Made of Stars - A Gradient‑Field Approach to Microscopy Data Visualization

We introduce Made of Stars, a dynamic volume visualization that fuses a flocking algorithm, synchronized firing, and gradient‑derived force fields to produce a dynamic and engaging, biologically meaningful depiction of confocal microscopy data. The particle motion is derived from a statistical inference system based on static multi-channel microscopy volumes. We evaluate the effectiveness of the visualization using eye-tracking. An audio channel is introduced to support the perception of global image features. Our application supports the visualization of cell membranes and the uptake of marker proteins to reveal insights into cell morphologies and cell interactions.