Editing Flight simulator (section)

==== Contribution to modern computer graphics ====
Visual simulation science applied from the visual systems developed in flight simulators were also an important precursor to three dimensional computer graphics and [[Computer Generated Imagery]] (CGI) systems today. Namely because the object of flight simulation is to reproduce on the ground the behavior of an aircraft in flight. Much of this reproduction had to do with believable visual synthesis that mimicked reality.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rolfe|first1= JM |last2= Staples|first2= KJ |title=Flight Simulation Cambridge Aerospace Series No 1 |date=May 27, 1988 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521357517}}</ref> Combined with the need to pair virtual synthesis with military level training requirements, graphics technologies applied in flight simulation were often years ahead of what would have been available in commercial products. When CGI was first used to train pilots, early systems proved effective for certain simple training missions but needed further development for sophisticated training tasks as terrain following and other tactical maneuvers. Early CGI systems could depict only objects consisting of planar polygons. Advances in algorithms and electronics in flight simulator visual systems and CGI in the 1970s and 1980s influenced many technologies still used in modern graphics. Over time CGI systems were able to superimpose texture over the surfaces and transition from one level of image detail to the next one in a smooth manner.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yan |first=Johnson |date=August 1985 |title=Advances in Computer-Generated Imagery for Flight Simulation |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4056245 |journal=[[IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications]] |volume=5 |issue=8 |pages=37–51 |doi=10.1109/MCG.1985.276213 |s2cid=15309937 |via=|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  Real-time [[computer graphics]] visualization of virtual worlds makes some aspects of flight simulator visual systems very similar to [[game engine]]s, sharing some techniques like [[Level of detail (computer graphics)|different levels of details]] or libraries like [[OpenGL]].{{r|allerton2009|p=343}}  Many computer graphics visionaries began their careers at Evans & Sutherland and Link Flight Simulation, Division of Singer Company, two leading companies in flight simulation before today's modern computing era. For example, the Singer Link Digital Image Generator (DIG) created in 1978 was considered one of the worlds first CGI system.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carlson |first1=Wayne |title=Computer Graphics and Animation: a retrospective review |date=20 June 2017 |url=https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/graphicshistory/chapter/13-2-singer-link/ |page=13.2}}</ref>