Visualizing the optimization process in real-time using physical programming

Visualizing the optimization process in real-time can play a critical role in the human–computer infrastructure of the optimization process. If effectively exploited, visualizing the optimization process in real-time can greatly increase the effectiveness of practical engineering optimization. The recent exponential growth of computational power has made it possible to begin making the related seminal steps. While the traditional archival literature is nearly void of directly related work, there is currently a flurry of recent activities on the world wide web that point to growing interest in this area. In this paper, (i) we discuss the practical need to develop methods for visualizing the optimization process, (ii) we briefly present the state-of-the-art in this field, which is at its very infancy, and (iii) we propose a new optimization visualization approach that exploits the formulation paradigm of the physical programming method. We importantly note that the visualization method presented here, while inspired by physical programming, is applicable in any optimization framework. Through generic numerical examples, we show that this new method beneficially impacts the optimization process.