The techniques originally developed to process digital images of Mars, later gained widespread acceptance when applied to Landsat data: they are now making a significant impact in fields of geology outside remote sensing._x000D_
The three ingredients of success are seen to be firstly, the perceptual attributes of image displays and the use of colour; secondly, the absolute ability to register data from a variety of sources; and thirdly, the speed of specialist "interactive" digital image display systems. The future lies in further exploiting these attributes through a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach to data handling, integration and display.