Real Time Highly Realistic Computer Graphics
Lead Research Organisation:
Swansea University
Department Name: College of Science
Abstract
This proposal aims to fund the Direct-Trace algorithms and their library to allow using Ray-Tracing for Real-Time 3D computer applications. Ray-Tracing is a technique that can provide more realistic 3D effects, and the grant will provide a proof-of-concept for the new technique and its extensions, following research supported by a previous EPSRC grant and a patent filed on the technology. Prior funding has helped discovering much faster techniques for Ray-Tracing and the objective is to port these techniques to a much faster platform (i.e., a Graphics card) to speed it up. This will allow for use of Ray-Tracing in real-time dynamic applications such as 3D games, the movie industry, or Physics simulations. There is a great opportunity for the first sustained real-time implementation of Ray-Tracing, as Ray-Tracing can provide much higher realism for 3D Graphics and games in particular.
Planned Impact
Ray-tracing is broadly regarded as the most logical step in consumer graphics technology. It is widely anticipated that when a real-time implementation exists, the technology will be included inside the graphics card drivers available on each PC [or console]. This will mean that, in time, the technology will be present inside hundreds of millions of PCs and consoles. For the consumer, be they a movie producer, architect or gamer, this will mean more realistic 3D images. To the very active 3D Computer Graphics sector however, the change will mean a revolution in the technology used and considerable economic stimulation of the field. To be the first to demonstrate real-time global illumination in 3D applications would not only proffer the commercial benefits discussed below, but also grant the individuals and institutions concerned considerable eminence in the field.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Benjamin Mora (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Clarke L
(2011)
Automatic Generation of 3D Caricatures Based on Artistic Deformation Styles.
in IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics
Doidge I
(2012)
Mixing Monte Carlo and progressive rendering for improved global illumination
in The Visual Computer
Mora B
(2011)
Naive ray-tracing A divide-and-conquer approach
in ACM Transactions on Graphics
Description | A new way to compute intersections dynamically without requiring a preliminary sorting step. |
Exploitation Route | We are currently working on applying the same principles to pattern matching problems, like protein-ligand docking (life science). This will enable the identification of good candidate drugs at a faster pace. |
Sectors | Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
URL | http://www.directtrace.org/ |
Description | We are providing a ray-tracing driver free of charge. |
First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
Title | DIRECT RAY TRACING OF 3D SCENES |
Description | Determining intersections between rays and triangles is at the heart of most Computer Generated 3D images. The present disclosure describes a new method for determining the intersections between a set of rays and a set of triangles. The method is unique as it processes arbitrary rays and arbitrary primitives, and provides the lower complexity typical to ray- tracing algorithms without making use of a spatial subdivision data structure which would require additional memory storage. Such low memory usage is particularly beneficial to all computer systems creating 3D images where the available on-board memory is limited and critical, and must be minimized. Also, a pivot-based streaming novelty allows minimizing conditional branching inherent to normal ray- tracing techniques by handling large streams of rays. In most cases, our method displays much faster times for solving similar intersection problems than preceding state of the art methods on similar systems. |
IP Reference | WO2011035800 |
Protection | Patent granted |
Year Protection Granted | 2011 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | At this stage, we can fairly say that this technique can be extended to solve many more problems. We believe that, provided funding is made available, application to critical areas having a huge impact on daily life will be demonstrated. |
Title | DirectTrace driver |
Description | A driver and API to accelerate ray-tracing without spatial subdivision data structures |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2011 |
Impact | So far it has been more of a proof of concepts than a commercial software. Researchers have used it to compare they results to our own work and develop their own improvements. This has motivated further work in the area. Many students have also used it to implement realistic images without having to code ray tracing themselves. |
URL | http://directtrace.org/ |