Visual Data Exploration Using Webbles

We describe a system for visual exploration of data built using pluggable software components called Webbles. The system specifies a small common interface, a set of slots the plugins are expected to have, and any Webble following this interface can be plugged in at runtime. The system contains several types of visualization components, some built from scratch, some built by writing Webble wrappers for existing software, and some built by writing small interface wrappers for existing Webbles. The visualization components allow for interactive exploration of data, and selections or grouping of data in one visualization component are propagated to other components automatically. Interaction is done through direct manipulation of the visualization results.