Generation of Seamless Transitions Between 2D and 3D Geometries

Abstract: There is a big gap between 2D and 3D visualization in modern computer generated graphics. It is common to see that visual representations focus either on 2D visualization (e.g. contact lists, maps, text readers, etc.) or on 3D visualization (e.g. videogames, scientific simulations, datavisualization, etc.). Such heavy use of single-oriented visualizations motivated the focus on hybrid interfaces that merged the advantages of both 2D and 3D visualizations. In order to make the gap between 2D and 3D less noticeable, smooth transitions are needed. For a transition between 2D and 3D to be smooth there should not be considerably big structural changes in the transitions. This can be accomplished if a coherent correlation exists between the 2D image and the 3D representation. The main goal of this project is to find coherent correlations between a 2D image and a 3D mesh, which is the most common way of representing a 3D object. The correlation will be interpreted as a matching between corners in the image and vertices in the mesh. To be able to manage transitions of large input data in a feasible amount of time, approximate methods have to be used. That is why meta-heuristics were used in the search of optimal correlations. Keywords: Computer Graphics, Transition, Two Dimensions, Three Dimensions, Metaheuristics, Simulated Annealing, Iterated Local Search, Matching