Computing Minimal Distances on Arbitrary Polyhedral Surfaces
Eric L. Schwartz · 1987
We have implemented an algorithm that makes iterative use of the law of cosines to find all the minimal (geodesic) distances in an arbi- trary (that is, non-convex) three-dimensional polyhedral surface.The algorithm is intrinsically parallel, inasmuch as it deals with all nodes simultaneously.It has let us obtain very satisfactory flattening of biolog- ical (monkey visual cortex) surfaces consisting of several thousand tri- angular faces, by providing a full characterization of the distance geometry of these surfaces.