PROPOSAL FOR A NEW COURSE

Date of proposal: 4/10/06

Title: Graphical Algorithms

Department and Course Number: CSCI 331

Crosslisted?   Yes   No X     If yes, crosslisting department and number:

Credit: 1/2   Hours/week: 6 in one module

One-time:     or    Permanent Offering: X

Instructor: Darrah Chavey

How will this course be taught, given present staffing, without creating a course overload?

This course proposal is part of a comprehensive change to the computer science curriculum. The course load under this proposal will not create an overload.

Are there any course fees? If so, specify what the course fees are intended to cover.

None

Prerequisite(s):

Computer Science 205 and 211. Corequisite: Mathematics 160 or 200.

Catalog description (50-150 words, please):

If applicable, include the following language at the end:  “May be repeated for credit if topic is different.”

Covers geometric algorithms and modeling, animation, 3D graphics and rendering. Combines these techniques to consider ways to implement virtual realities, including discussion of future directions of virtual reality.

Additional course content description (aims, purposes, etc.) beyond the catalog description:

This course covers the mathematics and computer algorithms behind the construction of 3D graphic scenes, such as those used for computer games, computer generated images in movies, and scientific visualization. Although there are "black box" graphics packages available to create many of the image types we are studying, the focus of this course is on understanding how these computer images can be generated. We will use some of the available Java 3D objects as aids in creating such images, but we also look inside these objects to understand how they are developed from basic principles. Topics covered include fundamental geometric algorithms, such as deciding whether a line of vision intersects an object, drawing objects on screen, determining which parts of which objects are hidden behind others, deciding which object is the target of a mouse click, etc. We will look at decomposition algorithms to model a sophisticated shape (e.g. the curved surface of a human or animal) via polygonal approximations, and how to apply textures, shadows, and other light effects on those surfaces. We will learn to animate the shapes we build on the screen, and use this to develop basic virtual reality scenes.

The lettered/numbered lines below come from CC2001. Underlined items are considered essential to a basic curriculum in computer science. Numbers in () indicate minimum number of hours to cover in a lecture style according to CC2001.
Items with a * indicate we plan to cover them in multiple courses.
Other lines include additional topics we plan to cover or clarification of topics we will cover within a CC2001 topic.

• AL10. Geometric algorithms
• GV3. Graphic communication
• GV4. Geometric modeling
• GV5. Basic rendering
• GV8. Computer animation
• GV10. Virtual reality

Course goals/objectives/outcomes: 

• To create one complex, static, 3D scene that makes full use of Z-buffers, ray-tracing, texture maps, and rendering.
• To create one simple 3D scene that can animate the principle objects on the screen in response to user actions.
• To understand the algorithms involved in the previous two goals, to be able to compare alternative ways of achieving the same goals, to appreciate how a graphics library (such as Java) can abstract the individual elements of such an approach to virtual reality.
• To appreciate a range of possibilities for applications of virtual reality, including which aspects of popularizations of virtual reality are currently feasible, which will simply require more work and more powerful machines, and which are most likely unrealistic in the foreseeable future.

Course structure. Check all that apply:

 Lecture/Discussion  X     Studio     Lab/Workshop X    Other (Specify)

If current library or equipment holdings are inadequate, estimate the cost of additional holdings required.

$500 - $1000

Please attach names of a proposed text and/or core readings.

Peter Shirley, et. al., Fundamentals of Computer Graphics, 2nd ed.

Form revised 11/04