The VisAD Java class library for interactive and collaborative
visualization and analysis of numerical data is now available.
VisAD features:
The use of pure Java and Java RMI for platform independence
and to support data sharing and real-time collaboration among
geographically distributed users. Support for distributed
computing is integrated at the lowest levels of the system.
A general mathematical data model that can be adapted to
virtually any numerical data, that supports data sharing
among different users, different data sources and different
scientific disciplines, and that provides transparent access
to data independent of storage format and location (i.e.,
memory, disk or remote). Initially supported file formats
include FITS, netCDF, HDF-EOS (via native library), Vis5D
(via native library), GIF and JPEG.
A general display model that supports interactive 3-D, data
fusion, multiple data views, direct manipulation,
collaboration, and virtual reality.
Data analysis and computation integrated with visualization
to support computational steering and other complex
interaction modes.
Support for two distinct communities: developers who create
domain-specific systems based on VisAD, and users of those
systems. VisAD is designed to support a wide variety of
user interfaces, ranging from simple data browser applets
to complex applications that allow groups of scientists to
collaboratively develop data analysis algorithms.
Developer extensibility in as many ways as possible.
Complete source code, the VisAD Java Class Library Developers
Guide and several example applications are freely available at:
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/visad.html
You can get help from the VisAD mailing list. Join by sending
an email message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with:
subscribe visad-list
in the first line of the message body (not the subject line).
VisAD requires Java 3D and jdk1.2beta3, available from Sun at:
http://java.sun.com/
In its initial release VisAD will be more appropriate for
complex interactions and collaboration than for operational
production of visualizations of large data sets.
Bill Hibbard
whibbard@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------------
Bill Hibbard, SSEC, 1225 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706
whibbard@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 608-263-4427 fax: 608-263-6738
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/vis.html
