Efficient Occlusion Culling using Solid Occluders

Abstract

Occlusion culling is a genre of algorithms for rapidly eliminating portions of three-dimensional geometry hidden behind other, visible objects prior to passing them to the rendering pipeline. In this paper, an extension to the popular shadow frustum culling algorithm is presented, which takes into account the fact that many planar occluders can be grouped into compound convex solids, which in turn can provide fewer and larger culling frusta and therefore more efficient elimination of hidden geometry. The proposed method combines planar and solid occluders using a unified selection approach and is ideal for dynamic environments, as it doesn’t depend on precalculated visibility data. The solid occluders culling algorithm has been applied to commercially deployed virtual reality systems and test cases and results are provided from actual virtual reality shows.