Isovists compactness and stairs as predictors of evacuation route choice.

The building design is a crucial factor that can be actively adjusted and optimized to prevent human and property threats in emergency scenarios. Previous research suggests that specific building layouts may significantly influence human behaviour during evacuation. However, detailed empirical data about human behaviour in various types of buildings with different layouts are still missing and only marginal recommendations from this field are reflected in actual construction practice. In this study, desktop VR technologies were employed to study human decision-making in problematic T-intersections in the context of an emergency evacuation. More specifically, we studied fundamental attributes of buildings such as the width and length of the corridors and the presence of stairs to explore how they influence the choice of the evacuation route. The space-syntax isovist method was used to describe spatial parameters of corridors, which makes the results applicable to all buildings. Behavioural data from 208 respondents were analysed using multilevel regression models. Our results support previous claims concerning the importance of specific spatial layouts of evacuation corridors because respondents systematically chose wider and shorter corridors with visible staircases as the preferred evacuation route. The present findings further promote the ongoing discussion on the design of marked evacuation routes and building design that takes human factors into consideration.

Towards the Development and Verification of a 3D-Based Advanced Optimized Farm Machinery Trajectory Algorithm.

Efforts related to minimizing the environmental burden caused by agricultural activities and increasing economic efficiency are key contemporary drivers in the precision agriculture domain. Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) techniques are being applied against soil compaction creation, using the on-line optimization of trajectory planning for soil-sensitive field operations. The research presented in this paper aims at a proof-of-concept solution with respect to optimizing farm machinery trajectories in order to minimize the environmental burden and increase economic efficiency. As such, it further advances existing CTF solutions by including (1) efficient plot divisions in 3D, (2) the optimization of entry and exit points of both plot and plot segments, (3) the employment of more machines in parallel and (4) obstacles in a farm machinery trajectory. The developed algorithm is expressed in terms of unified modeling language (UML) activity diagrams as well as pseudo-code. Results were visualized in 2D and 3D to demonstrate terrain impact. Verifications were conducted at a fully operational commercial farm (Rostenice, the Czech Republic) against second-by-second sensor measurements of real farm machinery trajectories.

The 3D hype: Evaluating the potential of real 3D visualization in geo-related applications.

The use of 3D visualization technologies has increased rapidly in many applied fields, including geovisualization, and has been researched from many different perspectives. However, the findings for the benefits of 3D visualization, especially in stereoscopic 3D forms, remain inconclusive and disputed. Stereoscopic "real" 3D visualization was proposed as encouraging the visual perception of shapes and volume of displayed content yet criticised as problematic and limited in a number of ways, particularly in visual discomfort and increased response time in tasks. In order to assess the potential of real 3D visualization for geo-applications, 91 participants were engaged in this study to work with digital terrain models in different 3D settings. The researchers examined the effectivity of stereoscopic real 3D visualization compared to monoscopic 3D (or pseudo 3D) visualization under static and interactive conditions and applied three tasks with experimental stimuli representing different geo-related phenomena, i.e. objects in the terrain, flat areas marked in the terrain and terrain elevation profiles. The authors explored the significant effects of real 3D visualization and interactivity factors in terms of response time and correctness. Researchers observed that the option to interact (t = -10.849, p < 0.001) with a virtual terrain and its depiction with real 3D visualization (t = 4.64, p < 0.001) extended the participants' response times. Counterintuitively, the data demonstrated that the static condition increased response correctness (z = 5.38, p < 0.001). Regarding detailed analysis of data, an interactivity factor was proposed as a potential substitute for real 3D visualization in 3D geographical tasks.

Deployment and Verifications of the Spatial Filtering of Data Measured by Field Harvesters and Methods of Their Interpolation: Czech Cereal Fields between 2014 and 2018.

Yield mapping is a subject of research in (precision) agriculture and one of the primary concerns for farmers as it forms the basis of their income and has implications for subsidies and taxes. The presented approach involves deployment of field harvesters equipped with sensors that provide more detailed and spatially localized values than merely a sum of yields for the whole plot. The measurements from such sensors need to be filtered and subject to further processing, including interpolation, to facilitate follow-up interpretation. This paper aims to identify the relative differences between interpolations from (1) (field) measured data, (2) measured data that were globally filtered, and (3) measured data that were globally and locally filtered. All the measured data were obtained at a fully operational farm and are considered to represent a natural experiment. The revealed spatial patterns and recommendations regarding global and local filtering methods are presented at the end of the paper. Time investments into filtering techniques are also taken into account.

Photoactive and Non-Hazardous Kaolinite/ZnO Nanocomposite: Characterization and Reproducibility of the Preparation Process.

Photoactive and non-hazardous kaolinite/ZnO nanocomposite with 50 wt.% of ZnO nanoparticles was prepared using simple and cheap hydrothermal method. The resulting solid phase was separated by decantation, and dried at 105 °C. Calcination of the nanocomposites at 600 °C led to the kaolinite-metakaolinite phase transformation, to further growth of ZnO crystallites, and to significant increase in photodegradation activity. Whereas, for the several applications, e.g., in brake industry, the larger amount of composites is needed, thus, the evaluation of the reproducibility of preparation process is one of the crucial parameter. Prepared nanocomposites were deeply characterized by using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Rietveld quantitative phase analysis. Photodegradation activity was evaluated by the discoloration of Acid Orange 7 aqueous solution under UV irradiation. All used analytical techniques and methods confirm the reproducibility of the preparation process and as well that ZnO nanoparticles are anchored tightly on the clay surface which prevents the release to the environment.

Eye-tracking Analysis of Interactive 3D Geovisualization.

This paper describes a new tool for eye-tracking data and their analysis with the use of interactive 3D models. This tool helps to analyse interactive 3D models easier than by time-consuming, frame-by-frame investigation of captured screen recordings with superimposed scanpaths. The main function of this tool, called 3DgazeR, is to calculate 3D coordinates (X, Y, Z coordinates of the 3D scene) for individual points of view. These 3D coordinates can be calculated from the values of the position and orientation of a virtual camera and the 2D coordinates of the gaze upon the screen. The functionality of 3DgazeR is introduced in a case study example using Digital Elevation Models as stimuli. The purpose of the case study was to verify the functionality of the tool and discover the most suitable visualization methods for geographic 3D models. Five selected methods are presented in the results section of the paper. Most of the output was created in a Geographic Information System. 3DgazeR works with the SMI eye-tracker and the low-cost EyeTribe tracker connected with open source application OGAMA, and can compute 3D coordinates from raw data and fixations.