Development environment of embeddable information-visualization methods

Abstract

The development of information-visualization systems requires the design of visualization methods based on data and purposes. Visual tools are desirable solutions supporting the development of visualization programs. However, the applicability of the tools is limited. Therefore, we allowed the developers to embed visualization methods into visualization programs easily to increase the application field. We designed a visualization execution environment that includes the following features: (1) Independence of data formats and Graphics APIs used in target programs, (2) Embeddability of visualization methods into visualization programs, and (3) Low-cost implementation of interface functions. We showed that our execution environment had practical performance through two experiments. Then, using use cases, we showed that our environment could be used in the low-cost development of visualization systems. The design of our execution environment reinforced the practicability of visual tools that support the development of visualization programs.