Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Animation software”

At the present time one of the key issues relating to the design of real-time systems is the specification of software requirements. It is now clear that specification correctness is an essential factor for the design and implementation of high quality software. As a result considerable emphasis is placed on producing specifications which are not only correct, but provably so. This has led to the application of mathematically-based formal specification techniques in the software life-cycle model. Unfortunately, experience in safety-critical systems has shown that specification correctness is not, in itself, sufficient. Such specifications must also be comprehensible to all involved in the system development. The topic of this thesis—Animation Prototyping—is a methodology devised to make such specifications understandable and usable. Its primary objective is to demonstrate key properties of formal specifications to non-software specialists. This it does through the use of computer-animated pictures which respond to the dictates of the formal specification.

This research assesses the skills and knowledge necessary for the creation of animation in the 3D computer medium. It responds to the argument that students of this new form of animation must learn to apply principles and theories of animation that had their genesis in the early years of traditional, hand-drawn animation (Kroyer, 2002). Many industry notables argue for the use of traditional animation principles in 3D computer animation. John Lasseter, executive vice president at Pixar studios in the United States, represents one such example. He states that 'These principles were developed to make animation, especially character animation, more realistic and entertaining. These principles can and should be applied to 3D computer animation' (Lasseter 1987). The importance of animation principles in all animation mediums is stressed by Oscar-winning traditional animator Gene Deitch. He states that 'Every animated film made today uses those same basic principles developed at the Walt Disney studios during the 1930s. They still apply, no matter which technology is used' (2001). This research report examines the validity of this argument and identifies the tools, principles, and procedures that professional 3D animators are using. Central to this research is the dynamic of the contemporary relevance of traditional animation as an aesthetic, craft and economic entity. Most importantly this research considers how that dynamic might translate into the teaching of 3D animation courses. It is claimed that the findings of this research benefits 3D animation teachers, students, and those who employ them. To conduct on-site research with professional animators, this study enlisted the participation of a small number of animation studios in south-east Queensland, Australia by ensuring the protection of their Intellectual Property. Close observation of their working practices was made and numerous secondary sources of information (3D animation tutorials, books, DVDs, software manuals etc.) examined in order to locate the tools, processes, and principles that CG animators engaged. The findings were applied and critically assessed by means of a practical project (a seven-minute 3D-animated film) which was created concurrently with the research. Recommendations were formulated as to the most useful tools, processes, and principles for the student of computer animation by way of a revision of the existing Queensland College of Art syllabus for teaching computing animation. What follows is an account of the development and context of the project, the research methods applied, and critical analyses of the findings. The research concludes that it is necessary and advantageous to apply traditional animation skills to 3D computer work.

This research assesses the skills and knowledge necessary for the creation of animation in the 3D computer medium. It responds to the argument that students of this new form of animation must learn to apply principles and theories of animation that had their genesis in the early years of traditional, hand-drawn animation (Kroyer, 2002). Many industry notables argue for the use of traditional animation principles in 3D computer animation. John Lasseter, executive vice president at Pixar studios in the United States, represents one such example. He states that 'These principles were developed to make animation, especially character animation, more realistic and entertaining. These principles can and should be applied to 3D computer animation' (Lasseter 1987). The importance of animation principles in all animation mediums is stressed by Oscar-winning traditional animator Gene Deitch. He states that 'Every animated film made today uses those same basic principles developed at the Walt Disney studios during the 1930s. They still apply, no matter which technology is used' (2001). This research report examines the validity of this argument and identifies the tools, principles, and procedures that professional 3D animators are using. Central to this research is the dynamic of the contemporary relevance of traditional animation as an aesthetic, craft and economic entity. Most importantly this research considers how that dynamic might translate into the teaching of 3D animation courses. It is claimed that the findings of this research benefits 3D animation teachers, students, and those who employ them. To conduct on-site research with professional animators, this study enlisted the participation of a small number of animation studios in south-east Queensland, Australia by ensuring the protection of their Intellectual Property. Close observation of their working practices was made and numerous secondary sources of information (3D animation tutorials, books, DVDs, software manuals etc.) examined in order to locate the tools, processes, and principles that CG animators engaged. The findings were applied and critically assessed by means of a practical project (a seven-minute 3D-animated film) which was created concurrently with the research. Recommendations were formulated as to the most useful tools, processes, and principles for the student of computer animation by way of a revision of the existing Queensland College of Art syllabus for teaching computing animation. What follows is an account of the development and context of the project, the research methods applied, and critical analyses of the findings. The research concludes that it is necessary and advantageous to apply traditional animation skills to 3D computer work.
Thesis (Professional Doctorate)
Doctor of Visual Arts (DVA)
Griffith Film School
Full Text

In order to remain competitive, modem systems developers are increasingly under pressure to produce software solutions to complex problems faster and cheaper, whilst at the same time maintaining a high level of quality in the delivered product. One of the key quality measures is the delivery of a system that meets the customer's requirements. Failure to meet the customer's requirements may engender significant re-design, which in turn will cost money, delay product introduction and may seriously damage the developer's credibility. For these reasons, the problem of developing a precise and unambiguous statement of requirements for a proposed system is perhaps one of the most challenging problems within software engineering today. Formal, model-based specification languages such as the Z notation have been widely adopted within the context of requirements engineering, to provide a vehicle for the development of precise and unambiguous specifications. However, the mathematical foundation upon which these notations are based often makes them unapproachable and difficult to assimilate by a non-specialist reader. The problem then faced is that if the customer cannot understand the semantics of the specification, how can the customer agree that the specification is indeed a true reflection of the requirements for the desired system? Several researchers have proposed that rapid prototyping and animation of specifications can be used to increase the customer's understanding of the formal specification. This is achieved by executing specification components on candidate data and observing that the behaviour is as expected. However this requires that the original formal specification be reliably transformed into a representation capable of being executed within a computer system. To achieve this aim requires the support of computer-based tools able to assist the requirements engineer in capturing, manipulating and transforming the formal specification in an efficient and consistent manner. This thesis describes the research and development of the TranZit tool, which is a Z notation editor, checker and transformation system. TranZit supports the efficient capture and maintenance of Z notation specifications using the Windows Graphical User Interface, supported by a suite of powerful language-driven features. In addition TranZit contains a highly integrated and optimised syntax and type checker, combining traditional compiler design techniques with innovative use of object-oriented data structures and methods, to assist the requirements engineer in ensuring the internal consistency of the captured specification. Most importantly, TranZit contains a novel transformation engine, which is capable of transforming a captured Z specification into an executable representation based on extensions to LISP, suitable for direct execution in an animation environment. This process is supported by an eclectic strategy combining automated transformation with user assistance, to overcome many of the well-documented problems associated with transforming non-executable clauses in formal specifications.

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This thesis attempts to study and categorize vulnerabilities in common software packages. This study results in a proposed taxonomy that will help in protecting vulnerable systems, in order to better enable Computer Network Defense operations. Additionally, this taxonomy will help focus further research in developing exploits aimed at these vulnerabilities, for use in Computer Network Attack and Exploitation operations. Throughout this study, Adobe Flash, a widely used Web browser plug in is used as a case study, due to the many known vulnerabilities and exploits tailored to Adobe Flash that exist.

In this study, we developed an animation tool to animate 3D virtual characters. The tool offers facilities to integrate motion capture data with a 3D character mesh and animate the mesh by using Skeleton Subsurface Deformation and Dual Quaternion Skinning Methods. It is a compact tool, so it is possible to distribute, install and use the tool with ease. This tool can be used to illustrate medical kinematic gait data for educational purposes. For validation, we obtained medical motion capture data from two separate sources and animated a 3D mesh model by using this data. The animations are presented to physicians for evaluation. The results show that the tool is sufficient in displaying obvious gait patterns of the patients. The tool provides interactivity for inspecting the movements of patient from different angles and distances. We animate anonymous virtual characters which provide anonymity of the patient.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Technology: Design in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013
Digital drawing and animation, using basic computer software, opens up new possibilities in creative practice-­‐led research. The digital medium, with its relative ease of reproduction and storage of images, facilitates a reflective method of thinking-­‐while-­‐ drawing, thereby stimulating the creative process and providing a unique means of reflection-­‐in-­‐action. The computer’s ability to record images allows for temporal disruption, providing possibilities for exploring alternative creative solutions as well as retrospective, reflection-­‐on-­‐action. This thesis presents an interrogation of the researcher’s creative practice, as well as the findings and creative artefacts of other relevant practitioners in the field of digital drawing, animation, and related creative activities. A reflexive methodology was used to investigate the relationship between making, doing, and knowing in creative practice. The findings are supported by creative outputs (making), reflection on the creative process in relation to supporting literature (doing), and knowledge resulting from this reflection together with related theoretical research (knowing). The research revealed that digital drawing and animation supports new modes of making resulting in the production of original creative artefacts. It was further revealed that in relation to “doing”, the digital medium supports reflective practice by enabling the creative practitioner to document and reflect on these outputs both during and after making. The resulting reflexive actions combined with theoretical research lead to revelations concerning the relationship between thinking and drawing when using digital media as well as in a broader sense. The study thus contributes insights concerning art and design thinking, and makes a contribution to new developments in visual arts and design research. Practice-­‐led research introduces a theoretical paradigm that has methodological implications particularly in the context of the current re-­‐structuring and transformation of art and design education at South African Universities of Technology. The findings indicate that digital drawing and animation can encourage a critical and reflective approach not only in the work of creative practitioners by supporting new modes of making, but that it also has positive implications for visual arts research and teaching. In this regard the research highlights the need for promoting the integration of theory and practice in visual arts and design education curricula.

Trots den senaste tidens hårdvaruutveckling är realtidsrendering av stora folkmassor fortfarande ingen trivial uppgift. Denna uppgift beskrivs som crowd rendering. Effektiv crowd rendering bygger ofta på instansiering, men instansiering kommer med ett problem, det skapar kloner. Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka och utvärdera ett antal tekniker som används för att skapa mångfald för instansierade modeller. Dessa tekniker kommer tillsammans att kallas varierad instansiering. Ett annat mål är att avgöra hur många modeller som behövs för att varierad instansiering skall betala sig i jämförelse med icke- instansierad utritning. Metoden som används är att mäta tiden för varje uppdatering på GPU för varje teknik med hjälp av ett mätinstrument. Varje teknik har implementerats i en applikation som skapats speciellt för detta ändamål. Analysen av mätningarna resulterade i tre kategorier. Kategorierna är GPU procentuell arbetsbörda stigande för instans avtagande för polygon, sjunkande för instans avtagande för polygon och jämn för instans och polygon. Antalet instanser som behövs för varierad instansiering skall betala sig i jämförelse med en icke- instansierad utritning bestämdes till någonstans mellan 100 och 300 modeller, beroende på antalet polygoner.

Context. Animation of character locomotion is an important part of computer animation and games. It is a vital aspect in achieving believable behaviour and articulation for virtual characters. For games there is also often a need for supporting real-time reactive behaviour in an animation as a response to direct or indirect user interaction, which have given rise to procedural solutions to generate animation of locomotion. Objectives. In this thesis the performance aspects for procedurally generating animation of locomotion within real-time constraints is evaluated, for bipeds and quadrupeds, and for simulations of several characters. A general pose-driven feedback algorithm for physics-driven character locomotion is implemented for this purpose. Methods. The execution time of the locomotion algorithm is evaluated using an automated experiment process, in which real-time gait simulations of incrementing character population count are instantiated and measured, for the bipedal and quadrupedal gaits. The simulations are measured for both serial and parallel executions of the locomotion algorithm. Results. Simulations of up to and including 100 characters are performance measured providing an overview of the slowdown rate when increasing the character count in the simulations, as well as the performance relations between bipeds and quadrupeds. Conclusions. The experiment concludes that the evaluated algorithm on its own exhibits a relatively small performance impact that scales almost linearly for the evaluated population sizes. Due to the relatively low performance impacts it is thus also concluded that for future experiments a broader measurement of the locomotion algorithm that includes and compares different physics solvers is of interest.

Creating realistic human animations is a difficult and time consuming job. One of the best solutions known is motion capture, which is an expensive process. Manipulating existing motion data instead of capturing new data is an efficient way of creating new human animations. In this thesis, we review the current techniques for animation, navigation and ways of manipulating motion data. We discuss strengths and weaknesses of interpolation techniques for creating new motions. Then we present a system that uses existing motion data to create a motion graph and automatically creates new motion data for character navigation suitable for user requirements. Finally, we give experimental results and discuss possible uses of the system.

Vector graphics rendering is the subject of a large number of research papers. However, many of them lack results regarding animated vector graphics despite its importance in many fields. In this thesis the resolution independent rendering of animated graphics is studied. A testing platform is implemented to evaluate selected rendering backends based on state-of-the-art rendering algorithms and widely used vector graphics libraries. The selected rendering algorithms were selected because they were lacking results for animated graphics. The objectives of the work are achieved through the analysis of the results produced by the animation platform on specifically designed scenarios. The performance of the renderers is evaluated in terms of frame time and sensitivity to various parameters defining the animation. The results showed that the algorithms not originally designed for rendering animated graphics are applicable for this task but tradeoffs have to be made to choose a suitable rendering backend.

Over the past few decades there have emerged greater possibilities for users and consumers of media to create or engage in the creation of digital media technologies. This PhD dissertation explores the ways in which the broadening of possibilities for making technologies, specifically software, has been taken advantage of by new producers of digital culture – freelancers, aspiring digital media creators and small studios – in the production of digital visual media. It is based on two empirical case studies that concern the making of free software for computer graphics animation production in two contexts: by a loose collective of anime fans in Siberia, Russia, and by a small animation studio in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The case studies are presented and analysed in the scope of four journal articles and one book chapter which form the core of the dissertation. The dissertation draws on a media practice perspective and an understanding of software as an artefact that concentrates and mediates specific infrastructural arrangements that entangle politics of technological production, economic interests and practice-related concerns. The analytical focus of the research problematises in particular practices of software decommodification and its further repair and development by non-programmers; the anchoring of software development and repair in actual production practices of computer graphics animations; and a commitment to sharing software, animations and other artefacts online as commons. The thesis combines several concepts from anthropology and science and technology studies to theorise these practices: – politics and regimes of value (Appadurai, 1986); repair and artful integrations (Jackson, 2014; Suchman, 2000); gifting (Baudrillard, 1981; Mauss, 1925/2002) and autonomy (cf Bourdieu, 1993). Bringing together these concepts, the dissertation regards them as constitutive and indicative of what I refer to as ‘media-related infrastructuring practices’, or practices in which non-programmers generate infrastructures through creating and mediating arrangements around technical artefacts like software. The results of the dissertation indicate how making free software for computer graphics media is entangled in diverse conditions of technological unevenness that may enable, but also limit, the possibilities of aspiring media creators to improve their status or work positions in the broader field of digital media.
Under det senaste decenniet har nya medieteknologier för kommunikationoch digitalt skapande möjliggjort för såväl professionella medieproducentersom amatörer att skapa och sprida olika typer av medieinnehåll. Samtidigt finns fler möjligheter än tidigare att bidra till utvecklingen av digitala medieteknologer, såsom programvaruverktyg och infrastrukturer för att producera och cirkulera medieinnehåll (t.ex. Coleman, 2013; Kannengießer,2016; Kubitschko, 2017; Löwgren and Reimer, 2013; Ratto, 2011; Rosneroch Fox, 2016; Toombs et al., 2014). Denna avhandling undersöker hur dessa ökade möjligheter för skapandet av teknologier och infrastrukturer för digital medieproduktion, i synnerhet programvara, har tagits tillvara av mediekreatörer som arbetar, eller strävar efter att arbeta, med datorgrafik. Avhandlingen fokuserar på kulturella, teknologiska och ekonomiska praktiker genom vilka frilansare, oetablerade mediekreatörer och mindre produktionsbolag skapar användardrivna programvaror. Med användardriven avser jag programvara som utvecklas av dess användare: digitalkonstnärer, amatörer och professionellaskapare av digitalt visuell media, snarare än de industriella producenter som traditionellt satt de tekniska ramarna för medieproduktion. Avhandlingen baseras på två empiriska fallstudier som rör skapandet av fri programvara för datoranimation. Med fri programvara avses program där användarna har frihet att använda, kopiera, distribuera, studera, ändra och förbättra programvaran (GNUProject, 2017). De huvudsakliga forskningsfrågorna är: a) hur skapare av datorgrafik utvecklar, formar och guidarde fria programvaror som utgör ett alternativ till industriella programvarorför digital animation, och b) vilken mening dessa alternativ tillskrivs när de används i medieproduktion. Den första fallstudien fokuserar på arbetet av Blender Institute, en oberoende animationsstudio i Amsterdam, Nederländerna. Sedan 2006 har studion arbetat med att utveckla och förbättra en populär programvara för 3D-animation, Blender. Detta har skett genom skapandet av så kallade ‘open-source animation films’, korta animerade filmer med höga produktionsvärden genom vilka programvara, filmelement och utbildning i programvaranhar delats online. Genom den här fallstudien har jag diskuterat programvaruutveckling i en kontext av delningsekonomi. Jag har visat hur strategiskt delande kan vara ett sätt att erövra en maktposition inom digitalmedieproduktion. Jag har också belyst de olika spänningar som uppstår när kulturproducenter söker förena olika perspektiv på programvaror, individuella ambitioner och existerande marknadsstrukturer. Den andra fallstudien fokuserar på praktikerna av Morevna project, ett kollektiv av animé-fans, geografiskt situerade i staden Gorno-Altaysk, i ryska Sibirien. Kollektivet har skapat korta datoranimerade filmer genom vilka man utforskat, lagat och distribuerat den fria programvara de använt i sina produktioner: Synfig för 2D animering. I denna fallstudie har jag argumenterat för värdet av att undersöka spänningar, misslyckanden och lagning snarare än innovationer för att förstå hur alternativa infrastrukturerför digital medieproduktion kan uppstå i kontexter starkt präglade av piratverksamhet. Fallstudierna presenteras och analyseras i fyra olika tidskriftsartiklar och ett bokkapitel, som alla ingår i denna avhandling. De tre första artiklarna svarar mot den första forskningsfrågan och de två sista artiklarna mot den andra. Metodologiskt utgår avhandlingen ifrån kvalitativa ansatser, såsom grounded theory och etnografi. Det empiriska materialet har samlats inmellan 2012 och 2016. Som en del av fältarbetet har jag genomfört kvalitativaintervjuer med 37 informanter. Bland dessa ingår skapare av datorgrafikoch animationer, programmerare och projektledare på Blender Institute och i Morevna. Teoretiskt utgår avhandlingen från ett perspektiv på medier som praktik (Couldry, 2004, 2012). Specifika praktiker som analyseras och teoretiseras i artiklarna är dekommodifiering av programvara; förankrandet av lagningav programvara i medieproduktion; samt delning online av programvara, filmer och filmmaterial; produktionsarbete; samt utbildningsmaterial. Praktikerna analyseras genom begreppen politics and regimes of value (Appadurai, 1986); repair och artful integrations (Jackson, 2014; Suchman,2000); och gifting (Baudrillard, 1981; Mauss, 1925/2002). Jag har också utgått från begreppet autonomi (jfr. Bourdieu, 1993) för att utforska frågan om meningsproduktion vid utveckling av användardriven fri programvaraför medieproduktion. Begreppen beskriver hur olika relationer upprätthålls mellan digitala artefakter, ekonomi och personer. Jag förenar dem i ett gemensamt teoretiskt ramverk genom begreppet infrastructuring (Karasti och Syrjänen, 2004) från science and technology studies. Genom detta begrepp vidgar jag perspektivet på medier som praktik med fokus på praktiker där icke-programmerare och amatörer skapar digitala infrastrukturer genom att integrera nya verktyg och teknik med socialt praktik. Resultaten av denna studie visar hur skapandet av fri programvara av frilansare, oetablerade mediekreatörer och mindre produktionsbolag är ett sätt att skapa infrastrukturell trygghet på en osäker arbetsmarknad. Olika former av autonomi förhandlas i relation till olika konfigurationer av infrastrukturer för teknikproduktion och distribution, till exempel infrastrukturerför piratkopiering eller för att komma runt industriellt skapade begränsningar i förändringen av programvara. I linje med Jackson (2014) betonar jag vikten av att väga upp diskursen kring ‘användarinnovation’ (von Hippel, 2005) genom att betrakta misslyckanden, förfall och haverier som en del av processen av att utveckla nya medier och ny medieteknik, och på så sätt omförhandla uppdelningen och hierarkin mellan olika medieproducenter. Programvaruförfall, dekommodifiering och åldrande kan göra programvaror till ‘residual media’ (Acland, 2007), som i sig kan fungera som en plats där mening, värde och maktförhållanden omförhandlas och skapas på nytt. Dessa omförhandlingar är inte sprungna ur snabba och spontana förändringsprocesser möjliggjorda genom nätverk av kommunikationsteknologier. Snarare karakteriseras de av långsamhet (Paper 3), strategi, dolt kapital (Paper 2), samt konstant förhandling mellan olika intressen (Paper 1, 4 och 5). Litteratur som behandlar organisationen av öppen medieproduktion baserad på allmänningar såsom fri programvara och digitala artefakter som delas online har ofta beskrivits som något som utvecklas organiskt när de frikopplats från etablerade upphovsrättsformer (t.ex. Benkler, 2006; Shirky, 2009). Denna avhandling visar dock att det krävs strategiskt och långsiktigt engagemang för att skapa och etablera en programvara, engagera grupper av användare och integrera programvaran i aktuell medieproduktion. Dessutom antas det ofta att det är hackare, programmerare eller ingenjörer som har makten att tänka ut och realisera faktiska infrastrukturer för digital medieproduktion. Denna studie visardock att mikroanställningar och retorik gör det möjligt även för användare att initiera och påverka medieteknikutvecklingen (Paper 5). Genom att anlägga ett perspektiv på medier som praktik och utveckla det perspektivet med begreppet infrastructuring till det jag kallar för ‘mediarelated infrastructuring practices’ har jag visat hur användardriven programvara och infrastrukturer för datografik skapas och stabiliseras genom att skapa nya och integrera existerande resurser i det digitala medielandskapet. Detta perspektiv öppnar upp möjligheter för att etablera kopplingar mellan olika delfält inom medievetenskapen som fokuserar på medieproduktion, såsom studier av industriell medieproduktion; amatördriven öppenteknikproduktion; samt studier av medieinfrastruktur. Genom infrastructuring kan man se hur medieproducenter skapar nya, förändrar och kritiserar existerande arbetsrelationer, ekonomiska relationer samt kunskapsrelationer. Dessutom kan det växande fältet av infrastrukturstudierutvecklas genom att byta fokus från studier av stora etablerade medieinfrastrukturertill processer av pågående infrastrukturformering av mindre och nya aktörer i det digitala medielandskapet. Sammanfattningsvis bidrar denna avhandling med empiriskt material vilket skapar en större förståelse för formeringen av delar av de digitalamedieproduktionsinfrastrkturer genom en analys av skapandet av användardrivenfri programvara för digital animation. Den bidrar också teoretiskt till en utveckling av perspektivet på medier som praktik (Couldry, 2012). Metodologiskt bidrar den genom att betona värdet av platsbaserad deltagande observation och etnografi även i sammanhang av decentraliserad medieproduktionspraktik. Den bidrar även till att skapa en större förståelse för produktionen av tekniken som underbygger och möjliggör de visuella uttrycken som präglar det mesta av vårt digitala medieinnehållsutbud idag.

Visualization of volumetric data has always been useful in big va- riety of ways, for example computer tomography (CT) and magnet resonance tomography (MRT) are two major applications of this sorts of algorithms. Since volumetric data has no limitation regarding the shape of the object that ordinary mesh algorithms has we can fully reconstruct anything using the Marching cubes algorithm. New tech- niques allow us to implement this algorithm by new and exible means. Here we will use the latest of DirectX technology to run marching cubes in realtime using compute shaders.
kristoffer.swe@gmail.com

The integration of Information Communication Technology in schools is a process that has already started, and that tend to change sooner or later, the profile of the teaching-learning process. The animation software can become an alternative to streamline the process of teaching and learning of physics, making it more meaningful for the student. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the concepts of physics teachers in high school about the software of animation as a pedagogical tool in the classroom and provide opportunities for learning. For this, we established a theoretical framework on the evaluation criteria and definition of software for animation as a pedagogical tool, know the difficulties that teachers of physics are in the process of teaching-learning software transformations characterize the thermodynamic analysis prior to the teachers and analyze the conceptions of the same software on the animation. Then, we established a theoretical framework on the evaluation criteria and definition of software for animation as a pedagogical tool, know the difficulties that teachers of physics are in the process of teaching-learning software transformations characterize the thermodynamic analysis prior to the teachers and analyze the conceptions of the same software on the animation. For this purpose, as a theoretical contribution to the meaningful learning theory of David Ausubel. For the development of the research we used a qualitative methodology using a semi-structured interview. Accordingly, from the theoretical framework and concepts of the teachers can see that one of the main characteristics of software as a tool for teaching animation classes in experimental physics is how it can facilitate the process of teaching learning and the student must construct the their knowledge of the theoretical and experimental, between the static and dynamic. We also show that the conceptions of teachers could validate the set of criteria defined in the theoretical framework that are predominant in the learning process with this type of tool, which are the basis used in the construction of educational software and the technical aspects.
A inserção das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação nas escolas é um processo que já foi iniciado, e que, tenderá a modificar, mais cedo ou mais tarde, o perfil do processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Os softwares de animação podem se tornar uma alternativa para dinamizar o processo de ensino-aprendizagem de Física, tornandoo mais significativo para o aluno. Por isso, este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar as concepções dos professores de Física do ensino médio sobre o software de animação como instrumento pedagógico nas aulas e as possibilidades de proporcionar a aprendizagem. Para isso, estabelecemos um quadro teórico sobre os critérios de avaliação e definição de software de animação como instrumento pedagógico; conhecemos as dificuldades que os professores de Física encontram no processo de ensino-aprendizagem; caracterizamos o software Transformações Termodinâmicas para análise prévia dos professores e analisamos as concepções dos mesmos sobre o software de animação. Para tanto, utilizamos como aporte teórico a teoria da aprendizagem significativa de David Ausubel. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, foi utilizada uma metodologia qualitativa através de uma entrevista semiestruturada. Nesse sentido, a partir do quadro teórico e das concepções dos professores, podemos vislumbrar que uma das principais características de um software de animação, como ferramenta pedagógica nas aulas experimentais de Física, é como ele pode favorecer o processo de ensino aprendizagem, como o aluno deve construir o seu conhecimento entre o teórico e o experimental, entre o estático e o dinâmico. Podemos também evidenciar, que as concepções dos professores puderam validar o conjunto de critérios definidos no quadro teórico que são preponderantes no processo de aprendizagem com esse tipo de ferramenta, que são: a base pedagógica utilizada na construção do software e os aspectos técnicos.

Orientação: Pedro Faria dos Santos Filho
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química
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Resumo: As animações deste trabalho foram desenvolvidas utilizando o software Blender®. Este software, de código aberto e gratuito, é atualmente um dos recursos computacionais mais avançados para modelagem e animação em 3D. As animações foram planejadas para serem usadas em sala de aula e, portanto, são desprovidas de narração e legenda. Os assuntos contemplados foram: Teoria do Orbital Atômico, distribuição eletrônica, hibridização, Teoria do Orbital Molecular, Teoria de Ligação de Valência, Teoria VSEPR, estruturas de Lewis, estruturas cristalinas dos compostos iônicos e metais (cela unitária, empacotamento e retículo cristalino), transformações químicas e polímeros. As animações de maior interesse estão relacionadas com a teoria do orbital atômico e molecular. As animações foram avaliadas no IQ-UNICAMP através de questionários respondidos pelos alunos da disciplina de pós-graduação QP443, e pelos alunos da disciplina de graduação QG101. No questionário da disciplina QP443, procurouse descobrir o planejamento que o professor deve fazer para inserir as animações em uma aula tradicional. No questionário da disciplina QG101, procurou-se avaliar a contribuição que as animações podem dar para o ensino-aprendizado de Química em aulas presenciais. As animações também foram avaliadas através das informações fornecidas pela estatística dos websites www.quimica3d.com e www.youtube.com/user/m770596. As respostas dos questionários aplicados nas disciplinas QG101 e QP443 permitem-nos concluir que as animações facilitaram a visualização tridimensional e estimularam o desenvolvimento da capacidade de abstração dos alunos. As informações da estatística do canal www.youtube/user/m770596 e do website www.quimica3d.com mostram que houve grande interesse pelas animações.
Abstract: The animations of this work were developed using the Blender ® software. This free and open-source software is currently one of the most advanced computing resources for 3D modeling and animation. The animations were designed for classroom application and for this reason they have no narration and subtitles. The topics covered were: Atomic Orbital Theory, electronic distribution, hybridization, Molecular Orbital Theory, Valence Bond Theory, VSEPR Theory, Lewis structures, crystal structure of ionic compounds and metals (unit cell, packing and crystal lattice), chemical transformations and polymers. The animations of most interest are related to atomic and molecular orbital theory. The animations were valued at the IQ-UNICAMP through questionnaires answered by the QP443 discipline postgraduate students, and by the QG101 discipline undergraduate students. In the questionnaire of the QP443 discipline, we intended to find the schedule that the teacher should use to insert the animations in a traditional classroom. In the questionnaire of the QG101 discipline, we intended to evaluate the contribution of the animations to Chemistry teaching and learning in classroom. The animations were also valued through the information given by the statistics of the www.youtube.com/user/m770596 YouTube channel and www.quimica3d.com website. The answers from the questionnaires of the QG101 and QP443 disciplines allowed us to conclude that the three-dimensional visualization animations facilitated and stimulated the development of students' capacity for abstraction. The statistical information from the www.youtube/user/m770596 YouTube channel and www.quimica3d.com website showed that there was great interest for the animations.
Doutorado
Quimica Inorganica
Doutor em Ciências

The use and development of open source software has increased significantly in the last decade. The high frequency of changes and releases across a distributed environment requires good project management tools in order to control the process adequately. However, even with these tools in place, the nature of the development and the fact that developers will often work on many other projects simultaneously, means that the developers are unlikely to have a clear picture of the current state of the project at any time. Furthermore, the poor documentation associated with many projects has a detrimental effect when encouraging new developers to contribute to the software. A typical version control repository contains a mine of information that is not always obvious and not easy to comprehend in its raw form. However, presenting this historical data in a suitable format by using software visualisation techniques allows the evolution of the software over a number of releases to be shown. This allows the changes that have been made to the software to be identified clearly, thus ensuring that the effect of those changes will also be emphasised. This then enables both managers and developers to gain a more detailed view of the current state of the project. The visualisation of evolving software introduces a number of new issues. This thesis investigates some of these issues in detail, and recommends a number of solutions in order to alleviate the problems that may otherwise arise. The solutions are then demonstrated in the definition of two new visualisations. These use historical data contained within version control repositories to show the evolution of the software at a number of levels of granularity. Additionally, animation is used as an integral part of both visualisations - not only to show the evolution by representing the progression of time, but also to highlight the changes that have occurred. Previously, the use of animation within software visualisation has been primarily restricted to small-scale, hand generated visualisations. However, this thesis shows the viability of using animation within software visualisation with automated visualisations on a large scale. In addition, evaluation of the visualisations has shown that they are suitable for showing the changes that have occurred in the software over a period of time, and subsequently how the software has evolved. These visualisations are therefore suitable for use by developers and managers involved with open source software. In addition, they also provide a basis for future research in evolutionary visualisations, software evolution and open source development.

The animated vehicle turning path simulation system on Internet/Intranet web browser presented in this project is intended to provide civil engineers with an easy-to-use, all functional simulation system that could help them with highway and street design.

Orientadores: José Mario De Martino, Harlen Costa Batagelo
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Computação
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Resumo: A modelagem e animação de rugas faciais têm sido tarefas desafiadoras, devido à variedade de conformações e sutilezas de detalhes que as rugas podem exibir. Neste trabalho, são descritos dois métodos de apresentação de rugas em tempo real, utilizando as modernas GPUs. Ambos os métodos são baseados no uso de shaders em GPU e em uma abordagem de normal mapping para aplicar rugas sobre modelos virtuais. O primeiro método utiliza áreas de influência descritas por mapas de textura para calcular a exibição de rugas sobre o modelo, controlados por um "Vetor de Ativação", que informa ao shader a visibilidade das rugas em cada uma das áreas de influência. O segundo método apresenta rugas nos modelos faciais, utilizando as informações de deslocamento dos vértices em direções pré-definidas, informadas através de um "Vetor Direção de Rugas", que informa o sentido que o deslocamento de um vértice causa o surgimento de rugas
Abstract: The modeling and animation of facial wrinkles have been challenging tasks, due to the variety of conformations and detail subtleness that the wrinkles can display. In this paper, we describe two methods to present wrinkles in real time, using modern GPUs. Both methods are based on the use of GPU shaders and a normal mapping approach to apply wrinkles on virtual models. The first method uses influence areas described by texture maps to calculate the display of wrinkles on the model, controlled by an "Activation Vector", which tells the shader the appearance of wrinkles in each area of influence. The second method presents wrinkles on facial models using the vertex displacement information in predetermined directions, informed by a "Wrinkles Direction Vector", informing the direction that the displacement of a vertex causes the presentation of wrinkles
Mestrado
Engenharia de Computação
Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação

The work presented in this thesis is concerned with the issues involved in writing and demonstrating formal specifications of information systems written in Z. The use of Z in software development, to enhance productivity and improve software quality, is not without its problems. Whilst the notation itself is highly developed, ways of systematically using Z to create specifications are, by contrast, poorly documented. Also, given that most commissioners of software are not skilled in reading Z, ways of demonstrating the important features of a formal Z specification to a customer are needed if the effective validation of the specification against user requirements is to take place. In this thesis we present a systematic approach, known as OPERATOR, for developing Z specifications and evaluate it against the issues identified for writing formal specifications. We also look at various ways of demonstrating Z specifications. We describe how Z specifications may be animated using Crystal, but go on to present a prototype CASE tool, known as Zappa, that may be used to create and demonstrate faithful animations of Z specifications. The thesis starts with a thorough review of software engineering and of the development and rise of formal methods. The development of the OPERATOR approach is then given along with a review of animation, a description of the Crystal technique, and the development of the CASE tool Zappa. An evaluation of the research against the stated aims is presented and areas where future research is needed are pointed out.

The project focuses on computer tools suitable for particular game genres and how they are used to develop 3D computer games. As part of learning about the tools, the author developed a 3D computer adventure game called "Adventures of Smiley" using Macromedia Director MX and 3D Studio Max. The game's purpose is to engage children using a friendly interface while they learn about different topics in various subject areas through lessons and puzzles. The research gathered information about the current game industry, technologies and game genres, which can be used as a reference for the beginning level game programmer. The project documentation and the game are also published on the Internet and can be freely accessed online.

This thesis was developed as an assignment from Ludosity Interactive where the goal was to develop a copy of the Xbox Live Indie Games-marketplace from the Xbox 360. Ludosity Interactive had a necessity to easily test a game's attractiveness to potential customers using testing people from outside the company in a simulated Xbox Live Indie Games test environment; excluding this developed system there is no other way to do such an analysis without actually releasing the game on the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace and then analyze the resulting sales from the product. The finished system had to be similar to the original system to the degree that a user could see past the interface itself and use the system just as he/she would have used the real marketplace. It also had to be easy to change and add games to the system so that Ludosity Interactive easily could show the games and the data that they deemed interesting for their tests. The final product was developed using C#, XNA and XML together with an Agileinspired development method in combination with Pivotal Tracker. This report describes how this product was developed.
Detta examensarbete utfördes som uppdrag åt Ludosity Interactive där målet var att utveckla en kopia av Xbox Live Indie Games-marknadsplatsens gränssnittet från Xbox 360:n. Ludosity Interactive hade ett behov av att enkelt kunna testa ett spels attraktionskraft hos potentiella kunder med hjälp av utomstående testpersoner i en simulerad testmiljö; utöver detta systemet finns det inget sätt att kunna göra en sådan analys utan att släppa produkten på Xbox Live Indie Games-marknaden och sedan analysera försäljningen av produkten. Det färdiga systemet var tvunget att vara såpass snarlikt originalförlagan att en användare skulle kunna förbi se själva gränssnittet och använda det precis som de använder den riktiga marknadsplatsen. Det skulle också vara enkelt att kunna förändra och lägga spel i systemet så att som Ludosity Interactive lätt kan visa de spelen och den data de anser intressant för sina tester. Den färdiga produkten utvecklades med hjälp av C#, XNA och XML samt en Agile-inspirerad utvecklingsmetod i kombination med Pivotal Tracker. Denna rapport beskriver hur den produkten definierades och utvecklades.

Tese de doutoramento em Informática
During the development of software systems, validation is a crucial activity to guarantee that the software system ful lls the users' needs and expectations. A key issue to have a successful validation consists in adopting a process where users and clients can actively discuss the requirements of the system under development. A reactive system is expected to continuously interact with its environment. Usually, the interaction of a reactive system with its environment is supported by a set of nonterminating processes that operate in parallel. During the interaction, the reactive system must answer to high-priority events, even when the system is executing something else. Due to above characteristics, the behaviour of reactive systems can be very complex. The approach suggested in this thesis assumes that the requirements of reactive software systems are partially described by use case diagrams, and each use case is detailed by a collection of scenario descriptions. Within this approach, one can obtain, from a set of behavioural scenarios of a given system, an executable behavioural model that can support, when complemented with animation- and domain-speci c elements, a graphical animation for reproducing that set of scenarios for validation purposes. Animating the scenarios using graphical elements from the application domain ensures an e ective involvement of the users in the system's validation. The Coloured Petri nets (CPNs) modelling language is used as the notation to obtain the behavioural models, due to its natural support for mechanisms like concurrency, synchronisation, and resource sharing and its tool support. The obtained CPN model is guaranteed to be (1) parametric, allowing an easy modi cation of the initial conditions of the scenarios, (2) environment-descriptive, meaning that it includes the state of the relevant elements of the environment, and (3) animation-separated, implying that the elements related to the animation are separated from the other ones. We validate our approach based on its application to three case studies of reactive systems.
Durante o desenvolvimento de sistemas de software, a validação é uma actividade crucial para garantir que o sistema de software satisfaz as necessidades e expectativas do utilizador. O sucesso na validação consiste na utilização de um processo onde os utilizadores e os clientes possam discutir de uma forma activa os requisitos do sistema que está a ser desenvolvido. Um sistema reactivo está continuamente em interacção com o seu ambiente, que é geralmente suportada por um conjunto de processos intermináveis que operam em paralelo. Durante a interacção, o sistema reactivo dever a responder aos eventos com alta prioridade, mesmo quando o sistema está a executar algo diferente. Devido às características anteriores, o comportamento dos sistemas reactivos pode ser muito complexo. A abordagem sugerida nesta tese assume que os requisitos de sistemas reactivos são em parte descritos por diagramas de casos de uso e que cada caso de uso é detalhado por uma colecção de descrições de cenários. Nesta abordagem, é possível obter, a partir de um conjunto de cenários de um dado sistema, um modelo comportamental que seja executável e que suporte, quando complementado com elementos específicos, uma animação gráfica que reproduza aquele conjunto de cenários para fins de validação. A animação dos cenários utilizando elementos gráficos do domínio da aplicação garante um envolvimento efectivo dos utilizadores na validação do sistema. A linguagem de modelação redes de Petri coloridas (CPNs) é usada como a notação para obter os modelos comportamentais, devido ao seu suporte natural a mecanismos como a concorrência, sincronização e partilha de recursos, e às suas ferramentas de suporte. Se as recomendações da abordagem proposta foram seguidas, temos a garantia que o modelo CPN: (1) parametriza as condições iniciais dos cenários, (2) contém uma descrição do ambiente, incluindo o estado dos seus elementos, e (3) separa os elementos relacionados com a animação dos outros elementos do modelo. A validação da nossa abordagem tem por base a sua aplicação a três casos de estudo de sistemas reactivos.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) SFRH/BD/19718/2004

There continue to be a proliferation of simulation/animation software packages. These packages typically are not designed to communicate in a general fashion with others, or if they do, often require tight restrictions on the conceptual designs of their partners typically in terms of temporal management. Attempting to combine and coordinate such disparate packages leads to the requirement of a system for the manipulation, configuration, and synchronization of communication between them. The form of such a communication system is naturally described in terms of a graph; thus, the need for a means to utilize some sort of graph or network as a computational engine arises. A particular formulation of coloured Petri nets (CPNs) is seen to be an effective vehicle to this end; in addition, a system built out of CPNs has the ability to be directly analyzed, since that is what CPNs were originally devised for. This work demonstrates an efficient implementation method which also leads to additional, desirable features such as permitting a hierarchical construction language.

碩士
大葉大學
設計暨藝術學院碩士在職專班
100
This paper aims to study the instrumental factors that influence Vocational High School students majoring in Data Processing Department to learn of Flash animation software system, which includes potential difficulties for students, peer influence, and teachers’ teaching situational environments. The first part of the study discusses multimedia and network, and introduces Flash animation software. Next, we have a questionnaire survey about learning FLASH animation software that discovers students’ effect of learning, and cause-effect relation. Then, through SPSS statistical software system, we organize the data and evaluate the participants’ learning effects. Finally, we use statistical information, make a cost analysis and provide constructive advice. The questionnaire has been involved with high school students majoring in Data Processing as participants among various areas including Taipei, Taichung and Changhua. In total, we have received 200 valid questionnaires for this research. The research reveals us that learning effects could be enhanced by the factors below: teachers’ step-by-step teaching skills, students’ proficient programming language and language skills. On the other hand, teachers could create a fun learning environment that will increase students’ interests to learn and have better learning consequences. We hope to share our feedback with other FLASH animation teachers that we associate with in the field; as a result, we could adjust our teaching approaches better or create greater environments for students that will have superior effects of learning.

碩士
大葉大學
電機工程學系
97
When the hearing-impaired people express themselves by speaking, they could not know if they pronounce correctly because of the blocked feedback. This paper provides a set of visual aid interface to help them. They can “see” the sound via spectrogram, pitch contour and FLASH animation. We hope that the users can get more feedback information with this interface and the auxiliary equipments they already have in hand. By FLASH animation, we can clearly see the pronunciation position of each phone. One can compare the spectrogram and pitch contour of his sound to that of a model sound. Our system allows the user to edit the contents and example sound.Teachers and parents can design the contents base on various demands of different hearing-impaired people. We tested this system with a hearing-impaired person. During the process, the subject received the visual feedback of the phonetic signal and attempted to change the way she pronounced. We can see some improvements through this visual aid. Key Words: spectrogram, pitch contour, formant, endpoint detection, FLASH animation

How might capabilities for algorithm animation be seamlessly integrated into a programming language that is both visual and declarative? Until now, visual programming language researchers have not attempted to answer that question, making the fruits of algorithm animation available only to users of textual programming languages. Users of visual programming languages (VPLs) have been deprived of the unique semantic insights algorithm animation offers, insights that would foster the understanding and debugging of visual programs. We have answered the question by seamlessly integrating algorithm animation capabilities into Forms/3, a general-purpose, declarative VPL. Our results show that such a VPL can support algorithm animation without leaving the declarative, visual model, without adding new concepts to the language or how to program in it, and without deviating from the uniform representation established for the language. In addition, our research shows that the characteristics of declarative VPLs result in some interesting algorithm animation features not found in other systems.
Graduation date: 1995

碩士
嶺東科技大學
數位媒體設計研究所
99
This paper intends to construct a secondary rig control system inside 3D Animation software Maya: “Joint Control Mel”, a rig control system can build rigs with multi-character and multi-movement controlling capabilities. To attain this goal, on first stage is to present the procedure of programming the secondary system inside MAYA and user’s interface—Joint Control Mel. It is designed to simplify the complicate configuring process, to save users’ time of producing the rigs of characters, and simultaneously to increase the time of producing characters’ movements. On the second stage is to interview experts, analyze and discuss the results of interviews. The questionnaire includes: (1) Controlling interface; (2) Creating selections; (3) Configuring movement; and (4) Attaching functions. Conclusively, the new secondary rig control system provides the users with an economic and swift apparatus. The insights of experts provide the foundations for further study and progressions.

In animated film production, a great bulk of work goes into animating and scene layout. Currently, the industry is centered around flat screens and keyboard and mouse interfaces, which require a substantial amount of time to lay out scene sets and animate shots, resulting in high production costs and lengthy production schedules. This study was designed to determine whether immersive VR interfaces could reduce the time taken to lay out 3D scene sets and animate those scenes compared to traditional interfaces. More specifically, this study compared the time 38 participants took to set up and animate a 3D scene by using two different interfaces, e.g. a VR immersive interface and a traditional mouse and keyboard interface. Further, the study investigated subjects’ interface preference. Findings show that the virtual reality interface was about twice as fast for laying out the scene as the traditional interface. When surveyed, participants preferred the virtual reality interface by a large margin over the provided traditional interface.

碩士
國立彰化師範大學
資訊管理學系所
101
This study aimed to explore whether the facial emotion recognition materials created by facial animation software can improve the skill of facial emotion recognition for special education students. The study is divided into two parts: preliminary and major experiment. Preliminary experiment uses the questionnaire survey procedure to evaluate the suitability of facial animation software used to produce the facial emotion recognition materials. The major experimental adopted the one-group pretest-posttest design to assess whether the facial emotion recognition materials can improve the skill of facial emotion recognition for special education students. The subject consists of four resource class students in Changhua County Elementary School. First, give the students a pretest. Then, let them learn the facial emotion recognition skill by watching the facial emotion recognition materials. Finally, give them a posttest. After the experiment, we used the paired t-test for statistical analysis. The results show that posttest scores were significantly higher than pretest. It indicated that applying facial animation software can truly improve the skill of facial emotion recognition for students in special education.

碩士
國立彰化師範大學
工業教育與技術學系
96
The purpose of the research was to investigate the effects of cooperative learning approach on junior high school students’ learning achievement, learning enthusiasm, and classroom atmosphere in learning Flash animation software of computer science. The experiment proceeded as a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. A total 78 students from two classes of the second year junior high students participated in this research and were divided into two groups by class, as experimental and control groups respectively. During eight weeks, the experimental group was taught with cooperative learning and the control group was taught with the traditional instruction. The instruments used in the research included “achievement test in learning computer animation software”, “classroom atmosphere questionnaire”, and “learning motivation questionnaire”. Statistical techniques such as independent sample t-test and analysis of covariance were used to analyze the collected data. The conclusions of the research were summarized as follows: 1. Students of cooperative learning had significantly better performance than those of traditional approach on the Computer Learning Achievement Test of Flash animation software. 2. Class of cooperative learning did not show significant difference from that of traditional approach in “learning enthusiasm”. 3. Class of cooperative learning did not show significant difference from that of traditional teaching instruction in “classroom atmosphere”. However, its extent of “peer support” showed significant difference. Based on the findings and results, a list of suggestions were proposed for cooperative learning approach applied in teaching Flash animation software, and for further studies.

Le développement du logiciel actuel doit faire face de plus en plus à la complexité de programmes gigantesques, élaborés et maintenus par de grandes équipes réparties dans divers lieux. Dans ses tâches régulières, chaque intervenant peut avoir à répondre à des questions variées en tirant des informations de sources diverses. Pour améliorer le rendement global du développement, nous proposons d'intégrer dans un IDE populaire (Eclipse) notre nouvel outil de visualisation (VERSO) qui calcule, organise, affiche et permet de naviguer dans les informations de façon cohérente, efficace et intuitive, afin de bénéficier du système visuel humain dans l'exploration de données variées. Nous proposons une structuration des informations selon trois axes : (1) le contexte (qualité, contrôle de version, bogues, etc.) détermine le type des informations ; (2) le niveau de granularité (ligne de code, méthode, classe, paquetage) dérive les informations au niveau de détails adéquat ; et (3) l'évolution extrait les informations de la version du logiciel désirée. Chaque vue du logiciel correspond à une coordonnée discrète selon ces trois axes, et nous portons une attention toute particulière à la cohérence en naviguant entre des vues adjacentes seulement, et ce, afin de diminuer la charge cognitive de recherches pour répondre aux questions des utilisateurs. Deux expériences valident l'intérêt de notre approche intégrée dans des tâches représentatives. Elles permettent de croire qu'un accès à diverses informations présentées de façon graphique et cohérente devrait grandement aider le développement du logiciel contemporain.
Nowadays, software development has to deal more and more with huge complex programs, constructed and maintained by large teams working in different locations. During their daily tasks, each developer may have to answer varied questions using information coming from different sources. In order to improve global performance during software development, we propose to integrate into a popular integrated development environment (Eclipse) our new visualization tool (VERSO), which computes, organizes, displays and allows navigation through information in a coherent, effective, and intuitive way in order to benefit from the human visual system when exploring complex data. We propose to structure information along three axes: (1) context (quality, version control, etc.) determines the type of information; (2) granularity level (code line, method, class, and package) determines the appropriate level of detail; and (3) evolution extracts information from the desired software version. Each software view corresponds to a discrete coordinate according to these three axes. Coherence is maintained by navigating only between adjacent views, which reduces cognitive effort as users search information to answer their questions. Two experiments involving representative tasks have validated the utility of our integrated approach. The results lead us to believe that an access to varied information represented graphically and coherently should be highly beneficial to the development of modern software.

With the interactivity and immersion of players into video games, rising development costs, and heightened expectations from AAA developers video games need to make sure they hit their target market more than ever. This is something that is less extreme in the educational game development space; but ultimately true with limited grant funding, limited development time within a student developer’s schedule, and how rapidly a recently leased student content creator will need to learn the space and needs of the client. When a student is brought on late into a development cycle, it can become troublesome when they are required to meet new developing features on a changing project. This paper looks over how one team approached this issue, with a focus on meeting the needs of a group of American high school teachers. Within this paper, the focus is how they tackled the issue, and how the teachers reacted to the end prototype, with some insight into the older prototypes of the project. Throughout it they had reinforced the ideas that communication, data validity, and set contract goals are important identifiers for project success. Teachers looking at video games care more about the data being valid and clearly communicated more than if a game is fun or laden with features and mini-games.

It was the purpose of this design study to explore the Geometer’s Sketchpad dynamic mathematics software as a tool to model the derivative in introductory calculus in a manner that would foster a deeper conceptual understanding of the concept – developing domain specific understanding. Sketchpad’s transformation capabilities have been proved useful in the exploration of mathematical concepts by younger learners, college students and professors. The prospect of an open-ended exploration of mathematical concepts motivated the author to pursue the possibility of representing the concept of derivative in dynamic forms. Contemporary CAS studies have predominantly dwelt on static algebraic, graphical and numeric representations and the connections that students are expected to make between them. The dynamic features of Sketchpad and such like software, have not been elaborately examined in so far as they have the potential to bridge the gap between actions, processes and concepts on the one hand and between representations on the other. In this study Sketchpad model-eliciting activities were designed, piloted and revised before a final implementation phase with undergraduate non-math major science students enrolled for an introductory calculus course. Although most of these students had some pre-calculus and calculus background, their performance in the introductory course remained dismal and their grasp of the derivative slippery. The dual meaning of the derivative as the instantaneous rate of change and as the rate of change function was modeled in Sketchpad’s multiple representational capabilities. Six forms of representation were identified: static symbolic, static graphic, static numeric, dynamic graphic, dynamic numeric and occasionally dynamic symbolic. The activities enabled students to establish conceptual links between these representations. Students were able to switch systematically from one form of (foreground or background) representation to another leading to a unique qualitative understanding of the derivative as the invariant concept across the representations. Experimental students scored significantly higher in the posttest than in the pretest. However, in comparison with control group students the experimental students performed significantly better than control students in non-routine problems. A cyclical model of developing a deeper concept image of the derivative is therefore proposed in this study.
Educational Studies
D. Ed. (Education)

The subject of teacher competencies or knowledge has been a key issue in mathematics education reform. This study attempts to identify and analyze teacher competencies necessary in the orchestration of a problem-centred approach to dynamic geometry teaching and learning. The advent of dynamic geometry environments into classrooms has placed new demands and expectations on mathematics teachers. In this study the Teacher Development Experiment was used as the main method of investigation. Twenty third-year mathematics major teachers participated in workshop and microteaching sessions involving the use of the Geometer's Sketchpad dynamic geometry software in the teaching and learning of the geometry of triangles and quadrilaterals. Five intersecting categories of teacher competencies were identified: mathematical/geometrical competencies. pedagogical competencies. computer and software competences, language and assessment competencies.
Mathematical Sciences
M. Ed. (Mathematical Education)