title: Of red planets and indigo computers:  Mars database visualization as an example of platform downsizing.
abstract: The last decade has witnessed tremendous advancements in the computer hardware and software used to perform scientific visualization. In this paper, we consider how the visualization of a particular data set, the digital terrain model derived from the Viking orbiter imagery, has been realized in four distinct projects over this period. These examples serve to demonstrate how the vast improvements in computational performance both decrease the cost of such visualization efforts and permit an increasing level of interactivity. We then consider how even today's graphical systems require the visualization designer to make intelligent choices and tradeoffs in database rendering. Finally, we discuss how insights gleaned from an understanding of human visual perception can guide these design decisions, and suggest new options for visualization hardware and software.
authors.affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA.  moose@eos.arc.nasa.gov
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Montegut
mesh_terms: D003196:Computer Graphics; D003201:Computers; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006804:Ergonomics; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D005844:Geology; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D018535:Mars; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014796:Visual Perception