Dynamic Transparency for 3D Visualization: Design and Evaluation
Résumé
Recent developments in occlusion management for
3D environments often involve the use of dynamic transparency, or
“virtual X-ray vision”, to promote target discovery and access in
complex 3D worlds. However, there are many different approaches
to achieving this effect and their actual utility for the user has
yet to be evaluated. Furthermore, the introduction of semitransparent
surfaces adds additional visual complexity that may
actually have a negative impact on task performance. In this paper,
we report on an empirical user study investigating these human
aspects of dynamic transparency. Our implementation of the
technique is an image-space algorithm built using modern
programmable shaders to achieve real-time performance and
visually pleasing results. Results from the user study indicate that
dynamic transparency provides superior performance for
perceptual tasks in terms of both efficiency and correctness.
Subjective ratings are also firmly in favor of the method.