Computational steering: a case study

We discuss the application of interactive visualization techniques to a class of problems where a user interacts with underlying mathematical model and steers its simulation in the hope of "gaining new insight". The primary interface for this interaction are visual images and the subsequent input based upon the user's perception and interpretation of these images. The emphasis is on applications which involve physical models in higher-dimensional space; in particular, we focus on the simulation, visualization and interaction of chemical reactions. In this paper we present several aspects of our ongoing work in interactive visualization. After introducing simple underlying concepts, we discuss some issues that we are studying.