OF RED PLANETS AND INDIGO COMPUTERS - MARS DATABASE VISUALIZATION AS AN EXAMPLE OF PLATFORM DOWNSIZING

The last decade has witnessed tremendous advancements in the computer hardware and software used to perform scientific visualization. In thi s paper, we consider how the visualization of a particular data set, t he digital terrain model derived from the Viking orbiter imagery, has been realized in four distinct projects over this period. These exampl es serve to demonstrate how the vast improvements in computational per formance both decrease the cost of such visualization efforts and perm it an increasing level of interactivity. We then consider how even tod ay's graphical systems require the visualization designer to make inte lligent choices and tradeoffs in database rendering. Finally, we discu ss how insights gleaned from an understanding of human visual percepti on can guide these design decisions, and suggest new options for visua lization hardware and software.