Gallery of 3D Interactive Objects
The ability to interact with three dimensional representations of data helps us understand the relationships between different components of the data. The visual processing portion of our brains are a major component, and when coupled with motor portions, we engage a very large portion of our brains when interacting with these objects. 3D representations can be created in a variety of forms from geometry rendered on your computer’s graphics card, to 3D printed objects for solid objects, or laser etched crystals to display point clouds.
We have created 3D WebGL views of data from some of our projects. (The web objects currently work best in the Google Chrome browser – see the page “Interacting with WebGL On This Site” for details)
Featured WebGL Objects:
Structures and Objects Created for the Motor Neurons Project
Below are the WebGL versions of results of a project to create representations of Motor Neurons. The principle investigator for the project: Dr. Kelvin Jones, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta. Read more about project and the process used to create these object in our Blog article on: The Visualization Process – It Starts with the Data
Hydrogen: An Example of Using 3D Visualizations to Explain a Complex Topic
The objects in this section are derived using quantum mechanics and are used as to demonstrate that 3D visualization can assist with understanding complex topics. With the aid of suitable visualizations, the content can be understood by the viewer and that understanding can be shared with others. Read more …
Math Objects for Visualization and 3DPrinting:
Below are a few objects we use to demonstrate the issues that can arise when surfaces are generated mathematically, and are wonderful and usable for visualizations, but have problems when it comes to 3D printing. For more information about how to fix objects for 3D printing check out our tutorial: 3D Printing – Fixing Models with Blender