Computer‐generated imagery is becoming more and more ubiquitous and is used in a vast number of applications, including scientific visualization, special effects, virtual news‐anchors and computer games. Computer graphics is concerned with methods to digitally synthesize andmanipulate visual and geometric content that is used in these applications. It focuses on the computational and mathematical challenges of image generation as opposed to aesthetic issues.

There are a variety of subfields covering the different aspects of image synthesis: modelling deals with the acquisition, manipulation and representation of shapes and appearance; animation is concerned with the movement and deformation of characters; and rendering (see figures) deals with the actual image synthesis given a scene description.

The field of computer graphics has matured over the past decade and it is now possible to render rather realistic looking images. Yet, many open and challenging problems remain that limit the generation of computer‐generated imagery. For instance, the computation times of high‐quality, realistic images are very long. A single movie frame often takes hours to compute, yet many applications such as flight‐simulators and architectural walkthroughs mandate immediate feedback. Simple methods for these applications exist but require a substantial decrease in quality and realism to meet time constraints. It is an open research question how to maintain high quality and high frame rates.

Other challenges include efficient authoring of realistic scenes (geometry, appearance, etc.). Currently, most data are authored by hand, which allows for flexibility but is also very tedious. Acquisition of real‐world objects is a viable alternative, but most current techniques are cumbersome to use. More research is needed to make acquisition of real objects as easy as using a digital camera. In summary, computer graphics is an academically challenging field due to its high computational demand but at the same time research results can have immediate practical impact.

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