Interactive Graphics For Data Analysis [Thesis]

Abstract

This paper reports on work in a new branch of research in statistical methods: applications of interactive computer graphics. I describe several programs written for the Orion I workstation, an experimental computer graphics system built at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in 1980-81. These programs demonstrate new methods for data analysis made possible by advances in microprocessor and computer graphics technology. These methods make extensive use of color, real-time motion, and interaction to discover structure in many-dimensional data. Two approaches to graphical analysis of many-dimensional data are discussed in detail: interactive projection pursuit and simultaneous, multiple views.