GVU Technical Report Number:
GIT-GVU-97-07
Title:
An Integrated Global GIS and Visual Simulation System
Authors:
Peter Lindstrom
David Koller
WIlliam Ribarsky
Larry F. Hodges
Augusto Op den Bosch
Nick Faust
Abstract:
This paper reports on an integrated visual simulation system supporting
visualization of global multiresolution terrain elevation and imagery data,
static and dynamic 3D objects with multiple levels of detail, non-protrusive
features such as roads and rivers, distributed simulation and real-time
sensor input, and an embedded geographic information system. The
requirements of real-time rendering, very large datasets, and heterogeneous
detail management strongly affect the structure of this system. Use of
hierarchical spatial data structures and multiple coordinate systems allow
for visualization and manipulation of huge terrain datasets spanning the
entire surface of the Earth at resolutions well below one meter. The
multithreaded nature of the system supports multiple windows with
independent, stereoscopic views. The system is portable, built on OpenGL,
POSIX threads, and X11/Motif windowed interface. It has been tested and
evaluated in the field with a variety of terrain data, updates due to
real-time sensor input, and display of networked DIS simulations.
Keywords:
Global visualization, geographic information systems, distributed
interactive simulation, terrain rendering, level of detail, geometric
modeling, real-time graphics, multithreading
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