Honours Presentation

Honours Presentation “Directing textual focus and the engagement of peripheral vision in a hemispherical environment” Benjamin Fromm CIS09021 Supervisor: Benjamin Close

cis09021 – Honours Presentation 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  The methodology which was used  The preliminary findings  Conclusion Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Honours Presentation 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) Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal • 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. Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal Mueller Planetarium - Nebraska, USA. (10m dome diameter) Bourke, n.d Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal 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. Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal Spherical mirror projection:  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 the dome, the relative mirror/projector positioning, the shape of the mirror and the optical characteristics of the projector. Bourke, n.d Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal Spherical mirror projection (cont’d): Bourke, 2005 Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal 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) Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal Motivation: • 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 Motivation (cont’d): •  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. • Text is a feature which plays a large role in the planetarium project currently under development. Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Honours Presentation Motivation (cont’d): •  Text is important from an accessibility point of view – in planetariums 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) Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Honours Presentation Methodology: • The main method used to complete the research was to develop a series of text based visualisations. These visualisations would then be shown to a selection of people in the planetarium here at Mawson lakes. • These sessions would culminate in the completion of a questionnaire people will complete a questionnaire relating to the various visualisations in order 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) Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal Methodology (cont’d): •  Incorporation of textual attributes into each visualisation was taken into account: • - font - tracking • - typeface - kerning • - leading •  The questionnaire asked participants a range of questions relating the to visualisations: • - ranking • - scaling of characteristics • - explanations of the features which influenced their ranking. • - point at which people noticed text along its path of transition Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal Methodology and Expected Outcomes (cont’d): •  The visualisations and user study were coupled with: • - Interviews • - Examination of content implementations - “Domefest” •  The development of a set of indicators or guidelines based upon the user study to determine 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. Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal The Visualisations: The visualisations were split into two distinct categories –  Single transition implementing different text characteristics. Multiple entry points and transitions using the same text characteristics. Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal The Visualisations: UniSA planetarium Bourke, n.d Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal The Visualisations (cont’d): Layout of Mawson Lakes Planetarium Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal The Visualisations (cont’d): Category 1 - layout Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal The Visualisations (cont’d): Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal The Visualisations (cont’d): • The aim of this second set of visualisations were aimed at examining visual effectiveness and the engagement of viewers peripheral vision. This was done to gauge whether: • There were any visualisations which surprised viewers? • What made some more visually interesting than others? • What point was the text noticed (path of transition)? Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal The Visualisations (cont’d): Category 2 - transitioning 1 2 3 4 Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal Outcomes/Preliminary Findings: - The research is ongoing… The main aim of the research overall is to identify the most effective ways to display text in domed environments, look at the importance of peripheral engagement from a text viewpoint and develop a set of guidelines which will guide further content development in such environments. • Rounded, san serif typefaces with a high contrast ratio provide an adequate viewing experience. • The centre of projection is one of the best viewing positions. • The low edges of the dome are one of the best places to position long lines of text. Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal Outcomes/Preliminary Findings (cont’d) : • Slow rotation of textual elements around the outer edge of the dome ensures that viewers at the edges are able to get a clear, front on view. • Transitioning of elements from areas outside the frontal focal range can be very effective due to the unexpectedness of the occurrence. Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal 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. • Placement and transitioning of content is paramount in ensuring that each patron, regardless of their position has an adequate viewing experience. •  The guidelines will help direct further content development in regard to text representation. Even if the setup of each domed environment is different these principles can be applied in a number of scenarios. Benjamin Fromm

cis09021 – Research Proposal 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 Benjamin Fromm

Honours Presentation