Kenneth H. Perlin is a professor in the Department of

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, founding director of the Media Research Lab at NYU, director of the Future Reality Lab at NYU, and the Director of the Games for Learning Institute. He holds a BA. degree in Theoretical Mathematics from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(7/1979), a MS degree in Computer Science from the

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU), and is among the most prestigious mathematics schools and mathematical sciences research cente ...

(6/1984), and a PhD degree in Computer Science from the same institution (2/1986). His research interests include

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

, and

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...

. He developed or was involved with the development of techniques such as

Perlin noise Perlin noise is a type of gradient noise developed by Ken Perlin. History Ken Perlin developed Perlin noise in 1983 as a result of his frustration with the "machine-like" look of computer-generated imagery (CGI) at the time. He formally descr ...

, real-time interactive

character animation Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process, which involves bringing animated s to life. The role of a character animator is analogous to that of a film or stage actor and character animators are often said to be "actors wit ...

, and computer-user interfaces. He is best known for the development of

and

Simplex noise Simplex noise is the result of an ''n''-dimensional noise function comparable to Perlin noise ("classic" noise) but with fewer directional artifacts and, in higher dimensions, a lower computational overhead. Ken Perlin designed the algorithm i ...

, both of which are algorithms for realistic-looking

Gradient noise Gradient noise is a type of noise commonly used as a procedural texture primitive in computer graphics. It is conceptually different, and often confused with value noise. This method consists of a creation of a lattice of random (or typically pse ...

. He is a collaborator of the World Building Institute.

Awards

In 1996, K. Perlin received an

Academy Award for Technical Achievement The Technical Achievement Award is one of three Scientific and Technical Awards given from time to time by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (The other two awards are the Scientific and Engineering Award and the Academy Award of Me ...

from the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

, for the development of

.Nadine Brozan, in ''Chronicle'' of The New York Times, March 13, 1997, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/13/style/chronicle-073679.html He had introduced this technique with the goal to produce natural-appearing textures on computer-generated surfaces for motion picture visual effects, while working on the Walt Disney Productions' 1982 feature film

TRON ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer a ...

for which he had developed a large part of the software.

References

External links

Ken Perlin's NYU home pageKen Perlin's WebLogKen Perlin as Featured Speaker
at

SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference on computer graphics (CG) organized by the ACM SIGGRAPH, starting in 1974. The main conference is held in North America; SIGGRAPH Asia ...

Asia 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Perlin, Ken Living people American computer scientists Computer graphics professionals Computer graphics researchers Human–computer interaction researchers Harvard University alumni New York University alumni New York University faculty Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)

Awards

See also

References

External links