Detail-in-Context Lens Graduated Transparency Urban Visualization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Computer graphics systems fail to effectively display detailed information for selected graphic objects within the context of a larger image, leading to the 'screen real estate problem', where users lose sight of the object's context while interacting with it, and existing occlusion resolution methods in urban landscapes cause disorientation and high computational costs.
Innovation Solution
A method applying graduated transparency to the original image to reduce occlusion, allowing the region-of-interest to be displayed with maximum transparency at its depth and a decreasing transparency in the surrounding shoulder region, using a detail-in-context lens approach that preserves context and reduces occlusion efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a user accesses detailed information for a selected object through a GUI, then the user can examine the object closely, but the user loses sight of the object's context in the larger image
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a lens that displays a detailed view of a selected object nested within the broader context image. The lens acts as a window showing magnified details while the surrounding area maintains the original contextual view, allowing users to examine object details without losing spatial orientation in the larger image.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a third visual dimension by overlaying a translucent lens on top of the 2D image. This lens creates a layered display where detailed information is presented in a semi-transparent overlay, adding depth to the visualization and allowing simultaneous viewing of both detailed and contextual information.
2Loss of information
If 3D lens approaches or building height adjustments are used for occlusion resolution, then occluded buildings become visible, but user orientation is disrupted and computational cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies graduated transparency as a visual parameter change to resolve occlusion. Instead of physically moving or altering building geometries, the system modifies the transparency parameter of occluding buildings, allowing users to see through them to occluded regions while maintaining the original 3D scene structure and reducing computational requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces transparency as an intermediary mechanism between the user and occluded objects. Rather than directly manipulating building positions or heights, the transparency parameter acts as a mediator that allows visual access to occluded regions while preserving the integrity of the original scene geometry and reducing computational complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
According to certain embodiments of the present invention, a graphical presentation is generated from a data representation. A lens is applied to reveal a region-of-interest occluded by an occluding portion of an image. The lens includes an extent of the lens, a focal region including a magnification and a transparency to reduce occlusion of the region-of-interest by the occluding portion, and a shoulder region between the extent of the lens and the focal region. The shoulder region provides context for the focal region with respect to a portion of the image outside of the extent of the lens by preserving visibility of information surrounding the focal region. The shoulder region also has decreasing transparency as depth decreases from the focal region to the portion of the image outside of the extent of the lens.