IEEE VIS Publication Dataset

Controlled experiments with novice treemap users and real data highlight the strengths of treemaps and provide direction for improvement. Issues discussed include experimental results, layout algorithms, nesting offsets, labeling, animation, and small multiple displays. Treemaps prove to be a potent tool for hierarchy display. The principles discussed are applicable to many information visualization situations

Discusses the ways in which the understanding of visual perception could help improve the scientific visualization process. It is argued that as long as there is a human interface link to computer visualization systems, understanding how humans perceive information visually could help improve the quality and the effectiveness of the visualization process. The fields of visual physiology, psychophysics, and cognitive psychology can explain why human vision is so efficient, how to create better images, and how to determine the limitations of particular representations

Various techniques are described for achieving interactive direct volume rendering of nonrectilinear data sets using fast projection (splatting) methods. The use of graphics hardware, rendering approximations, parallelization and reduced resolution meshes are discussed. Results from the use of these techniques are presented in the form of color photos and comparative timings

The implementation of truly interactive volume visualization and terrain rendering algorithms on the Princeton Engine (PE) video supercomputer is described. The PE is a single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD) computer. Since it was originally developed as a real-time digital television system simulator, it possesses many of the attributes necessary for interactive visualization: high-resolution displays, high-bandwidth I/O, supercomputer class computational performance, and a local memory array large enough to store multiple Landsat scenes and data volumes. It is shown that it is possible to generate truly interactive terrain rendering and volume visualization by computing images in real-time, at multiple frames/second

A technique is given allowing interactive visualization of large, scalar, discrete volume fields as semitransparent clouds `on the fly', i.e. without preprocessing. Interactivity is not restricted to geometric transformations, but includes all possible methods of processing the data. The system flexibly trades-off quality for performance at any desirable level. In particular, by using a scanline based method and a DDA-based traversing scheme instead of ray-tracing one achieves real-time processing during previewing. By means of the `pyramidal volume' traversing technique, one achieves high-quality, constant-time filtering, independent of the data resolution. Several filters help to detect `fuzzy', obscured hot spots, even within noisy data. The visualization pipeline allows the application of filters at four different stages, maximizing their flexibility. Four different illumination models have been implemented

Techniques that manipulate logical time in order to produce coherent animations of parallel program behavior despite the presence of asynchrony are presented. The techniques interpret program behavior in light of user-defined abstractions and generate animations based on a logical, rather than a physical, view of time. If this interpretation succeeds, the resulting animation is easily understood. If it fails, the programmer can be assured that the failure was not an artifact of the visualization. It is shown that these techniques can be generally applied to enhance visualizations of a variety of types of data as they are produced by parallel, MIMD (multiple instruction stream, multiple data stream) computations

Experiences during the investigation of parallel methods for faster isosurface generation on SIMD (single instruction stream, multiple data stream) machines are described. A sequential version of a well-known isosurfacing algorithm is algorithmically enhanced for a particular type of SIMD architecture. The SIMD implementation takes full advantage of the data parallel nature of the algorithm, and experiments have proven the implementation to be highly scalable. A parallel tool, which can generate 170 K polygons/s, gives scientists the means to explore large 3D scalar or vector fields interactively

Work in progress at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) involving the implementation of network clients and servers to provide networkwide access to video devices is described. Applications anywhere on the net can manage record and playback operations, change video signal routing, or adjust scan converter parameters. Details of network communications, protocols, and device-specific control quirks are invisible to the user, making the video equipment a true network resource

Discusses the breadth and the effectiveness of application visualization systems (AVSs). The current and future research areas involving AVSs, drawbacks and limitations of certain application areas, possible improvements to AVSs, and alternative analysis and visualization approaches are discussed

An algorithm that attempts to improve a triangulation by shifting the vertices so that curvature within the triangles is nearly equal is presented. Unnecessary triangles are removed. The method is an effective way of guaranteeing that the triangle vertices are points of higher curvature, and that the triangle edges correspond to distinctive edges on the surfaces. Triangulations of surfaces with constant curvature-and hence no distinctive features-will gain nothing from this or any other optimization algorithm. As demonstrated by the results, the techinque of moving triangle vertices can improve some triangulation models. Greatest improvements occur with surfaces characterized by sharp edges, such as the pyramid and ridge models. Less improvement occurs on models that already approximate the surface topology and/or have less distinctive features

Discusses efforts to develop virtual environment (VE) systems. The applications discussed are medical telesurgery, maintenance access, presence simulators, accounting visualizations, topographic visualizations and tools to assist developers in determining the value added of potential VE-based solutions

Surface-particles are very small facets, modeled as points with a normal. They can be used to visualize flow in several ways by variation of the properties of the particle sources. A method is presented for the rendering of surface-particles. This method includes an improved shading model, the use of Gaussian filters for the prevention of spatial and temporal artifacts, an efficient scan-conversion algorithm, the handling of occlusion and the simultaneous rendering of geometric objects and surface-particles. The synthesis of images with limited depth of field is described, which literally allows the scientist to focus on areas of interest

The binary space partitioning tree is a method of converting a discrete space representation to a particular continuous space representation. The conversion is accomplished using standard discrete space operators developed for edge detection, followed by a Hough transform to generate candidate hyperplanes that are used to construct the partitioning tree. The result is a segmented and compressed image represented in continuous space suitable for elementary computer vision operations and improved image transmission/storage. Examples of 256×256 medical images for which the compression is estimated to range between 1 and 0.5 b/pixel are given

It is suggested that many existing platforms over emphasize ease-of-use and do not adequately address issues of extensibility. A visualization testbed, called SuperGlue, which is particularly suited for the rapid development of new visualization methods, was built. An interpreter supports rapid development of new code, and an extensive class hierarchy encourages code reuse. By explicitly designing for ease of programming, it was possible to produce a visualization system which is powerful, easy to use, and rapidly improving. The motivation of the work, the architecture of the system, and plans for further development are reported

In the automotive industry, it is highly important that the exterior body panels be esthetically pleasing. One aspect of creating esthetically pleasing surfaces is to require that they be fair. A system that has proven useful for diagnosis of surface fairness problems is presented. How to choose a set of colors with perceptually uniform spacing is described, and the usefulness of a logarithmic scale for relating curvature to colors is shown

Discusses issues relating to the state of the art in scientific data management. Management of scientific data sets or databases is reviewed. The generic science requirements, as well as a case example that drives the underlying data management system architecture are explored, showing current technology limitations. A concept of intelligent information fusion with sufficient detail on how to integrate advanced technologies to enhance scientific production, is presented. Emphasis is on user interfaces, spatial data structure, uses of neural networks for extracting information from scientific imagery, uses of object-oriented database management systems, animation, and visualization techniques

Issues involved in operating a sophisticated scientific instrument as a computer peripheral accessible over a high-speed network are studied. A custom interactive visualization application was constructed to support investigation using a unique computer-controlled high-voltage electron microscope. The researcher's workstation forms the visible third of a triumvirate, along with the instrument and the compute resource. The software was designed to support not only image acquisition, but also many of the tasks that microscope researchers perform in analyzing images. The result of this case study is the identification of some of the issues regarding interacting with scientific instrumentation over high-speed networks and the construction of custom applications to support many of the tasks within a laboratory's research methodology

Data flow visual language systems are being used to provide sophisticated environments for the visualization of scientific data. These systems are evolving rapidly and are beginning to encompass related technologies such as distributed computing and user interface development systems. A hierarchical classification of the components and issues involved is presented, giving an understanding of the design decisions and trade-offs that the developers of these systems are making. The component categories can be used as a framework for discussing where interoperability of competing visual programming environments might occur and what the future holds for these systems

The VolVis system has been developed to satisfy the diverse requirements of the volume visualization community by comfortably housing numerous visualization algorithms and methods within a consistent and well organized framework. The VolVis system is supported by a generalized abstract model which provides for both geometric and volumetric constructs. VolVis contains several rendering algorithms that span the speed versus accuracy continuum. A fast volume rendering algorithm has been developed, which is capable of exploiting existing graphics hardware without placing any viewing restrictions or compromising accuracy. In addition, VolVis includes a volumetric navigation facility, key-frame animation generator, quantitative analysis tools, and a generalized protocol for communicating with 3D input devices

A technique is given for computer visualization of simultaneous three-dimensional vector and scalar fields such as velocity and temperature in reacting fluid flow fields. The technique, which is called Virtual Smoke, simulates the use of colored smoke for experimental gaseous fluid flow visualization. However, it is noninvasive and can animate, in particular, the dynamic behaviors of steady-state or instantaneous flow fields obtained from numerical simulations. Virtual Smoke is based on volume seeds and volume seedlings, which are direct volume visualization methods previously developed for highly interactive scalar volume data exploration. Data from combustion simulations are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of Virtual Smoke