Feature-Preserving Mesh Simplification: A Greedy Vertex Cover

In computer graphics rendering algorithms like ray tracing, the complexity of meshes decreases the performance of these algorithms. Therefore, the need arises for reduced mesh complexity with considerably good quality and at the same time preserving the salient features of the shape. Mesh simplification problem in some cases can be considered as an initial value problem where the quality of the simplified mesh heavily depends on the initial selection of vertices for contraction. In this short paper, we present an ongoing work in mesh simplification that uses a greedy algorithm for vertex cover problem in order to select vertex contraction pairs to preserve salient features in the simplified mesh. Initial experiments show promising results with preserved salient features.