Visualization & Graphics Lab

Research in visualization and computer graphics

Visualization & Graphics Lab (VG-Lab) is a research group specializing in visualization and computer graphics, with applications in neuroscience, biomedicine, and education. It is affiliated with Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) and collaborates with the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) and the Cajal Blue Brain research center.

Research areas and projects

The lab participates in projects funded by the Community of Madrid, Spain's Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), and the European Commission. Notable active and recent projects include:

• MATDAH: Virtual Math Tutor (November 2024–November 2026): an interactive platform for children with ADHD, funded by the Community of Madrid and URJC.
• MEDAVI (2021–2025): general-purpose visual analytics tools for digital science and society, funded under project PID2020-113013RB-C21.
• EBRAINS (SGA2, September 2022–March 2025): funded by the European Commission.
• Human Brain Project (2013–2021): an H2020 FET Flagship project with work across several subprograms.
• Cajal Blue Brain (2009–2019): funded by Spain's Ministry of Science and Innovation.
• VIANA (2018–2020): advanced visual analytics, funded by MINECO.
• CeBMI (2020–2022): a university-industry education center for advanced biomedical and medical informatics, under the Erasmus+ program.
• NAVAN (2015–2018): new advances in visual analytics, funded by MINECO.

Tools and libraries

The lab has developed open-source applications and libraries for analyzing and visualizing neuroscience and biomedical data:

• Pyramidal Explorer: explores the microanatomy of pyramidal neurons.
• NeuroScheme: navigates neural-circuit data at different levels of abstraction through schematic representations.
• MSPViz: analyzes structural-plasticity models.
• NeuroTessMesh / NeuroLOTs: generates neuronal meshes from skeletal descriptions.
• ViSimpl: supports multiview visual analysis of brain-simulation data.
• MeLVin: a visual environment for designing coordinated-view applications.
• ClInt Explorer: groups neurobiological data using supervised and unsupervised learning.
• Vishnu: integrates and stores data from multiple sources and scales.
• Projectional Radiograph Simulator: lets users practice radiographic procedures in a risk-free simulation.
• NeuroEditor: visualizes and edits neuronal morphology tracings.
• Neuronize: supports interoperability between neuronal mesh representations (Imaris) and tracings (Neurolucida).
• DeepSpineNet: semi-automatically reconstructs dendrites and spines from microscopy images.

The lab also maintains FiReS (property management for filtering and searching), nsol (neuroscience data structures), scoop (color palettes), and ReTo (rendering utilities).

Team

The group includes faculty, postdoctoral researchers, doctoral students, and administrative and systems staff, primarily from URJC and UPM. Members listed include Luis Pastor, Sofía Bayona, Marcos García, Susana Mata, Óscar David Robles Sánchez, Ángel Rodríguez, Pablo Toharia, Juan Pedro Brito Méndez, Francisco González de Quevedo, José Miguel Espadero, Aaron Sujar Garrido, Cristian Rodíguez Bernal, Gonzalo Bayo Martínez, Isabel Vidaurre, Cosmin Toader, Iván Velasco, Sergio E. Galindo Ruedas, and Juan José García Cantero.

Publications

The lab regularly publishes in journals including Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, Multimedia Tools and Applications, Sensors, IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing, Brain and Behavior, Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, Machines, BioMedical Engineering Online, Scientific Reports, and JMIR Serious Games.

Opportunities

The lab offers junior and senior programmer positions in interactive visualization development.