Point cloud data hierarchy

A method for presenting multi-resolution views of a very large point data set, comprising:

• a. storing data on a storage system that is representative of a point cloud comprising a very large number of associated points;
• b. organizing the data into an octree hierarchy of data sectors, each of which is representative of one or more of the points at a given octree mesh resolution;
• c. receiving a command from a user of a user interface to present an image based at least in part upon a selected viewing perspective origin and vector;
• and
• d. assembling the image based at least in part upon the selected origin and vector, the image comprising a plurality of data sectors pulled from the octree hierarchy, the plurality of data sectors being assembled such that sectors representative of points closer to the selected viewing origin have a higher octree mesh resolution than that of sectors representative of points farther away from the selected viewing origin.