Evaluation of a Fire Propagation System Based on Metaballs

Abstract: Background Metaballs is a method that can be applied to multiple areas, for example creating clouds and water drop simulations. This thesis looks in into thepossibility of using metaballs as a technique for fire propagation.Objectives The aim of this thesis is to investigate if metaballs can be used asa method for fire propagation in comparison to a method that has been used inmultiple games already, a grid method. The comparison was categorized into two;degree of realism in each methods spreading pattern, and how well they performregarding execution time in different scenarios.Methods A user study was conducted to determine how realistic each method isaccording to the users. The study consisted of a survey, remotely done from home,in which the participants were asked to rate the degree of realism on different clips ofthe methods of fire propagation. As a point of reference for judging fire propagation,the participants also watched two videos of actual fires spreading. To evaluate theperformance of the methods they were exposed to different scenes containing differentamounts of objects the methods had to process.Results The user study concluded that there was no significant difference in themethods spreading regarding its realism. In total, 32 participants with the age rangeof 19 to 77 volunteered for the study. The performance tests concluded that theproposed method did not perform as good as the grid method, with an average often times the execution time.Conclusion The conclusion from the user study is that the results from the userstudy did not show any significant difference between the two methods. Performancewise however, the grid was proven to be a better alternative.