Lisa Avila

Visualizing with VTK: a tutorial

We introduce basic concepts behind the Visualization Toolkit (VTK). An overview of the system, plus some detailed examples, will assist in learning this system. The tutorial targets researchers of any discipline who have 2D or 3D data and want more control over the visualization process than a turn-key system can provide. It also assists developers who would like to incorporate VTK into an application as a visualization or data processing engine.

Integrating segmentation methods from the Insight Toolkit into a visualization application.

The Insight Toolkit (ITK) initiative from the National Library of Medicine has provided a suite of state-of-the-art segmentation and registration algorithms ideally suited to volume visualization and analysis. A volume visualization application that effectively utilizes these algorithms provides many benefits: it allows access to ITK functionality for non-programmers, it creates a vehicle for sharing and comparing segmentation techniques, and it serves as a visual debugger for algorithm developers. This paper describes the integration of image processing functionalities provided by the ITK into VolView, a visualization application for high performance volume rendering. A free version of this visualization application is publicly available and is available in the online version of this paper. The process for developing ITK plugins for VolView according to the publicly available API is described in detail, and an application of ITK VolView plugins to the segmentation of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAAs) is presented. The source code of the ITK plugins is also publicly available and it is included in the online version.

Parallel unstructured volume rendering in ParaView

ParaView is a popular open-source general-purpose scientific visualization application. One of the many visualization tools available within ParaView is the volume rendering of unstructured meshes. Volume rendering is a technique that renders a mesh as a translucent solid, thereby allowing the user to see every point in three-dimensional space simultaneously. Because volume rendering is computationally intensive, ParaView now employs a unique parallel rendering algorithm to speed the processes. The parallel rendering algorithm is very flexible. It works equally well for both volumes and surfaces, and can properly render the intersection of a volume and opaque polygonal surfaces. The parallel rendering algorithm can also render images for tiled displays. In this paper, we explore the implementation of parallel unstructured volume rendering in ParaView.

Augment Your Reality

This article features some of the latest advances and applications in computer graphics technology.

Art in the Digital Age

The genre of “computer art” began in the 1950s, when long exposure photography was used to capture images created by an oscilloscope manipulating electronic waves on a small fluorescent screen. Through the 1960s, most works of computer art were created using plotters and impact printers by the scientists and engineers who had access to emerging computing technology. By the 1970s, artists were learning to program, and some universities began to integrate computers into the fine arts curriculum. The widespread adoption of computers and the availability of off-the-shelf paint programs in the 1980s brought computer art to the masses. At the same time, computer graphics and special effects were beginning their takeover of the entertainment industry through Hollywood films, TV shows, and video games. By the 1990s, the term computer art was fading, and computers were becoming a mainstream part of arts and entertainment.

The Wearable Revolution

Recent advances in smaller, lower-powered processors are fueling both the next generation of fitness products as well as imaginative, fashionable, and entertaining new applications of wearable computing. Wearable devices may truly take off in 2015. This article features some of the latest advances and applications in computer graphics technology.

Advanced Display Technologies

This article features some of the latest advances and applications in computer graphics technology.

High Tech @ Home

Although no one has yet to recreate Rosie from the animated sitcom The Jetsons, now more than half a century later there are some recently released and upcoming products that capture aspects of that highly skilled household robot. Recognizing family members; reminding them of tasks and events; following them through the house with music, movies, and games; and cooking a customized, artistic breakfast for everyone are just some of the features these new products boast. This article features some of the latest advances and applications in household robotics technology.