Geospecific Displacement Maps for Real Time, Stereoscopic Training Simulation

Displacement mapping is a rendering technique which allows small details, represented as height displacements (often in the form of a texture map), to be applied to a polygonal mesh. The objective of the proposed effort is to develop an innovative automated process that unlocks the advantages of real-time displacement maps (and related technologies), combined with geo-specific two and three dimensional source imagery, for providing highly-complex terrain surface regions in virtual environments for real-time training simulators. In Phase I, we will work to develop an innovative approach to incorporating displacement mapping and related techniques into a real-time visual system. The goal of this approach will be to provide an automated capability, requiring little or no manual database generation effort. A procedure for generating the displacement map from mono and stereo imagery will be developed. Existing published research in these areas will be leveraged, but with a specific focus on techniques that can be performed"on-the-fly", in real-time. Challenges which will be addressed in Phase I include any impediments to a complete end-to-end solution, sensor simulation issues, patch insertion issues, occulted data hole issues, multiple source data issues, modeler time and skill issues, as well as compatibility issues with other simulation systems.