Distribution of matter in the early universe 2.5 billion years after the Big Bang. Shown here is a volume of space approximately 24 billion light-years across. Created by L. Hernquist while at the University of California, Santa Cruz, D. H. Weinberg of Ohio State University, and N. Katz of the University of Massachusetts using a supercomputer at SDSC. Courtesy of Lars Hernquist.

The grand finale to Danny Hillis' SIGGRAPH keynote address, "The Big Picture," was a slide visualizing our current understanding of the universe. The science visualization image, similar to the universe shown here, looked a lot like a fiery explosion produced by a Hollywood special effects team. If artists can create these graphics, given the right plug-ins, what's the big deal with scientific visualization?

Many game developers and special effects animators in the audience may not have realized that computer graphics owes its start in large part to science visualization. For example, during the 1970s, scientific research, such as molecular visualization, was a major consumer of 3D interactive graphics hardware. The technology transfer to the entertainment industry was both subtle and dramatic. Digital trailblazer Jim Blinn, working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the early '80s, animated a DNA molecule for Carl Sagan's PBS program, Cosmos. To do so, he developed new algorithms to represent dynamic simulations of electron fields around molecules, what Blinn refers to as "blobby molecules sticking and unsticking." These blobby molecules are now known as the first metaballs. The term "metaballs" was actually coined by Japanese researchers developing similar algorithms at Osaka University and at Toyo Links. Their version of metaballs was used extensively by artist Yoichiro Kawaguchi in several of his spectacular films shown over the years at the SIGGRAPH's Electronic Theater.

An adenine molecule created using the "metaballs" algorithm for a DNA replication sequence in the PBS series Cosmos. Courtesy of James F. Blinn.

E-Symbiosis
The symbiotic relationship between science visualization and digital graphics and animation continues to this day. In the SIGGRAPH Course, "From Ivory Tower to Silver Screen," Stuart Sumido, biologist from Cal State University at San Bernardino working with Sony Imageworks, demonstrated how his biophysical understanding of bird feathers transposed to digital animation makes the falcon character more believable in the upcoming movie, Stuart Little 2.

On the other hand, the lively SIGGRAPH panel discussion, "Computer Games and Viz: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them," underscored the different perspectives held by the entertainment industry and the science visualization community. Scientist Hanspeter Pfister and game developer Nate Robins debated issues such as long term scientific goals vs. built in obsolescence, the lack of advanced rendering features in computer game hardware, and the potential for game developers to fund research in computer graphics. Chris Hecker, from the Game Developers Conference, emphasized areas where these seemingly conflicting interests overlap, such as improved chip performance from hardware manufacturers.