A New Approach to Design an Interactive System for Molecular Analysis

Abstract

The rapid evolution of molecule's imaging and observation's techniques has caused a growing interest in studying molecular structures. Naturally, scientists have turned to simulation and 3D modeling in order to better understand biological phenomena. Thus, several 3D modeling systems have emerged. Some of these systems are dedicated to 3D visualization, and others are interested in 3D handling. However, we observed that these systems use classical 3D interaction techniques, frequently used in virtual reality (VR). On the other hand, the biological environment is very complex and binding as well. Thus, to remain faithful to the constraintes of the environment and be closer to natural behavior of molecules, we have tried to propose a 3D manipulation adapted to the domain, a bio-supervised 3D manipulation.

A framework to design 3D interaction assistance in constraints-based virtual environments

“…It involves placing the biologist in the centre of virtual experiments, rather than an observer of automatic simulation results. This is what we call hybrid approach [11], that combines the advantages of in silico experiments, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and VR: natural interaction, immersion in the VE, multimodality, etc. The result of this approach is the creation of in virtuo experiments which have three components: the 3D modeling, the visualization and the 3DI.…”

Software architecture for interactive robot teleoperation

“…In fact, while assembling different issues related to human, environment and teleoperation factors, we observed some technical constraints, such as loss of ROV maneuverability and transmission delays, which affect system's use (navigation precision, robot's safety and divers' spatial awareness). Hence, we applied an assistance model [9] that includes a set of guides (virtual fixtures) in order to remedy these constraints. As an example of a virtual fixture, the operator must choose a diving path that he/she must follow.…”