Multiresolution representation and visualization of volume data

A system to represent and visualize scalar volume data at multiple resolution is presented. The system is built on a multiresolution model based on tetrahedral meshes with scattered vertices that can be obtained from any initial dataset. The model is built o -line through data simpli cation techniques, and stored in a compact data structure that supports fast on-line access. The system supports interactive visualization of a representation at an arbitrary level of resolution through isosurface and projective methods. The user can interactively adapt the quality of visualization to requirements of a speci c application task, and to the performance of a speci c hardware platform. Representations at di erent resolutions can be used together to enhance further interaction and performance through progressive and multiresolution rendering.