Camera control techniques for interactive digital entertainment (IDE) are reaching their limits in terms of capabilities. To enable future growth, new methods must be derived to address these new challenges. Existing academic research into camera control is typically devoted to cinematography and guided exploration tasks, and is not directly applicable to IDE. This paper describes a novel application of constraint satisfaction in the design of a camera system that addresses the unique and difficult challenges of IDE. It demonstrates a specialized constraint solver that exploits the spatial structure of the problem, enabling the real-time use of the camera system. The merit of our solution is highlighted by demonstrating the computational efficiency and ability to extend the cameras capabilities in a simple and effective manner.

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Automating camera control for third-person perspective computer games is a difficult and time-consuming task. One of the challenges games developers confront is how to manage the trade-off between implementation complexity and system usability. In this study, we investigate the application of constraint weighting techniques to the autonomous camera control problem. We demonstrate that this technique can significantly simplify autonomous camera control and reduce the gap between implementation and usability requirements. We describe the use of weighting profiles to control the behaviour of the camera and specialized heuristics for efficiently searching for the solution. We also describe a novel integrated visibility maintenance method. As part of the experimental study, we implemented a 3D game engine that supports dynamic environments; and demonstrate the effectiveness of the use of constraint solving techniques for autonomous camera control problems.

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This paper presents the design of a Graphical User Interface for a MEMS CAD tool that addresses the weaknesses of some existing CAD tools for MEMS design. MEMS design is a complex process where many disciplines, processes, materials and structures come together. Consequently, the MEMS CAD tools available are sophisticated and complex tools. The complexity of these tools often exceeds the effectiveness, resulting in unwieldy user interface designs. This in turn impacts the usability of these software packages. We have developed the Task-oriented User Interface Design architecture to address complex system design issues that are inherent in MEMS CAD tools. With this architecture we are able to reduce visual clutter on the screen without loss of functionality, at the same time allowing quick switching between tasks. The architecture is extensible, making it easy to add more MEMS design facilities to the CAD tool.