Affiliates and Beneficiaries

A number of commercial software producers as well as academic computer scientists have expressed interest in the RAPS project and see potential applications of its results:

• The Virtual Working Environment group of the University of Leeds School of Computer Science has developed sophisticated software tools for constraint-based assembly modeling. A principal focus of their work is an interactive graphical simulation of the process of fitting components together so as to make up a complex device. We have already had fruitful discussions with Dr. Terrence Fernando of the group, which is headed by Prof. Peter Dew.

• The GIS group of the University of Leeds School of Computer Science is lead by Stuart Roberts. The overall aim of the group is to explore the applicability of established database principles to the management of spatially and temporally referenced data. Central to their work is a multi-view extension of object-oriented models to provide spatio-temporal support at the conceptual and physical levels of data management. The results have been applied to the nuclear industry as well as to updateable multi-media systems and the problem of integrating remotely sensed images with GIS.

• Rick Kaye ( Cottlestone Software Engineering) has worked for a number of years on object oriented geographical information systems. He is particularly interested in data structures for representing spatial information and in database query languages.

• Microprose Ltd. have produced many sophisticated and highly entertaining computer games. Several of their games involve geographical information and almost all of them rely on limited `artificial intelligence' to control computer operated opponents.

• D3 Software are a Leeds based computer games company who are developing a fast and flexible 3D graphics system.

• Patrick Olivier works in the field of Kinematic Reasoning at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.