Visualization - the visual representation of information through images - is vital in a broad range of scientific and medical applications. A good visualization conveys the essential information in a complex dataset clearly and effectively, emphasizing important features and minimizing extraneous detail. The usefulness of a particular visualization technique can be quantified in terms of the extent to which it improves task performance for a given application. This makes it possible to compare different methods or to pick optimal parameter values for a given method. The process of designing an effective visualization, however, remains for the most part a black art, terribly ad hoc, largely guided by intuition. The PI's research is a quest for a deeper understanding of the science behind this art, guided by theoretical and experimental insights from human visual perception. This can be used to enhance all computer interfaces that use elements studied here.
Specifically, the focus of the research is to investigate perceptually-based methods for more effectively conveying the three-dimensional shape and relative depth of smoothly curving surfaces in scientific datasets. Key applications for this work include the visualization of superimposed isovalue surfaces in 3D scalar fields, and the combined visualization of external and internal structures in medicine and CAD. The investigator will begin by using controlled observer experiments to thoroughly evaluate texture as a device for enhancing the perception of shape. This will identify and quantify the key aspects of texture in interface design. The investigator will also pursue the automatic generation of non-photorealistic, pen-and-ink style representations of arbitrary polygonally-defined objects for interactive applications. The advantage of such techniques is that some datasets need to be represented in a more subtly indicative style than traditional graphics renderings. Complementing the research component of this project is an educational component, directed at both undergraduate and graduate students, aimed at inspiring interest and fostering creativity through hands-on experiences in visualization.
