In the USA, both 2D as well as 3D graphics generation is addressed in current research. One focus is on the automatic and semi-automatic generation of business graphics. Obviously, these efforts target at the important market for business intelligence systems. Apparently, knowledge-based methods for 3D animation constitute another focus for research and development. Improved capabilities in these area can be regarded as a decisive requirement for the next generation of multimedia interfaces and simulation systems.
(New Sep. 96) A recent issue of ACM Communications , the flagship publication of the Association for Computing Machinery , makes clear that in the USA intelligent graphics is now seen as one of the new important paradigms for computing. The contribution by Lieberman provides some convincing examples of real applications and advocates the amplification of current research and development activities in the area of knowledge-based graphics generation.
(New June 97) Given the US dominance in the field of knowledge-based graphics generation it is not surprising that there are also excellent research groups working on virtual humans. As in Europe, a current focus of research is on intelligent autonomous and interactive artificial humans. In the USA, however, the market for virtual humans seems already much better developed. In particular, the entertainement industry seems to play an important role for accelerating the commercial exploitation of this new technology.
As the example of the world's first virtual actress and singer Kyoko Date shows, virtual humans will also influence the entertainement industry in Japan. Kyoko Date , the most photorealistic virtual human to date, is a product of Japan's top modeling agency Hori Productions Inc. and has gained an impressive market success in selling music videos and a CD. The project was initiated in 1996 and is continued so that in the future emerging technology will enable the `virtual idol' to appear on a live TV show and chat with other artists.
(New July 98) AVI-98, which constitutes one of the leading conferences specifically devoted to advanced visual user interfaces, attracted many contributions from the USA. Compared with European research activities presented at the Advanced Visual Interfaces Conference current research in this field in the USA seems to focus more on themes like navigation in information spaces and multimedia design. However, similar to the trend in Europe it can be observed that the general field of advanced visual user interfaces is strongly influenced through Artifical Intelligence approaches like knowledge-based graphics generation and intelligent interfaces.
(New Nov. 98)
In the USA, the growing convergence of graphics and vision is regarded
as a salient trend in current research and development which will also
influence knowledge-based graphics generation in particular.
Computer graphics and computer vision are inverse problems and in the
traditional view computer graphics starts with input geometric models
and produces image sequences whereas computer vision starts with
input image sequences and produces geometric models. However, as the
article Lengyel [1998] illustrates vision researchers now work from
images backward just as far as necessary to create models that capture
a scene without going to full geometric models. In order to create
stunning, photorealistic images in real time graphics generation works
more and more with hybrid geometry and image models. These models use
images as partial results, reusing them to take advantage of
similarities in the image stream.
Lengyel, who works for
Microsoft Research
,
mentions several reasons for the convergence of graphics and vision.
Combined graphics and vision approaches have a hybrid vigor, much
of which stems from sampled representations. The use of captured
scenes yields richer rendering and modeling methods than methods that
synthesize everything from scratch.
Exploiting temporal and spatial coherence, i.e. similarities in
images, via the use of layers and other techniques is boosting runtime
performance and finally the explosion in PC graphics performance is
making powerful computational techniques more practical.