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I have been fortunate to have experienced and contributed to the software development of virtual humans. Whether they are Avatars, Conversational Agents, game NPCs, or Virtual Influencers, they all have origins in computer graphics (CG). Indeed, the “DNA” of these human models encompasses a large set of CG component technologies including 3-D modeling, animation techniques, and interactive systems. Finding (or purporting to know) “the” path from the origins to the present would require writing a CG and art history book about representing the human form. Here I will try to document portions of an evolutionary path—and my personal journey—to elucidate the context and processes that led up to the explosion of virtual human software “DNA” by the turn of the millennium.

“The Origins of Computer Graphics in Europe,” is being published in two parts: Part 1, published in the March/April issue of IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (IEEE CG&A), is subtitled “The Beginnings in Germany”; Part 2, published in this May/June 2023 issue, is subtitled “The Early Spreading of Computer Graphics in Europe.” I was a participant, contributor, and witness to the events reported here and I relate my personal story along with the broader history. Part 1 describes the origins and successful evolution of computer graphics in Germany, starting in 1965, and includes details of the people and subject matter of the earliest research groups. It describes the efforts undertaken to establish computer graphics as a proper academic discipline, including the founding of EUROGRAPHICS, and creation of institutes for both basic and applied research in computer graphics. Part 2 continues the story with a focus on activities contributing to the growth of the academic and industrial computer graphics communities across Europe and documents the two IFIP workshops held at Seillac and the development of the GKS Graphics Standard. Over the years, computer graphics gained respect and importance as a component of the computer science curricula and became an important tool and enabling technology for applications for industry and for the IT market in Europe.

The article describes my long journey as a Jewish-born hidden child who was handed over to a Catholic family before the Krakow ghetto was eliminated in 1943. My father survived and I was reunited with him. We traveled to Germany in 1950 and were accepted as Canadian refugees in 1952. After an undergraduate and graduate program at McGill University, I was married in an Episcopalian/Anglican ceremony. My good fortune continued when I joined a research group at the National Research Council in the 1960s. The group worked on computer graphics and computer animation and won a Technical Academy Award for technology for the animated short Hunger/La Faim.

“The Origins of Computer Graphics in Europe,” is being published in two parts: Part 1, in this issue of IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, is subtitled “The Beginnings in Germany”; Part 2, to be published in the May/June issue, is subtitled “The Spreading of Computer Graphics in Europe.” I was a participant, contributor, and witness to the events reported here and I relate my personal story along with the broader history. Part 1 describes the origins and successful evolution of computer graphics in Germany, starting in 1965, and includes details of the people and subject matter of the earliest research groups. It describes the efforts undertaken to establish computer graphics as a proper academic discipline, including the founding of EUROGRAPHICS, and creation of institutes for both basic and applied research in computer graphics. Part 2 continues the story with a focus on activities contributing to the growth of the academic and industrial computer graphics communities across Europe and documents the two IFIP workshops at Seillac and the development of the GKS Graphics Standard. Over these years, computer graphics gained respect and importance as a component of the computer science curricula and became an important tool and enabling technology for applications for industry and for the IT market in Europe.

Background and Purpose. Persistent deficits in gait speed and spatiotemporal symmetry are prevalent following stroke and can limit the achievement of community mobility goals. Rehabilitation can improve gait speed, but has shown limited ability to improve spatiotemporal symmetry. The incorporation of combined visual and proprioceptive feedback regarding spatiotemporal symmetry has the potential to be effective at improving gait. Case Description. A 60-year-old man (18 months poststroke) and a 53-year-old woman (21 months poststroke) each participated in gait training to improve gait speed and spatiotemporal symmetry. Each patient performed 18 sessions (6 weeks) of combined treadmill-based gait training followed by overground practice. To assist with relearning spatiotemporal symmetry, treadmill-based training for both patients was augmented with continuous, real-time visual and proprioceptive feedback from an immersive virtual environment and a dual belt treadmill, respectively. Outcomes. Both patients improved gait speed (patient 1:0.35 m/s improvement; patient 2:0.26 m/s improvement) and spatiotemporal symmetry. Patient 1, who trained with step-length symmetry feedback, improved his step-length symmetry ratio, but not his stance-time symmetry ratio. Patient 2, who trained with stance-time symmetry feedback, improved her stance-time symmetry ratio. She had no steplength asymmetry before training. Discussion. Both patients made improvements in gait speed and spatiotemporal symmetry that exceeded those reported in the literature. Further work is needed to ascertain the role of combined visual and proprioceptive feedback for improving gait speed and spatiotemporal symmetry after chronic stroke., Following stroke, intensive rehabilitation is used to reduce deficits in gait speed, efficiency, and symmetry. Restoring symmetric gait is important to improve gait efficiency and gait speed (1,2) and to [...]

The potential of collaboratories are analyzed, allowing individuals who do not have specialized state-of-the-art scientific instruments locally to access scientific instruments remotely and conduct scientific experiments. A variety of quantitative and qualitative evaluation data were collected, including task performance measures to compare the quality of scientific work produced in the two collaboration conditions.

The very idea of a virtual environment (VE) is compelling--being able to go places and do and experience things you couldn't or wouldn't in the real world. The wow factor certainly makes people's initial experience with the technology exciting, along with the fact that most people who have experienced VE's have done so in entertainment venues carefully designed to be engaging and fun. It is the user's immersion in the sights and sounds of the virtual world that sets VE applications apart from their conventional counterparts. However, despite VE- system limitations, compelling and successful VE applications do exist. Some are very compelling because of their realism. Other VE's, while not compelling in the sense of personally gripping, are impressive simply because the application wouldn't exist without VE. A compelling VE application depends on a VE system being able to provide high-quality sensory immersion, a well-designed application, and a motivated user. INSET: PRESENCE..