Prova de Doutoramento do aluno Nuno Filipe Verdelho Trindade
Área: Engenharia Informática e de Computadores
Título da Tese: Immersive Analytics in Dam Safety Control
Local da Prova: Sala de Reuniões do Departamento de Engenharia Informática (0.19), Pavilhão de Informática II do IST do IST
Data: 01/07/2025
Hora: 14h00
Abstract: Dam safety control consists of monitoring and analyzing observed data and comparing it with computed results from numerical models. Dam data visualization is typically carried out on desktop computers using traditional charts. Visual contextualization of the information contained in these charts with the area of the dam it pertains to is fundamental to understanding the overall behavior of dams. While nothing provides a more accurate spatial perception of the structures' features than standing in front of the actual dam, such a scenario is impractical. Dams are often located in remote locations, and data analysis is typically carried out in the office. And while looking at the data without contextualizing it with the dam is not ideal, looking at the real dam without contextualizing it with the data is equally problematic. Immersive analytics uses extended reality to generate immersive environments where data can be visualized. Our research explores how it can be applied to dam safety control to improve structural data visualization. We address a subarea called situated visualization, aimed at displaying information on-site contextualized with the object of analysis. However, because dam data analysis activities are typically carried out off-site, we focus on using virtual 3D models instead of the actual dam (proxsituated visualization). We address the development of specialized prototypes, which are used to support a user study designed to determine if and where proxsituated visualization can improve dam safety control. The study compares performance and user experience across multiple modes/devices (desktop computer, virtual reality, and augmented reality) with distinct levels of visual detail and data representation indirection. Our findings suggest that there are indeed some advantages in both user experience and analysis performance in immersive proxsituated environments, compared to traditional/non-immersive.