Information Visualization Using 3D Interactive Animation

Robertson, George, Card, Stuart and Mackinlay, Jock. Information Visualization Using 3-D Interactive Animation. Communications of the ACM, 36, Number 4, April 1993, pp 57-71.

  • Presenting the Information Visualizer - a UI paradigm beyond the desktop metaphor
  • Goals: Support increasing demand to retrieve, store, manipulate, and understand large amounts of data

Overview: Tim Thornton

Background

Information Access vs. Document Retrieval

  • Access to information often thought of as library automation - measured with  Recall and  Precision
  • Note - almost always part of a larger process of information use (sense-making, decision making, response tasks)
    • In each of these: 
      • Information is used to produce more information or act directly
      • new information usually at higher level of organization

Background

Information Access vs. Document Retrieval

  • Suggestive!
    • The user does not need information retrieval itself, but the amplification of information-based work processes
    • Extend the measurements of Recall and Precision with reduction of the time cost of info. access and increase in the amount of information the user can handle at a time

Goals and Strategies

Information Workspaces

  • UI for managing the cost structure of information-based work -  workspaces
  • Integrates information access from secondary storage with information access from immediate storage for information use
  • Goals:
    1. Large Workspace
    2. Agents
    3. Real-time Interaction
    4. Visual Abstractions

Goals and Strategies

Information Workspaces

System Goal Techniques
1. Large workspace to reduce access cost More screen space → Rooms
Denser screen space → Animation, 3D
2. Offload work to agents Search → Search agents
Organizing → Clustering agents
Interacting → Interactive Objects
3. Maximize real-time interaction rates Rapid interaction → Cognitive Coprocessor Scheduler
4. Visual abstraction to speed pattern detection Hierarchical → Cone Tree
Linear → Perspective Wall
Continuous → Data Sculpture
Spatial → Office Floor Plan

Problems

Problems

  1. Multiple Agent problem
    • Cognitive Coprocessor
  2. Animation Problem
    • Cognitive Coprocessor
  3. Interaction Problem
    • ​Interactive Objects
  4. Viewpoint Movement Problem
    • ​POI Log Flier
  5. Object Movement Problem
    • ​OOI Log Manipulator
  6. Small Screen Problem
    • 3D/Rooms and 3D visualizations

Cognitive Coprocessor

Scheduler and Animation Loop - Manages three sorts of time constants:

  1. Perceptual processing (0.1 second)
  2. Immediate response (1 second)
  3. Unit task (5-30 seconds)

Information Visualizer

  • Extension of Rooms (3D, movement)
    • Multiple movement solutions: walking metaphor, POI log scale, OOI log scale, doors, overview
  • Everything in the scene is interactive (Interactive Objects)
    • Extendable gestures on each objects
    • Many types - text, date entry, checkmarks, buttons, sliders, doors, thermometers
  • Search agents
    • Built on indexing and search subsystem
    • Clustering agents available
  • 3D Visual Abstractions:
    • Cone Trees, Perspective Wall, Spatial, Continuous, Unstructured
    • Animation for object constancy

Information Visualizer

Spatial: Office space visualization

Information Visualizer

Views

Conclusion and Discussion

  • UI Paradigm for information retrieval designed to amplify info-based work
  • Focusing on the cost structure of information workspace
  • Led to Cognitive Coprocessor architecture, 3D/Rooms, information visualization

Discussion

  1. What about new information created beyond simple clustering?
  2. Cost of training to manipulate and navigate 3D environments?
  3. Dashboard vs Iterative Process in this UI?

Information Visualization Using 3D Interactive Animation

By igorii

Made with Slides.com

Information Visualization Using 3D Interactive Animation

  • 701

More from igorii