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Numerical visualization by rapid isosurface extractions using 3D span spaces

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Abstract

In this paper, we focus on visualization of a 3D scalar field composed of volume data by means of semi-transparent multiple isosurface extraction. A new method for displaying semi-transparent multiple isosurfaces will be proposed to fulfill real-time rendering of scalar fields. The proposed method is considered to be an extension of ISSUE, which is a known algorithm to quickly generate isosurfaces. ISSUE uses a 2D span space, where minimum values of computational cells are assigned to the horizontal axis, and maximum values of cells are assigned to the vertical axis. In the proposed algorithm, computational cells are placed onto a 3D span space. The third axis is the distance from the viewpoint. The proposed algorithm can quickly search for the cells intersecting with isosurfaces using the span space in back-to-front order and can realize representation of semi-transparent multiple isosurfaces.

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Miku Hirano: She received her B.Sc .(Science) in Information Science in 2006 from Ochanomizu University. She is a student in the Department of Environmental & Ocean Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo since 2006. Her research interests are Complex Network Analysis and Scientific and Information Visualization.

Takayuki Itoh: He received his M.Sc. (Eng) in 1992 from Waseda University. He also received his Ph.D in 1997 from Waseda University. He worked in IBM Research, Tokyo Research Laboratory as a research staff member. He works in Department of Information Sciences, Ochanomizu University as an Associate Professor since 2005. His research interests are in the area of Geometric Modeling, Computer Graphics, CAD/CAE, Scientific and Information Visualization, Web Services, and XML Security.

Susumu Shirayama: He received his M.Sc .(Eng) in Aeronautics in 1984 from University of Tokyo. He also received his Ph.D. in Aeronautics in 1987 from University of Tokyo. He worked in Institute of Computational Fluid Dynamics and Softek Systems Inc. as a director. He works in Reserch into Artifacts, Center for Engineering, University of Tokyo as an associate professor since 2002. His research interests are Intelligent Visualization, Complex Network Analysis, Digital Content Creation.

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Hirano, M., Itoh, T. & Shirayama, S. Numerical visualization by rapid isosurface extractions using 3D span spaces. J Vis 11, 189–196 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03181706

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03181706

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