Multi-dimensional transfer function design based on flexible dimension projection embedded in parallel coordinates

Abstract

In this paper, we present an effective transfer function (TF) design for multivariate volume, providing tightly coupled views of parallel coordinates plot (PCP), MDS-based dimension projection plots, and volume rendered image space. In our design, the PCP showing the data distribution of each variate dimension and the MDS showing reduced dimensional features are integrated seamlessly to provide flexible feature classification for the user without context switching between different data presentations. Our proposed interface enables users to identify interested clusters and assign optical properties with lassos, magic wand and other tools. Furthermore, sketching directly on the volume rendered images has been implemented to probe and edit features. To achieve interactivity, octree partitioning with Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), and other data reduction techniques are applied. Our experiments show that the proposed method is effective for multidimensional TF design and data exploration.