On the characteristic views of quadric-surfaced solids

Given a 3D object (solid), it is possible to subdivide the exterior viewing space of the solid into maximally connected subspaces of vantage points such that the perspective views of the solid from all vantage points within a subspace are isomorphic in terms of their line junction graphs. The authors refer to such subspaces as the characteristic-view domains (CVDs) of the solid, and to a representative perspective view from within a domain, as a characteristic view (CV). They present a method for systematically determining all the characteristic views of solids bounded by either quadric or planar faces. The approach is of great potential value in image understanding. An example is provided, illustrating the effectiveness of the implemented algorithm