The changing face of entertainment and the driving force behind it: computer simulation

ABSTRACT

In today's world of entertainment computers are used more than ever to take the viewer to new "places" in games, television & feature films. In games, we drive a stock car around the high banks of the Daytona International Speedway. In television we become part of an alien world at a scheduled time each week, and in feature films we set sail on the open seas on an 85-year old ocean liner. Without computer simulation, there are many reasons why we would not be able to enter these worlds and entertainment would not be what it is today. This paper will discuss the practical use and goals of using simulation in entertainment. With these goals as our guide, we will examine the tools that are used to design our model of the physical system, execute that system, and analyze the output. We will study both the traditional tools and the tools of the future. As desktop computers become supercomputers and multiple CPUs on the desktop become the norm, our mathematical models will become increasingly complex. This increase will lead to more accurate simulations, thereby changing the faces of entertainment and blurring the lines of reality.