We are investigating methods for simplifying complex models for interactive visualizations using texture-based representations. This paper presents a simplification method which dynamically "caches" distant geometry into textures and trades off accurate rendering of the distant geometry for performance. Smooth transitions and continuous borders are defined between the geometry and textures thus the representations can be switched without sudden jumps (as is the case with many current texturing techniques). All the computations for the transitions can be done a priori without the need to change the textures each frame thereafter.
Daniel G. Aliaga