Ames Laboratory, Department of Energy,
ISU,
Ames, Iowa
SLALOM: A New Computer Graphics Method
This computer generated scene shows how grids of varying densities are used in
computing the light reflected from each surface.
The Importance of SLALOM
SLALOM can solve the equations that describe the appearance of a virtual
scene so that it can then be viewed from any position. This means no new
computations are needed whenever the point of view changes.
It is the first program that does this with no "guesses" while using a method
that is physically correct and mathematically rigorous.
SLALOM also allows parallel processing to be used; older methods did not.
Each processor can work with a subset of the scene, working asynchronously
with the best available information about the rest of the scene.
Each doubling of the processing power improves the accuracy of the answer
by about 40%.
The SLALOM method can be used for Virtual Reality, for architectural
prototyping (leading to more efficient use of artificial and natural
lighting in interiors), and for scientific visualizations with unprecedented
realism. Once SLALOM has reached the necessary accuracy, one can "navigate"
through the room or other geometry without recalculation; hence, it solves
the biggest obstacle to the optical part of Virtual Reality simulations.
Support
SLALOM was developed in the Scalable Computing Lab at Ames Laboratory on the
Iowa State University campus soley through the support of HPCC funds
provided by the Department of Energy's Office of Scientific Computing
within the Office of Energy Research.
It is an outgrowth of a performance analysis project that set new standards
in the comparison of computers.
More information is available.
Contact
John Gustafson john.gustafson@sun.com