introduction to information visualization - tools...

INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATIONVISUALIZATION - TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

JOUNI HUOTARIWITH THE HELP OF KAROLY GERE AND WITH THE KIND

PERMISSION OF CHRIS NORTH TO USE SOME OF HIS SLIDES

ŽILINA 13.5.2009

http://www.researchinformation.info/rijanfeb04patent1.html

• Introduction

• Basic terms

• External aids

• Internal vs. external cognition

• Role of computers

• Visualization Tools and Techniques

CONTENTS

Introduction to Inf. Visualization -Tools and Techniques

© Jouni Huotari 2005 - 2009

2

• What is to visualize?

• What is visualization?

• What is information visualization?

• What is scientific visualization?

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?



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Visualize:

– “to make visible”

– “to see or form a mental image of”

BASIC TERMS: VISUALIZE



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www.visualthesaurus.com/

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/visualize

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/






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TASK: COUNT THE ZEROS



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COUNT THE RED NUMBERS



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More about preattentive processing and perception in visualization:

http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/faculty/healey/PP/index.html

http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/faculty/healey/PP/index.html

• Which state has highest income?

• Is there a relationship between income and education?



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HOW QUICKLY YOU FIND ANSWERS TO FOLLOWING QUESTIONS?

VISUALIZATION HELPS



8Per Capita Income

Coll

ege

Deg

ree

%

• Visualization: use of computer-based, interactive visual representations of data to amplify cognition

– computer-based - new medium

– interactive - direct manipulation & animation

– visual representations - use human perception

– data - task specific

– amplify cognition - helping people to think

• See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visualization

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visualization_(graphic)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_visualization

BASIC TERMS: VISUALIZATION



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Source: Card-Mackinlay-Shneiderman – Readings in

Information Visualization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visualization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visualization_(graphic)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_visualization

video: http://hcil.cs.umd.edu/video/1994/1994_DynamicQueries.mp4

EXAMPLE OF INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS: HOMEFINDER



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http://hcil.cs.umd.edu/video/1994/1994_DynamicQueries.mp4

• Information visualization: the use of computer-supported, interactive, visual representations of abstract data to amplify cognition.

– rendering non-physical data (as well)

– Does it have any obvious spatial mapping?

– How to map nonspatial abstractions into effective visual form?

– How to render visible properties of the object?

• Watch two minutes intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbzozDCW_Bg

BASIC TERMS: INFORMATION VISUALIZATION (IV)



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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbzozDCW_Bg

WWW.GAPMINDER.ORG



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http://www.gapminder.org/world/

Example: http://www.gapminder.org/videos/what-stops-population-growth/

http://www.gapminder.org/world/

http://www.gapminder.org/videos/what-stops-population-growth









EXAMPLE OF IV: TREE MAP

© Jouni Huotari 2005 - 2009Introduction to Inf. Visualization - Tools and

Techniques13

http://www.smartmoney.com/map-of-the-market/








EXAMPLE OF IV: CONE TREE



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EXAMPLE OF IV: THEMESCAPE MAP



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http://www.researchinformation.info/rijanfeb04patents.html

http://www.researchinformation.info/rijanfeb04patent1.html



EXAMPLE OF IV: BIOINFORMATICS



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http://www.biomedcentral.com/1752-0509/2/104





• Interactive Software Visualization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bccqxpGouK0

• Google I/O 2008 - Visualize your Data: Visualization API:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoJ8CwFvCk8

• Data Visualization => FlowingData:http://projects.flowingdata.com/state-of-the-world/environment.html

• Visual search: http://www.searchme.com/ and http://www.kartoo.com/

MORE DEMOS & EXAMPLES



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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bccqxpGouK0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoJ8CwFvCk8

http://projects.flowingdata.com/state-of-the-world/environment.html







http://www.searchme.com/

http://www.kartoo.com/

• Helps understanding large and/or complex data sets

• Helps seeing trends (=> insight)

• Helps seeing details and context (simultaneously)=> there is a set of visualization techniques for this

BENEFITS OF IV



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• Financial/business

• Statistics

• Education

• Information systems (IS)

• Software engineering (SE)

• Text (documents)

• WWW

• …

DOMAINS OF IV



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BASIC TERMS: FROM EXTERNAL COGNITION TO VISUALIZATION



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External Cognition

use external world to accomplish cognition

Information Design

Visualization

design external representations to amplify cognition

computer-based, interactive

Scientific Visualization Information Visualization

typically physical data abstract, nonphysical data(divergence)

• Scientific visualization: enables handling large sets of scientific data and help scientists see the phenomena in the data.

– Usually based on physical data

– Computer is used to render visible some properties

– The information is inherently geometrical

• These are abstractions, but based on physical space

BASIC TERMS: SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION (SV)



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Ozone layer surrounding Earth (Card-Mackinlay-Shneiderman)

EXAMPLE 1 OF SV



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EXAMPLE 2 OF SV



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=> Combination of IV and SV? Google Maps, for example, seehttp://www.programmableweb.com/api/google-chart/mashups

Cotidal Chart (Card-Mackinlay-Shneiderman)

http://www.programmableweb.com/api/google-chart/mashups



• The purpose of visualization is insight, not the picture

• Main goals of insight:

– Discovery

– Decision making

– Explanation

• The emphasis is on visualization, but the main goal is perceptualization

PURPOSE OF VISUALIZATION



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PERCEPTION



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Link


CHOLERA IN SOHO, V1

• Use of visualization from 1845

• Soho district, London (John Snow)


Introduction to Inf. Visualization - Tools and Techniques

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Slightly modified version of Snow’s map

• What are the changes?

• Is this version easier to “understand”?

• Why? Why not?

CHOLERA IN SOHO, V2



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• Understanding something = ”seeing” it

• Make ideas “clear”

• Bring ideas into “focus”

• “Arrange” thoughts

=> Visual metaphors in describing cognitive processes

• Relationship between what we see and what we think

USING VISION TO THINK



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Source: Card-Mackinlay-Shneiderman – Readings in Information Visualization

• Introduction

• Basic terms

• External aids




CONTENTS



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• Different external aids

• An important class: graphical inventions (diagrams, charts, tables, figures, etc.)

– Communicating an existing idea

– Discovering the idea itself using special properties of visual perception to resolve logical problems

– “A picture is worth ten thousand words” (example: London underground map)

EXTERNAL AIDS



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EXAMPLE OF EXTERNAL AIDS: LONDON UNDERGROUND MAP



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• Important role of external world in thought and reasoning external cognition

• Internal and external representation and processing belong together in thought

• Use of the external world to enhance cognition is all around us

INTERNAL VS. EXTERNAL COGNITION



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• Sight of the map: the viewer forms some understanding in his/her mind (not completely memorized)

• Attention focuses on the planned journey (departure and destination stations, route)

• The route can be memorized in different ways

• This internal model is called a cognitive map

• The task facilitated by the visualization is the planning of a journey

INTERNAL VS. EXTERNAL COGNITION; (SEE THE EXAMPLE 1: LONDON UNDERGROUND MAP)



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INTERNAL VS. EXTERNAL COGNITION; EXAMPLE 2: WILLIAM PLAYFAIR’S 200 YEARS OLD DRAWING



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circle size: empire size

left line: gross national product

right line: tax gatheredsource: Robert Spence – Information Visualization

• Purpose: provide insight, get a response from the viewer

• The author wanted to show that the British were far heavily taxed

• The “odd one out” slope is supposed to draw the viewer’s attention

• Supposed to reveal new information, a “sudden” understanding of the situation

INTERNAL VS. EXTERNAL COGNITION



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• Multiplication

– half of the group: in head

– other half: on paper

• The numbers are:

68 * 36• The result is:

2448

EXAMPLE



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CONCLUSIONS FROM THE EXAMPLE

• Mental multiplication is not difficult, but there is a significant difference

• The problem is holding the partial results

• Visual representation (paper) extends working memory



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• Graphic aids have long history

• Evolution of computers makes possible a new medium:– dramatic rendering performance

– real-time interactivity

– much lower costs

– a computer assembles thousands of data objects into pictures reveals hidden patterns

– diagrams: move, react

– new methods for amplifying cognition

ROLE OF COMPUTERS



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• A few years ago this new medium was applied in sciences only (scientific visualization)

• Applied more generally today:

– businesses

– education

– administration

– etc.

• It goes under the name information visualization

ROLE OF COMPUTERS



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“The power of unaided mind is highly overrated. Without external aids, memory, thought, and reasoning are all constrained.

But human intelligence is highly flexible and adaptive, superb at inventing procedures and objects that overcome its own limits. The real powers come from devising external aids that enhance cognitive abilities.

How have we increased memory, thought, and reasoning? By the invention of external aids: It is things that make us smart.”

D. NORMAN, 1993



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• What are the benefits of IV?

• What is the purpose of external aids?

• What role computers have in visualizing data?

• What is the difference between information and scientific visualization?

QUIZ



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• Introduction

• Basic terms

• External aids




CONTENTS



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PRE-DEFINED VISUALIZATION TOOL



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ViewerSelection Encoding Presentation

Author

Raw data

INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION TOOL



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Raw data

ViewerSelection Encoding Presentation

Visualization

tool designer

Interaction

• ISVIS tool integrates diagrams with visual cues

AN EXAMPLE OF INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION TOOL



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../../../projektit/ISVIS/ISVIS.exe

PHASES OF THE VISUALIZATION PROCESS


Techniques 46

Search: query / browsing

Domain spaceHeterogeneous

sources

Previous knowledge

Task / information need

Mapping

• Content

• Structure

(linear, tree,

network, …)

• Metadata

• Data type

• Semantics

• Dimensions

Application

domain(e.g. ISD)

Semantic

domain (e.g. WWW,

file structure)

View / visual layout

Data

storage

format (PS, WMF,

GIF, HTML,

VRML, …)

Representation

format (list/table/diagram,

tree/network, color,

shape, size, …)

Visualization

method (overview,

elision, zoom,

pan, clip, filter,

distort, …)

Visualization

technique/style(cone-tree, fisheye

view, perspective

wall, ...)

Output dimensions (2, 3, 3 w/stereo, …)

+ used method -> notation, ...

Information

space (UoD)

Information

characteristics

Interaction

TO BE CONSIDERED

Information Types:

• Data type (e.g. numerical, textual, temporal)

• Dimensions: 1D, 2D, 3D (spatial), Multi-D

• Structure:– Hierarchies/Trees

– Networks/Graphs

• Content; document collections

Strategies:

• Design Principles

• Interaction strategies

• Navigation strategies

• Visual Overviews

• Multiple Views

• High-Resolution Large Displays

• …


Techniques47

EXAMPLES (1D, 2D, 3D)



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• Lifelines: Uses individual timelines to display medical conditions or legal cases

• Fisheye Menus: An Example of Focus + Context display

• Piccolo (formerly known as Jazz (Pad++ descendent): Infinitely zoomable 2-D surface. The site contains three tools:- Fisheye Calendar- Graph Editor- Presentation Tool

• Bifocal image browser: Uses the concept of focus+context

• Visible Human Explorer : Assists in browsing and retrieving images from the visible human

• Visible Human Project: Visualizing images of human body in 3-D space

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/lifelines/latestdemo/chi.html

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/fisheyemenu/

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/jazz/play/

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/jazz/play/applet/fisheyecalendar.shtml

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/jazz/play/applet/grapheditor.shtml

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/jazz/play/applet/presentation.shtml

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/visible-human/

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/

EXAMPLES (MULTI-D)



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• XmdvTool: For the interactive visual exploration of multivariate data sets

• Star Coordinates Projecting Star Co-ordinates as points in a projection plane with radial axes.

• Table Lens (Eureka) Supports visualizing an entire data table as well as zooming in on specific items.

• Excentric Labels A dynamic technique to label a neighborhood of objects located around the cursor.

Demo

http://davis.wpi.edu/~xmdv/index.html

http://www.inxight.com/products/sdks/tl/

../../../Program Files/Inxight/Eureka/bin/Eureka.exe

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/excentric/



TREES AND GRAPHS



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• Hyperbolic Tree (Star Tree) Distorts a large tree layout with a hyperbolic transformation.

• WebTOC Visualizes Web sites by occupying the frame to the left of the home page it represents.

• Treemap (Non-commercial demo) Visualizes hierarchical data using slice-n-dice.

• Map of the Market Visualizes Consumer Market using treemaphierarchical structure.

• Spring Graph Layout Automated graph layout

• ISVIS Visualizes connections between use case, class, and sequence diagrams

• Visual Thesaurus An exploration of term relationships within six languages.

http://www.inxight.com/products/sdks/st/

http://www.cs.umd.edu/projects/hcil/webtoc/fhcil.html

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/treemap

http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/treemap/demos/



http://www.smartmoney.com/marketmap/

http://homes.jamk.fi/~huojo/projects/


DOCUMENT COLLECTIONS



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• Map.net Lays out documents like a geographic map.

• WEBSOM Self-Organizing Maps for document exploration

• TileBars Visualizes search terms in documents as the result of a search.

• Win3D 3D desktop workspace

http://map.net/

http://websom.hut.fi/websom/milliondemo/html/root.html

http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/tilebars/

• Spence, Robert - Information Visualization, Addison-Wesley, 2001.

• Card, Stuart K., Jock D. Mackinlay and Ben Shneiderman (eds.) 1999. Readings in Information Visualization. Using Vision to Think. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.

• http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/research/visualization.shtml

• http://www.infovis.org/ , http://infovis.cs.vt.edu/cs5764/

• http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~tmm/courses/infovis/resources.html

• http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/munzner_thesis/

• http://visualization.ning.com/

• http://homes.jamk.fi/~huojo/teaching/IV/tools/

REFERENCES



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http://www.aw-bc.com/catalog/academic/product/0,4096,0201596261,00.html




http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/research/visualization.shtml

http://www.infovis.org/

http://infovis.cs.vt.edu/cs5764/

http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~tmm/courses/infovis/resources.html

http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/munzner_thesis/

http://visualization.ning.com/

http://homes.jamk.fi/~huojo/teaching/IV/tools/

THIS IS…

… the endof introduction

– questions please?

Contact information: jouni.huotari

[at]jamk.fi© Jouni Huotari

2005 - 2009


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