He, TaosongHong, LichanKaufman, AriePfister, Hanspeter2010-06-011996He, Taosong, Lichan Hong, Arie Kaufman, and Hanspeter Pfister. 1996. Generation of transfer functions with stochastic search techniques. In Proceedings of the 7th conference on Visualization: October 28-29, 1996, San Francisco, California, ed. R. Yagel, and G. M. Nielson, 227-234. Los Alamitos, C.A.: IEEE Computer Society Press.0-89791-864-9http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4141475This paper presents a novel approach to assist the user in exploring appropriate transfer functions for the visualization of volumetric datasets. The search for a transfer function is treated as a parameter optimization problem and addressed with stochastic search techniques. Starting from an initial population of (random or pre-defined) transfer functions, the evolution of the stochastic algorithms is controlled by either direct user selection of intermediate images or automatic fitness evaluation using user-specified objective functions. This approach essentially shields the user from the complex and tedious "trial and error" approach, and demonstrates effective and convenient generation of transfer functions.en-USMonograph or Book2010-06-0110.1109/VISUAL.1996.568113