Information Visualization Applications Research Articles

Adopting Human-data Interaction Guidelines and Participatory Practices for Supporting Inexperienced Designers in Information Visualization Applications

Nowadays, voluminous data support may influence decision-making. People with varied profiles need to interact with data to gain valuable insights. There is a need for software tools to support the understanding and management of information to favor Human-Data Interaction (HDI) with a richer user experience. This study explores the combination of HDI design guidelines and participatory approaches to improve user experience in data interaction. We defined a design process to support the activities and adapted participatory practices to facilitate HDI design. We conducted workshops with inexperienced designers developing information visualization applications for common-sense domains. They generated and analyzed several application prototypes. Results suggest that design guidelines help generate HDI-based prototypes with a good user experience.

An AR Map Virtual–Real Fusion Method Based on Element Recognition

The application of AR to explore augmented map representation has become a research hotspot due to the growing application of AR in maps and geographic information in addition to the rising demand for automated map interpretation. Taking the AR map as the research object, this paper focuses on AR map tracking and registration and the virtual–real fusion method based on element recognition. It strives to establish a new geographic information visualization interface and application model. AR technology is applied to the augmented representation of 2D planar maps. A step-by-step identification and extraction method of unmarked map elements are designed and proposed based on the analysis of the characteristics of planar map elements. This method combines the spatial and attribute characteristics of point-like elements and line-like elements, extracts the color, geometric features, and spatial distribution of map elements through computer vision methods, and completes the identification and automatic extraction of map elements. The multi-target image recognition and extraction method based on template and contour matching, and the line element recognition and extraction method based on color space and area growth are introduced in detail. Then, 3D tracking and registration is used to realize the unmarked tracking and registration of planar map element images, and the AR map virtual–real fusion algorithm is proposed. The experimental results and results of an analysis of stepwise identification and extraction of unmarked map elements and map virtual–real fusion reveal that the stepwise identification of unmarked map elements and map model virtual–real fusion studied in this paper is effective. Through the analysis of map element step-by-step recognition efficiency and recognition rate, it is proved that the element step-by-step method in this paper is fast, its recognition efficiency meets the AR real-time requirements, and its recognition accuracy is high.

Daisen: A Framework for Visualizing Detailed GPU Execution

AbstractGraphics Processing Units (GPUs) have been widely used to accelerate artificial intelligence, physics simulation, medical imaging, and information visualization applications. To improve GPU performance, GPU hardware designers need to identify performance issues by inspecting a huge amount of simulator‐generated traces. Visualizing the execution traces can reduce the cognitive burden of users and facilitate making sense of behaviors of GPU hardware components. In this paper, we first formalize the process of GPU performance analysis and characterize the design requirements of visualizing execution traces based on a survey study and interviews with GPU hardware designers. We contribute data and task abstraction for GPU performance analysis. Based on our task analysis, we propose Daisen, a framework that supports data collection from GPU simulators and provides visualization of the simulator‐generated GPU execution traces. Daisen features a data abstraction and trace format that can record simulator‐generated GPU execution traces. Daisen also includes a web‐based visualization tool that helps GPU hardware designers examine GPU execution traces, identify performance bottlenecks, and verify performance improvement. Our qualitative evaluation with GPU hardware designers demonstrates that the design of Daisen reflects the typical workflow of GPU hardware designers. Using Daisen, participants were able to effectively identify potential performance bottlenecks and opportunities for performance improvement. The open‐sourced implementation of Daisen can be found at gitlab.com/akita/vis. Supplemental materials including a demo video, survey questions, evaluation study guide, and post‐study evaluation survey are available at osf.io/j5ghq.

A Review of EEG and fMRI Measuring Aesthetic Processing in Visual User Experience Research.

In human-computer interaction, the visual interaction of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) plays an important role in enriching the quality of daily life. The purpose of our study analyzes the use of brain-computer interface (BCI), wearable technology, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the aesthetic processing of visual neural response to UI and UX designs. Specifically, this review aims to understand neuroaesthetic processing knowledge, aesthetic appreciation models, and the ways in which visual brain studies can improve the quality of current and future UI and UX designs. Recent research has found that subjective evaluations of aesthetic appreciation produce different results for objective evaluations of brain research analysis. We applied SWOT analysis and examined the advantages and disadvantages of both evaluation methods. Furthermore, we conducted a traditional literature review on topics pertaining to the use of aesthetic processing knowledge in the visual interaction field in terms of art therapy, information visualization, website or mobile applications, and other interactive platforms. Our main research findings from current studies have helped and motivated researchers and designers to use convincing scientific knowledge of brain event-related potential, electroencephalography, and fMRI to understand aesthetic judgment. The key trend finds that many designers, artists, and engineers use artistic BCI technology in the visual interaction experience. Herein, the scientific methods applied in the aesthetic appreciation to human-computer interface are summarized, and the influence of the latest wearable brain technology on visual interaction design is discussed. Furthermore, current possible research entry points for aesthetics, usability, and creativity in UI and UX designs are explicated. The study results have implications for the visual user experience research domain as well as for interaction industries, which produce interactive projects to improve people's daily lives.

Modeling How Humans Judge Dot-Label Relations in Point Cloud Visualizations.

When point clouds are labeled in information visualization applications, sophisticated guidelines as in cartography do not yet exist. Existing naive strategies may mislead as to which points belong to which label. To inform improved strategies, we studied factors influencing this phenomenon. We derived a class of labeled point cloud representations from existing applications and we defined different models predicting how humans interpret such complex representations, focusing on their geometric properties. We conducted an empirical study, in which participants had to relate dots to labels in order to evaluate how well our models predict. Our results indicate that presence of point clusters, label size, and angle to the label have an effect on participants' judgment as well as that the distance measure types considered perform differently discouraging the use of label centers as reference points.

The Improvement of the Electronic Health Record User Experience by Screen Design Principles.

The amount and complexity of data accumulated in electronic health record (EHR) is quite large, and the quantity of information that clinicians can examine and handle is very limited. Thus, it is necessary to enhance the accessibility of EHR by improving the user experience (UX). To apply information visualization that turns EHR data into an understandable visual format, we propose following five screen design principles when designing UX interfaces. #1: One view should contain single patient data. #2: Data should be summarized or titled for overview and details should be given on-demand. #3: Data should be displayed in time-series. #4: Data should be categorized by primary type. #5: More data should be displayed at the same time. Three screen designs are plausible utilizing the above-mentioned principles. To measure the UX of screen designs and validate the design principles, we built an EHR viewer system that has three windows corresponding to these screen designs and had it tested by medical staff. The results of the test revealed that the UX of the screen design is proportional to the number of design principles that the screen design incorporates. It shows that the proposed screen design principles improve the UX of EHR.

On the Planar Split Thickness of Graphs

Motivated by applications in graph drawing and information visualization, we examine the planar split thickness of a graph, that is, the smallest $k$ such that the graph is $k$-splittable into a planar graph. A $k$-split operation substitutes a vertex $v$ by at most $k$ new vertices such that each neighbor of $v$ is connected to at least one of the new vertices. We first examine the planar split thickness of complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, multipartite graphs, bounded degree graphs, and genus-1 graphs. We then prove that it is NP-hard to recognize graphs that are $2$-splittable into a planar graph, and show that one can approximate the planar split thickness of a graph within a constant factor. If the treewidth is bounded, then we can even verify $k$-splittability in linear time, for a constant $k$.

제조업 분야의 정보시각화 문헌연구

Business intelligence based on the data analysis come into the spotlight. Especially, information visualization of the analysis result is treated significantly. given the interest in big data technologies. Because corporate managers want to use the results of data analysis in the decision-making process and the visualization technology will give help with cognitive function and operation function. In this paper, the status of information visualization is reviewed and analyzed from the viewpoint of manufacturing service. Several implications are drawn and it is expected that they will help to developers and administrators of manufacturing sector who want to adopt information visualization applications.

Application of Information Visualization in Museums’ Display and Design

Information visualization is more inclined to two-dimension design in traditional design field. As known to us all, it is unable to be applied in three-dimension. However, with the rapid development of design science, a growing number of people who are engaged in design have found that the application of information visualization can’t be only restricted to graphic design as graphic design is gradually crossing with space design.

Visualizing Proximity‐Based Spatiotemporal Behavior of Museum Visitors using Tangram Diagrams

AbstractFor museum curators it is imperative to learn, analyze, and understand the behavior patterns of the visitors in their museum. Recent developments in the field of indoor positioning systems make the acquisition and availability of visitor behavior data more attainable. However, the analysis of such data remains a challenge due to its noisiness, complexity and sheer size. The current paper applies information visualization techniques to analyze this data and make it more accessible to museum curators and personnel. We first provide a detailed description of the application domain including an analysis of the curators' information needs and a description of how a dataset on visitors' spatiotemporal behavior could be acquired. In order to address the curators' needs, we designed a visualization to encode and convey the information based on a newly adjusted visual glyph that we call Tangram Diagrams. We thereby focus on the adaptability of the technique to a particular domain, rather than on the novelty aspects of the technique itself. We have evaluated our design decisions empirically, and conducted an expert study to describe the insights gained and the value of the information obtained from the visualization. The contribution of this work is twofold. First, we apply information visualization to the museum domain and discuss how it extends to general indoor spatiotemporal behavior analysis. Second, we show how a visual glyph metaphor can be applied in different ways and contexts to efficiently encode multi‐faceted information.

Visual representation of information as communicative practice

Anyone who has clarified a thought or prompted a response during a conversation by drawing a picture has exploited the potential of image making to convey information. Images are increasingly ubiquitous in daily communication due to advances in visually enabled information and communication technologies (ICT), such as information visualization applications, image retrieval systems, and virtual collaborative work tools. Although images are often used in social contexts, information science research concerned with the visual representation of information typically focuses on the image artifact and system building. To learn more about image making as a form of social interaction and as a form of information practice, a qualitative study examined face‐to‐face conversations involving the creation of ad hoc visualizations (i.e., “napkin drawings”). Interactional sociolinguistic concepts of conversational involvement and coordination guided multimodal analysis of video‐recorded interactions that included spontaneous drawing. Findings show patterns in communicative activities associated with the visual representation of information. Furthermore, the activity of mark making contributes to the maintenance of conversational involvement in ways that are not always evident in the drawn artifact. This research has implications for the design and evaluation of visually enabled virtual collaboration environments, visual information extraction and retrieval systems, and data visualization tools.

Three-dimensional Information Acquisition and Visualization Application in Goaf

Mastering the shape, size and variation of goaf is important to goaf disposal, disaster control and mining optimization. A method is presented to realize goaf precision monitoring and 3D visualization by cavity monitoring system (CMS). On this basis, Goaf 3D modeling, goaf-model visualization transmission and display based on network, visible calculation method of mining loss and ore dilution during actual mining, 3D blasting design of complicated boundary pillar during actual mining, dynamic monitoring of goaf, stability analysis of tunnel above goaf, 3D survey and analysis of tunnel destruction caused by goaf collapse, numerical simulation of goaf stability and all other related technologies are researched and applied by using numerical software and network. Results showed that 3D space information of goaf could be accurately acquired by CMS, and visualization application based on the information is reliable. These research and application are of great practical significance to recover mineral resources and assure safe mining.

POSSIBILITIES FOR INNOVATIVE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH: INFORMATION VISUALIZATION AND EXPERIMENT IN INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH

In addition to universal social changes, the information revolution also brought a lot of innovation to the workings of intelligence services, which are traditionally the part of the national security system that is conducting data analyses and for which information is the primary product. If in the past the main problem and challenge has been the timely acquisition of data, today most agencies are faced with an entirely different problem information overload. This problem is being tackled by technical as well as systemic measures that combine various types of intelligence work. However, there are still unanswered questions regarding the applicability of intelligence products for decision makers. Here we have to point out information visualization as the subject of an interdisciplinary scientific research that definitely shows a lot of potential in the context of the defense science as well. This article points out three key requirements that allow the application of information visualization to defense research: (1) the concept of the intelligence cycle can be used as a good basis for the information that is subject to visualization; (2) the quality of decision-making support information depends on proper visualization; (3) the first two requirements offer a stable theoretical and empirical basis for the introduction of innovative scientific methods in the field of defense science, such as experiments.

Comparative Study on Application of Information Visualization in Knowledge Organization

This paper discusses some basic problems of information visualization and knowledge organization, introducing the basic ideas and applications, and focused on information visualization tools in the field of knowledge organization with examples.

A study of animated transition in similarity-based tiled image layout

For many information visualization applications, showing the transition when interacting with the data is critically important as it can help users better perceive the changes and understand the underlying data. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of animated transition in a tiled image layout where the spiral arrangement of the images is based on their similarity. Three aspects of animated transition are considered, including animation steps, animation actions, and flying paths. Exploring and weighting the advantages and disadvantages of different methods for each aspect and in conjunction with the characteristics of the spiral image layout, we present an integrated solution, called AniMap, for animating the transition from an old layout to a new layout when a different image is selected as the query image. We show the effectiveness of our animated transition solution by demonstrating experimental results and conducting a comparative user study.

Complex adaptive systems modeling with Repast Simphony

AbstractPurposeThis paper is to describe development of the features and functions of Repast Simphony, the widely used, free, and open source agent-based modeling environment that builds on the Repast 3 library. Repast Simphony was designed from the ground up with a focus on well-factored abstractions. The resulting code has a modular architecture that allows individual components such as networks, logging, and time scheduling to be replaced as needed. The Repast family of agent-based modeling software has collectively been under continuous development for more than 10 years.MethodIncludes reviewing other free and open-source modeling libraries and environments as well as describing the architecture of Repast Simphony. The architectural description includes a discussion of the Simphony application framework, the core module, ReLogo, data collection, the geographical information system, visualization, freeze drying, and third party application integration.ResultsInclude a review of several Repast Simphony applications and brief tutorial on how to use Repast Simphony to model a simple complex adaptive system.ConclusionsWe discuss opportunities for future work, including plans to provide support for increasingly large-scale modeling efforts.

Information Visualization (IV) Application for Information Acquisition based on Visual Perception

Information Visualization (IV) is a current field that has the potential to develop methods of accessing, processing and managing of information (Chen & Czerwinski, 2000). IV applications are developed as a learning tool due to the technique of IV being capable of improving the understanding process through the use of visuals. In addition, IV applications are also able to manage the several data sources and complex concepts in learning activities. IV techniques are useful for information acquisition and learning activities. Based on the theory of visual perception, this study produces a design of IV application. The design supports a particular understanding of the visual accordance with data of the hadith environment. Balance to the visual design can build a good human perceptual system to understand the concepts and interpret information more easily and accurately. The findings of the study show the good interpretation and the high score of respondents’ achievement toward using the application. This result indicates that the contribution of visual perception theory as the design of the IV application can create a better visual perception and enhance the quality and quantity of the information.

Using information visualization and visual analytics to achieve a more sustainable future for archives: A survey and critical analysis of some developments

This paper provides a survey of some developments in the application of information visualization and visual analytics within the field of archives. The paper begins by discussing the origins and development of information visualization and visual analytics, followed by an explanation of their differences. It then moves on to a critical analysis of the literature on the application of these approaches within the field of archives, arguing that more attention should be paid to applying these technologies to unprocessed archival material than to the output of archival analysis. The paper also contends that greater emphasis is needed in the research on analyzing the cognitive tasks of archivists and of different types of users to create ‘snug’ interfaces as opposed to ones that are just ‘generous’. The paper further calls for more formal evaluation of the efficacy of different tools in relation to claims made about them. Finally, the paper calls for greater critical reflection in the literature on the ways i...

A Multi-Gesture Interaction System Using a 3-D Iris Disk Model for Gaze Estimation and an Active Appearance Model for 3-D Hand Pointing

In this paper, we present a vision-based human-computer interaction system, which integrates control components using multiple gestures, including eye gaze, head pose, hand pointing, and mouth motions. To track head, eye, and mouth movements, we present a two-camera system that detects the face from a fixed, wide-angle camera, estimates a rough location for the eye region using an eye detector based on topographic features, and directs another active pan-tilt-zoom camera to focus in on this eye region. We also propose a novel eye gaze estimation approach for point-of-regard (POR) tracking on a viewing screen. To allow for greater head pose freedom, we developed a new calibration approach to find the 3-D eyeball location, eyeball radius, and fovea position. Moreover, in order to get the optical axis, we create a 3-D iris disk by mapping both the iris center and iris contour points to the eyeball sphere. We then rotate the fovea accordingly and compute the final, visual axis gaze direction. This part of the system permits natural, non-intrusive, pose-invariant POR estimation from a distance without resorting to infrared or complex hardware setups. We also propose and integrate a two-camera hand pointing estimation algorithm for hand gesture tracking in 3-D from a distance. The algorithms of gaze pointing and hand finger pointing are evaluated individually, and the feasibility of the entire system is validated through two interactive information visualization applications.

Highlights from IEEE Pacific Visualization.

This article looks briefly at four articles based on papers from the 2010 IEEE Pacific Visualization Symposium. These articles, which strongly focus on visual design and applications, cover a range of applications in scientific visualization, information visualization, and graph visualization, showing the field's breadth.