GrayCode Octree representation method

This paper addresses the issue ofoctree representation There currently exists a lot of different octree representation methods. We propose a new representation method, the GrayCode. The representation can be used to represent both Octrees and Quadtrees. The GrayCode method stores the octree as a group ofseveral lists, each list representing one level of the octree. In each list we store only non-terminal (Gray) nodes. Each node record contains the node's locational code, and 8 fields containing the average color ofeach of its eight sons. The locational code specifies both the exact location ofthe octant in space and the size ofthe octant. To evaluate the performance of our representation method, we examine our representation based on four criteria: the ability to store a large amount ofdata, the ability to skip detail, compactness, and ease ofprocessing. We experimented with a set of 1 3 sample objects in random orientations. By using analysis and experiments with the random objects, we proved the GrayCode has a veiy good performance in all four criteria. We conclude that the GrayCode has the best overall performance in the octree requirements.