Adaptive Visuo-Haptic Rendering for Hybrid Modeling of Macromolecular Assemblies

We describe an immersive visualization system for structural biology using real-time load balancing of virtual reality and haptic rendering. In structural biology a variety of image reconstruction techniques are employed to determine geometric aspects of large macromolecular assemblies at various levels of resolution. Hybrid modeling techniques are the most promising approach to bridge the resolution gap between data from different biophysical origins. Here we present an interactive solution for the multi-resolution modeling problem that employs a novel load-balancing scheme for the visual and haptic rendering. During critical load conditions the error metric of a dynamic mesh simplification technique is coupled to the force-update rate of the kinesthetic feedback, thereby providing an instantaneous adaptation of the rendering to the modeling efficiency. This enables the construction of nano-scale bio-molecular architectures while avoiding unwanted haptic blackouts during peak modeling demand. Combined with various molecular rendering techniques, adaptive visuo-haptic rendering is embedded in our graphics system "SenSitus".