Volume Rendering Simulation in Real-Time

Abstract: Computer graphics is a branch of Computer Science that specializes in the virtual representation of real-life objects in a computer screen. While the past advancements in this field were commonly related to entertaining media industries such as video games and movies, these have found a use in others. For instance, they have provided a visual aid in medical exploration for healthcare and training simulation for military and defense.Ever since their first applications for data visualization, there has been a growth in the development of new technologies, methods and techniques to improve it. Today, among the most leading methods we can find the Volumetric or Volume Rendering techniques. These allow the display of 3-dimensional discretely sampled data in a 2dimensional projection on the screen.This thesis provides a study on volumetric rendering through the implementation of a real-time simulation. It presents the various steps, prior knowledge and research required to program it. By studying the necessary mathematical concepts including noise functions, flow maps and vector fields; an interactive effect can be applied to volumetric data. The result is a randomly behaved volumetric fog. The implementation issues, intricacies and paradigms are reflected upon and explained. The conclusion explores the results while these illustrate what can be accomplished using mathematical and programming notions in the manipulation of graphic data.