CSE - Interactive Dynamics in Textures and Positional Audio Analysis

The GESS Lab is currently seeking students interested in Interactive Computer Graphics for research and application developments in the Fall 2026 semester.

The primary project involves simulating particle motion within the tangent space of textures mapped onto geometry in virtual worlds. This project utilizes a traditional kinematics update for particles, but follows a kernel approach to determine violations in motion deterministically rather than using conventional constraint solvers via iterative methods (see 5:12:30 for synopsis of this technique, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0dg7VGCqWw). This technique offers maximization of parallel dispatches, enabling all particles to uniformly move in an update step under ideal circumstances.

Objectives this semester are further analysis of performance (amortized), development of game engine plugins, formalized implementations for open source release (CPU and GPU versions, respectively), and finalizing work for a paper submission in January (co-author contributions).

The second research topic involves real-world assessment of sound locations given an array of microphones. This work potentially has co-authoring opportunities for a research paper, and might involve building a prototype apparatus to test in real-world scenarios.

Name of research group, project, or lab
GESS Lab
Why join this research group or lab?

The Game Engines and Simulation Systems (GESS) lab is focused on building compelling new tools for interactive applications. Tools and practices found in video game development extend to other real-world applications and problem solving skills as game engines are simulators which try to maximize compute based on combinations of numerical methods and algorithms deployed. By building tools and solving problems within the scope of interactive software, soft/hard real-time constraints require exploration of high-performance compute and changing hardware architectures to understand how best to approach software development.

Logistics Information:
Project categories
Computer Science & Engineering
Student ranks applicable
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Student qualifications

Qualified students should have at least one semester of software work in 3D interactive applications, or prior real-time interactive software experience. Additional skills include competency in C/C++, GDScript, or even Python. Existing understanding of a DES model and working between Computer Graphics and Interactive Logic are desirable.

Hours per week
2 credits / 6-12 hours
Compensation
Research for Credit
Number of openings
3
Techniques learned
  • Scrum
    • Planning
    • Sprints
    • Updating Artifacts
  • 3D Interactive Software
    • Graphics Pipeline
    • Hardware Polling/State Management
    • Object-oriented Programming
  • Computational Geometry
  • Applied linear algebra
  • Simulation Models
    • Numerical Methods
    • Error Propagation
  • User Experience
    • Fitts's Law
    • GUI Placement
    • Contrast Analysis
Project start
Fall 2026
This project will use an Expectations and Structure agreement.
Expectations and Structure
  • Weekly Scrum
  • Develop/Test Tools
  • Semester Deliverables
Contact Information:
Mentor
drehberg@nd.edu
Assistant Professor of the Practice
Name of project director or principal investigator
Daniel Rehberg
Email address of project director or principal investigator
drehberg@nd.edu
3 sp. | 0 appl.
Hours per week
2 credits / 6-12 hours
Project categories
Computer Science & Engineering