options random home http://found.cs.nyu.edu/mission/ (PC Press Internet CD, 03/1996)

The Lab's Mission

The Center for Digital Multimedia (C4DM) was founded in 1993 with the goal of accelerating the development and dissemination of applications derived from by the explosion of new concepts brought forth in multimedia research.

Designated a Center for Advanced Technology by the New York State Science and Technology Foundation, the Center works as a partner to companies and organizations in finance, education, entertainment, communications, publishing, and many other fields, to develop and produce multimedia tools, services, and products.

The Center's mission is to make possible technology transfer, by developing prototypes, working with the faculty (both from NYU and elsewhere), and working with both private and public companies.

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Relationship of the Different Groups at the Lab

The close ties between the Center and the Media Research Lab (MRL) creates a dynamic synery. At the MRL, ideas and concepts are created which make new technologies possible. As a result of the MRL's research efforts, the Center is in a unique position to look at both the universe of new ideas in multimedia and the needs of real-world enterprises and individuals. In turn, this real-world experience gives the researchers at the MRL feedback that stimulates further new ideas in the theoretical realm, leading to yet another breed of new applications to be developed at the Center.

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Recent Collaborations of the Groups

The collaboration of the Center and MRL has been fruitfulin the area of research and development.

This past Summer ('95), our Improvisational Animation Group prepared an interactive exhibit for the ACM SIGGRAPH 1995 Conference in Los Angelos. In this exhibit, five computer-generated 'Virtual Actors', each with its own distinctive personality, appeared on a lifesize screen.

Computer controlled tracking equipment made it possible for the Virtual Actors to actually respond to what visitors at the exhibit were doing. A patent application is being submitted for these Procedural Animation techniques.

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Other Application Development

Other areas of research include Multimedia possibilites on the Internet and a new shared multi-user dynamic calendar called WebCal which was designed specifically for use of the World Wide Web.

The Pad++ interface is being developed in collaboration with the University of New Mexico. Pad++ is a prototype of the computer interface of the future. It is based on the concept of a shared, infinitely expandable information space. A patent on this technology has been issued to Professor Ken Perlin at NYU.

Research at the MRL has led to new ideas in such areas as interactive media communication, graphics and texture synthesis, human interfaces, visual simulation, 2D and 3D computer animation, artificial intelligence, interactive story systems, programming languages, Internet based systems, distributed interactive systems, and interface design. Our new technology for Improvisational Animation promises to open up an entire new range of multimedia applications.

The Center's Electronic Journal for Sciences and Arts will be the first peer reviewed journal to allow scholars to use the full range of hypermedia and well be distributed through the World Wide Web.

The Center's library contains over 1200 multimedia titles and tools, running on state-of-the-art hardware platforms.

This page last updated:Thu Nov 16 19:51:19 EST 1995 -- WebMaster