Gryphon: A 'Little' Domain-Specific Programming Language for Diffusion MRI Visualizations

We present Gryphon, a ‘little’ domain-specific programming language (DSL) for visualizing diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (DMRI). A key contribution is its compositional approach to customizing visualizations for evolving analytical tasks. The language is designed for non-programmer, here brain scientists for exploratory studies. The semantics of Gryphon includes a simple set of keywords derived from brain scientists vocabulary while performing imaging tasks of mapping data to graphic marks such as color, shape, value, and size. A pilot study with two neuroscientists suggested that Gryphon was easy to learn, though some additional functions and interface components are needed to empower brain scientists.

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