Book Image

OpenGL Data Visualization Cookbook

Book Image

OpenGL Data Visualization Cookbook

Overview of this book

OpenGL is a great multi-platform, cross-language, and hardware-accelerated graphics interface for visualizing large 2D and 3D datasets. Data visualization has become increasingly challenging using conventional approaches as datasets become larger and larger, especially with the Big Data evolution. From a mobile device to a sophisticated high-performance computing cluster, OpenGL libraries provide developers with an easy-to-use interface to create stunning visuals in 3D in real time for a wide range of interactive applications. This book provides a series of easy-to-follow, hands-on tutorials to create appealing OpenGL-based visualization tools with minimal development time. We will first illustrate how to quickly set up the development environment in Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Next, we will demonstrate how to visualize data for a wide range of applications using OpenGL, starting from simple 2D datasets to increasingly complex 3D datasets with more advanced techniques. Each chapter addresses different visualization problems encountered in real life and introduces the relevant OpenGL features and libraries in a modular fashion. By the end of this book, you will be equipped with the essential skills to develop a wide range of impressive OpenGL-based applications for your unique data visualization needs, on platforms ranging from conventional computers to the latest mobile/wearable devices.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
OpenGL Data Visualization Cookbook
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

OpenGL point cloud rendering with texture mapping and overlays


We will build on the OpenGL framework discussed in the previous chapter for point cloud rendering in this section. The texture mapping technique introduced in the previous chapter can also be applied in the point cloud format. Basically, the depth sensor provides a set of vertices in real-world space (the depth map), and the color camera provides us with the color information of the vertices. UV mapping is a simple lookup table once the depth map and color camera are calibrated.

Getting ready

Readers should use the raw data provided for the subsequent demo or obtain their own raw data from a 3D range-sensing camera. In either case, we assume these filenames will be used to denote the raw data files: depth_frame0.bin and color_frame0.bin.

How to do it...

Similar to the previous chapter, we will divide the program into three major components: the main program (main.cpp), shader programs (shader.cpp, shader.hpp, pointcloud.vert, pointcloud...