DevLan/vispubs huggingface dataset:
Visualizing gridded datasets with large number of missing values
Authors: Suzana Djurcilov, Alex T. Pang
Published at Vis, 1999

Much of the research in scientific visualization has focused on complete sets of gridded data. The paper presents our experience dealing with gridded data sets with a large number of missing or invalid data, and some of our experiments in addressing the shortcomings of standard off-the-shelf visualization algorithms. In particular, we discuss the options in modifying known algorithms to adjust to the specifics of sparse datasets, and provide a new technique to smooth out the side-effects of the operations. We apply our findings to data acquired from NEXRAD (NEXt generation RADars) weather radars, which usually have no more than 3 to 4 percent of all possible cell points filled.
Visualizing large-scale telecommunication networks and services
Authors: Eleftherios Koutsofios, Stephen C. North, Russell Truscott, Daniel A. Keim
Published at Vis, 1999

Visual exploration of massive datasets arising from telecommunication networks and services is a challenge. This paper describes SWIFT-3D, an integrated data visualization and exploration system created at AT&amp;T Labs for large scale network analysis. SWIFT-3D integrates a collection of interactive tools that includes pixel-oriented 2D maps, interactive 3D maps, statistical displays, network topology diagrams and an interactive drill-down query interface. Example applications are described, demonstrating a successful application to analyze unexpected network events (high volumes of unanswered calls), and comparison of usage of an Internet service with voice network traffic and local access coverage.
Visualizing Multivalued Data from 2D Incompressible Flows Using Concepts from Painting
Authors: Robert M. Kirby, H. Marmanis, David H. Laidlaw
Published at Vis, 1999

We present a new visualization method for 2D flows which allows us to combine multiple data values in an image for simultaneous viewing. We utilize concepts from oil painting, art and design as introduced in (Laidlaw et al., 1998) to examine problems within fluid mechanics. We use a combination of discrete and continuous visual elements arranged in multiple layers to visually represent the data. The representations are inspired by the brush strokes artists apply in layers to create an oil painting. We display commonly visualized quantities such as velocity and vorticity together with three additional mathematically derived quantities: the rate of strain tensor, and the turbulent charge and turbulent current. We describe the motivation for simultaneously examining these quantities and use the motivation to guide our choice of visual representation for each particular quantity. We present visualizations of three flow examples and observations concerning some of the physical relationships made apparent by the simultaneous display technique that we employed.
Visualizing Planar Vector Fields with Normal Component Using Line Integral Convolution
Authors: Gerik Scheuermann, Holger Burbach, Hans Hagen
Published at Vis, 1999

We present a method for visualizing three dimensional vector fields which are defined on a two dimensional manifold only. These vector fields do exist in real application, as we show by an example of an optical measuring instrument which can gauge the displacement at the surface of a mechanical part. The general idea is to compute LIC textures in the manifold's tangent space and to deform the manifold according to the normal information. The resulting LIC texture is mapped onto the deformed manifold and is rendered as a three dimensional scene. Due to the light's reflection on the deformed manifold, one can interactively explore the result of the deformation.
Visualizing Simulated Room Fires
Authors: Jayesh Govindarajan, Matthew O. Ward, Jonathan Barnett
Published at Vis, 1999

Recent advances in fire science and computer modeling of fires allow scientists to predict fire growth and spread through structures. In this paper we describe a variety of visualizations of simulated room fires for use by both fire protection engineers and fire suppression personnel. We also introduce the concept of fuzzy visualization, which results from the superposition of data from several separate simulations into a single visualization.
Visualizing the evolution of a subject domain: a case study
Authors: Chaomei Chen, Les Carr
Published at Vis, 1999

We explore the potential of information visualization techniques in enhancing existing methodologies for domain analysis and modeling. In this case study, we particularly focus on visualizing the evolution of the hypertext field based on author co-citation patterns, including the use of a sliding-window scheme to generate a series of annual snapshots of the domain structure, and a factor-referenced color-coding scheme to highlight predominant specialties in the field.
VizCraft: a multidimensional visualization tool for aircraft configuration design
Authors: Amit Goel, Chuck Baker, Clifford A. Shaffer, Bernard Grossman, Raphael T. Haftka, William H. Mason, Layne T. Watson
Published at Vis, 1999

We describe a visualization tool to aid aircraft designers during the conceptual design stage. The conceptual design for an aircraft is defined by a vector of 10-30 parameters. The goal is to find a vector that minimizes an objective function while meeting a series of constraints. VizCraft integrates the simulation code that evaluates the design with visualizations for analyzing the design individually or in contrast to other designs. VizCraft allows the designer to easily switch between the view of a design in the form of a parameter set, and a visualization of the corresponding aircraft. The user can easily see which, if any, constraints are violated. VizCraft also allows the user to view a database of designs using parallel coordinates.
Volume rendering based interactive navigation within the human colon
Authors: Ming Wan, Qingyu Tang, Arie E. Kaufman, Zhengrong Liang, Mark Wax
Published at Vis, 1999

We present an interactive navigation system for virtual colonoscopy, which is based solely on high performance volume rendering. Previous colonic navigation systems have employed either a surface rendering or a Z-buffer-assisted volume rendering method that depends on the surface rendering results. Our method is a fast direct volume rendering technique that exploits distance information stored in the potential field of the camera control model, and is parallelized on a multiprocessor. Experiments have been conducted on both a simulated pipe and patients' data sets acquired with a CT scanner.
Why the PC will be the most pervasive visualization platform in 2001
Authors: Hanspeter Pfister, Michel Cox, Peter N. Glaskowsky, William E. Lorensen, Richard Greco
Published at Vis, 1999

Compact, low cost connector system for flexible tubing is adapted to removably connect a length of flexible plastic tubing for rotational but not axial movement to a recessed opening in a body member such as a pneumatic valve, a fitting, or an air cylinder. Preferably, a cylindrical sleeve member having transverse slots extending completely through opposed walls of the member is pre-positioned in a stepped recessed opening in axially spaced relationship with an elastomeric O-ring sealing member. The sleeve member is preferably retained in a fixed relation relative to the body member by a U-shaped clip. When one desires to attach a length of tubing, the U-shaped clip is removed and the tubing is inserted into the sleeve and O-ring such that its tip portion goes beyond the O-ring into a small central recessed aperture formed in the body member. The legs of the U-shaped retaining clip are then pressed through a pair of spaced, axially transverse opening portions in the body member so as to pass through the transverse slots in the sleeve member and into contact with opposed outer wall surfaces of the tubing. The clip legs slightly compress and deform the tubing and have sharp edge portions which slightly cut into it to prevent it from being removed by pulling or by fluid pressure, yet permitting rotation of the tubing relative to the body member.
3D interactive visualization for inter-cell dependencies of spreadsheets
Authors: Hidekazu Shiozawa, Ken-ichi Okada, Yutaka Matsushita
Published at InfoVis, 1999

This paper proposes a new technique to visualize dependencies among cells in a spreadsheet. In this way, the system firstly visualizes a spreadsheet on a plane in three-dimensional space, and draws arcs between interrelated cells. By allowing a user to select an arbitrary cell and lift it up with direct manipulation, the system utilizes the third dimension to ameliorate visual occlusion of crossing arcs. As the user lifts a focused cell up, the interrelated cells are lifted up together; thus hidden dataflow networks can be visually intelligible interactively. Because spreadsheets are aimed at calculation itself rather than appearances of outputs, their mechanism is relatively invisible and not obvious for ordinary users. Our visualization helps such users to understand structures and mechanism of spreadsheets.
A framework for focus+context visualization
Authors: Staffan Björk, Lars Erik Holmquist, Johan Redström
Published at InfoVis, 1999

This paper aims to give a systematic account of focus+context visualization techniques, i.e. visualizations which aim to give users integrated visual access to details and context in a data set. We introduce the notion that there are different orders of information visualization with focus+context being a second-order visualization and provide a formal framework for describing and constructing focus+context visualizations.
A Java-based visual mining infrastructure and applications
Authors: Ming C. Hao, Umeshwar Dayal, Meichun Hsu, Jim Baker, Bob Deletto
Published at InfoVis, 1999

Many real-world KDD (Knowledge Discovery &amp; Data Mining) applications involve the navigation of large volumes of information on the web, such as, Internet resources, hot topics, and telecom phone switches. Quite often users feel lost, confused and overwhelmed with displays that contain too much information. This paper discusses a new content-driven visual mining infrastructure called VisMine, that uses several innovative techniques: (1) hidden visual structure and relationships for uncluttering displays; (2) simultaneous visual presentations for high-dimensional knowledge discovery; and (3) a new visual interface to plug in existing graphic toolkits for expanding its use in a wide variety of visual applications. We have applied this infrastructure to three data mining visualization applications-topic hierarchy for document navigation, web-based trouble shooting, and telecom switch mining.
Aggregate Towers: scale sensitive visualization and decluttering of geospatial data
Authors: James K. Rayson
Published at InfoVis, 1999

We have developed a technique, Aggregate Towers, that allows geospatial data to be visualized across a range of map scales. We use a combination of data aggregation algorithms and dynamically aggregating data markers (e.g., icons or symbols) to accommodate interactive zooming by a user while maintaining a representation that remains intuitive, consistent across multiple scales and uncluttered. This approach implicitly generates multiple levels of overview displays from a single set of underlying data.
Cluster and calendar based visualization of time series data
Authors: Jarke J. van Wijk, Edward R. van Selow
Published at InfoVis, 1999

A new method is presented to get an insight into univariate time series data. The problem addressed is how to identify patterns and trends on multiple time scales (days, weeks, seasons) simultaneously. The solution presented is to cluster similar daily data patterns, and to visualize the average patterns as graphs and the corresponding days on a calendar. This presentation provides a quick insight into both standard and exceptional patterns. Furthermore, it is well suited to interactive exploration. Two applications, numbers of employees present and energy consumption, are presented.
Constellation: a visualization tool for linguistic queries from MindNet
Authors: Tamara Munzner, François Guimbretière, George G. Robertson
Published at InfoVis, 1999

Constellation is a visualization system for the results of queries from the MindNet natural language semantic network. Constellation is targeted at helping MindNet's creators and users refine their algorithms, as opposed to understanding the structure of language. We designed a special-purpose graph layout algorithm which exploits higher-level structure in addition to the basic node and edge connectivity. Our layout prioritizes the creation of a semantic space to encode plausibility instead of traditional graph drawing metrics like minimizing edge crossings. We make careful use of several perceptual channels both to minimize the visual impact of edge crossings and to emphasize highlighted constellations of nodes and edges.
Cushion treemaps: visualization of hierarchical information
Authors: Jarke J. van Wijk, Huub van de Wetering
Published at InfoVis, 1999

A new method is presented for the visualization of hierarchical information, such as directory structures and organization structures. Cushion treemaps inherit the elegance of standard treemaps: compact, space-filling displays of hierarchical information, based on recursive subdivision of a rectangular image space. Intuitive shading is used to provide insight in the hierarchical structure. During the subdivision, ridges are added per rectangle, which are rendered with a simple shading model. The result is a surface that consists of recursive cushions. The method is efficient, effective, easy to use and implement, and has a wide applicability.
Does animation help users build mental maps of spatial information?
Authors: Benjamin B. Bederson, Angela Boltman
Published at InfoVis, 1999

We examine how animating a viewpoint change in a spatial information system affects a user's ability to build a mental map of the information in the space. We found that animation improves users' ability to reconstruct the information space, with no penalty on task performance time. We believe that this study provides strong evidence for adding animated transitions in many applications with fixed spatial data where the user navigates around the data space.
Domain analysis: a technique to design a user-centered visualization framework
Authors: Octavio Juarez Espinosa, Chris Hendrickson, James H. Garrett Jr.
Published at InfoVis, 1999

Domain Analysis for Data Visualization (DADV) is a technique to use when investigating a domain where data visualizations are going to be designed and added to existing software systems. DADV was used to design the data visualization in VisEIO-LCA, which is a framework to visualize environmental data about products. Most of the visualizations are designed using the following stages: formatting data in tables, selecting visual structures, and rendering the data on the screen. Although many visualization authors perform implicit domain analysis, in this paper domain analysis is added explicitly to the process of designing visualizations with the goal of producing move usable software tools. Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used as a test bed for this technique.
Dynamic hierarchy specification and visualization
Authors: Richard M. Wilson 0002, R. Daniel Bergeron
Published at InfoVis, 1999

This paper describes concepts that underlie the design and implementation of an information exploration system that allows users to impose arbitrary hierarchical organizations on their data. Such hierarchies allow a user to embed important semantic information into the hierarchy definition. Our goal is to recognize the significance of this implicit information and to utilize it in the hierarchy visualization. The innovative features of our system include the dynamic modification of the hierarchy definitions and the definition and implementation of a set of layout algorithms that utilize semantic information implicit in the tree construction.
Efficient multi-object dynamic query histograms
Authors: Mark Derthick, James Harrison, Andrew Moore, Steven F. Roth
Published at InfoVis, 1999

Dynamic queries offer continuous feedback during range queries, and have been shown to be effective and satisfying. Recent work has extended them to datasets of 100,000 objects and, separately, to queries involving relations among multiple objects. The latter work enables filtering houses by properties of their owners, for instance. Our primary concern is providing feedback from histograms during dynamic query. The height of each histogram bar shows the count of selected objects whose attribute value falls into a given range. Unfortunately, previous efficient algorithms for single object queries overcount in the case of multiple objects if for instance, a house has multiple owners. This paper presents an efficient algorithm that with high probability closely approximates the true counts.
Evaluating a visualisation of image similarity as a tool for image browsing
Authors: Kerry Rodden, Wojciech Basalaj, David Sinclair, Kenneth R. Wood
Published at InfoVis, 1999

A similarity metric based on the low-level content of images can be used to create a visualisation in which visually similar images are displayed close to each other. We are carrying out a series of experiments to evaluate the usefulness of this type of visualisation as an image browsing aid. The initial experiment, described, considered whether people would find a given photograph more quickly in a visualisation than in a randomly arranged grid of images. The results show that the subjects were faster with the visualisation, although in post-experiment interviews many of them said that they preferred the clarity and regularity of the grid. We describe an algorithm with which the best aspects of the two layout types can be combined.
Navigating hierarchies with structure-based brushes
Authors: Ying-Huey Fua, Matthew O. Ward, Elke A. Rundensteiner
Published at InfoVis, 1999

Interactive selection is a critical component in exploratory visualization, allowing users to isolate subsets of the displayed information for highlighting, deleting, analysis, or focussed investigation. Brushing, a popular method for implementing the selection process, has traditionally been performed in either screen space or data space. We introduce the concept of a structure-based brush, which can be used to perform selection in hierarchically structured data sets. Our structure-based brush allows users to navigate hierarchies by specifying focal extents and level-of-detail on a visual representation of the structure. Proximity-based coloring, which maps similar colors to data that are closely related within the structure, helps convey both structural relationships and anomalies. We describe the design and implementation of our structure-based brushing tool. We also validate its usefulness using two distinct hierarchical visualization techniques, namely hierarchical parallel coordinates and tree-maps.
Sensemaking of evolving Web sites using visualization spreadsheets
Authors: Ed H. Chi, Stuart K. Card
Published at InfoVis, 1999

In the process of knowledge discovery, workers examine available information in order to make sense of it. By sensemaking, we mean interacting with and operating on the information with a variety of information processing mechanisms. Previously, we introduced a concept that uses the spreadsheet metaphor with cells containing visualizations of complex data. We extend and apply a cognitive model called "visual sensemaking" to the visualization spreadsheet. We use the task of making sense of a large Web site as a concrete example throughout the paper for demonstration. Using a variety of visualization techniques, such as the Disk Tree and Cone Tree, we show that the interactions of the visualization spreadsheet help users draw conclusions from the overall relationships of the entire information set.
The automated multidimensional detective
Authors: Alfred Inselberg, Tova Avidan
Published at InfoVis, 1999

Automation has arrived to parallel coordinates. A geometrically motivated classifier is presented and applied, with both training and testing stages, to 3 real datasets. Our results compared to those from 33 other classifiers have the least error. The algorithm is based on parallel coordinates and has very low computational complexity in the number of variables and the size of the dataset-contrasted with the very high or unknown (often unstated) complexity of other classifiers, the low complexity enables the rule derivation to be done in near real-time hence making the classification adaptive to changing conditions, provides comprehensible and explicit rules-contrasted to neural networks which are "black boxes", does dimensionality selection-where the minimal set of original variables (not transformed new variables as in Principal Component Analysis) required to state the rule is found, orders these variables so as to optimize the clarity of separation between the designated set and its complement-this solves the pesky "ordering problem" in parallel coordinates. The algorithm is display independent, hence it can be applied to very large in size and number of variables datasets. Though it is instructive to present the results visually, the input size is no longer display-limited as for visual data mining.
The sunflower visual metaphor, a new paradigm for dimensional compression
Authors: Stuart J. Rose
Published at InfoVis, 1999

This paper introduces the Sunflower visual metaphor for information visualization. The visual metaphor is presented as an alternative to current techniques of dimensional compression and the visualization tools that employ them. The paper discusses the motivation for the Sunflower paradigm, its implementation and critical factors for producing an effective visualization. A primary driver in this research effort has been to develop a visualization tool that facilitates browsing, knowledge discovery, and that supports learning through sense making and integration of new information.
VisageWeb: visualizing WWW data in Visage
Authors: Michael Higgins, Peter Lucas 0002, Jeffrey Senn
Published at InfoVis, 1999

VisageWeb is an information-centric user interface to the World Wide Web built within the Visage data visualization environment. This paper traces the development of the VisageWeb project, using it to motivate an exploration of how an information-centric architecture copes with new visualization challenges. We conclude with a presentation of the VisageWeb prototype itself.
Visualizing application behavior on superscalar processors
Authors: Chris Stolte, Robert P. Bosch Jr., Pat Hanrahan, Mendel Rosenblum
Published at InfoVis, 1999

The advent of superscalar processors with out-of-order execution makes it increasingly difficult to determine how well an application is utilizing the processor and how to adapt the application to improve its performance. We describe a visualization system for the analysis of application behavior on superscalar processors. Our system provides an overview-plus-detail display of the application's execution. A timeline view of pipeline performance data shows the overall utilization of the pipeline. This information is displayed using multiple time scales, enabling the user to drill down from a high-level application overview to a focus region of hundreds of cycles. This region of interest is displayed in detail using an animated cycle-by-cycle view of the execution. This view shows how instructions are reordered and executed and how functional units are being utilized. Additional context views correlate instuctions in this detailed view with the relevant source code for the application. This allows the user to discover the root cause of the poor pipeline utilization and make changes to the application to improve its performance. This visualization system can be easily configured to display a variety of processor models and configurations. We demonstrate it for both the MXS and MMIX processor models.