G. Scott Owen

AMMP-Vis: a collaborative virtual environment for molecular modeling

Molecular modeling is an important research area, helping scientists develop new drugs against diseases such as AIDS and cancer. Prior studies have demonstrated that immersive virtual environments have unique advantages over desktop systems in visualizing molecular models. However, exploration and interaction in existing molecular modeling virtual environments is often limited to a single user, lacking strong support for collaboration. In addition, scientists are often reluctant to adopt these systems because of their lack of availability and high cost. We propose an affordable immersive system that allows biologists and chemists to manipulate molecular models via natural gestures, receive and visualize real-time feedback from a molecular dynamics simulator, allow the sharing of customized views, and provide support for both local and remote collaborative research.

Accelerated 2d image processing on GPUs

Graphics processing units (GPUs) in recent years have evolved to become powerful, programmable vector processing units. Furthermore, the maximum processing power of current generation GPUs is roughly four times that of current generation CPUs (central processing units), and that power is doubling approximately every nine months, about twice the rate of Moores law. This research examines the GPUs advantage at performing convolutionbased image processing tasks compared to the CPU. Straight-forward 2D convolutions show up to a 130:1 speedup on the GPU over the CPU, with an average speedup in our tests of 59:1. Over convolutions performed with the highly optimized FFTW routines on the CPU, the GPU showed an average speedup of 18:1 for filter kernel sizes from 3x3 to 29x29.

Approaches to teaching introductory computer graphics

introductory computer graphics course. They represent a wide spectrum of the discipline, offering courses emphasizing systems, engineering, mathematics, science, art design and animation. Sample course syllabi, textbook recommendations, software packages and suggested projects will be available. This past summer at an Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement Workshop in Computer Graphics sponsored by the NSF and the ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee, it became apparent that there were widely different viewpoints on the content and methodology for teaching the introductory computer graphics course. The panelists will discuss various approaches to teaching an introductory computer graphics course. They represent a wide spectrum of the discipline, offering courses emphasizing in systems, engineering, mathematics, science, art design and animation. Included in the discussion will be conventional approaches, beginning with two-dimensional concepts and introducing three-dimensional concepts at the end of the course; an approach that focus on generic graphics pipeline elements and system specification/implementation; a new approach that emphasizes image synthesis based on Physics; and approaches that emphasize art design and animation. Software packages, both commercial and public domain, used to teach computer graphics will be described. The courses described are taught at large public universities as well as small private colleges. The equipment used varies from 8088 personal computers to Sun workstations. Sample course syllabi, textbook recommendations, and suggested projects will be available.

Integrating World Wide Web technology into undergraduate education

The rapid emergence of the World Wide Web (WWW) and its associated tools has provided educators with an opportunity to incorporate this technology into their courses. We need to create interactive multimedia instructional materials that can be delivered, via this high speed network, directly to students. We need to give our students the opportunity to create their own WWW documents and to use the resources of the WWW for collaborative learning. In this paper I will discuss how the use of HTML and the WWW can be integrated into undergraduate courses. I will not discuss searching the Web for external material but will focus on the following: ● How HTML documents can be used for in-class presentation and as the primary or supplementary text in the course ● How student assignments and examinations can be submitted

The development of a digital library to support the teaching of computer graphics and visualization

Abstract The ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee web site is being evolved into a Digital Library that will be a worldwide resource for Graphics and Visualization Education. We discuss the history of the website, including a long-standing partnership with the National Science Foundation, and the current work to evolve it into a Digital Library. Finally, we discuss a proposed vision of the future of the Digital Library and how we are working to achieve that vision.

Using Ada on microcomputers in the undergraduate curriculum

Currently, many Computer Science Departments are considering the use of a language other than Pascal either for an entire Computer Science curriculum, or at least for some courses, such as data structures. At Georgia State University, where our program is primarily based on IBM PC compatible microcomputers, we have converted our data structures course from Pascal to Ada, and use Ada in several other courses. In this paper I will discuss the rationale behind our choice and our experience with using Ada on microcomputers.

Analysis and design of graphical password techniques

In recent years, graphical passwords have become a viable alternative to the traditional text-based passwords due to their superior ease of recall and potential large password space. However, there is very limited research in classifying and mathematically analyzing the graphical password techniques. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive study of the existing graphical password techniques. We propose the first taxonomy for graphical passwords methods and discuss the important elements in designing them. We present a mathematical analysis of the graphical password space. Finally we present a new graphical password scheme.

Approaches to teaching computer graphics (abstract)

Over the past decade, there have been major advances in the computer graphics field: in computer graphics techniques, the trend towards object-oriented programming, and availability of relatively inexpensive, high-resolution graphics hardware and sophisticated rendering packages. This suggests that a reevaluation of the traditional computer graphics syllabus is appropriate. The panel will focus on various approaches to teaching graphics as it relates to a computer science curriculum. Panel members have diverse backgrounds from small schools and large schools. Small schools with limited resources must find innovative ways to teach state of the art graphics using inadequate hardware. Public domain software and visual aides such as slides and videotapes will be discussed as an inexpensive way to support graphics education. Large schools with more resources have the luxury of developing course content based on faculty expertise and student interest. After opening statements of approximately ten minutes each, panelists will respond to questions from the audience and the moderator.

Considerations in teaching a two quarter computer graphics sequence

With the increasing emphasis on the use of Computer Graphics in Computer Science and other application areas, more schools are beginning to offer advanced courses in Computer Graphics, either at the undergraduate or the graduate level. Whereas there are many good textbooks for an introductory course the same is not true for an advanced course, The course content and external references for such a second course are in a state of rapid flux. The content of the second course also directly affects the content of the first course. Another issue is how many tools, in the sense of a graphics software support package, to provide for the students. This paper discusses the authors experiences in teaching both an introductory and a second Computer Graphics course for several years, how his courses have changed, and his recommendations both for course content and reference material.

Experiences in teaching an advanced computer graphics course

Designed for the experienced computer user, this course provides the opportunity to experiment with a trio of graphics applications to create high quality photo-realistic and 3D artwork. Utilizing the bestselling software Photoshop, Bryce & Poser (demo versions of each included on the course DVD-ROM) soon you will be creating your own professional-quality graphic presentations. After completing this engaging course you will have the knowledge and experience to pass along to your students in a variety of classroom settings including art, journalism, computer applications and vocational education. Hands-on projects maximize the learning experience while focusing on creating useful and meaningful teaching materials. Outcomes are aligned to International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards (NETS-T). At the end of the course participants are asked to correlate assignments to these standards.