AK Peters Ltd.

Advanced global illumination, 2d ed.

"Global illumination is all about generating paths connecting a virtual camera with a light source." "Global" in this sense refers to the fact that an object's appearance depends on the light it receives from all other objects. In this update of the 2003 edition, Dutré (computer science, Katholieke U. Leuven, Belgium) and other key players in revolutionizing the field further illuminate the theoretical basis of algorithms for realistic image synthesis. The volume includes new/expanded material on human perception and environment map sampling, chapter exercises, color plates, technical appendices (including a library of software classes for generating such paths), and 230 references. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

COLLADA; sailing the gulf of 3D digital content creation.

COLLADA is an advanced 3D asset description. Arnaud and Barnes, both affiliated with Sony Computer Entertainment, offer guidance on using the COLLADA 1.4 specification in applications, and provide insight into the design of COLLADA so that readers can understand how design decisions were made and how this standard may evolve. The book will be useful to content developers interested in exchanging data between several tools, to application developers planning to use COLLADA, and to tool providers who want to add COLLADA compatibility. Appendices provide plug-in code. A section of color screenshots and examples is included. Author information is not given. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The cryptoclub; using mathematics to make and break secret codes.

This text introduces middle school students to cryptography, which uses a variety of mathematical skills to make and break secret codes. Suitable for use by teachers in conventional classrooms, it is also written to be accessible for kids who want to learn about cryptography on their own or with friends. The mathematical material is brought to life with fictionalized stories about a group of "Cryptokids" as well as true stories from the history of cryptography. Beissinger is a professor at the Institute for Mathematics and Science Education at the U. of Illinois at Chicago. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Graphics interface 2006; proceedings.

Held annually since 1969, the Graphics Interface conference is devoted to computer graphics, interactive systems, and human-computer interaction. This proceedings volume contains 31 papers that were presented at the 2006 conference in Quebec. Most of the accompanying illustrations are in b&w, though a few are in color. Topics include (for example) multi-finger cursor techniques, realistic and interactive simulation of rivers, compression of time varying isosurfaces, and image synthesis using adjoint photons. Editor Stephen Mann teaches computer science at the U. of Waterloo, and Carl Gutwin is affiliated with the U. of Saskatchewan. The volume lacks a subject index. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Pursuit of genius; Flexner, Einstein, and the early faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Batterson (mathematics and computer science, Emory U., Georgia) describes the founding of the Institute in 1930, inspired and guided by Abraham Flexner, and its evolution, particularly during its first decade. He focuses on the school of mathematics, the first of the four created, and how it established an international seat of research, but quickly shifted away from the original plan of providing graduate instruction. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Real-time volume graphics.

Volume rendering techniques were originally developed for medical and scientific imaging; the results of an MRI or a seismograph are volume-rendered graphics produced from 3D scalar data. The techniques allow for the absorption, reflection, scattering and emission of light within an image — useful in medicine but also useful in the simulation of smoke, fire, clouds, and similar effects. This text covering theory and practice is intended not only for medical imaging specialists, but also for scientists, engineers, game developers, visual artists, animators, and anyone working with computer graphics. It can be used in an introductory course as well as for self study. The 17 chapters discuss theoretical background and basic approaches, GPU programming and GPU-based volume rendering, transfer functions, local and global volume illumination, ray casting, segmented volume data and large volume data, and non-photorealistic and illustrative techniques, among other topics. Algorithms for specific tasks are included throughout the book, written in C++ with OpenGL as the graphics API and Cg as the shading language. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)