MultiVIS: a web-based interactive remote visualization environment and navigable volume imagemap system

Abstract

This work represents the convergent evolution of a number of technologies and research 'threads'. A project called MetaMAP, which developed early hypermedia imagemap technology, dates back to 1986. Work on creating a new paradigm for doing client-server visualization over the Internet began in 1992. Another major project began in 1993 to turn the Web into a platform for interactive applications. A project to develop multidimensional imagemap technology began in 1995. Finally, work on a scalable computational server architecture called 'Dark Iron' began in 1997. The MultiVIS project represents the intersection of these various research efforts to create a new kind of navigable knowledge space that leverages the advantages of each of its constituent technologies.