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