Modelling Solids In Four Dimensions

Abstract

MOSS4 is a proposed language extension which allows the creation of systems that model rigid solids in three dimensions and their movement over time, the fourth dimension. MOSS4 allows the creation of completely independent objects that execute in parallel and communicate using message passing. Each object contains a hierarchy of components which are related to each other via common coordinate spaces, and by joints and constraints. The user can create joint types plus the operations defined on them which then apply to the solid the joint is combined with. The system that MOSS4 generates can switch between realtime and stop-frame modes dynamically, and the user can generate synchronisation points to ensure consistency between independently executing objects.