Text-to-scene conversion for accident visualization

Abstract

This document describes the creation of an automatic text-to-scene conversion system, AVis (Automatic Visualizer), for accident reports. Such reports vary from short text passages to long, complex documents describing the chain of events. The visualization of accidents is an important tool in Accident and Incident Analysis [Johnson 2002] For example, computer animations may be used as a training tool, for police and legal reconstruction purposes, or for aiding designers and engineers in analysing accidents and planning future development. Also, it can be difficult for non-expert readers to trace the increasingly complex arguments that are presented in accident reports. The automatic generation of 3D graphics from a text report can be useful for both expert and non-experts.