Procedural World Building

This Technology Seminar explored methodologies and techniques of hyper-realistic world-building of synthetic environments. Students investigated the latest in rendering technologies that enable GPU-based Real-Time Raytracing in Game Engines such as Unreal Engine. Furthermore, the studio focused on how to create and generate highly detailed digital assets. In doing so, students learned specific modeling techniques, texture mapping and how to integrate digital assets derived from photogrammetry and laser scans. Building upon these skills, they integrated advanced lighting, materials and HDRI maps into the digital scenes. This seminar work was integrated into the 2019-20 IDEAS Technology Studio "Deep Urbanism: Technocritical Architectural Narratives for Human/Machine Society" with students creating photorealistic assets and environments for their studio project.