US Patent 9449424 Visualization of field of view obstruction by an ellipsoid

Methods, systems, and devices for the visualization of the region of a 3-dimensional space obstructed from a viewing location by an ellipsoid are disclosed. In an embodiment, the obstructed region may be defined from primitive elements which are combined using Boolean operations. The primitive elements chosen may be represented using both implicit functions and/or parametric surfaces. In an embodiment, the implicit function representation may be used to quickly determine points on candidate surfaces which may be obstructed from view. In an embodiment, the parametric representation may be used to provide ray-surface intersection solutions enabling visualization of the boundary surface of the obstruction region.