Home
Share |

Visualizing vectors

VISUAL | March 2, 2011

This image shows a novel way to visualize and interpret vector data. The glyph geometries (sphere, ellipsoids, etc) are generated, rendered and manipulated interactively in real time. The snapshot shows the velocity field of a point source earthquake simulation using a novel method of encoding vector information, where the magnitude is shown by size and color of the glyph (ellipsoid) and the direction is shown by the dipole dots (the white and black spots on the poles of ellipsoids represent the head and tail of the vector respectively). Image courtesy of Amit Chourasia, San Diego Supercomputer Center, UC San Diego. Caption courtesy of SDSC.

Believe it or not, what you're looking at is a novel visualization of an earthquake.

To describe a vector, you need a direction and a magnitude. But traditional visualizations of vector data omit the direction, resulting in the loss of details that could be crucial.

GlyphSea, an application developed by University of California at San Diego researcher Amit Chourasia's visualization team, will change that if domain scientists adopt the software.

As esoteric as "vector direction" may sound to the layman, this method of visualization could have an impact on a variety of fields, according to the SDSC website:

"This new visualization technique may help seismologists to accurately analyze ground movements for an earthquake, measure magnetic turbulence in deep space, or allow medical researchers to study areas such as blood flow and nutrient absorption."

To see GlyphSea in action, watch the video we've embedded below. Don't forget to turn the volume up - the video is narrated by Chourasia himself.

Learn more on SDSC's website or on the GlyphSea website.

 

No votes yet

Comments

Add New Comment

Post new comment

By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.