Work Proposes a Novel Tree-Morphing Technique between Two Tree Species

Dr. Zhigang Deng, professor of computer science at the University of Houston, and colleagues received the Best Paper Award at the 30th International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents (CASA).

The paper, titled “Topologically Consistent Leafy Tree Morphing,” was co-authored by Yutong Wang and Luyuan Wang, both Ph.D. candidates at Zhejiang University in China, and Professor Xiaogang Jin, also from Zhejiang University.

Deng and his colleagues propose a novel tree-morphing technique between two tree species. Conventional tree modeling techniques in animation focus on the transformation of the tree trunk, whereas the authors integrate tree foliage morphing in order to produce a more visually appealing special effect. Their work is considered the first attempt at efficiently integrating detailed foliage morphing (i.e., geometric and textural transformations of every leaf) into a tree animation algorithm.

Founded in Geneva in 1988, CASA is the oldest international conference in computing animation and social agents. The 30th conference was held May 22-24, 2017, in Seoul, South Korea.

- Matthew Pariyothorn, UH Department of Computer Science