Visualizing Particle-Based Simulation Datasets on the Desktop
Steven D. Gribble, Abraham J. Stephens, James Guilkey, Steven G. Parker · 2006
We present an approach to rendering large, time-varying particle-based simulation datasets using programmable graphics hardware on desktop computer systems. Particle methods are used to model a wide range of complex phenomena, and effective visualization of the resulting data requires communicating subtle changes in the three-dimensional structure, spatial organization, and qualitative trends within a simulation as it evolves, as well as allowing easier navigation and exploration of the data through interactivity. We highlight the critical components of our approach, and introduce an extension to the coherent hierarchical culling algorithm that often improves temporal coherence and leads to better average performance for time-varying datasets. Our approach performs competitively with current particle visualization systems based on interactive ray tracing that require tightly coupled supercomputers. Moreover, our system runs on hardware that is a fraction of the cost of these systems, making particle visualization and data exploration more accessible. We thus advance the current state-of-the-art by bringing visualization of particle-based simulation datasets to the desktop. Key words: particle-based simulation, particle visualization, interactive rendering, occlusion algorithms 1.