Steering via the image in local, distributed and collaborative settings

Computational steering is a valuable mechanism for scientific investigation in which the parameters of a running program can be altered and the results visualized immediately. In an earlier paper we put forward an architecture for computational steering that recognises visualization as both the logical output and the input route. In this paper we investigate the practicalities of applying this architecture in local, distributed and collaborative steering. The work adopts a state-transition modelling approach, keeping parameters and results together in the display in order to present information consistently. The outcome is a manageably small set of states that could apply to many different simulations. We also present the results of a preliminary user study on the demonstrator we have constructed.