Future Directions in Astronomy Visualization

Despite the large budgets spent annually on astronomical research equipment such as telescopes, instruments, and supercomputers, the general trend is to analyze and view the resulting datasets using small, two-dimensional displays. We report here on alternative advanced image displays, with an emphasis on displays that we have constructed, including stereoscopic projection, multiple projector tiled displays, and a digital dome. These displays can provide astronomers with new ways of exploring the terabyte and petabyte datasets that are now regularly being produced from all-sky surveys, high-resolution computer simulations, and Virtual Observatory projects. We also present a summary of the Advanced Image Displays for Astronomy (AIDA) survey which we conducted from 2005 March-May, in order to raise some issues pertinent to the current and future level of use of advanced image displays.