Computer-generated Simulations Research Articles

Teaching Model of Soccer Training Based on Virtual Simulation Technology

Virtual simulation technology, a cornerstone of modern innovation, revolutionizes the way we interact with virtual environments, offering immersive experiences across various fields. By leveraging computer-generated simulations, this technology replicates real-world scenarios, enabling users to engage in lifelike experiences without physical constraints. From training simulations for professionals in healthcare, aviation, and military sectors to virtual reality gaming and architectural visualization, virtual simulation technology transcends traditional boundaries, fostering experiential learning and enhancing decision-making processes. Its applications extend to education, where students can explore complex concepts in science, history, and art through interactive simulations, promoting active learning and knowledge retention. As technology continues to evolve, virtual simulation remains at the forefront, continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible in immersive experiences. This paper presents a novel teaching model for soccer training, leveraging virtual simulation technology augmented by Hierarchical Training Feature Co-ordinates Recurrent Network (HTF-RN). The proposed model aims to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of soccer training programs by providing immersive and interactive experiences in virtual environments. Through simulated experiments and empirical validations, the efficacy of the HTF-RN-enhanced virtual simulation teaching model is evaluated. Results demonstrate significant improvements in player performance, tactical understanding, and decision-making abilities compared to traditional training methods. For instance, players trained using the HTF-RN model exhibited a 25% increase in goal-scoring accuracy and a 30% improvement in passing precision. Additionally, the model enabled coaches to customize training sessions based on individual player strengths and weaknesses, leading to more targeted and impactful training interventions. These findings underscore the potential of virtual simulation technology with HTF-RN in revolutionizing soccer training methodologies, paving the way for more effective player development and performance enhancement.

Charisma and learning: designing charismatic behaviours for virtual human tutors

Charisma as defined in the Oxford Dictionary, is the compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others. It is a powerful device of communication because it is the primary way humans signal interpersonal closeness, willingness to communicate, and feelings toward one another. Without exception, charisma is very crucial in the learning process in individuals. It makes the teachers more influential, causing learners to listen more intently to what they have to say and subsequently boosting their learning performance at the end of the day.
 Virtual learning has become a widely adopted phenomenon all around the world, with the aid of virtual humans (computer-generated simulations of human beings), who, unlike real humans, provide consistency in the delivery of accurate knowledge, engaging role-plays, and appropriate feedback. Furthermore, pedagogical agents have played a significant role in virtual learning, and virtual tutors and companions falling under this category. Incorporating charismatic behaviors in virtual human tutors has become a quest for developers, due to their awareness on how impactful it can be in virtual learning. How can such behaviors be realized in a virtual character? Developers are incorporating charismatic traits in virtual human tutors which include: portraying a high degree of engagement with their students, proficiency in their subject matter, organized and very profound in their knowledge of the subject. Taiwanese authors researched the topic of teaching and charisma. The Statistical results obtained supported the virtual human tutors’ charisma has a positive influence on inducing the students’ learning interest.
 Feelings of isolation that may be faced by a student in online learning are overcome by the fully-present and approachable trait of the charismatic virtual tutor. The ability of a virtual human tutor to be charismatic boosts instructor immediacy; behavior that brings the instructor and the students closer together in terms of perceived distance.
 Overall, we conclude that developers’ endeavor to design charismatic behavior for virtual human tutors is advantageous to the highly advancing educational field and the use of Artificial Intelligence in education.

The Study of Immersive Physiology Courses Based on Intelligent Network through Virtual Reality Technology in the Context of 5G.

The current boom in Internet technology has paved the way for the research and evolution of various technologies related to it. One such technology is immersive virtual reality (IVR). Immersive technology is referred to as creating a reality-like experience by combining the physical world with digital reality. There are two main types of immersive technologies. Immersion in virtual reality is the perception of being physically present in an artificially created world. Perception is artificially created by images, videos, sounds, or other stimuli with the help of a virtual reality (VR) system that the user is connected to. VR uses rendered computer-generated simulations and results in a complete sense of immersion. Immersive virtual reality (immersive VR) refers to engaging users in an artificial environment that replaces their natural surroundings and fully engages them with the artificially created environment. In this research, we will research immersive physiology courses based on artificial intelligence combined with wireless network VR technology in the context of 5G. The teaching methodology has been kept up-to-date along with the technology. Teaching physiology courses also incorporate new technologies like immersive technologies. The use of technology in anatomy and physiology courses allows students to view structures and physiological concepts in a realistic environment. Virtual dissection in 3D is available with a life-like artificial environment. Students can attend the classes with VR headsets, laptops, or smartphones to experience immersive and interactive 3D classes. This advanced technology enhances and empowers the students to learn from real-life situations like those available in the classes. In this research, CNN with AI is proposed for effective learning of physiology courses. This algorithm is compared with the existing NNGA, KNN, and Random Forest, and it is observed that the proposed model has obtained an accuracy of 99%.

The emerging role of virtual reality training in rehabilitation.

Virtual reality (VR) uses computer-generated simulations to create a virtual environment for users which appears, sounds, and feels like real-life objects and events. The use of VR in rehabilitation is relatively new and has demonstrated to be an effective tool in achieving desired clinical outcomes by active engagement of participants. Over the past few years, the use of VR in rehabilitation has rapidly increased because of its advantages over traditional rehabilitation techniques. These include better patient adherence to the rehabilitation protocols with high levels of engagement and motivation. This review summarises the available evidence on the role of VR in rehabilitation, its effects, and scope across different clinical conditions and outcomes. We also describe the current status of VR utilization in rehabilitation settings across Pakistan and highlight the need for further research.

Contagion and capaciousness: The Shifting Worlds of Living Models

Today, most models are computer-generated simulations of some kind. However, there is a vast world of living models that serve the biomedical industries. Mouse models are discussed here, but in the context of the questions they raise about agency. Living models, it is maintained, can have abundant relations with their laboratory worlds, that is, they have a capaciousness that may be enhanced by processes of dirtying and wilding. The controlled introduction of contagions allows for living models to get messy in a productive way, expanding their lifeworlds as well as those of their handlers. Configurational enunciations of lively assemblages are detailed in terms of more robust microbial encounters, as well as the affective attunements and attachments of the dirty mice initiative in biomedical laboratories.

Eye tracking data analytics in virtual reality training: Application in Deepwater Horizon oil drilling operation

Virtual reality (VR) enable us to train in a safe environment using computer-generated simulations. One such simulated environment is the Deepwater Horizon operation, and VR enables us to evaluate trainees’ and operators’ situation awareness (SA) in a non-hazardous environment. One unobtrusive and viable SA evaluation method might be the use of eye movements, specifically the time-ordered visual scan paths. In this research, we investigated how SA can be associated with visual scan paths in an anomaly detection task within the oil drilling rig virtual reality simulator. The results show that the trainees having lower SA tended to create random visual scan paths whereas the trainees having higher SA tended to create concentrated and refined visual scan paths. The results show promise in developing timely intervention methods through analyzing the visual scan path characteristics of the trainees.

Influence of numerical noises on computer-generated simulation of spatio-temporal chaos

• An efficient strategy to gain reliable simulations of patio-temporal chaotic systems in a long interval of time. • The numerical noises have great influence on the numerical simulations of chaos, not only quantitative but also qualitatively. • Numerical simulations in a long interval of time should be checked very carefully. Due to the famous butterfly-effect, it is rather difficult to gain a reliable simulation of chaos in an interval of time that is long enough from statistic viewpoint. In this paper we propose an efficient numerical strategy of the clean numerical simulation (CNS) in physical space to gain reliable simulation of spatio-temporal chaos in a long enough interval of time by means of reducing both of truncation and round-off error to a required tiny level. Without loss of generality, the damped driven sine-Gordon equation is used to illustrate its validity for spatio-temporal chaos. The reliable result in a long interval of time given by this CNS algorithm is used as benchmark solution to investigate the influence of numerical noise (i.e. truncation and round-off error) by comparing it in details with those given by the Runge-Kutta’s method in double precision. It is found that numerical noise can lead to, both quantitatively and qualitatively, huge deviation of the spatio-temporal chaotic system not only in trajectories but also even in statistics ! Therefore, in practice we should check very carefully the reliability of computer-generated simulations of spatio-temporal chaotic systems (including turbulent flows), especially when the duration of simulation is quite long. The new strategy of the CNS in physical space provides us an efficient way to accurately study lots of spatio-temporal chaotic systems in science and engineering in a long enough interval of time so as to reveal some new physical truths by means of clearing away numerical noises.

Ultrasound simulation with animated anatomical models and on-the-fly fusion with real images via path-tracing

Ultrasound is an essential imaging modality in clinical screening and diagnosis, for reducing morbidity and improving quality of life. Successfully performing ultrasound imaging, however, requires extensive training and expertise in navigating a hand-held probe to a correct anatomical location as well as subsequently interpreting the acquired image. Computer-generated simulations can offer a safe, flexible, and standardized environment to train such skills. Data-based simulations display interpolated slices from a-priori-acquired real ultrasound volumes, whereas generative simulations aim to reproduce the complex ultrasound interactions with comprehensive, geometric anatomical models, such as using ray-tracing to mimic acoustic propagation. Although sonographers typically focus on relatively smaller structures of interest in ultrasound images, the fidelity of the background anatomy may still play a role in contributing to the realism of a generated US image; e.g. when imaging a relatively smaller fetus within large abdominal background. It was proposed earlier to compose ray-traced images with acquired volumes in a preprocessing step. Despite its simplicity, this prevents any view-dependent artifacts and interactive model changes, such as those induced by animations, which can, for instance, model fetal motion. To fully leverage the flexibility of the model-based generative approach, we propose herein an on-the-fly image fusion, based on the two techniques, by moving the interpolation stage within the ray-tracer, such that the pre-acquired image data can be referred to in the background, while the acoustic interactions with the model can be resolved in the foreground. This allows for animated anatomical models, which we realize during simulation runtime via scene-hierarchy subtree switching between precomputed acceleration structure graphs. We demonstrate our proposed techniques on ultrasound sequences of fetal and heart motion, where only animated models can afford to meet realism requirements entailed by the temporal domain.

The effectiveness of traditional tools and computer-aided technologies for health and safety training in the construction sector: A systematic review

For workers, the exposure to on-site hazards can result in fatalities and serious injuries. To improve safety outcomes, different approaches have been implemented for health and safety training in the construction sector, such as traditional tools and computer-aided technologies (e.g., serious games, computer-generated simulations, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality). However, the effectiveness of these approaches has been barely explored. In order to bridge this gap, a systematic review of existing studies was conducted. Unlike previous review studies in this field that focused on uncovering the technology characters and challenges, this study mainly evaluated the effectiveness of training using traditional tools and computer-aided technologies on the well-being of individuals. Measures of the effectiveness included knowledge acquisition, unsafe behaviour alteration, and injury rate reduction. Results indicated that: 1. the effectiveness of traditional tools is sufficiently supported by statistical evidence; and 2. the use of computer-aided technologies has evidence to support its effectiveness, but more solid evidence is required to support this statement. The systematic review also revealed that the overall performance of computer-aided technologies is superior in several technical aspects compared to traditional tools, namely, representing the actual workplace situations, providing text-free interfaces, and having better user engagement.

Classical Backfitting for Smooth-Backfitting Additive Models

ABSTRACTSmooth backfitting has been shown to have better theoretical properties than classical backfitting for fitting additive models based on local linear regression. In this article, we show that the smooth backfitting procedure in the local linear case can be alternatively performed as a classical backfitting procedure with a different type of smoother matrices. These smoother matrices are symmetric and shrinking and some established results in the literature are readily applicable. The connections allow the smooth backfitting algorithm to be implemented in a much simplified way, give new insights on the differences between the two approaches in the literature, and provide an extension to local polynomial regression. The connections also give rise to a new estimator at data points. Asymptotic properties of general local polynomial smooth backfitting estimates are investigated, allowing for different orders of local polynomials and different bandwidths. Cases of oracle efficiency are discussed. Computer-generated simulations are conducted to demonstrate finite sample behaviors of the methodology and a real data example is given for illustration. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

Transcending taboos and transgressions or merely ploughing towards?

Among the most enduring taboos, those related to the human body are the most enduring, throughout history. Be it its re/presentation of exploration, it constituted for most cultures and epochs a very sensitive subject, ever evolving and changing, but perennially raw and open to debate and discussion. With the advent of new technologies sustaining and infiltrating society, the body is seen, explored and represented in new ways that can be, simultaneously, interpreted either as transgressive or respectful of taboos, depending on the point of view or the current social norms. The question is: are we able to transcend transgression of taboos through our work or are we still far from achieving it? Our tools are computer-generated simulations based on patient-collected data. Building our arguments on Foucault’s Birth of the Clinic (1973) analysis, we approach the evolution of our own research as a ‘case study’. In the age of the life-support, stem-cell therapy and 3D organ printing, is computer simulation mimicking or mirroring organic life and phenomena, or is it creating a debatable simulacrum? From reducing the human body to a series of equations that lead to depersonalization and loss of self, to tailored modelling based on patient-collected biological data, the computer simulations took a variety of guises. At each point of the way, confronting the taboos, conventions and through controlled transgressions of established rules, we strived to transcend all historic limitations and update, adjust and fine-tune the technology and its uses to better suit the clinicians’ pursuits.

Clinical Virtual Reality: Emerging Opportunities for Psychiatry.

Virtual reality (VR) technology offers new opportunities for the development of innovative clinical research, assessment, and intervention tools. VR-based testing, training, teaching, and treatment approaches that would be difficult, if not impossible, to deliver with traditional methods are now being developed that take advantage of the assets that are available with VR technology. As research evidence continues to indicate clinical efficacy, VR applications are being increasingly regarded as providing innovative options for targeting the cognitive, psychological, motor, and functional impairments that result from various clinical health conditions. VR allows for the precise presentation and control of stimuli in dynamic, multisensory, 3D computer-generated simulations as well as providing advanced methods for capturing and quantifying behavioral responses. These characteristics support the rationale for the use of VR applications in clinical assessment, intervention, and training. This article begins with a brief review of the history of and rationale for the use of VR with clinical populations. It then details one use case for the clinical application of VR-the exposure-therapy treatment of anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder. Although significant work is cited in other areas of clinical VR (e.g., pain management, cognitive and physical assessment and rehabilitation, eating disorders, social skills, and clinical training), a full overview of such a broad literature is beyond the scope of this article. Thus, the authors have opted to provide more in-depth analysis of one specific clinical area that clearly illustrates how VR has been successfully applied and is supported by an encouraging and evolving scientific literature.

Photorealistic computer-generated images are difficult to distinguish from digital photographs: a case study with professional photographers and photo-editors

There are strict guidelines on photoediting in newsrooms and serious professional repercussions for any failure to adhere to them, while computer-generated imagery is increasingly used in other areas of visual communication. This article presents empirical research on the ability of professional photographers and editors to distinguish photographs from photorealistic computer-generated images by looking at them on a screen. The results show clearly that those studied ( N = 20) are unable to distinguish one from another, suggesting that it is increasingly difficult to make this distinction, particularly since most viewers are not as experienced in photography as those studied. Interestingly, the participants continue to share a conventional understanding of photography that is not in line with current developments in digital photography and digital image rendering. Based on their findings, the authors suggest there is a need for developing a particular visual literacy that understands the computational in digital photography and grounds the use of digital photography among particular communities of practice. When seeing photographs on screens, journals, exhibitions, or newspapers, viewers might actually be looking at computer-generated simulations, and vice versa.

On the clean numerical simulation (CNS) of chaotic dynamic systems

According to Lorenz, chaotic dynamic systems have sensitive dependence on initial conditions (SDIC), i.e., the butterfly-effect: a tiny difference on initial conditions might lead to huge difference of computer-generated simulations after a long time. Thus, computer-generated chaotic results given by traditional algorithms in double precision are a kind of mixture of “true” (convergent) solution and numerical noises at the same level. Today, this defect can be overcome by means of the “clean numerical simulation” (CNS) with negligible numerical noises in a long enough interval of time. The CNS is based on the Taylor series method at high enough order and data in the multiple precision with large enough number of digits, plus a convergence check using an additional simulation with even smaller numerical noises. In theory, convergent (reliable) chaotic solutions can be obtained in an arbitrary long (but finite) interval of time by means of the CNS. The CNS can reduce numerical noises to such a level even much smaller than micro-level uncertainty of physical quantities that propagation of these physical micro-level uncertainties can be precisely investigated. In this paper, we briefly introduce the basic ideas of the CNS, and its applications in long-term reliable simulations of Lorenz equation, three-body problem and Rayleigh-Bénard turbulent flows. Using the CNS, it is found that a chaotic three-body system with symmetry might disrupt without any external disturbance, say, its symmetry-breaking and system-disruption are “self-excited”, i.e., out-of-nothing. In addition, by means of the CNS, we can provide a rigorous theoretical evidence that the micro-level thermal fluctuation is the origin of macroscopic randomness of turbulent flows. Naturally, much more precise than traditional algorithms in double precision, the CNS can provide us a new way to more accurately investigate chaotic dynamic systems.

Using A Digital Planetarium For Teaching Seasons To Undergraduates

Computer-generated simulations and visualizations in digital planetariums have the potential to bridge the comprehension gap in astronomy education. Concepts involving three-dimensional spatial relationships can be difficult for the layperson to understand, since much of the traditional teaching materials used in astronomy education remain two-dimensional in nature. We study the student performance after viewing visualizations in an immersive theater and in non-immersive classrooms for the topic of seasons in an introductory undergraduate astronomy course. Using weekly multiple-choice quizzes to gauge student learning, comparison of curriculum tests taken immediately after instruction and pre-instruction quizzes show a significant difference in the results of students who viewed visualizations in the planetarium versus their counterparts who viewed non-immersive content in their classrooms, and those in the control group that saw no visualizations whatsoever. These results suggest that the immersive visuals help by freeing up cognitive resources that can be devoted to learning, while visualizations shown in the classroom may be an intrinsically inferior experience for students.

A comparison of computer‐generated and naturally occurring foraging patterns in route‐network‐constrained spider monkeys

The attribution of goal-directed behavior to observations of primate foraging and ranging requires that simpler explanations for observed behavior patterns be eliminated. Computer-generated simulations of non-goal-directed foraging behavior can be used as null models for higher complexity cognitive foraging, and can provide quantifiable data against which to compare the observed behavioral patterns in wild primates. In this paper, we compare the results of two variations of computer simulated null models with observed foraging behavior of wild spider monkeys (Ateles belzebuth). One model simulates monkeys searching using a modified random-walk model in which monkeys alternate 100-m steps with turn angles derived from observed behavior. The second model constrains travel to an observed route system derived from observations of wild spider monkeys. Simulated monkeys in each model searched among increasing densities of feeding trees ranging from 10 to 1,000. We compared travel distance, travel directness, and accuracy of starting direction for each feeding tree discovered for the two models. We then compared these results with those derived from observations of wild spider monkeys. Route-model monkeys traveled shorter distances and more directly to feeding trees than did randomly foraging monkeys, and discovered trees in the direction they started more often. Observed spider monkeys outperformed simulated monkeys from both models in all variables, allowing us to reject the null hypothesis that observed foraging and ranging behavior could be explained by non-goal-directed travel.

A simple test for synergy for a small number of combinations

A method for detecting deviations from the Loewe additive drug combination reference model for in vitro drug combination experimentation is described. It is often difficult to fit a response surface model to drug combination data, especially in situations where the experimental design contains a sparse set of combinations. The literature does contain good response surface modeling approaches, but they tend to be complex and can be difficult to execute. It is especially difficult to check model quality when fitting to more than two combined agents. A simple method based on sound statistical principles is proposed that examines the mean response deviation of each combination from the predicted response under Loewe additivity. The method can readily handle any number of combined agents, does not require sophisticated modeling, and can even be programmed into Microsoft Excel without the use of macros. Several potential extensions to the method are discussed in detail. Computer-generated simulations demonstrate the statistical capabilities of the approach, and a real-data example is given to illustrate the method.

A New Kidney Allocation Policy in Chile: Computer-Based Simulations

IntroductionKidney allocation should reach a balance between equity and efficiency. In Chile kidneys are allocated based on ABO matching, first to medical priorities and then according to a point scheme considering human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match (60%), waiting list time (20%), and panel-reactive antibodies (PRA; 20%); pediatric recipients receive extra points. A new policy maintains ABO matching and medical priorities as the first step, but incorporates other successive steps: previous living donors donors, 0 mismatch, pediatric recipients, and finally all other recipients according to a point scheme incorporating recipient age, HLA match, PRA, and time on waiting list with similar proportions. We compared the resulting transplantations using the new versus the older allocation policy. MethodsWe analyzed computer-generated simulations using actual patients (N = 1176) on the Chilean waiting list in 2011 with the 300 donors over the previous 3 years. ResultsThe new policy a significantly decreased recipient age from 43 ± 0.3 years to 41 ± 0.3 and increased the number of 0-mismatched transplantations from 3% to 4%. The mean HLA mismatch increased from 2.8 ± 0.1 to 3.6 ± 0.1. Waiting time increased from a mean of 38 ± 1 months to 40 ± 1 months, but patients remaining on the waiting list had less waiting time with the new rule. ConclusionsWith the proposed changes younger patients are being privileged and the importance of compatibility is diminished (except for 0-mismatched transplantations). The chance of a good match is directly related to the size of the recipient pool, thus an allocation policy that privileges HLA matching in a restricted recipient pool is especially unfavorable for younger patients. Including age of the recipient as a continuum can help to compensate for this lack of equity. Computer-generated simulations can help discern which policies are best suited for each country based on their local characteristics.

Haptic Interactions Using Virtual Manipulator Coupling With Applications to Underactuated Systems

Haptic interactions have become increasingly important as an interface to computer-generated simulations in virtual-reality (VR) applications. Many haptic devices are designed to be used as a force feedback mouse, where the user's hand is in contact with the haptic device while the object contact and force generation occur on a computer screen. In this paper, we present an approach using a “virtual probe” to interact with the environment and introduce a new method to generate impedance-based haptic forces based on the use of a virtual manipulator. The virtual probe is connected directly to the haptic device and is projected from the hand to the environment, much like a scalpel or sword. As the probe comes in contact with the environment, the haptic device generates appropriate forces on the hand. We extend this approach to include underactuated haptic devices, which do not have fully powered joints. We show that the approach compensates for missing joint actuation in the underactuated haptic devices. We show experimental results for a simple case of haptic interaction; we also present an experimental implementation in six degrees of freedom (DOF) using one of the most popular devices: the PHANTOM.

Molecular dynamics simulation of the adenylylsulphate reductase from hyperthermophilic Archaeoglobus fulgidus

The biogenic production of sulphide gas by sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) causes serious economic problems for the natural gas and oil industry. Due to their corrosive properties, biofilms produced by SRB create issues during all steps of oil and gas recovery, from early in production to storage, including increased risk of toxic oil spills and health risk to workers in the oil field and to the population living around the area of extraction. SRB are unique among micro-organisms in their ability to utilise sulphate as an electron acceptor. One of the key enzymes important in this biological process is adenosine phosphosulphate reductase (APS reductase). This article aims to discuss the structure and dynamic properties of APS reductase through computer-generated simulations using molecular dynamics.