Avizo (pronounce: ‘a-VEE-zo’) is a general-purpose commercial software application for scientific and industrial
data visualization
Data and information visualization (data viz or info viz) is an interdisciplinary field that deals with the graphic representation of data and information. It is a particularly efficient way of communicating when the data or information is nume ...
and analysis.
Avizo is developed by
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American supplier of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, and software services. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Thermo Fisher was formed through the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Ther ...
and was originally designed and developed by the Visualization and Data Analysis Group at
Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB) under the name
Amira Amira, Ameerah, or Ameera may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Amira'' (album), by Amira Willighagen, 2014
* ''Amira'' (film), a 2021 Jordanian film
People
* Amira (name), an Arabic and Hebrew female given name
* Amira (singer), American si ...
. Avizo was commercially released in November 2007. For the history of its development, see the Wikipedia article about
Amira Amira, Ameerah, or Ameera may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Amira'' (album), by Amira Willighagen, 2014
* ''Amira'' (film), a 2021 Jordanian film
People
* Amira (name), an Arabic and Hebrew female given name
* Amira (singer), American si ...
.
Overview

Avizo is a
software application
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
which enables users to perform
interactive visualization
Visualization or visualisation (see spelling differences) is any technique for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message. Visualization through visual imagery has been an effective way to communicate both abstract and c ...
and computation on 3D data sets.
The Avizo interface is modelled on the
visual programming. Users manipulate data and module components, organized in an interactive graph representation (called Pool), or in a
Tree view
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are us ...
. Data and modules can be interactively connected together, and controlled with several parameters, creating a visual processing network whose output is displayed in a 3D viewer.
With this interface, complex data can be interactively explored and analyzed by applying a controlled sequence of computation and display processes resulting in a meaningful visual representation and associated derived data.
Application areas
Avizo has been designed to support different types of applications and workflows from 2D and 3D image data processing to simulations.
It is a versatile and customizable visualization tool used in many fields:
*
Scientific visualization
Scientific visualization ( also spelled scientific visualisation) is an interdisciplinary branch of science concerned with the visualization of scientific phenomena. Michael Friendly (2008)"Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, st ...
*
Materials Research
*
Tomography
Tomography is imaging by sections or sectioning that uses any kind of penetrating wave. The method is used in radiology, archaeology, biology, atmospheric science, geophysics, oceanography, plasma physics, materials science, cosmochemistry, ...
,
Microscopy
Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of mi ...
, etc.
*
Nondestructive testing
Nondestructive testing (NDT) is any of a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and technology industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage.
The terms nondestructive examination (NDE), n ...
, Industrial Inspection, and
Visual Inspection
Visual inspection is a common method of quality control, data acquisition, and data analysis.
Visual Inspection, used in maintenance of facilities, mean inspection of equipment and structures using either or all of raw human senses such as vision ...
*
Computer-aided Engineering
Computer-aided engineering (CAE) is the broad usage of computer software to aid in engineering analysis tasks. It includes , , , durability and optimization. It is included with computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) ...
and simulation data post-processing
*
Porous medium
A porous medium or a porous material is a material containing pores (voids). The skeletal portion of the material is often called the "matrix" or "frame". The pores are typically filled with a fluid (liquid or gas). The skeletal material is us ...
analysis
*
Civil Engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...
*
Seismic Exploration,
Reservoir Engineering,
Microseismic Monitoring, Borehole Imaging
*
Geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
,
Digital Rock Physics (DRP),
Earth Sciences
Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spher ...
*Archaeology
*
Food technology
Food technology is a branch of food science that deals with the production, preservation, quality control and research and development of the food products.
Early scientific research into food technology concentrated on food preservation. Ni ...
and
agricultural science
Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...
* Physics, Chemistry
*
Climatology
Climatology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 ...
,
Oceanography, Environmental Studies
*
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the he ...
Features
Data import:
*2D and 3D image stack and volume data: from microscopes (electron, optical), X-ray tomography (CT, micro-/nano-CT, synchrotron), neutron tomography and other acquisition devices (MRI, radiography, GPR)
* Geometric models (such as point sets, line sets, surfaces, grids)
* Numerical simulation data (such as
Computational fluid dynamics
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate t ...
or
Finite element analysis
The finite element method (FEM) is a popular method for numerically solving differential equations arising in engineering and mathematical modeling. Typical problem areas of interest include the traditional fields of structural analysis, heat t ...
data)
* Molecular data
*Time series and animations
* Seismic data
*Well logs
*4D Multivariate Climate Models
2D/3D data visualization:
*
Volume rendering
In scientific visualization and computer graphics, volume rendering is a set of techniques used to display a 2D projection of a 3D discretely sampled data set, typically a 3D scalar field.
A typical 3D data set is a group of 2D slice imag ...
*
Digital Volume Correlation
*Visualization of sections, through various slicing and clipping methods
*
Isosurface rendering
*
Polygonal meshes
* Scalar fields, Vector fields, Tensor representations,
Flow visualization
Flow visualization or flow visualisation in fluid dynamics is used to make the flow patterns visible, in order to get qualitative or quantitative information on them.
Overview
Flow visualization is the art of making flow patterns visible. M ...
(Illuminated Streamlines, Stream Ribbons)
Image processing:
*2D/3D Alignment of image slices,
Image registration
Image registration is the process of transforming different sets of data into one coordinate system. Data may be multiple photographs, data from different sensors, times, depths, or viewpoints. It is used in computer vision, medical imaging, mili ...
*Image filtering
*Mathematical Morphology (erode, dilate, open, close, tophat)
*Watershed Transform, Distance Transform
*
Image segmentation
In digital image processing and computer vision, image segmentation is the process of partitioning a digital image into multiple image segments, also known as image regions or image objects ( sets of pixels). The goal of segmentation is to simpl ...
3D models reconstruction:
*Polygonal surface generation from segmented objects
*Generation of tetrahedral grids
*Surface reconstruction from
point cloud
Point or points may refer to:
Places
* Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States
* Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
* Point ...
s
*
Skeletonization (reconstruction of dendritic, porous or fracture network)
*Surface model simplification
Quantification and analysis:
*Measurements and statistics
*Analysis spreadsheet and charting
Material properties computation, based on 3D images:
* Absolute permeability
* Thermal conductivity
* Molecular diffusivity
* Electrical resistivity/formation factor
3D image-based meshing for CFD and FEA:
* From 3D imaging modalities (CT, micro-CT, MRI, etc.)
* Surface and volume meshes generation
* Export to FEA and CFD solvers for simulation
* Post-processing for simulation analysis
Presentation, automation:
*MovieMaker, Multiscreen,
Video wall
A video wall is a special multi-monitor setup that consists of multiple computer monitors, video projectors, or television sets tiled together contiguously or overlapped in order to form one large screen. Typical display technologies include LCD ...
, collaboration, and
VR[VISUALISATION IMMERSIVE ET INTERACTION HAPTIQUE : UNE REVOLUTION POUR LES GEOSCIENCES, by BRGM (Bureau des recherches géologiques et minières, Franc]
/ref> support
* Tcl, TCL Scripting, C++ extension API
Avizo is based o
Open Inventor
3D graphics toolkits
FEI
Visualization Sciences Group).
External links
*
Scientific Publications
Official Avizo forum
Avizo videos
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avizo (Software)
3D graphics software
3D imaging
Computational fluid dynamics
Computer vision software
Data visualization software
Earth sciences graphics software
Graphics software
Image processing software
Image segmentation
Mesh generators
Molecular dynamics software
Molecular modelling software
Nondestructive testing
Physics software
Science software
Simulation software
Software that uses Qt
Virtual reality