MedicalVisualization

Non-Photorealism

What is Visualization? | | Visualization Examples

There are two opposing objectives in the area of computer graphics

  • Interactivity
  • Photorealism
Pixar-Monsters

Two examples from either side of computer graphics

  • Computer games (Doom, GTA V)
  • Computer animated films (Monsters, Avatar)

We can’t get both at the same time:

  • Aiming for higher photo-realism will slow the process of rendering a particular scene down.
  • Aiming for a higher interactivity or even a real-time rendering usually requires a degradation of display quality.

The emphasis on one of those two objectives mainly determines the computer graphics techniques employed for a particular use case.

Visualization does not aim to achieve photo-realistic results, it is aiming at interactive exploration of 2D and 3D data by means of non-photorealistic computer graphics techniques, making the previously invisible visible.

So to speak, photo-realistic image synthesis, as another important part of computer graphics, is the opposite of visualization.

Doom GTA-V


What is Visualization? | | Visualization Examples

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