Visualization Software

Visualization of the French invasion of Russia, Minard's map and dynamic evolution (click on animated GIF image)

Visualization software or visualisation software is a range of computer graphics products used to create graphical displays and interfaces for software applications. These products include libraries of graphical components or graphic objects (e.g., common charts, Gantt charts, diagrams and realistic equipment images) and software editors for building and deploying data displays for applications. Primarily used in graphical user interfaces, these products support common platforms, including Java, .NET, Flex, and C++, and are used in desktop and web-based applications. They are used in different industries, including transportation, telecommunications, manufacturing and defense, to display information in formats designed to be easily understood. These displays are primarily for applications requiring custom, high-performance interfaces that are scalable and industry specific.

Deployment options

Web
Desktop
Small portable devices (cell phones, PDAs)

Visualization applications

Network monitoring
Process monitoring
Traffic control
Production management
Train traffic control
Manufacturing processes
Rich Internet Applications (RIA)

Visualization technologies

Ajax
GIS
Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture
Software Development Kits (SDKs)
Java 2D
Swing APIs
Styling and Data Mapping (SDM)
DMS latitude/longitude, decimal degrees, UTM or MGRS
Vector
Raster
Geocentric
Geodesic
Decimal Lat/Lon

Visualization standards

NATO APP-6A/MIL-STD 2525B
ESRI
GeoTIFF
DTED 0, 1 & 2
GTOPO30 DEM
MapInfo
Oracle Spatial
TIGER/Line
DMS Lat/Lon
UTM
GRS 80
North American 1983 (CONUS)
Geodetic
NIMA/NGA
XML
Digest
Java2
XML
DIGEST
NIMA
RPF
VPF
SBGN

Associations

OpenAjax Alliance
Eclipse Foundation
TM Forum
Adobe Systems
Microsoft
ILOG

Books

“Application Design: Best Practices for Web-Based Software,” by Susan Fowler and Victor Stanwick (Elsvier)
Battiti, Roberto; Mauro Brunato (2011). Reactive Business Intelligence. From Data to Models to Insight.. Trento, Italy: Reactive Search Srl. ISBN 978-88-905795-0-9. http://www.reactivebusinessintelligence.com/. , about integrating data mining, modeling and interactive visualization.

Graphic objects

Graphic objects are computer images used to represent resources and data in graphical displays. For example, in telephone network management, they can represent lines and nodes (e.g., junction points, phones and computer centers) and performance information, and IT commonly uses them to represent equipment (e.g., servers, clients and routers). They are often referred to as icons.