Background

Virtual environment generation has been around for a while. The U.S. military has been using it for battlefield simulations since the 1980s and is currently building models of cities around the world as part of its combat preparedness program. This project will focus on developing more practical use for virtual environments such as for navigation. Random terrain can be very detailed and complex, but it becomes more and more repetitive as the area becomes larger. On the other hand, terrain based on real world data is limited by the resolution of the data source. One of the aspects of this project is to create realistic representations of real world environments by combining randomly generated terrain with terrain based on real world data; The randomly generated terrain is used to interpolate the terrain between areas where no recorded geospatial data exists.

The scope of the project will encompass research in the following areas:

1. Terrain generation methods
2. Computer Graphics
3. 3D Engine concepts
4. Geospatial data sources