Graphics processing unit accelerated dynamic radial tessellation

1. A computer-implemented method for displaying a radial tessellation, comprising:

(a) selecting a single source image;

(b) activating a feature to create a radial tessellation;

(c) specifying a triangular sector of the source image;

(d) transferring the triangular sector to a texture buffer of a graphics processing unit (GPU);

(e) the GPU automatically creating, without additional user input, the radial tessellation by:

(i) drawing the triangular sector on a destination image;

(ii) repeatedly flipping and drawing the triangular sector along a leading edge of the triangular sector to create a closed polygon; and

(iii) repeatedly flipping and drawing the triangular sector onto the destination image to create outer rings around the closed polygon and filling the destination image to create the radial tessellation; and

(f) animating the radial tessellation over time across multiple frames of a clip of image data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the specifying the sector comprises:

displaying an n-order circular-like polygon on the single source image, wherein the n-order determines how many triangles are in the circle-like polygon; and

specifying a specific triangle in the circle-like polygon as the sector.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving user input modifying a value of the n-order.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the radial tessellation is created dynamically in real time without additional input from the user.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving user input modifying an angle of the triangular sector.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving user input modifying a radius of the circle-like polygon.

7. An apparatus for displaying a radial tessellation in a computer system comprising:

(a) a computer having a memory and a graphics processing unit (GPU);

(b) an application executing on the computer, wherein the application is configured to:

(i) select a single source image;

(ii) activate a feature to create a radial tessellation;

(iii) specify a triangular sector of the source image; and

(iv) transfer the triangular sector to a texture buffer of the GPU; and

(c) the GPU configured to automatically create the radial tessellation without additional user inputby:

(1) drawing the triangular sector on a destination image;

(2) repeatedly flipping and drawing the triangular sector along a leading edge of the triangular sector to create a closed polygon;

(3) repeatedly flipping and drawing the triangular sector onto the destination image to create outer rings around the closed polygon and filling the destination image to create the radial tessellation; and

(4) animating the radial tessellation over time across multiple frames of a clip of image data.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the specifying the sector comprises:

displaying an n-order circular-like polygon on the single source image, wherein the n-order determines how many triangles are in the circle-like polygon; and

specifying a specific triangle in the circle-like polygon as the sector.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising receiving user input modifying a value of the n-order.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the radial tessellation is created dynamically in real time without additional input from the user.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising receiving user input modifying an angle of the triangular sector.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising receiving user input modifying a radius of the circle-like polygon.

13. An article of manufacture comprising a program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps of displaying a radial tessellation, the method steps comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting a single source image;

(b) activating a feature to create a radial tessellation;

(c) specifying a triangular sector of the source image;

(d) transferring the triangular sector to a texture buffer of a graphics processing unit (GPU);

(e) the GPU automatically creating, without additional user input, the radial tessellation by:

(i) drawing the triangular sector on a destination image;

(ii) repeatedly flipping and drawing the triangular sector along a leading edge of the triangular sector to create a closed polygon; and

(iii) repeatedly flipping and drawing the triangular sector onto the destination image to create outer rings around the closed polygon and filling the destination image to create the radial tessellation; and

(f) animating the radial tessellation over time across multiple frames of a clip of image data.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , wherein the specifying the sector comprises:

displaying an n-order circular-like polygon on the single source image, wherein the n-order determines how many triangles are in the circle-like polygon; and

specifying a specific triangle in the circle-like polygon as the sector.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 14 , further comprising receiving user input modifying a value of the n-order.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , wherein the radial tessellation is created dynamically in real time without additional input from the user.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , further comprising receiving user input modifying an angle of the triangular sector.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , further comprising receiving user input modifying a radius of the circle-like polygon.