Occlusion reduction and magnification for multidimensional data presentations

• US 7,714,859 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2005
• Issued: 05/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accessify, LLC (Ascend Innovation Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Noregin Assets N.V. LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Baar, David J. P., Shoemaker, Garth B. D., Solehdin, Ali
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu; Xiao M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Guertin; Aaron M
• Application Number:
  US11/214,886
• Publication Number:
  US 20060050091A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,714 Days
• Field of Search: 345/419, 345/420, 345/421, 345/422, 345/424, 345/427, 345/428, 345/619, 345/625, 345/628, 345/660, 345/661, 345/664, 345/666, 345/667, 345/668, 345/670, 345/671, 345/672, 345/682, 345/767, 345/418
• US Class Current: 345/427
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04805 Virtual magnifying lens, i.e. window or frame movable on top of displayed information to enlarge it for better reading or selection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/20 Perspective computation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/40 Hidden part removal
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/20 Finite element generation, e.g. wire-frame surface description, tesselation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/205 Re-meshing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2016 Rotation, translation, scaling

Abstract

A method in a computer system for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in an original image for display on a display screen, the original image being a collection of polygons having polygons defined by three or more shared edges joined at vertex points, the method comprising: establishing a lens for the region-of-interest, the lens having a magnified focal region for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region across which the magnification decreases, the focal and shoulder regions having respective perimeters; subdividing polygons in the collection of polygons proximate to at least one of the perimeters, as projected with the polygons onto a base plane, by inserting one or more additional vertex points and additional edges into the polygons to be subdivided; and, applying the lens to the original image to produce the presentation by displacing the vertex points onto the lens and perspectively projecting the displacing onto a view plane in a direction aligned with a viewpoint for the region-of-interest.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing a viewpoint for an object-of-interest included in an image;

establishing a path between the viewpoint and the object-of-interest;

extruding surface points included on the object-of-interest along the path toward the viewpoint to define a volume, with a computer system that includes one or more processors, that determines a minimum displacement from the path for an object that is intersected by the volume and at least partially occludes the object-of-interest relative to the viewpoint;

displacing the object that is intersected by the volume away from the path based on a transformation function and the minimum displacement, with the computer system, to a location within the image so the object intersected by the volume remains visible and does not occlude the object-of-interest relative to the viewpoint in a presentation; and

displaying the presentation on a display device of the computer system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the displacing further comprises displacing the object intersected by the volume so other objects within the image are not occluded by the object intersected by the volume after displacement.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the displacing is performed so the object-of-interest is not occluded in the presentation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the surface points comprise vertex points for one or more polygons forming the object-of-interest.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the path extends through the image.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

testing whether the object intersected by the volume occludes the object-of-interest; and

increasing the minimum displacement amplitude so an extrusion of the object-of-interest is not occluded by the object intersected by the volume.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a constraint to the object to limit the displacing the object intersected by the volume away from the path.

8. A system comprising:

a computer system, including one or more processors, that is configured to execute instructions that, responsive to being executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to provide;

a module to extrude surface points on an object-of-interest toward a viewpoint to define a volume for determining minimum displacements from a path, between the viewpoint and the object-of-interest, for objects intersected by the volume, the object-of-interest and the objects intersected by the volume being included in an image in which the objects intersected by the volume at least partially occlude the object-of-interest relative to the viewpoint; and

a module to displace the objects intersected by the volume away from the path according to a transformation function and the minimum displacements to locations within the image where the objects that are displaced remain visible and do not occlude the object-of-interest relative to the viewpoint in a presentation.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the objects intersected by the volume remain at least partially visible relative to the viewpoint in the presentation.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the object-of-interest is not occluded relative to the viewpoint in the presentation.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the surface points are vertices of polygons that comprise the object-of-interest.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the path extends through the image.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the image comprises a computer generated image.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the image comprises a three dimensional image.

15. A system as described in claim 12, wherein the module to displace is further configured to displace the objects intersected by the volume so additional objects within the image are not blocked by displacement of the objects intersected by the volume.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a computer system including one or more processors coupled to memory that includes a program of instructions that, responsive to being executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to;

define a volume from surface points on an object-of-interest extruded to a viewpoint, in which the volume determines a minimum displacement for an object intersected by the volume from a path that extends between the viewpoint and the object-of-interest, the object-of-interest and the object intersected by the volume being in an image in which the object intersected by the volume at least partially occludes the object-of-interest relative to the viewpoint; and

generate a presentation for display that has the object intersected by the volume displaced away from the path based on a transformation function and the minimum displacement so the object intersected by the volume and the object-of-interest are visible from the viewpoint in the presentation.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the object-of-interest is not occluded relative to the viewpoint in the presentation.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the path extends through the image.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein displacement of the object intersected by the volume does not occlude other objects in the image.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the image comprises a computer generated image.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the computer generated image comprises a three dimensional image.

22. A method comprising:

extruding surface points included on an object-of-interest to a viewpoint, with a computer system including one or more processors, to define a volume that determines a minimum displacement from a path that is established between the object-of-interest and the viewpoint for an object that is intersected by the volume and occludes the object-of-interest relative to the viewpoint in an image; and

generating a presentation, with the computer system for display on a display device, that includes the object intersected by the volume displaced away from the path based on a transformation function and the minimum displacement so the object intersected by the volume remains visible and does not occlude the object-of-interest relative to the viewpoint.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the object included in the volume does not occlude another object in the image relative to the viewpoint in the presentation.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the image comprises a computer generated image.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the computer generated image comprises a three dimensional image.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the object included in the volume remains visible from the viewpoint in the presentation.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the surface points are vertices of polygons that comprise the object-of-interest.

28. An article of manufacture including a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, responsive to being executed by a computer system including one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:

extruding surface points included on an object-of-interest in an image along a path to a viewpoint to form a volume;

displacing objects, that occlude the object of interest relative to the viewpoint, intersected by the volume in the image away from the path based on a transform function and minimum displacements determined from the volume; and

generating a presentation that includes the objects displaced away from the path so the object-of-interest is not occluded in the presentation and the objects are visible from the viewpoint without blocking additional objects, relative to the viewpoint, in the image that are not displaced.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 28, wherein the surface points comprise vertex points for one or more polygons that form the object-of-interest.

30. The article of manufacture of claim 28, wherein the image comprises a computer generated multidimensional image.