Using the superdisplay, an instructor can take a classroom of students on a visual tour of the normally unseen inner structures of a fossil. Since the system is interactive, the instructor is free to take the class in whatever direction seems appropriate at the moment. The datasets for these objects are produced by X-ray CT scanners and can be obtained via the internet. This application simply begins to demonstrate the significant educational potential represented by the growing on-line archives of multidimensional datasets. Captured within these datasets are the intricate interior structures of natural and simulated objects.
Fossils are but one example.
Equipped with an appropriate system to visualize these datasets, a person can readily see interior structures without needing to possess or dissect the object of study. The preferred technique for visualizing these datasets is volume rendering. However, volume rendering requires significantly more storage capacity and processing power than conventional surface rendering. This is because volume rendering is performed on the entire dataset whereas surface rendering is performed on extracted isosurfaces. But this is where superdisplays fit in.