Abstract
The opportunities for 3D visualisations are huge. People can be immersed inside their data, interface with it in natural ways, and see it in ways that are not possible on a traditional desktop screen. Indeed, 3D visualisations, especially those that are immersed inside head-mounted displays are becoming popular. Much of this growth is driven by the availability, popularity and falling cost of head-mounted displays and other immersive technologies. However, there are also challenges. For example, data visualisation objects can be obscured, important facets missed (perhaps behind the viewer), and the interfaces may be unfamiliar. Some of these challenges are not unique to 3D immersive technologies. Indeed, developers of traditional 2D exploratory visualisation tools would use alternative views, across a multiple coordinated view (MCV) system. Coordinated view interfaces help users explore the richness of the data. For instance, an alphabetical list of people in one view shows everyone in the database, while a map view depicts where they live. Each view provides a different task or purpose. While it is possible to translate some desktop interface techniques into the 3D immersive world, it is not always clear what equivalences would be. In this paper, using several case studies, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for using multiple views in immersive visualisation. Our aim is to provide a set of concepts that will enable developers to perform critical thinking, creative thinking and push the boundaries of what is possible with 3D and immersive visualisation. In summary developers should consider how to integrate many views, techniques and presentation styles, and one view is not enough when using 3D and immersive visualisations.
Highlights
There are many opportunities for displaying data, beyond the traditional desktop interface
Three-dimensional visualisations can enable users to become immersed in data. 3D visualisations range from medical reconstructions, depictions of fluid flowing over wings, to three-dimensional displays of network diagrams, charts and plots
Parts of the visualisation could be contained within other objects or obscured from the observer from a particular viewpoint, or objects could be mapped to the same spatial location
Summary
There are many opportunities for displaying data, beyond the traditional desktop interface. There are challenges for how people see, interact and understand the information in these immersive and natural systems. Developers often create multiple view systems, where different features are linked together. A visualisation of human data displayed as an alphabetical list enables people to be found by their surname This task is difficult in a map view which helps to explain where those people live (but it is challenging to find people with a particular surname). We want to help developers imagine how they can use multiple views and alternative representations in 3D and immersive visualisation. We present ten lessons learnt for visualisation of multiple views and alternative representations for display beyond the desktop, and within 3D or immersive worlds (Section 6).
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