Advances in spatial omics and high-resolution imaging enable the creation of three-dimensional (3D) tissue maps that capture cellular organization and interactions in situ. While these data provide critical insights into tissue function and disease, their exploration is often constrained by tools limited to 2D displays or stereoscopic rendering without analytical integration. We present Vitessce Link, a web-based hybrid framework that unites a 3D stereoscopic view in mixed reality with a synchronized 2D display environment. Users can navigate volumetric data with intuitive hand gestures while controlling channels, filters, and derived data views through the Vitessce platform. Built on open standards and running entirely in the browser, Vitessce Link minimizes friction, supports integration with computational notebooks, and synchronizes interactions across devices via a lightweight WebSocket architecture. Case studies in nephrology and oncology demonstrate how the hybrid approach enhances segmentation evaluation, distance measurement, and interpretation of spatial relationships. Vitessce Link establishes a paradigm for integrative, web-native analysis of 3D tissue maps.
@article{arxiv.2511.04262,
title = {Vitessce Link: A Mixed Reality and 2D Display Hybrid Approach for Visual Analysis of 3D Tissue Maps},
author = {Eric Mörth and Morgan L. Turner and Cydney Nielsen and Xianhao Carton Liu and Mark Keller and Lisa Choy and John Conroy and Tabassum Kakar and Clarence Yapp and Alex Wong and Peter Sorger and Liam McLaughlin and Sanjay Jain and Johanna Beyer and Hanspeter Pfister and Chen Zhu-Tian and Nils Gehlenborg},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.04262},
year = {2025}
}