Recent Advances in Volume Visualization

In the past few years, there have been key advances in the three main approaches to the visualization of volumetric data: isosurfacing, slicing and volume rendering, which together make up the field of volume visualization. In this survey paper we set the scene by describing the fundamental techniques for each of these approaches, using this to motivate the range of advances which have evolved over the past few years. In isosurfacing, we see how the original marching cubes algorithm has matured, with improvements in robustness, topological consistency, accuracy and performance. In the performance area, we look in detail at pre-processing steps which help identify data which contributes to the particular isosurface required. In slicing too, there are performance gains from identifying active cells quickly. In volume rendering, we describe the two main approaches of ray casting and projection. Both approaches have evolved technically over the past decade, and the holy grail of real-time volume rendering has arguably been reached. The aim of this review paper is to pull these developments together in a coherent review of recent advances in volume visualization.