Real-time previewing for volume visualization

A new method for volume visualization is proposed with the aim of real-time previewing of 3D scalar fields. Instead of voxels, hierarchically sampled points are used to store scalar values, where each sampled point has a priority value, and the set of points that have higher priority than any particular level are evenly distributed in 3D. In rendering, points are selected by priority level, scalar value, and gradient magnitude. Each selected point is drawn as a simple primitive such as a line(s) or polygon. With this approach, the high performance graphics hardware built into commercial workstations can directly accelerate drawing operations. This enables users to control viewing angle, clipping plane, and scalar values for isosurface in real-time or near real-time. The level of detail can be controlled for each frame to ensure constant time rendering. Also, by enhancing such geometric features as horiaontal and vertical lines on isosurface, viewers can understand the overview 3D shapes with a limited number of primitives.

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