Perspective by the numbers (with Excel)

If you've ever wondered what it might be like to draw perspective pictures using coordinates and linear algebra, this video might be the one for you. 

This 21-minute video was made by mathematician Ray Beaulieu from Sul Ross State University (but now working for the government), as a follow-up to a summer Viewpoints workshop.  He wanted to let other workshop participants know what he'd done during the rest of the summer . . . and what he'd done knocked our socks off.

Using Excel to draw (and rotate) 3-d objects in perspective

The video starts with a simple-yet-engaging discussion of Euler's famous solution (or rather, non-solution) to the Bridges of Koenigsberg.  From there, it moves into drawing simple objects with Excel, using graph theory to connect points of a scatterplot. 

But wait!  There's more.  Because we can multiply matrices in Excel, we can move objects around . . . and Beaulieu does that.  And more.  The video is worth watching if you like computation and graphics.

A note for the experts in the field:  Beaulieu uses standard Euclidean coordinates, not homogeneous coordinates.  So this material is highly suitable for a standard Linear Algebra course, which is in fact how Beaulieu used it.