Interactive rendering of physical entities

Abstract

A method for generating a model of a physical entity, in particular the earth, using one or more hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data trees T, each data tree comprising a plurality of nodes N k , each node having a grid with a fixed number of points, wherein each node can store an arbitrary number of data items, each holding scalar field values for each point in the grid, the method comprising the steps of creating a geometry using one or more data trees; and creating an associated overlay using one or more data trees, wherein at least one of the geometry and overlay comprises a formula to be applied to data within one or more data trees. This enables manipulation of the data within the data trees during rendering and increases the adaptability of the model without an increase in the required memory space. In preferred embodiments the nodes of the data trees comprise time dependent geo-references to allow the data trees to be time rotated.

1 - 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A method of creating a hierarchical data tree, the method comprising;
 obtaining a set of data relating to known geographical locations;   arranging said data into at least one hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data tree, said tree comprising a plurality of nodes, each node having a grid with a fixed number of points to which data is associated and a geo-reference that locates the grid in physical space, wherein the geo-reference of each node is time dependent.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising storing said at least one data tree in a memory. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises:
 receiving a request for access to one or more data trees; and   transmitting the requested data trees.   
     
     
         21 . A method for rotating grid based data through time in accordance with a predefined rotation matrix, the method comprising:
 obtaining at least one hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data tree, said tree comprising a plurality of nodes, each node having a grid with a fixed number of points to which data is associated and a time dependent geo-reference that locates the grid in physical space;   applying the rotation matrix to each time dependent geo-reference within the at least one data tree.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising storing the resulting at least one time rotated data tree in a memory. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising rendering and displaying the time rotated data tree. 
     
     
         24 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer executable instructions adapted to configure a data processing apparatus to carry out the method as claimed in  claim 18 . 
     
     
         25 . A data processing apparatus configured to generate a model of a physical entity using one or more hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data trees T, each data tree comprising a plurality of nodes N k , each node having a grid with a fixed number of points to which data is associated, the apparatus comprising:
 a processor configured to create a geometry using one or more data trees and create an associated overlay using one or more data trees,   wherein at least one of the geometry and overlay comprises a formula to be applied to data within one or more data trees.   
     
     
         26 - 31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . A data processing apparatus configured to render a model of the earth for view V, at time t′, using one or more hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data trees T, each data tree comprising a plurality of nodes N k , each node having a grid with a fixed number of points with which data is associated and a time dependent geo-reference, comprising:
 a processor configured to compute a required rotation matrix based on a pre-defined rotation model evaluated at time t′; apply the computed rotation matrix to the time dependent geo-references of all nodes N k  in the one or more data trees T, resulting in one or more time rotated trees T′, comprising transformed nodes N′ k ; for the given view V evaluate a criterion for the selection of a level of detail for the nodes N′ k ; traverse all nodes N′ k  in T′, conducting split or merge operations where necessary until the selected level of detail is achieved, thus creating a set of nodes T′ i,E  enabled for visualization; for all nodes N′ k  in T′ i,E , load data if necessary; raise an update flag in all altered nodes N′ k ; for all nodes N′ k  in T′ i,E  which require updating, create geometry G; create overlay O; and render all nodes in T′ i,E . 
 
     
     
         33 . A data conversion apparatus comprising:
 a receiver for receiving a set of data relating to known geographical locations;   a processor for arranging said data into at least one hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data tree, said tree comprising a plurality of nodes, each node having a grid with a fixed number of points to which data is associated and a geo-reference that locates the grid in physical space, wherein the geo-reference of each node is time dependent.   
     
     
         34 . The apparatus of  claim 33 , further comprising a memory for storing said at least one data tree. 
     
     
         35 . The apparatus of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 a receiver configured to receive a request for access to one or more stored data trees; and   a transmitter configured to transmit the requested data trees.   
     
     
         36 . The apparatus of  claim 25  connected to a storage device in which a plurality of hierarchically organized, multi-resolutional data trees are stored. 
     
     
         37 . The apparatus of  claim 36 , wherein the storage device comprises a data conversion apparatus comprising:
 a receiver for receiving a set of data relating to known geographical locations;   a processor for arranging said data into at least one hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data tree, said tree comprising a plurality of nodes, each node having a grid with a fixed number of points to which data is associated and a geo-reference that locates the grid in physical space, wherein the geo-reference of each node is time dependent; and   a memory for storing said at least one data tree.   
     
     
         38 . A network comprising a plurality of data processing apparatuses as claimed in  claim 25  connected to one or more data conversion apparatuses comprising:
 a receiver for receiving a set of data relating to known geographical locations; 
 a processor for arranging said data into at least one hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data tree, said tree comprising a plurality of nodes, each node having a grid with a fixed number of points to which data is associated and a geo-reference that locates the grid in physical space, wherein the geo-reference of each node is time dependent; and 
 a memory for storing said at least one data tree. 
 
     
     
         39 . A method of modeling the Earth's lithosphere comprising; creating a plurality of hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data trees, said data trees each comprising a plurality of nodes, each node having a grid with a fixed number of points with which data is associated, wherein at least one data tree contains data relating to subsurface locations; storing said plurality of data trees; and rendering a multilayered model of the Earth wherein a geometry and overlay of each layer contain data from at least one of said plurality of data trees, and wherein at least one layer contains information relating to a subsurface location. 
     
     
         40 . A system for implementing the method of  claim 39  comprising: a builder for creating the plurality of data trees, a memory for storing the data trees, and a processor for rendering the model using said data trees. 
     
     
         41 . A method of building data trees comprising: creating a plurality of hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data trees, said data trees each comprising a plurality of nodes, each node having a grid with a fixed number of points to which data is associated, wherein at least one data tree contains data relating to subsurface locations; and storing said plurality of data trees or transmitting said plurality of data trees. 
     
     
         42 . A method comprising: obtaining a plurality of hierarchically organized multi-resolutional data trees; and, using the data trees, rendering a multilayered model of the Earth wherein a geometry and overlay of each layer contain data from at least one of said plurality of data trees, and wherein at least one layer contains information relating to a subsurface location. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising: displaying the rendered model, storing the model and/or transmitting the model to a remote location. 
     
     
         44 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer executable instructions adapted to configure a data processing apparatus to carry out the method as claimed in  claim 21 .