Looking back on the history of visualization, as the graphical representation of the results of scientific computing, we see that visualization has been defined primarily by the technology of computing and displays. The 'ancient' history of visualization is that before the publication of the NSF Panel's report Visualization and Scientific Computing in 1987. After a look at this history and its technologies, and limitations imposed by those technologies and costs, we review the objectives set out in the panel report and the state of visualization today, especially its limitations and problems. Cost of computer memory was the primary inhibitor of visualization in the past. Today the bottleneck on visualization comes primarily from limitations in network bandwidth. Looking at trends in today's technology, as well as trends and opportunities for visualization in scientific applications, we suggest potential developments in visualization by the end of the century.

Date Published: 4 April 1994
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 2178, Visual Data Exploration and Analysis, (4 April 1994); doi: 10.1117/12.172058

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2178:
Visual Data Exploration and Analysis
Robert J. Moorhead II; Deborah E. Silver; Samuel P. Uselton, Editor(s)