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Researchers develop Internet search engine for 3-D objects BY BRIAN BERGSTEIN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK - The mind-bog gling speed and reach of Internet search engines mask a severe lim itation: They are powered by words alone. What a humdrum existence. The world is so much brighter and k more varied, full of objects and P patterns that defy searchable de scriptions. In hopes of wrapping their arms around more of that stuff, com puting researchers have devel oped new search engines that can mine catalogs of three-dimension al objects, like airplane parts or architectural features. All the users have to do is sketch what they’re thinking of, and the search engines can pro duce comparable objects. “The idea of information and knowledge, and retrieval of knowl edge, has been something I’ve been intrigued with for a long time. This gives it a more solidi fied meaning,” said Karthik Ramani, a Purdue University pro fessor who created a system that :an find computer-designed in dustrial parts. Ramani expects his search en gine will serve huge industrial companies whose engineers often waste time and energy designing a specialized part when someone else has already created, used or rejected something similar. Rick Jeffs, senior engineering specialist at a Caterpillar Inc. en gine center in Lafayette, Ind., be lieves Ramani’s technology could help the company simplify its in ventory. Jeffs’ center alone has tens of thousands of different parts. “If you’ve got to design a new elbow for an oil line, more often than not, we have a plethora of el bows,” Jeffs said. But even though many parts are created with com puter-aided design software, they are catalogued such that each has to be examined separately, a te dious task “that isn’t even per formed that often, because it isn’t feasible or practical.” With the Purdue search engine, designers could sketch the part they need and instantly see dozens in inventory that might fit the bill. If an item seems close, but not quite right, designers can see a “skeleton” of the part and manip ulate it on their computer screens — make it longer or shorter or curved, for example — and then query the database again. “It seems like there’s ever greater demands for speed in prod uct development, and it’s those kinds of breakthroughs that are needed to keep up,” Jeffs said. “This would really just add to the efficiency.” Mainstream search engines, meanwhile, are still trying to mas ter 2-D images. For example, Google Inc.’s picture search pro gram delivers pretty good results but can’t actually examine the im ages it serves up. It mines the text surrounding the photos, and hopes for success. 3-D search engines have begun to emerge as improvements in computing power and interactive modeling software have deepened the pool of designs available to query. Princeton University professor Thomas Funkhouser and col leagues have put a 3-D search en gine on the Web that lets anyone sketch an object using a comput er mouse, add a textual descrip tion, then search for similar mod Professor CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 > teacher who “was at the top of his form.” “It’s like you have this bril liant flame, and it winked out without any long prolonged de cline,” he said. “One feels a little sad, but I think there is a kind of celebration of his spirit.” Although Sederberg said he knew Miller “peripherally” be fore being made dean 10 years ago, he said he did not really get to know Miller until he worked directly with the professor’s courses in the Honors College. “We were taking it semester by semester, but he was still so on top of his game, it was hard to deny him yet another semester in the classroom,” he said. “I can’t help but feel a cer tain sense of joy of a life that was really lived doing something that he was so much in love with.” Ashley Kolaya, a second-year anthropology and psychology els in design databases. The results can be startling. Draw a big potato, and the system responds with a bunch of, well, potato-looking objects—and a few urns. Those seem wrong until you rotate your potato, orienting it vertically instead of horizontally, and see your sketch actually does resemble an urn, narrow on top and bottom and bulging in the middle. Certainly this makes old-fash ioned keyword searches seem a blunt instrument. Then again, text can be far more precise than a sketch. If you’re searching for information about baseball Hall of Famers, there’s little chance a computer will misunderstand a query for “Willie Mays.” * r student in Miller’s creativity 'class, found out yesterday about his death. Although she said she was skeptical at first and unsure about the course, she admitted, “it grew on me.” “He encourages people to think differently than everybody else expects you to think,” she said. “His life’s'love was the kids that he taught, and you can’t not be an amazing professor if that’s really how you feel.” Kolaya said she was especial ly amazed at the personal rela tionships he fostered with his students. “He’s the kind of professor that deals with the same group of people every semester because everybody comes back to take more and more of his classes,” she said. “It’s seriously like he’s an underground cult favorite. He has a following.” There are no plans for a fu neral or memorial service. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Bill CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 a whole because of its proposed ef fect on increasing appropriated revenue for research and cooper ation among the three major re search institutions. “That’s just part of dealing with politics,” he said of having the USC-Sumter provision pass with the bill. He and MUSC President Raymond Greenberg visited leg islators at the State House days af „ ter the override to thank them for P cheir support. “There was overwhelming sup port for it in the legislature, and Dr. Greenberg and I just wanted to show our gratitude for that,” Sorensen said. The Senate over rode the veto 81-24. Sanford didn’t appreciate Sorensen’s gesture, which was evident when Sanford thanked lawmakers who voted-against him. “It sent a very poor signal to the administration when President Sorensen came up to the State House to congratulate legislators who voted to override the veto,” Sanford’s spokesman Will Folks said, “it was really in i poor taste.” Folks said the governor op posed the legislation based on its politically motivated spending, which he said was aimed at fit ting irrelevant projects into an appropriations bill for research. He said Sanford would support a possible upcoming life sciences hill with no emor at any time and talk about whatever he wishes. He’s the chairman of our board of trustees, so I’m always ready to talk with him” he said. Folks said the«governor thinks that too much communication be tween him and USC is done through newspapers and that is sups shmilH hp unrelated amendments and that he supports an in creased focus on appropriat ing research funds if they conform to a cooperative, statewide vi sion. “We need to “It sent a very poor signal to the administration when President Sorensen came up to the State House to congratulate legislators who voted to override the veto.” WILL FOLKS SPOKESMAN FOR GOV. MARK SANFORD openly dis cussed more of ten. Sorensen and Sanford have fervent support from top faculty members when it comes to ex panding re search at the three research universities. gei ueyonu per sonalities here and focus on is sues, which is what the governor has focused on since day one,” Folks said. Sorensen said he and Sanford have spoken several times since the override but that the conver sations were at social events and the bill wasn’t the topic. He said he is, however, eager to commu nicate with Sanford about poten tial future research initiatives. “I’m happy to meet with the gov ronucany it’s a good move because it gets all the universities on the same team,” chemistry professor John Dawson said. “But it’s also a sen sible thing to do to combine our talents.” Sorensen said he isn’t worried about a lawsuit because it’s not something the university can control. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu I—” Garnet & Black Magazine is looking for a sales representative seeking experience in magazine advertising sales. Garnet & Black Magazine is published twice a semester - giving you a chance to boost your portfolio ana resume. This job is perfect for Marketing & Advertising majors. Call 777-5064 for more info. — ■ .— • A Special Gift is waiting for you! From April 8-18 visit our store and receive a FREE limited edition umbrella (a $25 value) with a purchase of $75 or more. Hurry.-.quantities are limited. 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