Abstract
Cultural object collections attract and delight spectators since ancient times. Yet, they also easily overwhelm visitors due to their perceptual richness and associated information. Similarly, digitized collections appear as complex, multifaceted phenomena, which can be challenging to grasp and navigate. Though visualizations can create various types of collection overviews for that matter, they do not easily assemble into a "big picture" or lead to an integrated understanding. We introduce coherence techniques to maximize connections between multiple views and apply them to the prototype PolyCube system of collection visualization: with map, set, and network visualizations it makes spatial, categorical, and relational collection aspects visible. For the essential temporal dimension, it offers four different views: superimposition, animation, juxtaposition, and space-time cube representations. A user study confirmed that better integrated visualizations support synoptic, cross-dimensional insights. An outlook is dedicated to the system's applicability within other arts and humanities data domains.
Highlights
Cultural object collections attract and delight spectators since ancient times
Animated canvas transitions: After a seamless transition from a 2-D map to a geographic STC, eight users correctly understood the visualization technique (P2: “pictures are distributed according to time and space”), though three of them were not completely confident
The animated transition from the combined STC to the superimposition view (SI) view was more difficult for the users: Only five users could correctly describe the new view (P10: “the time information was extracted from the 3-D view, the color shows the chronology”), but some needed to see the transition multiple times
Summary
Cultural object collections attract and delight spectators since ancient times. Yet, they overwhelm visitors due to their perceptual richness and associated information. Computer screens—whether stationary or mobile—make no exception Visitors to such information spaces are overwhelmed by an abundance of details, and can swiftly feel “museum fatigue” due to the huge amount of information,[1] which is why various techniques have been developed to provide them with a collection overview in advance, which assists orientation and exploration. In this context, visualization plays an essential role for digital cultural collections. For a more detailed discussion, see Windhager et al.[6,7]
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