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?