Verifiable Visualization for Isosurface Extraction

• Published in: IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics Vol. 15; no. 6; pp. 1227 - 1234
• Main Authors: Etiene, T., Scheidegger, C., Nonato, L.G., Kirby, R.M., Silva, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01-11-2009; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Computational modeling; Confidence; Convergence; Data mining; Data visualization; Extraction; Heart; Isosurface Extraction; Isosurfaces; Marching Cubes; Mathematical model; Numerical simulation; Pipelines; Readers; Representations; Scientific computing; V&V; Verification; Visual; Visualization
• ISSN: 1077-2626; 1941-0506
• DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2009.194

Visual representations of isosurfaces are ubiquitous in the scientific and engineering literature. In this paper, we present techniques to assess the behavior of isosurface extraction codes. Where applicable, these techniques allow us to distinguish whether anomalies in isosurface features can be attributed to the underlying physical process or to artifacts from the extraction process. Such scientific scrutiny is at the heart of verifiable visualization - subjecting visualization algorithms to the same verification process that is used in other components of the scientific pipeline. More concretely, we derive formulas for the expected order of accuracy (or convergence rate) of several isosurface features, and compare them to experimentally observed results in the selected codes. This technique is practical: in two cases, it exposed actual problems in implementations. We provide the reader with the range of responses they can expect to encounter with isosurface techniques, both under ldquonormal operating conditionsrdquo and also under adverse conditions. Armed with this information - the results of the verification process - practitioners can judiciously select the isosurface extraction technique appropriate for their problem of interest, and have confidence in its behavior.