Abstract: A hardware-adaptable data visualization tool for use in visualizing data from a data source, including: a data source module, for providing a numerical data set representing aspects of data to be interpreted; and a viewer module, responsive to the numerical data, for providing a view of the numerical data set, such as a fully immersive view or a more limited view, helpful to a user in interpreting the numerical data set; wherein the viewer module in turn comprises a set of component modules, and wherein the source module and the viewer component modules are compiled and linked together into one or more executable files depending on factors including the performance capabilities of a predetermined target host or hosts as well as the desired utility of the executable files, the component modules having programming interfaces that are substantially independent of the predetermined target host or hosts.