Patent ID: RE42406

Claim:
A method for creating a three-dimensional visual representation of an object having multiple resolutions , comprising the steps of : retrieving coordinates of vertices for the object; determining , using a processing device, a collapse order for the vertices identified in the of a vertex list for the object, across all levels of detail of the object ; reordering ordering the vertices identified in the vertex list responsive to the determined collapse order; creating , using the processing device, a vertex collapse list responsive to the collapse order , where wherein the vertex collapse list specifies, for a each target vertex, a neighbor vertex of the object to which the target vertex collapse to collapses, for at least one level of detail of the object, and wherein each vertex collapse operation at a respective level of detail collapses a respective target vertex to a neighbor vertex directly connected to the target vertex at the respective level of detail ; specifying a level of detail at which the object is to be rendered; using the vertex collapse list and a level of detail to identify at least one display vertex of the object; and rendering the display vertex to produce a three-dimensional visual representation of the object at the specified level of detail using the vertex list and the vertex collapse list .