Multiresolution ordered meshes

Geometric models of high complexity are rapidly becoming commonplace. These models are usually represented by means of complex triangle meshes that create three important problems: visualization, transmission and storage. Interest in multiresolution representation is very keen, because it is an efficient method for addressing these problems. We propose a new data structure: multiresolution ordered meshes (MOM), with low storage cost, and an efficient algorithm to extract any level of detail. Meshes are stored in order, depending on the simplification process. It allows one to work interactively with highly detailed models and to transmit them progressively over a communication line. The model construction is very simple because the data structure is based on lists, which can be easily implemented with arrays. Moreover, the extraction of a given level is linear with respect to the number of triangles at that level