Advanced Research Computing

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Description of non-Darcy flows in porous medium systems
Dye, A. L.; McClure, J. E.; Miller, C. T.; Gray, W. G. (American Physical Society, 2013-03-18)
Fluid flow through isotropic and anisotropic porous medium systems is investigated for a range of Reynolds numbers corresponding to both Darcy and non-Darcy regimes. A non-dimensional formulation is developed for a Forchheimer approximation of the momentum balance, and lattice Boltzmann simulations are used to elucidate the effects of porous medium characteristics on macroscale constitutive relation parameters. The geometric orientation tensor of the solid phase is posited as a morphological measure of leading-order importance for the description of anisotropic flows. Simulation results are presented to confirm this hypothesis, and parameter correlations are developed to predict closure relation coefficients as a function of porous medium porosity, specific interfacial area of the solid phase, and the geometric orientation tensor. The developed correlations provide improved estimates of model coefficients compared to available estimates and extend predictive capabilities to fully determine macroscopic momentum parameters for three-dimensional flows in anisotropic porous media.
Fusobacterium Genomics Using MinION and Illumina Sequencing Enables Genome Completion and Correction
Todd, S. Michelle; Settlage, Robert E.; Lahmers, Kevin K.; Slade, Daniel J. (American Society for Microbiology, 2018)
Understanding the virulence mechanisms of human pathogens from the genus Fusobacterium has been hindered by a lack of properly assembled and annotated genomes. Here we report the first complete genomes for seven Fusobacterium strains, as well as resequencing of the reference strain Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. nucleatum ATCC 25586 (total of seven species; total of eight genomes). A highly efficient and cost-effective sequencing pipeline was achieved using sample multiplexing for short-read Illumina (150 bp) and long-read Oxford Nanopore Min- ION (80 kbp) platforms, coupled with genome assembly using the open-source software Unicycler. Compared to currently available draft assemblies (previously 24 to 67 contigs), these genomes are highly accurate and consist of only one complete chromosome. We present the complete genome sequence of F. nucleatum subsp. nucleatum ATCC 23726, a genetically tractable and biomedically important strain and, in addition, reveal that the previous F. nucleatum subsp. nucleatum ATCC 25586 genome assembly contains a 452-kb genomic inversion that has been corrected using our sequencing and assembly pipeline. To enable genomic analyses by the scientific community, we concurrently used these genomes to launch FusoPortal, a repository of interactive and downloadable genomic data, genome maps, gene annotations, and protein functional analyses and classifications. In summary, this report provides detailed methods for accurately sequencing, assembling, and annotating Fusobacterium genomes, while focusing on using open-source software to foster the availability of reproducible and open data. This resource will enhance efforts to properly identify virulence proteins that may contribute to a repertoire of diseases that includes periodontitis, preterm birth, and colorectal cancer.
Public Access: A Driver for Preservation and Discovery of Datasets at a US Land-Grant Institution
Ogier, Andrea; Petters, Jonathan L.; Pannabecker, Virginia; Settledge, Robert; Grant, Elizabeth J.; Harden, Samantha M.; Griffin, Julie; Walters, Tyler (2019-08-24)
Public access to federally funded research data ensures preservation and discovery of datasets to promote translation of research evidence into meaningful outcomes. However, historical policy and concerns regarding making data publicly accessible impede realization of implementing public access to data. These concerns include worry over the treatment of intellectual property, the cost (in time and money) of making research publicly accessible, and the danger of accidentally releasing human subjects data. To overcome these issues, a Public Access to Data Committee was established at a public university in rural southwest Virginia. In this paper we review the history of federal public access provisions, share goals, and describe the committee’s process to ultimately engage faculty and administrators in this critical link from research to practice.
The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) genome and identification of innate immunity genes and clusters
van Hoek, Monique L.; Prickett, M. D.; Settlage, Robert E.; Kang, Lin; Michalak, Pawel; Vliet, Kent A.; Bishop, Barney M. (2019-08-30)
Background We report the sequencing, assembly and analysis of the genome of the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), the largest extant lizard, with a focus on antimicrobial host-defense peptides. The Komodo dragon diet includes carrion, and a complex milieu of bacteria, including potentially pathogenic strains, has been detected in the saliva of wild dragons. They appear to be unaffected, suggesting that dragons have robust defenses against infection. While little information is available regarding the molecular biology of reptile immunity, it is believed that innate immunity, which employs antimicrobial host-defense peptides including defensins and cathelicidins, plays a more prominent role in reptile immunity than it does in mammals. . Results High molecular weight genomic DNA was extracted from Komodo dragon blood cells. Subsequent sequencing and assembly of the genome from the collected DNA yielded a genome size of 1.6 Gb with 45x coverage, and the identification of 17,213 predicted genes. Through further analyses of the genome, we identified genes and gene-clusters corresponding to antimicrobial host-defense peptide genes. Multiple β-defensin-related gene clusters were identified, as well as a cluster of potential Komodo dragon ovodefensin genes located in close proximity to a cluster of Komodo dragon β-defensin genes. In addition to these defensins, multiple cathelicidin-like genes were also identified in the genome. Overall, 66 β-defensin genes, six ovodefensin genes and three cathelicidin genes were identified in the Komodo dragon genome. Conclusions Genes with important roles in host-defense and innate immunity were identified in this newly sequenced Komodo dragon genome, suggesting that these organisms have a robust innate immune system. Specifically, multiple Komodo antimicrobial peptide genes were identified. Importantly, many of the antimicrobial peptide genes were found in gene clusters. We found that these innate immunity genes are conserved among reptiles, and the organization is similar to that seen in other avian and reptilian species. Having the genome of this important squamate will allow researchers to learn more about reptilian gene families and will be a valuable resource for researchers studying the evolution and biology of the endangered Komodo dragon.
Development of a Responsible Policy Index to Improve Statutory and Self-Regulatory Policies that Protect Children’s Diet and Health in the America’s Region
Rincón-Gallardo Patiño, Sofía; Rajamohan, Srijith; Meaney, Kathleen; Coupey, Eloise; Serrano, Elena L.; Hedrick, Valisa E.; da Silva Gomes, Fabio; Polys, Nicholas F.; Kraak, Vivica (MDPI, 2020-01-13)
In 2010, 193 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed World Health Assembly Resolution WHA63.14 to restrict the marketing of food and beverage products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) to children to prevent obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). No study has examined HFSS marketing policies across the WHO regional office countries in the Americas. Between 2018 and 2019, a transdisciplinary team examined policies to restrict HFSS food and beverage product marketing to children to develop a responsible policy index (RESPI) that provides a quality score based on policy characteristics and marketing techniques. After designing the RESPI, we conducted a comprehensive literature review through October 2019 to examine policies in 14 countries in the WHO Americans Region. We categorized policies (n = 38) as either self-regulatory or statutory and calculated the RESPI scores, ranked from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Results showed Brazil, Canada, Chile, and Uruguay had the highest RESPI scores associated with statutory policies that restricted point of sale, cartoon, licensed media characters and celebrities; and HFSS products in schools and child care settings, and broadcast and print media. Policymakers can use the RESPI tool to evaluate marketing policies within and across geopolitical boundaries to protect children’s diet and health.
High-Dimensional Visual Analytics of Particle Kinematics
Polys, Nicholas F.; Diefenthaler, Markus; Rajamohan, Srijith; Whang, JooYoung; Romanov, Dmitry; Dahshan, Mai (2020-03-31)
The goal of this project was to explore the feasibility of Semantic Interaction (SI) methods [SI1, SI2] for Nuclear Femtography. Semantic Interaction is an approach to Human and Machine learning that enables the users to explore and refine their understanding of correlations and inter-relationships within large amounts of multidimensional data. Semantic Interaction combines statistical mathematics and machine learning with real-time scientific visualization. While a variety of visualization techniques can help scientists to gain a more comprehensive understandings of their data, Semantic Interaction uses the history of the user’s interaction to learn about what the user considers as relevant features and allows to map the n-dimensional correlations in a n-dimensional data set. Toward the exploration of high-dimensional nuclear physics data, we pursued two objectives: 1) adapt our Graphically-Linked Ensemble Explorer (GLEE) to load the results of nuclear physics experiments and 2) evaluate the results with Jefferson Lab scientists and the CNF community.
Visualizing Femto-Scale Dynamics – Final Report
Burkert, V.; Elouadrhiri, L.; Girod, F.X.; Heddle, D.; Polys, Nicholas F.; Schweitzer, P.; Vanderhaeghen, M. (2020-03-31)
The team effort has resulted in the first-ever realistic visualization of force distribution on the quarks inside the proton in 3D views and animation. To further enhance the scientific value of this study, the difference of the original RM and of the finally extracted RM1, which is obtained after the limitations in acceptances, resolution effects, and lack of information of the complete set of Compton Form Factors are quantitatively incorporated, analyzed and visualized. As new measurements have already been conducted, the analysis of these measurements in terms of the mechanical properties should significantly reduce uncertainties, both in statistics and systematic. Here the need arises to visualize the size of the uncertainties as more experimental information becomes available.
Deficiency in the endocytic adaptor proteins PHETA1/2 impairs renal and craniofacial development
Ates, Kristin M.; Wang, Tong; Moreland, Trevor; Veeranan-Karmegam, Rajalakshmi; Ma, Manxiu; Jeter, Chelsi; Anand, Priya; Wenzel, Wolfgang; Kim, Hyung-Goo; Wolfe, Lynne A.; Stephen, Joshi; Adams, David R.; Markello, Thomas; Tifft, Cynthia J.; Settlage, Robert E.; Gahl, William A.; Gonsalvez, Graydon B.; Malicdan, May Christine; Flanagan-Steet, Heather; Pan, Yuchin Albert (2020-05)
A critical barrier in the treatment of endosomal and lysosomal diseases is the lack of understanding of the in vivo functions of the putative causative genes. We addressed this by investigating a key pair of endocytic adaptor proteins, PH domain-containing endocytic trafficking adaptor 1 and 2 (PHETA1/2; also known as FAM109A/B, Ses1/2, IPIP27A/B), which interact with the protein product of OCRL, the causative gene for Lowe syndrome. Here, we conducted the first study of PHETA1/2 in vivo, utilizing the zebrafish system. We found that impairment of both zebrafish orthologs, phetal and pheta2, disrupted endocytosis and ciliogenesis in renal tissues. In addition, pheta1/2 mutant animals exhibited reduced jaw size and delayed chondrocyte differentiation, indicating a role in craniofacial development. Deficiency of pheta1/2 resulted in dysregulation of cathepsin K, which led to an increased abundance of type II collagen in craniofacial cartilages, a marker of immature cartilage extracellular matrix. Cathepsin K inhibition rescued the craniofacial phenotypes in the pheta1/2 double mutants. The abnormal renal and craniofacial phenotypes in the pheta1/2 mutant animals were consistent with the clinical presentation of a patient with a de novo arginine (R) to cysteine (C) variant (R6C) of PHETA1. Expressing the patient-specific variant in zebrafish exacerbated craniofacial deficits, suggesting that the R6C allele acts in a dominant-negative manner. Together, these results provide insights into the in vivo roles of PHETA1/2 and suggest that the R6C variant is contributory to the pathogenesis of disease in the patient. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
Specific labeling of synaptic schwann cells reveals unique cellular and molecular features
Castro, Ryan W.; Taetzsch, Thomas; Vaughan, Sydney K.; Godbe, Kerilyn; Chappell, John C.; Settlage, Robert E.; Valdez, Gregorio (2020-06-25)
Perisynaptic Schwann cells (PSCs) are specialized, non-myelinating, synaptic glia of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), that participate in synapse development, function, maintenance, and repair. The study of PSCs has relied on an anatomy-based approach, as the identities of cell-specific PSC molecular markers have remained elusive. This limited approach has precluded our ability to isolate and genetically manipulate PSCs in a cell specific manner. We have identified neuron-glia antigen 2 (NG2) as a unique molecular marker of S100 beta+ PSCs in skeletal muscle. NG2 is expressed in Schwann cells already associated with the NMJ, indicating that it is a marker of differentiated PSCs. Using a newly generated transgenic mouse in which PSCs are specifically labeled, we show that PSCs have a unique molecular signature that includes genes known to play critical roles in PSCs and synapses. These findings will serve as a springboard for revealing drivers of PSC differentiation and function.
The Beginning of the End: A Chromosomal Assembly of the New World Malaria Mosquito Ends with a Novel Telomere
Compton, Austin; Liang, Jiangtao; Chen, Chujia; Lukyanchikova, Varvara; Qi, Yumin; Potters, Mark B.; Settlage, Robert; Miller, Dustin; Deschamps, Stephane; Mao, Chunhong; Llaca, Victor; Sharakhov, Igor V.; Tu, Zhijian Jake (Genetics Society of America, 2020-10-01)
Chromosome level assemblies are accumulating in various taxonomic groups including mosquitoes. However, even in the few reference-quality mosquito assemblies, a significant portion of the heterochromatic regions including telomeres remain unresolved. Here we produce a de novo assembly of the New World malaria mosquito, Anopheles albimanus by integrating Oxford Nanopore sequencing, Illumina, Hi-C and optical mapping. This 172.6 Mbps female assembly, which we call AalbS3, is obtained by scaffolding polished large contigs (contig N50 = 13.7 Mbps) into three chromosomes. All chromosome arms end with telomeric repeats, which is the first in mosquito assemblies and represents a significant step toward the completion of a genome assembly. These telomeres consist of tandem repeats of a novel 30-32 bp Telomeric Repeat Unit (TRU) and are confirmed by analyzing the termini of long reads and through both chromosomal in situ hybridization and a Bal31 sensitivity assay. The AalbS3 assembly included previously uncharacterized centromeric and rDNA clusters and more than doubled the content of transposable elements and other repetitive sequences. This telomere-to-telomere assembly, although still containing gaps, represents a significant step toward resolving biologically important but previously hidden genomic components. The comparison of different scaffolding methods will also inform future efforts to obtain reference-quality genomes for other mosquito species.
Neural network based pore flow field prediction in porous media using super resolution
Zhou, Xu-Hui X.; McClure, James; Chen, Cheng; Xiao, Heng (2021)
Previous works have demonstrated using the geometry of the microstructure of porous media to predict the ow velocity fields therein based on neural networks. However, such schemes are purely based on geometric information without accounting for the physical constraints on the velocity fields such as that due to mass conservation. In this work, we propose using a super-resolution technique to enhance the velocity field prediction by utilizing coarse-mesh velocity fields, which are often available inexpensively but carry important physical constraints. We apply our method to predict velocity fields in complex porous media. The results demonstrate that incorporating the coarse-mesh flow field significantly improves the prediction accuracy of the fine-mesh flow field as compared to predictions that rely on geometric information alone. This study highlights the merits of including coarse-mesh flow field with physical constraints embedded in it.
Crowdsourcing biocuration: The Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies (CACAO)
Ramsey, Jolene; McIntosh, Brenley; Renfro, Daniel; Aleksander, Suzanne A.; LaBonte, Sandra; Ross, Curtis; Zweifel, Adrienne E.; Liles, Nathan; Farrar, Shabnam; Gill, Jason J.; Erill, Ivan; Ades, Sarah; Berardini, Tanya Z.; Bennett, Jennifer A.; Brady, Siobhan; Britton, Robert; Carbon, Seth; Caruso, Steven M.; Clements, Dave; Dalia, Ritu; Defelice, Meredith; Doyle, Erin L.; Friedberg, Iddo; Gurney, Susan M. R.; Hughes, Lee; Johnson, Allison; Kowalski, Jason M.; Li, Donghui; Lovering, Ruth C.; Mans, Tamara L.; McCarthy, Fiona; Moore, Sean D.; Murphy, Rebecca; Paustian, Timothy D.; Perdue, Sarah; Peterson, Celeste N.; Pruss, Birgit M.; Saha, Margaret S.; Sheehy, Robert R.; Tansey, John T.; Temple, Louise; Thorman, Alexander William; Trevino, Saul; Vollmer, Amy Cheng; Walbot, Virginia; Willey, Joanne; Siegele, Deborah A.; Hu, James C. (2021-10)
Author summary The primary scientific literature catalogs the results from publicly funded scientific research about gene function in human-readable format. Information captured from those studies in a widely adopted, machine-readable standard format comes in the form of Gene Ontology (GO) annotations about gene functions from all domains of life. Manual annotations based on inferences directly from the scientific literature, including the evidence used to make such inferences, represent the best return on investment by improving data accessibility across the biological sciences and allowing novel insights between evolutionarily related organisms. To supplement professional curation, our Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies (CACAO) project enabled annotation of the scientific literature by community annotators, in this case undergraduates, which resulted in the contribution of thousands of unique, validated entries to public resources. Importantly, the annotations described here initiated by nonexperts often deal with topics not typically covered by the experts. These annotations are now being used by scientists worldwide in their research efforts. Experimental data about gene functions curated from the primary literature have enormous value for research scientists in understanding biology. Using the Gene Ontology (GO), manual curation by experts has provided an important resource for studying gene function, especially within model organisms. Unprecedented expansion of the scientific literature and validation of the predicted proteins have increased both data value and the challenges of keeping pace. Capturing literature-based functional annotations is limited by the ability of biocurators to handle the massive and rapidly growing scientific literature. Within the community-oriented wiki framework for GO annotation called the Gene Ontology Normal Usage Tracking System (GONUTS), we describe an approach to expand biocuration through crowdsourcing with undergraduates. This multiplies the number of high-quality annotations in international databases, enriches our coverage of the literature on normal gene function, and pushes the field in new directions. From an intercollegiate competition judged by experienced biocurators, Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies (CACAO), we have contributed nearly 5,000 literature-based annotations. Many of those annotations are to organisms not currently well-represented within GO. Over a 10-year history, our community contributors have spurred changes to the ontology not traditionally covered by professional biocurators. The CACAO principle of relying on community members to participate in and shape the future of biocuration in GO is a powerful and scalable model used to promote the scientific enterprise. It also provides undergraduate students with a unique and enriching introduction to critical reading of primary literature and acquisition of marketable skills.
X3D Field Trips for Remote Learning
Polys, Nicholas F.; Meaney, Kathleen; Munsell, John F.; Addlestone, Benjamin J. (ACM, 2021-11-08)
Combinations of immersive media and graphic portrayals can enable the human subjective sense of Presence. This paper collects our experiences and evaluations from six projects that use Extensible 3D (X3D) interactive graphics to deliver spatial experiences across the WWW. X3D enables the combination of spherical panoramas with 3D models and maps to visually transport users to a specific real location at a specific time. Remote users have access to these worlds through a Web-browser or other immersive device; local users in a CAVE can collaborate with natural physical gestures; . We reflect on the graphical and interactive requirements of these projects and provide guidance for future applications. In the face of physical lock-downs and distancing due to the CoVID pandemic, such platforms illustrate the opportunities and challenges in the design and delivery of spatial visualizations, especially for remote learning.
A database of global coastal conditions
Castaneda-Guzman, Mariana; Mantilla-Saltos, Gabriel; Murray, Kris A.; Settlage, Robert; Escobar, Luis E. (2021-11-26)
Remote sensing satellite imagery has the potential to monitor and understand dynamic environmental phenomena by retrieving information about Earth's surface. Marine ecosystems, however, have been studied with less intensity than terrestrial ecosystems due, in part, to data limitations. Data on sea surface temperature (SST) and Chlorophyll-a (Chlo-a) can provide quantitative information of environmental conditions in coastal regions at a high spatial and temporal resolutions. Using the exclusive economic zone of coastal regions as the study area, we compiled monthly and annual statistics of SST and Chlo-a globally for 2003 to 2020. This ready-to-use dataset aims to reduce the computational time and costs for local-, regional-, continental-, and global-level studies of coastal areas. Data may be of interest to researchers in the areas of ecology, oceanography, biogeography, fisheries, and global change. Target applications of the database include environmental monitoring of biodiversity and marine microorganisms, and environmental anomalies.
Approximating Community Water System Service Areas to Explore the Demographics of SDWA Compliance in Virginia
Marcillo, Cristina; Krometis, Leigh-Anne H.; Krometis, Justin (MDPI, 2021-12-16)
Although the United States Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) theoretically ensures drinking water quality, recent studies have questioned the reliability and equity associated with community water system (CWS) service. This study aimed to identify SDWA violation differences (i.e., monitoring and reporting (MR) and health-based (HB)) between Virginia CWSs given associated service demographics, rurality, and system characteristics. A novel geospatial methodology delineated CWS service areas at the zip code scale to connect 2000 US Census demographics with 2006–2016 SDWA violations, with significant associations determined via negative binomial regression. The proportion of Black Americans within a service area was positively associated with the likelihood of HB violations. This effort supports the need for further investigation of racial and socioeconomic disparities in access to safe drinking water within the United States in particular and offers a geospatial strategy to explore demographics in other settings where data on infrastructure extents are limited. Further interdisciplinary efforts at multiple scales are necessary to identify the entwined causes for differential risks in adverse drinking water quality exposures and would be substantially strengthened by the mapping of official CWS service boundaries.
Genome-wide identification of enhancers and transcription factors regulating the myogenic differentiation of bovine satellite cells
Lyu, Pengcheng; Settlage, Robert E.; Jiang, Honglin (2021-12-16)
Background Satellite cells are the myogenic precursor cells in adult skeletal muscle. The objective of this study was to identify enhancers and transcription factors that regulate gene expression during the differentiation of bovine satellite cells into myotubes. Results Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing (ChIP-seq) was performed to identify genomic regions where lysine 27 of H3 histone is acetylated (H3K27ac), i.e., active enhancers, from bovine satellite cells before and during differentiation into myotubes. A total of 19,027 and 47,669 H3K27ac-marked enhancers were consistently identified from two biological replicates of before- and during-differentiation bovine satellite cells, respectively. Of these enhancers, 5882 were specific to before-differentiation, 35,723 to during-differentiation, and 13,199 common to before- and during-differentiation bovine satellite cells. Whereas most of the before- or during-differentiation-specific H3K27ac-marked enhancers were located distally to the transcription start site, the enhancers common to before- and during-differentiation were located both distally and proximally to the transcription start site. The three sets of H3K27ac-marked enhancers were associated with functionally different genes and enriched with different transcription factor binding sites. Specifically, many of the H3K27ac-marked enhancers specific to during-differentiation bovine satellite cells were associated with genes involved in muscle structure and development, and were enriched with binding sites for the MyoD, AP-1, KLF, TEAD, and MEF2 families of transcription factors. A positive role was validated for Fos and FosB, two AP-1 family transcription factors, in the differentiation of bovine satellite cells into myotubes by siRNA-mediated knockdown. Conclusions Tens of thousands of H3K27ac-marked active enhancers have been identified from bovine satellite cells before or during differentiation. These enhancers contain binding sites not only for transcription factors whose role in satellite cell differentiation is well known but also for transcription factors whose role in satellite cell differentiation is unknown. These enhancers and transcription factors are valuable resources for understanding the complex mechanism that mediates gene expression during satellite cell differentiation. Because satellite cell differentiation is a key step in skeletal muscle growth, the enhancers, the transcription factors, and their target genes identified in this study are also valuable resources for identifying and interpreting skeletal muscle trait-associated DNA variants in cattle.
Effect of Topology and Geometric Structure on Collective Motion in the Vicsek Model
McClure, James E.; Abaid, Nicole (Frontiers, 2022-03-08)
In this work, we explore how the emergence of collective motion in a system of particles is influenced by the structure of their domain. Using the Vicsek model to generate flocking, we simulate two-dimensional systems that are confined based on varying obstacle arrangements. The presence of obstacles alters the topological structure of the domain where collective motion occurs, which, in turn, alters the scaling behavior. We evaluate these trends by considering the scaling exponent and critical noise threshold for the Vicsek model, as well as the associated diffusion properties of the system. We show that obstacles tend to inhibit collective motion by forcing particles to traverse the system based on curved trajectories that reflect the domain topology. Our results highlight key challenges related to the development of a more comprehensive understanding of geometric structure's influence on collective behavior.
Designing for Social Interactions in a Virtual Art Gallery
Polys, Nicholas F.; Roshan, Samridhi; Newton, Emily; Narula, Muskaan; Thai, Bao-Tran (ACM, 2022-11-02)
The dawn of a new digital world has emerged with new ways to communicate and collaborate with other people across the globe. Metaverses and Mirror Worlds have broadened our perspectives on the ways we can utilize 3D virtual environments. A Mirror World is a 3D virtual space that depicts a real-life place or environment that people may want to see physically or would like to manipulate to create something new. A perfect example of this would be an art gallery which provides people an outlet to express themselves through various art forms and be able to socialize and have that human interaction that is needed during times when physical presence may be difficult. This project strives to improve user social interactions and make spatial control easier and more fluid in a virtual art gallery, while also incorporating the existing metaphor of permission and user privileges used in synchronous collaborative environments. We worked to create ways for people to be invited into group chats based on proximity, allowing users to give their consent as to who they want to talk to and who they will allow to share control within the space. We also implemented a way to view the space as a 3D map that highlights pieces of artwork around the space for people to teleport to and view at ease. To demonstrate this shared viewing and navigation experience we also focused on incorporating audio and spatial interaction features within the art gallery prototype of X3D and glTF models, images and audio, and HTML user interface.
Spatial Audio Designer
Polys, Nicholas F.; Bendelac, Noam (ACM, 2022-11-02)
The Web Audio API is an underutilized technology that provides a potential for rich interactive control over sound generation and rendering. Our team made use of the API in combination with Web3D technologies to create a spatial audio design tool for digital audiovisual creators. Our primary design challenge was creating an interface for visualizing and manipulating sound design in 3D space. We wanted our interface to be learnable and usable for our target user groups: digital music creators, digital audiovisual 3D artists, and physical audiovisual installation artists who wish to develop ideas in a virtual space. From user interviews, we learned that users needed a detailed visual 3D space as a starting point to populate with sound, as well as fine control over positioning of sound sources. The prototype web app can be used by digital and physical artists to create novel virtual audiovisual experiences, or to model a physical audiovisual installation to share and test with others. More work needs to be done to add direct spatial controls for sound fields and to make the app more natural to use. We asked artists of varying technical skill to use the app and re-create a reference scene, and measured how accurate their re-creation is.
The Keys to an Open, Interoperable Metaverse
Havele, Anita; Brutzman, Donald; Benman, William; Polys, Nicholas F. (ACM, 2022-11-02)
The term ‘Metaverse’ has taken on new interest recently, appearing prominently in the marketing materials of a number of large technology companies. Indeed, many have attempted, or are attempting, to co-opt it for their own purposes, which has resulted in a great deal of confusion among producers and consumers in the marketplace. With this paper, theWeb3D Consortium seeks to address this confusion by exploring the history of the ‘Metaverse’, provide a workable definition of the term ‘Metaverse’, and provide a vision for its sustainable, cooperative construction into the future.We believe that all the technologies are in place to fulfill the vision of an open, equitable, and ubiquitous information space. What remains are the key issues that have kept the Metaverse from manifesting the last two decades: poor user experience and poor corporate cooperation.

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