PAGSA Panel: The Physics of Video Games [4/7]

Panelists: Dr. Joe Warren and grad students Travis McPhail and Po-Wei Feng

Joe Warren is the chair of the computer science department at Rice University. His specific areas of interest include geometric modeling, or the construction and manipulation of data structures for representing geometric objects, and computational geometry, or using algorithms to solve geometric problems.

We look at a few state-of-the-art video game physics simulations (also called "physics engines") and illustrate how their properties have allowed gamers to experiment with physics and even embrace data analysis. At the beginning of the panel, we demonstrate how a simple physics engine is made, and show progressively more sophisticated engines such as those used in Portal, Halo, and Fold-It. Then, we open up the discussion to the audience.

The PAGSA panels are a bi-monthly forum for the Rice University physics and astronomy grad students to interact with the faculty in an informal setting. Past topics have ranged from How to Get a Job in Academia, How to get a job in industry, and How to defend a Masters to more general topics such as Science Policy and Things I Wish I Knew as a First Year. The panels usually have high turn out, and are one of PAGSA's more successful events. For more information about PAGSA, visit our webpage at http://pagsa.rice.googlepages.com

This Panel series was funded by Royal Dutch Shell plc

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Physics
• Gaming
• Pagsa
• panel
• portal
• fold-it
• halo
• physics engines
• physics education