Plot 3D data in R

Question

I have a 3D dataset:

data = data.frame(
    x = rep( c(0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5), each=5),
    y = rep( c(1, 2, 3, 4, 5), 5)
)

data$z = runif(
    25,
    min = (data$x*data$y - 0.1 * (data$x*data$y)),
    max = (data$x*data$y + 0.1 * (data$x*data$y))
)

data
str(data)

And I want to plot it, but the built-in-functions of R alwyas give the error

increasing 'x' and 'y' values expected

# ### 3D Plots ######################################################
# built-in function always give the error
#    "increasing 'x' and 'y' values expected"
demo(image)
image(x = data$x, y = data$y, z = data$z)

demo(persp)
persp(data$x,data$y,data$z)

contour(data$x,data$y,data$z)

When I searched on the internet, I found that this message happens when combinations of X and Y values are not unique. But here they are unique.

I tried some other libraries and there it works without problems. But I don't like the default style of the plots (the built-in functions should fulfill my expectations).

# ### 3D Scatterplot ######################################################
# Nice plots without surface maps?
install.packages("scatterplot3d", dependencies = TRUE)
library(scatterplot3d)
scatterplot3d(x = data$x, y = data$y, z = data$z)

# ### 3D Scatterplot ######################################################
# Only to play around?
install.packages("rgl", dependencies = TRUE)
library(rgl)
plot3d(x = data$x, y = data$y, z = data$z)
lines3d(x = data$x, y = data$y, z = data$z)
surface3d(x = data$x, y = data$y, z = data$z)

Why are my datasets not accepted by the built-in functions?

user_2776559 · Answer

Adding to the solutions of others, I'd like to suggest using the plotly package for R, as this has worked well for me.

Below, I'm using the reformatted dataset suggested above, from xyz-tripplets to axis vectors x and y and a matrix z:

x <- 1:5/10
y <- 1:5
z <- x %o% y
z <- z + .2*z*runif(25) - .1*z

library(plotly)
plot_ly(x=x,y=y,z=z, type="surface")

The rendered surface can be rotated and scaled using the mouse. This works fairly well in RStudio.

You can also try it with the built-in volcano dataset from R:

plot_ly(z=volcano, type="surface")

Plot 3D data in R

5 Answers