You know, I'm a decent draftsman and have been known to distract several people with drawings in my notebooks. The fact is, people who are bored with a class *always* look for a distraction. It's not the laptop, the pencil, or the paper that creates the problem.
There is a similar idea: Level Of Detail meshes used in most engines, not to mention the recent inclusion of displacement maps, bump maps, and normal maps in some newer engines. With this combination a generated illusion of depth and detail is easily and quickly achieved.
This looks more like a solution to a more automated system to creating 3D models [ie 3D scanners] which have always had problems and usually take more nurturing than if it had been sculpted by a modeler to begin with.
Slashdot Mirror
You know, I'm a decent draftsman and have been known to distract several people with drawings in my notebooks. The fact is, people who are bored with a class *always* look for a distraction. It's not the laptop, the pencil, or the paper that creates the problem.
There is a similar idea: Level Of Detail meshes used in most engines, not to mention the recent inclusion of displacement maps, bump maps, and normal maps in some newer engines. With this combination a generated illusion of depth and detail is easily and quickly achieved.
This looks more like a solution to a more automated system to creating 3D models [ie 3D scanners] which have always had problems and usually take more nurturing than if it had been sculpted by a modeler to begin with.