Syllabus:

Short description: Introduction to the problems of Visualization and VR, preprocessing of data, data visualization, data presentation, interaction with data, device and computer technology, high-performance rendering techniques, volume rendering, latest visualization techniques and systems, application examples of VR, data formats and standards, real-time simulation, collision detection, haptics, parallelization. Deatiled description: The area of visualization by computer graphics has dramatically increased in importance during the recent years. This is due to the important technological changes. Complex, computer generated data worlds are displayed quasi in real-time by means of appropriate methods. This allows users to interactively explore relationships within this data and to gain important insights (Scientific Visualization). Furthermore, special device technologies combined with sophisticated real-time computing techniques allow an immersive presentation of these virtual environments, resulting in the user feeling immersed in this world (Virtual Reality). This course starts by presenting fundamentals, definitions and reference models in order to relate the described topics to the broader field of computer graphics. Based on this, special technologies, algorithms, and methods of visualization and VR are discussed, including (but not limited to): device technology (hardware, input and output devices, haptics, 3D sound, etc.), the specific problems of data exchange (standards, preprocessing, systems, etc.), interaction techniques (incl. real-time collision detection), display techniques (volume rendering, real-time rendering, radiosity), handling of large and complex amounts of data, real-time simulation techniques, and parallelization strategies (incl. distributed applications). Finally, these technologies are illustrated by examples of current research from the fields of visualization (medicine, meteorology, flow data) and VR (virtual prototyping, training, assembly simulations, architectural walk-through, etc.). Based on the contents of the course 'Grundlagen der Graphischen Datenverarbeitung (GDV)', this lecture focuses on real-time display and interaction with its special technologies and application domains. Thus, it may well be combined with the courses 'physically-based modelling (PBM)' (basics of modelling and simulation), 'visual computing (VC)' (here, especially the perceptual aspects as well as computer-based reconstruction are discussed in detail, which is particularly important for the area of 'augmented reality'), and 'informatics fundamentals of CAD (CAD)' (forming the foundation of many VR appliactions like, e.g., 'virtual protoyping' and 'assembly simulation'). Further Information to this topic: Homepage of Stefan Müller: http://www.igd.fhg.de/www/igd-a4/people/persons/stefanm.html Department Visualization and Virtual Reality: http://www.igd.fhg.de/www/igd-a4/index.html

Prerequisites (necessary knowledge):

Recommended: Fundamentals of Computer Graphics Vordiplom

Course Cycle:

each summer term

Course Language:

German