The graphics future in scientific applications-trends and developments in computer graphics

Computer graphics methods and tools are being used to a great extent in scientific research. The future development in this area will be influenced both by new hardware developments and by software advances. On the hardware sector, the development of the raster technology will lead to the increased use of colour workstations with more local processing power. Colour hardcopy devices for creating plots, slides, or movies will be available at a lower price than today. The first real 3D-workstations will appear on the marketplace. One of the main activities on the software sector is the standardization of computer graphics systems, graphical files, and device interfaces. This will lead to more portable graphical application programs and to a common base for computer graphics education.