Volume 19 (2000)

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    The Impulse Graph: A New Dynamic Structure For Global Collisions
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Baciu, George; Keung Wong, Sai
    In interactive virtual environments and dynamic simulations, collisions between complex objects and articulated bodies may occur simultaneously at multiple points or regions of interference. Many solutions to the collision response problem are formulated based on the local pair-wise contact dynamics. In this article, we present a new solution to the global interactions and dynamic response between multiple structures in a three-dimensional environment. This is based on a new dynamic impulse graph that tracks the reaction forces through the entire system and gives a global view of all the interactions in a multibody system.
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    Filtered Jitter
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Klassen, R. Victor
    Jitter is one popular way of generating samples for stochastic sampling in computer graphics. The Poisson disk distribution better approximates that of the human photomosaic. In this paper we examine the spatial and frequency space behaviour of a number of existing algorithms for generating stochastic samples and propose a new algorithm based on low pass filtering a jittered set of displacements. The distribution is at least as much like that of the human photomosaic as any existing algorithm, while being fast to compute.
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    Eurographics
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000)
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    Haptic Cues for Image Disambiguation
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Faconti, G.; Massink, M.; Bordegoni, M.; De Angelis, F.; Booth, S.
    Haptic interfaces represent a revolution in human computer interface technology since they make it possible for users to touch and manipulate virtual objects. In this work we describe a cross-model interaction experiment to study the effect of adding haptic cues to visual cues when vision is not enough to disambiguate the images. We relate the results to those obtained in experimental psychology as well as to more recent studies on the subject.
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    Context-based Space Filling Curves
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Dafner, Revital; Cohen-Or, Daniel; Matias, Yossi
    A context-based scanning technique for images is presented. An image is scanned along a context-based space filling curve that is computed so as to exploit inherent coherence in the image. The resulting one-dimensional representation of the image has improved autocorrelation compared with universal scans such as the Peano-Hilbert space filling curve. An efficient algorithm for computing context-based space filling curves is presented. We also discuss the potential of improved autocorrelation of context-based space filling curves for image and video lossless compression.
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    Texture-based Dither Matrices
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Veryovka, Oleg; Buchanan, John
    Continuous tone images must be halftoned to be displayed on binary output devices such as printers. Halftoning algorithms at low resolutions of the output hardware introduce textures into the resulting display. In this work we control halftoning texture by generating a threshold matrix from an image-based texture. We demonstrate that processing textures by the adaptive histogram equalization algorithm approximates pixel distribution properties of traditional dither screens. Ordered dithering with the resulting threshold matrix enables us to define texture in the halftoned image. We control the appearance of this texture by a combination of the ordered dither algorithm with an error diffusion process. We present applications of texture-based dither screens to both photorealistic and artistic rendering. In the case of photorealistic tone reproduction our technique preserves textures and edges of the original image. The ability to define an arbitrary texture enables us to introduce a variety of artistic effects, including embossing of images with textures and text, and approximation of the appearance of of conventional illustration media. We evaluate the resulting halftoning using multi-scale edge distortion measures. Our quantitative evaluation closely corresponds to the visual observations.
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    Editorial
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Coquillart, Sabine; Duke, David
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    A Vector-based Representation for Image Warping
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Froumentin, Max; Labrosse, Frederic; Willis, Philip
    A method for image analysis, representation and re-synthesis is introduced. Unlike other schemes it is not pixel based but rather represents a picture as vector data, from which an altered version of the original image can be rendered. Representing an image as vector data allows performing operations such as zooming, retouching or colourising, avoiding common problems associated with pixel image manipulation. This paper brings together methods from the areas of computer vision, image compositing and image based rendering to prove that this type of image representation is a step towards accurate and efficient image manipulation.
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    Binding Virtual Environments to Toolkit Capabilities
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Smith, Shamus P.; Duke, David J.
    There are many toolkits and development environments that aid the process of constructing virtual environment applications. Many of these development environments encourage customising a virtual environment's design while rapid prototyping within the confines of a toolkit's capabilities. Thus the choice of the technology and its associated support has been made independent of the end-use requirements of the final system. This can bias a virtual environment's design by implementation based constraints. We propose that an alternative approach is the consideration of virtual environment requirements in the context of an inspectable design model, to identify the requirements that a toolkit will need to support. In the context of an example, we present a selection of design requirements that we consider important for virtual environment design in general. We explore how these requirements might be mapped to different capabilities using Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) as a concrete example of a platform technology.
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    External Memory View-Dependent Simplification
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) El-Sana, Jihad; Chiang, Yi-Jen
    In this paper, we propose a novel external-memory algorithm to support view-dependent simplification for datasets much larger than main memory. In the preprocessing phase, we use a new spanned sub-meshes simplification technique to build view-dependence trees I/O-efficiently, which preserves the correct edge collapsing order and thus assures the run-time image quality. We further process the resulting view-dependence trees to build the meta-node trees, which can facilitate the run-time level-of-detail rendering and is kept in disk. During run-time navigation, we keep in main memory only the portions of the meta-node trees that are necessary to render the current level of details, plus some prefetched portions that are likely to be needed in the near future. The prefetching prediction takes advantage of the nature of the run-time traversal of the meta-node trees, and is both simple and accurate. We also employ the implicit dependencies for preventing incorrect foldovers, as well as main-memory buffer management and parallel processes scheme to separate the disk accesses from the navigation operations, all in an integrated manner. The experiments show that our approach scales well with respect to the main memory size available, with encouraging preprocessing and run-time rendering speeds and without sacrificing the image quality.
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    A Novel Approach Makes Higher Order Wavelets Really Efficient for Radiosity
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Cuny, Francois; Alonso, Laurent; Holzschuch, Nicolas
    Since wavelets were introduced in the radiosity algorithm 5, surprisingly little research has been devoted to higher order wavelets and their use in radiosity algorithms. A previous study 13 has shown that wavelet radiosity, and especially higher order wavelet radiosity was not bringing significant improvements over hierarchical radiosity and was having a very important extra memory cost, thus prohibiting any effective computation. In this paper, we present a new implementation of wavelets in the radiosity algorithm, that is substantially different from previous implementations in several key areas (refinement oracle, link storage, resolution algorithm). We show that, with this implementation, higher order wavelets are actually bringing an improvement over standard hierarchical radiosity and lower order wavelets.
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    Eurographics
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000)
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    Video-based Approach to Human Animation
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Lao, Zhiqiang; Li, Ling
    A method based on computer vision technologies is presented to determine the 3-D spatial locations of joints or feature points of a human body from human motion video. The proposed method first applies the geometric projection theory to obtain a set of feasible postures in some key frames according to predefined 2D video features and 3D-model features correspondence. Next it makes use of the available skeleton controlled human model to get a feasible posture for each key frame. The method is applied to a series of video images to animate artificial 3D human models.
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    Variable Resolution 4-k Meshes: Concepts and Applications
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Velho, Luiz; Gomes, Jonas
    In this paper we introduce variable resolution 4-k meshes, a powerful structure for the representation of geometric objects at multiple levels of detail. It combines most properties of other related descriptions with several advantages, such as more flexibility and greater expressive power. The main unique feature of the 4-k mesh structure lies in its variable resolution capability, which is crucial for adaptive computation. We also give an overview of the different methods for constructing the 4-k mesh representation, as well as the basic algorithms necessary to incorporate it in modeling and graphics applications.
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    Modeling the Motion of Dense Smoke in the Wind Field
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Rudolf, Marcin J.; Raczkowski, Jacek
    This paper presents a volumetric animation technique for modeling the turbulent motion of very dense and turbulent smoke such as one coming from a steam engine. A new method of the wind field generation is proposed. Gas motion is determined by the integration of two independent vector layers. The first one is a combination of flow primitives and the second is created by stochastically generated turbulence. Special attention is taken of the proper construction of the turbulent layer. For the visualization purposes a simple volume raytracer is applied. Many light sources are taken into account to achieve photorealistic effects. Finally some interesting animations are overviewed. Computation times for a PC Pentium 200 and an SGI O2 workstation are compared to demonstrate the high efficiency of the method.
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    Eurographics
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000)
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    An Interactive Approach to Point Cloud Triangulation
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Kobbelt, Leif P.; Botsch, Mario
    We present an interactive system for the generation of high quality triangle meshes that allows us to handle hybrid geometry (point clouds, polygons,. . .) as input data. In order to be able to robustly process huge data sets, we exploit graphics hardware features like the raster manager and the z-buffer for specific sub-tasks in the overall procedure. By this we significantly accelerate the stitching of mesh patches and obtain an algorithm for sub-sampling the data points in linear time. The target resolution and the triangle alignment in sub-regions of the resulting mesh can be controlled by adjusting the screen resolution and viewing transformation. An intuitive user interface provides a flexible tool for application dependent optimization of the mesh.
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    Real-Time Simulation of a Stretcher Evacuation in a Large-Scale Virtual Environment
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Hubbold, Roger; Keates, Martin
    This paper presents a case study of navigation and manipulation in a large, geometrically complex, virtual environment representing an off-shore gas platform. Our approach is based on a combined force-field navigation and collision detection algorithm. After describing the basic algorithm, we extend and apply it to a real-time simulation of two avatars carrying a third avatar on a stretcher. The extensions include a probing technique, using a virtual foot and simulated gravity, to permit ascending and descending stairs and ladders. A set of constraints between the stretcher and avatars enforces realistic lifting positions. The simulation is controlled interactively with a hand-held 3D mouse. The force fields assist the user in manoeuvring through tight spaces, while collision detection guarantees that neither the stretcher nor the avatars can pass through obstructions, such as pipe-work or hand-rails. Results are presented for a case study of a complete simulation running on a PC with a moderately fast 3D graphics card. These demonstrate that the method delivers a useful frame rate for the off-shore gas platform.
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    Automatic Surface Reconstruction from Point Sets in Space
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000) Attene, Marco; Spagnuolo, Michela
    In this paper an algorithm is proposed that takes as input a generic set of unorganized points, sampled on a real object, and returns a closed interpolating surface. Specifically, this method generates a closed 2-manifold surface made of triangular faces, without limitations on the shape or genus of the original solid. The reconstruction method is based on generation of the Delaunay tetrahedralization of the point set, followed by a sculpturing process constrained to particular criteria. The main applications of this tool are in medical analysis and in reverse engineering areas. It is possible, for example, to reconstruct anatomical parts starting from surveys based on TACs or magnetic resonance.
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    Book Reviews
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Eurographics Association, 2000)
    Books reviewed:Salomon, David. Computer Graphics and Geometric ModelingGovil-Pai, Shalini and Pai, Rajesh. Learning Computer GraphicsRoelofs, Greg. PNG: The Definitive GuideMarsh, Duncan. Applied Geometry for Computer Graphics and CADMarchand, Patrick. Graphics and GUIs with MATLAB (2nd edition)Ammerall, Leen. Computer Graphics for Java Programmers