Thin vs. "fat" visualization client

This paper explains the advantage of using low-cost, configurable, data visualization components, which can be embedded and distributed in electronic documents and reports. With the increasing use of electronic documents, distributed by Intranet and Internet, the opportunity to provide interactive visualization techniques within scientific and engineering reports has become practicable. This new technology of components allows authors of a report to distribute with a specific "data viewer", for example, allowing the recipients to interactively examine the data in the same way as the original analyst. A "thin" client, by definition, have minimal software requirements necessary to function as a user interface front-end for a Web enabled application and raises the issue of client vs. server data visualization rendering. Real-time visual data manipulation doesn't translate well into a "thin" client. While the VRML file format allows distribution of 3D visualization scenes to the Web, the user has no direct access to the underlying data sources. The "mapping" of numerical data into geometry format (VRML) takes place at the server side. In the "thin" client model, nearly all functionality is delivered from the server side of the visualization engine while the client perform very simple display and querying functions. The visualization server controls data manipulation and information drill-down techniques. Web-based component technology can be used to overcome these limitations. Java allows the creation of "applets" and "Beans", and we have Windows/COM components. These components can significantly increase the data interaction between the client application and the end user, and allow tasks to be executed on the client. Highly interactive user interface tasks are delivered that provide point-and-click navigation through multidimensional data structures. Visual data interfaces such as information drilling, moving a cutting plane through a volume data set etc are supported. This paper demonstrates the concept of using "Fat" visualization clients with several examples. The implications of using VRML is compared to sending data to the client and perform interactive client data visualization on a desktop with locally stored components embedded and distributed in electronic documents and reports.