Research

My research interests fall into the general areas of interactive 3D graphics and visualization. I am particularly interested in novel applications of geometric and physically based models in animation, virtual sculpting, data and information visualization, and other sub-disciplines of visual computing. Currently, I am working with colleagues at Stony Brook University to investigate new techniques for high-dimensional datasets. For more information on any of these projects please email me at .

This page is divided into the following sections:

 

Visualization

My recent work in visualization has involved visualizing of multidimensional or irregular data-sets, which includes subdivision volumes. In an earlier effort I collaborated to develop CEASAR, a centerline extraction algorithm that delivers smooth, accurate, and robust results. Centerlines are needed for accurate measurements of length along winding tubular structures. Centerlines are also required in automatic virtual navigation through human organs, such as the colon or the aorta, as they are used to control movement and orientation of the virtual camera.

Relevant Publications

 

Point-based Free-form Deformation

My recent efforts have included the development of a purely point-based technique for free-form deformation we call PB-FFD. The idea is to decompose the deformation space using a collection of radial basis functions (RBFs), as opposed to a deformation lattice, which is traditionally used in FFD. This approach avoids the need to construct a complicated 3D mesh to enclose the deformed object, is very efficient, and is quite easy to implement.

Relevant Publications

 

Interdisciplinary Projects

The relatively small nature like Dowling College has given me the opportunity to work closely with people in other disciplines and to apply my knowledge of computer graphics and visualization in fields like environmental chemistry and applied mathematics. Although this work was very much applied, visualization provided a key role in these projects in revealing trends in data and significant characteristics of recursive formulas.

Relevant Publications

 

Volumetric Subdivision & Applications

My dissertation work involved the investigation of subdivision volumes, which comprise a class of geometric shapes for representing volumetric objects of arbitrary topologies. Although my primary interest was in applications like virtual sculpting and interactive deformation, we also developed several new schemes along the way. My latest efforts in this area have involved techniques for interactively visualizing subdivision volumes.

Relevant Publications on New Subdivision Schemes

Relevant Publications on Virtual Sculpting

Relevant Publications on Finite Element Models

Relevant Publications on Visualization

 

Surface Reconstruction of Unorganized Point Clouds

In this work we tackled the challenging problem of recovering surface models from point cloud data. We developed a novel surface reconstruction algorithm that can recover high-quality surfaces from noisy and defective data sets without any normal or orientation information. We introduce a set of new techniques to afford extra noise tolerance, robust orientation alignment, reliable outlier removal, and satisfactory feature recovery. Our sophisticated iterative fitting algorithms afford improved noise tolerance both in topology recognition and geometry accuracy. In addition, this iterative fitting algorithm, coupled with a local model selection scheme, provides a reliable sharp feature recovery mechanism, even in the presence of bad input.

Relevant Publications

 

Network Protocol Modeling & Behavior Verification

Using local model checking, as provided by the Concurrency Factory specification and verification environment, we showed (for a particular network configuration), that the real-time Ethernet protocol RETHER makes good on its bandwidth guarantees to real-time nodes without exposing non-real-time nodes to the possibility of starvation. In the course of specifying and verifying RETHER, we identified and alternative design of the protocol that warranted further study due to potential efficiency gains. Again using model checking, we showed that this alternative design also possesses the properties of interest.

Relevant Publications