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Research Proposal

Benjamin FrommCIS09021

Supervisor: Benjamin Close

“Directing textual focus and the engagement of peripheral vision in a hemispherical environment”

Introduction Topics of discussion:

Hemispherical environments

- planetariums (spherical mirror projection)

Text and its importance in visual productions

- Peripheral vision in a dome environment

Proper display of text in a dome environment

The motivation for the research area

The methodology which will be used

Conclusion

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Hemispherical Environments:

Hemispherical environments – planetariums and smaller personal domes.

- These environments provide an immersive environment for science, education, virtual reality and entertainment

Planetarium = A planetarium is a room with a dome-shaped ceiling and at the centre of the room is a star projector.  This star projector projects points of light onto the domed ceiling to represent the night sky and can be used to show the position of constellations, stars and planets. (UniSA Planetarium, 2009)

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Mueller Planetarium - Nebraska, USA. (10m dome diameter)

Bourke, n.d

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

The major immersive property of the hemispherical surface is the fact that the viewers peripheral vision is engaged. (Bourke, 2005)

Peripheral Vision = vision which occurs outside the very centre gaze of your eye.

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Planetariums - Equipment:

In the past planetariums have utilised the following equipment in order to display content on the dome surface:

- Zeiss star projector - Multiple CRT projectors- Projectors with ‘fish eye lenses’

The most recent way of achieving full dome projection is through the use of a ‘spherical mirror projection system’.

Spherical mirror projection uses pre-warped videos, a single digital projector and a spherical mirror in order to distribute light in a wide, solid angle and provide a seamless full dome experience.

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

The ‘fisheye’ image must also be warped in order for the image to look correct and undistorted on the dome surface.

The warping varies depending on the position of the mirror in thedome, the relative mirror/projector positioning, the shape of themirror and the optical characteristics of the projector.

Bourke, n.d

Spherical mirror projection:

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Spherical mirror projection (cont’d):

Bourke, 2005

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Text & its importance in visual productions:

Text - words, sentences, paragraphs

Words and symbols in any form spoken or written are one of the most common forms of communication. Text is a vital element of multimedia productions - menus, navigation systems and content.

- Text plays an important role in any visual production and eye tracking studies have shown that 78% of people are first drawn to text over graphics and often recall textual information easier. (Nielsen, 2000)

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Why look at ‘text’ based visualisations in the planetarium setting?

Long established film making practices in conventional film simply can’t be applied in the dome environment.

It is quite hard to place text in visual productions for planetarium use –

- Physical nature of dome (rounded surface)- Equipment used- Layout of the planetarium (seating)

Previous content development projects in the Mawson Lakes planetarium have struggled with placement of text.

Peripheral vision is an aspect which isn’t engaged in normal flat screen viewing – examining this using the origin of a text based visualisation is an uncomplicated way of examining it.

Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Text is a feature which plays a large role in the planetarium project currently under development.

Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Motivation: The proper display of text on the dome has been a problem in the past.

The projection technology which is in use in the planetarium at Mawson Lakes is relatively new.

There is not a great deal of research which has been done into how best to make use of text specifically in dome environment. Peripheral sense – some previous research in regard to the its perception and use in game play in dome environments but not specifically in regard to the most effective means in which to engage it, and the effect it has.

Placement of content on the dome surface to ensure that every patron gets a satisfactory experience dependent on position.

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Motivation (cont’d):

The audience views the same imagery from completely different viewing angles.

- Placement is very important - If interesting images appear at the top part of the dome and even further back then visitors continue tilt their head backwards to observe those images or they turn their head sideways.

- The Centre of Projection (COP) for a dome is usually one of the best viewing positions

- The further your position from the COP, the more the perception of projected line segment changes, due to the oblique relative view direction. (Gaitatzes et al, 2006)

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Examining the roles of textual information in combination with peripheral vision in the dome environment.

- What is the best place to put text on the dome surface to ensure that each person is able to easily read and

understand the text?

- What role does peripheral vision play in the sensory experience of viewers in the dome environment

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Methodology and Expected Outcomes:

The main method which will be used to complete the research paper is to set up several sessions in the planetarium where a selection of people will be asked to watch a series of text based visualisations displayed on the dome surface.

The people will complete a questionnaire relating to the visualisations to gauge the effectiveness of each one:

- Positioning of text- Movement of text- Sizing- Relative Position- Origin of the text (When did people notice text, effectiveness of the positioning in regard to eye lines – peripheral vision)

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Incorporation of textual attributes into each visualisation will need to be taken into account:

- font - tracking- typeface - kerning- leading

- Interviews - Content implementations “Domefest”

The expected outcome is a set of indicators and guidelines based on the user study on what textual properties work best, and what is the best area to place text in the dome environment for maximum exposure.- How the sense of peripheral vision can be employed in order to increase sensory awareness in dome environments.

Methodology and Expected Outcomes (cont’d):

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

Conclusion:

There is a great deal of content being created for use in dome environments. However there are no guiding principles on textual representation on the dome surface and how effectively the sense of peripheral vision can be used in immersive environments such as planetariums.

In dome environments the placement and transitioning of content needs to be considered to ensure that each patron, regardless of their position has an adequate experience in regard to content being displayed.

cis09021 – Research Proposal

Benjamin Fromm

References:- Bourke, P 2005, Spherical mirror: a new approach to hemispherical dome projection, ACM, Dunedin, New Zealand.

- Bourke, P n.d, Image gallery of dome installations‘, [Online, accessed 21st May, 2009].

URL: http://local.wasp.uwa.edu.au/~pbourke/exhibition/domeinstall/

Gaitatzes, A, Papaioannou, G, Christopoulos, D & Zyba, G 2006, Media productions for a dome display system, ACM, Limassol, Cyprus.

- Nielsen, J 2000, 'Eyetracking Study of Web Readers‘, [Online, accessed 21st May, 2009].

URL: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000514.html

- UniSA Planetarium, 2009, ‘What is a planetarium? ‘, [Online, accessed 27th May, 2009].

URL: http://www.unisa.edu.au/planetarium/welcome.asp