A Literature Review of Studies on Interactive 3D Information Visualization for the Web

Abstract

Web browsers provide a feature-rich, cross-platform, and easily accessible environment presenting the potential to reduce the costs and complexity of interactive 3D Information Visualization (I3DIV) applications involving multi-projection systems and diversified interaction devices. To better understand how these applications can be developed for web browsers, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) composed by two searches for scientific articles, one regarding how multi-projection systems can be implemented using web browsers (which selected 10 articles), and another one regarding how interaction devices besides mouse and keyboard can be used in web browsers (which selected 26 articles); their results were then compiled under the mantle of multi-projected I3DIV applications for web browsers. Results show, among other things, that multi-projection systems for the web are most commonly implemented using client-server and decentralized graphic clusters, that diversified interaction devices are most commonly accessed in web browsers using an approach we called device-server-browser, and that there is currently only one software resource that can be used to develop multi-projected I3DIV applications for web browsers, however it also has limitations regarding usage and, possibly, performance. We conclude then that there is a gap for a resource that addresses these subjects in a more appropriate way.