Under Construction
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Research Projects
During my years in HMS, I've had the opportunity to work on many research projects to varying extents...
- Simulation of Fruit Senescence and Decay: This technique simulates interactions between
multiple aging and decay processes in fruit. Our biologically derived reaction-diffusion model
generates growth patterns for areas of fungal and bacterial infection. This process changes the
physical properties of the surface and the internal volume substrate. We provide a tool that
allows the simulation to be both physically accurate, and allows artists to customize output.
- Motion Capture: We are using our Vicon system to capture a motion capture database. This will
allow us to simulate virtual character naturally in virtual worlds.
- GPU Programming: This work utilizes the architecture and capabilities of modern GPUs. The
GPU is a massively multi-core processor utilized in research to increase performance of
simulations for real-time performance of a variety of path planning algorithms (such as R*GPU),
useful for high dimensional planning problems.
- Virtual Archaeology: gathered experimental archaeological data and investigated and
validated how various water levels and glass fixture shapes, likely used during early Islamic
times, changed the overall light patterns and downward caustics. We applied results to Mosque
of Córdoba to get a more perceptually valid and physically accurate lighting model.
- Untethered Motion Capture Evaluation for Flightline Maintenance: The purpose of this
effort is to explore and evaluate the utility of novel motion capture technologies within the Air
Force maintenance domain. Here we used machine learning techniques to build a prototype
system to classify and recognize various maintenance activities.
- AVIS-MS: Advanced Visual and Instruction Systems for Maintenance Support: This project
investigates technologies that maybe used in the maintenance of Air Force equipment. Here we
used virtual reality and motion capture to help display technical instructions to maintainers.
- Indirect Motion Capture: Head Tracker: In this project we attempted a first step in an indirect
motion capture system. The system measures the head location from motion capture data and
tracks the output on screen where the subject is looking in real-time.
- Virtual Checkpoint: This project implemented real time gesture recognition of a motion capture
subject which controlled a virtual character. The virtual environment interacted with the
characters gestures in real time. The system was robust for a wide range
 Funded Research Projects
Since July 2009, I have held the position of Associate Director for the SIG Center for Computer Graphics at Penn.
I have managed heterogeneous teams for a variety of funded projects for Dr. Norman Badler and Dr. Alla Safonova.
(There have been numerous unfunded ones as well.)
- Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance (RCTA) Grant
Team Members: Norman Badler (Co-PI), Ben Sunshine-Hill, Cory Boatright, Alex Shoulson, Pengfei Huang,
Joe Weinhoffer, Jim Grandpre, Alice Yang, Fei Yang, Omar Maskati, Nicole Nelson
- Lockheed Martin - Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL) Grant
Publications:
- Sunshine-Hill, B., and Badler,N.I. "Perceptually Realistic Behavior through Alibi Generation".In Proceedings of AI and Interactive Digital Entertainment Conference (AIIDE 2010).
- Stocker, C., Sun, L., Huang, P., Qin, W., Allbeck, J.M. and Badler, N.I. Smart Events and Primed Agents. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA 2010).
Team Members: Norman Badler (PI), Ben Sunshine-Hill, Cory Boatright, Pengfei Huang, Libo Sun, Catherine Stocker, Alice Yang, Anna Filatova, Gianni Chen, Gaby Moreno-Cesar, Joseph T. Kider Jr.
- Lockheed Martin - Maritime Systems Grant 2010
The ultimate goal of this research is to create a simulation of a ship's crew embedded in a highly detailed
3D model of a ship. The primary goal of the work to be undertaken during 2010 will be to improve the ease with which digital
human models and animations (DHM) can be created with the COMITS environment.
Team Members: Norman Badler (PI), Damian Slonneger, Matthew Croop, Jeremy Cytryn, Joseph T. Kider Jr.
Tools: Jack software, COMMITS, Maya, VC++, Python
- National Science Foundation (NSF) - Motion Capture Infrastucture Grant
Team Members: Alla Safonova (PI), Norman Badler (Co-PI), Joseph T. Kider Jr., Kaitlin Pollock, Aline Normoyle,
David Yang, Dan Knowlton, Jackie Casccese.
- Lockheed Martin - Maritime Systems Grant 2009
The ultimate goal of this research is to create a simulation of a ship's crew embedded in a highly detailed
3D model of a ship. Each crew member is represented as a 3D human figure. It should also be possible
to accurately simulate a physics based illumination model that accounts for all light fixtures and LCD displays.
Team Members: Norman Badler (PI), Cory Boatright, Ben Sunshine-Hill, Jon McCaffrey, Joseph T. Kider Jr.
Tools: Jack software, COMMITS, Maya, Radiance, VC++, Python
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