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npolys's picture

Nicholas F. Polys

Affiliate Professor

Office: 3030B Torgersen Hall
Email: npolys@vt.edu
Phone: (540) 231-0968
Website: http://people.cs.vt.edu/~npolys/
Office Hours: R: 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and by appointment
  • About
  • Labs
  • Publications
  • Projects
  • Courses
 
Research Interests
  • 3D Interaction
  • Center for Human Computer Interaction
  • Human Computer Interaction

Nicholas F. Polys is Director of Visual Computing with Virginia Tech Research Computing Group and Affiliate Research Professor in the Department of Computer Science. He has developed interactive 3D graphic content and systems for over 15 years. His research interests lie at the center of graphics and Human Computer Interaction: the intersection of visualization, virtual environments, and perception. After his undergraduate research in Cognitive Science at Vassar College (1996), he jumped into the networked information space of the WWW developing audio, visual, and 3D assets and software. His doctoral work at Virginia Tech (2006) examined perceptual cues and layout behaviors for Information-Rich Virtual Environments for desktop to immersive platforms.

He is a member of ACM, IEEE Computer Society, and the Web3D Consortium. He is a co-author of the international standard (ISO) Extensible 3D (X3D), elected Director and President of the Web3D Consortium, and Chair of the Web3D User Interface Working Group.

3D Interaction Group

URL: https://research.cs.vt.edu/3di/
Contact: Doug Bowman

3DI stands for "three-dimensional interaction". Our research spans 3D user interfaces, interaction techniques, and applications, especially in the area of Virtual Environments (VE). Interaction in three dimensions is not well-understood, but is crucial to highly interactive VE applications like immersive education, scientific visualization, and immersive design. The mission of our lab is to perform both basic and applied research in three-dimensional (3D) interaction and VE technology, and to develop applications of VEs in a wide variety of domains.

Laboratory for Information Visualization and Evaluation

URL: http://infovis.cs.vt.edu/
Contact: Chris North

 The LIVE lab studies the design, development, and evaluation of information visualizations.  Information visualizations are interactive visual representation of abstract data that enable people to effectively explore and understand large quantities of complex information.

Visual Computing Lab

URL: http://snoid.sv.vt.edu/visionarium
Contact: Nicholas Polys

2013
Setareh, M., F. Bacim, B. D. Jones, N. F. Polys, T. Geng, and B. Orsa, "Integrating Web-based Visualization with Structural System Understanding to Improve the Technical Education of Architects", Journal of Online Engineering Education, vol. 3, no. 2, 2013.
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Polys, N. F., F. Bacim, M. Setareh, and B. Jones, "Building novel Web3D user interfaces: a case study from architecture and structural engineering", 18th International Conference on 3D Web Technology (Web3D '13), San Sebastian, ES, ACM SIGGRAPH, 2013.
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Bacim, F., E. Ragan, S. Serbo, M. Setareh, B. D. Jones, and N. Polys, "The Effects of Display Fidelity, Visual Complexity, and Task Scope on Spatial Understanding of 3D Graphs", Graphics Interface: CRC Press, 2013.
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Sharakhov, N., N. Polys, and P. Sforza, "SpeedSpy: a mobile Web3D platform for visualizing broadband data", 18th International Conference on 3D Web Technology (Web3D '13), San Sebastian, ES, ACM SIGGRAPH, 2013.
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2012
Hossain, S., M. Akbar, and N. Polys, "Narratives in the Network: Interactive Methods for Mining Cell Signaling Networks", Journal of Computational Biology, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 1043-1059, 2012.
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Polys, N., and A. Wood, "New Platforms for Health Hypermedia", Issues in Information Systems, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 40-50, 2012.
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Polys, N., "Publishing the Greatest Common Denominator", CEUR-WS, vol. 869, no. Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Declarative 3D for the Web Architecture (Dec3D 2012 @ WWW 2012), Lyon, Fr, CEUR-WS, 2012.
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2011
Polys, N. F., D. A. Bowman, and C. North, "The role of Depth and Gestalt cues in information-rich virtual environments", International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, vol. 69, issue 1-2, no. 1-2, pp. 30 - 51, 01/2011.
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Ullrich, S., T. Kuhlen, N. F. Polys, D. Evestedt, M. Aratow, and N. W. John, "Quantizing the Void: Extending Web3D for Space-Filling Haptic Meshes", Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR), vol. 163, Newport Beach CA, USA, IOS Press, pp. 670-676, February, 2011.
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Tilden, D., A. Singh, N. F. Polys, and P. Sforza, "Multimedia mashups for mirror worlds", Web3D '11 Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on 3D Web Technology , Paris, ACM, 2011.
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2010
Henry, J. A. G., and N. Polys, "The Effects of Immersion and Navigation on the Acquisition of Spatial Knowledge of Abstract Data Networks", International Conference on Computational Science, vol. Proceedia Computer Science: Elsevier, 2010.
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Bacim, F., N. Polys, J. Chen, M. Setareh, J. Li, and L. Ma, "Cognitive scaffolding in Web3D learning systems: a case study for form and structure", 15th International Conference on Web 3D Technology, Los Angeles, California, ACM SIGGRAPH, 07/2010.
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2009
Hossain, M. S., M. Akbar, and F. Polys N., "Storytelling and Clustering for Cellular Signaling Pathways", International Conference on Information and Knowledge Engineering (IKE'09), vol. 1, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, pp. 109-115, July 13-16, 2009.
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Polys, N., S. Visamsetty, P. Battarechee, and E. Tilevich, "Design Patterns in Componentized Scenegraphs", 2nd Workshop on Software Engineering and Architectures for Realtime Interactive Systems (SEARIS@VR2009) - IEEE VR 2009 Workshop Proceedings, Aachen, Shaker Verlag, 2009.
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Polys, N., S. Visamsetty, and E. Tilevich, "The Value of Patterns in Deep Media Scenegraphs", 2nd Workshop on Software Engineering and Architectures for Realtime Interactive Systems (SEARIS@VR2009) - IEEE VR 2009 Workshop Proceedings, Aachen, Shaker Verlag, 2009.
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2008
Polys, N., D. Brutzman, A. Steed, and J. Behr, "Future Standards for Immersive VR: Report on the IEEE VR 2007 Workshop", IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, vol. 28, no. 2, 2008.
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John, N. W., M. Aratow, J. Couch, D. Evestedt, A. D. Hudson, N. Polys, R. F. Puk, A. Ray, K. Victor, and Q. Wang, "MedX3D: Standards Enabled Desktop Medical 3D", Medicine Meets VR (MMVR), 2008. Abstract
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Shapiro, M., K. A. Duca, K. Lee, E. Delgado-Eckert, A. S. Jarrah, R. Laubenbacher, N. F. Polys, V. Hadinoto, and D. Thorley-Lawson, "A Virtual Look at Epstein-Barr Virus Infection: Simulation Mechanism", Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 252, no. 4, pp. 633-648, 21 June, 2008. Abstract
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2007
Polys, N., Kim, S., and D. Bowman, "Effects of Information Layout, Screen Size, and Field of View on User Performance in Information-Rich Virtual Environments", Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds , vol. 18, no. 1, 2007.
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Thorley-Lawson, D. A., V. Hadinoto, K. Luzuriaga, A. S. Jarrah, R. Laubenbacher, K. Lee, N. F. Polys, E. Delgado-Eckert, M. Shapiro, and K.Duca, "A Virtual Look at Epstein-Barr Virus Infection: Biological Interpretations", PLOS Pathogens, vol. 3, no. 10, pp. e137 doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0030137, 2007. Abstract
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Polys, N. F., M. Shapiro, and K. Duca, "IRVE-Serve: A Visualization Framework for Spatially-Registered TimeSeries Data", The Web3D 2007 Symposium: ACM SIGGRAPH, 2007. Abstract
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2006
Polys, N., D. Bowman, C. North, R. Laubenbacher, and K. Duca, "PathSim Visualizer: An Information-Rich Virtual Environment for Systems Biology", Web3D Symposium, Monterey, CA, ACM Press, 2006. Abstract
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, "Supporting Mixed-Reality Interfaces through X3D Specification", Mixed Reality User Interfaces: Specification, Authoring, Adaptation (MRUI'07) - IEEE VR 2007 Workshop Proceedings, Aachen, Shaker Verlag , 2006. Abstract
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2005
Polys, N., "Publishing Paradigms with X3D", Information Visualization with SVG and X3D: Springer-Verlag, 2005.
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2004
Polys, N., C. North, D. Bowman, A. Ray, M. Moldenhauer, and C. Dandekar, "Snap2Diverse: Coordinating Information Visualizations and Virtual Environments", SPIE Conference on Visualization and Data Analysis (VDA), San Jose, CA, 2004. Abstract
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Polys, N. F., and D. A. Bowman, "Desktop Information-Rich Virtual Environments: Challenges and Techniques", Virtual Reality, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 41-54, 2004. Abstract
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2003
Polys, N. F., "Stylesheet Transformations for Interactive Visualization: Towards Web3D Chemistry Curricula", Web3D Symposium, St. Malo, France, ACM Press, 2003. Abstract
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For active and historic projects, please see The Visionarium Lab homepage and Dr. Polys' homepage

1000 Level Courses

  • CS1124: Introduction to Media Computation

3000 Level Courses

  • CS3724: Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction
  • CS3744: Introduction to GUI Programming and Graphics

5000 Level Courses

  • CS5764: Information Visualization
 
 
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