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The HERO Algorithm for Ray-Tracing Octrees

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Advances in Computer Graphics Hardware IV

Part of the book series: Eurographic Seminars ((FOCUS COMPUTER))

Abstract

An algorithm is presented for rapid traversal of octree data structures, in order to enhance the speed of ray tracing for scenes of high complexity. At each level of the octree, the algorithm generates the addresses of child voxels in the order they are penetrated by the ray. This requires only a few arithmetic operations and simple logical operations. A depth-first search of the tree is used to yield the first terminal voxel hit by the ray, thus hidden objects are not processed. The algorithm is designed specifically for implementation as HERO: A Hardware Enhancer for Ray-tracing Octrees.

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© 1991 EUROGRAPHICS The European Association for Computer Graphics

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Agate, M., Grimsdale, R.L., Lister, P.F. (1991). The HERO Algorithm for Ray-Tracing Octrees. In: Grimsdale, R.L., Straßer, W. (eds) Advances in Computer Graphics Hardware IV. Eurographic Seminars. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76298-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76298-7_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-76300-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-76298-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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