Abstract
Visualizations of hierarchical data can often be explored interactively. For example, in geographic visualization, there are continents, which can be subdivided into countries, states, counties and cities. Similarly, in models of viruses or bacteria at the highest level are the compartments, and below that are macromolecules, secondary structures (such as α‐helices), amino‐acids, and on the finest level atoms. Distinguishing between items can be assisted through the use of color at all levels. However, currently, there are no hierarchical and adaptive color mapping techniques for very large multi‐scale visualizations that can be explored interactively. We present a novel, multi‐scale, color‐mapping technique for adaptively adjusting the color scheme to the current view and scale. Color is treated as a resource and is smoothly redistributed. The distribution adjusts to the scale of the currently observed detail and maximizes the color range utilization given current viewing requirements. Thus, we ensure that the user is able to distinguish items on any level, even if the color is not constant for a particular feature. The coloring technique is demonstrated for a political map and a mesoscale structural model of HIV. The technique has been tested by users with expertise in structural biology and was overall well received.
Highlights
With improving technology, data sets and models are becoming larger and more complex
We extend the dynamic color mapping approach by Waldin et al to be applicable beyond the biology domain
We combine multi-scale categorical color mapping with a hierarchical quantitative color scheme to convey hierarchically aggregated quantitative information. We demonstrate this aggregation for molecular visualization and geographic map visualization
Summary
Data sets and models are becoming larger and more complex. They are often available on multiple levels of detail. An exploration can start at the compartment level, continue on a scale where single proteins are recognizable, zoom further into their domains and secondary structures, all the way to the amino acids and atoms (Figure 1). Geographic information is often conveyed on multiple scales, such as quantitative data that are aggregated from a district level up to a continent level [STH03]. Another example for dynamic multi-scale visualizations are zoomable treemaps [BL07] and other types of hierarchically aggregated visualizations [EF10]
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