Visualizing the Very Large-Scale Physical Universe

Speaker:	Dr. Chi-Wing Fu, Philip
		Department of Computer Science
		Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Title:  	"Visualizing the Very Large-Scale Physical Universe"

Date:		Monday, 15 Nov 2004

Time:		4:00 - 5:00pm

Venue:		Lecture Theatre F
		(Leung Yat Sing Lecture Theatre, near lift nos. 25/26)
		HKUST

Abstract:

Recent advances in modern astronomy provide us with a huge amount of data
and information about the Universe.  Positional data is no longer limited
to our own Solar system, and we now have positional data for stars, the
interstellar medium, far-away galaxies, and even extra-solar planets.
However, due to the fact that the Universe is so gigantic in size and is
dominated by empty space, modeling and rendering this huge environment is
a very different task compared with any ordinary three-dimensional virtual
environment.

The first part of this talk introduces a comprehensive approach to
creating a visualization framework for this problem.  Power Homogeneous
Coordinates (PHC)  and various PHC-based techniques are devised to extend
and optimize the conventional graphics framework for this large-scale
environment.  The second part presents an assortment of methods for
modeling, rendering, and visualizing a large variety of astronomical
bodies through a collection of visualizers for astronomers, educational
animations appropriate for planetarium audiences, and state-of-the-art
rendering techniques being integrated into a digital planetarium system.
Finally, the speaker will introduce some of his current research topics
such as future work for astronomical visualization, image-based
relighting, and optimum graphics modeling.


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Biography:

Philip received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Indiana University in
Bloomington in 2003.  After his graduation, he joined Silicon
Graphics(SGI) and participated in the digital planetarium project for the
Beijing Planetarium.  He later joined the Department of Computer Science
in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2004, and worked
in the Image, Vision and Graphics Group.  His research interests include
scientific visualization (astronomical, medical, bio-chemical, and
high-dimensional visualization), image-based modeling, rendering, and
lighting, and real-time computer graphics techniques.