HyperStreamball visualization for symmetric second order tensor fields

This paper proposes a new 3D tensor glyph called a hyperstreamball that extends streamball visualization used within fluid flow fields to applications within second order tensor fields. The hyperstreamball is a hybrid of the ellipsoid, hyperstreamline and hyperstreamsurface. With the proposed system a user can easily interactively change the visualization. First, we define the distance of the influence function which contributes a potential field that can be designed to highlight the three eigenvectors and eigenvalues of a real symmetric tensor at any sample point. Second, we discuss the choice of source position and how the user can control the parameter mapping between the field data and the implicit function. Finally, we test our results using both synthetic and real data that shows the hyperstreamball's two main advantages: one is that hyperstreamballs blend and split with each other automatically depending on the tensor data, and the other advantage is that the user can achieve both discrete and continuous representation of the data based on a single geometrical description. © The Eurographics Association 2006.