General Information | Readings

General Information

• Professor: Thomas Funkhouser, CS 422, funk@cs.princeton.edu
• Lectures: MW 1:30-2:50PM.
• Prerequisites: CS426 (undergrads welcome)
• Description:

Realistic simulation of virtual environments has been a major focus of research in interactive computer graphics for  decades, dating back to the early flight simulators of the 1960s.  The ultimate goal is to provide a user with the realistic experience of immersion in an environment by rendering sounds and images as perceived by a virtual observer moving through a 3D model under interactive user control.  Applications include distributed training, electronic commerce, telepresence, education, and entertainment (video games).

The objective of this seminar is to investigate methods for interactive simulation of virtual environments.  We will study algorithms for real-time image generation (e.g., occlusion culling, levels of detail, and image-based rendering), as well as related topics useful for virtual environment simulation (e.g., sound spatialization, collision detection, distributed simulation, and path planning).

The course will meet once a week.  During each lecture, the professor and/or students will present recent research papers on relevant topics and lead a discussion.  The main coursework will be the implementation of a complete virtual environment system.  The entire class will work together to build a software system capable of interactively simulating the experience of being in a large virtual environment.  All students will contribute to different components, which when combined form a full working system.