Merging visibility maps

Abstract

Let V be a set of objects in space for which we want to determine the portions visible from a particular point of view υ. Assume V is subdivided in subsets V1,…, Vz and the visibility maps Μ1, … Μz of these subsets from point ugr; are known. We show that the visibility map Μ for V can be computed by merging Μ1, … Μz in time Ο((n + κ)z log2 n) where n is the total size (number of edges, vertices and faces) of the visibility maps Μ1,…, Μz and κ is the size of Μ.