Shrinkwrap: An efficient adaptive algorithm for triangulating an iso-surface

An algorithm is presented which generates a triangular mesh to approximate an iso-surface. It starts with a triangulation of a sphere and next applies a series of deformations to this triangulation to transform it into the required surface. These deformations leave the topology invariant, so the final iso-surface should be homeomorphic with a sphere. The algorithm is adaptive in the sense that the lengths of the sides of the triangles in the mesh vary with the local curvature of the underlying surface. A quantitative analysis of the accuracy of the algorithm is given along with an empirical comparison with earlier algorithms.