Point cloud visualization methods: A study on subjective preferences

The availability of 3D range scanners and RGB-D cameras is pushing the spreading of point cloud-based applications. One of the main issues of this technology, in applications where the end user is a human observer, is the presentation of the data. Three-dimensional visual information represented as point clouds can be displayed in several ways, e.g. as sets of points with varying point size or as a surface rendered using one of several available methods, such as Poisson surface interpolation. Furthermore, to increase the feeling of presence, or immersiveness, novel hardware can be used such as 3D displays and head mounted devices. However, even if 3D-able visualization devices are available, common users are more accustomed to observing visual information displayed on a 2D screen and it is not clear which combination of presentation method and device are preferred by the users. In this contribution we assess the user preference of visualization of point clouds in terms of different rendering devices and methods. A set of subjective experiments is performed, involving point clouds presented as points or rendered surfaces displayed in 2D and 3D displays. The results obtained were analysed to measure user preferences.