Growler is a modular scientific visualization system, whose development has been guided by the desire to perform remote data visualization, remote computational steering, heterogeneous data analysis, and multi-user collaboration. Growler is based on a high performance distributed component model, involving interdependent computational and graphical modules. Most modules are inherently collaborative, in that multiple remote users may take part in and control the same visualization environment.

Three of the currently existing visualization modules include: VMS (Virtual Mechanosysthesis), a system in which users may connect to an ongoing molecular dynamics simulation and guide it by "grabbing" atoms or atom groups, in order to build and test molecular structures; COSMOSViewer, a component for attaching to and visualizing an ongoing biomolecular simulation; and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) visualization module that allows for not only the perusal of remote CFD datasets, but also the visualization and steering of an active CFD simulation run, executing on a remote supercomputer.