Systems and methods for computer simulation of detailed waves for large-scale water simulation

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a novel method and discretization for animating water waves. The approaches disclosed combine the flexibility of a numerical approach to wave simulation with the stability and visual detail provided by a spectrum-based approach to provide Eulerian methods for simulating large-scale oceans with highly detailed wave features. A graphics processing unit stores a one-dimensional texture referred to as a wave profile buffer that stores pre-computed results at a number of discrete sample points for performing wave height evaluation. The water surface is rendered according to water height values computed using the wave profile, accounting for advection, spatial diffusion, angular diffusion, boundary reflections, and dissipation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of and priority to provisional application 62 / 675,704 entitled “Systems And Methods For Computer Simulation Of Detailed Waves For Large-Scale Water Simulation” filed May 23, 2018. This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16 / 107,902, titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMPUTER SIMULATION OF DETAILED WAVES FOR LARGE-SCALE WATER SIMULATION,” filed Aug. 21, 2018. Each of these applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD[0002]Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the field of computer graphics simulation. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods for providing better, more realistic, appearances of natural environments rendered by computer simulation for large-scale simulations.BACKGROUND[0003]There is a growing need in the field of computer graphics to quickly render large-scale interactive n...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a method for simulating water waves using a coarse spatial grid and a special up-resolution technique to model actual waves. The method can evaluate wave height and water depth with high precision. By using a time steps approach, the method can also compute a 1D texture that contains a spatial profile of all summed waves, which reduces the double sum to a single sum over all directions. This allows for real-time frame rates and reproduction of plausible deep water wave dispersion with unlimited small wave details. The method can be executed on a GPU.

Problems solved by technology

The problem involves generating interactive, very large scale ocean simulations, e.g., several square kilometers in simulation size, having practically unlimited ocean details.

Existing approaches to computer simulation of large bodies of water include procedural approaches, such as Fourier-based methods, that typically lack the ability to dynamically respond to complex environmental interactions such as moving boundaries and spatially-varying wind.

However, spectrum-based approaches are generally unable to realistically interact with complex boundaries and environmental conditions, such as shorelines, floating objects, and boats.

For example, spectrum-based methods have difficulties simulating obstacle interactions because their derivation assumes periodic boundaries.

Other existing computer simulation approaches, such as Eulerian wave simulations, are numerical solutions that require very high memory consumption to implement an adequate grid size for large scenes (e.g., several square kilometers).

Numerical approaches that solve Navier-Stokes equations for water simulation excel at handling water interactions with moving obstacles, but are prohibitively expensive to compute when scaling to very large scale simulation domains with small (e.g., high frequency) wave details.

Yet other approaches, such as dynamic Lagrangian simulations, rely on wave particle simulations that suffer from potentially prohibitive particle counts, making these approaches poorly suited for real-time large-scale interactive ocean simulations.

Furthermore, previous methods for simulating two dimensional (2D) water waves directly compute the changes in water surface height, and this imposes limitations based on the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) condition, thereby establishing a maximum simulation time step size for simulating fast-moving waves.

These methods are further restricted by Nyquist's limit, which mandates that small wave details require closely-spaced simulation variables.

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