Residency Octree: a hybrid approach for scalable web-based multi-volume rendering

Information

• Publication Type: Journal Paper with Conference Talk
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • Visualization Group
• Date: January 2024
• Journal: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
• Volume: 30
• Open Access: yes
• Number: 1
• Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• Lecturer: Lukas Herzberger
• ISSN: 1941-0506
• Event: IEEE VIS 2023
• DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2023.3327193
• Pages: 11
• Publisher: IEEE
• Conference date: 22. October 2023 – 27. October 2023
• Pages: 1380 – 1390
• Keywords: Rendering (computer graphics), Octrees, Spatial resolution, Graphics processing units, Data visualization, Optimization, Standards, Volume rendering, Ray-guided rendering, Large-scale data, Out-of-core rendering, Multi-resolution, Multi-channel, Web-Based Visualization

Abstract

We present a hybrid multi-volume rendering approach based on a novel Residency Octree that combines the advantages of out-of-core volume rendering using page tables with those of standard octrees. Octree approaches work by performing hierarchical tree traversal. However, in octree volume rendering, tree traversal and the selection of data resolution are intrinsically coupled. This makes fine-grained empty-space skipping costly. Page tables, on the other hand, allow access to any cached brick from any resolution. However, they do not offer a clear and efficient strategy for substituting missing high-resolution data with lower-resolution data. We enable flexible mixed-resolution out-of-core multi-volume rendering by decoupling the cache residency of multi-resolution data from a resolution-independent spatial subdivision determined by the tree. Instead of one-to-one node-to-brick correspondences, each residency octree node is mapped to a set of bricks from different resolution levels. This makes it possible to efficiently and adaptively choose and mix resolutions, adapt sampling rates, and compensate for cache misses. At the same time, residency octrees support fine-grained empty-space skipping, independent of the data subdivision used for caching. Finally, to facilitate collaboration and outreach, and to eliminate local data storage, our implementation is a web-based, pure client-side renderer using WebGPU and WebAssembly. Our method is faster than prior approaches and efficient for many data channels with a flexible and adaptive choice of data resolution.

Additional Files and Images

Weblinks

• Entry in reposiTUm (TU Wien Publication Database)
• DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2023.3327193

BibTeX

@article{herzberger-2024-roh,
  title =      "Residency Octree: a hybrid approach for scalable web-based
               multi-volume rendering",
  author =     "Lukas Herzberger and Markus Hadwiger and Robert Kr\"{u}ger
               and Peter K Sorger and Hanspeter Pfister and Eduard
               Gr\"{o}ller and Johanna Beyer",
  year =       "2024",
  abstract =   "We present a hybrid multi-volume rendering approach based on
               a novel Residency Octree that combines the advantages of
               out-of-core volume rendering using page tables with those of
               standard octrees. Octree approaches work by performing
               hierarchical tree traversal. However, in octree volume
               rendering, tree traversal and the selection of data
               resolution are intrinsically coupled. This makes
               fine-grained empty-space skipping costly. Page tables, on
               the other hand, allow access to any cached brick from any
               resolution. However, they do not offer a clear and efficient
               strategy for substituting missing high-resolution data with
               lower-resolution data. We enable flexible mixed-resolution
               out-of-core multi-volume rendering by decoupling the cache
               residency of multi-resolution data from a
               resolution-independent spatial subdivision determined by the
               tree. Instead of one-to-one node-to-brick correspondences,
               each residency octree node is mapped to a set of bricks from
               different resolution levels. This makes it possible to
               efficiently and adaptively choose and mix resolutions, adapt
               sampling rates, and compensate for cache misses. At the same
               time, residency octrees support fine-grained empty-space
               skipping, independent of the data subdivision used for
               caching. Finally, to facilitate collaboration and outreach,
               and to eliminate local data storage, our implementation is a
               web-based, pure client-side renderer using WebGPU and
               WebAssembly. Our method is faster than prior approaches and
               efficient for many data channels with a flexible and
               adaptive choice of data resolution.",
  month =      jan,
  journal =    "IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics",
  volume =     "30",
  number =     "1",
  issn =       "1941-0506",
  doi =        "10.1109/TVCG.2023.3327193",
  pages =      "11",
  publisher =  "IEEE",
  pages =      "1380--1390",
  keywords =   "Rendering (computer graphics), Octrees, Spatial resolution,
               Graphics processing units, Data visualization, Optimization,
               Standards, Volume rendering, Ray-guided rendering,
               Large-scale data, Out-of-core rendering, Multi-resolution,
               Multi-channel, Web-Based Visualization",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2024/herzberger-2024-roh/",
}