Our Research

One of the main goals of science is to find principles that unify apparently diverse phenomena. With this broad objective in mind, the Biological Modeling and Visualization group apply notions and methods of computer science to gain a better understanding of the emergence of forms and patterns in nature.

The focal point of our work is the modeling, simulation and visualization of the development of plants. This area is particularly interesting because of its interdisciplinary character. Ideas pertinent to plant modeling are related to computer science (computer graphics, formal language theory, programming language design, and simulation), as well as biology, artificial life, mathematics, and physics. The modeling of plants has also an artistic flavor, since the beauty of plants presents a constant challenge for creating visually appealing models.

Our group have developed and continue to improve a software environment for conducting simulated experiments, called a "Virtual Laboratory". It is a source of satisfaction for us that our software is used to support several research programs on plant development and in computer graphics worldwide.