diff --git a/core/include/Variable/VariableStates.h b/core/include/Variable/VariableStates.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53c4d48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/include/Variable/VariableStates.h
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#ifndef SCIQLOP_VARIABLESTATES_H
+#define SCIQLOP_VARIABLESTATES_H
+
+#include "CoreGlobal.h"
+
+#include <Common/MetaTypes.h>
+
+#include <memory>
+#include <tuple>
+
+#include <QVariantMap>
+
+using StateData = QVariantMap;
+SCIQLOP_REGISTER_META_TYPE(STATEDATA_REGISTRY, StateData)
+
+/**
+ * @brief The IVariableState class is the representation interface of a state in which a variable
+ * may be. It proposes different methods to represent the variable according to its current state
+ * @sa Variable
+ */
+struct SCIQLOP_CORE_EXPORT IVariableState {
+    virtual ~IVariableState() noexcept = default;
+
+    virtual std::unique_ptr<IVariableState> clone() const = 0;
+
+    /// @return the data associated with the state
+    virtual StateData data() const = 0;
+};
+
+/// Default implementation of @sa IVariableState
+class AbstractVariableState : public IVariableState {
+public:
+    /// @sa IVariableState::data()
+    StateData data() const override;
+
+protected:
+    explicit AbstractVariableState(StateData data);
+
+private:
+    StateData m_Data;
+};
+
+#endif // SCIQLOP_VARIABLESTATES_H
diff --git a/core/meson.build b/core/meson.build
index ea30383..915fcb6 100644
--- a/core/meson.build
+++ b/core/meson.build
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ core_sources = [
   'src/Variable/VariableAcquisitionWorker.cpp',
   'src/Variable/VariableSynchronizationGroup.cpp',
   'src/Variable/VariableModel.cpp',
+  'src/Variable/VariableStates.cpp',
   'src/Visualization/VisualizationController.cpp'
 ]
 
diff --git a/core/src/Variable/VariableStates.cpp b/core/src/Variable/VariableStates.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf967c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/Variable/VariableStates.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#include "Variable/VariableStates.h"
+
+AbstractVariableState::AbstractVariableState(StateData data) : m_Data{std::move(data)}
+{
+}
+
+StateData AbstractVariableState::data() const
+{
+    return m_Data;
+}