Patents by Inventor Thomas V. Thompson, II

Thomas V. Thompson, II has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method for determining point connectivity on a two manifold in 3D space
    Patent number: 8730235
    Abstract: One particular implementation of the present invention may involve a method for determining connectivity of a plurality of points on a surface of a computer-generated object in 2D or 3D space. In general, the method may utilize a recursion process to determine or approximate a plurality of association region boundaries related to the points on the computer-generated object. The method may include a first stage of a refinement operation that may recursively search the surface of the computer model for the region boundaries of the set of points, a stopping operation that may cease the recursive search when an acceptable tolerance is achieved and a connecting operation that may use the determined region boundaries to connect the series of points on the surface of the model to form a connectivity graph of the points. The connectivity information obtained through the above method may be utilized as part of an interpolation process to generate hair or fur along the surface of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventor: Thomas V. Thompson, II
  • METHOD FOR DETERMINING POINT CONNECTIVITY ON A TWO MANIFOLD IN 3D SPACE
    Publication number: 20120013618
    Abstract: One particular implementation of the present invention may involve a method for determining connectivity of a plurality of points on a surface of a computer-generated object in 2D or 3D space. In general, the method may utilize a recursion process to determine or approximate a plurality of association region boundaries related to the points on the computer-generated object. The method may include a first stage of a refinement operation that may recursively search the surface of the computer model for the region boundaries of the set of points, a stopping operation that may cease the recursive search when an acceptable tolerance is achieved and a connecting operation that may use the determined region boundaries to connect the series of points on the surface of the model to form a connectivity graph of the points. The connectivity information obtained through the above method may be utilized as part of an interpolation process to generate hair or fur along the surface of the object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2010
    Publication date: January 19, 2012
    Applicant: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventor: Thomas V. Thompson, II