An Implementation of a Dynamic Synthetic Environment Using the Silicon Graphics Performer Graphics Library
Abstract
Synthetic, virtual environments are graphical representations of physical reality that humans can interact with using a variety of computer interfaces. A synthetic, virtual environment might be a building interior, an entire city, a large land area, or even a complete fictional world. High-speed computer graphics, combined with supercomputer processing power, allow the development of high-detail, realistic environments for training and entertainment. The processing power of supercomputers allows the computation of real-world, physical phenomena such as terrain deformation, atmospheric clouds, smoke plumes, and the physical effects caused by the turbulence and irregularities in the atmosphere. Traditional graphics implementations of these phenomena require the use of low-level graphical objects, voxels, or rotating texture maps, to render these phenomena This report presents an implementation of Fractal Ellipsoids to represent smoke plumes using the Silicon Graphics (SGI) Performer Graphics Library. In addition, the representation of deformable, changeable terrain using the ARL Variable Resolution Terrain model is explained. The applicability of these techniques provides a powerful mechanism to merge high-speed, realistic graphics rendering with the real-time data processing and computational power of supercomputers, which will provide synthetic environments with real-world characteristics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA328871
Entities
People
- Mark A. Thomas
Organizations
- United States Army Research Laboratory