Aperio: A system for visualizing 3D anatomy data using virtual mechanical tools

Abstract

We present Aperio - an interactive real-time system for visualizing complex organic-shaped 3D models such as anatomy data or medical data. Aperio employs an interaction model based on a mechanical tool analogy via a small set of virtual “metal” tools, such as rods, rings, cutters, and scalpels. The familiar and well-differentiated tool shapes, combined with their initial pose and metallic appearance, suggest a tool’s function to the user. Cutter tools are designed to create easilyunderstood cutaway views, and rings and rods provide simple oriented path constraints that support rigid transformations of models via “sliding”, including interactive exploded view capabilities. GPU rendering provides realistic real-time “solid cut” previewing of surface-mesh models. We demonstrate Aperio using a human anatomy data set and present user studies to provide supporting evidence of Aperio’s interaction simplicity and its effectiveness for visualizing model spatial interrelationships.