Comparative visualization and analysis of time-dependent, 2D foam simulation data

Liquid foams have important practical applications. To analyze the dependence of foam behavior on material properties, and to improve foam models, foam scientists work with dozens of related simulations obtained by varying these material properties as well as parameters such as foam attributes, properties of objects interacting with foam or shape of foam containers. We present visualization solutions, developed in close collaboration with foam scientists, designed to compare and analyze related simulations. We evaluate our solutions by deploying them at the scientists’ site. We demonstrate their effectiveness through results obtained by domain experts using our tool which include new findings and new approaches to analyze foam simulations. We propose a novel interaction and processing technique that enables the comparison of related events in different simulations and facilitates the examination of the temporal context for the events.