Computers

  2010 FEB 11 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to recent research from Hongo, Japan, "This paper presents the first practical method for ''origamizing'' or obtaining the folding pattern that folds a single sheet of material into a given polyhedral surface without any cut. The basic idea is to tuck fold a planar paper to form a three-dimensional shape."

  "The main contribution is to solve the inverse problem; the input is an arbitrary polyhedral surface and the output is the folding pattern. Our approach is to convert this problem into a problem of laying out the polygons of the surface on a planar paper by introducing the concept of tucking molecules. We investigate the equality and inequality conditions required for constructing a valid crease pattern. We propose an algorithm based on two-step mapping and edge splitting to solve these conditions. The two-step mapping precalculates linear equalities and separates them from other conditions. This allows an interactive manipulation of the crease pattern in the system implementation," wrote T. Tachi and colleagues, University of Tokyo ...read more

  2010 FEB 11 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "We present a method designed to address some limitations of typical route map displays of driving directions. The main goal of our system is to generate a printable version of a route map that shows the overview and detail views of the route within a single, consistent visual frame," investigators in the United States report.

  "Our proposed visualization provides a more intuitive spatial context than a simple list of turns. We present a novel multifocus technique to achieve this goal, where the foci are defined by points of interest (POI) along the route. A detail lens that encapsulates the POI at a finer geospatial scale is created for each focus. The lenses are laid out on the map to avoid occlusion with the route and each other, and to optimally utilize the free space around the route. We define a set of layout metrics to evaluate the quality of a lens layout for a given route map visualization. We compare standard lens layout methods to our proposed method and demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in generating aesthetically pleasing layouts," wrote P. Karnick and colleagues, Arizona State University ...read more

  2010 FEB 11 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to recent research from Vitoria, Brazil, "Vector fields analysis traditionally distinguishes conservative (curl-free) from mass preserving (divergence-free) components. The Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition allows separating any vector field into the sum of three uniquely defined components: curl free, divergence free and harmonic."

  "This decomposition is usually achieved by using mesh-based methods such as finite differences or finite elements. This work presents a new meshless approach to the Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition for the analysis of 2D discrete vector fields. It embeds into the SPH particle-based framework," wrote F. Petronetto and colleagues, Federal University ...read more