VisAnywhere: Developing Multi-platform Scientific Visualization Applications

Abstract

Scientists often explore and analyze large-scale scientific simulation data by leveraging two- and three-dimensional visualizations. The data and tasks can be complex and therefore best supported using myriad display technologies, from mobile devices to large high-resolution display walls to virtual reality headsets. Using a simulation of neuron connections in the human brain, we present our work leveraging various web technologies to create a multi-platform scientific visualization application. Users can spread visualization and interaction across multiple devices to support flexible user interfaces and both co-located and remote collaboration. Drawing inspiration from responsive web design principles, this work demonstrates that a single codebase can be adapted to develop scientific visualization applications that operate everywhere.