GPU-Based Euclidean Distance Transforms and Their Application to Volume Rendering

We present discrete 2D and 3D distance transforms based on the vector propagation algorithm by Danielsson. Like other vector propagation algorithms, the proposed method is close to exact, i.e., the error can be strictly bounded from above and is significantly smaller than one pixel. Our contribution is that the algorithm runs entirely on consumer class graphics hardware, thereby achieving a throughput of up to 96 Mpixels/s. Therefore, the proposed method can be used in a wide range of applications that rely on both high speed and high quality. The usability of our approach is demonstrated in the context of hardware-accelerated volumetric isosurface raycasting.