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Semantic Layers for Illustrative Volume Rendering

P. Rautek, S. Bruckner, and M. E. Gröller

Abstract

Direct volume rendering techniques map volumetric attributes (e.g., density, gradient magnitude, etc.) to visual styles. Commonly this mapping is specified by a transfer function. The specification of transfer functions is a complex task and requires expert knowledge about the underlying rendering technique. In the case of multiple volumetric attributes and multiple visual styles the specification of the multi-dimensional transfer function becomes more challenging and non-intuitive. We present a novel methodology for the specification of a mapping from several volumetric attributes to multiple illustrative visual styles. We introduce semantic layers that allow a domain expert to specify the mapping in the natural language of the domain. A semantic layer defines the mapping of volumetric attributes to one visual style. Volumetric attributes and visual styles are represented as fuzzy sets. The mapping is specified by rules that are evaluated with fuzzy logic arithmetics. The user specifies the fuzzy sets and the rules without special knowledge about the underlying rendering technique. Semantic layers allow for a linguistic specification of the mapping from attributes to visual styles replacing the traditional transfer function specification.

P. Rautek, S. Bruckner, and M. E. Gröller, "Semantic Layers for Illustrative Volume Rendering," IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 13, iss. 6, p. 1336–1343, 2007. doi:10.1109/TVCG.2007.70591
[BibTeX]

Direct volume rendering techniques map volumetric attributes (e.g., density, gradient magnitude, etc.) to visual styles. Commonly this mapping is specified by a transfer function. The specification of transfer functions is a complex task and requires expert knowledge about the underlying rendering technique. In the case of multiple volumetric attributes and multiple visual styles the specification of the multi-dimensional transfer function becomes more challenging and non-intuitive. We present a novel methodology for the specification of a mapping from several volumetric attributes to multiple illustrative visual styles. We introduce semantic layers that allow a domain expert to specify the mapping in the natural language of the domain. A semantic layer defines the mapping of volumetric attributes to one visual style. Volumetric attributes and visual styles are represented as fuzzy sets. The mapping is specified by rules that are evaluated with fuzzy logic arithmetics. The user specifies the fuzzy sets and the rules without special knowledge about the underlying rendering technique. Semantic layers allow for a linguistic specification of the mapping from attributes to visual styles replacing the traditional transfer function specification.
@ARTICLE {Rautek-2007-SLI,
author = "Peter Rautek and Stefan Bruckner and Meister Eduard Gr{\"o}ller",
title = "Semantic Layers for Illustrative Volume Rendering",
journal = "IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics",
year = "2007",
volume = "13",
number = "6",
pages = "1336--1343",
month = "oct",
abstract = "Direct volume rendering techniques map volumetric attributes (e.g.,  density, gradient magnitude, etc.) to visual styles. Commonly this  mapping is specified by a transfer function. The specification of  transfer functions is a complex task and requires expert knowledge  about the underlying rendering technique. In the case of multiple  volumetric attributes and multiple visual styles the specification  of the multi-dimensional transfer function becomes more challenging  and non-intuitive. We present a novel methodology for the specification  of a mapping from several volumetric attributes to multiple illustrative  visual styles. We introduce semantic layers that allow a domain expert  to specify the mapping in the natural language of the domain. A semantic  layer defines the mapping of volumetric attributes to one visual  style. Volumetric attributes and visual styles are represented as  fuzzy sets. The mapping is specified by rules that are evaluated  with fuzzy logic arithmetics. The user specifies the fuzzy sets and  the rules without special knowledge about the underlying rendering  technique. Semantic layers allow for a linguistic specification of  the mapping from attributes to visual styles replacing the traditional  transfer function specification.",
pdf = "pdfs/Rautek-2007-SLI.pdf",
images = "images/Rautek-2007-SLI.jpg",
thumbnails = "images/Rautek-2007-SLI.png",
youtube = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c91m6ru5m0g",
affiliation = "tuwien",
doi = "10.1109/TVCG.2007.70591",
event = "IEEE Visualization 2007",
keywords = "focus+context techniques, volume visualization, illustrative visualization",
location = "Sacramento, California, USA",
url = "//www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2007/Rautek-2007-SLI/"
}
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