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.
