New water simulation captures small details even in large scenes

When designers select a method for simulating water and waves, they have to choose either fast computation or realistic effects; state-of-the-art methods are only able to optimize one or the other. Now, a method developed by researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) and NVIDIA bridges this gap. Their simulation method can reproduce complex interactions with the environment and tiny details over huge areas—all in real time. Moreover, the basic construction of the method allows graphics designers to easily create artistic effects. The authors will present their work at the annual top conference for computer graphics: SIGGRAPH 2018, where IST Austria researchers are presenting a total of five different projects.