Misunderstanding Creativity : User Created Content in Virtual Worlds and its Constraints by Code and Law

Virtual worlds have moved from being a geek topic to one of mainstream academic interest. This transition is contingent not only on the augmented economic, societal and cultural value of these virtual realities and their effect upon real life but also on their convenience as fields for experimentation, for testing models and paradigms. User creation is however not something that has been transplanted from the real to the virtual world but a phenomenon and a dynamic process that happens from within and is defined through complex relationships between commercial and non-commercial, commodified and not commodified, individual and of the community, amateur and professional, art and not art. Accounting for this complex environment, the present paper explores user created content in virtual worlds, its dimensions and value and above all, its constraints by code and law. It puts forward suggestions for better understanding and harnessing this creativity.

Systematic literature review of digital three-dimensional superimposition techniques to create virtual dental patients

PURPOSE Digital developments have led to the opportunity to compose simulated patient models based on three-dimensional (3D) skeletal, facial, and dental imaging. The aim of this systematic review is to provide an update on the current knowledge, to report on the technical progress in the field of 3D virtual patient science, and to identify further research needs to accomplish clinical translation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Searches were performed electronically (MEDLINE and OVID) and manually up to March 2014 for studies of 3D fusion imaging to create a virtual dental patient. Inclusion criteria were limited to human studies reporting on the technical protocol for superimposition of at least two different 3D data sets and medical field of interest. RESULTS Of the 403 titles originally retrieved, 51 abstracts and, subsequently, 21 full texts were selected for review. Of the 21 full texts, 18 studies were included in the systematic review. Most of the investigations were designed as feasibility studies. Three different types of 3D data were identified for simulation: facial skeleton, extraoral soft tissue, and dentition. A total of 112 patients were investigated in the development of 3D virtual models. CONCLUSION Superimposition of data on the facial skeleton, soft tissue, and/or dentition is a feasible technique to create a virtual patient under static conditions. Three-dimensional image fusion is of interest and importance in all fields of dental medicine. Future research should focus on the real-time replication of a human head, including dynamic movements, capturing data in a single step.

The virtual patient in dental medicine

OBJECTIVES The aim of this Short Communication was to present a workflow for the superimposition of intraoral scan (IOS), cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), and extraoral face scan (EOS) creating a 3D virtual dental patient. MATERIAL AND METHODS As a proof-of-principle, full arch IOS, preoperative CBCT, and mimic EOS were taken and superimposed to a unique 3D data pool. The connecting link between the different files was to detect existing teeth as constant landmarks in all three data sets. RESULTS This novel application technique successfully demonstrated the feasibility of building a craniofacial virtual model by image fusion of IOS, CBCT, and EOS under 3D static conditions. CONCLUSIONS The presented application is the first approach that realized the fusion of intraoral and facial surfaces combined with skeletal anatomy imaging. This novel 3D superimposition technique allowed the simulation of treatment planning, the exploration of the patients' expectations, and the implementation as an effective communication tool. The next step will be the development of a real-time 4D virtual patient in motion.

Circulation dynamics and its influence on European and Mediterranean January-April climate over the past half millennium: results and insights from instrumental data, documentary evidence and coupled climate models

We use long instrumental temperature series together with available field reconstructions of sea-level pressure (SLP) and three-dimensional climate model simulations to analyze relations between temperature anomalies and atmospheric circulation patterns over much of Europe and the Mediterranean for the late winter/early spring (January–April, JFMA) season. A Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) investigates interannual to interdecadal covariability between a new gridded SLP field reconstruction and seven long instrumental temperature series covering the past 250 years. We then present and discuss prominent atmospheric circulation patterns related to anomalous warm and cold JFMA conditions within different European areas spanning the period 1760–2007. Next, using a data assimilation technique, we link gridded SLP data with a climate model (EC-Bilt-Clio) for a better dynamical understanding of the relationship between large scale circulation and European climate. We thus present an alternative approach to reconstruct climate for the pre-instrumental period based on the assimilated model simulations. Furthermore, we present an independent method to extend the dynamic circulation analysis for anomalously cold European JFMA conditions back to the sixteenth century. To this end, we use documentary records that are spatially representative for the long instrumental records and derive, through modern analogs, large-scale SLP, surface temperature and precipitation fields. The skill of the analog method is tested in the virtual world of two three-dimensional climate simulations (ECHO-G and HadCM3). This endeavor offers new possibilities to both constrain climate model into a reconstruction mode (through the assimilation approach) and to better asses documentary data in a quantitative way.

Automatic extraction of the mid-facial plane for cranio-maxillofacial surgery planning

Recently developed computer applications provide tools for planning cranio-maxillofacial interventions based on 3-dimensional (3D) virtual models of the patient's skull obtained from computed-tomography (CT) scans. Precise knowledge of the location of the mid-facial plane is important for the assessment of deformities and for planning reconstructive procedures. In this work, a new method is presented to automatically compute the mid-facial plane on the basis of a surface model of the facial skeleton obtained from CT. The method matches homologous surface areas selected by the user on the left and right facial side using an iterative closest point optimization. The symmetry plane which best approximates this matching transformation is then computed. This new automatic method was evaluated in an experimental study. The study included experienced and inexperienced clinicians defining the symmetry plane by a selection of landmarks. This manual definition was systematically compared with the definition resulting from the new automatic method: Quality of the symmetry planes was evaluated by their ability to match homologous areas of the face. Results show that the new automatic method is reliable and leads to significantly higher accuracy than the manual method when performed by inexperienced clinicians. In addition, the method performs equally well in difficult trauma situations, where key landmarks are unreliable or absent.

Accident or homicide - virtual crime scene reconstruction using 3D methods

The analysis and reconstruction of forensically relevant events, such as traffic accidents, criminal assaults and homicides are based on external and internal morphological findings of the injured or deceased person. For this approach high-tech methods are gaining increasing importance in forensic investigations. The non-contact optical 3D digitising system GOM ATOS is applied as a suitable tool for whole body surface and wound documentation and analysis in order to identify injury-causing instruments and to reconstruct the course of event. In addition to the surface documentation, cross-sectional imaging methods deliver medical internal findings of the body. These 3D data are fused into a whole body model of the deceased. Additional to the findings of the bodies, the injury inflicting instruments and incident scene is documented in 3D. The 3D data of the incident scene, generated by 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry, is also included into the reconstruction. Two cases illustrate the methods. In the fist case a man was shot in his bedroom and the main question was, if the offender shot the man intentionally or accidentally, as he declared. In the second case a woman was hit by a car, driving backwards into a garage. It was unclear if the driver drove backwards once or twice, which would indicate that he willingly injured and killed the woman. With this work, we demonstrate how 3D documentation, data merging and animation enable to answer reconstructive questions regarding the dynamic development of patterned injuries, and how this leads to a real data based reconstruction of the course of event.

Optimization of TRPV6 Calcium Channel Inhibitors Using a 3D Ligand-Based Virtual Screening Method

Herein, we report the discovery of the first potent and selective inhibitor of TRPV6, a calcium channel overexpressed in breast and prostate cancer, and its use to test the effect of blocking TRPV6-mediated Ca2+-influx on cell growth. The inhibitor was discovered through a computational method, xLOS, a 3D-shape and pharmacophore similarity algorithm, a type of ligand-based virtual screening (LBVS) method described briefly here. Starting with a single weakly active seed molecule, two successive rounds of LBVS followed by optimization by chemical synthesis led to a selective molecule with 0.3 μM inhibition of TRPV6. The ability of xLOS to identify different scaffolds early in LBVS was essential to success. The xLOS method may be generally useful to develop tool compounds for poorly characterized targets.

Stereoselective virtual screening of the ZINC database using atom pair 3D-fingerprints

Background Tools to explore large compound databases in search for analogs of query molecules provide a strategically important support in drug discovery to help identify available analogs of any given reference or hit compound by ligand based virtual screening (LBVS). We recently showed that large databases can be formatted for very fast searching with various 2D-fingerprints using the city-block distance as similarity measure, in particular a 2D-atom pair fingerprint (APfp) and the related category extended atom pair fingerprint (Xfp) which efficiently encode molecular shape and pharmacophores, but do not perceive stereochemistry. Here we investigated related 3D-atom pair fingerprints to enable rapid stereoselective searches in the ZINC database (23.2 million 3D structures). Results Molecular fingerprints counting atom pairs at increasing through-space distance intervals were designed using either all atoms (16-bit 3DAPfp) or different atom categories (80-bit 3DXfp). These 3D-fingerprints retrieved molecular shape and pharmacophore analogs (defined by OpenEye ROCS scoring functions) of 110,000 compounds from the Cambridge Structural Database with equal or better accuracy than the 2D-fingerprints APfp and Xfp, and showed comparable performance in recovering actives from decoys in the DUD database. LBVS by 3DXfp or 3DAPfp similarity was stereoselective and gave very different analogs when starting from different diastereomers of the same chiral drug. Results were also different from LBVS with the parent 2D-fingerprints Xfp or APfp. 3D- and 2D-fingerprints also gave very different results in LBVS of folded molecules where through-space distances between atom pairs are much shorter than topological distances. Conclusions 3DAPfp and 3DXfp are suitable for stereoselective searches for shape and pharmacophore analogs of query molecules in large databases. Web-browsers for searching ZINC by 3DAPfp and 3DXfp similarity are accessible at www.gdb.unibe.ch webcite and should provide useful assistance to drug discovery projects.

Virtobot--a multi-functional robotic system for 3D surface scanning and automatic post mortem biopsy

The Virtopsy project, a multi-disciplinary project that involves forensic science, diagnostic imaging, computer science, automation technology, telematics and biomechanics, aims to develop new techniques to improve the outcome of forensic investigations. This paper presents a new approach in the field of minimally invasive virtual autopsy for a versatile robotic system that is able to perform three-dimensional (3D) surface scans as well as post mortem image-guided soft tissue biopsies.

Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of virtual tumours in canine kidney using Global Positioning System-like technology

What's known on the subject? And what does the study add? We have previously shown that percutaneous radiofrequency ablation guided by image-fusion technology allows for precise needle placement with real time ultrasound superimposed with pre-loaded imaging, removing the need for real-time CT or MR guidance. Emerging technology also allows real-time tracking of a treatment needle within an organ in a virtually created 3D format. To our knowledge, this is the first study utilising a sophisticated ultrasound-based navigation system that uses both image-fusion and real-time probe-tracking technologies for in-vivo renal ablative intervention.

Virtual autopsy using imaging: bridging radiologic and forensic sciences. A review of the Virtopsy and similar projects

The transdisciplinary research project Virtopsy is dedicated to implementing modern imaging techniques into forensic medicine and pathology in order to augment current examination techniques or even to offer alternative methods. Our project relies on three pillars: three-dimensional (3D) surface scanning for the documentation of body surfaces, and both multislice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to visualise the internal body. Three-dimensional surface scanning has delivered remarkable results in the past in the 3D documentation of patterned injuries and of objects of forensic interest as well as whole crime scenes. Imaging of the interior of corpses is performed using MSCT and/or MRI. MRI, in addition, is also well suited to the examination of surviving victims of assault, especially choking, and helps visualise internal injuries not seen at external examination of the victim. Apart from the accuracy and three-dimensionality that conventional documentations lack, these techniques allow for the re-examination of the corpse and the crime scene even decades later, after burial of the corpse and liberation of the crime scene. We believe that this virtual, non-invasive or minimally invasive approach will improve forensic medicine in the near future.

VIRTOPSY - the Swiss virtual autopsy approach

The aim of the VIRTOPSY project () is utilizing radiological scanning to push low-tech documentation and autopsy procedures in a world of high-tech medicine in order to improve scientific value, to increase significance and quality in the forensic field. The term VIRTOPSY was created from the terms virtual and autopsy: Virtual is derived from the Latin word 'virtus', which means 'useful, efficient and good'. Autopsy is a combination of the old Greek terms 'autos' (=self) and 'opsomei' (=I will see). Thus autopsy means 'to see with ones own eyes'. Because our goal was to eliminate the subjectivity of "autos", we merged the two terms virtual and autopsy - deleting "autos" - to create VIRTOPSY. Today the project VIRTOPSY combining the research topics under one scientific umbrella, is characterized by a trans-disciplinary research approach that combines Forensic Medicine, Pathology, Radiology, Image Processing, Physics, and Biomechanics to an international scientific network. The paper will give an overview of the Virtopsy change process in forensic medicine.

Non-photorealistic rendering of virtual implant models for computer-assisted fluoroscopy-based surgical procedures

Surgical navigation systems visualize the positions and orientations of surgical instruments and implants as graphical overlays onto a medical image of the operated anatomy on a computer monitor. The orthopaedic surgical navigation systems could be categorized according to the image modalities that are used for the visualization of surgical action. In the so-called CT-based systems or 'surgeon-defined anatomy' based systems, where a 3D volume or surface representation of the operated anatomy could be constructed from the preoperatively acquired tomographic data or through intraoperatively digitized anatomy landmarks, a photorealistic rendering of the surgical action has been identified to greatly improve usability of these navigation systems. However, this may not hold true when the virtual representation of surgical instruments and implants is superimposed onto 2D projection images in a fluoroscopy-based navigation system due to the so-called image occlusion problem. Image occlusion occurs when the field of view of the fluoroscopic image is occupied by the virtual representation of surgical implants or instruments. In these situations, the surgeon may miss part of the image details, even if transparency and/or wire-frame rendering is used. In this paper, we propose to use non-photorealistic rendering to overcome this difficulty. Laboratory testing results on foamed plastic bones during various computer-assisted fluoroscopybased surgical procedures including total hip arthroplasty and long bone fracture reduction and osteosynthesis are shown.

Simple virtual reality display of fetal volume ultrasound

Three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound volume acquisition, analysis and display of fetal structures have enhanced their visualization and greatly improved the general understanding of their anatomy and pathology. The dynamic display of volume data generally depends on proprietary software, usually supplied with the ultrasound system, and on the operator's ability to maneuver the dataset digitally. We have used relatively simple tools and an established storage, display and manipulation format to generate non-linear virtual reality object movies of prenatal images (including moving sequences and 3D-rendered views) that can be navigated easily and interactively on any current computer. This approach permits a viewing or learning experience that is superior to watching a linear movie passively.