VizInteract: Rapid Data Exploration Through Multi-touch Interaction with Multi-dimensional Visualizations

Abstract

Creating and editing multi-dimensional data visualizations with current tools typically involves complex interactions. We present VizInteract, an interactive data visualization tool for touch-enabled displays. VizInteract supports efficient multi-touch data exploration through rapid construction of and interaction with multi-dimensional data visualizations. Building on primitive visualization idioms like histograms, VizInteract addresses the need for easy data exploration by facilitating the construction of multi-dimensional visualizations, such as scatter plots, parallel coordinate plots, radar charts, and scatter plot matrices, through simple multi-touch actions. Touch-based brushing-and-linking as well as attribute-based filter bubbles support “diving into the data” during analysis. We present the results of two explorative studies, one on a tablet and another on a large touchscreen and analyze the usage patterns that emerge while participants conducted visual analytics data exploration tasks in both conditions.