Frameless Volume Visualization

We have developed a novel visualization system based on the reconstruction of high resolution and high frame rate images from a multi-tiered stream of samples that are rendered framelessly. This decoupling of the rendering system from the display system is particularly suitable when dealing with very high resolution displays or expensive rendering algorithms, where the latency of generating complete frames may be prohibitively high for interactive applications. In contrast to the traditional frameless rendering technique, we generate the lowest latency samples on the optimal sampling lattice in the 3D domain. This approach avoids many of the artifacts associated with existing sample caching and reprojection methods during interaction that may not be acceptable in many visualization applications. Advanced visualization effects are generated remotely and streamed into the reconstruction system using tiered samples with varying latencies and quality levels. We demonstrate the use of our visualization system for the exploration of volumetric data at stable guaranteed frame rates on high resolution displays, including a 470 megapixel tiled display as part of the Reality Deck immersive visualization facility.