Japanese
◆ Annual Review 2002

Computer Arts Laboratory


Carl W. Vilbrandt
Associate Professor

Recent research in the Computer Arts Lab of the University of Aizu underscores the problems with digital persistence associated with the digital preservation of cultural heritage objects. Digital persistence or the lack of it is a multi-faceted challenge rooted in societal factors of IT literacy and technological factors of the nature of digital materials. Current projects in the Computer Arts Lab seek to address this fundamental problem of digital persistence in creative ways.

    Current Projects:

  • Heritage Aizu Virtual Education Network (HAVEN) :REU National Science Foundation US grant was received by the West Virginia University for collaboration with the University of Aizu Computer Arts Lab for long range scanning of the 33 Kannon-sama of the Aizu pilgrimage. Five young researchers from West Virginia University hosted by the Aizu Digital Valley Promotion Association of Shiokawa visited the University of Aizu with a laser range scanner to begin scanning the Kannon-sama and related architectural sites. It is expected that this collaboration will continue during the summer months for the next several years. Collaboration with the Fukushima Museum to laser scan cultural heritage objects for digital preservation archiving continued for the second year.
  • Yama IT School : Under the auspices of CompuFarm NPO in collaboration with the Computer Arts Lab, late model PCs donated by Credit Suisse First Boston and Dell Computers in Tokyo were setup and installed in the Aizu-Takada school district. A community IT network center at Higashi Omata Shogakkou for community IT education and as a trusted virtual heritage repository was initiated.
  • Sparkle Gate Project : Development of a p2p Web based community using Java and other web based technology by students in the Computer Arts Lab. (http://www.sparklegate.com)
  • Synthetic CAD Project : Development of a hybrid synthetic CAD system based on multiple representations (CSG, B-rep, F-rep, and voxels). Work in FRep and expansion of the HyperFun language for client server applications is continuing. (http://www.hyperfun.org)
  • The Digital and Academic Liberty of Information (DALI) workshop collaboration on open source and free software issues is continuing.
Referred Proceeding Papers
[vilb-01:2002]C. Calef, T. Vilbrandt, C. Vilbrandt, J.R. Goodwin, and J.M. Goodwin. Making It Realtime: Exploring the use of optimized realtime environments for historical simulation and education. In D. Bearman and Editors J. Trant, editors, Museums and the Web 2002: Selected Papers - Proceedings of the 6th International Conference of Museums and the Web 2002, Toronto, Apr. 2002. Archives & Museum Informatics.
As museums and educators struggle with the challenges of presenting their material in a digital format, many over look the application that has spearheaded the development of virtual reality for the average consumer: 3D realtime game engines. These 3D game engines offer greater versatility, usability, maturity, simulation and codebase than most current 3D realtime frameworks. At the University of Aizu, we are using the Quake engine in conjunction with the Povray raytracing engine to attack the problem of visualization and simulation from two sides. We havemodeled a temple from northern Japan that users can experience in realtime. However, to deal with the limitations of simulation in realtime, we have added the ability for users to select a view for greater detail. The selected view is rendered in the background as the users continue to travel through the temple, and is delivered in a separate window when finished. Our paper will describe relevant game paradigms, their usefulness, and our work in detail, including problems and solutions we have discovered along the way, and conclude with suggestions on how this work could assist museums and educators in simulation and modeling. Keywords: Simulated Environments, Virtual Reality, Realtime, 3DGames, Cultural Heritage, Historical Restoration, Virtual Museum, Quake, Id Software, Povray
Grants
[vilb-02:2002]C. Vilbrandt. The Aizu Japan Project : Laser Scanning the 33 Kannon-sama of the Aizu Pilgrimage, a West Virginia University REU National Science Foundation grant in collaboration with the Aizu Digital Valley Promotion Association (ADVPA)., 2002-2003.
[vilb-03:2002]C. Vilbrandt. Heritage Aizu Virtual Education Network : University of Aizu Competitive Research Funding (UBIC), 2002-2003.
[vilb-04:2002]C. Vilbrandt. University of Aizu Strategic Research Funding, 2002-2003.
Academic Activities
[vilb-05:2002]C. Vilbrandt, Sept. 2002. PC member and referee, CIT2002 (Third International Conference on Computer and Information Technology)
[vilb-06:2002]C. Vilbrandt, Feb. 2003. Referee, WSCG2003 - 11th International Conference in Central Europe on Computer Graphics, Visualization and Computer Vision'2003 (Eurographics/IFIP)
Ph.D and Other Thesis
[vilb-07:2002]Mayumi Inasawa. Graduation Thesis: Particle System Snow Accumulation Model, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
[vilb-08:2002]Kotomi Ishihara. Graduation Thesis: Visualization of Personal Space in AutoCAD, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
[vilb-09:2002]Hiroyuki Haga. Graduation Thesis: Interactive and Audience Oriented Music-Driven Animation, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
[vilb-10:2002]Teppei Matsuda. Graduation Thesis: Level of Detail with HyperFun, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
[vilb-11:2002]Hiroyuki Nifuku. Graduation Thesis: Auto LISP Automatic Creation Program for HyperFun in Auto CAD, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
[vilb-12:2002]Miho Saito. Graduation Thesis: Digital Archiving of Documentation for CAD Reconstruction of Tsurugajo, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
[vilb-13:2002]Hirohito Sato. Graduation Thesis: Computer Literacy in Elementary Education, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
[vilb-14:2002]Musdi Bin Haji Shanat. Master Thesis: Haniwa: Developing Digital Visualization for Virtual Heritage Properties, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
[vilb-15:2002]Tsuyoshi Yamamoto. Master Thesis: Parallel HyperFun Polygonizer, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
[vilb-16:2002]So Yamaoka. Master Thesis: Music-driven Modification of Motioncapture-based Animation, University of Aizu, 2002.
Thesis Advisor: Vilbrandt, C.
Others