This paper offers new principles for visual information seeking (VIS). A key concept is to support browsing, which is distinguished from familiar query composition and information retrieval because of its emphasis on rapid filtering to reduce result sets, progressive refinement of search parameters, continuous reformulation of goals, and visual scanning to identify results. VIS principles developed include: dynamic query filters (query parameters are rapidly adjusted with sliders, buttons, maps, etc.), starfield displays (two-dimensional scatterplots to structure result sets and zooming to reduce clutter), and tight coupling (interrelating query components to preserve display invariants and support progressive refinement combined with an emphasis on using search output to foster search input). A FilmFinder prototype using a movie database demonstrates these principles in a VIS environment.

Dynamic queries are a novel approach to information seeking that may enable users to cope with information overload. They allow users to see an overview of the database, rapidly (100 msec updates) explore and conveniently filter out unwanted information. Users fly through information spaces by incrementally adjusting a query (with sliders, buttons, and other filters) while continuously viewing the changing results. Dynamic queries on the chemical table of elements, computer directories, and a real estate database were built and tested in three separate exploratory experiments. These results show statistically significant performance improvements and user enthusiasm more commonly seen with video games. Widespread application seems possible but research issues remain in database and display algorithms, and user interface design. Challenges include methods for rapidly displaying and changing many points, colors, and areas; multidimensional pointing; incorporation of sound and visual displ...

Over the last ten years, a subfield of GIScience has been recognized that addresses the linkage between human thought regarding geographic space and the mechanisms of implementing these in computational models. This research area has developed an identity through a series of successful international conferences and the establishment of a journal. It has also been complemented through community activities such as international standardization efforts and GIS interoperability. Historically, much of the advancement in computational methods has occurred at---or close to---the implementation level, as exemplified by the attention on the development of spatial access methods. Significant progress has been made at the levels of spatial data models and spatial query languages, although we note the lack of a comprehensive theoretical framework comparable to the relational data model in databases management systems. The difficult problems that need future research efforts are at the highly abstract level of capturing semantics of geographic information. A cognitive motivation is most promising as it shapes the focus on the users' needs and points of view, rather than on efficiency as in the case of a bottom-up system design. We also identify the need for new research in fields, models of qualitative spatial information, temporal aspects, knowledge discovery, and the integration of GIS with database management systems.

Metaphors are powerful means to design and learn user interfaces for computer systems. This paper discusses metaphors for display operations in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Specifically, the metaphor DISPLAYS ARE VIEWS is proposed and analyzed. It is presented as an antithesis to the metaphor DISPLAYS ARE MAPS, which is consciously or unconsciously adopted by designers and users of most GIS interfaces. Displays are understood here as graphic screen presentations of geographic space, maps as static (paper) maps and views as visual fields, containing what humans see in a given situation. The major advantage of the visual field as a metaphor source is that it naturally accommodates scale changes. Thus, analyzing its structure also sheds new light on the generalization problem for displays. 1. Introduction 1 Kuhn, W. 1991. "Are Displays Maps or Views?". In Proceedings of ACSM-ASPRS AutoCarto 10, in Baltimore, Maryland, Published by American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, Vol...

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