Patent ID: 8232994

Claim:
A method for presenting an interface for visualizing a multi-dimensional view object in a two-dimensional format, said method comprising: presenting a surface selection tree panel that is controlled to display a selected one of a plurality of user-selectable surface selection trees in association with said multi-dimensional view object, wherein each of said plurality of user-selectable surface selection trees comprises one or more user-selectable MIP levels each of which includes one or more user-selectable two-dimensional surfaces associated with said multi-dimensional view object and wherein said plurality of user-selectable surface selection trees includes a MIP-mapped cube text selection tree in which each user-selectable MIP level comprises one or more user-selectable cube textures associated with said multi-dimensional view object, a MIP-mapped one dimensional or two dimensional texture array selection tree in which each user-selectable MIP level comprises one or more user-selectable textures included in a one dimensional or two dimensional texture array associated with said multi-dimensional view object and a MIP-mapped three dimensional texture selection tree in which each user-selectable MIP level comprises one or more user-selectable slices associated with said multi-dimensional view object; presenting a view object information panel, wherein said view object information panel displays information associated with said multi-dimensional view object; and presenting a visualization panel, wherein if a two-dimensional surface of said surface selection tree is selected, then an image associated with said selected two-dimensional surface is displayed in said visualization panel.