Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5. Data Visualization
Deoxy Human Hemonglobin. PDB entry 1A3N. Image produced with PDB Structure
Explorer.
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your
thoughts break their bonds; Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness
expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful
world.
—
Patanjali
We evolved as visual creatures, highly dependent for our survival on our virtually instantaneous,
visual pattern-recognition skills. When faced with predator or prey, our ancestors who were able to
assess the situation quickly and take the appropriate action survived. Day-to-day survival favored the
quickest pattern recognizers.
In the modern, digital society, when it comes to communicating or understanding complex concepts
and vast amounts of data quickly, the optical cortex is still the best processor going. The rise of TV as
