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International Journal of Automation and Computing

6(4), November 2009, 319-325


DOI: 10.1007/s11633-009-0319-9

Virtual Reality: A State-of-the-Art Survey


Ning-Ning Zhou1,2,
1
2

Yu-Long Deng1,2

School of Computing, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210003, PRC

State Key Laboratory of Software Development Environment, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, PRC

Abstract: This paper presents a survey on virtual reality systems and provides an in-depth understanding toward the notion of
immersion, according to the semantic meanings of the terms virtual and reality. The paper analyses the structure and functions
of a virtual reality system and takes the three dimensional display as the immersive medium to identify the key issues for construction
of virtual environments. The paper also reviews the development of virtual reality technology and introduces new image processing
techniques into the design of virtual reality systems and virtual environments.
Keywords:

Virtual reality, immersion, virtual, reality, image processing technology.

Introduction

In 1965, Sutherland[1] , the founder of computer graphics,


presented in his paper the rst virtual reality system called
the ultimate display which has multi-senses immersion
and interaction. Since then, virtual reality has become an
area of research in computing graphics and systems.
This paper reviews how current terms in relation to virtual reality systems are dened and presents a new interpretation toward the meanings for virtual and reality
based on the notion of immersion. The paper starts with
the analysis on the structure and functions of a virtual reality system and takes the three dimensional display as the
immersive medium to identify the key issues for construction of virtual environments. This is mainly focused on the
image processing techniques involved in the construction of
the virtual environments and how the construction process
can be enhanced with computation speed and graphic quality. The paper also reviews the development of virtual reality technology and introduces new image processing techniques into the design of virtual reality systems and virtual
environments.

Virtual reality

The term virtual reality, was rst proposed by Laniner


of American VPL Research Inc. In 1989, which described
the computer simulation technology. After decades of development, virtual reality technology has been expanded
from its early applications in entertainment and simulation training to the applications in areas of aeronautical
research, architecture, scientic visualization in medicine,
defense, education, and training. Despite its vide spectrum
of applications and its popular acceptance by society, there
have been a variety of understandings and interpretations
Manuscript received January 31, 2009; revised April 25, 2009
This work was supported by National Basic Research Program
of China (973 Program) (No. 2005CB321901), fund of Nanjing
University of Posts and Telecommunications (No. NY206010 and
No. NY207083), Open Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Software Development Environment, Beihang University, (No. BUAASKLSDE-09KF-03).
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: zhounn@njupt.edu.cn

in the functions and implications of virtual reality systems.


As a result, there are dierent meanings and denitions of
the term virtual reality.

2.1

Definitions based on technology

The widely accepted denition of virtual reality is given


by its technological nature. For example, one denition originates from the human machine interface which is
stated[2] as virtual reality is a natural interaction technology. By this denition, the user can immerse into a
computerized or simulated environment and make natural interactions with that simulation environment (such as
cockpit and operation scene). The interactions have to be
dependent on sensor devices and controlled with dedicated
graphic programs. In [3], the term virtual reality is dened
as a means of interaction, by which people can see, operate,
and interact with extra complex data through computers.
Some other denitions are given based on virtual reality
devices. One such denition is given in [1], which describes
virtual reality as being the provision of a three-dimension
reality that is realized by a series of sensor devices like headmounted display, data glove, and so on. In the denition
like this, virtual reality is interpreted as a software and
hardware environment. This environment simulates a real
word in which the user can operate and control the virtual
environment by special interacting devices such as input
systems, sensor bistouries, and video oculars.
In fact, virtual reality technology not only refers to the
hardware devices like immersive display, and sensor gloves,
but also includes the relating technologies and methods that
can generate natural simulation and provide real time experience.
According to the IEEE standard protocol submitted by
the work group of virtual reality term, virtual reality
is the computer system which can generate a man-made
world, in which the user can immerse, roam, and operate
objects.
A more complete denition is given in [4]. It denes virtual reality as a people-centered closed system that is implemented mainly by computers and uses the corresponding
interaction between human and machine with perceptual

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International Journal of Automation and Computing 6(4), November 2009

system. This closed system contains the virtual environment, interface of software and hardware, and the physical
environment. With such denition, a virtual reality system has to be supported by necessary devices via which the
user can interact with the object of the virtual environment
in a natural way and can obtain the real-time experience
and feelings of the physical environment by operating the
objects in the virtual environment. Importantly, user can
overcome the constraints of time and space and control the
elements which are intangible in the physical environment.
The denitions of virtual reality in terms of its technological implication have encouraged researchers to explore new
dimensions beyond its current application demands. With
the development of computing hardware and software, especially the development of new three-dimension graphics
techniques, the impact of virtual reality on visualization
and simulation has fundamentally changed the way in which
people use computers. For instance, users would immerse
themselves in the virtual world to experience events and
obtain knowledge which would not possible in conventional
ways. Nevertheless, such immersion is presenting a new
challenge: it may confuse the user with virtual scenarios
and cause unreal information to be taken as real knowledge
and important fact. In an abstractive level, the representation between virtual and real, data and fact, true and false
need to be realized in a way that such confusion can be
eliminated.

2.2
2.2.1

Definition based on immersion


Semantics and philosophy

1) Semantic implications of virtual


The term virtual comes from Latin virtus and virtualis. Its original meaning refers to a force or an inherent
ability which can produce certain eect. The explanation
of the word virtual can be summarized in two ways, one
being in fact, acting as what is described and the other
being not physically existing as such.
2) Semantic implications of reality
The semantic implications of the word reality in major dictionaries are given in four forms. The rst is that
something or everything is real, real existence. The second
refers to the quality or state of being real. The third is
dened as real-sense, resemblance to an original. The last
form is philosophically dened as the entity of substance
and noumenon of spirit.
3) Philosophical meanings of virtual and reality
Philosophers have also given descriptions to the terms
virtual and reality. In the 17th century, British
philosopher Locke[5] gave his description of the terms virtual and reality from the perspective of the abstractive
concept. He said: I think the idea of reality is a concept
that is based on nature, conforms to a thing that exists,
or conforms to an existence of a thing or prototype[5] . He
also described: People know the outside object according
to all of their ideas on that object. When the idea does not
match with a real object or others ideas expressed by common language, the idea is considered as virtual[5] . Locke s
description emphasized things that exist in nature. When

the idea conforms to an existing thing in nature, it is considered as real. When the idea does not conform to an existing
thing in nature, it is considered as virtual.
The German philosopher Leibniz[6] disproved the idea of
Locke at the end of the 17th century. He argued that the
idea may have a foundation in nature but does not conform
to it. For example, the sensation to the color and heat is not
similar to any original or prototype. When an idea does not
match anything existing, but it is possible, it also can be
considered as real.[6] He also believed that the idea which
arbitrarily connects with a real thing by us is considered as
virtual.[6] Leibniz s description emphasized not only on a
thing existing in nature, but also on an idea that may not
be physically proven. In his opinion, the idea that did not
conform to anything in nature is considered as real if it is
possible, and only the absurd idea without any foundation
is considered as virtual.
People s imagination that does not conform to an existence in our space and time is believed to be unreal at
present. However, it may exist in the past or appear in
the future, or exist in other worlds or just in our world but
cannot be known or perceived currently by people. With
space transforming and time passing, the idea may match
with an existence in certain time and space. Such an idea
should not be considered as virtual but can be considered
as real.
In 1945, Clarke[7] , a British science ction novelist, established the mechanism of satellite communication. His
idea was scoed at by scientists of that time and was believed to be impossible and virtual, but today, his idea has
become reality. In the 1960s, the author of the sci-ction
Solar Sailboat imagined a sailboat with the power of sunlight. The idea which conformed to nothing in nature in
those days was considered virtual and unreal. However, in
July 2001, Russia succeeded in launching a spacecraft with
the power of solar sail, named as Universe No. 1. Now
the idea of the solar sailboat is thought to be real, and it
indeed conforms to an existence. As a result, Leibniz s description of virtual and reality is more comprehensive, and
it has enhanced the idea of Locke in time and space.
In the philosophy dictionary of Lalande, the term virtual is dened. In common sense, virtual means a thing in
a certain object which can be realized; in a limited sense,
virtual is a predened thing in an object with all the basic
conditions inside. These basic conditions which cannot be
seen from the outside will make the predened thing reality.
Hence, virtual is connected with a possibility or potential,
which is opposite to reality. Virtual and reality are two
dierent terms but they are closely related with each other.
In the realism of modern virtual reality technology, the
perception and experience obtained by user in the virtual
world is the same as in the real world. The immersed sense
is the main feature of the virtual reality.
2.2.2 Immersion
In 1975, psychologist Csikszentmihalyi[8] rst presented
ow theory and gave a series of denitions for ow.
Definition 1. The state of being completely involved in
an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time ies.
Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably

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from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being
is involved, and you are using your skills to the utmost.
According to the denition of ow, it refers to a psychological state of devoting oneself to a certain activity.
According to the degree of involvement in an activity, ow
falls into immersion, half-immersion, and apartness.
Definition 2. The state of being completely involved
in an activity for its own sake and losing other unrelated
perceptions is called as immersion.
Psychologists always use the word immersion to describe the unique experience in which people are completely
attracted by the activity and involved in it.
Definition 3. When people participate in an activity or
environment, their minds are separated from the activity
and environment because of disinterest. This perception
and experience in mind is called apartness.
Definition 4. The degree of ow is between immersion
and apartness is called as half-immersion.
2.2.3 New definition
Virtual reality creates a physical and a mental space for
people. The essence of it is a sense of space in which people s
imagination can be realized. Besides this, in original ideas
of technology, the goal of virtual reality is to make people
get a kind of existence of sense perception in fact. People s
understanding of any existence in nature depends on the
perception of their minds. The degree of ow is a kind of
measuring of perception of mind. Therefore, the denition
of virtual reality based on the degree of ow has a more
comprehensive philosophical notion than on the technology.
Based on the degree of ow, a more general denition of
virtual reality is described as follows:
Definition 5. When people are apart from the world
constructed in their minds, the imaginary world is considered as a virtual world.
Definition 6. When people immerse into the world constructed in their minds, the imaginary world is considered
as a virtual reality.
Definition 7. When people half immerse the world constructed in their minds, the imaginary world is considered
as a medium virtual reality.
The imaginary world exists in the mind of the creator.
It can be the display of a real world or a pure conceived
world which exceeds the reality and can be expressed by a
certain medium. The technological feature of the denition
of virtual reality based on technology is a kind of digital
implementation means by which the user can create the
imaginary world by computer.

Display medium

The computerized virtual environment displaying the


imaginary world of the user s mind is an example of virtual reality. The virtual reality system discussed in the
following refers to such an environment.

3.1

Virtual and reality

There are three meanings for being virtual: 1) being in


fact, acting as what is described; 2) something assumed and
imagined, which does not or is not always in accord with

facts; 3) potential, possible. The meaning of reality refers to


something which accords with a real object and condition.
The real-time virtual environment dynamically created
by computer with dimensional information is the main part
of the virtual reality. The environment may conform to a
real object or condition and can be operated, or it is only
potential or possible.
When the user thinks about the virtual reality from outside the virtual environment, the meaning of the term virtual in this environment is the contents created during the
computer simulation process. The contents may not constitute a realistic environment and may not always conform to
the laws that govern a real world. This environment is thus
imaginary and ctitious. When the user immerses into such
an environment, it needs dedicated elements that should
make the user feel that he or she is seemingly inside a real
world. Hence, the meaning of the term virtual is being
in fact, acting as what is described in the aforementioned
denitions. When the user overcomes the restrictions of the
time and space imposed by the virtual environment, he or
she can explore and control the intangible elements in the
environment and obtain the knowledge that reects the real
world. Thus, the meaning of virtual is being potential and
possible. The true notion of virtual reality is indeed that of
a possible reality.

3.2

Virtual reality technology

The study of virtual reality can be traced back to the


early times of the last century[9] . In 1929, Edward Link developed a simple mechanical y simulator in which virtual
reality technology was rst applied. The system made people feel like they were in real ight scenarios. This makes
the advent of the mechanical simulator earlier than that
controlled by computer.
In 1962, inspired by holographic movies, Morton Heilig
patented the design called sensorama. The patent is the
rst video device of virtual reality by which a user can feel
the vibration, sound, smell, and wind recorded in advance.
The head-mounted video is similar to the head mounted
display seen in the early 1990s.
In 1965, the founder of computer graphics, Sutherland[1]
inherited and developed the design of Heilig. In his paper,
Sutherland presented the basic concept of a virtual reality
system which had multi-senses, immersion, and interaction.
In 1966, funded by the navy scientic research oce,
American MIT Lincoln Laboratory developed the rst
head-mounted display (HMD) and applied the feedback devices which simulate the force and tactile in the system
later.
In 1967, inspired by the conception of Sutherland s system, the University of North Carolina launched the GROPE
project which researched and developed force feedback devices that made users feel computer simulated force.
In 1968, organized by Harvard University, Sutherland designed the helmet mounted display and later a virtual system which was considered as the rst virtual reality system.
In 1970, American MIT Lincoln Laboratory developed a
full-edged HMD system.

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In 1973, Krurger[10] presented the term articial reality, which was the early term of virtual reality.
In 1987, Foley[11] published a paper entitled Interfaces
for Advanced Computing in the journal Scientific American. Another paper [12] about data gloves was also published in this journal. These published papers about virtual
reality attracted people greatly.
In 1989, American Jarn Lanier formally presented the
term virtual reality.
In 1992, Sense8 Company developed the WTK package which can provide a higher level application in virtual
reality technology.
In March, 1994, virtual reality modeling language
(VRML) was rst formally presented in the rst WWW
conference in Genevese. After that, many modeling languages of VR have appeared such as X3D, Java3D, and so
on.
In 1994, Burdea and Coiet[13] published a book about
virtual reality in which they summarized the basic characters of VR as 3I (imagination, interaction, and immersion).
In the 1990s, with the rapid development of computer
software, and hardware systems, it has become possible to
produce the real-time cartoon of image and sound based
on large-scale sets of data. More and more novel practicable in/output devices are provided in market and the
innovational design of the man machine interaction system
continues to be given life. All of these make a good foundation for the development of virtual reality. Furthermore,
research on virtual reality technology has been carried out
in some countries in Europe and Asia, such as Japan and
China.
In Europe, the United Kingdom leads the development
of VR in some areas, especially in distributed parallel processing, design of assistant devices (including feeling feedback) and the applications. The British Bristol Company
has pointed out that the application of VR should focus
on comprehensive technology and they are ahead in some
software and hardware.
The testing platform of a German computer graphics institute can be used to evaluate the inuence of VR on future
systems and interfaces, and it also can provide advanced visual simulation technology to the user and producer.
The development of virtual reality technology in Japan
plays an important role in the relevant elds of the world.
They have achieved great success in developing a large scale
knowledge base and games in virtual reality.
Research on VR technology in China started in the 1990s.
We have made much progress but still fall behind the developed countries. The research results are outlined as follows:
The Xi an Virtual Reality Engineering and Technology
Research Center is the rst institute to carry out the research on VR technology in China. Potala Palace created by the Optical Memory National Engineering Research
Center (OMNERC) is a panorama VR system in which
QuickTime technology was applied. The Laboratory of
CAD & CG of Zhejiang University developed a desktop
real-time walkthrough system of an architecture environment. The CAD centre of the North China University
of Technology is one of the rst institutes to study com-

puter animation. They have developed a multi-medium


display platform of communication images and the relative
audio database. Moreover, the rst scientic educational
lm Similar made by computer animation came from
the centre. In addition, other institutes have carried out
the research on VR such as the image processing and pattern recognizing institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Computer institute of National University of Defense Technology, Computer Department of East China Shipbuilding
Institute, and so on.
Virtual reality is a combination of dierent technologies,
in which virtual environment rendering technology, interface technology, and system integration technology are the
key technologies, and creating a virtual environment is a
core element in virtual reality research. Because of the advantage of image mosaic based rendering which makes full
use of the real sense of the image and enables the rapid
image display, it plays an important role in virtual environment rendering. The technology of image mosaic based
rendering of a virtual environment involves a lot of image
processing technologies.

Image processing

The technology of image mosaic[14] based rendering of a


virtual environment involves image pretreatment technology (image noise removal and restoration), image feature
detection technology, image matching technology, and image fusion technology.

4.1

Image noise removal and restoration

Accurately extracting the interesting object is a precondition in image based rendering of a virtual environment.
However, because of the eect of noise, it becomes difcult to get useful information from images. According
to the steps of obtaining images, we know that in images
the useful data always mix with noise. The existence of
noise obscures the boundary between the object and the
background, which makes it dicult to distinguish them.
This is a much confused problem in the computer visual
eld. Therefore, noise reduction, image enhancement, and
restoration are becoming the very important steps in image
based rendering of a virtual environment.
Mean lter, median lter, and Wiener lter are the
classical noise removal algorithms. These methods can
remove noise but they obscure the edge as well. Further, the improvement in traditional algorithms, fuzzy
mathematics[15] , wavelet transformation[16] , and partial differential equations (PDE)[17] have been widely adopted in
image noise removal and restoration. Furthermore, genetic
algorithm[18] , neural net algorithm[19] , mathematical morphologic theory[20] , and rough sets[21] are also introduced
into image noise removal and restoration.
How to eliminate noise and preserve the edge and texture
details that make the image become more smooth and reach
to best eect the same time still need to be studied.

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4.2

Image edge detection

Image matching based on contour features is the main


content of the image mosaic algorithm. The edge is certainly the most notable and intuitive contour feature of an
image. It retains useful information for image recognition,
and provides valuable and crucial feature parameters for
describing the meaning and contents of images. Edge detection is a kind of operation on the pixel of the local area,
which is a typical signal processing problem. The amount
of information in the image is enormous, while edge information is a kind of strict description of the image which
includes the most important information. So edge detection plays an important role in the pretreatment algorithm
of computer visuals.
For years, many research eorts have been made towards
eective image edge detection. In 1959, B. Jule rst presented edge detection, after that various algorithms were
discussed. Traditional edge detection algorithms originated
in edge gray discontinuity, which detects edges by classical
dierential operators such as the Sobel operator, Roberts
operator, Kirsch operator, Prewit operator, LoG lter operator, and Canny edge detector. The multi-scale method of
edge detection was rst proposed by Rosenfeld. Because of
their simplicity being well-established and easy for computation, traditional edge detection algorithms are often used
and applied eectively after some improvement. But in general, edges extracted by traditional detectors are broad and
they may give poor results for images with low contrast or
signicant noise.
In the early of 1980s, since Pal and King[22] rst introduced fuzzy sets into image edge detection and proposed
a fuzzy edge detection algorithm using min and max
operators to detect image edges, new algorithms[23] have appeared to which the fuzzy theory and other techniques are
applied. New mathematical and computational methods
such as the neural network[24] , wavelet transformation[25] ,
mathematical morphologic theory[26] and rough sets[27]
have also been introduced into image edge detection. Nevertheless, they are complex and lack portability, so to nd
an eective edge detection methods, which are insensitive
to noise, precise in location, without an undetected true
edge and which will introduce the false edge has been the
aim of researchers for a long time.

4.3

Image matching

Image matching algorithm that locates the overlapped


position and area of two or more corresponding images is
the core part of an image mosaic. The speed and precision
of an image mosaic algorithm are subjected to the image
matching algorithm. As an important image research eld,
it has attracted many scholars and experts. They have presented various matching algorithms from dierent aspects
such as measuring method of the matching degree, eective
search strategy, increasing the matching speed, improving
robustness of the algorithm, and so on. According to the
matching feature, image matching algorithm can be divided
into two classes: image matching based on grayness and image matching based on feature.

Absolute balance search, cross correction, sequential


similarity detection algorithm (SSDA) moment invariants,
phase correction, and projection methods are the traditional image matching algorithms based on greyness.
High-level features must be extracted rst in the image matching based on feature. Features usually used in
a match are pixel (corner, edge point, etc.), edge, and region. By means of establishing the similarity measurement,
we can locate the position of the template in an image.
Similarity measuring is usually dened as a certain cost
function or distance function. Correction function, Hausdor distance, mutual information are the classical similarity measures. Common image matching methods based on
features are least-square error matching, measuring of distance and the relaxation method. Besides the feature point,
edge line and region, other features such as texture[28] , and
semantic content[29] , have been used in image matching.
There has been recent development in mathematical and
computational methods, such as the neural network[30] ,
cluster[31] , genetic algorithm[32] , wavelet transformation[33] ,
ant colony algorithm[34] , and rough sets[35] . These methods,
which are dierent from classical mathematics, have been
introduced into image matching. Nevertheless, because of
their complexity, poor portability and less matching precision to some images, robust and eective matching methods
are still in demand for fast, and stable results.

4.4

Image fusion

The image fusion method can process information from


images according to comprehensive application requirements and improving the utilization rate of image information, the reliability of object recognition and the degree of automation. Due to those high demands, image
fusion has been used in elds such as medicine, remote
sensing, computer visuals, weather forecasting, and military
object recognition. Especially in computer visuals, making
the matched images fuse to an image which is seemed unarticial and then creating a virtual environment which appears unfeigned and having good real-time is the important
application eld of image fusion technology.
In general, image fusion technology is studied in the spatial domain and transform domain. The methods in spatial
domain include a logical lter, weighted average method,
morphological method, image algebra method and simulated annealing algorithm. The methods in the transform
domain mainly includes pyramid method and wavelet transformation. Besides these methods, there are other methods
such as color space method, fake color method, and Kalman
lter method. Fusion algorithms always combined with the
average value, entropy value, standard deviation, and average grads reects the tiny detail contrast and features of
texture change in an image and also reects the articulation
of the image. The quality of fusion depends on the choice
of fusion rule and fusion operator, which is still a dicult
problem in image fusion.
In summary, traditional image processing methods have
many achievements and documents. In the research on image, it not only includes the study and improvement of clas-

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sical methods, but also includes the discussion of new methods combined with new mathematical theories. Although
these theories and methods have had much notable achievements which can not be obtained by traditional methods,
the results which can replace human visual function in applications are decient. As a result, it is valuable to study
new theories and methods and design new image processing methods which give out satisfactory results of image
analysis, according to the requirements of the specic application.
The medium principle was established by Zhu and
Xiao[36] in the 1980s devised medium logic tools to build
the medium mathematics system, the corner stone of which
is medium axiomatic sets. In the formation of the medium
mathematics system, the medium concept which dynamically reects the fuzzy was rst established, then the
medium logic system was built. Finally, the medium axiomatic set theory based on medium logic was created. It
has a solid logic foundation. The medium mathematics systems have solved the set making of fuzzy predicates in the
sense of the basic theory of mathematics and extended precise quantity objects to fuzzy ones with mathematical foundation, which extends the foundation of the logic and set
theory of classical mathematics.
The complexity of image information and the strong relations among image pixels are evident, and problems with
uncertainty and inaccuracy will appear in the processing.
As a result, the medium mathematics system, a mathematical tool which deals with fuzzy and uncertain problems,
can be introduced into the image processing. This will provide some new methods and ideas to process images systematically and mathematically. Currently, it has achieved
interesting results in noise removal and restoration[37] , edge
detection[38] , and image matching. Further research is to
apply these results to image mosaic based reddening of virtual reality systems.

Conclusions

Research into virtual reality is widely spreading into a


spectrum of application areas. This paper provides an indepth understanding toward the existing denitions of the
terms virtual and reality and gives a new interpretation for
the abstractive notion of immersive systems found in virtual
reality systems. As a result, it reveals some subtle natural
aspects of virtual reality technology in terms of the needs
for the design, construction, and application of the virtual
environment.
The main contribution of this work resides in its interpretation of the immersive nature of the display medium
existing in a virtual reality system and the following provision of the insight into the methods for the construction of
a vivid and real-time virtual environment via imaging processing based on new mathematical models. It reveals that
those methods play an important role in the construction of
virtual environments. It also shows that image processing
based on new mathematical modeling presents a promising way ahead towards an eective and robust process for
design and construction of complex and large scale virtual

environments.

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Ning-Ning Zhou
graduated from
Southeast University (SEU), PRC in 1993.
She received the M. Sc. degree from SEU
in 1996 and the Ph. D. degree from SEU
in 2009, respectively.
She is currently
an associate professor at the College of
Computer, Nanjing University of Posts
and Telecommunications (NUPT), PRC
and a visiting research fellow of State
Key Laboratory of Software Development
Environment, Beihang University, PRC.
Her research interests include virtual reality and image processing.
Yu-Long Deng
graduated from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, PRC in 1996. He is currently a
lecturer at the College of Computer, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), PRC and a visiting research fellow of State Key Laboratory of
Software Development Environment, Beihang University, PRC.
His research interests include computer
architecture, algorithm, and articial intelligence.

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