Issues on Displaying 3D Data for Scientific Visualization Thomas Theußl theussl@cg.tuwien.ac.at Institute of Computer Graphics Vienna University of Technology Vienna, Austria

Abstract

Scientific visualization often deals with three-dimensional data. Either the data is inherently three-dimensional, e.g., flow simulation data or medical data, or 3D is chosen as the biggest reasonable projection space for high-dimensional data, e.g., dynamical systems or databases. Since conventional displays usually are two-dimensional, this data has to be transformed to two dimensions which leads to information loss. Objects in front occlude others lying behind them, lines appear to coalesce into a unified solid surface of indeterminate depth. This paper gives a short overview of some approaches which try to enhance the spatial impression of three-dimensional data displayed as two-dimensional pictures.

Keywords: perception, visualization, line shading, transparent surfaces