Latest News from Mike Jacobs

Star Trek Technology for Java3D

Sun, 31 Jul 2005 19:15:00 EDT

The Star Trek universe has inspired many technology ideas but I'm disappointed I don't have a transporter yet. One Star Trek technology that has been available for sometime is the particle system. No, this is not an exotic propulsion system for your flying car. The particle system was invented to animate the Genesis effect in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. While the Genesis device was used to transform a barren planet into one full of life, we can adopt this technology for more modest effects in Java3D.

Casting Perlin's Movie Magic in Java3D

Wed, 09 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST

Reach behind your television and yank the cable out of the wall. Do you hear that noise? Not the kids screaming about their movie. Look at the screen. What you see is white noise: random bits of white, black and gray changing constantly.

Cover Story: When Mars Is Too Big to Download

Tue, 07 Sep 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Mike Jacobs follows up on his previous article 'Bringing Mars Down to Earth with Java3D' with this new exploration of the basics of creating a Java3D terrain world. He looks at possible approaches to creating that world and covers the foundational Java3D data structures suitable for terrains, and how to completely generate landscapes with fractals.

Bringing Mars Down to Earth with Java3D

Thu, 03 Jun 2004 00:00:00 EDT

You've probably seen the breathtaking photographs of the surface of Mars from the rovers Spirit and Opportunity. You've also seen the amazing high-altitude photographs taken from satellites orbiting Mars. But let's face it, the rovers must land on flat, boring areas and the satellites are too high above the interesting places like canyons and craters.