Visualization / Visibility

Abstract

The term visualization is employed to refer to the capacity of making visible properties, relations, objects and state of affairs which either are no longer presented through perception or depends upon concepts and theoretical definitions, which regard domains that lie outside the scope of perception. In the strict sense, visualization is the kind of experience akin to perception, which is enabled by the structure and the function of imagery. From a functional standpoint, then, the capacity of visualization relies on a not arbitrary mapping between visual-spatial representations and what they stand for. In this broader sense, it is connected with perception and rule-based qualitative reasoning. In ordinary experience, visualization may concur to route finding and understanding the function of mechanical systems through a “mental animation”. Visualization subserves also the realization of artworks and mathematical reasoning.