Dear Fellow Scholars, this is Two Minute Papers with Dr. Károly Zsolnai-Fehér.
If we study the laws of physics and program them into a computer, we can create a beautiful
simulation that showcases the process of baking, and if we so desire, when we are done, we
can even tear a loaf of bread apart.
And with this previous method, we can also smash oreos, candy crabs, pumpkins, and much,
much more.
This jelly fracture scene is my long-time favorite.
And this new work asks a brazen question only a proper computer graphics researcher could
ask - can we write an even more extreme simulation?
I don’t think so, but apparently, this paper promises a technique that supports more extreme
compression and deformation, and when they say that, they really mean it.
Let’s see what this can do through five super fun experiments.
Experiment number one.
Squishing.
As you see, this paper aligns well with the favorite pastimes of a computer graphics researcher,
which is, of course, destroying virtual objects in a spectacular fashion.
First, we force these soft elastic virtual objects through a thin obstacle tube.
Things get quite squishy here…ouch!
And, when they come out on the other side, their geometries can also separate properly.
And watch how beautifully they regain their original shapes afterwards.
Experiment number two.
The tendril test.
We grab a squishy ball, and throw it at the wall, and here comes the cool part, this panel
was made of glass, so we also get to view the whole interaction through it, and this
way, we can see all the squishing happening.
Look - the tendrils are super detailed and every single one remains intact and intersection-free
despite the intense compression.
Outstanding.
Experiment number three.
The twisting test.
We take a piece of mat, and keep twisting and twisting, and… still going.
Note that the algorithm has to compute up to half a million contact events every time
it advances the time a tiny bit, and still, no self intersections, no anomalies.
This is crazy.
Some of our more seasoned Fellow Scholars will immediately ask - okay, great, but how
real is all this?
Is this just good enough to fool the untrained eye, or does it really simulate what would
happen in reality?
Well, hold on to your papers, because here comes my favorite part in these simulation
papers and this is when we let reality be our judge, and try to reproduce real-world
footage with a simulation.
Experiment number four, the high-speed impact test.
Here is the real footage of a foam practice ball fired at a plate.
And now, at the point of impact, this part of the ball has stopped, but the other side
is still flying with a high velocity.
So what will be the result?
A ton of compression.
So what does the simulator say about this?
My goodness.
Just look at that.
This is really accurate.
Loving it.
This sounds all great, but do we really need this technique?
The answer shall be given by experiment number five, ghosts and chains.
What could that mean?
Here, you see Houdini’s Vellum, the industry standard simulator for cloth, soft-body and
a number of other kinds of simulations.
It is an absolutely amazing tool, but, wait a second.
Look.
Artificial ghost forces appear, even on a simple test case with 35 chain links.
And I wonder if the new method can deal with these 35 chain links?
The answer is a resounding yes.
No ghost forces.
And not only that, but it can deal with even longer chains, let’s try a 100 links.
Oh, yeah!
Now we’re talking!
And now, only one question remains.
How much do we have to wait for all this?
All this new technique asks for is a few seconds per frame for the simpler scenes, and in the
order of minutes per frame for the more crazy tests out there.
Praise the papers!
That is a fantastic deal.
And, what is even more fantastic, all this is performed on your processor, so of course,
if someone can implement it in a way that it runs on the graphics card, the next paper
down the line will be much, much faster.
What a time to be alive!
Thanks for watching and for your generous support,
and I'll see you next time!