Computer Animation Technology Designed to Aid Olympic Swimmers

If you're interested in getting a computer animation or computer graphics degree, you are probably aware that computer animation technology is applied in a variety of fields, including motion picture, advertising, and game technology. What you may not have known, however, is that it's also used in a very different field: training the U.S. Olympic swim team.

At The Institute for Computer Graphics at The George Washington University (GW), a team of researchers is looking at how to improve the performance of U.S. swimmers in the 2008 Olympics. GW's Computer Animation and Visualization Project, as the effort is called, involves taking a video image of a swimmer in motion and transforming that image into a 3d computer-animated figure through the use of vast computer networks and application of research in fluid dynamics.

How Does Computer Animation and Visualization Technology Help Swimmers Improve Their Skills?

Coaches historically have used two-dimensional images to analyze a swimmer's strokes. Now with computer animation and visualization technology, coaches will be able to get a better sense of how a stroke relates to a swimmer's speed. Three-dimensional computer graphic technology will also allow coaches to determine how one swimmer's stroke differs from another's.

As you can see, computer animation technology is used for much more than only to create fun games and spectacular special effects in movies. If you're considering a computer graphics degree and you enjoy science, you may want to explore careers where computer animation and science cross.