Computer graphics presentation modes for biologic data. Types and examples.

New advances in automated cytology, computer microscopy, densitometry and other instrumentation for feature/scene acquisition or analysis have resulted in higher information densities than heretofore encountered. Two-, three- and four-space computer graphics provide favorable bandwidth conditions for transforming complex, large-scale data sets into visual displays that allow a human observer, utilizing the brain's efficient processing of visual information, to rapidly grasp relationships and synthesize concepts. Examples of multidimensional displays are presented, all developed by neuroscientists who are not computer specialists. Because modern graphics and image-synthesis techniques can now be implemented on any one of several commercially available very-high-speed integrated-circuit-based display systems, at moderate cost, exploitation of specifically visual presentation should be carefully considered in any system generating information in high density.