Home > About > Events & Seminars > Let There Be Sound: Physics-Based Sound Rendering

Let There Be Sound: Physics-Based Sound Rendering

Thursday, November 29, 11AM – 12PM
ACE 2.302 (AVAYA)

Doug L. James

Natural sounds are all around us. The sound of my son struggling to get out of his wet rain coat, or rain boots squeaking across the floor. The sound of lemonade pouring into an ice-filled glass, or the ocean crashing at your feet. The sound of an agitated shopping cart plunging down a flight of stairs, or the familiar roar of a camp fire. Reality produces these sounds "for free," but how can we best synthesize them in future computer-simulated realities?

Decades of advances in computer graphics and physics-based simulation have made it possible to convincingly animate a wide range of phenomena, such as contacting rigid and deformable bodies, fracturing solids, splashing water, and roaring fire. Such simulations will inevitably run in real time one day, paving the way for interactive virtual environments. Unfortunately, the realities simulated by current algorithms are essentially "silent movies," with sound added as an afterthought. In this talk, I will discuss our attempts to change that. Our research on physics-based sound rendering aims to enable future immersive experiences where simulated graphics, motion, and sound are synchronized and highly engaging. No prior knowledge of sound rendering will be assumed.

BIO: Doug L. James is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University. He holds three degrees in applied mathematics, including a Ph.D. in 2001 from the University of British Columbia. In 2002 he joined the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University as an Assistant Professor, then in 2006 he became an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University. His research interests are computer graphics, physically based animation, reduced-order physics models, and multi-sensory physics applications such as sound rendering and haptic force-feedback rendering. Doug is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award, a fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and spent his 2011-12 sabbatical working on "sound rendering" under a Guggenheim fellowship.

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