A Snapshot of Current Trends in Visualization

Visualization is the study of the transformation of data to visual representations. These visual elements are then used to gain insight into and from the data. In the 30 years since the landmark "Visualization in Scientific Computing” report in which the National Science Foundation Panel on Graphics, Image Processing, and Workstations outlined a vision for developing computer-generated visualization as a scientific field, the field has expanded to encompass three major subfields: scientific visualization, information visualization, and visual analytics. It also includes many domain-specific areas, such as geo-information visualization, biological data visualization, and software visualization. Visualization has become an indispensable enabling instrument in many fields.