R allows to build three dimensional charts, mainly thanks to the rgl package. Even if 3D is often a bad practice, it can be useful in specific situation. This section provides several examples made in R.
Three dimensional objects are very popular but negatively affect the accuracy
and speed at which one can interpret a graphic in most cases. In general, it
is better to avoid them.
Basically, 3d scatterplots
and surface plots
are the only tolerated exceptions. Please don't build 3d barplots or even worse, 3d pie charts.
3d distorts reality. Source
rglThe rgl package is the best tool to work in 3D from R. Here
is an illustration: a 3d scatterplot showing the relationship between
3 numerical variables.
Note that rgl automatically builds
interactive charts. Zooming and rotating can indeed make the chart more insightful.
Trying zooming / rotating →
plotlyA surface plot shows the shape of a surface. It basically requires a grid
coordinates with a numeric variable attributed to each position: its height.
Plotly allows to build that kind of chart in minutes,
and gives the interactivity for free.
Trying zooming / rotating →
Related chart types
