Felix G. Hamza-Lup

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Adytia Suri, Ionut E. Iacob et al.

The human brain provides a range of functions such as expressing emotions, controlling the rate of breathing, etc., and its study has attracted the interest of scientists for many years. As machine learning models become more sophisticated, and bio-metric data becomes more readily available through new non-invasive technologies, it becomes increasingly possible to gain access to interesting biometric data that could revolutionize Human-Computer Interaction. In this research, we propose a method to assess and quantify human attention levels and their effects on learning. In our study, we employ a brain computer interface (BCI) capable of detecting brain wave activity and displaying the corresponding electroencephalograms (EEG). We train recurrent neural networks (RNNS) to identify the type of activity an individual is performing.

Ioana R. Goldbach, Felix G. Hamza-Lup

As generation Z's big data is flooding the Internet through social nets, neural network based data processing is turning an important cornerstone, showing significant potential for fast extraction of data patterns. Online course delivery and associated tutoring are transforming into customizable, on-demand services driven by the learner. Besides automated grading, strong potential exists for the development and deployment of next generation intelligent tutoring software agents. Self-adaptive, online tutoring agents exhibiting "intelligent-like" behavior, being capable "to learn" from the learner, will become the next educational superstars. Over the past decade, computer-based tutoring agents were deployed in a variety of extended reality environments, from patient rehabilitation to psychological trauma healing. Most of these agents are driven by a set of conditional control statements and a large answers/questions pairs dataset. This article provides a brief introduction on Generation Z's addiction to digital information, highlights important efforts for the development of intelligent dialogue systems, and explains the main components and important design decisions for Intelligent Tutoring System.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Ionut E. Iacob, Sushmita Khan

A large number of sensors deployed in recent years in various setups and their data is readily available in dedicated databases or in the cloud. Of particular interest is real-time data processing and 3D visualization in web-based user interfaces that facilitate spatial information understanding and sharing, hence helping the decision making process for all the parties involved. In this research, we provide a prototype system for near real-time, continuous X3D-based visualization of processed sensor data for two significant applications: thermal monitoring for residential/commercial buildings and nitrogen cycle monitoring in water beds for aquaponics systems. As sensors are sparsely placed, in each application, where they collect data for large periods (of up to one year), we employ a Finite Differences Method and a Neural Networks model to approximate data distribution in the entire volume.

Amar A. Rasheed, Rabi N. Mahapatra, Felix G. Hamza-Lup

Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) are a particular subclass of mobile ad hoc networks that raise a number of security challenges, notably from the way users authenticate the network. Authentication technologies based on existing security policies and access control rules in such networks assume full trust on Roadside Unit (RSU) and authentication servers. The disclosure of authentication parameters enables user's trace-ability over the network. VANETs' trusted entities (e.g. RSU) can utilize such information to track a user traveling behavior, violating user privacy and anonymity. In this paper, we proposed a novel, light-weight, Adaptive Group-based Zero Knowledge Proof-Authentication Protocol (AGZKP-AP) for VANETs. The proposed authentication protocol is capable of offering various levels of users' privacy settings based on the type of services available on such networks. Our scheme is based on the Zero-Knowledge-Proof (ZKP) crypto approach with the support of trade-off options. Users have the option to make critical decisions on the level of privacy and the amount of resources usage they prefer such as short system response time versus the number of private information disclosures. Furthermore, AGZKP-AP is incorporated with a distributed privilege control and revoking mechanism that render user's private information to law enforcement in case of a traffic violation.

Jonathan Norman, Felix G. Hamza-Lup

Haptic sensory feedback has been shown to complement the visual and auditory senses, improve user performance and provide a greater sense of togetherness in collaborative and interactive virtual environments. However, we are faced with numerous challenges when deploying these systems over the present day Internet. The most significant of these challenges are the network performance limitations of the Wide Area Networks. In this paper, we offer a structured examination of the current challenges in the deployment of haptic-based distributed systems by analyzing the recent advances in the understanding of these challenges and the progress that has been made to overcome them.

Ivan Sopin, Felix G. Hamza-Lup

Extensible 3D (X3D) modeling language is one of the leading Web3D technologies. Despite the rich functionality, the language does not currently provide tools for rapid development of conventional graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Every X3D author is responsible for building from primitives a purpose specific set of required interface components, often for a single use. We address the challenge of creating consistent, efficient, interactive, and visually appealing GUIs by proposing the X3D User Interface (X3DUI) library. This library includes a wide range of cross-compatible X3D widgets, equipped with configurable appearance and behavior. With this library, we attempt to standardize the GUI construction across various X3D-driven projects, and improve the usability, compatibility, adaptability, readability, and flexibility of many existing applications.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Crenguta M. Bogdan, Dorin M. Popovici et al.

Surgeons must accomplish complex technical and intellectual tasks that can generate unexpected and serious challenges with little or no room for error. In the last decade, computer simulations have played an increasing role in surgical training, pre-operative planning, and biomedical research. Specifically, visuo-haptic simulations have been the focus of research to develop advanced e-Learning systems facilitating surgical training. The cost of haptic hardware was reduced through mass scale production and as haptics gained popularity in the gaming industry. Visuo-haptic simulations combine the tactile sense with visual information and provide training scenarios with a high degree of reality. For surgical training, such scenarios can be used as ways to gain, improve, and assess resident and expert surgeons' skills and knowledge.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Adrian Seitan, Costin Petre et al.

Recent advances in haptic hardware and software technology have generated interest in novel, multimodal interfaces based on the sense of touch. Such interfaces have the potential to revolutionize the way we think about human computer interaction and open new possibilities for simulation and training in a variety of fields. In this paper we review several frameworks, APIs and toolkits for haptic user interface development. We explore these software components focusing on minimally invasive surgical simulation systems. In the area of medical diagnosis, there is a strong need to determine mechanical properties of biological tissue for both histological and pathological considerations. Therefore we focus on the development of affordable visuo-haptic simulators to improve practice-based education in this area. We envision such systems, designed for the next generations of learners that enhance their knowledge in connection with real-life situations while they train in mandatory safety conditions.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Crenguta M. Bogdan, Adrian Seitan

Mechanical properties of biological tissue for both histological and pathological considerations are often required in disease diagnostics. Such properties can be simulated and explored with haptic technology. Development of cost effective haptic-based simulators and their introduction in the minimally invasive surgery learning cycle is still in its infancy. Receiving pretraining in a core set of surgical skills can reduce skill acquisition time and risks. We present the development of a visuo-haptic simulator module designed to train internal organs disease diagnostics through palpation. The module is part of a set of tools designed to train and improve basic surgical skills for minimally invasive surgery.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, William H. Baird

Multimodal simulations augment the presentation of abstract concepts facilitating theoretical models understanding and learning. Most simulations only engage two of our five senses: sight and hearing. If we employ additional sensory communication channels in simulations, we may gain a deeper understanding of illustrated concepts by increasing the communication bandwidth and providing alternative perspectives. We implemented the sense of touch in 3D simulations to teach important concepts in introductory physics. Specifically, we developed a visual/haptic simulation for friction. We prove that interactive 3D haptic simulations, if carefully developed and deployed, are useful in engaging students and allowing them to understand concepts faster. We hypothesize that large scale deployment of such haptic-based simulators in science laboratories is now possible due to the advancements in haptic software and hardware technology.

Dorin M. Popovici, Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Adrian Seitan et al.

The simulation of tactile sensation using haptic devices is increasingly investigated in conjunction with simulation and training. In this paper we explore the most popular haptic frameworks and APIs. We provide a comprehensive review and comparison of their features and capabilities, from the perspective of the need to develop a haptic simulator for medical training purposes. In order to compare the studied frameworks and APIs, we identified and applied a set of 11 criteria and we obtained a classification of platforms, from the perspective of our project. According to this classification, we used the best platform to develop a visual-haptic prototype for liver diagnostics.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Benjamin Page

The teaching of abstract physics concepts can be enhanced by incorporating visual and haptic sensory modalities in the classroom, using the correct perspectives. We have developed virtual reality simulations to assist students in learning the Coriolis effect, an apparent deflection on an object in motion when observed from within a rotating frame of reference. Twenty four undergraduate physics students participated in this study. Students were able to feel the forces through feedback on a Novint Falcon device. The assessment results show an improvement in the learning experience and better content retention as compared with traditional instruction methods. We prove that large scale deployment of visuo-haptic reconfigurable applications is now possible and feasible in a science laboratory setup.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Adrian Seitan, Dorin M. Popovici et al.

Preoperative gestures include tactile sampling of the mechanical properties of biological tissue for both histological and pathological considerations. Tactile properties used in conjunction with visual cues can provide useful feedback to the surgeon. Development of novel cost effective haptic-based simulators and their introduction in the minimally invasive surgery learning cycle can absorb the learning curve for your residents. Receiving pre-training in a core set of surgical skills can reduce skill acquisition time and risks. We present the integration of a real-time surface stiffness adjustment algorithm and a novel paradigm -- force maps -- in a visuo-haptic simulator module designed to train internal organs disease diagnostics through palpation.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Ivan Sopin

Knowledge creation occurs in the process of social interaction. As our service-based society is evolving into a knowledge-based society there is an acute need for more effective collaboration and knowledge-sharing systems to be used by geographically scattered people. We present the use of Web3D components and standards, such as X3D, in combination with the haptic (tactile) paradigm, for the development of new communication channels for e-Learning and simulation.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Faith-Anne L. Kocadag

With the expansion of e-learning course curricula and the affordability of haptic devices, at-home virtual laboratories are emerging as an increasingly viable option for e-learners. We outline three novel haptic simulations for the introductory physics concepts of friction, the Coriolis Effect, and Precession. These simulations provide force feedback through one or more Novint Falcon devices, allowing students to "feel" the forces at work in a controlled learning environment. This multi-modal approach to education (beyond the audiovisual) may lead to increased interest and immersion for e-learners and appeal to the kinesthetic learners who may struggle in a traditional e-learning course setting.

Jannick P. Rolland, Frank Biocca, Felix G. Hamza-Lup et al.

Distributed systems technologies supporting 3D visualization and social collaboration will be increasing in frequency and type over time. An emerging type of head-mounted display referred to as the head-mounted projection display (HMPD) was recently developed that only requires ultralight optics (i.e., less than 8 g per eye) that enables immersive multiuser, mobile augmented reality 3D visualization, as well as remote 3D collaborations. In this paper a review of the development of lightweight HMPD technology is provided, together with insight into what makes this technology timely and so unique. Two novel emerging HMPD-based technologies are then described: a teleportal HMPD(T-HMPD) enabling face-to-face communication and visualization of shared 3D virtual objects, and a mobile HMPD (M-HMPD) designed for outdoor wearable visualization and communication. Finally, the use of HMPD in medical visualization and training, as well as in infospaces, two applications developed in the ODA and MIND labs respectively, are discussed.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Adrian Seitan, Dorin M. Popovici et al.

Tactile perception plays an important role in medical simulation and training, specifically in surgery. The surgeon must feel organic tissue hardness, evaluate anatomical structures, measure tissue properties, and apply appropriate force control actions for safe tissue manipulation. Development of novel cost effective haptic-based simulators and their introduction in the minimally invasive surgery learning cycle can absorb the learning curve for residents. Receiving pre-training in a core set of surgical skills can reduce skill acquisition time and risks. We present the development of a cost-effective visuo-haptic simulator for the liver tissue, designed to improve practice-based education in minimally invasive surgery. Such systems can positively affect the next generations of learners by enhancing their knowledge in connection with real-life situations while they train in mandatory safe conditions.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Jannick P. Rolland

Advances in computer networks and rendering systems facilitate the creation of distributed collaborative environments in which the distribution of information at remote locations allows efficient communication. One of the challenges in networked virtual environments is maintaining a consistent view of the shared state in the presence of inevitable network latency and jitter. A consistent view in a shared scene may significantly increase the sense of presence among participants and facilitate their interactivity. The dynamic shared state is directly affected by the frequency of actions applied on the objects in the scene. Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) environments contain several types of action producers including human users, a wide range of electronic motion sensors, and haptic devices. In this paper, the authors propose a novel criterion for categorization of distributed MR/VR systems and present an adaptive synchronization algorithm for distributed MR/VR collaborative environments. In spite of significant network latency, results show that for low levels of update frequencies the dynamic shared state can be maintained consistent at multiple remotely located sites.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Jannick P. Rolland, Charles Hughes

Augmented Reality (AR) systems describe the class of systems that use computers to overlay virtual information on the real world. AR environments allow the development of promising tools in several application domains. In medical training and simulation the learning potential of AR is significantly amplified by the capability of the system to present 3D medical models in real-time at remote locations. Furthermore the simulation applicability is broadened by the use of real-time deformable medical models. This work presents a distributed medical training prototype designed to train medical practitioners' hand-eye coordination when performing endotracheal intubations. The system we present accomplishes this task with the help of AR paradigms. An extension of this prototype to medical simulations by employing deformable medical models is possible. The shared state maintenance of the collaborative AR environment is assured through a novel adaptive synchronization algorithm (ASA) that increases the sense of presence among participants and facilitates their interactivity in spite of infrastructure delays. The system will allow paramedics, pre-hospital personnel, and students to practice their skills without touching a real patient and will provide them with the visual feedback they could not otherwise obtain. Such a distributed AR training tool has the potential to: allow an instructor to simultaneously train local and remotely located students and, allow students to actually "see" the internal anatomy and therefore better understand their actions on a human patient simulator (HPS).

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Anand P. Santhanam, Celina Imielinska et al.

Augmented Reality (AR) systems add visual information to the world by using advanced display techniques. The advances in miniaturization and reduced costs make some of these systems feasible for applications in a wide set of fields. We present a potential component of the cyber infrastructure for the operating room of the future; a distributed AR based software-hardware system that allows real-time visualization of 3D lung dynamics superimposed directly on the patient's body. Several emergency events (e.g. closed and tension pneumothorax) and surgical procedures related to the lung (e.g. lung transplantation, lung volume reduction surgery, surgical treatment of lung infections, lung cancer surgery) could benefit from the proposed prototype.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Ioana A. Stanescu

The process of learning involves interaction with the learning environment through our five senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste). Until recently, distance education focused only on the first two of those senses, sight and sound. Internet-based learning environments are predominantly visual with auditory components. With the advent of haptic technology we can now simulate/generate forces and, as a result, the sense of touch. The gaming industry has promoted the "touch" on the "wire", allowing complex multi-modal interactions online. In this article we provide a brief overview of the evolution of haptic technology, its potential for education, and existing challenges. We review recent data on 21st century students' behaviors, and share our experiences in designing interactive haptic environments for education. From the "Community of Inquiry" framework perspective, we discuss the potential impact of haptic feedback on cognitive and social presence.

Jannick Rolland, Ozan Cakmakci, Jeff Covelli et al.

The emergence of several trends, including the increased availability of wireless networks, miniaturization of electronics and sensing technologies, and novel input and output devices, is creating a demand for integrated, full-time displays for use across a wide range of applications, including collaborative environments. In this paper, we present and discuss emerging visualization methods we are developing particularly as they relate to deployable displays and displays worn on the body to support mobile users.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Dorin M. Popovici, Crenguta M. Bogdan

This paper brings into discussion some of the most relevant technological challenges involving haptic systems in medical education. One of these challenges is choosing the suitable haptic hardware, API or framework for developing a visuo-haptic e-Learning system. The decision is based on several criteria such as the multimodal resources needed by the software system, compatibility with haptic devices and the dynamic configuration of the scene. Another challenge is related to the software system reactivity in conjunction with the user's actions. The immediate haptic feedback from the virtual models, together with the synchronization of the rendered haptic and visual cues seen by the users are essential for enhancing the user's learning ability. Visuo-haptic simulation facilitates accurate training scenarios of medical protocols and surgical processes.

Priya T. Goeser, Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Wayne M. Johnson et al.

The use of computer-aided and web-based educational technologies such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) has increased significantly in the recent past. One example of such a VLE is Virtual Interactive Engineering on the Web (VIEW). VIEW is a 3D virtual, interactive, student centered, framework of web-based modules based on the Extensible 3D standard. These modules are dedicated to the improvement of student success and learning. In this paper, an overview of the recent developments in VIEW along with associated assessment results is presented. An experimental study was also performed to compare the learning experience and performance of students in a physical dissection activity vs. that in a virtual dissection activity using a VIEW module. The results of this study show that students can meet given learning objectives and that there is limited difference in their learning and performance irrespective of a physical or virtual setting.

Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Stephen White

Technology is influencing education, providing new delivery and assessment models. A combination between online and traditional course, the hybrid (blended) course, may present a solution with many benefits as it provides a gradual transition towards technology enabled education. This research work provides a set of definitions for several course delivery approaches, and evaluates five years of data from a course that has been converted from traditional face-to-face delivery, to hybrid delivery. The collected experimental data proves that the revised course, in the hybrid delivery mode, is at least as good, if not better, than it previously was and it provides some benefits in terms of student retention.