Abstract:

In volume graphics, objects are represented as 3-dimensional arrays of sampled data elements. Unlike surface-based graphics, where the surfaces of graphical objects are represented by contiguous 2D polygons or curved spline patches, volumetric models can represent both object surfaces and object interiors. A volumetric object representation is necessary for visualizing complex internal structure and for physically accurate modeling of interactions between solid objects with arbitrary shape and material composition. In this paper, algorithms for manipulating volumetric objects are presented. These algorithms use a linked-element object representation for efficient implementation. Implementation details are presented along with the results of tests for algorithm timing and efficacy.