Search Results (108)

Traditional map style transfer methods are mostly based on GAN, which are either overly artistic at the expense of conveying information, or insufficiently aesthetic by simply changing the color scheme of the map image. These methods often struggle to balance style transfer with semantic preservation and lack consistency in their transfer effects. In recent years, diffusion models have made significant progress in the field of image processing and have shown great potential in image-style transfer tasks. Inspired by these advances, this paper presents a method for transferring real-world 3D scenes to a cartoon style without the need for additional input condition guidance. The method combines pre-trained LDM with LoRA models to achieve stable and high-quality style infusion. By integrating DDIM Inversion, ControlNet, and MultiDiffusion strategies, it achieves the cartoon style transfer of real-world 3D scenes through initial noise control, detail redrawing, and global coordination. Qualitative and quantitative analyses, as well as user studies, indicate that our method effectively injects a cartoon style while preserving the semantic content of the real-world 3D scene, maintaining a high degree of consistency in style transfer. This paper offers a new perspective for map style transfer. Full article

We conducted four empirical studies to investigate how, why, and when humor production impacts people’s creativity. Study 1 (N = 175), using the cartoon humor production paradigm, found that humor production was positively associated with creativity. Study 2 (N = 243), using a new sample, found that self-efficacy mediated the relationship between humor production and creativity. Study 3 (N = 225), via a manipulation-of-mediation-as-a-moderator (MMM) design, manipulating participants’ self-efficacy, replicated the results of Study 2. Furthermore, Study 4 (N = 433), using a cross-lagged design and three-wave data, extended the theoretical model to the workplace, and further demonstrated that the fear of authority alleviated the indirect effect of humor production on people’s creativity. These findings are of theoretical and practical significance for our understanding of humor production and creativity. Full article

Background/Objectives: Dental anxiety in children is a common issue that can hinder the delivery of effective dental care. Traditional approaches to managing this are often insufficient or involve pharmacological interventions. This study shows the potential of virtual reality (VR) to aid in reducing anxiety in children undergoing simple dental procedures. By immersing children in relaxing VR environments (such as beaches, forests, mountains, or underwater scenes with calm music), the objective is to assess VR’s effectiveness in calming pediatrics patients during these procedures. Methods: Children scheduled for minor dental treatments wore a wearable device that monitored pulse, perspiration, and stress levels. Each child’s baseline data was collected without the VR headset, followed by data collection during VR exposure before and during dental procedures. VR scenarios ranged from soothing nature scenes to animated cartoons, designed to foster relaxation. Results: The data collected showed a reduction in physiological indicators of stress, such as lower heart rate and reduced perspiration, when the VR headset was used. Children appeared more relaxed, with a calmer response during the procedure itself, compared to baseline levels without VR. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence supporting VR as an effective tool for reducing anxiety and stress in pediatric dental patients. By offering an engaging, immersive experience, VR can serve as an alternative or complementary approach to traditional anxiety management strategies in pediatric dentistry, potentially improving patient comfort and cooperation during dental procedures. Further research could determine if VR may serve as an alternative to local anesthesia for non-intrusive pediatric dental procedures. Full article

In the context of growing interest in sustainable plant-based alternatives and sustainable eating, this study focused on the impact of visual elements of packaging design—specifically the presence of mascots—on consumer sustainable decision-making when choosing plant-based food products. The quantitative research, conducted through an online questionnaire, consists of four parts: the evaluation of the visual attractiveness of authentic brands of plant-based products; the identification of key factors influencing consumers’ choices when purchasing plant-based foods; the selection between graphic packaging designs featuring different types of mascots; and the assessment of the perceived importance of mascots in dietary habits. The collected data allows an analysis of how much mascots influence consumer sustainable preferences and willingness to try plant-based products. The findings suggest that mascots may be an effective tool in shaping positive perceptions of plant-based food and strengthening brand trust within sustainable concepts. The results offer practical implications for marketing strategies of producers of plant-based alternatives and highlight the potential of visual communication to promote sustainable consumption. This study contributes to understanding how packaging design affects consumer sustainable behavior in the plant-based food sector, with a focus on mascots as a previously underexplored visual element. Full article

Herein, we address the peculiar lack of scientific reporting on odor potent chloroanisoles (CAs) in the built environment. We have searched and critically examined sources beyond peer-reviewed scientific journals, namely research conferences, parliamentary records, newspaper articles, and cartoons. We provide evidence that CAs evolved on a large scale in Swedish buildings in the early 1970s and evoked a typical sticky malodor that was attributed to mold and gave rise to the term “mold houses”. The term first appeared in Swedish newspapers in 1978, and the media attention increased rapidly. The malodorous “mold houses” reached the Swedish parliament and led to economic compensation for afflicted homeowners. The “mold houses” became “sick houses” as researchers, predominantly from Sweden, introduced and became world leaders on the “sick buildings syndrome” (SBS). Researchers became aware of the CAs but did not mention them in peer-reviewed articles, just as they did not mention a well-known source of the sticky malodor, namely, legacy preserved wood where CAs were formed through microbial methylation of toxic chlorophenols (CPs). Thus, the mold story from the early 1970s was maintained and prevented the malodorous CAs from becoming recognized as indicators of the presence of hazardous CPs. Our study is the first to report the impact of an indoor malodor, not only on a few people, but on society. Full article

Low health literacy is a known contributing factor to poorer patient outcomes. Health information is often presented through materials written at high reading levels and thus may be an ineffective education tool for patients of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, age ranges, and education levels. Graphic medicine (i.e., healthcare concepts presented through illustrations, such as comics or cartoons) may be a more equitable and efficacious format for many patients. The purpose of this review was to describe the efficacy and use of graphic medicine interventions regarding health outcomes, behavior changes, and engagement with health services. Nine databases were searched for studies that were randomized controlled trials in the English language, published before 4 December 2023. The searches identified 34 research articles that met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. This review revealed four key takeaways: (1) graphic medicine interventions are used globally; (2) graphic medicine interventions may be efficacious for a wide variety of health topics; (3) graphic medicine can be equitably delivered in many formats; and (4) graphic medicine can be applied broadly across the lifespan. The findings suggest that graphic medicine enhances patient engagement, empowers individuals with knowledge, and ultimately contributes to improved health outcomes across various populations; however, more effectiveness trials are needed. Additionally, an expanded definition of graphic medicine is presented. Full article

Rural and remote communities often face significant challenges maintaining their health and well-being. In developing countries, these challenges are further compounded by (1) limited access to clean water, (2) ineffective sanitation, (3) low education and literacy levels and (4) low awareness of the role of personal hygiene practices in reducing communicable disease transmission. Existing health education materials distributed within such communities are often presented in a traditional written format, making them inaccessible to people with low literacy levels. Therefore, recent evidence supports an alternative health communication approach through the use of picture-based materials. This study has assessed the effectiveness of a cartoon-based pictorial educational tool (CBPET) in communicating key messages about hygiene and bacteria contained within the environment and bodily fluids. The CBPET that was developed was tested in a Tanzanian village, representative of a community with low literacy and a resource-poor setting. The CBPET was found to effectively deliver key health promotion messages to the local community. Developing healthcare education in a universal language format based on pictures or cartoons could be the way forward. Full article

Disney’s Strange World (2022) explores the themes of “energy unconscious”, “intergenerational equity”, and “ecophobia”, focusing on the legacy parents leave to their children. The film centers on three generations of men, each representing different attitudes towards nature. Jaeger Clade, the grandfather, embodies colonialist values, viewing nature as a hostile force to be conquered. His son, Searcher, an intensive farmer, sees nature as a battleground between useful beings and pests, focusing on improving society through domestication. In contrast, Ethan, Searcher’s teenage son, adopts an ecocentric perspective. His worldview is expressed through the card game Primal Outpost, where he and his friends embrace symbiosis, interconnectedness, and the rejection of the man-nature divide. Ethan is the first to recognize that their ecosystem is a living organism reminiscent of the Gaia Hypothesis, advocating for a paradigm shift that the older generations fail to grasp. The article analyzes Strange World as a cli-fi allegory, urging humanity to choose between being parasitic destroyers or symbiotic contributors to ecological recovery. The film, while offering a simplified solution to climate change, presents a comic apocalyptic vision where youth-driven hope for change challenges older, ecophobic attitudes and offers a transformative, ecotopian message. Full article

This study conducts a Critical Discourse Analysis of the masculinities of male characters in Doraemon, a famous Japanese manga series. It explores the masculinities in Doraemon from three perspectives by utilising the following Critical Discourse Analysis framework: text, process and society. Five male characters in Doraemon were selected as the main research objects. Firstly, the text analysis of the male characters in terms of their appearances, characteristics, behaviours and values reveals major masculine traits such as the maintenance of patriarchy, the pursuit and yearning for fame and fortune, competition and aggression. Analysing these masculinities can help remind audiences and consumers to be cautious about works that seemingly do not convey gender stereotypes to viewers. The process analysis identifies corresponding masculinities of the creator of Doraemon through his life experiences. Innovative spirit led him to create characters and manga that could both reflect and confront social reality and promote new gender concepts and ideas that were different from the mainstream at the time. The social analysis of Doraemon attributes the masculinities in the manga to Japanese culture, which has been deeply influenced by the culture of the salaryman, Confucianism, androcentrism and Bushido. For audiences in Japan, anime is a way of spreading and consolidating traditional Japanese cultural ideas, at the same time provoking reflection on whether these inherent gender roles are reasonable and should be perpetuated in the contemporary era. For audiences outside of Japan, this manga and cartoon is equivalent to a typical case of the export and recreation of Japanese culture to the world. This study conveys gender equality values, especially in children’s TV programmes. Full article

The approach taken by Marvel and Hanna-Barbera to adapting Godzilla for a young American audience is a form of cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation involves removing the subject from its cultural context. In this case, Marvel and Hanna-Barbera removed the character from its origin, where it emerged as a consequence of the atomic bomb. Gojira is first a scourge of Japan and later its savior against invasion from cosmic forces and nefarious kaiju. Godzilla is changed into what is ultimately a sanitized version of imperial inventory. The properties of the 1970s Godzilla, however, were not wholly negative. Indeed, they laid the foundation for an American rediscovery of the original Gojira film and its sequels, which have since been released in their original versions. This article will examine how Marvel Comics and Hanna-Barbera cartoons culturally appropriated Godzilla for American children, but how this also led to an appreciation of the Japanese films. Full article

This study explores the portrayal of older adults’ sexuality in popular cartoons, a medium often overlooked in discussions about aging and sexual representation. The research examines how visual and textual signs in cartoons produce humor by reinforcing stereotypes and normalizing judgments about later-life sexual behavior. Using a visual social semiotic approach, the study analyzes a selection of cartoons, focusing on how these depictions reflect societal attitudes towards aging and sexuality. The findings reveal that older individuals are often portrayed in a stigmatized manner, with their sexual desires and activities depicted as either comical or abnormal. This contributes to the marginalization of older adults in sexual discourse and perpetuates ageist stereotypes. The study concludes that while these representations may appear harmless, they play a significant role in shaping public perceptions and can negatively impact the self-image and sexual well-being of older individuals. Future research should further investigate how older adults perceive these portrayals and their implications for societal attitudes towards aging and sexuality. Full article

Bluey stands as the current pinnacle in children’s television series, lauded and adorned with multiple accolades for its educational and social merits. It stands out for its portrayal of childhood social learning within familial settings, offering a realistic depiction of everyday challenges. In addition, Bluey is based on the everyday life of Australian society, clearly reflecting the country’s customs, social values, and natural environments, making it an invaluable resource for enriching the cultural learning of the English language and culture from an Australian point of view, an issue that is rarely addressed in the specialist literature. Thus, this study seeks to identify the cultural and societal facets of Australia depicted in it, with the aim of assessing its pedagogical value in teaching English to non-native learners within the context of primary education. Thirty evaluators analyzed the 52 episodes of the first season of Bluey, endeavoring to identify elements across nine thematic areas. To mitigate variances among evaluators, elements were verified only if agreement was reached by at least three evaluators. In total, evaluators identified 3327 elements representing Australian culture, comprising these categories: (1) Childhood; (2) Devices; (3) Lifestyles; (4) Food; (5) Language; (6) Sports; (7) Animals; (8) Nature; and (9) Places. A total of 1223 elements received verification by the requisite number of evaluators. The resulting catalog of Australia-specific elements per episode serves as a valuable tool in selecting the most instructive episodes for English-language and Australian cultural education for non-natives. This compilation facilitates a nuanced approach to teaching English, rooted in the diverse and culturally rich Australian context, thus breaking away from strictly British and American cultural associations and embracing a broader linguistic and cultural landscape. Full article

A growing number of enterprises are using virtual influencers on livestreaming e-commerce platforms to extend the duration for which live streamers stay online. This article uses the uncanny valley phenomenon to investigate the effects of the level of anthropomorphization of images of virtual influencers on the purchase intention of consumers. We divided the images of virtual influencers into three categories according to their level of anthropomorphization: cartoon images (low), medium-realistic images (medium), and hyper-realistic images (high). We identified a U-shaped relationship between the level of anthropomorphization of images of virtual influencers and consumers’ purchase intention. Virtual influencers represented by cartoon images and hyper-realistic images enhanced the purchase intentions of consumers, while streamers with medium-realistic images reduced them. Algorithmic aversion was found to play a mediating role in this relation. In addition, self-efficacy had an inhibitory effect on the inverted U-shaped relationship between the anthropomorphism of the image of the virtual influencer and algorithmic aversion. When the virtual influencer had a medium-realistic image, consumers exhibited the strongest algorithmic aversion, the lowest purchase intention, and the most significant inhibition in self-efficacy. This work provides guidance for designing images of virtual influencers for marketing-related activities on livestreaming e-commerce platforms. Full article

Accurate face detection and subsequent localization of facial landmarks are mandatory steps in many computer vision applications, such as emotion recognition, age estimation, and gender identification. Thanks to advancements in deep learning, numerous facial applications have been developed for human faces. However, most have to employ multiple models to accomplish several tasks simultaneously. As a result, they require more memory usage and increased inference time. Also, less attention is paid to other domains, such as animals and cartoon characters. To address these challenges, we propose an input-agnostic face model, AnyFace++, to perform multiple face-related tasks concurrently. The tasks are face detection and prediction of facial landmarks for human, animal, and cartoon faces, including age estimation, gender classification, and emotion recognition for human faces. We trained the model using deep multi-task, multi-domain learning with a heterogeneous cost function. The experimental results demonstrate that AnyFace++ generates outcomes comparable to cutting-edge models designed for specific domains. Full article

The automatic transformation of short background videos from real scenarios into other forms with a visually pleasing style, like those used in cartoons, holds application in various domains. These include animated films, video games, advertisements, and many other areas that involve visual content creation. A method or tool that can perform this task would inspire, facilitate, and streamline the work of artists and people who produce this type of content. This work proposes a method that integrates multiple components to translate short background videos into other forms that contain a particular style. We apply a fine-tuned latent diffusion model with an image-to-image setting, conditioned with the image edges (computed with holistically nested edge detection) and CLIP-generated prompts to translate the keyframes from a source video, ensuring content preservation. To maintain temporal coherence, the keyframes are translated into grids and the style is interpolated with an example-based style propagation algorithm. We quantitatively assess the content preservation and temporal coherence using CLIP-based metrics over a new dataset of 20 videos translated into three distinct styles. Full article