3D scatter plots and 3D graph visualization in Java

Question

I'm looking to create views of scientific data in Java.

The data is a mathematical graph consisting of points in 3D space.

Are there any Java-based frameworks for creating 3D graphs in Java so that I can: 1. Plot points as spheres, 2. Connect some of the spheres with thin cylinders, 3. Draw flat triangles between some sets of three spheres?

Something like a molecule viewer, with the ability to insert 3D polygons.

Web searches seem to bring up either 3D mesh-plotting tools, "3D charts" (for "pretty representations of 2D/1D data); but I can't seem to find anything that is suited to my data.

I guess this could be done in Java 3D, but I'd prefer to use existing code so that I don't have to write code to manage user gestures (for rotation, etc.) and so that I can simply work with simple coordinates, rather than mapping into the transformation and scene-graph perspective of Java 3D.

Answer 1

Well, if you have to end up doing a lot of it from scratch (Sorry, I don't know any libraries), you might want to try Processing. It's Java and might have some of the functionality you're looking for to start building a charting tool.

Answer 2

I don't know a good mathematical library that does representation in 3d but you can always export to a plain txt file and use good old gnuplot.

Answer 3

We are thinking about integrating root (it's a scientific library C++ from CERN) with our Java app. But integrating C++ app in Java is a problem in itself.

EDIT: I was also pointed to JAS3, that is a scientific java lib that has 3d plots.

Answer 4

Hi all, I suggest you try http://code.google.com/p/jzy3d, which will really help you to do what you want. Regards, Martin

Answer 5

VisAD