Institute for Data Analysis and Visualization

In this paper we present a novel visualization technique - kinetic visualization- that uses motion along a surface to aid in the perception of 3D shape and structure of static objects. The method uses particle systems, with rules such that particles flow over the surface of an object to not only bring out, but also attract attention to information on a shape that might not be readily visible with a conventional rendering method which uses lighting and view changes. Replacing still images with animations in this fashion, we demonstrate with both surface and volumetric models in the accompanying videos that in many cases the resulting visualizations effectively enhance the perception of three-dimensional shape and structure. We also describe how for both types of data a texture-based representation of this motion be rendered using PC graphics hardware for interactive visualization. Finally, the results of a user study that we have conducted is presented, which show evidence that the supplemental motion cues can be helpful.