An atmospheric model opened a human question.

How would people interact with the results of extraordinary computational capability?

Howard Pearlmutter asked that question during work on parallel computing and atmospheric simulation for NASA Ames. The technical undertaking connected a demanding scientific model with processing architecture and a programming approach.

The human undertaking was equally interesting. Would the result become a stack of numerical printouts, or could people gain a more useful relationship with the dynamic system being modeled?

The question led to Interactive Computer Graphics: The Human Interface to Dynamic Simulation, a 700-page NASA Ames study examining computing, human factors, input and output technologies, hardware, and software.

It supplied a broad view of how technical power might become human ability.

That connection is central to ecological visualization. A model can represent a physical relationship while leaving its audience unsure how to inspect it. Animation or interaction can make a different kind of inquiry possible.

The appropriate form depends on the question. A person may need to compare states, follow a flow, inspect a structure, or recognize a consequence that the numerical account makes difficult to imagine.

Howard's research also included computational fluid dynamics for numerical wind-tunnel simulation as an employee of MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science in 1979. Later work included graphics, ecological simulation, modeling and rendering software, commercial interfaces, and renewable-energy information applications.

The fields are connected by a practical concern: make complex relationships available to human understanding.

For your own subject, ask what the audience cannot readily see in the current representation. Which distinction deserves a clearer form? Would a different viewpoint, sequence, or interaction help? What should remain clear about the model's purpose?

Explore the atlas, animation, and interaction. Read ecological design for another expression of the same creative and technical range.

A visual inquiry can help turn the question into a useful representation. The point is to let more computational capability become more ability to understand and act.