Abstract. A continuing theme in synthetic image generation is the production of more and more realistic images but this incurs greater and greater costs. The recent interest in image-based rendering can be seen as a pragmatic reaction to this trend. In the talk we will review the uses to which synthetic images are put and the consequent requirements in terms of realism. Knowledge of the physiology and psychophysics of the human visual system and of human psychology can be used to determine what needs to be synthesised and what can be eliminated from image generation for human consumption. On the other hand, relying on synthetic images as a user interface can lead to problems in fields such as geometric modelling and scientific visualisation and these issues will also be explored.

Robin Forrest is a Professor of Computing Science at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K. He received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Enginering from the University of Edinburgh in 1965 and his Ph.D. in Computer-Aided Design from the University of Cambridge in 1968. His early work was in the development of curve and surface representations for CAD and in computational geometry. His current research interests are concerned with the problems of discreteness inherent in digital computing and how this interacts with both geometric computing and psychophysics; scientific visualisation; and simulation of natural phenomena.

How Much is Enough?