United States Patent
US Patent 6489961: Rasterization of lines in a cylindrical voxel grid
US 6489961 · granted 2002-12-03
Abstract
In a cylindrical coordinate system, the dominant direction of a line changes in a predictable manner. A rasterizer uses this fact to efficiently render a desired line on a volumetric display. It does do by determining whether first and second points on the desired line are on first and second constituent line-segments of the desired line, the first and second constituent line-segments having different dominant directions. On the basis of the determination, the rasterizer renders a second voxel representative of the second point on the desired line by incrementally proceeding from a first voxel representative of the first point. The location of the second voxel is selected to minimize a distance between that second voxel and the desired line.
| Patent Number | 6489961 |
|---|---|
| Title | Rasterization of lines in a cylindrical voxel grid |
| Filed | 2000-10-17 |
| Granted | 2002-12-03 |
| Inventor(s) | Baxter, III; William V., Giovinco; Michael G. |
| Assignee | Actuality Systems, Inc. |
| Number of Claims | 43 |
Abstract
In a cylindrical coordinate system, the dominant direction of a line changes in a predictable manner. A rasterizer uses this fact to efficiently render a desired line on a volumetric display. It does do by determining whether first and second points on the desired line are on first and second constituent line-segments of the desired line, the first and second constituent line-segments having different dominant directions. On the basis of the determination, the rasterizer renders a second voxel representative of the second point on the desired line by incrementally proceeding from a first voxel representative of the first point. The location of the second voxel is selected to minimize a distance between that second voxel and the desired line.
Claim 1
A method for rendering, on a volumetric display having a plurality of voxels, a rasterized line that approximates adesired line, said method comprising: rendering, on said volumetric display, a first voxel from said plurality of voxels, the first voxel being representative of a first point from said desired line, said first point being selected from a firstconstituent line-segment of said desired line, said first constituent line-segment having a first dominant direction; selecting a second point from said desired line; if said second point is on a second constituent line-segment of said desired line,said second constituent line-segment having a second dominant direction different from said first dominant direction, rendering a second voxel from said plurality of voxels, said second voxel being representative of said second point on said desired lineand having a location that minimizes a distance between said second voxel and said second point on said desired line.
Claims
43 totalA method for rendering, on a volumetric display having a plurality of voxels, a rasterized line that approximates adesired line, said method comprising: rendering, on said volumetric display, a first voxel from said plurality of voxels, the first voxel being representative of a first point from said desired line, said first point being selected from a firstconstituent line-segment of said desired line, said first constituent line-segment having a first dominant direction; selecting a second point from said desired line; if said second point is on a second constituent line-segment of said desired line,said second constituent line-segment having a second dominant direction different from said first dominant direction, rendering a second voxel from said plurality of voxels, said second voxel being representative of said second point on said desired lineand having a location that minimizes a distance between said second voxel and said second point on said desired line.