VAST Laboratory
(Vision, Analysis and Simulation Technologies Laboratory)
Dimitris Metaxas, Director
Department of Computer &Information Science Faculty
Jean Gallier
Dimitris Metaxas
Martha Palmer
Lyle Ungar
Department of Bioengineering Faculty
Susan Margulies
Dave Meaney
Department of Systems Faculty
Barry Silverman
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6389
HMS@graphics.cis.upenn.edu
The overall goals of the Center for Human Modeling and Simulation are the investigation of computer graphics modeling, animation, and rendering techniques, especially for synthetic humans. Major focii are in computational anthropometry, behavior-based animation of human movement, parallel netowrk models for simulation and animation control, avatar and agent actions, modeling through physics-based techniques, applications of control theory techniques to dynamic models, and understanding the relationship between human movement, natural language, and communication.
Origins:
In January 1994, the former Computer Graphics Research Laboratory of the Computer and Information Science Department because the Center for Human Modeling and Simulation (HMS). Research on human body modeling and simulation had been underway in the laboratory since 1975. The lab achieved international recognition for its research and specifically for the Jack software.
The Center provides a collegial and open atmosphere in which faculty,
staff, and students cooperate and coordainte project work. Nearly
30 PhD students engage in collaborative research efforts.
Facilities:
The HMS Center computing facilities are completely networked and include
about 30 Silicon Graphcis workstations from Indigo2s, O2s, Octane and Onyx
Reality Engine II, 4 PC systems, ATM interfaces (with fiber optics), 2
color printers and one Apple LaserWriter printer, a video disk, a 12 sensor
Ascension Technology MotionStar motion capture system, a Phantom Haptic
device, a CyberGrasp force feeback glove, 3 high speed digitizing video
cameras, and a video and sound editing station with SVHS and Umatic editors.