Datavzrd makes complex datasets interactive and easy to use. It works across scientific fields without programming knowledge.
Tabular data is central to scientific research, whether in medicine, the social sciences, or archaeology. Yet transforming raw tables into something clear and usable is often labor-intensive, especially when the datasets are large or complicated.
To address this, the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (IKIM) at the University of Duisburg-Essen has created Datavzrd, an open-source tool that converts ordinary tables into interactive and visually engaging HTML reports. Importantly, it requires no programming skills or additional software. The development was recently described in the open-access journal PLOS One.
Raw tables are often hard to interpret and can quickly become overwhelming. Typically, data points cannot be sorted, filtered, or connected, and when tables are shared, much of their context is lost. Existing solutions, such as R Shiny, provide useful visualization and interactivity but usually demand advanced technical expertise or specialized software.
User-friendly solution at IKIM
Datavzrd, designed at IKIM, avoids these drawbacks. Reports generated with the tool can be viewed directly in a web browser, attached to manuscripts, or sent by email. They stay fully interactive even when handling massive datasets with millions of rows. “The big advantage of Datavzrd is that it is particularly user-friendly and low-maintenance,” explains Felix Wiegand, a computer scientist involved in its development.
Wiegand, a member of Prof. Dr. Johannes Köster’s research group at IKIM, emphasizes the tool’s simplicity. “The reports are not programmed, but simply described in an easy-to-understand text file – similar to a profile that specifies which data should be displayed and in what way. This allows even users without programming experience to prepare their data quickly and clearly.” He adds that the tool can also represent complex relationships across multiple tables, enabling users to explore hierarchies or link related entries. A tutorial further streamlines its use, making it accessible to a wide range of researchers.
Wide applications in research
The IKIM team demonstrates the versatility of Datavzrd in the publication using various examples, including these two: In a molecular tumor board, genetic findings and therapy options are presented interactively on a patient-specific basis – just as required in medical practice. And in an archaeological study, decorated clothing elements from various archaeological sites are prepared in a comparable manner and presented in a linked format.
“Datavzrd makes data-based results intuitive, flexible, and sustainable,” says Felix Wiegand, summarizing the advantages. “It is suitable for almost all disciplines and scientific fields – from research and teaching to evaluation.”
Reference: “Datavzrd: Rapid programming- and maintenance-free interactive visualization and communication of tabular data” by Felix Wiegand, David Lähnemann, Felix Mölder, Hamdiye Uzuner, Adrian Prinz, Alexander Schramm and Johannes Köster, 22 July 2025, PLOS ONE.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0323079
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