Could these kinds of things be done in/with matplotlib? Or
> more importantly, does a framework in matplotlib exist that
> this kind of thing could be developed? I am interested in
> talking to anyone who has thoughts about this.
Basically, you will want to read up on matplotlib event handling.
Resources
* user's guide section "event handling" in the pylab chapter
* class documentation for Events at
http://matplotlib.sf.net/matplotlib.backend_bases.html.
* wiki entry at
http://www.scipy.org/wikis/topical_software/InteractivePlotting
* Example escripts
picker_demo.py
poly_editor.py
JDH