Science and Technology Research Center in Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization

犹他大学与康奈尔大学、布朗大学、北卡罗莱纳大学和加州理工学院合作提出了这项提案，要求为建立计算机图形学和科学可视化科学技术中心提供资金。中心主任将由Donald P. Greenberg教授担任。第一代计算机图形学将被利用为图形和可视化的综合连贯和基本概念基础。它将为人机建模和仿真的新计算推力提供工具，并在我们日益增长的信息化社会中发挥关键作用。随着大规模模拟或数据收集数据的增加，图形正在成为评估和吸收结果的手段。计算机图形学将成为人与机器之间交流的主要手段。该中心的主要研究内容包括：建模：目前复杂形状物体的几何建模系统主要基于边界表示。将探索新的候选人，以便为更广泛和复杂的知识基础奠定基础。将研究修剪表面的方法，使其成为建模的有用范例。o渲染：虽然现在使用的全局照明算法可以处理镜面环境（光线追踪）和漫反射环境（辐射），但没有全面的理论可以准确地模拟全局镜面和漫反射。建立光反射模型，模拟反射函数，确定一般表面的照明方法。将通过与物理实验的比较来验证渲染方法的渐进式改进技术。o用于可视化的架构/软件：将追求算法改进和专门硬件的发展，以加速计算。重点是实时描述模型的时变行为，以指导科学计算。直接三维视图和操作范例的发展将得到加速，并行渲染板作为最先进的消息传递多计算机上的成熟节点的发展也将加快。在一个以碎片化的方式发展的领域，该中心汇集了不同的研究人员和领域，通过制定定义和模型作为图像设计工具来创建统一的图像制作方法。这项工作将试图为图形研究开发一个通用的知识基础和软件。该中心将促进加强教育和开发人力资源方面的活动。

This proposal from the University of Utah, in cooperation with Cornell University, Brown University, the University of North Carolina, and the California Institute of Technology, requests funds to establish a Science and Technology Center for Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization. The Director of the Center will be Professor Donald P. Greenberg. The first generation of computer graphics will be harnessed into a comprehensive coherent, and fundamental conceptual base for graphics and visualization. It will provide tools for a new computational thrust in human-computer modeling and simulation and play a key role in our ever-increasing information-based society. With increasing data from large-scale simulations or data collection, graphics is becoming the means to evaluate and assimilate results. Computer graphics will become the dominant means of communication between humans and machines. The major components of the Center's research are: o Modeling: Current geometric modeling systems for objects with complex shapes have been based primarily on boundary representations. New candidates will be explored in order to lay the foundations for a more general and sophisticated intellectual base. The trimmed surface' approach will be investigated to make this a useful paradigm for modeling. o Rendering: While the global illunimation algorithms that are now used can handle specular environments (ray tracing) and diffuse environments (radiosity), no comprehensive theory exists that can accurately simulate global specular and diffuse reflection. Light-reflection models will be established to simulate reflectance functions and determine illumination methods for the general surface. Techniques for progressive refinement of rendering methods will be validated through comparison to physical experiments. o Architecture/Software for Visualization: The development of algorithmic improvements and specialized hardware will be pursued to accelerate the computations. Emphasis is on portraying the time varying behavior of a model in real time in order to steer a scientific calculation. The development of direct three-dimensional view and manipulation paradigms will be accelerated, as will the development of parallel rendering boards as full fledged nodes on state-of-the-art message-passing multicomputers. 8920219 Greengers Page 2 In a field that has developed in a fragmented fashion, the Center brings together disparate researchers and areas to create a unified approach for producing images by formulating definitions and models as tools for image design. This effort will atempt to develop a common intellectual base and software for graphics research. This Center will stimulate enhanced activity in education and the development of human resources.