A Boundary and Texture Preserving Mesh Simplification Algorithm for Virtual Reality

Bahirat, Kanchan; Lai, Chengyuan; McMahan, Ryan P.; Prabhakaran, Balakrishnan

doi:10.1145/3083187.3083188

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Because VR applications are so diverse and their 3D models can vary drastically (e.g., manifold with no boundaries, manifold with boundaries, nonmanifold), a single mesh simplification approach was not available. We addressed this issue with the presentation of our QEM 4VR algorithm [15].…”

Section: Nonmanifold Simplification Algorithmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considering the various properties of handmade 3D models used in VR applications, we have designed and developed a new mesh simplification algorithm that can effectively create a low-poly version of nearly any 3D model [15]. Our algorithm builds upon the original QEM approach presented by Garland and Heckbert [13].…”

Section: New Simplification Algorithmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…surface properties that are common with handmade 3D models. Finally, in Section 3.4, we present a summary of the QEM 4VR algorithm [15].…”

Section: New Simplification Algorithmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The key insight that our QEM 4VR algorithm [15] leverages is the fact that boundary edges are important for the perception of the shape of a mesh, but that not every boundary edge needs to be kept to maintain that shape. In particular, we have used the curvature of a boundary edge vertex to judge the importance of its boundary edges.…”

Section: Curvature-based Boundary Preservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To address the requirements of VR applications and mobile HMDs, we developed a mesh simplification algorithm utilizing the QEM infrastructure that eliminates the deficiencies of QEM and QEM BP . This new algorithm, called QEM 4VR , uses a curvature-based boundary preservation approach to maintain key boundary edges while not sacrificing necessary surface edges [15]. This curvature-based approach avoids creating gaps at boundaries and holes within surfaces (see Figure 7(d)).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Designing and Evaluating a Mesh Simplification Algorithm for Virtual Reality

Bahirat

Lai

McMahan

et al. 2018

ACM Trans. Multimedia Comput. Commun. Appl.

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With the increasing accessibility of the mobile head-mounted displays (HMDs), mobile virtual reality (VR) systems are finding applications in various areas. However, mobile HMDs are highly constrained with limited graphics processing units (GPUs) and low processing power and onboard memory. Hence, VR developers must be cognizant of the number of polygons contained within their virtual environments to avoid rendering at low frame rates and inducing simulator sickness. The most robust and rapid approach to keeping the overall number of polygons low is to use mesh simplification algorithms to create low-poly versions of preexisting, high-poly models. Unfortunately, most existing mesh simplification algorithms cannot adequately handle meshes with lots of boundaries or nonmanifold meshes, which are common attributes of many 3D models. In this article, we present QEM 4VR , a high-fidelity mesh simplification algorithm specifically designed for VR. This algorithm addresses the deficiencies of prior quadric error metric (QEM) approaches by leveraging the insight that the most relevant boundary edges lie along curvatures while linear boundary edges can be collapsed. Additionally, our algorithm preserves key surface properties, such as normals, texture coordinates, colors, and materials, as it preprocesses 3D models and generates their low-poly approximations offline. We evaluated the effectiveness of our QEM 4VR algorithm by comparing its simplified-mesh results to those of prior QEM variations in terms of geometric approximation error, texture error, progressive approximation errors, frame rate impact, and perceptual quality measures. We found that QEM 4VR consistently yielded simplified meshes with less geometric approximation error and texture error than the prior QEM variations. It afforded better frame rates than QEM variations with boundary preservation constraints that create unnecessary lower bounds on overall polygon count reduction. Our evaluation revealed that QEM 4VR did not fair well in terms of existing perceptual distance measurements, but human-based inspections demonstrate that these algorithmic measurements are not suitable substitutes for actual human perception. In turn, we present a user-based methodology for evaluating the perceptual qualities of mesh simplification algorithms. CCS Concepts: • Computing methodologies → Mesh geometry models;

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Section: Nonmanifold Simplification Algorithmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: New Simplification Algorithmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…surface properties that are common with handmade 3D models. Finally, in Section 3.4, we present a summary of the QEM 4VR algorithm [15].…”

Section: New Simplification Algorithmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Curvature-based Boundary Preservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%