Virtual worlds for visualizing information
Steven Feiner · 2003
Virtual worlds are computer-generated environments created by coupling 3-D displays and interaction devices to powerful graphics workstations. The author describes work in the design of virtual worlds being carried out by Columbia's Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Group Two of the main themes of this group's research are exploiting true 3-D interaction and display devices to visualize and manipulate rich information spaces, and using artificial-intelligence techniques to automate the generation of effective graphics. The projects discussed address virtual worlds for visualizing multivariate data, hybrid user interfaces that merge 2-D and 3-D displays and interaction devices, and augmented realities in which the surrounding physical world is annotated with knowledge-based 3-D graphics.>