The use of stereoscopic visualization in chemistry and structural biology

摘要

It is often very hard to interpret molecular structure data obtained as a result of experimental measurement or theoretical calculations. Typical examples of such data sources are X-ray diffraction techniques, NMR techniques or quantum mechanic calculations. The obtained 3D data as electron density maps or atom positions are complex objects and they require sophisticated methods of visualization. In the first part of this article we will discus several data interpretation problems for which the stereoscopic visualization is strongly recommended. In the second part, an overview of existing chemical software supporting stereoscopic visualization will be given. We will show the necessary methods for stereoscopic visualization implementation on the MCE code development example. MCE is software we developed. It is targeted for interpretation of X-ray diffraction and quantum mechanical calculations. Based on our practical experiences, we summarize in the end of the article the requirement for creating and ergonomically comfortable working environment for everyday stereoscopic visualization use for chemical structure analysis purpose.