Technical and Research Projects
This page contains brief information about projects undertaken by members of the Computer Graphics Group or the group as a research team. The list is sorted in chronological order.
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EPIC MegaGrants – Rayground
2021, Epic Games Inc.The Epic MegaGrants program encourages projects that will benefit the Unreal Engine ecosystem or the 3D graphics community. Rayground is an online framework for rapid prototyping of algorithms based on the ray tracing paradigm. Rayground is platfrom-independent, based on open-source technologies and available to everyone through the www.rayground.com portal. We identify two distinct components in Rayground. The first component is the website, which acts as an online library of ray tracing projects and offers an integrated development environment (IDE) for interactive demonstration and/or prototyping. It has the potential to function as a hub for the graphics community as ray tracing ideas and methods become more widespread. The second component is WebRays, the ray tracing engine that accelerates ray-geometry intersections using the WebGL2 graphics application programming interface (API). The core technology behind the engine is decoupled from Rayground’s programming model and utilizes an open-source general-purpose ray-geometry intersection engine on the Web via a JavaScript API, backed by acceleration data structures.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Principal Investigator
- A. A. Vasilakis: Senior researcher / developer
- A. Gkaravelis: Senior researcher / senior developer
- N. Vitsas: Researcher / senior developer
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Tales from Block 15 – A Virtual Journey to a Grim Past
German Federal Foreign Office (German-Greek Future Fund), 2020-2021, Project No. EP-3279-01.The project is about the creation of an immersive VR story surrounding the infamous Block 15 of the Haidari Concentration Camp in Western Athens, the largest and most notorious German concentration camp in wartime Greece and a largely neglected site of difficult heritage. Through original scenarios based on primary and multimedia archival sources that will largely be based on digital storytelling, the interactive, immersive Virtual Reality experience to be developed will not only bring back to life the actual monument that is Block 15, but will also function as a reminder of the horrors and torture inflicted by the Nazis on prisoners, in an attempt to reintroduce a historically and politically contested site to heterogeneous audiences, both in situ as well as in sites outside the Concentration Camp.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Technical supervisor
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Lumibricks: Modular Light Transport for Photorealistic Rendering on Consumer-grade GPUs
EPAnEK -Operational Programme Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (proj. No. 5049904), 2020-2021.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Principal investigator
- K. Vardis: Senior researcher/developer
- A. A. Vasilakis: Senior researcher/developer
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Proof-of-concept Implementation of Coarse Shading Technologies for the ARM MALI-G76 BIFROST Architecture
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES OY CO. LTD, 2019, Project No. EP-3159-01
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Principal investigator
- K. Vardis: Senior researcher/developer
- A. A. Vasilakis: Senior researcher/developer
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Physically-based Lighting Simulation and Optimization Algorithms, PhD Fellowship Grant
This 2-year fellowship (2017-2019) funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (grant No. 1545), supports the research of doctoral candidate Nick Vitsas in the domain of illumination-driven scene optimization, including topics such as opening design, luminaire placement and scene arrangement.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Principal investigator
- N. Vitsas: Researcher
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Visualization Engine for the CostOS software by Nomitech Ltd.
The AUEB Computer Graphics Group has established a collaboration with Nomitech Ltd (2016-2019). for the design and development of real-time visualization solutions for large-volume 3D datasets. Nomitech Ltd. is a leading niche software company specializing in cost estimating solutions for construction, mining, oil, gas and energy projects.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Engine architecture design
- K. Vardis: Senior Researcher, developer
- A. Gkaravelis: Researcher, developer
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GLIDE - Goal-driven Lighting for Dynamic 3D Environments (ARISTEIA II programme),
18-month research project co-funded by the General Secreteriat of Research and Technology and the European Union, 2014-2015.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Principal investigator
- A. Vasilakis, Post-doctoral researcher
- A. Andreadis: Researcher, developer
- K. Vardis: Researcher, developer
- A. Gkaravelis: Researcher, developer
- C. Kalampokis: Researcher, developer
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PRESIOUS - Predictive digitization, restoration and degradation assessment of cultural heritage objects
3-year EU-funded STREP project (grant no. 600533), 2013-2016.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Principal investigator (AUEB), Systems Architect
- P. Mavridis: Senior Researcher, Developer
- A. Andreadis: Researcher, Developer
- K. Vardis: Researcher, lead developer
- M. L. Menexi: Developer
- G. Tsatiris: Junior Researcher
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Real-time Global Illumination Algorithms
One-year university-funded research project, Athens University of Economics and Business Special Account for Research Grants (ΕΡ-1805-33/ 00-1), 2011-2012.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Principal investigator.
- A. Gaitatzes: Graduate Researcher
- P. Mavridis: Graduate Researcher.
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Realistic Environment Illumination for Real-time Graphics
One-year university-funded research project, Athens University of Economics and Business Special Account for Research Grants, 2009-2010.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Principal investigator.
- M. L. Menexi: Graduate Researcher
- C. Papadopoulos: Undergraduate Researcher.
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Digitization of the Greek Ministry of Culture Monument Collection
Greek Ministry of Culture development project. Contractor: PRC Group – Forth, Sub-contractor: Athens University of Economics and Business, 2008-2009.
Group member roles:
- G. Papaioannou: Training Coordinator, Scientific Coordinator of Digitization, software development.
- M. L. Menexi: Instructor (digitization).
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The Battle of Chaeronia
Virtual Reality Installation, Independent production, 2007-2008.
Group member roles:
- A. Gaitatzes: Coordinator, integrator
- G. Papaioannou: Software engineer
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THOLOS
Design and Construction of a 132-seat Virtual Reality Dome Theatre, Foundation of the Hellenic World, 2002-2006.
Group member roles:
- A. Gaitatzes: VR team coordinator, software engineering (VR computer cluster architecture) and integration
- G. Papaioannou: Software engineering (VR computer cluster architecture, dynamic multi-projection display subsystem and THX positional audio system)
