Carlos A. Vanegas

Interactive Design of Urban Spaces using Geometrical and Behavioral Modeling
Carlos A. Vanegas, Daniel G. Aliaga, Bedrich Benes, Paul Waddell, ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proceedings SIGGRAPH Asia), 28(5), 2009.

Abstract. The main contribution of this work is in closing the loop between behavioral and geometrical modeling of cities. Editing of urban design variables is performed intuitively and visually using a graphical user interface. Any design variable can be constrained or changed. The design process uses an iterative dynamical system for reaching equilibrium: a state where the demands of behavioral modeling match those of geometrical modeling. 3D models are generated in a few seconds and conform to plausible urban behavior and urban geometry. Our framework includes an interactive agent-based behavioral modeling system as well as adaptive geometry generation algorithms. We demonstrate interactive and incremental design and editing for synthetic urban spaces spanning over 200 square kilometers.

Modeling the Appearance and Behavior of Urban Spaces, Carlos A. Vanegas, Daniel G. Aliaga, Peter Wonka, Pascal Mueller, Paul Waddell, Benjamin Watson,
Computer Graphics Forum (to appear). Also in Eurographics STAR (State-of-the-Art Report), 2009.

Abstract. Urban spaces consist of a complex collection of buildings, parcels, blocks and neighborhoods interconnected by streets. Accurately modeling both the appearance and the behavior of dense urban spaces is a significant challenge. The recent surge in urban data and its availability via the Internet has fomented a significant amount of research in computer graphics and in a number of applications in urban planning, emergency management, and visualization. In this article, we seek to provide an overview of methods spanning computer graphics and related fields involved in this goal. Our article reports the most prominent methods in urban modeling and rendering, urban visualization, and urban simulation models. A reader will be well versed in the key problems and current
solution methods.

Some images are results of co-authors' research

Visualization of Simulated Urban Spaces: Inferring Parameterized Generation of Streets, Parcels, and Aerial Imagery, Carlos A. Vanegas, Daniel G. Aliaga, Bedrich Benes, Paul Waddell, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 15(3):424-435, 2009.

Abstract. We build on a synergy of urban simulation, urban visualization, and computer graphics to automatically infer an urban layout for any time step of the simulation sequence. In addition to standard visualization tools, our method gathers data of the original street network, parcels, and aerial imagery and uses the available simulation results to infer changes to the original urban layout. Our method produces a new and plausible layout for the simulation results. In contrast with previous work, our approach automatically updates the layout based on changes in the simulation data and thus can scale to a large simulation over many years. The method in this article offers a substantial step forward in building integrated visualization and behavioral simulation systems for use in community visioning, planning, and policy analysis.

Interactive Example‐Based Urban Layout Synthesis, Daniel G. Aliaga, Carlos A. Vanegas, Bedrich Benes, ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proceedings SIGGRAPH  Asia),27(5), 2008.

Abstract. We present an interactive system for synthesizing urban layouts by example. Our method simultaneously performs both a structure-based synthesis and an image-based synthesis to generate a complete urban layout with a plausible street network and with aerial-view imagery. Our approach uses the structure and image data of real-world urban areas and a synthesis algorithm to provide several high-level operations to easily and interactively generate complex layouts by example. The user can create new urban layouts by a sequence of operations such as join, expand, and blend without being concerned about low-level structural details. Further, the ability to blend example urban layout fragments provides a powerful way to generate new synthetic content. We demonstrate our system by creating urban layouts using example fragments from several real-world cities, each ranging from hundreds to thousands of city blocks and parcels.

Interactive Reconfiguration of Urban Layouts, Daniel G. Aliaga, Bedrich Benes, Carlos A. Vanegas, Nathan Andrysco, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (Special Issue on Urban Modeling), 28(3):38‐47, 2008.

Abstract. The ability to create and edit a model of a large-scale city is necessary for a variety of applications. Although the layout of the urban space is captured as images, it consists of a complex collection of man-made structures arranged in parcels, city blocks, and neighborhoods. Editing the content as unstructured images yields undesirable results. However, most GIS maintain and provide digital records of metadata such as road network, land use, parcel boundaries, building type, water/sewage pipes and power lines that can be used as a starting point to infer and manipulate higher-level structure. We describe an editor for interactive reconfiguration of city layouts, which provides tools to expand, scale, replace and move parcels and blocks, while efficiently exploiting their connectivity and zoning. Our results include applying the system on several cities with different urban layout by sequentially applying transformations.