ben @ cs.umd.edu A useful starting point for designing advanced graphical user interjaces is the Visual lnformation-Seeking Mantra: overview first, zoom and filter, then details on demand. But this is only a starting point in trying to understand the rich and varied set of information visualizations that have been proposed in recent years. This paper offers a task by data type taxonomy with seven data types (one-, two-, three-dimensional datu, temporal and multi-dimensional data, and tree and network data) and seven tasks (overview, Zoom, filter, details-on-demand, relate, history, and extracts). Everything points to the conclusion that the phrase 'the language of art ' is more

Visual query systems (VQSs) are query systems for databases that use visual representations to depict the domain of interest and express related requests. VQSs can be seen as an evolution of query languages adopted into database management systems; they are designed to improve the effectiveness of the human-computer communication. Thus, their most important features are those that determine the nature of the human-computer dialogue. In order to survey and compare existing VQSs used for querying traditional databases, we first introduce a classification based on such features, namely the adopted visual representations and the interaction strategies. We then identify several user types and match the VQS classes against them, in order to understand which kind of system may be suitable for each kind of user. We also report usability experiments which support our claims. Finally, some of the most important open problems in the VQS area are described. 1.

Although systems for animating algorithms are becoming more powerful and easier for programmers to use, not enough attention has been given to the techniques that an algorithm animator needs to create effective visualizations. This paper reviews the techniques for algorithm animation reported in the literature thus far and introduces new techniques that we have developed for using color and, to a lesser extent, sound. The paper also presents six algorithm animations that illustrate the new techniques. A videotape of these animations is available.

The graph topo-visual formalism has been shown to be well-suited to the task of visualizing complex relations on a set of elements. Unfortunately, most visual formalisms do not scale very well. This observation is particularly true of graphs, which even when hand-drawn by an artist, are seldom meaningful when the number of nodes or links exceeds a very modest threshold -- typically only a few hundred elements. This severe limitation has prompted many researchers to seek alternative visualization techniques that may eliminate, or, at the very least, raise this threshold. In this paper we analyze these recent efforts, describe an abstract space of presentation emphasis techniques, and locate the current approaches within this space. The contributions of this paper are several: (1) a significant portion of recent work is collected and reviewed; (2) a common set of criteria and a taxonomy of graph views are proposed; these, (3) permit a more direct comparison of previous work; which helps ...

People use their awareness of others ' temporal patterns to plan work activities and communication. This paper presents algorithms for programatically detecting and modeling temporal patterns from a record of online presence data. We describe analytic and end-user visualizations of rhythmic patterns and the tradeoffs between them. We conducted a design study that explored the accuracy of the derived rhythm models compared to user perceptions, user preference among the visualization alternatives, and users' privacy preferences. We also present a prototype application based on the rhythm model that detects when a person is “away ” for an extended period and predicts their return. We discuss the implications of this technology on the design of computer-mediated communication.

There are many examples of text databases including literary corpora and computer source code where statistics are associated with each line. A visualization technique for this class of data represents the text lines as thin colored rows within columns. The position, length, and indentation of each row corresponds to that of the text. The color of each row is determined by a statistic associated with each line. The display looks like a miniature picture of the text with the color showing the spatial distribution of the statistic within the text. Using this technique, SeeSoft™, a dynamic graphics software tool, can easily display 50,000 lines of text simultaneously on a high-resolution monitor. 1.

this paper, we describe the approach to visual display and manipulation of databases that we have been investigating at the University of Toronto for the past few years. We present an overview and retrospective of the G

Public transportation systems are among the most ubiquitous and complex large-scale systems found in modern society. For those unable to drive such as people with cognitive disabilities, these systems are essential gateways for participation in community activities, socialization, and independence. To understand the magnitude and scope of this national problem, we highlight deficiencies identified in an international study by the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council and present specific cognitive barriers identified in empirical studies of transportation systems in several U.S. cities. An interdisciplinary team of HCI researchers, urban transportation planners, commercial technologists, and assistive care specialists are now collaborating on the Mobility-for-All project to create architectures and prototypes that support those with cognitive disabilities and their caregivers. We have grounded our research and design efforts using a distributed cognition framework. We have derived requirements for our designs by analyzing “how things are ” for individuals with cognitive disabilities who learn and use public transportation systems. We present a socio-technical architecture that has three components: a) a personal travel assistant that uses real-time Global Positioning Systems data from the bus fleet to deliver just-in-time prompts; b) a mobile prompting

In this paper, we provide an overview of several pixel-oriented visualization techniques which have been developed over the last years to support an effective querying and exploration of large databases. Pixel-oriented techniques use each pixel of the display to visualize one data value and therefore allow the visualization of the largest amount of data possible. The techniques may be divided into query-independent techniques which directly visualize the data (or a certain portion of it) and query-dependent techniques which visualize the relevance of the data with respect to a specific query. An example for the class of query-independent techniques is the recursive pattern technique which is based on a generic recursive scheme generalizing a wide range of pixel-oriented arrangements for visualizing large databases. Examples for the class of query-dependent techniques are the generalized spiral and circle-segments techniques, which visualize the distances with respect to a database quer...

this article because I think this is an area rich with statistical applications. There is a great opportunity here! Within Bell Laboratories, I [Mark] have seen several Internet-, or more broadly network-related projects spring up. The second Internet-related article comes from Wolfgang Hardle, Sigbert Klinke and Steve Marron. It is about the use of Internet-enabled applications for the teaching of statistics. These authors establish criteria for effective web-based teaching and propose an approach (using XploRe) to meet these challenges. This article contrasts nicely with an earlier piece by Deborah Nolan and Duncan Temple Lang on the use of multimedia for statistics education (this Newsletter, Volume 9, Number 1). It is interesting to compare these approaches both in terms of the technology and the underlying pedagogy. Wolfgang, Sigbert and Steve offer us several well-presented examples of how the connection between Java and XploRe has produced a rich environment for teaching. With this issue of the Newsletter, we are pleased to introduce Graham Wills as a regular contributor. In his first column, Graham reviews some basics of linked data views. His involvement in the development of several such applications gives him a great perspective to comment on this type of interactivity. Please join us in welcoming Graham to the Newsletter staff! Other items of interest in this edition include the latest column by Andreas Buja, Editor of the Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics (JCGS). Andreas has a lot of great news to report about JCGS: Submissions are up and the journal is growing! Dan Carr and Ru Sun discuss an alternative to standard Trellis displays, involving layering and perceptual grouping. For the latest in Section news, turn to page 33 where you will re...