slide: In3D architecture
The In3D toolkit, [In3D],
provides an object-oriented framework
for the visualization of business data.
It is based on the Model--View--Control
paradigm, and provides the functionality to define
data models or containers,
observers for these models,
mappings to transform the data to be displayed,
a variety of views to display the data,
sensors and controllers to create interactive applications,
and frames and viewers for displaying visualizations
on the screen.
The In3D toolkit is built on OpenGL and allows
for VRML import and export.
An overview of the In3D architecture is given in slide [in3d-arch].
Interaction -- visualization
- selection -- clicking a view action
- brushing -- display detailed information
- controllers -- sliders and buttons for manipulation
- filtering -- apply constraints on the data
- sensors -- triggered by user navigation
- navigation -- move around and explore
- commands -- user-defined macros
slide: User interaction
Creating an effective visualization may be quite demanding.
First of all, one has to make the choice for
an appropriate metaphor.
Basically, the choice is between a literal
metaphor, such as the geographical metaphor used in slide [3d-usa],
or an abstract metaphor, such as a data cube or an abstract
topology.
Next, it is important to organize the data,
and to find suitable visual primitives to display the data
content and the inherent relationships of the data.
Finally, user interaction capabilities must be added,
to allow for explorative behavior and drill down.
See slide [interact].
Available systems
The In3D toolkit (www.vdi.com) was one of the first around
for business data visualization.
Recently, a number of VRML-based visualization kits
have been introduced (for example www.em7.com and www.platinum.com).