Resolution adjustable 3-dimensional object modeling

A three-dimensional (3D) object modeling technique with mesh simplification based resolution adjustment is proposed. Polygonal models, which are widely utilized for the modeling of 3D objects, are taken as basis, making use of the polygonal structure and vertex coordinates for the display of 3D models. The mesh structure obtained by the collection of polygons can be displayed in a filled, colored, or texture mapped fashion. Rotation, lighting and zooming functions are supported to enable user interaction with the 3D model. The numbers of polygons and vertices of a model are proportional to the resolution as well as data quantity, as resolution and data increase with the number of polygons. We propose a new simplification and refinement algorithm to utilize resolution, and hence data amount, for adjustable 3D modeling so that data resolution can be changed according to access constraints.