Illustrative Transitions in Molecular Visualization via Forward and Inverse Abstraction Transform

Information

• Publication Type: Conference Paper
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • Visual Computing: Illustrative Visualization
• Date: September 2016
• Organization: Eurographics
• Location: Bergen
• Editor: S. Bruckner, B. Preim, and A. Vilanova
• Booktitle: Eurographics Workshop on Visual Computing for Biology and Medicine (VCBM)
• Pages: 21 – 30
• Keywords: I.3.3 [Computer Graphics]: Picture/Image Generation-Display algorithms

Abstract

A challenging problem in biology is the incompleteness of acquired information when visualizing biological phenomena. Structural biology generates detailed models of viruses or bacteria at different development stages, while the processes that relate one stage to another are often not clear. Similarly, the entire life cycle of a biological entity might be available as a quantitative model, while only one structural model is available. If the relation between two models is specified at a lower level of detail than the actual models themselves, the two models cannot be interpolated correctly. We propose a method that deals with the visualization of incomplete data information in the developmental or evolutionary states of biological mesoscale models, such as viruses or microorganisms. The central tool in our approach is visual abstraction. Instead of directly interpolating between two models that show different states of an organism, we gradually forward transform the models into a level of visual abstraction that matches the level of detail of the modeled relation between them. At this level, the models can be interpolated without conveying false information. After the interpolation to the new state, we apply the inverse transformation to the model’'s original level of abstraction. To show the flexibility of our approach, we demonstrate our method on the basis of molecular data, in particular data of the HIV virion and the mycoplasma bacterium.

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BibTeX

@inproceedings{sorger-2016-fowardabstraction,
  title =      "Illustrative Transitions in Molecular Visualization via
               Forward and Inverse Abstraction Transform",
  author =     "Johannes Sorger and Peter Mindek and Tobias Klein and Graham
               Johnson and Ivan Viola",
  year =       "2016",
  abstract =   "A challenging problem in biology is the incompleteness of
               acquired information when visualizing biological phenomena.
               Structural biology generates detailed models of viruses or
               bacteria at different development stages, while the
               processes that relate one stage to another are often not
               clear. Similarly, the entire life cycle of a biological
               entity might be available as a quantitative model, while
               only one structural model is available. If the relation
               between two models is specified at a lower level of detail
               than the actual models themselves, the two models cannot be
               interpolated correctly. We propose a method that deals with
               the visualization of incomplete data information in the
               developmental or evolutionary states of biological mesoscale
               models, such as viruses or microorganisms. The central tool
               in our approach is visual abstraction. Instead of directly
               interpolating between two models that show different states
               of an organism, we gradually forward transform the models
               into a level of visual abstraction that matches the level of
               detail of the modeled relation between them. At this level,
               the models can be interpolated without conveying false
               information. After the interpolation to the new state, we
               apply the inverse transformation to the model’'s original
               level of abstraction. To show the flexibility of our
               approach, we demonstrate our method on the basis of
               molecular data, in particular data of the HIV virion and the
               mycoplasma bacterium.",
  month =      sep,
  organization = "Eurographics",
  location =   "Bergen",
  editor =     "S. Bruckner, B. Preim, and A. Vilanova",
  booktitle =  "Eurographics Workshop on Visual Computing for Biology and
               Medicine (VCBM)",
  pages =      "21--30",
  keywords =   "I.3.3 [Computer Graphics]: Picture/Image Generation-Display
               algorithms",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2016/sorger-2016-fowardabstraction/",
}