In this paper, we develop methods to rapidly remove rough features from irregularly triangulated data intended to portray a smooth surface. The main task is to remove undesirable noise and uneven edges while retaining desirable geometric features. The problem arises mainly when creating high-fidelity computer graphics objects using imperfectly-measured data from the real world. Our approach contains three novel features: an implicit integration method to achieve efficiency, stability, and large time-steps; a scale-dependent Laplacian operator to improve the diffusion process; and finally, a robust curvature flow operator that achieves a smoothing of the shape itself, distinct from any parameterization. Additional features of the algorithm include automatic exact volume preservation, and hard and soft constraints on the positions of the points in the mesh. We compare our method to previous operators and related algorithms, and prove that our curvature and Laplacian operators have several mathematically-desirable qualities that improve the appearance of the resulting surface. In consequence, the user can easily select the appropriate operator according to the desired type of fairing. Finally, we provide a series of examples to graphically and numerically demonstrate the quality of our results.

In this work, the emphasis is on the development of strategies to realize techniques of numerical computing on the graphics chip. In particular, the focus is on the acceleration of techniques for solving sets of algebraic equations as they occur in numerical simulation. We introduce a framework for the implementation of linear algebra operators on programmable graphics processors (GPUs), thus providing the building blocks for the design of more complex numerical algorithms. In particular, we propose a stream model for arithmetic operations on vectors and matrices that exploits the intrinsic parallelism and efficient communication on modern GPUs. Besides performance gains due to improved numerical computations, graphics algorithms benefit from this model in that the transfer of computation results to the graphics processor for display is avoided. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by implementing direct solvers for sparse matrices, and by applying these solvers to multi-dimensional finite difference equations, i.e. the 2D wave equation and the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations.

We present an algorithm to efficiently and robustly process collisions, contact and friction in cloth simulation. It works with any technique for simulating the internal dynamics of the cloth, and allows true modeling of cloth thickness. We also show how our simulation data can be post-processed with a collision-aware subdivision scheme to produce smooth and interference free data for rendering.

This paper presents a robust, adaptive method for animating dynamic visco-elastic deformable objects that provides a guaranteed frame rate. Our approach uses a novel automatic space and time adaptive level of detail technique, in combination with a largedisplacement (Green) strain tensor formulation. The body is partitioned in a non-nested multiresolution hierarchy of tetrahedral meshes. The local resolution is determined by a quality condition that indicates where and when the resolution is too coarse. As the object moves and deforms, the sampling is refined to concentrate the computational load into the regions that deform the most. Our model consists of a continuous differential equation that is solved using a local explicit finite element method. We demonstrate that our adaptive Green strain tensor formulation suppresses unwanted artifacts in the dynamic behavior, compared to adaptive mass-spring and other adaptive approaches. In particular, damped elastic vibration modes are shown to be nearly unchanged for several levels of refinement. Results are presented in the context of a virtual reality system. The user interacts in real-time with the dynamic object through the control of a rigid tool, attached to a haptic device driven with forces derived from the method.

We present an algorithm for fast, physically accurate simulation of deformable objects suitable for real time animation and virtual environment interaction. We describe the boundary integral equation formulation of static linear elasticity as well as the related Boundary Element Method (BEM) discretization technique. In addition, we show how to exploit the coherence of typical interactions to achieve low latency; the boundary formulation lends itself well to a fast update method when a few boundary conditions change. The algorithms are described in detail with examples from ArtDefo, our implementation.

We introduce a novel algorithm for transforming character anima-tion sequences that preserves essential physical properties of the motion. By using the spacetime constraints dynamics formulation our algorithm maintains realism of the original motion sequence without sacrificing full user control of the editing process. In contrast to most physically based animation techniques that synthesize motion from scratch, we take the approach of motion transformation as the underlying paradigm for generating computer animations. In doing so, we combine the expressive richness of an input animation sequence with the controllability of spacetime op-timization to create a wide range of realistic character animations. The spacetime dynamics formulation also allows editing of intu-itive, high-level motion concepts such as the time and placement of footprints, length and mass of various extremities, number of body joints and gravity. Our algorithm is well suited for the reuse of highly-detailed cap-tured motion animations. In addition, we describe a new methodol-ogy for mapping a motion between characters with drastically dif-ferent numbers of degrees of freedom. We use this method to re-duce the complexity of the spacetime optimization problems. Fur-thermore, our approach provides a paradigm for controlling com-plex dynamic and kinematic systems with simpler ones.

In this paper, we augment existing techniques for simulating flexible objects to include models for crack initiation and propagation in three-dimensional volumes. By analyzing the stress tensors computed over a finite element model, the simulation determines where cracks should initiate and in what directions they should propagate. We demonstrate our results with animations of breaking bowls, cracking walls, and objects that fracture when they collide. By varying the shape of the objects, the material properties, and the initial conditions of the simulations, we can create strikingly different effects ranging from a wall that shatters when it is hit by a wrecking ball to a bowl that breaks in two when it is dropped on edge. CR Categories: I.3.5 [Computer Graphics]: Computational Geometry and Object Modeling---Physically based modeling; I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism---Animation; I.6.8 [Simulation and Modeling]: Types of Simulation---Animation Keywor...

We present a semi-implicit cloth simulation technique that is very stable yet also responsive. The stability of the technique allows the use of a large fixed time step when simulating all types of fabrics and character motions. The animations generated using this technique are strikingly realistic. Wrinkles form and disappear in a quite natural way, which is the feature that most distinguishes textile fabrics from other sheet materials. Significant improvements in both the stability and realism were made possible by overcoming the post-buckling instability as well as the numerical instability. The instability caused by buckling arises from a structural instability and therefore cannot be avoided by simply employing a semi-implicit method. Addition of a damping force may help to avoid instabilities; however, it can significantly degrade the realism of the cloth motion. The method presented here uses a particlebased physical model to handle the instability in the post-buckling response without introducing any fictitious damping.

In this paper we present a fast and robust approach for simulating elasto-plastic materials and fracture in real time. Our method extends the warped stiffness finite element approach for linear elasticity and combines it with a strain-state-based plasticity model. The internal principal stress components provided by the finite element computation are used to determine fracture locations and orientations. We also present a method to consistently animate and fracture a detailed surface mesh along with the underlying volumetric tetrahedral mesh. This multi-resolution strategy produces realistic animations of a wide spectrum of materials at interactive rates that have typically been simulated off-line thus far.

We present a new approach for simulating deformable objects. The underlying model is geometrically motivated. It handles pointbased objects and does not need connectivity information. The approach does not require any pre-processing, is simple to compute, and provides unconditionally stable dynamic simulations. The main idea of our deformable model is to replace energies by geometric constraints and forces by distances of current positions to goal positions. These goal positions are determined via a generalized shape matching of an undeformed rest state with the current deformed state of the point cloud. Since points are always drawn towards well-defined locations, the overshooting problem of explicit integration schemes is eliminated. The versatility of the approach in terms of object representations that can be handled, the efficiency in terms of memory and computational complexity, and the unconditional stability of the dynamic simulation make the approach particularly interesting for games.