Pattern generation on a spherical solid surface

A geometric pattern generation on an arbitrary convex solid surface, especially on a sphere is demonstrated based on the polyhedral model approximation to the object. A solid model generation, by intersecting the multiple view pyramids of the object body, is applied to a virtual sphere approximation. A silhouette of the sphere is a circle and is approximated by a polygon inscribing in it. The number of vertices of the polygon, here 10 to 60, and the number of view directions, 6 to 16, define the shape of the approximate polyhedron. The surface on the polyhedron includes diverse aggregates of variously sized and shaped polygonal facets. They are different from our familiar images of quadrilateral or triangular facets of a terrestrial globe. Rotation around an arbitrary axis and an animation according to the both parameters give dynamic pattern presentation. The generated patterns will have some considerable utility in pattern designing and presentation.