ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) 2004

Last Updated:
Dec. 1, 2004

Keynote Speakers

Title: Recent Advances in Visibility Determination for Large and Complex Virtual Environments
Speaker: Daniel Cohen-Or

Title: Turning VR Inside Out: Thoughts about Where We are Heading
Speaker: Steven Feiner

Title: Reality-augmented Virtuality: Modeling Dynamic Events from Nature
Speaker: Marcus Magnor

Recent Advances in Visibility Determination for Large and Complex Virtual Environments

Daniel Cohen-Or
Tel-Aviv University, Israel

Abstract

Rendering large and complex virtual environments in real time remains a challenge as the complexity of models keeps growing. Visibility techniques such as occlusion culling can effectively reduce the rendering depth complexity.

In my talk I'll survey recent advances in visibility determination. I'll focus on conservative and aggressive techniques and show how these techniques can be combined effectively with level of details and image-based techniques. I'll show how these new techniques can be accelerated by modern graphics cards to achieve interactive rendering of extremely complex scenes.

Turning VR Inside Out: Thoughts about Where We are Heading

Steven Feiner
Columbia University, USA

Abstract
Our field and the world have changed greatly in the ten years since the first VRST was held in Singapore in 1994. Computers have grown smaller, faster, and cheaper, while polygon counts, frame rates, and display resolutions have increased impressively, true to the promise of Moore's Law. But, what comes next?

This talk will sketch some of the directions in which I feel virtual reality is (or should be) heading. I will discuss the potential for taking virtual reality outside, through wearable and mobile computing; for bring the outside in, by capturing the real world; and for accommodating large numbers of displays, users, and tasks, by embedding them in a fluid and collaborative augmented environment.

Reality-augmented Virtuality: Modeling Dynamic Events from Nature

Marcus Magnor
Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik

Abstract

Virtual Reality thrives on interactivity, realism, and increasingly also animation. The virtual world is not a static place anymore: dynamic entities mimicing natural phenomena are finding their way into computer games and special effects. Typically, physics-based models or ad-hoc behavioral descriptions are drawn on to emulate water waves, flames, smoke, cloth motion, ... For interactive VR applications, unfortunately, simulating complex physical processes is often too time-consuming, while, on the other hand, simplified model descriptions yield un-natural, artifical animation results.

Alternatively, natural events may be acquired from the ``real thing''. Given a handful of synchronized video recordings, this talk presents examples how complex, time-varying natural phenomena may be modeled from reality to be incorporated into time-critical 3D graphics applications. The reward are photo-realistic rendering results and truly authentic animations.