Computer graphics in Germany

Abstract

Introduction In Germany we are witnessing for some 20 years an increasing interest in computer graphics, animation, art, visualization and hardware. Initially in the ‘80s, the growth of computer graphics groups at German universities was slow. But then, sometime in the early ‘90s, a critical point-of-no-return was reached. Since then it seems as if every computer science department has been striving to install a graphics group, if it did not already have one. In addition, centers of research and development in computer graphics are operating within institutions that are funded publicly or by industry. A prominent example of the rapid development and joint activities of universities and research centers are the institutions located in Darmstadt. In 1975 Prof. Jose Encarnacao founded the Interactive Graphics System Group. To involve industrial partners in computer graphics research he established the Computer Graphics Center (ZGDV) in 1984. Three years later, the Fraunhofer Society opened its doors with a work group, which led to the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics. Since then, other institutions in Germany and abroad have joined what is now called the INI-GraphicsNet, one of the world’s largest research institutes in computer graphics (300 full time employees, 450 research assistants, DM 72 million budget in 2000). The prestigious Max-Planck-Gesellschaft founded a new research group on computer graphics within the Max-Planck-Institute of Computer Science on the campus of the University of the Saarland, headed by Prof. HansPeter Seidel. Also the Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum (ZIB) in Berlin hosts a strong visualization group. Two years ago the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) founded a research institute for visualization and simulation headed by Prof. Hans Hagen. Other public institutions with computer graphics research activities include the German National Research Center for Information Technology (GMD), housing research groups with a focus on virtual environments and digital media productions.