SBIR Phase I: The Visual Database: Portable, XML-Based Middleware For Media Representation, Interaction and Exchange

这一小型企业创新研究第一阶段研究项目将为嵌入3D观看环境中的数字媒体创建一个可移植的表示和交互隐喻。目前，很难将诸如照片、视频、声音和3D图形内容之类的不同种类的数字媒体组织成易于理解、易于使用并易于通过电子邮件或其他标准数据传输协议进行交换的形式。这里描述的工作将基于数据上下文、数据访问门户和可以使用可移植交换语言XML高效表示的有序时空路径来定义表示模式。这种比喻被称为视觉数据库或VDB，通常适用于在交互式3D视觉环境中最容易理解的信息，例如电子病历和解剖培训材料、地图、3D环境的数字浏览和工程分析档案。该项目还将为VDB创建一个原型查看器和内容创建系统。如果成功，该项目将为表示、交互和交换数字媒体建立一个无处不在的新标准。这样的标准可以提高创建3D内容并与之通信的个人和公司的生产率。该项目定义了一个新的比喻，用于处理信息，该比喻扩展了以前的组织比喻，如书籍和网页，以支持可视化的3D信息。表示模式足够简单，足以被诸如PDA的小型便携式设备支持，并且足够复杂，足以支持3D可视化环境中的复杂的人/计算机交互。该技术适合基于开放式XML标准和相关内容查看器的商业化计划，并与商业内容创建应用程序和许可关系相结合。

This Small Business Innovative Research Phase I research project will create a portable representational and interaction metaphor for digital media embedded in a 3D viewing environment. Currently it is difficult to organize heterogeneous digital media such as photographs, video, sound, and 3D graphics content into a form that is readily understood, intuitive to work with, and easy to exchange via e-mail or other standard data transmission protocols. The work described here will define a representational schema based on data context, data access portals, and ordered space-time paths that can be efficiently represented using the portable exchange language XML. This metaphor-known as the visual database or VDB-is generally applicable to information that is best understood in an interactive 3D visual environment such as electronic medical records and anatomical training material, maps, digital tours of 3D environments, and archival of engineering analysis. The project will also create a prototype viewer and content creation system for the VDB. If successful, this project will establish a pervasive new standard for representing, interacting with, and exchanging digital media. Such a standard could improve the productivity of individuals and firms that create and communicate with 3D content. This project defines a novel metaphor for working with information that extends previous organizational metaphors such as books and web pages to support visual, 3D information. The representational schema is simple enough to be supported by small portable devices such as PDA's, and sophisticated enough to support complex human/computer interaction in a 3D visualization environment. The technology lends itself to a commercialization plan based on open XML standard and associated content viewers in conjunction with commercial content creation applications and licensing relationships.