About

Hi everyone! I'm Elaine!

Since the summer of 2017, I've been working on a supernova VR project with Tom Sgouros, who helps manage the YURT at CCV. 

Aims of the research project:

1. To help Kim Arcand, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory researcher, convert volumetric and surface data into 3D models that can be observed with VR software

2. To design the ‘glue’ between many types of raw data and MinVR so that future virtual reality researchers and scientists can use this program to immediately render and visualize their datasets. 

The tools I've been using for the project are MinVR, VTK, SteamVR, Oculus, and Visual Studio. 

My interests are mainly in the intersections of VR and science/education. I am hoping to get a better overall understanding of the tools available in designing and implementing VR software. I also wish to read more research papers and studies on how VR can help enhance patient experience and student learning.

Contact Info:

Email: elaine_jiang@brown.edu

Phone: 401-601-4738

Activity Log

Week 1

1.27, 1:30 - Created journal, went through the links under sources

1.28, 1:30 - Searched for relevant articles examining the current state of VR in education, took notes on one article, "Effectiveness of virtual reality-based instruction on students' learning outcomes"

           1:00 - Read two articles (one and two) about VR/AR and education

           1:00 - Downloaded and experimented with Paraview

1.31 1:00 - Yurt lunch

Week 2

2.1    1:30 - Made a page for VTK, copied in Mac installation instructions, figured out Windows installation and put it in the page

2.3    1:35 - Read VTK user guide and summarized the most important objects and concepts in the VTK page

2.4    0:45 - Tested Windows installation of VTK to make sure it works

2.5    1:30 - Created HelloWorld program tutorial and added it to the VTK page

           2:20 - Created Visualizing Volumetric Data program tutorial and added to VTK page, filled in About section in journal

2.6    2:00 - Read a few articles about Kitware research on the Kitware blog:

• • • https://blog.kitware.com/kitware-leading-edge-ultrasound-research/

    • https://blog.kitware.com/a-new-embossing-representations-plugin-for-paraview/

    • https://blog.kitware.com/academic-entrepreneurship-how-kitware-can-help-commercialize-research/

and experimented with Paraview filters

2.7     1:00 - Attended Yurt lunch session

Week 3

2.10  1:30 - Filled in journal with progress report and multi-week plan

2.12  0:50 - Attended VR tech talk on teleoportation (robots and cool VR/AR stuff!) 

            2:00 - Fine-tuned progress report

• • • Skimmed through the current state of Manuscript to make sure my format is okay and I'm observing the same variables

    • Created a Hello World text source in Paraview and documented process

2.14 1:00 - Attended yurt lunch session

             :30 - Helped classmate with installing demo-graphic on Windows

2.15 1:00 - Helped classmate with installing MinVR on Windows

     1:30 - Filled out interest forms for different scivis software -- hopefully they will let me use their software

2.16  1:45 - Brainstormed metrics Amadeo and I could keep track of while experimenting with scivis software; updated journal

Week 4

2.20 2:00 - Downloaded VisIt, read introduction + data visualization sections of user manual

       :30 - Answered emails asking for reasons why I want to use their software trial

       :45 - Experimented with data visualizations in VisIt; found a more helpful tutorial site that is more concise than the user manual,            jotted down notes in scivis google doc

2.21 1:00 - Yurt lunch session

2.24 4:00 - Filled in manuscript with information about VTK, Paraview, and VisIt

2.25 2:00 - Met with Amadeo to discuss what to put in manuscript, started comparison chart table

Week 5

3.1 1:30 - Read about differences between ParaView and VisIt; added it to my notes

3.2 0:45 - Brainstormed metrics to add to comparison table

3.4 4:00 - Downloaded and installed Amira, watched tutorials, tried to figure out how to get the vtk visualization up

3.5 1:00 - Followed example tutorial in Amira user guide

        1:30 - Filled out Amira page, revised and uploaded comparison tables, wrote in journal

3.6 2:00 - Reformatted pages so that they're consistent

Week 6

3.12 2:30 - Brainstormed and filled out multi-week plan

3.14 1:00 - Yurt lunch session

3.15 3:00 - Attended monthly RIVR meeting; presented supernova project; asked folks about any visualization tools they use

3.15 1:30 - Read about VTK and ParaView highlights; jotted notes down in doc

Week 7

3.19 2:30 - Read about Amira and VisIt highlights; put notes down in doc

3.20 3:00 - Organized and transferred notes from doc into manuscript

3.21 1:00 - Yurt lunch session

3.23 0:45 - Read about health warnings of using VR for an extended period of time

          2:30 - Began looking into popular education software and jotted notes in doc

Week 8

4.2 0:30 - Set up and installed unity in google drive folder

4.3 3:00 - Followed tutorial to build VisIt animation using sample data

was ill the rest of the week :( 

Week 9

4.8 4:00 - Tried to install ensight but they are temporarily pausing downloads, built animations with the 3 remaining sci-vis software, started summary keynote

4.9 3:30 - Read user forums, user guides, developer handbooks about visit vs. paraview to distinguish between the two in my summaries; added information to keynote

4.11 3:00 - Read research papers about educational vr software -- game-based vs. simulation-based -- notes in doc, will put in wiki later

Week 10

4.17 5:00 - Visited American Museum of Natural History and saw some of the AR/VR projects they're currently working on

4.18 1:00 - Attended yurt lunch session

           3:30 - Read papers on VR and education specifically on software being used in college/high school classrooms and whether they enhance learning 

4.20 2:00 - Additional organization of vr visualization pages and headers; filled out google form for final stretch

Week 11

4.23 2:00 - Read research abstracts and papers about how VR can improve spatial recognition and memory, how VR can aid in learning abstract spatial concepts such as geometry and multivariate calculus

4.24 1:45 - Read research paper on how memory palace in VR aids knowledge retention; searched Google Scholars for papers relating to VR and efficiency in completing complex cognitive tasks (such as learning how to solve a 3D puzzle)

4.25 1:30 - Began compiling list of most used educational software, read reviews, watched videos of the software being used

4.29 6:00 - Compiled educational software and tested some that were compatible with iOS; started filling individual educational software pages

4.30 3:30 - Fixed oculus issue that prevented me from running outside (unknown) programs; added Research Labs page under VR in Education

Week 12

5.1 4:00 - Got ParaView working using Oculus and HTC Vive

 2:30 - Downloaded various educational apps on phone; recorded best ones

5.2 3:30 - Put together final presentation

Week 13

5.9 3:00 - Changed structure of software pages; reorganized my pages in manuscript and pulled tutorials out into new pages

5.10 4:00 - Worked on education poster

5.12 4:00 - Addressed all to-dos related to my contributions in the wiki, finished poster

5.13 1:00 - Final read through of all wiki contributions, final edits

Hours so far: 134.1

Multi-Week Plan #2

Part 1: More Visualization Software

Before 3/15:

Deliverables:

1. Highlights of existing visualization tools (VTK, ParaView) in manuscript [under VR Development Software and VR Visualization Software]

Activities:

1. Learn about highlights of VTK through documentation/user forums [1-2 hrs]

2. Learn about highlights of ParaView through documentation/user forums [1-2 hrs]

3. Put highlights into manuscript [2 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activities #1-#3  leads directly to Deliverable #1. 

Before 3/20:

Deliverables:

1. Highlights of existing visualization tools (VisIt, Amira) in manuscript [under VR Visualization Software]

Activities:

1. Learn about highlights of VisIt through documentation/user forums [1-2 hrs]

2. Learn about highlights of Amira through documentation/user forums [1-2 hrs]

3. Put highlights into manuscript [2 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activities #1-#3  leads directly to Deliverable #1. 

Before 3/22:

Deliverables:

1. Data Visualization tutorial with Ensight [under VR Visualization Software -> Ensight ]

Activities:

1. Download and install Ensight [1-2 hr]

2. Figure out how to render a volume [3-4 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 will help me work towards Deliverable #1.

2. Activity #2 will lead directly to Deliverable #1.

Before 4/3:

Deliverables:

1. An animation tutorial with Ensight [under VR Visualization Software -> Ensight ]

Activities:

1. Figure out how to create an animation with Ensight [3-4 hrs]

2. Document process in manuscript [1 hr]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 will help me work towards Deliverable #1.

2. Activity #2 will lead directly to Deliverable #1.

Before 4/5:

Deliverables:

1. Overview of Ensight [under VR Visualization Software -> Ensight]

Activities:

1. Learn about highlights of ensight through documentation/user forums [2-3 hrs]

2. Add Ensight to comparison table [1-2 hrs]

3. Add information to manuscript [1 hr]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 will help me write up Deliverable #1.

2. Activity #2 does not relate directly to the deliverable but will add to the summary of all visualization software.

Before 4/10:

Deliverables:

1. An animation tutorial with ParaView and Amira [under VR Visualization Software]

Activities:

1. Figure out how to create an animation with ParaView and Amira [3-4 hrs]

2. Document process in manuscript [1 hr]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 will help me work towards Deliverable #1.

2. Activity #2 will lead directly to Deliverable #1.

Before 4/12 [Mid-point]:

Deliverables:

1. Well organized, well documented overviews of VTK, Amira, ParaView, VisIt, Ensight softwares [under VR Visualization Software]

Activities:

1. Make sure each page has installation instructions, tutorials, overview of features, resources links [3-4 hrs]

2. Make sure comparison table has all of the software [1 hr]

Relationship:

1. Activities #1 and #2 relate directly to Deliverable #1

Part 2: Education and VR

Before 4/17:

Deliverables:

1. Add further literature to VR in Education [under VR in Education]

Activities:

1. Do further research on the state of VR and education [3-4 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 is directly related to Deliverable #1. I'll try to look for reliable sources in journal databases and add them to the literature under VR in Education.

Before 4/19:

Deliverables:

1. Create a list of widely used software by educators and students  [under VR in Education -> Software]

Activities:

1. Test 1-2 sample software/games/simulations used to help enhance learning [2-3 hrs]

2. Start compiling a list of widely used software by schools, teachers, students, etc [1-2 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 will allow me to evaluate and compare some of the VR software used in education -- not sure where to put this in the manuscript yet.

2. Activity #2 will lead directly to Deliverable #1.  

Before 4/24:

Deliverables:

1. Make a  list of widely used software by educators and students  [under VR in Education -> Software]

Activities:

1. Test 2-3 more sample software/games/simulations used to help enhance learning [4-5 hrs]

2. Add to list of education software [1 hr]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 will allow me to evaluate and compare some of the VR software used in education -- not sure where to put this in the manuscript yet.

2. Activity #2 will lead directly to Deliverable #1. 

Before 4/26:

Deliverables:

1. High quality, well written notes on scientific visualization and vr in education

Activities:

1. Proofread everything I've put in manuscript [1-2 hrs]

2. Remember to site sources!! [1-2 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activities #1,#2 relate directly to Deliverable #1.

Progress Report - 3.5.18

Course Deliverables

1. Overview (introduction, tutorial, documentation) of ParaView [under VR Modeling Software]

2. Overview of VisIt [under VR Modeling Software]

3. Overview of Amira -- still in progress [under VR Modeling Software]

4. Comparison table of scientific visualization software (VTK, ParaView, VisIt, Amira) [under Comparisons -> VR Modeling Software]

Activities

1. Experimented with VisIt: downloaded and installed software on Mac , figured out how to volume render data

2. Experimented with Amira: emailed to request a trial, downloaded and installed on Mac, read tutorials about visualization, tried example tutorial

3. Attended Yurt lunch sessions

4. Discussed metrics with Amadeo and built a comparison table for the different scientific visualization tools

5. Read about Kitware products and research

Activities -> Deliverables

1. Activities #1,  #2, and #3 helped me construct brief overviews of ParaView, VisIt, and Amira for the manuscript (Deliverable #1, #2, and #3) and help me build comparison tables with other other scientific visualization libraries (Deliverable #4).

2. I'm still not too sure how to connect Activity #3 to a deliverable.

3. Activity #4 related directly to Deliverable #4.

4. Activity #5 will give me more information about Kitware products (such Paraview) and its applications. I can use the knowledge I obtain in this activity to add to Deliverables #1. 

Total time spent since last report: 30 hours, 30 min

Progress Report

Course Deliverables

1. Overview of VTK [under VR Software Development]

2. Overview of Paraview [under VR Modeling Software]

3. Comparison of VTK and Paraview (and other visualization libraries) in implementing Hello World [under VR Software Development]

4. Overview of software used at the intersection of VR and education [under Literature]

Activities

1. Experimented with VTK: downloaded and installed software on both Mac and Windows, created a Hello World program, wrote two tutorials (one on Hello World and one on visualizing volumetric data)

2. Experimented with Paraview: downloaded and installed on Mac, tried different filters on sample data, read about how Paraview links with VTK

3. Attended Yurt lunch sessions

4. Read articles about VR and education

5. Read about Kitware products and research

Activities -> Deliverables

1. Activities #1 and #2 will help me construct a helpful overview of VTK for the manuscript (Deliverable #1) and give me the background knowledge I need in comparing VTK with other science-focused visualization libraries (Deliverable #3).

2. I'm not too sure how to connect Activity #3 to a deliverable yet -- perhaps in an introduction to OpenGL in the manuscript?

3. Activity #4 relates directly to Deliverable #4 -- I'll have to look into more VR software used in education because so far I only have example games, simulations etc.

4. Activity #5 will give me more information about Kitware products (such as VTK and Paraview) and its applications. I can use the knowledge I obtain in this activity to add to Deliverables #1, #2, and #3. 

Total time spent so far: 18 hours, 15 min

Multi-Week Plan

Before 2/15:

Deliverables:

1. Overview of another science-focused visualization tool (maybe VisIt) [under VR Software Development]

2. Data Visualization tutorial with VisIt [under VR Software Development -> Tutorials]

3. Comparison of VisIt with VTK and Paraview [under VR Software Development]

Activities:

1. Download and install VisIt [1 hr]

2. Figure out how to implement Hello World [2-3 hrs]

3. Experiment with VisIt and read documentation/user forums [2-3 hrs]

4. Start making table of comparison with other visualization tools [1-2 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 will help me work towards all three deliverables. I could also add installation instructions to the site (not the manuscript).

2. Activity #2 will lead directly to Deliverable #2.

3. Activity #3 will help me gather information for the comparison on different software libraries (Deliverable #3).

4. Activity #4 leads directly to Deliverable #3. 

Before 2/22:

(Diverting focus a little this week to VR and education)

Deliverables:

1. Add further literature to VR in Education [under VR in Education]

2. Add a list of widely used software by educators and students  [under VR in Education -> Software]

Activities:

1. Do further research on the state of VR and education [2-3 hrs]

2. Test sample software/games/simulations used to help enhance learning [2-3 hrs]

3. Start compiling a list of widely used software by schools, teachers, students, etc [1-2 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 is directly related to Deliverable #1. I'll try to look for reliable sources in journal databases and add them to the literature under VR in Education.

2. Activity #2 will allow me to evaluate and compare some of the VR software used in education -- not sure where to put this in the manuscript yet.

3. Activity #3 will lead directly to Deliverable #2.  

Before 2/27:

(Back to scientific visualization tools.)

Deliverables:

1. Overview of another science-focused visualization tool (maybe Amira) [under VR Software Development]

2. Data Visualization tutorial [under VR Software Development -> Tutorials]

3. Comparison with the other three visualization libraries [under VR Software Development]

Activities:

1. Download and install  [1 hr]

2. Figure out how to implement Hello World [2-3 hrs]

3. Experiment with tools and read documentation/user forums [2-3 hrs]

4. Start making table of comparison with other visualization tools [1-2 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activity #1 will help me work towards all three deliverables. I could also add installation instructions to the site (not the manuscript).

2. Activity #2 will lead directly to Deliverable #2.

3. Activity #3 will help me gather information for the comparison on different software libraries (Deliverable #3).

4. Activity #4 leads directly to Deliverable #3. 

Before 3/1:

Deliverables:

1. Create a compiled list of most popular scientific visualization tools used by relevant people [under VR Software Development]

2. Make comparison tables more comprehensive [under Comparisons -> VR Software Development]

Activities:

1. Begin gathering the contact information of professors and researchers who are doing VR scientific visualization [2-3 hrs]

2. Prepare questions to ask them, and do further research on scientific visualization so I don't embarrass myself [3-4 hrs]

3. Send emails asking if they have a moment to chat [1 hr]

4. In the meantime, work further on the comparison tables [2-3 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activities #1, #2, and #3 will help me accomplish Deliverable #1.

2. Activity #4 is Deliverable #2. 

Before 3/6:

Deliverables:

1. Create a compiled list of most popular educational software recommended by educators [under VR Software Development]

2. Make comparison tables more comprehensive [under Comparisons -> VR Software Development]

Activities:

1. Begin gathering the contact information of educators who use VR in their classrooms [2-3 hrs]

2. Conduct interviews on scientific visualization researchers contacted the week before [3-4 hrs]

3. Send emails to educators asking if they are willing to be interviewed [1 hr]

4. In the meantime, work further on the comparison tables [2-3 hrs]

Relationship:

1. Activities #1 and #3 will help me accomplish Deliverable #1.

2. Activity #2 will help me accomplish Deliverable #1 from the past week. 

3. Activity #4 is Deliverable #2.