State of the Art in Computer Graphics

Many visual analysis systems have been created to enhance understanding of computer simulations of complex phenomena. Several visualization techniques have emerged as favorites for analysis of fluid dynamics: function-mapped surfaces, function-mapped cutting planes, and isosurfaces are widely used for viewing scalar values. The favorites for analysis of vector fields are particle traces and topology extractions. Algorithms used for these techniques are given. The major limitations of current visualization systems are the relatively low bandwidth of information from the workstation to the human, the inability to view or modify the accuracy of the rendering, the inability to match the human cognitive capabilities, and the ineffectiveness of the interactive controls for 3D viewing or manipulating 3D objects. Current research outlined in this paper indicates that these limitations are being overcome. Present trends are for an order of magnitude improvement in visualization capabilities each four years. Those wishing to create visualization software in the future are encouraged to design for the high-performance visualization hardware expected to be the norm in a few years, to make their systems fully 3D and interactive, to use pseudostandards such as Motif and Open GL, and to design scenes to match the human cognitive capabilities. Within a few years, the new visualization systems will make our current visualization systems as obsolete as computer punched cards.

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