Explorable images for visualizing volume data

Anna Tikhonova, Carlos D. Correa, Kwan-Liu Ma
2010 2010 IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium (PacificVis)  
We present a system for automatically extracting layers from single-view 2D images of the same 3D data set and creating an interactive and compact image-based representation of that data set. This representation is an interactive multi-layered image, or an explorable image, which enables exploration of volume data in transfer function space without accessing the original 3D data. We achieve this by automatically extracting layers depicted in composited images. The layers can then be recombined
more » ... n different ways to simulate opacity changes and recoloring of individual features. Our results demonstrate that explorable images are especially useful when the data set of interest is too large for interactive exploration using 3D software, takes too long to render, or if the original 3D data is not available. Our technique can be used to provide realtime image-based interaction as a preview mechanism for remote visualization and rendering of large data sets on low-end hardware, within a mobile device, or a Web browser.
doi:10.1109/pacificvis.2010.5429595 dblp:conf/apvis/TikhonovaCM10 fatcat:hvl32i3euzfj5dfsdekqbafg54