Interactive Slice WIM: Navigating and Interrogating Volume Datasets Using a Multi-Surface, Multi-Touch VR Interface
Interactive Slice WIM: Navigating and Interrogating Volume Datasets Using a Multi-Surface, Multi-Touch VR Interface. Dane Coffey, Nicholas Malbraaten, Trung Le, Iman Borazjani, Fotis Sotiropoulos, Arthur G. Erdman, Daniel F. Keefe. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (2012) Volume 18 pp. 1614-1626
We present Interactive Slice WIM, a framework for navigating and interrogating volumetric datasets using an interface enabled by a virtual reality environment made of two display surfaces: an interactive multi-touch table, and a stereoscopic display wall. The framework addresses two current challenges in immersive visualization: (1) providing an appropriate overview+detail style of visualization while navigating through volume data, and (2) supporting interactive querying and data exploration, i.e., interrogating volume data. The approach extends the World-in-Miniature (WIM) metaphor, simultaneously displaying a large-scale detailed data visualization and an interactive miniature. Leveraging the table+wall hardware, horizontal slices are projected (like a shadow) down onto the table surface, providing a useful 2D data overview to complement the 3D views as well as a data context for interpreting 2D multi-touch gestures made on the table. In addition to enabling effective navigation through complex geometries, extensions to the core Slice WIM technique support interacting with a set of multiple slices that persist on the table even as the user navigates around a scene and annotating and measuring data via points, paths, and volumes specified using interactive slices. Applications of the interface to two volume datasets are presented, and design decisions, limitations, and user feedback are discussed.
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