Travails in the Third Dimension: A Critical Evaluation of Three‐Dimensional Geographical Visualization

Several broad questions are posed about the role of the third dimension in data visualization. First, how far have we come in developing effective 3D displays for the analysis of spatial and other data? Second, when is it appropriate to use 3D techniques in visualising data, which 3D techniques are most appropriate for particular applications, and when might 2D approaches be more appropriate? (Indeed, is 3D always better than 2D?) Third, what can we learn from other communities in which 3D graphics and visualization technologies have been developed? And finally, what are the key R&D challenges in making effective use of the third dimension for visualising data across the spatial and related sciences? Answers to these questions will be based on several lines of evidence: the extensive literature on data and information visualization; visual perception research; computer games technology; and the author’s experiments with a prototype 3D data visualization system.