Illustrative Visualization

Non-photorealistic rendering is inspired by a long tradition of illustration. I applied NPR techniques to illustration and visualization problems in medical, technical, and other domains. I also worked on combining NPR methods with other rendering techniques to create hybrid rendering styles for illustration and visualization. For example, I have used non-photorealistic techniques to visualize uncertainty and style elements in archaeological reconstructions as well as for technical and medical illustration and visualization. I also worked on combining pure non-photorealistic techniques with other rendering methods such as shading and volume rendering to produce hybrid visualizations which are very useful, in particular, in medical imaging.

A technical and a medical illustration.

(:neo_flv-player (http:../personal/videos/)Neumann_2007_NLI(.flv) width=320 height=240 startimage="../personal/videos/Neumann_2007_NLI.jpg" -link:)

Download the video as AVI-MPEG4 (13.8MB)

More recently, I have worked on comparing computer-generated non-photorealistic renditions with professionally created hand-drawn illustrations. The surprising result was that people could, in general, distinguish the two types of images but still liked both categories. They enjoyed the hand-drawn for their character and the computer-generated for their precision and three-dimensional appearance.

Selected Demos, Videos, and Projects:

Design Characterization for Black-and-White Textures in Visualization

Moliverse: Contextually Embedding the Microcosm into the Universe

BeauVis: A Validated Scale for Measuring the Aesthetic Pleasure of Visual Representations

Molecumentary: Adaptable Narrated Documentaries Using Molecular Visualization

Multiscale Unfolding: Illustratively Visualizing the Whole Genome at a Glance

HyperLabels—Browsing of Dense and Hierarchical Molecular 3D Models

ScaleTrotter: Illustrative Visual Travels Across Negative Scales

Multiscale Molecular Visualization

DimSUM: Dimension and Scale Unifying Maps for Visual Abstraction of DNA Origami Structures

A Survey of Surface-Based Illustrative Rendering for Visualization

Pondering the Concept of Abstraction in (Illustrative) Visualization

Multiscale Visualization and Scale-Adaptive Modification of DNA Nanostructures

A Survey of Perceptually Motivated 3D Visualization of Medical Image Data

Interactive NPAR: What type of tools should we create?

Occlusion-free Blood Flow Animation with Wall Thickness Visualization

Interactive Illustrative Line Styles and Line Style Transfer Functions for Flow Visualization

Exploration of the Brain’s White Matter Structure through Visual Abstraction and Multi-Scale Local Fiber Tract Contraction

A Survey of Illustrative Visualization Techniques for DTI-based Fiber Tracking

An Illustrative Data Graphic in an 18^th–19^th Century Style

Bristle Maps: A Multivariate Abstraction Technique for Geovisualization

Interactive Example-based Hatching

Visual Abstraction and Stylization of Maps

Sketchy Rendering for Information Visualization

Evaluating Sketchiness as a Visual Variable for the Depiction of Qualitative Uncertainty

Semantics by Analogy for Illustrative Volume Visualization

Illustrative Molecular Visualization with Continuous Abstraction

Example-Based Stippling using a Scale-Dependent Grayscale Process

DTI in Context: Illustrating Brain Fiber Tracts In Situ

Depth-Dependent Halos: Illustrative Rendering of Dense Line Data

Stippling By Example

Mimicking Hand-Drawn Pencil Lines

Interactive Exploratory Visualization of 2D Vector Fields

NPR Lenses: Interactive Tools for Non-Photorealistic Line Drawings

Sketching, Scaffolding, and Inking: A Visual History for Interactive 3D Modeling

Combining Silhouettes, Shading, and Volume Rendering for Surgery Education and Planning

High Quality Hatching

Use of Hybrid Rendering Styles for Presentation

Illustration Watermarks for Vector Graphics

3D Illustrative Effects for Animating Line Drawings

Visualizing Knowledge about Virtual Reconstructions of Ancient Architecture