Feature Analysis in Multifields - Scientific Visualization: Uncertainty, Multifield, Biomedical, and Scalable Visualization - page 185

Chapter 18
Feature Analysis in Multifields

Hamish Carr

Abstract As with individual fields, one approach to visualizing multifields is to
analyze the field and identify features . While some work has been carried out in
detecting features in multifields, any discussion of multifield analysis must also
identify techniques from single fields that can be extended appropriately.

18.1 Introduction

Analysis of features in multifields is a discipline in its infancy. As such, the relevant
literature is somewhat scattered, but some broad categories can be seen in the existing
work. Before examining these categories, however, it is useful to start with a working
definition of a feature: a feature is a (usually) geometric feature of the underlying
phenomenon that is of significance to the user.
Strictly speaking, feature analysis relies on the computer to detect objects for the
human user to view or for further processing. In practice, it is more accurate to think
of there being a spectrum of methods:
1. Visual Fusion
2. Interactive Definition
3. Derived Properties
4. Distributions
5. Abstract Structures
Of these, visual fusion maps individual properties of the multifield to differ-
ent visual properties, then relies on the user's visual system to identify regions of
interest. Interactive definition takes this one step further, with the user changing
the visual mapping(s)—in essence, this is a manual search of a parameter space.

( B )
School of Computing, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
e-mail: [e-mail]

H. Carr