A CAD-based modeling for dynamic visualization of urban environments in piecemeal (incremental) growth

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, City and Regional Planning, Izmir, 2002Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 114-122)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxi, 122 leavesVisualization is inherent to the conduct of urban design as a direct connection between the designer and three dimensional reality of urban settlements. Visualization of urban environments and urban design projects is vital, since most designers prefer to understand place and context through visualization. The reasons for visualization in urban design can be classified under three headings: .visual thinking, design communication and testing mechanism. Digital revolution. has improved computer use in urban design, as in many other fields. Dynamic computer models can present an ideal environment to visualize the change in respect to time. Digital tools are much more efficient than conventional methods in explaining the growth and change of urban environments. Especially, incremental growth requires features not found in .static/analog. media. Christopher Alexander and his colleagues, in their book .A New Theory of Urban Design., tried to justify their ideas about piecemeal growth by an experiment. The analog methods, such as physical models, two-dimensional diagrams, have been used to conduct the experiment and to convey their ideas about the design process. This thesis tries to produce a .dynamic/digital. model that could be utilized in their experiment instead of static/analog methods. Spatial data should be considered as dynamic, or changing identities rather than as simple, static features. Time is an example of a dynamic component of a spatial data set. Recent technological developments are increasing computer hardware and software capabilities so that this dynamic aspect of data can be accounted for by today.s systems. Dynamic data have not been a great concern in digital technologies for many years, but today changing patterns and dimensions are becoming more important

Genetic terrain programming

Dissertação apresentada à Universidad de Extremadura para obtenção do Diploma de Estudios Avanzados, orientada por Francisco Fernandéz de Vega e Carlos Cotta.Nowadays there are a wide range of techniques for terrain generation, but all of them are focused on providing realistic terrains, often neglecting other aspects (e.g., aesthetic appeal or presence of desired features). This thesis presents a new technique, GTP (Genetic Terrain Programming), based on evolutionary design with Genetic Programming. The GTP technique consists of a guided evolution, by means of Interactive Evolution, accordingly to a speci c desired terrain feature or aesthetic appeal. This technique can yield both aesthetic and real TPs (Terrain Programmes) which are capable of gen- erating di erent terrains, but consistently with the same features. TPs are also scale invariant, meaning that terrain features will be preserved across di erent LODs (Levels Of Details), which allows the use of low LODs dur- ing the evolutionary phase without compromising results. Additionally, the resulting TPs can be incorporated in video games, like any other procedural technique, to generate terrains. Furthermore, by way of resorting to several TPs to compose the full landscape, it is possible to control some localised terrain features, thus eliminating the main drawback of traditional procedu- ral techniques. The combination of GP with evolutionary art systems also diminish the e ort and time required to create complex terrains when com- pared to modeling techniques. Moreover, the results are not dependent on the designer's skills

Photorealistic visualisation of urban greening in a low-cost high- density housing settlement.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.Apartheid housing policies of the pre-1994 South African government, and the low-cost highdensity housing programmes of the post-1994 government, has given rise to numerous urban environmental problems, some of which could be addressed in a cost-effective and sustainable manner through urban greening, while simultaneously promoting biodiversity. Public participation in the planning of urban greening has been identified as being of vital importance, without which urban greening projects run a high, and expensive, risk of failure. Previous studies indicate that the greening priorities of residents in low-cost high-density housing settlements may differ considerably from those of managers and experts tasked with the protection and extension of the natural environment resource base. A system of participatory decision support is therefore required to reconcile the greening requirements of the community, and the ecological benefits of biodiversity. If language, literacy, map literacy and numeracy difficulties are to be avoided, and a sense of place or belonging is to be invoked, such a participatory decision support system should, ideally, be visually based, and capable of generating realistic eye-level depictions of the urban landscape. New computer-based landscape visualisation applications, which can directly utilise GIS, CAD and DEM data to produce detailed photo-realistic viewsheds, were deemed better suited to the task of visualising urban greening than existing GIS based mapping systems, CAD and traditional landscape visualisation methods. This dissertation examines the process of constructing a 3D computer model of the Mount Royal low-cost high-density housing settlement, situated in the eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Visualisations including terrain, natural features, indigenous vegetation, houses and roads were produced and submitted, with a questionnaire, to experts from different disciplines, Mount Royal residents and neighbors. Results from the expert survey indicate moderate support for visualisation in professional decision-making. However, both experts and residents expressed strong support for the accuracy and credibility ofthe visualisations, as well as for their potential in a participatory decision support system

Research Reports: 1997 NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program

For the 33rd consecutive year, a NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The program was conducted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville and MSFC during the period June 2, 1997 through August 8, 1997. Operated under the auspices of the American Society for Engineering Education, the MSFC program was sponsored by the Higher Education Branch, Education Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The basic objectives of the program, which are in the 34th year of operation nationally, are: (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science faculty members; (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA; (3) to enrich and refresh the research and teaching activities of the participants' institutions; and (4) to contribute to the research objectives of the NASA centers. The Faculty Fellows spent 10 weeks at MSFC engaged in a research project compatible with their interests and background and worked in collaboration with a NASA/MSFC colleague. This document is a compilation of Fellows' reports on their research during the summer of 1997. The University of Alabama in Huntsville presents the Co-Directors' report on the administrative operations of the program. Further information can be obtained by contacting any of the editors

Assessing the impact of computer use on landscape architecture professional practice: efficiency, effectiveness, and design creativity

Landscape architects claim that computers are efficient and effective presentation tools. However, to date, no one has evaluated the impact of computer use on the nature and quality of design in a practice setting. To further explore this issue, a trial was conducted with landscape architecture students in which they worked in conventional, mixed and digital media. Results indicated that although computer use was efficient in some tasks, the nature of the design process did not yield itself effectively yet to complete computerization. In addition, to assess the impact of computer use more broadly on office practice today, a survey was conducted of over 100 Chapter Executive Members of the American Society of Landscape Architects in the United States of America.Survey results indicated that computer use has permeated all areas of landscape architecture practice, and that it has genuinely improved drawing quality and capability. However, it has not significantly impacted the artistic or creative aspects. Few respondents believed the computer can improve these facets of the profession or that traditional practice methods will be totally replaced by the computer.The results suggest that academic and professional sectors of landscape architecture must help educate existing professionals to fully grasp the benefits of current and emerging computer technologies and to prepare the future professionals for an increasingly digital practice

Interactive evolutionary 3D fractal modeling.

Pang, Wenjun.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-88).Abstracts in English and Chinese.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iiABSTRACT --- p.iv摘要 --- p.vCONTENTS --- p.viList of Tables --- p.viiiList of Figures --- p.ixChapter 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1Chapter 1.1 --- Recent research work --- p.4Chapter 1.2 --- Objectives --- p.8Chapter 1.3 --- Thesis Organization --- p.10Chapter 2. --- FRACTAL MODELING --- p.12Chapter 2.1 --- Fractal and Fractal Art --- p.12Chapter 2.2 --- Fractal Geometry --- p.15Chapter 2.3 --- Construction of Fractals --- p.21Chapter 2.4 --- Fractal Measurement and Aesthetics --- p.27Chapter 3. --- OVERVIEW OF EVOLUTIONARY DESIGN --- p.30Chapter 3.1 --- Initialization --- p.33Chapter 3.2 --- Selection --- p.33Chapter 3.3 --- Reproduction --- p.34Chapter 3.4 --- Termination --- p.36Chapter 4. --- EVOLUTIONARY 3D FRACTAL MODELING --- p.38Chapter 4.1 --- Fractal Construction --- p.38Chapter 4.1.1 --- Self-similar Condition of Fractal --- p.38Chapter 4.1.2 --- Fractal Transformation (FT) IFS Formulation --- p.39Chapter 4.1.3 --- IFS Genotype and Phenotype Expression --- p.41Chapter 4.2 --- Evolutionary Algorithm --- p.43Chapter 4.2.1 --- Single-point Crossover --- p.45Chapter 4.2.2 --- Arithmetic Gaussian mutation --- p.45Chapter 4.2.3 --- Inferior Elimination --- p.46Chapter 4.3 --- Interactive Fine-tuning using FT IFS --- p.46Chapter 4.4 --- Gaussian Fitness Function --- p.48Chapter 5. --- GAUSSIAN AESTHETIC FITNESS FUNCTION --- p.49Chapter 5.1 --- Fitness Considerations --- p.50Chapter 5.2 --- Fitness Function Formulation --- p.53Chapter 5.3 --- Results and Discussion on Fitness Function --- p.55Chapter 6. --- EXPERIMENT RESULTS and DISCUSSION --- p.59Chapter 6.1 --- Experiment of Evolutionary Generation --- p.59Chapter 6.2 --- Comparison on Different Methods --- p.60Chapter 7. --- 3D FRACTALS RENDERING and APPLICATION --- p.62Chapter 7.1 --- Transforming Property and User Modification --- p.62Chapter 7.2 --- Visualization and Rendering of 3D Fractals --- p.66Chapter 7.3 --- Applications in Design --- p.74Chapter 8. --- CONCLUSIONS and FUTURE WORK --- p.81Chapter 8.1 --- Conclusions --- p.81Chapter 8.2 --- Future Work --- p.81BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.83Appendix --- p.89Marching Cubes Method --- p.8

Evolving artificial terrains with automated genetic terrain programing

La industria del videojuego afronta en la actualidad un gran reto: mantener el coste del desarrollo de los proyectos bajo control a medida que estos crecen y se hacen más complejos. La creación de los contenidos de los juegos, que incluye el modelado de personajes, mapas y niveles, texturas, efectos sonoros, etc, representa una parte fundamental del costo final de producción. Por eso, la industria está cada vez más interesada en la utilización de métodos procedurales de generación automática de contenidos. Sin embargo, crear y afinar los métodos procedurales no es una tarea trivial. En esta memoria, se describe un método procedural basado en Programación Genética, que permite la generación automática de terrenos para videojuegos. Los terrenos presentan características estéticas, y no requieren ningún tipo de parametrización para definir su aspecto. Así, el ahorro de tiempo y la reducción de costes en el proceso de producción es notable. Para conseguir los objetivos, se utiliza Programación Genética de Terrenos. La primera implementación de GTP utilizó Evolución Interactiva, en que la presencia del usuario que guía el proceso evolutivo es imprescindible. A pesar de los buenos resultados, el método está limitado por la fatiga del usuario (común en los métodos interactivos). Para resolver esta cuestión se desarrolla un nuevo modelo de GTP en el que el proceso de búsqueda es completamente automático, y dirigido por una función de aptitudo. La función considera accesibilidad de los terrenos y perímetros de los obstáculos. Los resultados obtenidos se incluyeron como parte de un videojuego real.Nowadays video game industry is facing a big challenge: keep costs under control as games become bigger and more complex. Creation of game content, such as character models, maps, levels, textures, sound effects and so on, represent a big slice of total game production cost. Hence, video game industry is increasingly turning to procedural content generation to amplify the cost-effectiveness of video game designers' efforts. However, creating and fine tunning procedural methods for automated content generation is a time consuming task. In this thesis we detail a Genetic Programming based procedural content technique to generate procedural terrains. Those terrains present aesthetic appeal and do not require any parametrization to control its look. Thus, allowing to save time and help reducing production costs. To accomplish these features we devised the Genetic Terrain Programming (GTP) technique. The first implementation of GTP used an Interactive Evolutionary Computation (IEC) approach, were a user guides the evolutionary process. In spite of the good results achieved this way, this approach was limited by user fatigue (common in IEC systems). To address this issue a second version of GTP was developed where the search is automated, being guided by a direct fitness function. That function is composed by two morphological metrics: terrain accessibility and obstacle edge length. The combination of the two metrics allowed us remove the human factor form the evolutionary process and to find a wide range of aesthetic and fit terrains. Procedural terrains produced by GTP are already used in a real video game.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (TIN2007-68083-C02-01); (TIN2008-05941); (TIN2011-28627-C04) Junta de Extremadura (GRU-09105); (GR10029) Junta de Andalucía (TIC-6083

Genetic selection of parametric scenes

Using a modelling package such as Alias Maya or SoftImage XSi to create a natural scene is too tedious to be practical. Procedural generation techniques reduce the amount of work involved, but there may still be too many parameters to be selected manually. We propose a new method of generating natural scenes, using a genetic algorithm (GA) to infer the user’s preferences from user feedback. In order to allow the goal to be reached in a reasonable time, the GA must converge quickly. The scene generation and display preprocessing must also be efficient. We present techniques that attain these goals while still producing reasonable quality output and interactive frame-rates. We also compare this approach to having a user manually select parameters

Implementation of computer visualisation in UK planning

PhD ThesisWithin the processes of public consultation and development management, planners are required to consider spatial information, appreciate spatial transformations and future scenarios. In the past, conventional media such as maps, plans, illustrations, sections, and physical models have been used. Those traditional visualisations are at a high degree of abstraction, sometimes difficult to understand for lay people and inflexible in terms of the range of scenarios which can be considered. Yet due to technical advances and falling costs, the potential for computer based visualisation has much improved and has been increasingly adopted within the planning process. Despite the growth in this field, insufficient consideration has been given to the possible weakness of computerised visualisations. Reflecting this lack of research, this study critically evaluates the use and potential of computerised visualisation within this process. The research is divided into two components: case study analysis and reflections of the author following his involvement within the design and use of visualisations in a series of planning applications; and in-depth interviews with experienced practitioners in the field. Based on a critical review of existing literature, this research explores in particular the issues of credibility, realism and costs of production. The research findings illustrate the importance of the credibility of visualisations, a topic given insufficient consideration within the academic literature. Whereas the realism of visualisations has been the focus of much previous research, the results of the case studies and interviews with practitioners undertaken in this research suggest a ‘photo’ realistic level of details may not be required as long as the observer considers the visualisations to be a credible reflection of the underlying reality. Although visualisations will always be a simplification of reality and their level of realism is subjective, there is still potential for developing guidelines or protocols for image production based on commonly agreed standards. In the absence of such guidelines there is a danger that scepticism in the credibility of computer visualisations will prevent the approach being used to its full potential. These findings suggest there needs to be a balance between scientific protocols and artistic licence in the production of computer visualisation. In order to be sufficiently credible for use in decision making within the planning processes, the production of computer visualisation needs to follow a clear methodology and scientific protocols set out in good practice guidance published by professional bodies and governmental organisations.Newcastle upon Tyne for awarding me an International Scholarship and Alumni Bursar

Crystal-Like geometric modeling

Crystals are natural phenomena that exhibit high degrees of order, symmetry, and recursion. They naturally form interesting and inspiring geometric shapes. This thesis provides geometric modeling techniques for creating shapes with crystallike geometry. The tiered extrusion method, along with a face grouping technique, simplifies the creation of complex, intricate faceted shapes. In combination with remeshing, these methods provide the capability to generate geometric shapes exhibiting planar faces, symmetry, and fractal geometry. The techniques have also been implemented in software, as a proof of concept. They are used in an interactive geometric modeling system, in which users can use these techniques to create crystal-like shapes. The crystal-like modeling operations are shown to successfully create beautiful geometric shapes. The methods improve upon traditional modeling capabilities, providing an easier way to create crystal-like geometric shapes