Virtual Worlds

Games take place in huge virtual worlds that must be modeled, visualized, and simulated. Game characters must be animated and their actions must be planned. The research cluster studies both the fundamental modeling and algorithmic aspects of virtual worlds and the application of such techniques in games.

The virtual worlds geometry, appearance, and motion of these worlds and characters must be constructed and visualized. New rendering techniques are crucial for enhancing realism and immersion. 3D game worlds, characters, and objects must be modeled using new modeling techniques. We also study techniques for simulation of physical processes of characters and virtual worlds. This includes character animation, navigation of individuals and groups and the manipulation of objects. The approach is strongly algorithmically and computational geometry based. Both fundamental and application-oriented research is be performed. Research is both theoretical and experimental for which a motion capture lab and a graphics lab is available.

Keywords: Computer graphics, rendering, 3D modeling, procedural modeling, animation, path planning, crowd simulation, facial animation, physical simulation, manipulation, augmented reality, geometric algorithms.

First contact: Zerrin Yumak