2) Fuzzy extensions to VRML
I think in working on the 2.0 spec., we should include the
possibility of using fuzzy numbers. The most obvious place for this is
in the LEVELofDETAIL node. Rather than having discrete jumps between
levels of detail, we can use fuzzy numbers giving a continuous scaling
of the level of detail. It might look like this (though we'd probably
have 5? levels):
:\ _/--------\ /----: 1 fuzzy
: \ _/ -\ _/ : membership
: \ _/ -\ _/ : value
: \ _/ -\ _/ : between
: \/ -\/ : 0 and 1
: /\ / -\ :
: / \ / -\ :
(close) (medium distance) (far) 0
0 a b c d
The numbers could be represented using the standard trapezoid
representation, e.g. (a b c d) represents the fuzzy number "medium
distance".
The VRML viewers could represent this in several ways. A
non-fuzzy way, would be just to take the maximum of the fuzzy membership
functions to choose one level of detail and then just use that level of
detail. A fuzzy way would give some scaling of the level of detail,
such as interpolation between levels of detail. This would provide a
smoother viewing of the object at different distances, particularly
important if the object is of central importance to that world.
I think there are other nodes that could use the fuzzy approach
as well. (so, we might create SFFuzzy, MFFuzzy, etc.)
Adrian
scotta@rpi.edu
-- -----/\/\/\/\-----\/\/\/\/-----/\/\/\/\-----\/\/\/\/----- Adrian Scott, Ph.D. http://www.rpi.edu/~scotta/home.html scotta@rpi.edu Last spotted in... Dunedin FL appearing soon in... ???