Support is requested for improvements to the Environmental simulation Laboratory. Established with a major NSF grant in 1972, the laboratory setting. Students can simulate the visual quality of full scale real world physical environments using small scale three dimensional models. A computer-aided periscope lens and video camera records at eye level in motion what a person would see walking or driving in proximity to a proposed design. Recent advances in computer simulation techniques make it possible to update and improve the laboratory equipment. These advances, including new color display technology, digital memory and microprocessor quality images a reality even on desktop computers. Three of our personal computer workstations are equipped with raster graphics adapter cards capable of converting images to digital format. Using application software, these images are then manipulated and combined with other images. For example, a view of the real side can be combined with a view of a scale model to explain the visual effects of a proposed design on the environment. For the simulation of movement, one of the three workstations is equipped with an animation module and application software to render sequential views of a computer generated model.
