The primary goal of my research is to develop algorithms to treat
shape information by a computer. The shape information is
two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional. There are four main
topics in my research: how to represent shape information, how to
create shape information, how to store shape information, and how to
visualize shape information. These areas can be referred
as CAGD (computer-aided geometric design), solid modeling, data
structure, and computer graphics respectively.
The main focus of my research is now on CAGD and computer graphics. I
am developing various rendering algorithms which not only make realistic
pictures, but also deformed pictures which can convey the user's intent
more clearly. In a sense, computer graphics is a compromise between
the precise simulation of physical phenomena and limited computation
time. As computation power is improved steadily, new algorithms with
more precise shape models and more precise ray models should be
developed.
In CAGD, various kinds of curves and surfaces have been proposed. but
to make those curves and surfaces really practical, many algorithms
should be developed further. For example, to effciently decide the
coefficients of the surface formula still remains an open problem.
In two-dimensions, one of the primary application of such algorithms
is the treating of letter shapes. Therefore, I also have interest in
algorithms for letter font generation. Kanji characters have peculiar
characteristics compared to Roman characters. Such characteristics
should be considered when the font algorithms are developed.
Traditionally, font generation has been done with a huge amount of
works by a small number of font designers. The Kanji character set is
very large, and this is the main reason for the limited variety of
Japanese font designs. I believe that character fonts of very high
quality can be developed more easily with the aid of a computer.