MolViewStories: Interactive molecular storytelling
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | PROTEIN SCIENCE |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1002/pro.70540 |
| Keywords | interactive molecular visualization; Mol* Viewer; molecular storytelling; MolViewSpec; open-source software; PDB; reproducible visualization; structural biology; web-based tools |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Effectively communicating knowledge related to molecular structures and their associated data remains a challenge, as traditional static figures limit interactivity and professional visualization tools often require substantial expertise. MolViewStories addresses these limitations by providing an open-source, web-based platform for creating and sharing interactive, narrative-driven molecular visualizations. The platform uses the MolViewSpec standard for reproducible scene specification, extended to support animations, interactive descriptions, and synchronized audio commentary. Visualization is powered by the Mol* Viewer, which leverages Web Graphics Library (WebGL) for efficient 3D rendering and WebXR for immersive virtual and augmented reality experiences. Users can construct molecular narratives through an intuitive graphical interface or a command-line workflow, enabling both exploratory and automated use. Completed stories can be shared online, exported locally, or distributed as self-contained packages that remain functional indefinitely. Each story is assigned a persistent uniform resource locator (URL) and can be modified or reused as a template, promoting collaboration and community-driven content creation. We demonstrate the capabilities of MolViewStories through a diverse set of narratives illustrating its broad applicability to research communication, education, and public outreach. Together, these examples highlight how interactive, web-based storytelling can make molecular data more accessible, reproducible, and engaging. MolViewStories is freely available at https://molstar.org/mol-view-stories with open-source code accessible at https://github.com/molstar/mol-view-stories. |
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