八叉樹在三維計算機圖形領域的應用可以追溯到1980年倫斯勒理工學院唐納德·馬爾(Donald Meagher)的報告《八叉樹編碼:使用計算機表示、操作、顯示任意三維對象的新技術》(Octree Encoding: A New Technique for the Representation, Manipulation and Display of Arbitrary 3-D Objects by Computer)[1]。
^Meagher, Donald. Octree Encoding: A New Technique for the Representation, Manipulation and Display of Arbitrary 3-D Objects by Computer. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. October 1980, (Technical Report IPL-TR-80-111).