"Thin" vs. "fat" visualization client

Abstract

The paper explains the advantage of using low-cost, configurable, data visualization components, which can be embedded and distributed in electronic documents and reports. With the increasing use of electronic documents, distributed by intranets and the Internet, the opportunity to provide interactive visualization techniques within scientific and engineering reports has become practicable. This new technology of components allows authors of a report to distribute with a specific "data viewer", for example, allowing the recipients to interactively examine the data in the same way as the original analyst. A "thin" client, by definition, has minimal software requirements necessary to function as a user interface front-end for a Web enabled application and raises the issue of client vs. Server data visualization rendering. Real-time visual data manipulation doesn't translate well into a "thin" client. While the VRML file format allows distribution of 3D visualization scenes to the Web, the user has no direct access to the underlying data sources. The "mapping" of numerical data into geometry format (VRML) takes place at the server side. In the "thin" client model, nearly all functionality is delivered from the server side of the visualization engine while the client perform very simple display and querying functions.