title: Multidimensional data visualization
abstract: Historically, data visualization has been limited primarily to two dimensions (e.g., histograms or scatter plots). Available software packages (e.g., Data Desk 6.1, MatLab 6.1, SAS-JMP 4.04, SPSS 10.0) are capable of producing three-dimensional scatter plots with (varying degrees of) user interactivity. We constructed our own data visualization application with the Visualization Toolkit (Schroeder et al., 1998) and Tcl/Tk to display multivariate data through the application of glyphs (Ware, 2000). A glyph is a visual object onto which many data parameters may be mapped, each with a different visual attribute (e.g., size or color). We used our multi-dimensional data viewer to explore data from several psycholinguistic experiments. The graphical interface provides flexibility when users dynamically explore the multidimensional image rendered from raw experimental data. We highlight advantages of multidimensional data visualization and consider some potential limitations
keyphrases: multidimensional data visualization user interactivity Visualization Toolkit Tcl/Tk glyphs visual object data parameters visual attribute multi-dimensional data viewer psycholinguistic experiments graphical interface multidimensional image rendering 3D scatter plots multivariate data display