1. ¹Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, PO Box 999, K7-28, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
2. ²Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, Washington, DC, USA.

Correspondence: Jim Thomas, E-mail: jim.thomas@pnl.gov

Received 26 May 2009; Revised 7 July 2009; Accepted 8 July 2009.

Abstract

Visual analytics has seen unprecedented growth in its first 5 years of mainstream existence. Great progress has been made in a short time, yet significant challenges must be met in the next decade to provide new technologies that will be widely accepted throughout the world. This article explains some of those challenges in an effort to provide a stimulus for research, both basic and applied, that can realize or even exceed the potential envisioned for visual analytics technologies. We start with a brief summary of the initial challenges, followed by a discussion of the initial driving domains and applications. These are followed by a selection of additional applications and domains that have been a part of recent rapid expansion of visual analytics usage. We then look at the common characteristics of several tools illustrating emerging visual analytics technologies and conclude with the top 10 challenges for the field of study. We encourage feedback and continued participation by members of the research community, the wide array of user communities and private industry.