Analyzing surface sampling patterns using the localized pair correlation function

Point distributions with different characteristics have a crucial influence on graphics applications. Various analysis tools have been developed in recent years, mainly for blue noise sampling in Euclidean domains. In this paper, we present a new method to analyze the properties of general sampling patterns that are distributed on mesh surfaces. The core idea is to generalize to surfaces the pair correlation function (PCF) which has successfully been employed in sampling pattern analysis and synthesis in 2D and 3D. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can reveal correlations of point sets generated by a wide range of sampling algorithms. An acceleration technique is also suggested to improve the performance of the PCF.