Msg: 7032 *Conference*
03-28-97 22:18:50
From: TOM UPTON
To : RON WIESEN
Subj: REPLY TO MSG #7028 (SOL CENTRIC VIEW)
HI RON. THE ANGULAR COORDINATES ARE FIGURED USING TRIG , KNOWING THE DISTANCE (HYPOTENUSE) AND ANGLE FROM THE HORIZONTAL (CELESTIAL EQUATOR) ONE CAN COMPUTE THE INSTANT LOCATION IN A FANTASY CUBIC MATRIX 200 ELEMENTS ON A SIDE. OF COURSE THE MOD100 CANNOT HANDLE SUCH A MATRIX, SO IT IS PHANTOM. THE LOCATION OF EACH STAR SYSTEM IS THUS KNOWN. THE POINT OF VIEW IS FROM OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, SAY AT 0, 90, 180, AND 270, AT A DISTANCE THAT WILL ALLOW A THREE DIMENTIONALITY IN THE VIEW SCREEN. ALSO FROM ABOVE (NORTH) AND BELOW (SOUTH). WHAT I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH IS A VIEW FOR MYSELF OF THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STARS. I MAY EVEN DRAW LINES FROM THE SOLAR CENTER OUT TO ONE OR ANOTHER OF THE STARS; I REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW CLUTTERED THIS WILL BE. BUT EVEN THOUGH THIS APPROACH WOULD BE 2 DIMENSIONAL, I WOULD USE LARGER "DOTS" FOR CLOSER, AND SMALLER FOR FARTHER. NOW, TO GO 3 DIMENSIONAL, ONE WOULD DIVIDE THE SCREEN, COMPUTING TWO SCENES FROM THE RELATIVE VIEWPOINT OF EACH EYE. THE SCENES WOULD BE THE EYE DISTANCE APART, WITH AN "EXTRAFIELD" DOT ABOVE EACH SCENE TO HELP THE EYES LOOK THROUGH THE SCENES, SO THAT WHEN THREE DOTS ARE SEEN WHERE THERE ARE ACTUALLY TWO, THE EYES WOULD BE EITHER CROSSED OR LOOKING THROUGH THE DISPLAY TO A MORE DISTANT POINT. I WOULD BE COMPOSING THE SCENES FOR THE APPROACH THAT LOOKS THROUGH RATHER THAN BY CROSSING THE EYES. THE EFFECT WOULD BE A 3 D VIEW. THE TRIG WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO COMPUTE FOR A LARGE NUMBER OF STARS, SO I WOULD PROBABLY USE A SIMPLE ALGORITHM THAT MAKES CLOSER STARS HAVE THEIR DISPLAYED LOCATION CLOSER, AND THE FARTHER STARS NOT SO CONVERGED. FOR EXAMPLE . . INSTEAD OF . . SINCE I KNOW HOW FAR A STAR IS FROM MY VIEWPOINT, I ONLY NEED TO EITHER CONVERGE OR NOT, WITH A GRADATION ACROSS THE PHANTOM CUBIC MATRIX. PROBABLY ONLY FIVE DIFFERENT LEVELS NEED TO BE DONE TO MAKE A VERY GOOD DISPLAY. 3 WOULD BE THE MID RANGE, 1 AND 2 CLOSER, 4 AND 5 FARTHER. STILL BUSY, AND WILL COME BACK TO SEE YOUR RESPONSE WEDNESDAY THE 2ND. TOM