Session: CIE-18-02 - VES: Technologies for VR, AR, and MR

Paper Number: 91212

91212 - Exploring the Perceived Complexity of 3d Shapes: Towards a Spatial Visualization VR Application 

The objective of this work is to explore the perceived complexity of 3D shapes used in spatial visualization tasks and leverage Machine Learning to create a model that can predict this perceived complexity using the visual features of the shapes. This aims to help automate the process of generating 3D shapes for a Virtual Reality (VR) application designed to help develop students' spatial visualization skills. Spatial visualization skills are important skills needed in the STEM fields. While VR has been used to help develop these skills, most of the existing applications do not necessarily tailor their content to the skills level of individuals. Automatically generating shapes can help VR applications tailor spatial visualization tasks to the skills level of users. However, in order to do this, it is important to first understand how humans perceive the complexity of 3D shapes, and how this relates to their performance in spatial visualization tasks. The results of this work indicate that while participants perceived complexity of 3D shapes is correlated to their performance in spatial visualization tasks that use the same 3D shapes, this perceived complexity by itself is not enough to predict their performance in such tasks. Moreover, the results indicate that certain visual features of 3D shapes can help explain the perceived complexity of the shape as well as the performance of individuals in spatial visualization tasks that implement those 3D shapes.

Presenting Author: Christian Lopez Lafayette College

Presenting Author Biography: Hi, my name is Christian L&#243;pez Bencosme, and I am an Assistant Professor of Computer Science with an affiliation in Mechanical Engineering at Lafayette College. I completed my Ph.D. from the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, and a Master of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology, NY. Before pursuing my career in academia, I worked in both the Service and Manufacturing sectors.<br/><br/>My research interests are in the design and optimization of intelligent decision support systems and persuasive technologies to augment human proficiencies. What this means is, I work on designing and creating systems to help make better decisions and help improve task performance by integrating technologies and methods from science and engineering, such as Machine Learning and Virtual Reality. In some cases, these systems need to be able to motivate individuals as well; hence, the use of persuasive technologies like gamification. The technologies and systems I am interested in have great potential for advancing the field of education, business, health, wellness, and others.

Authors:

Angela Busheska Lafayette College
Christian Lopez Lafayette College