... are now not 'real' but computer generated: the environment we are looking at is 'virtual', it is a representation of the real world (Slater and Wilbur, 1995). To visualise is to bring something as a picture before the mind. This is exactly what the visualisation software and hardware systems are trying to achieve. For years, various visualisation tools have been developed to help scientists to have a better understanding of problems of their concern. These tools can be used to create something as simple as 2-D images such as graphs, or it can be used to generate complicated 3-D images (Jean et al, 1991). Advances in computer hardware technology have led to an increase in the power available to computer users. Major software houses have kept pace with these advances developing software which utilises the technology available. Many engineers are now familiar with three-dimensional CAD systems and use them routinely ...

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