Remote Online Visualization Environment for Researchers

Many scientists have the common need of visualizing data in a collaborative and interactive manner. In a modern environment, these data are often stored across a widely distributed network and the researchers themselves are just as often separated by large geographical distances. Traditional visualization and collaboration approaches require the local installation of software specific to each end user as well as the downloading of data to each local machine. The proposed innovation would provide researchers with an environment that allows them to visualize remote data using the standard and familiar web browser as the application platform. No proprietary software need be installed and no data has to be downloaded to local machines. Furthermore, multiple researchers can interactively explore data via visualization in a joint session where changes by one researcher are seamlessly seen by the others. The architecture is based on technologies underlying state of the art web applications such as Google Maps. Employing a modular design using web services as means to connect the modules, the environment is easy to modify and improve as new data access, rendering, and client-side display technologies mature and become available.