One of the more graphically interesting applications of interpolation I’ve found is spatial interpolation of topological models: gathering data from a number of different points over a region and interpolating a surface that intersect each point.

Many examples of spatial interpolation images can best be viewed right here at Cornell. The CAVE, a three-wall virtual reality center in Rhodes Hall, enables students, professors and researchers to upload their 3D models and view them in a stereoscopic environment. I recently got the chance to see it in person and one model in particular stood out: an animation of the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, Sumatra-Andaman. If you go, you can see the tsunami wave build up, and hit the shores of Sri Lanka and India in 3D from either an aerial or underwater view! Although the model isn’t computed in real time, it’s another cool application of spatial interpolation.

The way in which this animation was created was through the use of four satellites with altimeters, measuring the height of the ocean at different times. Using this data to create a model of the ocean surface, along with surface of the land (before and after), we can replay the aftermath of the second largest earthquake in fast or slow motion!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake
http://cais.gsi.go.jp/UJNR/6th/poster/poster/P09-Poster.pdf