Developing Large High-Resolution Display Visualizations of High-Fidelity Terrain Data

Abstract

The vehicle terrain measurement system (VTMS) allows highly detailed terrain modeling and vehicle simulations. Visualization of large-scale terrain datasets taken from VTMS provides better insights into the characteristics of the pavement or road surface. However, the resolution of these terrain datasets greatly exceeds the capability of traditional graphics displays and computer systems. Large high-resolution displays (LHRDs) enable visualization of large-scale VTMS datasets with high resolution, large physical size, scalable rendering performance, advanced interaction methods, and collaboration. This paper investigates beneficial factors, implementation issues, and case study applications of LHRDs for visualizing large, high-fidelity, terrain datasets from VTMS. Two prototype visualizations are designed and evaluated with automotive and pavement engineers to demonstrate effectiveness of LHRDs for multiscale tasks that involve understanding pavement surface details within the overall context of the terrain.