Computer Science Workbench – serie

3D CAD is one of the most important technologies of the 90sfor the engineering and manufacturing world. 3D CAD systemscan provide a competitive edge in the development of newproducts. This book presents the development of athree-dimensional CAD system and its wide range ofapplications. It describes the concepts of solid models, andthe theory of curves and surfaces and it illustrates theseconcepts through "reals world" applications.

This book presents the making of computer-generated films using three-dimensional synthetic actors. It is based mainly on the production of the film Rendez-vous a Montreal, an animated film that uses advanced computer techniques to achieve such effects as reincarnating film stars Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe. The main purpose of Rendez-vous a Montreal is to show that true synthetic actors can be created. This fllm represents a technological breakthrough which opens up new vistas in motion pictures, television, and advertising. With this technique, it will now be possible to produce short fllms or motion pictures featuring any celebrity in any situation. The book explains in detail how such a film can be produced using numerous drawings and color pictures. In particular, the following topics are presented: - Preparation of object construction: documentation search, and plaster models preparation - Object construction: digitizing and modeling - Body animation - Hand animation and object grasping - Facial animation: expressions, phonemes and emotions - Choreography: decors, actors, cameras, and lights - Realism: colors, lights, shading, shadows, and textures - Image recording: special effects Finally, an extensive appendix describes in detail the HUMAN FACTORY system.

Computer Science Workbench is a monograph series which will provide you with an in-depth working knowledge of current developments in computer technology. Every volume in this series will deal with a topic of importance in computer science and elaborate on how you yourself can build systems related to the main theme. You will be able to develop a variety of systems, including computer software tools, computer graphics, computer animation, database management systems, and computer-aided design and manufacturing systems. Computer Science Work­ bench represents an important new contribution in the field of practical computer technology. Tosiyasu L. Kunii Preface With the advent of digital computers some five decades ago and the wide­ spread use of computer networks recently, we have gained enormous power in gathering information and manufacturing. Yet, this increase in comput­ ing power has not given us freedom in a real sense, we are increasingly enslaved by the very machine we built for gaining freedom and efficiency. Making machines to serve mankind is an essential issue we are facing. Building human-centered systems is an imperative task for scientists and engineers in the new millennium. The topic of human-centered servant modules covers a vast area. In our projects we have focused our efforts on developing theories and techn!ques based on fuzzy theories. Chapters 2 to 12 in this book collectively deal with the theoretical, methodological, and applicational aspects of human­ centered systems. Each chapter presents the most recent research results by the authors on a particular topic.

Image Synthesis: Theory and Practice is the first book completely dedicated to the numerous techniques of image synthesis. Both theoretical and practical aspects are treated in detail. Numerous impressive computer-generated images are used to explain the most advanced techniques in image synthesis. The book contains a detailed description of the most fundamental algorithms; other less important algorithms are summarized or simply listed. This volume is also a unique handbook of mathematical formulae for image synthesis. The four first chapters of the book survey the basic techniques of computer graphics which play an important role in the design of an image: geometric models, image and viewing transformations, curves and surfaces and solid modeling techniques. In the next chapters, each major topic in image synthesis is presented. The first important problem is the detection and processing of visible surfaces, then two chapters are dedicated to the central problem of light and illumination. As aliasing is a major problem in image rendering, the fundamental antialiasing and motion blur techniques are explained. The most common shadow algorithms are then presented as well as techniques for producing soft shadows and penumbrae. In the last few years, image rendering has been strongly influenced by ray tracing techniques. For this reason, two chapters are dedicated to this important approach. Then a chapter is completely dedicated to fractals from the formal Mandelbrot theory to the recursive subdivision approaches. Natural phenomena present a particularly difficult challenge in image synthesis. For this reason, a large portion of the book is devoted to latest methods to simulate these phenomena: particle systems, scalar fields, volume density scattering models. Various techniques are also described for representing terrains, mountains, water, waves, sky, clouds, fog, fire, trees, and grass. Several techniques for combining images are also explained: adaptive rendering, montage and composite methods. The last chapter presents in detail the MIRALab image synthesis software.

Computer Science Workbench is a monograph series which will provide you with an in-depth working knowledge of current developments in computer technology. Every volume in this series will deal with a topic of importance in computer science and elaborate on how you yourself can build systems related to the main theme. You will be able to develop a variety of systems, including computer software tools, computer graphics, computer animation, database management systems, and computer-aided design and manufacturing systems. Computer Science Workbench represents an important new contribution in the field of practical computer technology. TOSIYASU L. KUNII Preface The evolution of database systems research is itself a story. Long after the emergence of systems derived from practical applications, Codd's relational data model has gradually occupied the theoretical domain of database systems and is moving into the realms of practical use. Certainly, the theoretical foundation makes database design, validation, and testing easier. However, Cod d's model allows only fiat tables to be handled, while most business and engineering data in practice are in nested table forms. Thus, a recent major obstacle in database systems development is the large gap between the theory and the practice.

Computer Science Workbench is a monograph series which will provide you with an in-depth working knowledge of current developments in computer technology. Every volume in this series will deal with a topic of importance in computer science and elaborate on how you yourself can build systems related to the main theme. You will be able to develop a variety of systems, including computer software tools, computer gra­ phics, computer animation, database management systems, and compu­ ter-aided design and manufacturing systems. Computer Science Work­ bench represents an important new contribution in the field of practical computer technology. TOSIYASU L. KUNII Preface to the Second Edition Computer graphics is growing very rapidly; only computer animation grows faster. The first edition of the book Computer Animation: Theory and Practice was released in 1985. Four years later, computer animation has exploded. Conferences on computer animation have appeared and the topic is recognized in well-known journals as a leading theme. Computer-generated film festivals now exist in each country and several thousands of films are produced each year. From a commercial point of view, the computer animation market has grown considerably. TV logos are computer-made and more and more simulations use the technique of computer animation. What is the most fascinating is certainly the development of computer animation from a research point-of-view.

Computer Science Workbench is a monograph series which will provide you with an in-depth working knowledge of current developments in computer technology. Every volume in this series will deal with a topic of importance in computer science and elaborate on how you yourself can build systems related to the main theme. You will be able to develop a variety of systems, including computer software tools, computer graphics, computer animation, database management systems, and computer-aided design and manufacturing systems. Computer Science Workbench represents an important new contribution in the field of practical computer technology. TOSIYASU L. KUNII To my parents Kenjiro and Nori Fujimura Preface Motion planning is an area in robotics that has received much attention recently. Much of the past research focuses on static environments - various methods have been developed and their characteristics have been well investigated. Although it is essential for autonomous intelligent robots to be able to navigate within dynamic worlds, the problem of motion planning in dynamic domains is relatively little understood compared with static problems.

Computer Science Workbench is a monograph series which will provide you with an in-depth working knowledge of current developments in computer technology. Every volume in this series will deal with a topic of importance in computer science and elaborate on how you yourself can build systems related to the main theme. You will be able to develop a variety of systems, including computer software tools, computer graphics, computer animation, database management systems, and computer-aided design and manufacturing systems. Computer Science Workbench represents an important new contribution in the field of practical computer technology. T08iyasu L. Kunii PREFACE The primary aim of this book is to present a coherent and self-contained de­ scription of recent advances in three-dimensional object recognition from range images. Three-dimensional object recognition concerns recognition and localiza­ tion of objects of interest in a scene from input images. This problem is one of both theoretical and practical importance. On the theoretical side, it is an ideal vehicle for the study of the general area of computer vision since it deals with several important issues encountered in computer vision-for example, issues such as feature extraction, acquisition, representation and proper use of knowl­ edge, employment of efficient control strategies, coupling numerical and symbolic computations, and parallel implementation of algorithms. On the practical side, it has a wide range of applications in areas such as robot vision, autonomous navigation, automated inspection of industrial parts, and automated assembly.