This page focuses on Postgraduate Research degrees. For more information on taught degrees (MSc or Undergraduate level) please go to our teaching page. Details on applying for degrees and the admissions procedure can be found on the Prospective Students page.
The School of Computing Sciences at UEA has a strong track record in research and innovation in Computer Graphics. CGP is currently active in a variety of areas including Urban Modelling, Haptics, Surgical Simulation and Augmented Reality. For more details on our research please visit our research pages
MSc by Research
Below is a list of possible topics for MSc by Research. For further details please contact the supervisor named below. Alternatively email a member of the graphics group with a research proposal.
| Title: | Historic Building Modelling and Real-Time Rendering (FUNDED) |
| Supervisory Team: | Prof. A.M. Day, Dr. S.D. Laycock and Dr. R.G. Laycock |
| Description: | A funded MSc is available for a suitable candidate with Computer Graphics experience and at least a 2.1 degree (actual or predicted) The project is in collaboration with the School of History and is funded by the Harry Watson foundation and HEART. The work will involve modelling of an important historic building in Norwich, combined with research into real time modelling of buildings and people in such scenes. For more information please contact Prof A.M. Day. |
| Title: | Investigation into the State of the Art of Illumination Models for Real-time Graphics |
| Supervisory Team: | Prof. A.M. Day, Dr. S.D. Laycock and Dr. R.G. Laycock |
| Description: | Fundamental to the fidelity of a virtual environment is the simulation of realistic lighting and shadows. Most of the techniques which provide the best visual appearance have often been restricted to offline rendering approaches. However, by utilising the performance of modern GPUs some of these techniques may now be computed in real-time for applications such as games. The aim of this research is to investigate and implement state of the art illumination models, such as per pixel lighting, deferred shading and dynamic ambient occlusion. These effects must be demonstrated on an urban environment in real-time. |
| Title: | Cultural Heritage Visualisation and Analysis Tool |
| Supervisory Team: | Prof. A.M. Day, Dr. S.D. Laycock and Dr. R.G. Laycock |
| Description: | During the historic reconstruction of a cultural heritage site, historians and archaeologists often theorise about the many possible forms a site may have taken. In this project the student is required to investigate ways in which differing theories can be visualised, including the potential uncertainty that surrounds a particular decision. This project will involve the visualisation of annotated three dimensional models in real-time. Various methods will need to be investigated to analyse the potentially conflicting versions of a cultural heritage site as it developed over time. |
| Title: | Constructing 3D Environments from 2D hand-drawn sketches |
| Supervisory Team: | Prof. A.M. Day, Dr. S.D. Laycock and Dr. R.G. Laycock |
| Description: | The aim of this research is to investigate techniques to create a three-dimensional virtual environment containing different building types and varied terrain based on an annotated two dimensional image. The application of the results of this project will include any virtual environment. However, the motivation comes from the area of cultural heritage where a 2D sketch of a site is often all that can be constructed. In these cases the limited knowledge defining a site must be fully utilised to create a realistic historic virtual reconstruction. The implementation techniques involved may include image processing methods in addition to 3D modelling and rendering. |
| Title: | Haptic Feedback for a Virtual Dentist Training Simulator |
| Supervisory Team: | Prof. A.M. Day andDr. S.D. Laycock |
| Description: | Realistic modelling of teeth and gums to enable simulation with haptics of a variety of dental procedures for use in education and training. This work is in collaboration with UCL Eastman Dental Institute. The work requires the simulation of tools to interact with a virtual patient. This work is related to Haptics for Deformable tools and Virtual Dentistry. |
| Title: | Smooth and Robust Animation Control for Vehicle Movements |
| Supervisory Team: | Prof. A.M. Day, Dr. S.D. Laycock and Dr. R.G. Laycock |
| Description: | The aim of this research is to investigate techniques to animate and control the different motions of vehicular movement. The student will focus on the animation of the entities, be it car, cycle or skateboarder and through the use of finite state machines develop a motion graph to facilitate the smooth transition between animation files. The implementation will be designed for a real-time application; although the initial construction may be performed in 3DS Max. |
| Title: | Simulating High Level Behaviours for a populated urban environment |
| Supervisory Team: | Prof. A.M. Day, Dr. S.D. Laycock and Dr. R.G. Laycock |
| Description: | Low level cognitive behaviours are sufficient for the simulation of collision avoidance and group dynamics. However, to visualise a particular crowd member’s purpose for travelling through an urban environment, a higher level of behaviour must be simulated. Research is required into methods for authoring and controlling the realistic high level behaviour of thousands of crowd members in real time. |
| Title: | Virtual Rehabilitation Trainer |
| Supervisory Team: | Prof. A.M. Day and Dr. S.D. Laycock |
| Description: | Typically, existing rehabilitation methods require that the patient perform repetitive tasks hundreds of times. This is tedious and therefore the approach potentially suffers from a patient’s willingness to participate. In this research virtual training environments will be investigated that will incorporate key elements designed to motivate a patient in performing repetitive tasks. To track the three-dimensional movements of the user and to provide force feedback, the virtual environments developed will include a haptic device. |
MPhil and PhD Research Degrees
Please refer to our research pages for information regarding CGP's research projects and use the following link for applying for Postgraduate Research Degrees in the School of Computing Sciences.
