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From: cheryl@batcomputer.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.graphics
Subject: Re: Wave-front ray tracing?
Message-ID: <383@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU>
Date: Fri, 7-Mar-86 18:49:13 EST
Article-I.D.: batcompu.383
Posted: Fri Mar  7 18:49:13 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 10-Mar-86 00:19:31 EST
References: <13300001@ccvaxa> <228@vaxb.calgary.UUCP>
Reply-To: cheryl@batcomputer.UUCP ()
Organization: Theory Center, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
Lines: 31

In article <228@vaxb.calgary.UUCP> pearce@calgary.UUCP (Andrew Pearce) writes:
>In article <13300001@ccvaxa>, aglew@ccvaxa.UUCP writes:
>...
>> Query: might not wave-front type computations be more efficient? Take a
>> wave-front from your light source (spherical, cylindrical, or planar)
>> start it propagating, and compute its first intersection with an object.
>> Parts of the wave-front will be modified - light "densities" will be changing
>> all the time.
>...
>> Has this been tried as an alternative to ray-tracing? Any references?
>> Any overwhelming reasons why it won't work? The only thing I can see is that
>> it is hard to work backwards from eye to light source.
>
>Some work is also being done on using this type of idea for simulating and
>testing room accoustics (using multiple sound wave fronts rather than light).
>I think this is being done at the U of British Columbia.

	And also for synthetic seismic studies --  the seismology book by
	Aki & Richards goes into great & gorey mathematical detail;
	YAAWE (Yet another application of the Wave equation).


	

>
>Andrew Pearce   Dept. Computer Science
>U of Calgary    2500 University Dr.
>Calgary,	Alberta, Canada
>T2N 1N4
>
>	  Usenet: ...{ubc-vision,ihnp4}!alberta!calgary!pearce