  Computing the number of realizations of a minimally rigid graph is a
notoriously difficult problem. Towards this goal, for graphs that are minimally
rigid in the plane, we take advantage of a recently published algorithm, which
is the fastest available method, although its complexity is still exponential.
Combining computational results with the theory of constructing new rigid
graphs by gluing, we give a new lower bound on the maximal possible number of
(complex) realizations for graphs with a given number of vertices. We extend
these ideas to rigid graphs in three dimensions and we derive similar lower
bounds, by exploiting data from extensive Gr\"obner basis computations.
