BioBrowser: a framework for fast protein visualization

This paper presents a protein visualization systemcalled BioBrowser, which provides high quality images at interactive frame rates for molecules of extreme size and complexity. This is achieved by a shift in the tessellationapproach: triangle meshesare not produced a priori on a 'just-in-case' basis. Instead, tessellationhappens 'justin- time' given a certain camera position, image size and interaction demand. Thus, our approach is based on multiresolution meshes and on new extensions of graphics hardware. The paper shows how to reduce geometric data by using subdivision surfacesfor ribbon structures and molecular surfaces and by using billboards instead of spheres consisting of triangles. It also shows how to use fragment shadersto create a three dimensional appearance and realistic sphere intersections. The combination of these approaches leads to an image quality not yet seen in interactive visualizationenvironments for molecules of that size/complexity. All the above methods are combined to gain a high performance configurable visualization systemon standard hardware.