Interactivity¶

Datoviz supports basic 2D and 3D interactivity on panels, including:

These modes are attached to a panel and control the panel's internal transformation matrices.

Warning

Interactivity features are still limited and evolving. Some functionality available in the C API is not yet exposed in Python.

Pan and Zoom Interactivity¶

Adds standard 2D pan and zoom behavior to a panel. This is the most common interactivity used for 2D plots.

panzoom = panel.panzoom()

You can optionally lock one axis:

panzoom = panel.panzoom(fixed='x')  # lock horizontal movement
panzoom = panel.panzoom(fixed='y')  # lock vertical movement

Adds a basic orthographic projection controller. Similar to panzoom, but with fixed scale and behavior suited for 2D rendering.

ortho = panel.ortho()

This is useful for pixel-perfect rendering or interfaces that require fixed-size panels.

Warning

This controller is still experimental.

Enables 3D rotation using an arcball-style controller. The arcball rotates the model around a virtual sphere.

arcball = panel.arcball()

You can set the initial orientation:

arcball = panel.arcball(initial=(0, 0, 0))

Once active, you can control it via:

arcball.set((x, y, z))    # set rotation angles
angles = arcball.get()    # get current rotation
arcball.reset()           # reset to initial state

Adds a full 3D camera with position, target (look-at), and up vector.

camera = panel.camera()

You can initialize it with:

camera = panel.camera(
    initial=(3, 3, 3),
    initial_lookat=(0, 0, 0),
    initial_up=(0, 0, 1)
)

Note

The camera is automatically added when using an arcball.

To control it manually:

camera.set(position=(...), lookat=(...), up=(...))
pos = camera.position()

This interactivity is suited for full 3D scenes, model navigation, and dynamic viewing.

Interactivity	Description	Use cases
`panzoom()`	Mouse-driven 2D pan/zoom	Line plots, scatter, 2D UI
`ortho()`	Fixed orthographic controller	Pixel-accurate 2D panels
`arcball()`	Interactive 3D rotation	Object inspection, rotation
`camera()`	Full 3D camera	Volumes, meshes, 3D scenes

Each mode provides access to its state (e.g. position, rotation) and can be reset or manually adjusted.

More interactive features and fine-grained control will be added in future versions.