed in stimuli from the virtual world, our minds construct a closure to create the experience of inclusion. Participant inclusion is the defining characteristic of VR. (Participation within information is often called immersion.) Inclusion is measured by the degree of presence a participant experiences in a virtual environment. We currently use computers as symbol processors, interacting with them through a layer of symbolic mediation. The computer user, just like the reader of books, must provide cognitive effort to convert the screen’s representations into the user’s meanings. VR systems, in contrast, provide interface tools which support natural behavior as input and direct perceptual recognition of output. The idea is to access digital data in the form most easy for our comprehension; this generally implies using representations that look and feel like the thing they represent. A physical pendulum, for example, might be represented by an accurate three-dimensional digital model of a pendulum which supports direct spatial interaction and dynamically behaves as would an actual pendulum. Immersive environments redefine the relationship between experience and representation, in effect eliminating the syntax-semantics barrier. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are cast out of the computer interface, replaced by direct, non-symbolic environmental experience. Before we can explore the deeper issues of experience in virtual environments, we must develop an infrastructure of hardware and software to support “tricking the senses” into believing that representation is reality. The VEOS project was designed to provide a rapid prototyping infrastructure for exploring virtual environments.


IFLA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 034003522110230
Author(s):  
Marzia Loddo ◽  
Foekje Boersma ◽  
Martijn Kleppe ◽  
Karin Vingerhoets

In the late 1990s, the explosion of electronic resources resulted in large-scale digitisation projects amid the need for the preservation of digital information. The KB, National Library of the Netherlands, has been actively involved in these activities. Now, it is proposing better ways to both preserve physical library materials and improve their accessibility for educational purposes. This article describes two ongoing projects that involve preservation and public engagement. One, in its early stages, is to test the applicability of 360° imaging to support virtual access to the special collections’ storage. The second is the virtual reality production, for educational purposes, of children’s pop-up books. Both projects could inspire other libraries to introduce three-dimensional or virtual reality technologies and their applications to new audiences. This article describes each project, shows the methods used, and discusses the expected outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Ashish C Patel ◽  
C G Joshi

Current data storage technologies cannot keep pace longer with exponentially growing amounts of data through the extensive use of social networking photos and media, etc. The "digital world” with 4.4 zettabytes in 2013 has predicted it to reach 44 zettabytes by 2020. From the past 30 years, scientists and researchers have been trying to develop a robust way of storing data on a medium which is dense and ever-lasting and found DNA as the most promising storage medium. Unlike existing storage devices, DNA requires no maintenance, except the need to store at a cool and dark place. DNA has a small size with high density; just 1 gram of dry DNA can store about 455 exabytes of data. DNA stores the informations using four bases, viz., A, T, G, and C, while CDs, hard disks and other devices stores the information using 0’s and 1’s on the spiral tracks. In the DNA based storage, after binarization of digital file into the binary codes, encoding and decoding are important steps in DNA based storage system. Once the digital file is encoded, the next step is to synthesize arbitrary single-strand DNA sequences and that can be stored in the deep freeze until use.When there is a need for information to be recovered, it can be done using DNA sequencing. New generation sequencing (NGS) capable of producing sequences with very high throughput at a much lower cost about less than 0.1 USD for one MB of data than the first sequencing technologies. Post-sequencing processing includes alignment of all reads using multiple sequence alignment (MSA) algorithms to obtain different consensus sequences. The consensus sequence is decoded as the reversal of the encoding process. Most prior DNA data storage efforts sequenced and decoded the entire amount of stored digital information with no random access, but nowadays it has become possible to extract selective files (e.g., retrieving only required image from a collection) from a DNA pool using PCR-based random access. Various scientists successfully stored up to 110 zettabytes data in one gram of DNA. In the future, with an efficient encoding, error corrections, cheaper DNA synthesis,and sequencing, DNA based storage will become a practical solution for storage of exponentially growing digital data.


Author(s):  
Matthew J. Genge

Drawings, illustrations, and field sketches play an important role in Earth Science since they are used to record field observations, develop interpretations, and communicate results in reports and scientific publications. Drawing geology in the field furthermore facilitates observation and maximizes the value of fieldwork. Every geologist, whether a student, academic, professional, or amateur enthusiast, will benefit from the ability to draw geological features accurately. This book describes how and what to draw in geology. Essential drawing techniques, together with practical advice in creating high quality diagrams, are described the opening chapters. How to draw different types of geology, including faults, folds, metamorphic rocks, sedimentary rocks, igneous rocks, and fossils, are the subjects of separate chapters, and include descriptions of what are the important features to draw and describe. Different types of sketch, such as drawings of three-dimensional outcrops, landscapes, thin-sections, and hand-specimens of rocks, crystals, and minerals, are discussed. The methods used to create technical diagrams such as geological maps and cross-sections are also covered. Finally, modern techniques in the acquisition and recording of field data, including photogrammetry and aerial surveys, and digital methods of illustration, are the subject of the final chapter of the book. Throughout, worked examples of field sketches and illustrations are provided as well as descriptions of the common mistakes to be avoided.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 796-815
Author(s):  
Yang Wang ◽  
Sun Sun Lim

People are today located in media ecosystems in which a variety of ICT devices and platforms coexist and complement each other to fulfil users’ heterogeneous requirements. These multi-media affordances promote a highly hyperlinked and nomadic habit of digital data management which blurs the long-standing boundaries between information storage, sharing and exchange. Specifically, during the pervasive sharing and browsing of fragmentary digital information (e.g. photos, videos, online diaries, news articles) across various platforms, life experiences and knowledge involved are meanwhile classified and stored for future retrieval and collective memory construction. For international migrants who straddle different geographical and cultural contexts, management of various digital materials is particularly complicated as they have to be familiar with and appropriately navigate technological infrastructures of both home and host countries. Drawing on ethnographic observations of 40 Chinese migrant mothers in Singapore, this article delves into their quotidian routines of acquiring, storing, sharing and exchanging digital information across a range of ICT devices and platforms, as well as cultural and emotional implications of these mediated behaviours for their everyday life experiences. A multi-layer and multi-sited repertoire of ‘life archiving’ was identified among these migrant mothers in which they leave footprints of everyday life through a tactical combination of interactive sharing, pervasive tagging and backup storage of diverse digital content.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2338
Author(s):  
Sofia Agostinelli ◽  
Fabrizio Cumo ◽  
Giambattista Guidi ◽  
Claudio Tomazzoli

The research explores the potential of digital-twin-based methods and approaches aimed at achieving an intelligent optimization and automation system for energy management of a residential district through the use of three-dimensional data model integrated with Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The case study is focused on Rinascimento III in Rome, an area consisting of 16 eight-floor buildings with 216 apartment units powered by 70% of self-renewable energy. The combined use of integrated dynamic analysis algorithms has allowed the evaluation of different scenarios of energy efficiency intervention aimed at achieving a virtuous energy management of the complex, keeping the actual internal comfort and climate conditions. Meanwhile, the objective is also to plan and deploy a cost-effective IT (information technology) infrastructure able to provide reliable data using edge-computing paradigm. Therefore, the developed methodology led to the evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of integrative systems for renewable energy production from solar energy necessary to raise the threshold of self-produced energy, meeting the nZEB (near zero energy buildings) requirements.


2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virgilio F. Ferrario ◽  
Fabrizio Mian ◽  
Redento Peretta ◽  
Riccardo Rosati ◽  
Chiarella Sforza

Objective: To compare three-dimensional nasal measurements directly made on subjects to those made on plaster casts, and nasal dimensions obtained with a surface-based approach to values obtained with a landmark representation. Methods: Soft-tissue nasal landmarks were directly digitized on 20 healthy adults. Stone casts of their noses were digitized and mathematically reconstructed using nonuniform rational B-splines (NURBS) curves. Linear distances, angles, volumes and surface areas were computed using facial landmarks and NURBS-reconstructed models (surface-based approach). Results: Measurements on the stone casts were somewhat smaller than values obtained directly from subjects (differences between −0.05 and −1.58 mm). Dahlberg's statistic ranged between 0.73 and 1.47 mm. Significant (p < .05) t values were found for 4 of 15 measurements. The surface-based approach gave values 3.5 (volumes) and 2.1 (surface area) times larger than those computed with the landmark-based method. The two values were significantly related (volume, r = 0.881; surface, r = 0.924; p < .001), the resulting equations estimated actual values well (mean difference, volume −0.01 mm3, SD 1.47, area 0.05 cm2, SD 1.44); limits of agreement between −2.89 and 2.87 mm3 (volume); −2.88 and 2.78 cm2 (area). Conclusions: Considering the characteristics of the two methods, and for practical purposes, nasal distances and angles obtained on plaster models were comparable to digital data obtained directly from subjects. Surface areas and volumes were best obtained using a surface-based approach, but could be estimated using data provided by the landmark representation.


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