Research Interests of Dr. Dennis J Bouvier

Fall 2007

Fall 2007 3

Commercial Background

• Few years in industry

• Few years consulting– Author

Java 3D API Tutorial

Fall 2007 4

Prior MS Thesis

1. CASE tool for Java development– GUI– Automatic UML class diagrams

Fall 2007 5

Prior Senior Projects

1. Glove driven image editing• user interface• network

2. Collaborative classroom note-taking• image processing• network, database• web interface

Fall 2007 6

Prior Senior Projects

3. Fisheye views of geopolitical maps– image processing– information visualization

Fall 2007 7

Prior Senior Projects

4. Cardiac vascular structure visualization– computer graphics– scientific visualization

Fall 2007 8

Prior Senior Projects

5. Animation of snare drum– computer graphics

Fall 2007 9

Research Interests Overview

1. Computer Graphics– Scientific Visualization / Information Visualization– Interactive systems

2. Human Computer Interaction3. Software Engineering4. Information/Text Processing5. Education

– Using computers in education– Computer Science education

6. Collaborative / Community computing

Visual Analytics

Fall 2007 10

Computer Graphics Overview

• RENDERING = producing images– INPUT: numbers representing:

geometry, lighting, visual properties, …– OUTPUT: numbers representing:

color

• speed in rendering is essential– Interactive systems need >12 FPS

• quality in rendering is essential– Need 16 bits for each pixel, many pixels

Fall 2007 11

CG Overview (2 of 5)

• 3D models, 2D media– use projection to create 2D images of 3D

data

X

Y

Z

rendering

Fall 2007 12

CG Overview (3 of 5)

Much of CG is computed with

Linear Algebra

x’ 1 0 0 0 x

y’ 0 1 0 0 y

z’ -0 0 0 0 z

1 0 0 0 1 1

4x4 PROJECTION MATRIX: project 3D geometry points to 2D image points

Y

Z

Fall 2007 13

CG Overview (4 of 5)

Y

Z

X

• The image plane is 2D array of pixels (raster graphics)

Image plane

Fall 2007 14

CG Overview (5 of 5)• Local Lighting Model

– No shadows, reflections, etc.

• Global Lighting Model– Shadows, reflections,

etc.– Raytracing– Radiosity

Fall 2007 15

CG Research Overview

• Better– Photorealistic challenges

• fire, water, fur, skin, (nature)• lights / shadows, …

• Faster– More images per second

• Automatic– Generated animation

Fall 2007 16

Computer Graphics Research

• Better Images– Photorealistic

• Better lighting model• Shadows• Motion blurring• Transparencies• Inter-object reflections

Fall 2007 17

Computer Graphics Research

• Better Images– Better models

• fire• water• smoke• fur• faces• people in motion

Fall 2007 18

Computer Graphics Research

• Better Images– Non-photorealistic

• Better painting effects

Fall 2007 20

CG Research: visualization

• Presenting information visually– Advantage: human visual system– Challenges: perception, efficiency, interaction

• Kinds– Scientific– Information

Fall 2007 23

volume data

an object

is scanned

into slices

which form the volume

Fall 2007 24

Medical Volume Data Example

Fall 2007 26

polygonal representation of bone

Fall 2007 27

CG Research: visualization

• Information Visualization

Fall 2007 28

Information Visualization

Fall 2007 29

HCI Research

• Usability– Factor in success of an application– (applicable to most research projects)

Fall 2007 30

Information/Text Processing

• Gisting

• Automatic authoring

• Knowledge capture

Fall 2007 31

Software Engineering

• CASE tools– Supporting the lifecycle

Fall 2007 32

CS Education (as research)

• How are/can computers be used to support education?– Online– In class

• How do people learn to program?– How to teach Debugging skills– How to learn software engineering– Algorithm animation

Fall 2007 33

Research Interests Overview

1. Computer Graphics / Visualization– Visual Analytics

2. Human Computer Interaction3. Software Engineering4. Information/Text Processing5. Education

– Using computers in education– Computer Science education

6. Collaborative / Community computing• Multi-topic

Fall 2007 34

Research Interests Relationships

1. Computer Graphics• image processing, computer vision, information processing

2. Human Computer Interaction• computer graphics, collaborative computing, text processing

3. Software Engineering• information visualization, collaborative computing, education

4. Information/Text Processing• information visualization, hci

5. Education• information visualization, collaborative computing, software

engineering

6. Collaborative / Community computing• information visualization, text processing, education

Fall 2007 35

Specific MS ResearchThesis Topics

• Face mail– Animating email automatically

• Computer graphics, HCI

• Global Illumination Lighting Model– Creating a more comprehensive model

• Computer graphics

• Animating Musical Performance