Fast dynamic flow volume rendering using textured splats on modern graphics hardware

Dynamic flow volume rendering of three-dimensional vector fields offers better insights into the continuum and dynamics of the data field under investigation. Consumer graphics cards have seen a rapid explosion of performance and capabilities over the past few years. This paper explores the development of the Textured Splats algorithm for direct flow volume rendering of vector fields, that utilizes this new hardware. This paper presents the technique using new hardware that supports vertex programs, OpenGL multi-textures and register combiner extensions to implement fast dynamic flow volume rendering on a PC. Several anisotropic textured splats are investigated to implement flow volume rendering.