Modeling 3D Surfaces Algorithmically: Exploring Signed Distance Fields for Procedural Generation

Jakob Thomsen from LMU Munich was a guest at the Geodetic Colloquium on November 13. His presentation, “Modeling 3D Surfaces Algorithmically: Exploring Signed Distance Fields for Procedural Generation,” was met with a great deal of interest. In the first part, the computer scientist and long-time computer game developer and lecturer demonstrated the algorithmic generation of simple 2D and 3D graphics and their duplication (see photo) in a seemingly playful manner with the help of the Shadertoy tool (developers: Inigo Quilez & Pol Jeremias). The procedure can also provide immense added value for “geodesy and geoinformatics,” especially for the artificial generation of 2D and 3D mass data and their time series. This is an ideal starting point for extensive testing of geographic information system analysis tools or spatial learning algorithms. The second part of his presentation contained numerous examples of complex graphics developed algorithmically by the speaker himself. Jakob Thomsen used his own presentation tool for this purpose. Here, too, there were numerous points of contact and possible applications for research in the field of the natural and built environment (Area IV of KIT), as well as for teaching “geodesy and geoinformatics.” In order to enable students of our international degree program “Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics” in particular to participate without language barriers, the lecture was held in English. The Geodetic Colloquium was held in the Jordan Lecture Hall for the first time, which is also suitable for future events, as are future panel discussions. Finally, for those interested, it should be noted that due to high demand during the discussion, the code has now been published as free software at https://codeberg.org/JakobThomsen/pixel-shader-presenter. We would like to thank Jakob Thomsen once again for this.