IEEE VIS Publication Dataset

Visual clutter denotes a disordered collection of graphical entities in information visualization. Clutter can obscure the structure present in the data. Even in a small dataset, clutter can make it hard for the viewer to find patterns, relationships and structure. In this paper, we define visual clutter as any aspect of the visualization that interferes with the viewer's understanding of the data, and present the concept of clutter-based dimension reordering. Dimension order is an attribute that can significantly affect a visualization's expressiveness. By varying the dimension order in a display, it is possible to reduce clutter without reducing information content or modifying the data in any way. Clutter reduction is a display-dependent task. In this paper, we follow a three-step procedure for four different visualization techniques. For each display technique, first, we determine what constitutes clutter in terms of display properties; then we design a metric to measure visual clutter in this display; finally we search for an order that minimizes the clutter in a display

This paper describes the integration of lookmarks into the ParaView visualization tool. Lookmarks are pointers to views of specific parts of a dataset. They were so named because lookmarks are to a visualization tool and dataset as bookmarks are to a browser and the World Wide Web. A lookmark can be saved and organized among other lookmarks within the context of ParaView. Then at a later time, either in the same ParaView session or in a different one, it can be regenerated, displaying the exact view of the data that had previously been saved. This allows the user to pick up where they left off, to continue to adjust the view or otherwise manipulate the data. Lookmarks facilitate collaboration between users who wish to share views of a dataset. They enable more effective data comparison because they can be applied to other datasets. They also serve as a way of organizing a user’s data. Ultimately, a lookmark is a time-saving tool that automates the recreation of a complex view of the data.

Visualizing long-term acoustic data has been an important subject in the field of equipment surveillance and equipment diagnosis. This paper proposes a distortion-based visualization method of long-term acoustic data. We applied the method to 1 hour observation data of electric discharge sound, and our method could visualize the sound data more intelligibly as compared with conventional methods.

This paper presents an algorithm for drawing a sequence of graphs that contain an inherent grouping of their vertex set into clusters. It differs from previous work on dynamic graph drawing in the emphasis that is put on maintaining the clustered structure of the graph during incremental layout. The algorithm works online and allows arbitrary modifications to the graph. It is generic and can be implemented using a wide range of static force-directed graph layout tools. The paper introduces several metrics for measuring layout quality of dynamic clustered graphs. The performance of our algorithm is analyzed using these metrics. The algorithm has been successfully applied to visualizing mobile object software

The InfoSky visual explorer is a system enabling users to interactively explore large, hierarchically structured document collections. Similar to a real-world telescope, InfoSky employs a planar graphical representation with variable magnification. Documents of similar content are placed close to each other and displayed as stars, while collections of documents at a particular level in the hierarchy are visualised as bounding polygons. Usability testing of an early prototype implementation of InfoSky revealed several design issues which prevented users from fully exploiting the power of the visual metaphor. Evaluation results have been incorporated into an advanced prototype, and another usability test has been conducted. A comparison of test results demonstrates enhanced system performance and points out promising directions for further work

Telepresence, experiencing a place without physically being there, offers an important means for the public experience of remote locations such as distant continents or other planets. EventScope presents one such telepresence visualization interface for bringing scientific missions to the public. Currently, remote experience lessons based on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover missions are being made available through the EventScope framework to museums, classrooms, and the public at large.

Many tree browsers allow subtrees under a node to be collapsed or expanded, enabling the user to control screen space usage and selectively drill-down. However, explicit expansion of nodes can be tedious. Expand-ahead is a space-filling strategy by which some nodes are automatically expanded to fill available screen space, without expanding so far that nodes are shown at a reduced size or outside the viewport. This often allows a user exploring the tree to see further down the tree without the effort required in a traditional browser. It also means the user can sometimes drill-down a path faster, by skipping over levels of the tree that are automatically expanded for them. Expand-ahead differs from many detail-in-context techniques in that there is no scaling or distortion involved. We present 1D and 2D prototype implementations of expand-ahead, and identify various design issues and possible enhancements to our designs. Our prototypes support smooth, animated transitions between different views of a tree. We also present the results of a controlled experiment which show that, under certain conditions, users are able to drill-down faster with expand-ahead than without

We show the structure of the InfoVis publications dataset using Tulip, a scalable open-source visualization system for graphs and trees. Tulip supports interactive navigation and many options for layout. Subgraphs of the full dataset can be created interactively or using a wide set of algorithms based on graph theory and combinatorics, including several kinds of clustering. We found that convolution clustering and small world clustering were particularly effective at showing the structure of the InfoVis publications dataset, as was coloring by the Strahler metric.

In this paper we present EZEL, a visual tool we developed for the performance assessment of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. We start by identifying the relevant data transferred in this kind of networks and the main performance assessment questions. Then we describe the visualization of data from two different points of view. First we take servers as focal points and we introduce a new technique, faded cushioning, which allows visualizing the same data from different perspectives. Secondly, we present the viewpoint of files, and we expose the correlations with the server stance via a special scatter plot. Finally, we discuss how our tool, based on the described techniques, is effective in the performance assessment of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks

Email has developed into one of the most extensively used computer applications. Email interfaces, on the other hand, have gone through very few transformations since their inception, and as the growing volumes of email data accumulate in users' email boxes, these interfaces fail to provide effective message handling and browsing support. Saved email messages provide not only a vast record of one's electronic past, but also a potential source of valuable insights into the structure and dynamics of one's social network. In this paper, we present faMailiar, a novel email visualization that draws upon email's inherently personal character by using intimacy as a key visualization parameter. The program presents a visualization of email use over time. faMailiar facilitates navigation through large email collections, enabling the user to discover communication rhythms and patterns.

Analyzing observations over time and geography is a common task but typically requires multiple, separate tools. The objective of our research has been to develop a method to visualize, and work with, the spatial interconnectedness of information over time and geography within a single, highly interactive 3D view. A novel visualization technique for displaying and tracking events, objects and activities within a combined temporal and geospatial display has been developed. This technique has been implemented as a demonstratable prototype called GeoTime in order to determine potential utility. Initial evaluations have been with military users. However, we believe the concept is applicable to a variety of government and business analysis tasks

Visualization systems must intuitively display and allow interaction with large multivariate data on low-dimensional displays. One problem often encountered in the process is occlusion: the ambiguity that occurs when records from different data sets are mapped to the same display location. For example, because of occlusion summarizing 1000 graphs by simply stacking them one over another is pointless. We solve this problem by adapting the solution to a similar problem in the Information Murals system [2]: mapping the number of data elements at a location to display luminance. Inspired by histograms, which map data frequency to space, we call our solution histographs. By treating a histograph as a digital image, we can blur and highlight edges to emphasize data features. We also support interactive clustering of the data with data zooming and shape-based selection. We are currently investigating alternative occlusion blending schemes.

We have constructed an information visualization tool for understanding complex arguments. The tool enables analysts to construct structured arguments using judicial proof techniques, associate evidence with hypotheses, and set evidence parameters such as relevance and credibility. Users manipulate the hypotheses and their associated inference networks using visualization techniques. Our tool integrates concepts from structured argumentation, analysis of competing hypotheses, and hypothesis scoring with information visualization. It presents new metaphors for visualizing and manipulating structured arguments.

This is the first part (summary) of a three-part contest entry submitted to IEEE InfoVis 2004. The contest topic is visualizing InfoVis symposium papers from 1995 to 2002 and their references. The paper introduces the visualization tool IN-SPIRE, the visualization process and results, and presents lessons learned.

An overview of the entry is given. The techniques used to prepare the InfoVis contest entry are outlined. The strengths and weaknesses are briefly discussed.

In this paper we briefly describe 3 tools developed to visualize the history of information visualization papers. The visualization consists of a standard 3D scatterplot view enhanced with "bubbles," lines, text, and colors aimed at making comparisons between authors and topics found in the papers. Three components were developed to translate and display raw XML data using OpenGL and Cocoa. We use the visualization tool to perform five tasks and discuss it’s weaknesses.

Managing file systems of large organizations can present significant challenges in terms of the number of users, shared access to parts of the file system, and securing and monitoring critical parts of the file system. We present an interactive exploratory tool for monitoring and viewing the complex relationships within the Andrews File System (AFS). This tool is targeted as an aid to system administrators to manage users, applications and shared access. We tested our tool on UNC Charlotte’s Andrews File System (AFS) file system, which contains 4554 users, 556 user groups, and 2.2 million directories. Two types of visualizations are supported to explore file system relationships. In addition, drill-down features are provided to access the user file system and access control information of any directory within the system. All of the views are linked to facilitate easy navigation.

We propose an interactive visualization approach to finding a mathematical model for a real world process, commonly known in the field of control theory as system identification. The use of interactive visualization techniques provides the modeller with instant visual feedback which facilitates the model validation process. When working interactively with such large data sets, as are common in system identification, methods to handle this data efficiently are required. We are developing approaches based on data streaming to meet this need.