Showing papers by "Rita Borgo published in 2006"
TL;DR: Just as visualization provides insight into data, functional abstraction provides new insight into visualization with the benefits of clear and concise expression combined with fine-grained, demand-driven computation.
Abstract: The pipeline model in visualization has evolved from a conceptual model of data processing into a widely used architecture for implementing visualization systems. In the process, a number of capabilities have been introduced, including streaming of data in chunks, distributed pipelines, and demand-driven processing. Visualization systems have invariably built on stateful programming technologies, and these capabilities have had to be implemented explicitly within the lower layers of a complex hierarchy of services. The good news for developers is that applications built on top of this hierarchy can access these capabilities without concern for how they are implemented. The bad news is that by freezing capabilities into low-level services expressive power and flexibility is lost. In this paper we express visualization systems in a programming language that more naturally supports this kind of processing model. Lazy functional languages support fine-grained demand-driven processing, a natural form of streaming, and pipeline-like function composition for assembling applications. The technology thus appears well suited to visualization applications. Using surface extraction algorithms as illustrative examples, and the lazy functional language Haskell, we argue the benefits of clear and concise expression combined with fine-grained, demand-driven computation. Just as visualization provides insight into data, functional abstraction provides new insight into visualization
9 citations
Book Chapter•
22 Nov 2006
TL;DR: It is argued and demonstrated that modern functional languages combine high-level mathematically-based specifications of visualization techniques, concise implementation of algorithms through fine-grained composition, support for writing correct programs through strong type checking, and a different kind of modularity inherent in the abstractive power of these languages.
Abstract: The past two decades have seen visualization flourish as a research field in its own right, with advances on the computational challenges of faster algorithms, new techniques for datasets too large for in-core processing, and advances in understanding the perceptual and cognitive processes recruited by visualization systems, and through this, how to improve the representation of data. However, progress within visualization has sometimes proceeded in parallel with that in other branches of computer science, and there is a danger that when novel solutions ossify into `accepted practice' the field can easily overlook significant advances elsewhere in the community. In this paper we describe recent advances in the design and implementation of pure functional programming languages that, significantly, contain important insights into questions raised by the recent NIH/NSF report on Visualization Challenges. We argue and demonstrate that modern functional languages combine high-level mathematically-based specifications of visualization techniques, concise implementation of algorithms through fine-grained composition, support for writing correct programs through strong type checking, and a different kind of modularity inherent in the abstractive power of these languages. And to cap it off, we have initial evidence that in some cases functional implementations are faster than their imperative counterparts.
4 citations
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: This paper evaluates some of the better known models of diffuse light transport and places them into the context of solving global illumination problems.
Abstract: One common goal nearly all global illumination algorithms aim for is solving the light transport problem. The most visual noticeable one in the general case is the diffuse-diffuse light transport between surfaces. Most global illumination algorithms are very good at solving it. In many global illumination solutions the Lambertian diffuse surface reflection model is assumed. However, over the years several other diffuse models have been introduced – mostly outside of the computer graphics community – that according to their authors mimic real surface behaviour more accurately. In this paper we evaluate some of the better known models and place them into the context of solving global illumination problems.