Three undergraduate students in Computer Science working with Dr. Mike Jones on their capstone project turned the great outdoors into their classroom in an effort to learn more about computer-generated landscapes.

Apparently the van training was worth it--Dr. Mike Jones believes that his "fieldtrip" to Goblin Valley helped his students catch the vision of what they are trying to recreate in their lab.  "In 20 minutes I could give my students a better idea of what they were trying to do than I'd been able to do in several hours of class room discussion," he reported upon their return.  The students, Cory Reimschussel, McKay Farley, and Jeremy Smith,who are working with Dr. Jones and two other students, Darius Ouderkirk and Matthew Beardall, on the project, didn't seem to think it was such a bad idea, either.  According to Smith," the project seems so much easier now that I see what we are doing." 

"What they are doing" is using the principles of computer science to create dramatically lifelike images of natural phenomena, such as the "hoodoos" of Goblin Valley, which they studied on their outing.   In computer generated animation, landscape is often a critical indicator of setting and mood, however, the process of creating and directing natural phenomena in CG animation is difficult and time-consuming.  Dr. Jones and the students in his capstone course, along with the students working in his lab, the Computer Generated Natural Phenomena Laboratory, are investigating algorithms and datastructures that simplify the use of natural phenomena in CG animation. Their goal is to give animation artists the tools needed to interactively create and direct natural phenomena with minimal intervention by technical support staff.