Visual Computing (VC)

Head: Paolo Cignoni

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Web Site: http://vcg.isti.cnr.it 

During the last decades computer graphics has established itself as a core technique within computer science and information technology. Computer systems are more and more used to represent and simulate real or imaginary worlds. Such simulations require to model/acquire, to process and to render complex objects and scenes. The goal of computer graphics is to turn abstract information into visual images and to allow the user to interact with complex objects and data in a natural and intuitive way.

In contrast to the classic approach to computer graphics which takes as input a scene model - consisting of a set of light sources, a set of objects (specified by their shape and material properties), and a camera - and uses simulation to compute an image, we like to take the more integrated view of 3D Image Analysis and Synthesis for our research, and consider the whole pipeline from data acquisition over processing to rendering in our work. In our opinion, this point of view is necessary in order to exploit the capabilities and perspectives of modern hardware, both on the input side (sensors, scanners, digital photography, digital video) and output side (graphics hardware). According to this point of view, one of the key research challenges is the development of new modeling tools to efficiently transform data sampled from reality into accurate three-dimensional digital models adequate to the further processing and rendering tasks.

In order to make progress along the lines above our work is both theoretical and practical with a focus on first-class basic research on the development of novel algorithms, the integration of new algorithms into prototypal systems, and the evaluation of these systems in practical applications. We also try to provide a stimulating environment for junior researchers that allows them to develop and build their own research programs.

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