lThe Conference "Simulation und Visualisierung" (Simulation and Visualization) 2003 is open to everyone with interest for fields of modelling, simulation and visualization (SimVis). The existing research results of SimVis influence the development in the IT area. The goal of the conference is the presentation of new research, innovative application and active discussion between scientists, novice and experienced practitioners as well as providers of SimVis disciplines in general. The associational character for SimVis is in the centre. The conference is open for all application areas of SimVis particularly for new and innovative fields.

Distributed and interoperable systems leads to new requirements for simulation and visualization components. Modularity and standardization are becoming more important, and especially the management of the time dimension is a challenging task. This is emphasized by state-of-the-art standards and architectures, such as the High Level Architecture for Modeling and Simulation (HLA) and the specifications of the Open GIS Consortium.

Manufacturing and logistics are classical application areas of SimVis. These fields are changing permanently and it leads to new requirements for development of new SimVis-technologies. What requirements will be expected in current and future? What are innovative applications?

Education and training are other classical application areas for simulation and visualization. SimVis assists education and training and influences educational and training methods. Are there new requirements imposed on simulation and visualization and what authoring tools are available enabling the instructors to create their own training lessons? What are the practical experiences in using simulation and visualization in education and training?

In computer games SimVis-technologies are used very intensive. Simulation and visualization techniques are applied in computer games and computer game techniques are used in simulation. The applications range from opponent simulation in strategy games to real-time simulation of objects of virtual worlds.

Mobile devices such as handheld computers or mobile phones play an increasing role in all fields of computing. We are looking for innovative approaches to use mobile devices for data and model acquisition, for analysis and presentation of results, and for assisting the user during the whole process of simulation and animation.

The use of simulation and visualization increases in the medical area. This includes simulation of tissues with deformable models, case-based systems for diagnosis support and therapy planning as well as intraoperative visualization. Furthermore the topic contains applications of SimVis for medical education, analysis and visualization of time-varying medical data and basic algorithms for medical visualization and image analysis.

Data- and image-based model generation for simulation and visualization based on existing observable data and images reduces costs and time for creation of models, visualization of results and derivation of input data.

Web-based simulation services apply the idea of Application Service Providing (ASP) for simulation services. Cooperative work on projects, specifications and models is possible. Partners in simulation projects working on different places, with different skills and knowledge and different, inhomogeneous hardware and software equipment. The Web offers a globally available platform for communication and teamwork

Hybrid simulation models are those that combine different techniques within the same model. That refers even to cases where the user model and computational model use different paradigms. Common examples are combined continuous/discrete models and deterministic/stochastic models. The focus is the development or application of efficient simulation algorithms, especially those using hybrid modelling techniques.